RTHK: US court suspends Biden jab mandate for businesses

A US federal appeals court on Saturday halted a vaccine mandate by President Joe Biden's administration that is intended to push millions of workers at businesses with more than 100 employees into getting Covid-19 shots.

The New Orleans-based US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said that because petitioners "give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate, the mandate is hereby stayed pending further action by this court".

The traditionally conservative court ordered the government to reply to the motion for a permanent injunction by 5p Monday.

Petitioners include five strongly Republican US states  Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah and Mississippi  as well as several private companies and religious groups.

If upheld, the suspension would represent a stunning setback to one of Biden's most far-reaching and high-impact efforts to secure the widespread immunisation of American workers ahead of a winter when a resurgence of Covid-19 is expected. There was no immediate reaction from the Biden administration.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a conservative Republican who has opposed mask and vaccine mandates, applauded the decision in a post on Twitter.

"Emergency hearings will take place soon," he said. "We will have our day in court to strike down Biden's unconstitutional abuse of authority."

Vaccine mandates have a long history in the US, but have generally been issued by cities or states.

At issue here is the constitutionality of a US president issuing such a sweeping nationwide mandate.

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, among those filing suit to block the Biden mandate, on Saturday said the president had exceeded his authority.

"The fight is not over," Paxton tweeted earlier, "and I will never stop resisting this administration's unconstitutional overreach"! (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-11-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Iraqi Catholics Looking Ahead, Not Back, Chaldean Bishop Says

Chaldean Catholics celebrate Mass at Mother of God Chaldean Church in Southfield, Mich., in 2019. The Detroit metro area is home to more than 100,000 Chaldean Catholics. ( Jonathan Francis/Detroit Catholic) Eslov, Sweden -- After enduring war and suffering in Iraq, Chaldean Catholics abroad prefer to look ahead to a brighter future in their adopted countries rather than return to their native land, said Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna, the apostolic visitor for Chaldeans in Europe.

Speaking with Catholic News Service Nov. 3 via Zoom from his office in the northern Swedish city of Sodertalje, Bishop Hanna said that while he respects and understands the calls made by Pope Francis and Cardinal Louis Sako of Baghdad, the Chaldean Catholic patriarch, many Iraqi Christians who have fled their homes have put down roots in Europe and should be cared for where they are now.

"From my personal experience and pastoral experience here in Sweden, and in other countries, I haven't seen any Chaldean who wants to go back to Iraq," Bishop Hanna said.

"If you take it from the point of view of numbers, 70% of the Chaldean community are outside of Iraq now and just 30% are inside Iraq. So, the majority are outside. We have to accept this fact and try to deal with it carefully and try to build on it," he said.

Appointed in 2016 as the head of the Chaldean community in Europe, Bishop Hanna knows firsthand the suffering of war, violence and persecution many Iraqi Christians faced over several decades.

In 2006, then-Father Hanna was abducted by unknown extremists while returning from Mass. His kidnapping prompted appeals from many around the world, including Pope Benedict XVI. After enduring 27 days of threats and torture, he was released.

Looking back at his harrowing experience, Bishop Hanna told CNS that his kidnapping gave him the opportunity "to understand that life is too short; we have to live it completely in dedication to the goodness that we have inside us and in others and not let evil overcome the possibility of finding ways that we can live in peace, in love and in hope with others."

Bishop Hanna said there are roughly 100,000 Chaldean Catholics in Europe, an estimated 30,000 of whom live in Sweden, making it the largest Chaldean community on the continent.

One of the many challenges facing Iraqi Christians in Europe, he said, is finding a way to balance the values instilled in their community with the more secularized values of Western culture.

"It's very difficult, especially the dialogue between the old generations and the new generations who are born here. They feel completely westernized and completely different from us," he said. "This is actually one of the biggest challenges that families are facing here in the West."

Bishop Hanna said another challenge was the lack of "an independent identity as a church" in Sweden and in Europe.

The Chaldean community, he explained, is "considered as a mission, so we have to do everything through" local dioceses.

However, "at the end of the day, we need some independence so that we can manage our things in a (certain) way because we understand our people, we know how to reach them, we know how to dialogue with them, we know how to bring them to the church, we know the history that they lived, we know the problems that they had, we know the challenges that they faced in Iraq," he said.

Bishop Hanna told CNS that while it is important for the Catholic Church to focus efforts on preserving the remaining Chaldean Catholics in Iraq, he also believes the church should "give a lot of attention" to Iraqi Catholics abroad, especially by providing priests who can serve the growing community.

Iraqi Christians in the diaspora, he said, are often "forgotten."

"We have to give more attention to the Chaldeans" living outside of Iraq, he said. "Many of them are very happy to be here in these countries. They are well respected, taken care of in different ways and they have the future in front of them open, and they want to live here. They will not go back to Iraq. I'm sure of that."
Xi Jinping, the man who leads CPC on new journey

Xinhua) 09:17, November 06, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Throughout 2021, a special year in China's history, the schedule of Xi Jinping has been busy.

Over the past months, he addressed a ceremony marking the Party's centenary, announced the realization of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, inspected Tibet, talked to astronauts working at China's first space station, attended online meetings of the United Nations, and held phone or video talks with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden.

Next week, Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will attend a high-profile Party plenum -- the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. A landmark document will be tabled at this important meeting -- the resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC's 100 years of endeavors.

Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Few political parties worldwide could boast such a long history and uninterrupted period of state governance. The CPC has been China's ruling party for 72 years. Presently, Xi is the core of the CPC leadership. Before him, generations of central collective leadership had spanned the decades with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao as chief representatives.

Since being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012, Xi has been seen as a man of determination and action, a man of profound thoughts and feelings, a man who inherited a legacy but dares to innovate, and a man who has forward-looking vision and is committed to working tirelessly.

Under his leadership, China is becoming a powerful country, and is now entering an era of strength, according to Channel News Asia.

On the new journey, Xi is undoubtedly the core figure in charting the course of history. How will he lead the Party in the face of opportunities and challenges? How will he bring China back to the world's center stage? Today, the world is watching Xi just closely as nine years ago.

WALKING WITH THE PEOPLE

In September, during an inspection of the village of Gaoxigou in northwestern Shaanxi Province, Xi stopped by farmlands to check the crops and chat with villagers working in the fields. Xi hailed the achievements of local poverty alleviation. Gaoxigou was once an impoverished village; today it is prosperous thanks to the relentless efforts of cadres and villagers.

It was in 1974 in Shaanxi's Liangjiahe, about 150 km from Gaoxigou, that Xi joined the Party. He was just 15 years old when he arrived in Liangjiahe in 1969 as an "educated youth." He would spend the next seven years living in the small village on the rural Loess Plateau; at the end of a day's labor, he would return to his primitive cave house and sleep on a simple clay bed. It would take 38 years and multiple postings across various levels of the Party's hierarchy until he would be elevated to the top job.

After joining the CPC, Xi became Party secretary of Liangjiahe. Shedding light on his caliber, one of his village colleagues said Xi "worked conscientiously, had many ideas and could unite the people and cadres."

Recalling his time in the impoverished village, Xi said what he wanted more than anything was to make it possible for the villagers to "have meat on their plates."

To improve the lives of those who called the community home, Xi initiated various projects, including wells, terraced fields, and methane-generating pits. These "simple" projects would have a significant impact on the villagers' lives, work, and attitudes.

In his spare time, the young Xi devoured as many books as he could. In particular, he read Das Kapital three times; his reflections on the seminal work filled 18 notebooks.

His father, Xi Zhongxun, was among the first generation of CPC central leaders. Xi Jinping often evoked the wisdom imparted to him by the elder Xi. Inspired by a much-loved school book, he decided he would carry on the revolutionary torch from a young age.

In 1975, Xi was admitted to the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. After graduating, he first worked at the general office of the Central Military Commission before moving to Zhengding, a county in northern Hebei Province, in 1982.

Recalling the move to Zhengding, Xi said he had volunteered to work at the grassroots level among the people. He said he wanted to "love the people like he loves his parents."

After Zhengding, Xi's political career took him to the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang and the metropolis of Shanghai. Wherever he went, his close ties with the people were notable. He wrote heartfelt essays commemorating his deceased friends and colleagues in Zhengding. He used his own money to help finance the medical treatment of a villager from Liangjiahe.

Xi's care for the people can be seen in every aspect of his work. Zhang Hongming, one of his colleagues back in Zhejiang, still remembers Xi's attitude and work ethic when the province was hit by typhoons.

"Even if nine of our ten evacuations are for nothing, we still need to do it to ensure the absolute safety of the people," Zhang said recalling Xi's instructions.

Xi's people-centered philosophy explains why he ordered unwavering efforts to save people's lives at all costs during the COVID-19 epidemic, said Liu Jingbei, a professor at the China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong, Shanghai.

In 2007, Xi returned to Beijing to sit on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and later became China's vice president. He oversaw areas including Party building, organizational work, Hong Kong and Macao affairs, and preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At the age of 59, Xi was elevated to the Party's most senior post in November 2012. About a month later, he braved the winter cold to visit poor villagers in Hebei. Sitting down with them, Xi asked about their income, and if they had sufficient food and enough quilts and coal to stay warm through the winter. Xi said his heart sank when he saw that some villagers were still struggling to make ends meet.

Xi Jinping visits impoverished villagers in Luotuowan Village of Longquanguan Township, Fuping County, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 30, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

STRENGTHENING THE PARTY

The year 2021 is also the ninth year of Xi's signature anti-corruption campaign, the most extensive in Chinese history. It shows no signs of letting up.

More than 20 high-level officials and executives in the financial sector have been punished or investigated this year. And in the past 30 days or so, one former ministerial-level official in the central government's law-enforcement apparatus was investigated while another was punished.

When Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China was already the world's second-largest economy. Yet, it faced challenges from within.

"Facts prove that if corruption is allowed to spread, it will eventually lead to the destruction of a party and the fall of a government," Xi said in a stern warning.

Over the past nine years, more than 400 officials at ministerial level or above have been punished or investigated, including a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and two former vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission. From 2014 to 2020, over 8,300 fugitives were repatriated from more than 120 countries and regions.

"In a critical time, Xi turned the tide," said a foreign media editorial.

Xi has ordered efforts to "lock power in the cage of systemic checks." He also spearheaded the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission. All public sector employees came under supervision following the supervisory reform.

As general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Xi has led efforts to formulate and revise around 200 intra-party regulations. He also launched five Party-wide education campaigns to firm up the ideals and convictions of Party members and ensure they act effectively and in unison.

Xi also attaches great importance to intra-party democracy. Solicited comments from CPC members are now incorporated into all Party national congress reports, documents reviewed at plenary sessions, and major Party documents, decisions, and reform policies.

By June this year, the number of CPC members had grown to 95 million, 10 million more than the population of Germany. Experts in China affairs say the Party has become more disciplined, pure, and powerful.

Xi Jinping is enjoying greater support within the CPC now than ever, said Neil Thomas, a China observer.

In 2016, the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee established Xi's status as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party.

Without a strong leadership core, the CPC would find it hard to unify the entire Party's will or build solidarity and unity among people of all ethnic groups. It would not be able to achieve anything or carry out any of its "great struggles with many new historical features," said Wang Junwei, a research fellow at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee.

In October 2017, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was officially instituted at the 19th CPC National Congress. The thought was enshrined in the CPC Constitution and China's Constitution.

Like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, Xi has advanced the adaption of Marxism to the Chinese context and kept it relevant, said Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

MAKING CHINA STRONG

After the Opium War of 1840, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. It was bullied by foreign powers and suffered from poverty and weakness.

"What a humiliation! China was trampled upon at that time," Xi said when recalling that part of history.

The CPC was founded in 1921 to change the situation.

According to Han Qingxiang, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the pursuit of national rejuvenation is marked by four critical milestones -- the Party's founding in 1921; the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949; the advent of reform and opening up in 1978; and the new era after the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

Two weeks after Xi's election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, he put forward "the Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation. This October, at an event commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, Xi mentioned "rejuvenation" 25 times in his 35-minute speech, making it one of the most emphasized messages.

Xi believes that rejuvenation requires both strategic design and hard work. He took the lead by being a man of action. In 2019 alone, he took part in more than 500 important events. His working itinerary covered weekends of about 30 weeks in that year. He revised each draft of major reform plans.

Although Xi has little time for himself, he manages to find time for swimming. This and physical labor during his youth ensure that he has enough stamina to deal with affairs of the Party, government, and the military. More importantly, he is driven by a sense of mission.

"Happiness is achieved through hard work," he said.

Xi often visits farms, fishing villages, farmers' houses, small eateries, supermarkets, factory workshops, laboratories, hospitals, schools, and even inspects pigsties and toilets to obtain first-hand information of people's livelihood.

Xi Jinping inspects a primary school of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Zhang Mengjin, a former colleague of Xi's in Zhejiang Province, said: "Xi takes in enough knowledge day to day so it is impossible to fool him with lies or bragging. We have to be honest when reporting to him."

Xi has stood the test in the face of numerous hurdles and crises over the past nine years.

In early 2015, when Yemen descended into chaos, he directed the navy to evacuate hundreds of stranded Chinese nationals.

When the United States initiated a trade war against China, he devised the strategy that China does not want a trade war but is not afraid of one and will fight one if necessary.

He also said strengthening dialogue and cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries. "The vast Pacific Ocean has enough space for the two large countries of China and the United States," Xi said.

From conducting regular patrols in the waters of Diaoyu Islands, fending off the so-called South China Sea arbitration, finding solutions to China-India border conflicts, to facilitating the return of Chinese people illegally detained overseas, Xi has spearheaded strategic and tactical planning and, if necessary, personally intervened.

In 2019, when social unrest gripped Hong Kong, he directed efforts to safeguard the "one country, two systems" cause and crush attempts to instigate a "color revolution."

On the eve of Lunar New Year 2020, with the COVID-19 epidemic clouding festivities, Xi had a sleepless night. The next day, he convened a Party leadership meeting to discuss the country's response. Before the meeting, Xi had made a decision to tighten restrictions on the movement of people and channels of exit in Hubei and Wuhan. Time has shown how this strict approach was the only viable option.

Xi Jinping speaks with a patient and medical workers by video link at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Xi introduced "black swan" and "gray rhino" into Party parlance. Han, the Party school professor, identified risk prevention and defusing as a major highlight of the new era.

"It is indeed a huge responsibility and arduous task to govern such a big country," Xi said when answering a question from a foreign politician. "I am willing to be selfless and devote myself to China's development. I will not let the people down."

BREAKING NEW GROUND OF REFORM

When Xi took office as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China's strength had significantly risen after more than 30 years of reform and opening up. Yet, it was not without problems, including downward pressure on the economy, wealth disparities, environmental damage, and social tension. Reforms also encountered some resistance. A more scientific top-level approach was needed.

Xi designed a Chinese model of modernization characterized by an innovative, coordinated, green, and open development path that is for everyone.

Xi Jinping applauds for the personnel awarded with medals during a grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Observers say this development vision is intended to lead socialist China out of a development trap reliant on extensive and inefficient growth at the cost of ecological damage, shifting the country to high-quality development, and avoiding situations where the rich become richer and the poor poorer.

As head of the central commission for deepening overall reform, formerly a central leading group, Xi launched a series of reforms that broke new ground while furthering Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up.

Reform has reached into diverse fields, spanning land-use policies, Party building in state-owned firms, judicial procedure, family planning, fiscal and tax policies, the real estate market, science and technology, and anti-monopoly.

One reform measure, above all, stands out: the modernization of institutions, which directly impacts China's long-term development and stability. Its essence is upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics, and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance.

At times, reforms encountered great difficulties. To address controversies and eliminate obstructions, Xi himself had to give the final say.

Xi headed a group tasked with drafting the document of the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The document centered on deepening overall reform.

Officials and experts who participated in the drafting and appraisals said Xi personally conducted research and made decisions, facilitating many breakthroughs. For example, the new proposition "let the market play the decisive role in resource allocation" resulted from Xi's vital decision.

"Without General Secretary Xi's determination, it would not have been possible to roll out many major reforms," said a source familiar with the process.

To reverse environmental damage, Xi demanded that polluting factories address problems or face closure. He issued a 10-year ban on fishing to protect China's longest river, the Yangtze. He gave six instructions to demolish illegally constructed villas in the Qinling Mountains, home to giant pandas, snub-nosed monkeys, and many other rare wild animals.

Xi Jinping learns about ecological conservation of the Qinling Mountains at Niubeiliang National Nature Reserve, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

For many Chinese people, environmental improvements are obvious. In 2020, the percentage of days with good air quality was 87 percent in cities at and above the prefecture level. The proportion of surface water with fairly good quality rose to 83.4 percent. As a result, 89.5 percent of Chinese people were satisfied with the environment.

Reforms have made China more open. In 2013, the first pilot free trade zone was established in Shanghai. Now the number of such zones has reached 21, including the entire island of Hainan, which is roughly the size of a small European country. China's negative list for foreign investment has been further shortened.

While some countries chose to erect trade barriers, China made itself host of a series of global trade and investment fairs. Xi personally initiated the China International Import Expo, one of the multiple national-level expos across the country. China also took the lead in ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

By the end of 2020, China had rolled out 2,485 reform plans in over seven years. The targets and missions set at the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee had been essentially accomplished as scheduled, Xi announced.

From 2013 to 2020, China's GDP grew by about 6.4 percent each year on average, contributing more than 30 percent of world economic growth on average for many years in a row. China's GDP exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan threshold in 2020, or about seven-tenths of that of the United States.

In 2021, China ranked 12th in the Global Innovation Index, higher than Japan, Israel, and Canada. It is the top recipient of foreign direct investment and the world's No. 1 consumer market.

So far, the most impressive achievement in the new era has been the accomplishment of the "first centenary goal," namely building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Liu Ronggang, another research fellow at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee.

The term moderately prosperous, or "Xiaokang" in Chinese, originates from the Book of Songs of ancient China. It is an aspiration for a well-off life cherished by the Chinese people for thousands of years.

The country has the world's most extensive social security system in scale and the largest middle-income group. Extreme poverty has ended, once and for all.

Over the past nine years, about 100 million people have been hoisted out of extreme poverty.

Xi ordered Party members and officials to be stationed at impoverished villages to carry out targeted poverty alleviation measures at the front line.

Xi himself had visited every one of the country's 14 contiguous poorest areas. Eliminating extreme poverty was likened to fighting a war. Indeed, the campaign had its fallen heroes, with more than 1,800 people dying in the line of duty.

Xi also comprehensively reformed the armed forces. Reiterating the principle established by Mao Zedong that "the Party commands the gun," Xi introduced a series of reforms in the military's leadership and command system, size, structure, and force composition. He demanded the military be combat-ready. He regularly inspected military bases. He boarded China's first domestically built aircraft carrier and new-generation nuclear-powered submarine.

Xi Jinping boards the aircraft carrier Shandong and reviews the guard of honor at a naval port in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Gerd Kaminski, an Austrian legal scholar and sinologist, said that after the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Chinese characteristics became an increasingly central guiding principle in all significant issues of China's development, including its governing philosophy.

In such a process, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has stood the test, said Han Qingxiang. "It effectively leads the historical course of national rejuvenation and influences the whole world."

CONTRIBUTING TO GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Xi has been at the forefront of China's efforts to engage with and contribute to the global community.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, he had visited 69 countries in 41 tours and been the first Chinese head of state to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. He has said that, while spending so much time on overseas visits might be deemed a "luxury," he sees it as "worthwhile."

His schedule during overseas visits is usually very tight and can last until the small hours. He had even spent his birthday during an overseas tour.

"Everything we Chinese communists do is to better the lives of the Chinese people, renew the Chinese nation, and promote peace and development for humanity," Xi said.

Altay Atli, a scholar based in Istanbul, Turkey, noted that there is a transformation of China's participation in international affairs, whether economic or diplomatic, under Xi's leadership, and that the world is witnessing the emergence of a major country with global influence.

"The world is too big, with too many challenges, to go without the voice from China being heard, without solution ideas from China being shared, without the involvement of China being needed," Xi said.

In 2013, Xi raised the notion of "building a community with a shared future for humanity."

When elaborating on the specifics of his vision, Xi proposed that the international community should promote partnership, security, growth, inter-civilization exchanges, and the building of a sound ecosystem, citing a proverb: "The interests to be considered should be the interests of all."

A community with a shared future for humanity comes from an excellent pedigree. Political scientists have noted that the notion inherits the Marxist idea of "an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all," and the Chinese ideal of "harmony." It is the most recent proposition on foreign affairs floated by the CPC, following Mao Zedong's "Three Worlds Theory" and Deng Xiaoping's "peace and development as two main world themes."

The response from the international community has been positive. When Xi presented his vision at the Palace of Nations, the United Nations Office at Geneva, in January 2017, politicians, diplomats, and celebrities across the world responded with more than 30 waves of applause in 47 minutes.

Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech "Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind" at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Under this concept, Xi proposed a new approach to international relations based on mutually beneficial cooperation and the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in global governance.

"What kind of international order and governance system best suits the world and best suits the people of all countries? This is something that should be decided by all countries through consultation, and not by a single country or a few countries," he said.

The same principle runs through the framework for major-country relations, as advocated by Xi, which features overall stability and balanced development. On many occasions, he has stressed that if nations maintain communication and treat each other with sincerity, the "Thucydides trap" can be avoided.

By 2019, 180 countries had diplomatic relations with China, a sharp increase from around 30 in the 1950s. Over the past few years, five countries in Central America and the Pacific region established or resumed diplomatic ties with China.

"We have friends in every corner of the world," Xi said.

When meeting with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel via video link in October, Xi called her an old friend: "The Chinese people put a premium on friendship; we will not forget old friends and will always keep the door open for you."

The same year that Xi first called on the world to jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity, he also proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By August 2021, about 172 countries and international organizations had signed more than 200 cooperation documents with China under this framework. According to a report from the World Bank, BRI projects could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty globally.

Xi has personally visited several BRI projects, including the Piraeus Port in Greece, the Smederevo steel plant in Serbia, and the China-Belarus Industrial Park in Minsk, Belarus.

Global development, however, should not come at the cost of the environment, and in 2020 Xi offered a clear signal of commitment when he told the world that China would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

"The world should thank China for its contribution to climate change responses," said former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Xi offered China's strong support of the Paris Agreement four years ago and, without China's support, the agreement would not be the way it is now, Rudd added.

Xi's commitment to offering a helping hand transcends environmental and development issues. Today, China is a vital force in addressing global and regional flashpoint issues, ranging from nuclear proliferation to pandemic response.

"We need to 'join hands' with each other instead of 'letting go.' We need to 'tear down walls,' not to 'erect walls'," he said.

A few months ago, when the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops triggered unrest in Afghanistan, Xi had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and met leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members via video link to call for support of the steady transition of Afghanistan, engage the country in dialogue, and help the Afghan people.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Xi called for global solidarity and cooperation. By his instruction, China provided anti-virus material for more than 150 countries and 14 international organizations and sent 37 medical teams to 34 countries.

He pledged to make Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good and promised that China would provide 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world this year. The country also promised to donate 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX.

Xi Jinping chairs the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 and delivers a keynote speech in Beijing, capital of China, June 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

Over the past 100 years, the world's most populous country has been on an almost unbelievable journey -- from a poverty-stricken nation to one where basic needs are met to its current state of moderate prosperity. Xi deemed this achievement a contribution to humanity.

More than 70 percent of worldwide poverty reduction over the last 40 years was in and by China, which means it realized its poverty reduction goal from the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule.

Describing her impressions of Xi, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, called him "a seasoned captain" whose contributions, such as advocating multilateralism, the BRI, and the notion of a community with a shared future for humanity, have been significant.

FULFILLING NEW MISSIONS

The CPC plans to achieve national rejuvenation through a pair of goals, known as "two centenaries."

During the past nine years, as the Party's most senior leader, Xi has led the country in completing the first step and chaired the design of the second step of this historic plan.

First, socialist modernization should be "basically realized" by 2035, and second, China should be built into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, which will be around the centenary of the PRC.

Supplementary road maps support these overarching goals. Most notably, Xi spearheaded the drafting of the Party leadership's proposals for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, which were adopted in October 2020.

Xi has described the CPC's past century as "a historic miracle" and expressed confidence that the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is dawning. However, he also warned that this is no time for indecision. "At this critical moment, we must not stop, hesitate or wait," Xi said.

He warned that achieving national rejuvenation will be no walk in the park, and the coming tests will only become more complex.

"Realizing this great dream demands a great struggle," he said.

Therefore, the upcoming sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee comes at a significant time, as a resolution on the major achievements and historical experience in the Party's 100-year history will be discussed.

"Over its 100-year struggle, the CPC has accumulated rich experience, understood important rules, developed governance theories and earned wisdom. This great treasure should be summarized to inspire the Party's governance better," Han Qingxiang said.

Over the past 100 years, the CPC has adopted just two resolutions related to historical issues, in 1945 and 1981. They analyzed the causes and drew conclusions on important historical events and figures, through which the whole Party came to a clear consensus and thus grew stronger in unity.

"The Party's previous resolutions on historical issues played a profound role in building consensus and rallying strength to fulfill new missions. This is what we expect from the upcoming plenary session," said Wang Junwei, the research fellow.

History has emerged as something of a buzzword for all CPC members this year. A sweeping education campaign helped cadres recognize the Party's history, and a new Museum of the CPC was inaugurated.

On June 18, Xi and his colleagues toured the museum, viewing exhibits such as bonds issued by the Qing government used to pay for the war indemnity required by the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki; the manuscript of Karl Marx's notes from Brussels; the list of the 58 CPC members when the Party was founded; the car manufactured in the PRC's early years; and the model of China's Mars rover. Each display bore vivid testimony to how the Party led China.

The exhibition ended with a "time tunnel," linking all significant historical junctures from 1921 until today, leading the audience to the future.

Xi once quoted Mao Zedong, saying that "after several decades, the victory of the Chinese people's democratic revolution, viewed in retrospect, will seem like only a brief prologue to a long drama. A drama begins with a prologue, but the prologue is not the climax."

"History has not ended, nor can it possibly end," he said at the conference marking the 95th anniversary of the CPC's founding. "The CPC and Chinese people have every confidence in their ability to provide a Chinese solution to aid the exploration of a better social system for humanity."

After concluding their exhibition tour, Xi and his colleagues took a vow in front of the Party flag, reliving a ritual undertaken by all new CPC members.

"I will fight for communism for the rest of my life," Xi said, leading the oath.

Xi Jinping leads other CPC and state leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan to review the Party admission oath after visiting an exhibition on CPC history at the Museum of the CPC in Beijing, capital of China, June 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Liang Jun)
China spearheads economic globalization two decades after WTO entry

Xinhua) 09:50, November 06, 2021

Aerial photo taken on April 19, 2017 shows the pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

SHANGHAI, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China has emerged as a significant player, advancing economic globalization with openness as a hallmark and shared prosperity as a vision of the world's second-largest economy.

Since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country's economic size has grown from the 6th to the second-largest in the world. Its trade in goods grew from the 6th to the first, and trade in services from the 11th to the second place worldwide.

It has led developing countries in utilized foreign investment, while outbound direct investment has risen from the 26th to the first position.

The changes mirrored China's consistent efforts in embracing the global economy by facilitating global trade and investment and upholding multilateralism.

DEEPER INTEGRATION

The latest moves to expand opening-up came at the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) that started on Thursday. At the expo, the country announced that it would set up more demonstration zones for the creative promotion of import trade. It will also promote Silk Road e-commerce.

China has previously designated several cities for developing international consumption centers, and it vowed at the CIIE that the building of such centers would accelerate. It would also establish a modern logistics system and boost its cross-border logistics capabilities to share the opening-up fruits with the world.

The opening-up determination has remained steadfast over time. Earlier in September, China announced new measures to open up its services sector. The measures include implementing a negative list for cross-border services trade and exploring the development of national demonstration zones for the innovative development of trade in services, among others.

Since 2013, China has built 21 pilot free trade zones, representing the new high ground for opening-up. Recent years have also seen opening-up measures, including enacting the foreign investment law, implementing pre-establishment national treatment, and shortening the negative list for foreign businesses.

The country has always supported multilateral and regional mechanisms to play a bigger role and developing countries to gain more representation.

Last month, China officially applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and vowed more efforts to expand market access than its practices in any existing trade pact.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, is the world's largest free trade agreement, covering about 30 percent of the world's population.

China, a member of the RCEP, has stated its readiness to further boost economic integration and recovery in the region through mutually beneficial cooperation with ASEAN on many occasions.

The signing ceremony of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement is held via video conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nov. 15, 2020. (VNA via Xinhua)

The enactment of the agreement is significant for further promoting intra-regional free trade, stabilizing industrial and supply chains, and promoting China's high-level opening-up, said China's Ministry of Commerce.

George Ye, vice president and general manager of Edwards Lifesciences Greater China, said China has made vital contributions to the world economy since its accession to the WTO.

The company is honored to witness China living up to its commitments when joining the WTO, continuing to open up to the outside world, accelerating the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and improving its business environment, said Ye.

SHARED OPPORTUNITIES

As an old Chinese saying goes, "A single flower does not make spring." China's opening-up endeavors never lead to development behind closed doors, but mutual benefits enjoyed by all.

Over the years, China has unveiled multiple measures to lower market access thresholds to share market opportunities with the rest of the world.

It fulfilled its pledge of lowering the import tariff for goods to 9.8 percent from 15.3 percent when it joined the WTO 20 years ago. At present, its overall import tax stands at 7.4 percent, lower than the average level of developing members of the WTO, and is approaching the level of developed members of the organization.

Non-tariff barriers for international trade have also been significantly reduced, with non-tariff measures covering 424 tariff categories scrapped by January 2005.

Aerial photo taken on Jan. 11, 2021 shows a view of the Pacific international container terminal at Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

Just as China benefited from increased exports, its trading partners similarly benefited from China's increased purchasing power and rising imports, said Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan.

The country has also endeavored to provide public goods to facilitate global and regional economic and social development.

The CIIE, the world's first import-themed national-level expo, is one of such platforms for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchanges, and open cooperation.

The ongoing fourth edition of the expo has drawn nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions. Over 80 percent of the world's top 500 companies and industry leaders who participated in the previous expos are here this year. The total exhibition area for businesses has expanded to 366,000 square meters.

Enjoying a larger venue, a record number of U.S. companies are attending this year's event. It is also seeing the participation of 90 companies from 33 least developed countries.

Visitors talk with each other at the Caterpillar booth during the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Xu Liang)

In the past 20 years, China has become the largest trading partner of most developing countries. Significantly, the country absorbs 20 percent of the least developed countries' exports, thanks to its duty-free and quota-free market-accessing initiative in favor of these countries, said Grynspan.

Eyeing more business opportunities from the world's largest market, participants from all over the world have hailed the CIIE as a platform for sharing China's development dividends.

Jose Vinals, chairman of Standard Chartered Group, said the expo is exciting and provides a powerful platform for exporters, suppliers, and service providers globally to connect with the opportunities in China.

When commenting on China's transformation in the past two decades, Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and Chief Executive Officer of L'Oreal China, said the country is committed to making the market more stable, transparent, predictable, and fair.

"It has also injected prosperity and stability into the whole world - from streamlining administration and delegating power, to reducing taxes and fees, international exchange to local innovation," said Megarbane.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), another global public good, has grown into the world's largest international cooperation platform over the past eight years, with over 200 cooperation agreements inked between China and over 170 countries and international organizations.

Through the BRI, China, in combination with different countries' competitive advantages, offered investments to accelerate economic development, and promote social welfare, said Sergei Glazyev, member of the board (minister) of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

China is leading the world's socio-economic development, and its proposal of building a community with a shared future for humanity inspires many Eurasian countries, Glazyev said.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said China has successfully positioned itself at the core of many global value chains. These production and trade networks have not only provided a lifeline for many countries during the pandemic, but also increased the quantity, quality, and variety of goods available worldwide.

Looking back over the past two decades, China's WTO accession is nothing less than the completion of the largest trading bridge between China and the West since Marco Polo's expedition in the 13th century, Okonjo-Iweala said.

"The WTO would not be the World Trade Organization without China," she said when addressing a high-level session held Friday on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO via video.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
China fully delivers on its WTO pledges

China Daily) 10:02, November 06, 2021

China has fully delivered on its accession commitments to the World Trade Organization, and its concrete actions to continuously expand opening-up have been spurring domestic development while injecting fresh impetus into the global economy, according to political leaders, experts and business executives on Friday.

They also said that WTO reforms should be conducive in safeguarding free trade and multilateralism, to reflect the interests of all and benefit all, especially the legitimate rights and interests of developing members.

Vice-President Wang Qishan said that based on its own conditions and the general trend of the world, China has been deepening reforms and expanding opening-up, to develop itself and benefit the world. He was speaking at the high-level session on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO, which was held on Friday in Shanghai as a sideline event of the fourth China International Import Expo and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum.

"With fully delivering on the commitment to opening-up, China has actively advanced independent development, to create a new wave of economic development for itself and the world," Wang said.

Since joining the WTO in 2001, China has made vigorous efforts to align itself with and abide by the organization's rules and open its market.

China's overall tariff rate has been lowered from 15.3 percent to 7.4 percent. The level is lower than that of all developing members and close to that of developed members of the organization, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Wang said that China, the world's second-largest economy, now contributes to about 30 percent of global economic growth.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the WTO, said China today plays a central role in global trade, and has successfully positioned itself at the core of many global value chains.

"These production and trade networks have not only provided a lifeline for many countries during the pandemic, but they've also increased the quantity, quality and variety of goods available around the world," she said at the event via video.

Leon Wang, executive vice-president of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, said China joining the WTO was a milestone both for China's opening-up and economic globalization.

The two decades since have been a period of deep integration, shared opportunity and joint growth between China and the rest of the world, and the Chinese market offers huge potential for foreign investors, he said.

According to the World Openness Report 2021 on the openness of 129 economies between 2008 and 2019, the global openness index had declined to 0.748 from 0.779 over that period, mainly due to a decline in North America.

The report was released jointly on Friday by the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Center for the Hongqiao International Economic Forum.

China's ranking on the openness index, on the contrary, rose from 62nd in 2008 to 40th in 2019, growing from 0.6768 to 0.742, the report showed.

That marked China's great contribution to global openness while injecting positive energy to the enhancement of exchanges among mankind, according to Zhang Yuyan, director of the institute.

Lensey Chen, president of the China arm of Novozymes, a Danish biological solutions provider and expert in enzymes and microbes, said with openness as the hallmark of China's growth, the country has seen its economy increasingly intertwined with its partners, and Novozymes will continue to increase its investment in China.

With rising protectionism in some countries, officials and experts also said the WTO could maintain its vitality only by constantly adapting to the development and changes of the global economy, and by reflecting the interests and requirements of all, especially developing countries.

Hong Junjie, vice-president of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the WTO reforms must balance well the interests of developed and developing members to strengthen its effectiveness and authority, as different development levels have resulted in different appeals and demands for reforms among its members.

He also suggested that WTO reforms should progress as soon as possible with urgent issues such as the recovery of the functions of the organization's appellate body.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Xi suggests China, New Zealand promote true multilateralism, regional integration

Xinhua) 10:18, November 06, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that China and New Zealand should safeguard and practice true multilateralism, and join hands to promote regional economic integration.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.

Xi recalled that China and New Zealand worked together to overcome political, historical and cultural differences and created multiple "firsts" in bilateral cooperation.

Noting that the next year marks the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, Xi said the two sides should summarize successful experience, strengthen strategic communication, and not allow the cloud to block their views.

The two sides, he added, should adhere to openness and inclusiveness, seek common ground while reserving differences, deepen practical cooperation, and properly handle differences, so as to promote continued healthy and stable development of their comprehensive strategic partnership and create more benefits for the people in both countries.

Xi pointed out that the two sides should give full play to their complementary advantages, expand economic and trade cooperation and maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains.

China, he said, welcomes New Zealand's participation in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and stands ready to work with New Zealand to expand cooperation in such areas as vaccine research and development, environmental protection, clean energy, food safety, science and technology education, so as to bring their people a stronger sense of fulfillment.

The two sides should also carry forward "the spirit of Rewi Alley," encourage their young generations to strengthen exchanges, and enhance understanding and friendship between the two nations, he added.

Xi stressed that China supports New Zealand's role as the host of the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, and is willing to work with all other parties to push for positive results in the APEC informal economic leaders' meeting.

In doing so, he said, they can inject new impetus into the Asia-Pacific region's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, advance economic recovery, promote regional development and prosperity, and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Xi says China to work with Syria to promote common values of humanity

Xinhua) 10:19, November 06, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that China is ready to work with Syria to promote the common values of humanity and facilitate dialogue between civilizations.

In a phone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Xi also called for joint efforts to defend international equity and justice, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Xi noted that Syria is one of the first Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China and one of the co-sponsors of the UN General Assembly resolution that restored China's lawful seat in the United Nations.

Since the establishment of China-Syria diplomatic ties 65 years ago, bilateral relations have withstood the test of changes in the international situation, and the friendship between the two countries has grown stronger, he said.

China, he added, attaches great importance to the development of China-Syria relations and is ready to work with Syria to achieve more results in bilateral friendly cooperation.

China will continue to assist Syria to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and support it advancing reconstruction and resuming development, he said, adding that his country also welcomes Syria's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative.

Xi stressed that China firmly supports Syria in safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity, and firmly opposes interference by external forces in Syria's internal affairs.

He said he is confident that Syria will overcome various risks and challenges, and achieve new victories in the struggle to defend independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the Syrian people will embrace a better future.

For his part, Assad extended congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of New China's lawful seat in the United Nations, which he said bears great significance to the Chinese people.

China has made great contributions to safeguarding world peace, stability and development, he said.

The Syrian government and people, he added, sincerely thank China for supporting Syria in safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity, opposing external interference in Syria's internal affairs, and upholding international law and international equity and justice.

Syria attaches great importance to its friendly relations with China, supports the Belt and Road Initiative, hopes to expand and deepen cooperation with China, and welcomes Chinese companies to increase investment in Syria, he said.

Noting that socialism with Chinese characteristics has achieved great success, he said Syria is willing to learn from China's relevant concepts and experience.

Syria, he added, will continue to firmly support China on issues related to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea, among others.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
CIIE deepens int'l trade cooperation, boosts common development: People's Daily

Xinhua) 10:22, November 06, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and 20 years since China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Holding a high-level import expo in such a special year reflects China's commitment to opening-up, its pursuit of common development and its contributions to the world's economic recovery, according to a commentary published by the People's Daily on Thursday.

The fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's first import-themed national-level exhibition, is being held in Shanghai.

The import expo has not only served as a venue for new global products, technologies and services to enter China, but also as an accelerator for win-win cooperation in the world economy and trade, the commentary said.

Since the first CIIE in 2018, the import expo has consistently seen its global spillovers expand.

The total exhibition area of the fourth CIIE has been expanded to over 360,000 square meters. Fortune 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises have actively participated in the expo, as have small and medium-sized overseas firms.

The appeal of the CIIE also comes from the strong resilience and great potential of the Chinese economy, and the country's continuous efforts to open its doors wider to the world, the commentary said.

China's development and the world's prosperity are intertwined. The CIIE will be a key driver boosting the high-quality development of the Chinese economy, and will definitely add new impetus to the world's development, according to the commentary.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Chinese vice president vows further opening-up at high-level forum

Xinhua) 10:24, November 06, 2021

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan visits exhibitions of the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 4, 2021. Wang on Thursday attended the opening ceremony of the 4th CIIE and visited exhibitions. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

SHANGHAI, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Friday vowed efforts to expand high-level opening-up and share development opportunities with the world.

Wang made the remarks at a high-level forum concerning the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), held during the ongoing 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

China will open wider to the outside world and continue to create a market environment in which Chinese and foreign companies are treated as equals and compete on a level playing field, Wang said.

The country will firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, push WTO reform in the right direction in a constructive manner, and support the WTO in playing a more active role in international economic governance, he said.

He also vowed efforts to deepen regional and bilateral economic and trade cooperation while taking part in negotiations to sign more high-standard free trade agreements.

China will do its best to provide goods and vaccines for pandemic control to the international community, and will help all countries restore their economies as soon as possible, he said.

Wang on Thursday attended the opening ceremony of the 4th CIIE and visited exhibitions. He paid a visit to a special exhibition on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO on Friday.

Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and Li Qiang, secretary of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee, attended relevant events.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
55 IS militants surrender in Afghanistan's Nangarhar: official

Xinhua) 10:28, November 06, 2021

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Fifty-five members of the Islamic State (IS) terror group surrendered to Taliban rulers in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, a Taliban provincial official said on Friday.

"Following efforts by local elders, a total of 55 members of Daesh (the IS) group gave up fighting and surrendered to the provincial department of General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) in Nangarhar Friday," Mohammad Bashir from the provincial intelligence office told reporters.

The surrendered militants were active in Batil Kot, Achin and Spin Ghar districts of Nangarhar, a known IS militants' stronghold, according to the source.

The incident occurred amid military pressure mounted by Taliban security forces on militants in the country's eastern mountainous region.

The IS militants have not responded to the report so far.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Aircraft designer Gu Songfen wins China's top science award

10:52, November 06, 2021 By Liu Shiyao ( People's Daily

Gu Songfen works in his office. (Photo courtesy of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd.)

Chinese aircraft designer Gu Songfen won China's top science award for his outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

An awards ceremony was held on Nov. 3 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to honor Gu, a leading scientist at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd., as well as other scientists with major contributions.

Gu, an academician at both the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was born in 1930 in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province. He started working for the aviation industry after graduating from university in 1951.

In 1956, the first airplane design office of the People's Republic of China was established in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province, and Gu was appointed the head of an aerodynamics group.

It was there that Gu encountered the first major challenge of his career - the aerodynamic design of the jet trainer Shenyang JJ-1, the very first jet aircraft of China.

Gu, who studied propeller-driven aircraft at university, didn't know much about jet aircraft. Therefore, he had to learn new stuffs, day and night.

He heard that Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, had the documents that he might need, so he went to Beijing from Shenyang. In order to minimize the disturbance to students, he searched for and studied the materials in the university's library at night. Finally, he came up with the aerodynamic design criteria for subsonic aircraft and the engineering calculation method for aerodynamic properties, and completed the aerodynamic layout plan for the Shenyang JJ-1.

Following this initial achievement, Gu completed the aerodynamic layout plan for the Nanchang CJ-6, the first Chinese basic trainer aircraft, and established an aerodynamic design system for subsonic aircraft.

Immediately after that, he joined aerodynamic studies of supersonic aircraft, and the aircraft aerodynamic design system he established is still an important reference for Chinese aircraft designers today.

In 1964, China started developing its first high-speed and high-altitude interceptor fighter jets - J-8, and Gu led the aircraft's aerodynamic design as a deputy chief designer. Later, he was appointed the chief designer of the project.

Sixteen years later, he was again appointed the chief designer of J-8 II, the next generation of the J-8 interceptor that outperforms its predecessor in every aspect. He led over 100 design and manufacturing organizations, and sent the aircraft into the air in only four years.

Gu said his biggest wish is to never leave the cause of aviation.

In 1986, Gu was transferred to Beijing for work, where his major duty was to make decisions on major national projects and to make suggestions on the aeronautic equipment system construction and the layout of the country's national defense.

He still pays close attention to the development of aircraft, and has joined the making of multiple airplanes, including the narrow-body airliner C919, the fighter jet J-10, the large military transport aircraft Y-20, the supersonic advanced jet trainer JL-9 and the regional jet ARJ21. Besides, he is also actively promoting the development of Chinese seaplanes.

Though the nonagenarian had gone through surgeries, he's still working every day. It takes him longer to cover the distance between his home and his office, which used to cost him around 10 minutes, but he is still punctual.

"To learn the new development of aviation industry is what makes me happy in my twilight years. All I can do now is to read some books, translate some materials and try to offer as much assistance as possible for the young people," he said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
China calls on all parties in Sudan to properly resolve differences via dialogue: diplomat

Xinhua) 13:40, November 06, 2021

GENEVA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China follows the latest developments of the situation in Sudan and calls on all parties in the country to properly resolve their differences through dialogue so as to maintain national peace and stability, a Chinese diplomat said here on Friday.

Speaking at the one-day special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights implications of the ongoing situation in Sudan, Li Song, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Mission in Geneva, stressed that China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and believes that the Sudanese people have the wisdom and ability to handle their internal affairs well.

"China supports the Sudanese people in solving the Sudanese issue on their own, and calls on the international community to create a favorable external environment for all parties in Sudan to resolve the issue through dialogue," Li said.

The Chinese diplomat told the Council that China has always advocated that all parties handle differences in the field of human rights through constructive dialogue and cooperation, since external pressure will only complicate the issue.

"The Human Rights Council should conduct its work impartially and objectively, and avoid politicizing human rights issues. The relevant discussions and actions of the Human Rights Council should help the relevant parties in Sudan to conduct dialogue and help Sudan maintain peace and stability, not the other way around," he said.

The Sudanese army dissolved the power-sharing transitional government and detained civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his cabinet on Oct. 25.

On Thursday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, to find a political solution to the ongoing crisis during a phone call.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
U.S. officials slammed for supporting Taiwan's participation in UN system

Xinhua) 13:51, November 06, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday reiterated that Taiwan, as a part of China rather than a sovereign state, can be neither a member of the United Nations nor of any specialized agency under the UN, including the World Health Organization.

This fact is an international consensus and cannot be denied by certain people in the United States, said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, in response to certain U.S. officials' support of Taiwan participating in the UN system.

The UN Resolution 2758 has resolved once and for all the issue of China's representation at the UN and other international institutions in political, legal and procedural terms, Zhu said, noting that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

Zhu urged the U.S. government to cease all remarks and behaviors that incite and support "Taiwan independence," and take concrete actions to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques.

She also urged the Democratic Progressive Party authority in Taiwan to cease seeking "independence" by relying on the United States or other foreign forces, stressing that any act that undermines the one-China principle and aims to split the country will fail.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Border city Ruili strives to balance daily life and COVID rules, manages to curb virus from spreading to inland despite of challenges

Global Times) 14:33, November 06, 2021

The complicated border control situations, a long border, conflicts in Myanmar and the highly contagious Delta variant have made the Southwest China's border city Ruili stand at the forefront of epidemic prevention and control as well as border control, and the city government, while adopting strict COVID-19 prevention measures, also tried to ensure local residents' daily life.

The unique and complicated situations required enhanced epidemic prevention measures in Ruili, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, which has seen the small border city of 210,000 people placed under lockdown three times this year, and Chinese health experts said strict measures have successfully ensured that Ruili did not spread cases to other provinces and have guarded the border for the country.

Local residents have suffered from difficulties in life with the resurgence of the epidemic and three lockdowns, but the Ruili government managed to meet residents' needs, from psychological counseling to daily necessities.

China's dynamic zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy has been implemented flexibly and precisely according to different situations in different regions, and China will not abandon the policy at this moment, even for cities like Ruili. It might face more challenges to achieve it, experts said.

In a recent move, the Ruili government came up with eight measures, including giving 1,000 yuan per person per year for villagers who live in border villages placed under lockdown, waiving the quarantine fee for close contacts, distributing subsidies for those who cannot work due to epidemic prevention, and providing daily necessities for villagers living in impoverished regions.

The measures were implemented on Thursday, and junior and senior high schools would gradually resume classes on Friday, the government said.

The measures were introduced after the city, which faced the risk of imported cases, took strict measures in March, such as closing factories, restaurants and shops, which affected people's normal life.

Experts said that the stringent COVID-19 policies Ruili adopted were sparked by grave challenges in both epidemic prevention and cracking down on border crimes.

Since October, more than 20 percent of overseas returnees have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ruili, reflecting the severe epidemic control situation.

Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Friday that Ruili faced huge pressure in epidemic prevention and control and preventing crimes. The pressure "was hard to imagine," given that the city has a long border and frequent people-to-people exchanges with Myanmar and has to deal with transnational crimes.

Exhausted border control staff have to work day and night to prevent transnational crimes such as illegal border-crossings, and Yunnan Province also organized a civilian force to deal with border control, Zeng said, noting that "no other provinces face such a grim condition in border control."

Under such circumstances, epidemic prevention would make their daily border control work more difficult, and the sporadic infections are inevitable for Ruili, Zeng said.

Ruili timely detected and managed imported infections, and the patients were treated immediately. Almost no critically ill cases were reported, Zeng said. He urged people to appreciate the Ruili government's hard work.

Myanmar has reported around 1,000 COVID-19 cases per day this week. The Ruili government donated 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Muse region of Myanmar, which borders Ruili, on October 27.

Many ordinary residents of Ruili have contributed to the epidemic prevention.

A civil servant dispatched for border control work in Wanding port, east of Ruili, which borders Myanmar, in February, told the Global Times on Friday that Ruili built iron fences along the border to prevent stowaways since early 2020, and patrol stations every few hundred meters along the border have been set up.

Ruili is connected to Myanmar by mountains and rivers, and has the most number of boundary markers along the China-Myanmar border. With a border stretching 170 kilometers, Ruili has 10 ports, and villages in China and Myanmar are closely connected.

"Intermarriages along the border between Chinese and the Burmese are very common, and many villages have both Chinese and Myanmar residents. It's pretty normal for Myanmar residents to come to Ruili for medical services or business before the epidemic. The frequent communication and cross-border trade added much difficulty to daily border control and epidemic prevention work," a civil servant surnamed Zhang said.

He said some people sneaked into Ruili to escape the conflict in Myanmar, as he could sometimes hear the sound of gunfire from Myanmar while patrolling Wanding port, and some who could not continue work due to the worsening epidemic in Myanmar also tried to come to China.

Some NGOs and volunteers from other provinces and cities also helped Ruili fight the epidemic, as volunteers helped arrange food for villagers living along the border.

However, some Western media, while turning a blind eye to the complicated situations in Ruili, have targeted China's zero-COVID-19 policy, slandering China's anti-pandemic approach for causing "disruptions" in Ruili.

Zeng warned that China should not let the foreign media's sniping shake the country's confidence. "We are at a highland [of fighting the coronavirus] that they cannot attain. Those who mock us are from countries which have reported more than 10,000 cases daily, yet we report less than 100."

Zeng said that China, including border city of Ruili, has to stick to the dynamic zero-tolerance policy, even if it becomes more difficult and may take longer to achieve for cities like Ruili.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Throughout 2021, a special year in China's history, the schedule of Xi Jinping has been busy.

Over the past months, he addressed a ceremony marking the Party's centenary, announced the realization of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, inspected Tibet, talked to astronauts working at China's first space station, attended online meetings of the United Nations, and held phone or video talks with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden.



Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Next week, Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will attend a high-profile Party plenum -- the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. A landmark document will be tabled at this important meeting -- the resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC's 100 years of endeavors.

Few political parties worldwide could boast such a long history and uninterrupted period of state governance. The CPC has been China's ruling party for 72 years. Presently, Xi is the core of the CPC leadership. Before him, generations of central collective leadership had spanned the decades with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao as chief representatives.

Since being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012, Xi has been seen as a man of determination and action, a man of profound thoughts and feelings, a man who inherited a legacy but dares to innovate, and a man who has forward-looking vision and is committed to working tirelessly.

Under his leadership, China is becoming a powerful country, and is now entering an era of strength, according to Channel News Asia.

On the new journey, Xi is undoubtedly the core figure in charting the course of history. How will he lead the Party in the face of opportunities and challenges? How will he bring China back to the world's center stage? Today, the world is watching Xi just closely as nine years ago.

WALKING WITH THE PEOPLE

In September, during an inspection of the village of Gaoxigou in northwestern Shaanxi Province, Xi stopped by farmlands to check the crops and chat with villagers working in the fields. Xi hailed the achievements of local poverty alleviation. Gaoxigou was once an impoverished village; today it is prosperous thanks to the relentless efforts of cadres and villagers.

It was in 1974 in Shaanxi's Liangjiahe, about 150 km from Gaoxigou, that Xi joined the Party. He was just 15 years old when he arrived in Liangjiahe in 1969 as an "educated youth." He would spend the next seven years living in the small village on the rural Loess Plateau; at the end of a day's labor, he would return to his primitive cave house and sleep on a simple clay bed. It would take 38 years and multiple postings across various levels of the Party's hierarchy until he would be elevated to the top job.

After joining the CPC, Xi became Party secretary of Liangjiahe. Shedding light on his caliber, one of his village colleagues said Xi "worked conscientiously, had many ideas and could unite the people and cadres."

Recalling his time in the impoverished village, Xi said what he wanted more than anything was to make it possible for the villagers to "have meat on their plates."

To improve the lives of those who called the community home, Xi initiated various projects, including wells, terraced fields, and methane-generating pits. These "simple" projects would have a significant impact on the villagers' lives, work, and attitudes.

In his spare time, the young Xi devoured as many books as he could. In particular, he read Das Kapital three times; his reflections on the seminal work filled 18 notebooks.

His father, Xi Zhongxun, was among the first generation of CPC central leaders. Xi Jinping often evoked the wisdom imparted to him by the elder Xi. Inspired by a much-loved school book, he decided he would carry on the revolutionary torch from a young age.

In 1975, Xi was admitted to the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. After graduating, he first worked at the general office of the Central Military Commission before moving to Zhengding, a county in northern Hebei Province, in 1982.

Recalling the move to Zhengding, Xi said he had volunteered to work at the grassroots level among the people. He said he wanted to "love the people like he loves his parents."

After Zhengding, Xi's political career took him to the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang and the metropolis of Shanghai. Wherever he went, his close ties with the people were notable. He wrote heartfelt essays commemorating his deceased friends and colleagues in Zhengding. He used his own money to help finance the medical treatment of a villager from Liangjiahe.

Xi's care for the people can be seen in every aspect of his work. Zhang Hongming, one of his colleagues back in Zhejiang, still remembers Xi's attitude and work ethic when the province was hit by typhoons.

"Even if nine of our ten evacuations are for nothing, we still need to do it to ensure the absolute safety of the people," Zhang said recalling Xi's instructions.

Xi's people-centered philosophy explains why he ordered unwavering efforts to save people's lives at all costs during the COVID-19 epidemic, said Liu Jingbei, a professor at the China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong, Shanghai.

In 2007, Xi returned to Beijing to sit on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and later became China's vice president. He oversaw areas including Party building, organizational work, Hong Kong and Macao affairs, and preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At the age of 59, Xi was elevated to the Party's most senior post in November 2012. About a month later, he braved the winter cold to visit poor villagers in Hebei. Sitting down with them, Xi asked about their income, and if they had sufficient food and enough quilts and coal to stay warm through the winter. Xi said his heart sank when he saw that some villagers were still struggling to make ends meet.



Xi Jinping visits impoverished villagers in Luotuowan Village of Longquanguan Township, Fuping County, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 30, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

STRENGTHENING THE PARTY

The year 2021 is also the ninth year of Xi's signature anti-corruption campaign, the most extensive in Chinese history. It shows no signs of letting up.

More than 20 high-level officials and executives in the financial sector have been punished or investigated this year. And in the past 30 days or so, one former ministerial-level official in the central government's law-enforcement apparatus was investigated while another was punished.

When Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China was already the world's second-largest economy. Yet, it faced challenges from within.

"Facts prove that if corruption is allowed to spread, it will eventually lead to the destruction of a party and the fall of a government," Xi said in a stern warning.

Over the past nine years, more than 400 officials at ministerial level or above have been punished or investigated, including a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and two former vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission. From 2014 to 2020, over 8,300 fugitives were repatriated from more than 120 countries and regions.

"In a critical time, Xi turned the tide," said a foreign media editorial.

Xi has ordered efforts to "lock power in the cage of systemic checks." He also spearheaded the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission. All public sector employees came under supervision following the supervisory reform.

As general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Xi has led efforts to formulate and revise around 200 intra-party regulations. He also launched five Party-wide education campaigns to firm up the ideals and convictions of Party members and ensure they act effectively and in unison.

Xi also attaches great importance to intra-party democracy. Solicited comments from CPC members are now incorporated into all Party national congress reports, documents reviewed at plenary sessions, and major Party documents, decisions, and reform policies.

By June this year, the number of CPC members had grown to 95 million, 10 million more than the population of Germany. Experts in China affairs say the Party has become more disciplined, pure, and powerful.

Xi Jinping is enjoying greater support within the CPC now than ever, said Neil Thomas, a China observer.

In 2016, the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee established Xi's status as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party.

Without a strong leadership core, the CPC would find it hard to unify the entire Party's will or build solidarity and unity among people of all ethnic groups. It would not be able to achieve anything or carry out any of its "great struggles with many new historical features," said Wang Junwei, a research fellow at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee.

In October 2017, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was officially instituted at the 19th CPC National Congress. The thought was enshrined in the CPC Constitution and China's Constitution.

Like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, Xi has advanced the adaption of Marxism to the Chinese context and kept it relevant, said Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

MAKING CHINA STRONG

After the Opium War of 1840, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. It was bullied by foreign powers and suffered from poverty and weakness.

"What a humiliation! China was trampled upon at that time," Xi said when recalling that part of history.

The CPC was founded in 1921 to change the situation.

According to Han Qingxiang, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the pursuit of national rejuvenation is marked by four critical milestones -- the Party's founding in 1921; the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949; the advent of reform and opening up in 1978; and the new era after the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

Two weeks after Xi's election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, he put forward "the Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation. This October, at an event commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, Xi mentioned "rejuvenation" 25 times in his 35-minute speech, making it one of the most emphasized messages.

Xi believes that rejuvenation requires both strategic design and hard work. He took the lead by being a man of action. In 2019 alone, he took part in more than 500 important events. His working itinerary covered weekends of about 30 weeks in that year. He revised each draft of major reform plans.

Although Xi has little time for himself, he manages to find time for swimming. This and physical labor during his youth ensure that he has enough stamina to deal with affairs of the Party, government, and the military. More importantly, he is driven by a sense of mission.

"Happiness is achieved through hard work," he said.

Xi often visits farms, fishing villages, farmers' houses, small eateries, supermarkets, factory workshops, laboratories, hospitals, schools, and even inspects pigsties and toilets to obtain first-hand information of people's livelihood.



Xi Jinping inspects a primary school of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Zhang Mengjin, a former colleague of Xi's in Zhejiang Province, said: "Xi takes in enough knowledge day to day so it is impossible to fool him with lies or bragging. We have to be honest when reporting to him."

Xi has stood the test in the face of numerous hurdles and crises over the past nine years.

In early 2015, when Yemen descended into chaos, he directed the navy to evacuate hundreds of stranded Chinese nationals.

When the United States initiated a trade war against China, he devised the strategy that China does not want a trade war but is not afraid of one and will fight one if necessary.

He also said strengthening dialogue and cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries. "The vast Pacific Ocean has enough space for the two large countries of China and the United States," Xi said.

From conducting regular patrols in the waters of Diaoyu Islands, fending off the so-called South China Sea arbitration, finding solutions to China-India border conflicts, to facilitating the return of Chinese people illegally detained overseas, Xi has spearheaded strategic and tactical planning and, if necessary, personally intervened.

In 2019, when social unrest gripped Hong Kong, he directed efforts to safeguard the "one country, two systems" cause and crush attempts to instigate a "color revolution."

On the eve of Lunar New Year 2020, with the COVID-19 epidemic clouding festivities, Xi had a sleepless night. The next day, he convened a Party leadership meeting to discuss the country's response. Before the meeting, Xi had made a decision to tighten restrictions on the movement of people and channels of exit in Hubei and Wuhan. Time has shown how this strict approach was the only viable option.



Xi Jinping speaks with a patient and medical workers by video link at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Xi introduced "black swan" and "gray rhino" into Party parlance. Han, the Party school professor, identified risk prevention and defusing as a major highlight of the new era.

"It is indeed a huge responsibility and arduous task to govern such a big country," Xi said when answering a question from a foreign politician. "I am willing to be selfless and devote myself to China's development. I will not let the people down."

BREAKING NEW GROUND OF REFORM

When Xi took office as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China's strength had significantly risen after more than 30 years of reform and opening up. Yet, it was not without problems, including downward pressure on the economy, wealth disparities, environmental damage, and social tension. Reforms also encountered some resistance. A more scientific top-level approach was needed.

Xi designed a Chinese model of modernization characterized by an innovative, coordinated, green, and open development path that is for everyone.

Xi Jinping applauds for the personnel awarded with medals during a grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Observers say this development vision is intended to lead socialist China out of a development trap reliant on extensive and inefficient growth at the cost of ecological damage, shifting the country to high-quality development, and avoiding situations where the rich become richer and the poor poorer.

As head of the central commission for deepening overall reform, formerly a central leading group, Xi launched a series of reforms that broke new ground while furthering Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up.

Reform has reached into diverse fields, spanning land-use policies, Party building in state-owned firms, judicial procedure, family planning, fiscal and tax policies, the real estate market, science and technology, and anti-monopoly.

One reform measure, above all, stands out: the modernization of institutions, which directly impacts China's long-term development and stability. Its essence is upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics, and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance.

At times, reforms encountered great difficulties. To address controversies and eliminate obstructions, Xi himself had to give the final say.

Xi headed a group tasked with drafting the document of the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The document centered on deepening overall reform.

Officials and experts who participated in the drafting and appraisals said Xi personally conducted research and made decisions, facilitating many breakthroughs. For example, the new proposition "let the market play the decisive role in resource allocation" resulted from Xi's vital decision.

"Without General Secretary Xi's determination, it would not have been possible to roll out many major reforms," said a source familiar with the process.

To reverse environmental damage, Xi demanded that polluting factories address problems or face closure. He issued a 10-year ban on fishing to protect China's longest river, the Yangtze. He gave six instructions to demolish illegally constructed villas in the Qinling Mountains, home to giant pandas, snub-nosed monkeys, and many other rare wild animals.



Xi Jinping learns about ecological conservation of the Qinling Mountains at Niubeiliang National Nature Reserve, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

For many Chinese people, environmental improvements are obvious. In 2020, the percentage of days with good air quality was 87 percent in cities at and above the prefecture level. The proportion of surface water with fairly good quality rose to 83.4 percent. As a result, 89.5 percent of Chinese people were satisfied with the environment.

Reforms have made China more open. In 2013, the first pilot free trade zone was established in Shanghai. Now the number of such zones has reached 21, including the entire island of Hainan, which is roughly the size of a small European country. China's negative list for foreign investment has been further shortened.

While some countries chose to erect trade barriers, China made itself host of a series of global trade and investment fairs. Xi personally initiated the China International Import Expo, one of the multiple national-level expos across the country. China also took the lead in ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

By the end of 2020, China had rolled out 2,485 reform plans in over seven years. The targets and missions set at the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee had been essentially accomplished as scheduled, Xi announced.

From 2013 to 2020, China's GDP grew by about 6.4 percent each year on average, contributing more than 30 percent of world economic growth on average for many years in a row. China's GDP exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan threshold in 2020, or about seven-tenths of that of the United States.

In 2021, China ranked 12th in the Global Innovation Index, higher than Japan, Israel, and Canada. It is the top recipient of foreign direct investment and the world's No. 1 consumer market.

So far, the most impressive achievement in the new era has been the accomplishment of the "first centenary goal," namely building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Liu Ronggang, another research fellow at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee.

The term moderately prosperous, or "Xiaokang" in Chinese, originates from the Book of Songs of ancient China. It is an aspiration for a well-off life cherished by the Chinese people for thousands of years.

The country has the world's most extensive social security system in scale and the largest middle-income group. Extreme poverty has ended, once and for all.

Over the past nine years, about 100 million people have been hoisted out of extreme poverty.

Xi ordered Party members and officials to be stationed at impoverished villages to carry out targeted poverty alleviation measures at the front line.

Xi himself had visited every one of the country's 14 contiguous poorest areas. Eliminating extreme poverty was likened to fighting a war. Indeed, the campaign had its fallen heroes, with more than 1,800 people dying in the line of duty.

Xi also comprehensively reformed the armed forces. Reiterating the principle established by Mao Zedong that "the Party commands the gun," Xi introduced a series of reforms in the military's leadership and command system, size, structure, and force composition. He demanded the military be combat-ready. He regularly inspected military bases. He boarded China's first domestically built aircraft carrier and new-generation nuclear-powered submarine.



Xi Jinping boards the aircraft carrier Shandong and reviews the guard of honor at a naval port in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Gerd Kaminski, an Austrian legal scholar and sinologist, said that after the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Chinese characteristics became an increasingly central guiding principle in all significant issues of China's development, including its governing philosophy.

In such a process, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has stood the test, said Han Qingxiang. "It effectively leads the historical course of national rejuvenation and influences the whole world."

CONTRIBUTING TO GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Xi has been at the forefront of China's efforts to engage with and contribute to the global community.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, he had visited 69 countries in 41 tours and been the first Chinese head of state to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. He has said that, while spending so much time on overseas visits might be deemed a "luxury," he sees it as "worthwhile."

His schedule during overseas visits is usually very tight and can last until the small hours. He had even spent his birthday during an overseas tour.

"Everything we Chinese communists do is to better the lives of the Chinese people, renew the Chinese nation, and promote peace and development for humanity," Xi said.

Altay Atli, a scholar based in Istanbul, Turkey, noted that there is a transformation of China's participation in international affairs, whether economic or diplomatic, under Xi's leadership, and that the world is witnessing the emergence of a major country with global influence.

"The world is too big, with too many challenges, to go without the voice from China being heard, without solution ideas from China being shared, without the involvement of China being needed," Xi said.

In 2013, Xi raised the notion of "building a community with a shared future for humanity."

When elaborating on the specifics of his vision, Xi proposed that the international community should promote partnership, security, growth, inter-civilization exchanges, and the building of a sound ecosystem, citing a proverb: "The interests to be considered should be the interests of all."

A community with a shared future for humanity comes from an excellent pedigree. Political scientists have noted that the notion inherits the Marxist idea of "an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all," and the Chinese ideal of "harmony." It is the most recent proposition on foreign affairs floated by the CPC, following Mao Zedong's "Three Worlds Theory" and Deng Xiaoping's "peace and development as two main world themes."

The response from the international community has been positive. When Xi presented his vision at the Palace of Nations, the United Nations Office at Geneva, in January 2017, politicians, diplomats, and celebrities across the world responded with more than 30 waves of applause in 47 minutes.



Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech "Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind" at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Under this concept, Xi proposed a new approach to international relations based on mutually beneficial cooperation and the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in global governance.

"What kind of international order and governance system best suits the world and best suits the people of all countries? This is something that should be decided by all countries through consultation, and not by a single country or a few countries," he said.

The same principle runs through the framework for major-country relations, as advocated by Xi, which features overall stability and balanced development. On many occasions, he has stressed that if nations maintain communication and treat each other with sincerity, the "Thucydides trap" can be avoided.

By 2019, 180 countries had diplomatic relations with China, a sharp increase from around 30 in the 1950s. Over the past few years, five countries in Central America and the Pacific region established or resumed diplomatic ties with China.

"We have friends in every corner of the world," Xi said.

When meeting with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel via video link in October, Xi called her an old friend: "The Chinese people put a premium on friendship; we will not forget old friends and will always keep the door open for you."

The same year that Xi first called on the world to jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity, he also proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By August 2021, about 172 countries and international organizations had signed more than 200 cooperation documents with China under this framework. According to a report from the World Bank, BRI projects could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty globally.

Xi has personally visited several BRI projects, including the Piraeus Port in Greece, the Smederevo steel plant in Serbia, and the China-Belarus Industrial Park in Minsk, Belarus.

Global development, however, should not come at the cost of the environment, and in 2020 Xi offered a clear signal of commitment when he told the world that China would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

"The world should thank China for its contribution to climate change responses," said former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Xi offered China's strong support of the Paris Agreement four years ago and, without China's support, the agreement would not be the way it is now, Rudd added.

Xi's commitment to offering a helping hand transcends environmental and development issues. Today, China is a vital force in addressing global and regional flashpoint issues, ranging from nuclear proliferation to pandemic response.

"We need to 'join hands' with each other instead of 'letting go.' We need to 'tear down walls,' not to 'erect walls'," he said.

A few months ago, when the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops triggered unrest in Afghanistan, Xi had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and met leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members via video link to call for support of the steady transition of Afghanistan, engage the country in dialogue, and help the Afghan people.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Xi called for global solidarity and cooperation. By his instruction, China provided anti-virus material for more than 150 countries and 14 international organizations and sent 37 medical teams to 34 countries.

He pledged to make Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good and promised that China would provide 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world this year. The country also promised to donate 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX.



Xi Jinping chairs the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 and delivers a keynote speech in Beijing, capital of China, June 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

Over the past 100 years, the world's most populous country has been on an almost unbelievable journey -- from a poverty-stricken nation to one where basic needs are met to its current state of moderate prosperity. Xi deemed this achievement a contribution to humanity.

More than 70 percent of worldwide poverty reduction over the last 40 years was in and by China, which means it realized its poverty reduction goal from the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule.

Describing her impressions of Xi, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, called him "a seasoned captain" whose contributions, such as advocating multilateralism, the BRI, and the notion of a community with a shared future for humanity, have been significant.

FULFILLING NEW MISSIONS

The CPC plans to achieve national rejuvenation through a pair of goals, known as "two centenaries."

During the past nine years, as the Party's most senior leader, Xi has led the country in completing the first step and chaired the design of the second step of this historic plan.

First, socialist modernization should be "basically realized" by 2035, and second, China should be built into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, which will be around the centenary of the PRC.

Supplementary road maps support these overarching goals. Most notably, Xi spearheaded the drafting of the Party leadership's proposals for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, which were adopted in October 2020.

Xi has described the CPC's past century as "a historic miracle" and expressed confidence that the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is dawning. However, he also warned that this is no time for indecision. "At this critical moment, we must not stop, hesitate or wait," Xi said.

He warned that achieving national rejuvenation will be no walk in the park, and the coming tests will only become more complex.

"Realizing this great dream demands a great struggle," he said.

Therefore, the upcoming sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee comes at a significant time, as a resolution on the major achievements and historical experience in the Party's 100-year history will be discussed.

"Over its 100-year struggle, the CPC has accumulated rich experience, understood important rules, developed governance theories and earned wisdom. This great treasure should be summarized to inspire the Party's governance better," Han Qingxiang said.

Over the past 100 years, the CPC has adopted just two resolutions related to historical issues, in 1945 and 1981. They analyzed the causes and drew conclusions on important historical events and figures, through which the whole Party came to a clear consensus and thus grew stronger in unity.

"The Party's previous resolutions on historical issues played a profound role in building consensus and rallying strength to fulfill new missions. This is what we expect from the upcoming plenary session," said Wang Junwei, the research fellow.

History has emerged as something of a buzzword for all CPC members this year. A sweeping education campaign helped cadres recognize the Party's history, and a new Museum of the CPC was inaugurated.

On June 18, Xi and his colleagues toured the museum, viewing exhibits such as bonds issued by the Qing government used to pay for the war indemnity required by the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki; the manuscript of Karl Marx's notes from Brussels; the list of the 58 CPC members when the Party was founded; the car manufactured in the PRC's early years; and the model of China's Mars rover. Each display bore vivid testimony to how the Party led China.

The exhibition ended with a "time tunnel," linking all significant historical junctures from 1921 until today, leading the audience to the future.

Xi once quoted Mao Zedong, saying that "after several decades, the victory of the Chinese people's democratic revolution, viewed in retrospect, will seem like only a brief prologue to a long drama. A drama begins with a prologue, but the prologue is not the climax."

"History has not ended, nor can it possibly end," he said at the conference marking the 95th anniversary of the CPC's founding. "The CPC and Chinese people have every confidence in their ability to provide a Chinese solution to aid the exploration of a better social system for humanity."

After concluding their exhibition tour, Xi and his colleagues took a vow in front of the Party flag, reliving a ritual undertaken by all new CPC members.

"I will fight for communism for the rest of my life," Xi said, leading the oath.



Xi Jinping leads other CPC and state leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan to review the Party admission oath after visiting an exhibition on CPC history at the Museum of the CPC in Beijing, capital of China, June 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Weekend Notes: Monterey Gaps; Facebook Determination; Predictions from 2012

By Graham K. Rogers





Although Monterey was released some 10 days ago, many users still have problems with devices. Another problem exists for some users with memory leaks. However, Apple has now released an update to fix installer problems. Facebook being Facebook has elicited comments from several sources. A 2012 article on my site had some prescient comments in regard to what we now call the M1 chips.

Apple released Monterey on 25 October (it arrived 26th here) and almost immediately, users found that in some cases there were problems with connecting USB devices. Many mentioned USB hubs, but my powered hub from OWC had no problems. I use that mainly when running online meetings as I want extra devices connected (screen, camera, microphone).



No problems for me with the OWC USB-C Hub and Monterey - Image courtesy of OWC

The camera I have been using for online meetings failed to connect properly, although the Mac identifies it in System Report. I cannot use it with FaceTime and it freezes WebEx. Oddly, it does work with PhotoBooth although the only time I have used that in the last couple of years (or longer) is when trying to see what did work with the Logitech camera after the arrival of Monterey. Apple has made some weak suggestions, like restarting the app, trying a different port, restarting the Mac, but users are no seeing any improvements. I have tried the camera on several occasions, just to try and surprise the Mac, but that doesn't work either. Here we all are, some 10 days after the release, with online reports multiplying, and there has been no fix from Apple, not even an interim update that might have helped, although a fix for an installer problem has now arrived (see below). It is not particularly hurting me as I can use the embedded camera in the Mac, but some users are having productivity problems. There are a number of suggestions about the variety of problems Monterey users are experiencing in an article by Paul Horowitz (OSXDaily). Starting with update availability and downloads, he also looks at Bluetooth, which is another problem I have with one speaker: everything else connects fine with BT. The article also looks at memory use (see below) and USB connection problems.



Beolit 20 unable to connect with Monterey (fine with iOS and iPads)

Several outlets are reporting that there are memory leak problems with Monterey for some users. I used to see this with my previous Macs: some processes just keep going and the amount of memory used escalates. So far, despite the other connection problems I am experiencing with the macOS update, memory loss has not appeared. It had also been reported that some users experienced more serious problems when updating their Macs. Some older machines failed to complete the installation, while others stopped dead. Sami Fathi (MacRumors) includes a quote from an Apple Support document: "In very rare circumstances, such as a power failure during a macOS update or upgrade, a Mac may become unresponsive and so the firmware must be revived or restored." The article also mentions the next update to Monterey in the context of this problem and that it is not "expected to be released for at least several more weeks", which will also impinge on the USB-connectivity problems many are experiencing. On Saturday morning, several sites reported that Apple had released a fix for this, although those with unresponsive machines (aka bricked) will have to contact Apple. This week I was discussing the new Macs with a user in America who is considering a new Mac: his current device is not one that can update to the latest OS. I outlined my use of the M1 Mac and we discussed the connection problem which (we agreed) is a software problem. As his use requirements are different from mine with no heavy processor use, he may just move to the iPad Pro instead as that can do everything he needs. I had been thinking about the limitations of the iPad Pro - and why I will still need a Mac for now - since the Monterey update, particularly with the limitations on using the iPads as input to the Mac when conferencing. Currently I can only do this with a cable connection via QuickTime. I had hoped that screen sharing would fix this, but if I have another monitor connected for an online meeting the iPad also shares the Mac screen. The online meeting is when I want to use the iPad as input. There are other limitations. . . .

The new name that Facebook is to use for its future developments, Meta, has a remarkable similarity to one that has been used for a while by the M-sense Migrane symbol and they made a comment on Twitter about its use: "We are very honoured that @facebook felt inspired by the logo of our migraine app - maybe they'll get inspired by our data privacy procedures as well." There is a nice sting in the tail there.



Yes, both came from infinity, but the M-sense version has had just the right amount of alteration and the Meta version matches that completely. If Apple had been the company that held the trademark I would have expected them to be chasing this down by now. There is also another alternative that follows the memes I have already been seeing.



In addition, Meta PCs in Arizona has already filed a trademark for the name in August last year and is digging its heels in, although, as Samir Sadeque (Guardian) reports, there is some pragmatism in play. Despite digging in their heels, they will relent for $20 million which is chicken feed to a company like Meta. The article also notes that this is apparently the Hebrew word for "death" but I cannot confirm that.

I dropped Facebook a couple of weeks back with concerns that what was then a future announcement about a rumored rename to FCBK indicated that there was never any intention to change or rein in data use or the powerful algorithms. It was all full steam ahead into the Zuckerverse. The renaming to Meta did nothing to alleviate my concerns, while it is clear that top management at Facebook/Meta, like admiral Nelson, see no ships. Fortunately a number of legislators in the UK, USA and elsewhere are seeing the warning signs (and some internal documents), but any changes they bring about will be slow to arrive and are likely to be watered down. I read a couple of Guardian articles in the last few days in which some of the same concerns I have are highlighted. One of these, by Richard Ashby Wilson puts forward the comparison of the mail delivery man reading everyone's letters and making a fortune from that, as well as gaining considerable power. The article compares this with Facebook, noting that the mail carriers are forbidden by law from reading the letters they are delivering. Those who are caught, or in some cases hoard undelivered letters, can usually look forward to jail time. He argues that this use of data is similar to his theoretical postman and that legislation is needed. In another Guardian article, Dan Milmo reports on comments from a former Facebook investor and adviser, Roger McNamee, who "has called for misuse of users' data to be labelled as unethical as child labour." The article adds more from McNamee: "Extracting the essence of our humanity in data form and then using it to manipulate our behaviour is as unethical as child labour and it should be banned the same way that child labour was banned," which is pretty much what I have been telling my students and anyone else who will listen (although not the child labor part). I was also interested to see that Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google had made comments on Facebook's current situation (Emily Chang, Fortune). He suggests that they prioritized income rather than honesty and that was their biggest mistake. Well, one of them at least: "a little too far on the revenue side and not enough on the judgment side". I saw Schmidt at the 2007 introduction for the iPhone. Like Jerry Yang (Yahoo!) he had about two minutes to comment on the iPhone and what he delivered was very confusing at the time. You have to remember also that the breakthrough Internet device that Steve Jobs introduced as part of the iPhone, was under-applauded by the audience who just didn't understand the potential. Now internet connectivity is at the core of these devices. When I look back at the clip of Eric Schmidt explaining about the interconnection of devices it all makes sense now: in 2007 he was years ahead of his time. He understood far clearer than most people how our devices would be able to connect and the potential that this would bring. I think he has a rather good understanding of what Facebook is and where it's trying to go. Mark Zuckerberg was outraged by Apple's inclusion of opt-out possibilities for advertising in iOS. Starting with full page newspaper advertisements, and going on a full offensive, he seemed to view this as the death of something. It has affected income, although Google and others are less concerned. Facebook and Zuckerberg went full on against Apple and Tim Cook, who simply explained that the users and their data come first. Stephen Warwick (iMore) now reports that Facebook intends to sidestep 30% payments on creator subscriptions although the technical implementation is a bit fuzzy right now.

A couple of weeks ago, there were reports online about a robotics student in Switzerland who had removed the FireWire port from an iPhone and installed a working USB-C port, albeit with some limitations. Julie Clover (MacRumors) reports that the graduate student has now made a longer video available and the iPhone has been put up for auction. When the MacRumors article went out, the bidding was at $800. By Friday evening, news reports had bids for this reaching $100,000. I still think that Apple should change the iPhone to use the USB-C type connectors, although I am not in favor of the EU legislating to force this. If they insist on USB-C, who knows what may be developed in the future that has better features. And that would need a legislative change that would apply to all manufacturers, leaving a specific manufacturer either to share the development with all (after the slow change in the laws) and use FRAND. The manufacturer (not just Apple) would be unable to provide a unique benefit to just its own users, which is possible with other features (chips, glass and other materials).

I have been doing some experiments with the new feature that allows a user to copy text from an image using the iPads, iPhone 13 and the Mac. Information from Apple tells us that "Live Text works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, and Safari and in live previews with Camera." It seems to be slightly more flexible and I have had varying results with PDF files. As students send me work that I mark up with editorial comments, there are times when I want to use or save specific student writing, for example in Google search. The input is usually a PDF file made from a JPG. In good lighting conditions and with white paper, it is possible to copy the text directly from the PDF file. If the writing is good enough, that will be reproduced exactly; though sometimes a couple of words may need correcting. If the writing is slanted, the highlighting is unable to include the text properly and what is copied may not be of use. Some writing on white paper cannot be copied: perhaps the contrast or ink color is wrong. However, taking a screen shot and saving to Photos may allow it to be copied. Some students write on paper that is not white, or take the photograph in poor light. A screenshot of the PDF may or may not work. This seems to depend on the quality of the handwriting: the software does not recognize the words as words. With typed text in a PDF file there is no problem. It is possible to highlight and copy that content into another medium without going through Photos. That handwriting also works with PDF files (or images) is a plus. It also works on the Mac although the controls (e.g. trackpad) are different.



Current iPad Pro and iPad mini

At the beginning of each month, the statistics of my website show a clean slate and it is easier to see what pages are being accessed, apart from the most recent. This month, articles I wrote in 2012 and 2014 have a number of hits and I was intrigued to see what I had written then that was making a few people come back. One of the articles referred to the way Apple might use ARM chips in Macs: remember this is 2012. In the item, I wrote, "A year or two ago it was suggested that with its own facilities, Apple would be able to move away from Intel giving it not only the independence from that company (and the supplies to other computer makers) but the freedom to develop its own solutions that no one else would be able to use". The next paragraph is perhaps more revealing: Another chip development is reported by Josh Ong on AppleInsider. A former Apple intern wrote a paper and it details what he was working on: porting Snow Leopard to ARM chips. While it was kept secret, the university in Holland has now let the undergrad thesis into the wild, although it is speculated this might have been one of Apple's decoy projects. There is no information as to the fate of Tristan Schaap who is currently working for Apple. Cassandra (which is the name I used when writing those article back then) was the daughter of Priam of Troy. She had the gift from the god, Apollo of being able to predict the future, but because she declined his offers, a second gift from Apollo was that no one would believe her.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on Twitter (@extensions_th)
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

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Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 76F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Low around 50F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.
We will rebuild. Thats what 2019 Wurstfest President Jim Hill said after a fire burned down Marktplatz and damaged the Wursthalle building on the festivals grounds.
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Woburn, MA (01801)

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Cloudy skies. High near 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

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Woodville, AL (35768)

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Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High 64F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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(The Center Square)  Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced hes filing three lawsuits on behalf of the state challenging the Biden Administrations vaccine mandates.

One, that was to be filed Friday afternoon in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges the OSHA regulation issued this week that will require businesses with 100 or more employees to have all employees vaccinated or tested weekly by Jan. 4 or face up to $14,000 in fines per violation.

OSHA, Rokita said at a press conference on Thursday, has no authority to issue such a rule.

Its egregious and insidious that wed use something, a body of law that was meant to protect workers at the workplace from dangerous toxicities, from other directly unsafe situations, to use it in this fashion to cover something that is a much bigger part of our lives, Rokita said.

He said his office is asking the court for a stay, saying it conflicts with Indianas vaccine passport law that prohibits state and local governments in Indiana from requiring that people submit anything in writing or electronic form related to their COVID-19 vaccination status.

This mandate, this OSHA mandate, would nullify Indiana state law in that regard and I think thats also a problem, Rokita said. "This is a direct attack on states rights. This is a direct attack on individual liberties and freedom and its a complete overreach of the federal government.

The first of the three suits was filed by the attorney generals office Thursday, against the Biden Administrations order that all federal contractors have their employees vaccinated by Jan. 4, or have them tested weekly.

Frankly, its still unclear as to exactly what federal contractor includes, but it could be not only private businesses here in the state of Indiana but it could be other state agencies, it could be our universities, Rokita said, noting that the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense have several contracts in the state.

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Indiana joined Louisiana and Mississippi in the suit against the mandates on federal contractors, filed Thursday in federal court in Louisiana.

This mandate suffers from a host of fatal flaws, the suit says, going on to say it usurps state authority over public health, a core area of state sovereignty; violates the Nondelegation Doctrine and Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, and threatens state budgets with widespread implications for social programs. The suit also points to the last of reasoning in the administrations mandate, and the fact that Congress has not authorized any such action.

Standing alone, each flaw independently warrants vacating the Contractor Vaccine Mandate; standing together, they require it, the suit says.

The third suit to be filed will address the Biden Administrations mandate on the Medicaid and Medicare programs. This rule was expected to be published on Friday.

This is going to affect thousands, maybe millions of Medicaid workers and change the very way of, down to the root, of how Indiana administers its Medicaid program, Rokita said. So youre talking about drastic and big change here. And then not to mention these employees that are simply going to retire and not come back.

None of the three suits being filed take issue with private employers in the state independently imposing vaccine mandates on their employees and there is no move by Indianas Republican leaders to prohibit employer vaccine mandates. In January, a bill under consideration by the Indiana Senates Pensions and Labor Committee that would have prohibited employer vaccine mandates failed to make it out of committee, even though the chairman of the committee, Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, was one of the authors.

On Thursday, after OSHA published its emergency regulation, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that he was directing the Indiana Department of Labor to work with the Attorney General's office on a lawsuit challenging it.

"This is an overreach of the governments role in serving and protecting Hoosiers," Holcomb said in a written statement that was distributed to the media. "While I agree that the vaccine is the tool that will best protect against COVID-19, this federal government approach is unprecedented and will bring about harmful, unintended consequences in the supply chain and the workforce.
Press Release

November 6, 2021 De Lima deplores maltreatment of impounded dogs in Cebu Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima expressed outrage over recent reports showing how impounded dogs had gone unfed, with some left to die, inside a dog pound in Asturias, Cebu. De Lima, an animal lover, said she hopes the recent incident will prompt her colleagues to help push for the swift passage of her Proposed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1918, or the "Revised Animal Welfare Act of 2000", which seeks to impose stiffer penalties for crimes involving animal abuse and negligence and to establish the five basic freedoms of animal. These include (1) Freedom from hunger and thirst; (2) Freedom from discomfort; (3) Freedom from pain, injury or disease; (4) Freedom to express normal behavior; and (5) Freedom from fear and distress. "Dogs, considered to be man's best friend, do not deserve this kind of cruelty and suffering. The individuals running the dog pound in Cebu should be held accountable for this kind of neglect," she said. "After witnessing this inhumane treatment of dogs, should we be more persistent in putting weight on the law by imposing stiffer penalties on individuals who subject innocent animals to cruelty, abuse or neglect, and making clear the rights of animals in our society," she added. Recently, a video showing impounded dogs left unfed inside a pound in Asturias, Cebu went viral, resulting to concerned citizens and groups rescuing the impounded dogs. According to a 24 Oras report, the municipal government of Asturias started impounding stray dogs in September following the implementation of an ordinance. Authorities found at least three dogs dead inside the pound. "Anong klaseng pagkatao at pagtrato ang maglalagay sa mga aso sa dog pound at pababayaan lang silang magdusa't mamatay? As I've always said, dogs, like humans, need love and affection from us. Their needs should never be overlooked," she said. De Lima further reminded pet owners to be responsible fur-parents, maintaining that one should not get dogs if he is not capable of taking care of these animals. "Ang pagkakaroon ng alagang aso ay parang pagkakaroon na din ng inaarugang anak. Kaya dapat siguraduhing kakayanin ang responsibilidad bago mag-alaga ng aso. Hindi sila parang laruan na kapag napagsawaan na ay iiwanan na lamang," she said. Under SB No. 1918, an Animal Welfare Bureau is mandated to fulfill their functions to protect animals including, among others, implementing a system for inspection of animal facilities to ensure compliance with animal welfare standards and regulations, promulgating guidelines for humane slaughter of animals. The Bureau is also mandated to provide minimum standards on the appropriate food, water, and shelter for each species of pet and animals depending on the age, breed, size, and special needs thereof. In filing the measure, De Lima likewise proposed that any person who subjects any animal to cruelty, torture, maltreatment or any of the prohibited acts will be punished with a penalty of six months imprisonment and a fine of minimum fine of Thirty Thousand Pesos (30,000). She also stressed under SB No. 1918 that operating an animal facility including any animal transport facility, without the required permit shall be punished with a penalty of one year imprisonment and a fine of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (100,000)
Lacson: Filipinos Saved P300-B in My 17 Years of Budget Scrutiny

More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-filipinos-saved-p300-b-in-my-17-years-of-budget-scrutiny

CARMONA, Cavite - Seventeen years of scrutinizing the national budget has saved the Filipino people at least P300 billion, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson disclosed Friday afternoon.

Lacson, a watchdog of the national budget, said this amount in public funds could have been lost to corruption had he not kept his guard up.

"Hindi sa pagmamayabang, kinwenta namin ang natipid ng bansang Pilipinas. Hindi ko akalain sa loob ng 17 taon na ako senador ng Pilipinas, umabot sa P300 bilyon ang natipid ng mamamayang Pilipino (I am not bragging but the Filipino people saved some P300 billion in the 17 years I had been scrutinizing the budget. Even I did not quite expect the amount to be that big)," the Partido Reporma standard bearer said before a gathering here.

He noted this scrutiny has been done at all levels - from the committee to the plenary to the bicameral conference committee.

Lacson, who served as senator from 2001 to 2013 and 2016 to present, had flagged several irregular and inappropriate entries in the national budget.

Also, he made sure that his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations (a.k.a. pork barrel) - amounting to P200 million a year - from 2001 to 2013 would be returned to the National Treasury. This was before the Supreme Court outlawed the PDAF in late 2013.

"Kung hindi nabantay nang maayos, natapon yan. Buwis natin ang ginagamit, utang natin ang ginagamit (If I had not been watching the budget, that's P300 billion in our hard-earned taxes and even debts lost to corruption)," Lacson said.

He reiterated his call to bring resources to the local governments so they can implement their development projects - the vision of his Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE).

Under BRAVE, the unused portion of the national budget - which averaged P328.85 billion from 2010 to 2020 - could be used to go to the local governments.

Lacson capped his visit to his home province of Cavite by welcoming new members of Partido Reporma.
Morocco reiterated in New York its strong and unwavering support for the full sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United Arab Emirates.

This came during a meeting of the 4th Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.

I would like to reiterate the strong and unwavering support of the Kingdom of Morocco to the full sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over the occupied Emirati islands of the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, as well as to the legitimate right of this brotherly country for the recovery of its territorial integrity, Moroccos Permanent Representative to the UN, Omar Hilale, told the 4th Committee.
King Mohammed VI has affirmed that the Moroccanness of the Sahara never was  and never will be  on the negotiating table, stressing that the North African Kingdom is negotiating in order to reach a peaceful solution to this artificial regional dispute.

In his speech made Saturday on the occasion of the 46th Anniversary of Green March, the Monarch renewed Moroccos attachment to a political settlement, under the aegis of the United Nations.

He also reiterated the Kingdoms commitment to a peaceful solution, adherence to the ceasefire and determination to continue coordination and cooperation with the MINURSO within the frame of its specified mandate.

King Mohammed VI assured UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Personal Envoy of his full support for the efforts the UN Chief is making to reactivate the political process as soon as possible, stressing the need to abide by the frame of reference mentioned in the Security Council resolutions since 2007 and applied in the meetings held in Geneva under UN auspices.

The Monarch hailed the American recognition of Moroccos full sovereignty over its Sahara, saying this is a natural consequence of the continuous support provided by previous US Administrations and an illustration of the United States constructive role in the settlement of this issue.

After underlining the irreversible character of the political process for the achievement of a final solution, based on the autonomy initiative, within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty, the King said the opening of consulates in the cities of Laayoun and Dakhla by more than 24 countries, particularly from the Arab world and Africa, confirms the broad support for Moroccos position.

We believe we have every right, today, to expect bolder and clearer stances on the part of our partners regarding the territorial integrity of our country, said the Moroccan Sovereign, making reference to European partners to follow suit of the American supportive stand.

Such positions would not only contribute to bolstering the political course of action, but they would also support the efforts made to achieve a final, feasible solution, explained the Monarch.

The Moroccan Saharan territories are enjoying a comprehensive development, including infrastructure as well as economic and social projects, said the King, noting that the Saharan regions have become an open space for development and for national and foreign investment.

He thanked the countries and groupings with which Morocco has agreements or partnerships, and which recognize the Kingdoms sovereignty over the Sahara, warning those with ambiguous or ambivalent attitudes, that Morocco will not have any economic or commercial transaction with them in which the Moroccan Sahara is not included.

The Monarch also praised the international support for the intervention of the Royal armed Forces for securing the freedom of movement of persons and goods at the Guerguerat crossing between Morocco and our sister nation, Mauritania, on 13 November 2020.

That peaceful action put an end to serious provocations and aggressions to which Morocco had drawn the attention of the international community, underscoring the risks those acts posed to security and stability in the region, said the King.

He also affirmed that the councils in the Saharan provinces and regions, which were elected in a free, democratic and responsible manner  are the real, legitimate representatives of the regions populations.
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Nearly half of Fridays card at Woodbine Mohawk Park was dedicated to three-year-olds as round one of the Harvest Series commenced for colt and gelding pacers and trotters.

Take A Gamble quarter pole-moved to the lead in his $17,000 division for pacers, and once he cleared to the top he wasnt going to be caught.

Flash Cube and Hippyjohn battled to the quarter pole in :27.1 before Flash Cube took command. It was a short-lived lead, however, as Trevor Henry rushed to the top in the backstretch with Take A Gamble. The gelding zipped through middle splits of :55.2 and 1:23.4 before using a :28.4 final frame to win by 1-1/4 lengths over race favourite Flash Cube in 1:52.3. Third best was Bettor Half.

Shawn Steacy trains the son of Bettors Delight-Bad Sister for Stephen Klunowski of North York, Ont. The gelding, who was unraced as a rookie, owns a 2-6-3 record from 16 attempts and hes potted more than $44,000 to date.

Control Heaven was a popular winner in the second division for the duo of driver Louis-Philippe Roy and trainer Chantal Mitchell.

The gelding swept past Believe In Brian at the quarter pole in :27, and then gave way to Four Finger Floyd in the backstretch. That foe had the field behind him through middle splits of :56 and 1:24.3, but it was Control Heaven who brushed back the lead in the stretch and used a :26.4 closing quarter to win by 4-1/2 lengths over Believe In Brian in 1:51.4. Four Finger Floyd rounded out the Trifecta ticket.

The homebred son of Control The Moment-Somewhereinheaven is now 2-for-17 this season for partners Doug Millard, Mitchell Di Cenzo and Gold Standard Equine LLC. The three-time winner lifted his overall cash stash to $89,093

Lord Anthony was a popular winner in the third division for the pacing colts and geldings. Ed Hensley rallied the Jay Cochlin pupil to the 1:54.1 victory.

Lord Anthony was parked by Mr Charisma through an opening quarter of :27 before muscling past that foe. Mr Charisma opted to retake the lead on the way to the half in :56. Kount Blaster powered up first over against the new leader, and they battled to the three-quarter pole in 1:24.2. Lord Anthony angled off the rail in the lane and kicked home in :29.3 to win by three-quarters of a length over Kount Blaster. Twain Seelster took home the bronze medal.

Percy Jones of Temperance Vale, NB owns the son of Sportswriter-Mach Star who has manufactured a 4-0-3 record from 12 starts this season. Unraced as a rookie, the sophomore has banked over $40,000 in his career.

Mystic was a popular winner for driver Sylvain Filion and trainer Rene Dion in the first division for trotters.

The son of Kadabra-Mystical Oaks got away sixth while Wheeling In Cash fired to the top and had the field chasing him past the quarter pole in :27.2. GQ Magic made a first over bid in the backstretch and was the leader while racing parked past the mid-way point in :57.1. Stonebridge Armour was the next leader as he rallied first-over and showed a short lead while racing on the rim at the three-quarter marker in 1:26.4. Mystic was into the flow on the way to the half, and he made a three-wide move on the way to the three-quarter pole. From there, his used a :28.1 closing quarter to win by a half-length margin over Duke Lavictoire in 1:55.3. Deal With Lucus was third.

Sent off as the 1-2 favourite, Mystic now owns a 3-2-2 record from nine starts for S&R Racing Stable Inc of Acton, Ont. The gelding, who matched his lifetime mark in the winning effort, has banked $87,349 to date.

Urntrouble Hanover rallied from out of the clouds to take home top honours in the second division for trotting colts and geldings. Louis-Philippe Roy got away eighth with the even-money favourite while Buckys Angel and Rosies War Bonds battled through fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:27.4.

The leaders packed it in as the field entered the lane, and Urntrouble Hanover stormed home in :27.2 to rally from tenth to first in a time of 1:56.4. Finishing a length in arrears was runner-up Wickenburgh. HP Running Mass claimed third prize in the 11-horse affair.

The son of Kadabra-Upfront OBs Janet has a 4-1-0 record this season from 14 starts in addition to earnings of close to $40,000. He is owned by Coyote Wynd Farms of Vancouver, BC.

To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results  Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Multiple stakes and Open class winner Top Flight Angel will stand at stud in 2022.

The son of Archangel joins the stallion ranks at Winbak Farm of Delaware.

We are thrilled to add Top Flight Angel to our Delaware program, said Joe Thomson, owner of Winbak Farm. With the passing of CR Commando, a leading trotting stallion in Delaware for years, we were looking for a young stallion to take his spot.

Top Flight Angel, 2, 1:58.1h; 3, 1:54.3h; 1:52.3f ($984,690), is the winner of 19 races. At two, Top Flight Angel was a New York Sire Stakes Winner.

As a two-year-old, Top Flight Angel won his first two qualifiers which were on a five-eighths and on a seven-eighths and his stakes races were won on a half-mile, said Jack Burke of Winbak. With his ability to fly around a half-mile, we thought he would make a great addition to the Delaware program.

At three, Top Flight Angel won the Yonkers Trot Final and two New York Sire Stakes legs. He equaled the track record at Batavia in a New York Sire Stakes leg.

Top Flight Angel won the Yonkers Trot in 1:56.3 and came back the following week to win a leg of the New York Sire Stakes at Batavia in 1:54.3 where he equaled his sire, Archangels track record, said Thomson. The horse was a consistent performer who always showed lots of heart.

At four, Top Flight Angel won his Breeders Crown elimination and was second in the Final.

When Top Flight Angel won the Yonkers Trot Final, he won against top horses such as Devious Man and Guardian Angel AS and when he won the Breeders Crown elimination, he won against Hannelore Hanover and Homicide Hunter, said Burke. This is just a small sample of who he has won against. He has proven himself against some of the best trotters in recent years.

From three through now, Top Flight Angel has been campaigned by Julie Miller.

Top Flight Angel is a half-mile specialist that has great conformation, said Julie Miller, Trainer. He is always a professional on and off the track.

Top Flight Angel will continue to race until closer to breeding season.

Our current plans are for Top Flight Angel to keep racing until he reaches millionaire status, said Burke. He is a well-put together, handsome individual and I believe he will be a great addition to Winbak Farms Delaware program.

Top Flight Angels stud fee will be announced soon. For more information on Top Flight Angel, visit winbakfarm.com or contact Jack Burke at 410-885-3059 or [email protected].

Top Flight Angel should be a great cross for many of the trotting lines in Delaware, especially Garland Lobell and Muscles Yankee line mares, said Thomson. We believe he will be an outstanding match for Garland Lobell line mares and Muscle Yankee line mares.

During his racing career, Top Flight Angel was owned by Alan Hainsworth, who passed away earlier this year.

We want to thank Alans son Chuck, the rest of the Hainsworth family and the Millers for their help in acquiring Top Flight Angel, said Thomson. Alan was a great friend to many of us at Winbak Farm and is missed, but we believe he would be very proud of Top Flight Angel standing at stud.

(Winbak)
The flag carrier of Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan Airlines launch special flights to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Trend reports citing press service of Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC.

Starting from November 25, Azerbaijan Airlines shall operate flights to Jeddah once a week - on Thursdays, on Airbus A319/A320.

Flight tickets are sold on the official websites of the airline www.azal.az as well as in accredited agencies.

Only those categories of passengers who are allowed to fly under the current COVID-19 related restrictions will be accepted on flights.
By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev on his convincing victory in the presidential election, Azertag has reported.

In his phone call ahead of the inauguration day, Aliyev wished Mirzayev success in his activities aimed at ensuring peace and prosperity of the Uzbek people.

The Uzbek president also sincerely congratulated the head of state and the Azerbaijani people on the upcoming Victory Day, and extended his wishes for peace and progress. The head of state thanked for the congratulations.

During the conversation, the sides discussed topical issues of strengthening the Uzbek-Azerbaijani strategic partnership and expanding multifaceted cooperation. The heads of state hailed the continuous dynamics of mutual trade indicators and the increase in the number of joint projects in various sectors of the economy.

The launch of car production in the city of Hajigabul this year, and the projects in the fields of agriculture and silk production were underlined as examples of successful cooperation.

It was noted that the national industrial exhibition of Uzbekistan will be held in Baku next month. Preparations are underway for the next meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission and the Business Council.

The sides also discussed the collaboration in the field of transport and communications, as well as the resumption of flights between the capitals. They stressed the importance of holding joint cultural and humanitarian events in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan on a regular basis.

The presidents exchanged views on the most important aspects of regional cooperation, including the agenda of the upcoming Summit of the Turkic Council. The schedule of high-level meetings was reviewed.
By Ayya Lmahamad

ADA University Rector Hafiz Pashayev has said that the Azerbaijani nation, especially the youth must be worthy of the glorious victory in the Second Karabakh War late last year.

He made the remarks while speaking at the conference "44-Day Victory Path" at Baku's ADA University on November 5.

The rector stated that the ADA University held numerous events dedicated to Karabakh, noting that the current conference has a completely different meaning.

"We see ongoing rapid and professional work in accordance with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs program. The victory is the first step, further, we need to restore life and work. We, the Azerbaijani people, especially the youth, must be worthy of this glorious victory," Pashayev said.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions and withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city.




President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State overseeing policy for Southern Europe and the Caucasus Erika Olson, Azertag reported on November 5.

They noted that next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and the US.

The sides said that the two countries enjoy a long-standing and successful partnership, and hailed the fruitful cooperation in the field of energy. The US interest in expanding relations with Azerbaijan was emphasized at the meeting.

During the conversation, they underlined that there are new opportunities for regional development and cooperation, and exchanged views on the cooperation prospects.




By Vafa Ismayilova

On September 27, 2020, in response to a large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline, the Azerbaijani army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist".

The 44-day war put an end to nearly 30 years of occupation, ensured the liberation of Azerbaijan's lands and the restoration of the country's territorial integrity.

Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: November 6, 2021

- Armenia violated ceasefire on the state border with Azerbaijan.

- Armenian troops were forced to retreat, suffering losses.

- Armenian armed forces shelled Tartar region's villages.

- An Armenian ammunition depot exploded near Khankandi city.

- Armenian armed forces fled, abandoning their positions in the direction of Gubadli.

- Armenian military units in Aghdara were neutralized.

- Video of the destruction of Armenian mortars in Goyarkh village was released.

- Armenian armed forces shelled Tartar region's villages, using artillery.

- Video of Fuzuli region's liberated villages was released.

- Video of shelling of the combat positions of Armenian armed forces was released.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions and urged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city.
Russia is ready to assist in the launch of negotiations on the definition of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for its subsequent demarcation, said the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of a trilateral statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 10, 2020, Trend reports citing TASS.

As noted, the statement of November 10, 2020 recorded an important provision - the unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region.

"We believe that a long-term solution to the problem is the launch of the process of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border with its subsequent demarcation. Russia is ready to provide the necessary advisory assistance, provide the necessary cartographic material at the request of the parties, share its rich demarcation experience with other countries," said the statement.

Following the results of eight meetings of the trilateral working group under the co-chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled, a report was presented describing specific rail and road routes to restore communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan with access to transport communications of neighboring countries, which will increase transit attractiveness of the region and will attract additional investments.
By Trend

Chairman of the Committee on Religious and Waqf Affairs of the Parliament of the Arab Republic of Egypt professor Ali Gomaa sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of November 8 - Victory Day.




By Vafa Ismayilova

Presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev has said that the Karabakh conflict is over and now Karabakh is an internal matter of Azerbaijan.

Hajiyev made the remarks on the panel session on the topic "South Caucasus: Regional Development and Prospective for Cooperation" within the framework of the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19".

Hajiyev noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs' efforts to resolve the conflict were unsuccessful.

"Thanks to a successful military operation, Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation. Now, new realities are taking shape in the South Caucasus, and Azerbaijan jointly with Georgia is implementing projects in the South Caucasus, which Armenia could join," he said.

Hajiyev stressed that "the opening of the Zangazur corridor contributes to the restoration of transport links in the region. Armenia should begin demarcation and delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan and sign a peace treaty."

The signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia will contribute to the establishment of peace in the region.



Hajiyev recalled that the Azerbaijani lands were occupied, but as a result of a successful military operation, Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity.



According to Hajiyev, despite the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, no results have been achieved in the settlement of the conflict.



"There is no more conflict. Azerbaijan is working on the creation of transport infrastructure, including the Zangazur corridor. Azerbaijan proposed to sign a peace treaty with Armenia. We intend to sign a peace treaty. Similar cases have occurred in international practice, for example, the peace treaty signed between Germany and France. The signing of a peace treaty will contribute to the establishment of peace in the region," Hajiyev said.

Speaking about Armenia's destructions on formerly occupied Azerbaijani territories, Hajiyev stressed that Azerbaijan knew about the destructions, but "we didn't expect it would be so large-scale".



Azerbaijan's city of Aghdam reminded Hiroshima during WWII, Hajiyev said.

"Armenia has not achieved anything during these 30 years of occupation. Now the situation needs to change, and we're ready. If we manage to restore peace, the entire region would benefit from it," Hajiyev said.

The presidential aide noted If Armenia cooperates with neighbors, it can become a transit country.

According to Hajiyev, new thinking and strategy are needed for peace and development in the region.

"Armenia must change its strategy because it has already suffered a strategic failure. Its strategy was aimed at occupying Azerbaijani lands, but the situation has changed, Armenia has become a victim of its strategy," Hajiyev said.

He noted that now Armenia must understand that it is necessary to establish friendly relations with all neighboring countries.

Armenia will benefit if it renounces territorial claims and establishes relations with Azerbaijan, Hajiyev noted.

"We see that the Armenian people are tired of the aggressive policy. Armenia has no access to the sea. But if it establishes cooperation with its neighbors, it can become a transit country. The Armenian diaspora has a negative impact on Armenia. But it should have a positive impact," he said.

Hajiyev also recalled that during the first Karabakh war, Azerbaijan's 4,000 citizens went missing.



"We need information about the fate of these people. Azerbaijan is one of the countries that suffer from mines. During the occupation, Armenia mined Azerbaijani territories. At first, the Armenians denied this, but then they confessed and provided several maps of minefields, which were only useful for about 25 percent. Revanchism can become a tragedy for Armenia itself. Azerbaijan is interested in cooperation between all countries of the region," he said.

Under the auspices of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and with the organization of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19" began its work in the capital of Azerbaijan on November 4 and will last until November 6.

The VIII Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives from more than 40 countries of the world, former heads of state and government, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as other guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The VIII Global Baku Forum will complete its work today.
By Trend

Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva issued an appeal in connection with November 6 - the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, Trend reports citing the Office of the Ombudsman.

"As a result of Armenias military aggression, nature, biodiversity, flora and fauna, water resources, ecology and ecosystem in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan suffered serious damage, international environmental crimes (ecocide) were committed. During the 30-year period of the occupation of these lands, the ecological system was deliberately destroyed on them," the appeal says.

the story will be updated
Russian political scientist Darya Grevtsova has described the Global Baku Forum as extremely important for intellectuals from all over the world to gather and discuss the most pressing issues of modern politics.

"The topic of this year's forum 'The World after COVID-19' is important, since many changes in different countries of the world have occurred in connection with the coronavirus and no one knows how the situation will develop. Therefore, such a platform helps to develop roadmaps, which leaders of states will be guided by. Undoubtedly, it is very important that former politicians, diplomats, public figures, political scientists take part in the forum, since they will return to their countries and will be able to convey to the leadership the ideas and issues that were raised at the forum in the Azerbaijani capital. Accordingly, relying on them, the leaders of these countries will be able to form their policies," Deputy Director of the Russian Institute of Socio-Political Research Darya Grevtsova said.

She also stressed the importance of the forum due to the fact that there are many questions that are yet to be answered.

"The main issues discussed at the forum are the most pressing topics on the world agenda. These are healthcare, the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the way out of the global economic crisis and the formation of new development strategies, the creation of renewable energy sources, the environmental agenda, the transition to new energy sources. Also, an important issue, primarily for Azerbaijan, is the situation in the South Caucasus, possible projects and the development of the region. It is very important to get together and directly, without intermediaries, discuss what is happening in the world, work out ways to solve many pressing problems," Grevtsova said.

She noted that an event of such a format as the Global Baku Forum provides an opportunity to invite participants from all over the world to Azerbaijan so that they themselves, and not from the media, can find out how this country is developing.

This is important because we know that sometimes the press, especially the European, distorts the facts about Azerbaijan very much. Therefore, those who come to Azerbaijan for the first time will be very surprised, from a good point of view. They will be able to later tell about the development of Azerbaijan, which they have witnessed. It is also important for supporting the image of Azerbaijan in the eyes of the world community," Grevtsova said.

She stressed that the Azerbaijani president is one of the world's leading intellectuals.

"Under his auspices such large-scale events as the Global Baku Forum, the Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the Baku International Humanitarian Forum and others are held, and Azerbaijan is their direct initiator or participant, as, for example, in the case with the forum of the Non-Aligned Movement," Grevtsova noted.

Speaking about the importance of the topics discussed at the forum, Russian historian and political analyst, Prof Oleg Kuznetsov said that, in particular, the topic of clean energy will always be relevant for Azerbaijan.

"Recently, the topic of the 'green economy' has become extremely fashionable, which chronologically coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore is considered part of the structural transformations being implemented within the framework of the new reality, he said.

Azerbaijan is located in a completely different climatic zone than the Old World, and therefore the topic of clean energy will always be relevant for it. 'Green energy' may well become a breakthrough sector of the Azerbaijani economy," Kuznetsov added.

Kuznetsov also noted that many critically-minded people view the COVID-19 pandemic as a tool for transforming the world economic system, a driver of the fourth industrial revolution, aimed at transferring the global economy to digital technologies not within one or two or three generations, as was the case during previous industrial upheavals, but within one decade, which should lead to the globalization of the monetary system and the loss of a significant part of the countries national sovereignty.

"While paper money and cash payments exist, it is rather difficult to do this, but with the transition of the planet to electronic money and non-cash payments, the power of bankers will become almost unlimited, and this prospect awaits us already somewhere in 2030," he added.

The Global Baku Forum is useful in bringing together former prime ministers, presidents, senior diplomats, experts in various fields and providing ideas for discussing some of the key issues we face today. Holding such a large-scale event during the coronavirus pandemic is a timely step, the analyst stressed.

Under President Aliyev's auspices and with the organization of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19" began its work in the Azerbaijani capital on November 4 and will end on November 6.

The VIII Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives from more than 40 countries of the world, former heads of state and government, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as other guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The Global Baku Forum attracts great attention and interest of world leaders. The wide interest in the forum of the countries of the world and international organizations is an indicator of the growing prestige of Azerbaijan, political power and new realities created by President Ilham Aliyev.
Former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert ?ekuta has said that it is necessary to ensure long-term negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and we must support this process.

He made the remarks during the panel session on the topic "South Caucasus: Regional Development and Prospective for Cooperation" within the framework of the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19".

He also noted that a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia has not yet been signed.

"I think that from the point of view of the development of the South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan and Armenia have a great responsibility. To advance this process, we must provide assistance to both countries," the ex-ambassador said.

Under the auspices of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and with the organization of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19" began its work in the capital of Azerbaijan on November 4 and will last until November 6.

The VIII Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives from more than 40 countries of the world, former heads of state and government, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as other guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The VIII Global Baku Forum will complete its work today.
By Trend

The Armenian diaspora puts serious pressure on Armenia, Former Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin said on the panel session on the topic "South Caucasus: Regional Development and Prospective for Cooperation" within the framework of the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19", Trend reports.

Armenia is Turkey's neighbor, he said.

"We tried to resolve the [Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan] peacefully. Armenia would have had benefits, one of which - it would've had access to the world countries through Turkey," he said.

Cetin noted that Armenians should not take steps relying on its diaspora.

"They should understand that they live in this region. Armenians should not act on the orders of the diaspora. We need to look to the future," Chetin said.

He also touched upon the topic of the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"We had hoped for the OSCE Minsk Group, but it was inactive, long negotiations were unsuccessful. Today Armenia should not think about revanchism. It is necessary to use the tools of peace, give preference to cooperation in the region," Chetin said.

Chetin also stressed that Azerbaijan has achieved development in many areas.

"But the situation in Armenia is bad, young people are leaving the country because they do not see their future there. There must be peace in the region, which is impossible without Azerbaijan. Today is not the time for conflict, we need peace, stability and cooperation," the ex-minister noted.

Under the auspices of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and with the organization of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19" began its work in the capital of Azerbaijan on November 4 and will last until November 6.

The VIII Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives from more than 40 countries of the world, former heads of state and government, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as other guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The VIII Global Baku Forum will complete its work today.
Azerbaijan: Heads of religious confessions congratulate president

06 November 2021 [15:18] -

By Trend Heads of religious confessions of Azerbaijan congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on Victory Day - November 8, Trend reports.

Views: 417
By Trend

The countries of the Western Balkans should become a part of the European Union, but the EU put forward tougher conditions before them in this regard compared to other states, Petar Stoyanov, ex-president of Bulgaria, said during the panel session on topic Assessing Western Balkans: The Way Forward as part of the VIII Global Baku Forum under the motto "The World after COVID-19, Trend reports.

Stoyanov also noted that the EU has recently faced a number of difficulties, including economic crises, the coronavirus pandemic, and others.

"This complicates the integration of a number of countries, including the Western Balkan region, into the EU. However, a meeting was held in Slovenia between the leaders of the Western Balkans and the EU states. A number of promises were made to the Western Balkan countries," he added.

Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the VIII Global Baku Forum under the motto "The World after COVID-19 kicked off on November 4 and will end on November 6.

The VIII Global Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives, including former heads of state and government, officials of international and non-governmental organizations from more than 40 countries, as well as other distinguished guests, to discuss issues of global importance.
By Trend

Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Asaf Hajiyev sent a congratulatory letter to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Victory Day - November 8, Trend reports.




By Trend

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Turkey, including the office of the Military Attache, held a solemn event on the occasion of Victory Day [marked on November 8 to commemorate the end of the2020 Second Karabakh War] in Ankara, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Defense Ministry.

The Minister of National Defense of Turkey, Hulusi Akar and other official representatives of the fraternal country, foreign military attaches, Azerbaijani war veterans receiving treatment in the countrys capital, as well as public representatives attended the event.

The guests showed great interest in the performance of patriotic music pieces by the Military Orchestra of the Azerbaijan Military Academy named after Heydar Aliyev.
By Trend

Azerbaijan was able to timely provide the necessary tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, former Secretary of State and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Gennady Burbulis said on the panel session on the topic "Assessing Western Balkans: The Way Forward" within the framework of the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19", Trend reports.

"The leadership of Azerbaijan is taking important steps in these directions. We hope that we will achieve all those steps that we dream of and that we need," Burbulis said.

According to Burbulis, the current Global Baku Forum contributes to strengthening the partnership of a number of countries that are interested in this.

"For me, participation in the Global Baku Forum is a personal motivation. In general, we see the opposite perspective in the world, including self-isolation, self-development, selfishness. Today, many countries do not want to cooperate with each other," he said.

Burbulis also noted that 2020 was a test for all countries.

"We faced dozens of factors, but did not see a single country that would be ready for these tests," Burbulis said.

Under the auspices of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and with the organization of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the VIII Global Baku Forum titled "The World after COVID-19" began its work in the capital of Azerbaijan on November 4 and will last until November 6.

The VIII Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives from more than 40 countries of the world, former heads of state and government, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as other guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The VIII Global Baku Forum will complete its work today.
The EU can help Azerbaijan in restoring its territories liberated from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War], Valdis Zatlers, ex-president of Latvia, said during the panel session on topic "Eastern Partnership: What Is Potential?" as part of the VIII Global Baku Forum under the motto "The World after COVID-19", Trend reports.

"We must help our neighbors. The Eastern Partnership program covers issues of cooperation and partnership," Zatlers stressed.

He pointed out that the EU can provide assistance to Azerbaijan in the restoration of the liberated territories.

"This would be an expression of its will. If one country helps another, it increases its authority. I think that the next step will contain such a special approach and each country will receive the assistance it needs," added Zatlers.

Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the VIII Global Baku Forum under the motto "The World after COVID-19" kicked off on November 4 and will end on November 6.

The VIII Global Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives, including former heads of state and government, officials of international and non-governmental organizations from more than 40 countries, as well as other distinguished guests, to discuss issues of global importance.

About 300 guests are participating in the event, organized in a hybrid format, live and online.
By Trend

People's writer, famous poet and public figure of Kazakhstan Olzhas Suleimenov congratulated President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occassion of November 8 - Victory Day, Trend reports.
By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulation to King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni on the occasion of the National Holiday - Independence Day, Trend reports.

the story will be updated
Leading architectural firms in the real estate industry believe architectural adaptations will be revolutionise the real estate sector as the future design of residential projects gets radically different with the boundary between home, office and leisure becoming increasingly blurred.

The expert view comes ahead of the live Cityscape Global Summit and Exhibition, taking place from November 9 to 11 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) on the Expo 2020 grounds, featuring some of the leading architects and designers from across the globe.

A two-day summit, to be held from November 7 to 8 ahead of the expo, will bring together prominent architects from Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ), LWK+Partners and more to discuss trending industry topics such as proptech, future design trends and smart cities.

This year's Cityscape will see the launch of the debut edition of dq (design quarter), a newly-created exhibition area on the show floor for the local and international interior design and architecture industry sponsored by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).

Due to the increase in the work-from-home lifestyle, there is a greater emphasis on re-designing living spaces, to cater to the challenges that arise from a multi-functional home environment.

Open-plan layouts are favoured by families, allowing them to multitask in a functional and efficient manner.

Jason Burnside, Partner at GAJ, said: "The future design of residential projects will be radically different as the boundary between home, office and leisure becomes increasingly blurred."

"Homes will become more flexible, catering to the need for family members to interact and coexist simultaneously while doing homework, prepping for meals or working on a laptop," he stated.

Trends have not only impacted residential construction, schools also faced a great challenge to remain safe and in line with government guidelines due to the structures built prior to the pandemic.

"The current situation has necessitated a review of the current facilities for school operators and for us as designers," observed Burnside.

"Our recently completed schools have already been able to incorporate a number of measures such as wider corridors and technology-driven solutions including automated doors, non-contact taps in washrooms, and thermal cameras at main entry points," he added.

According to experts, radical changes are being implemented across various pillars in the real estate industry, allowing facilities to carry on with day-to-day operations in a safe manner while in line with government protocol.

The challenge for designers will be to create buildings that have the flexibility and adaptability to evolve over time, they added.

"One thing we have learned during this difficult period is that the human connection is vital to our wellbeing and while working from home is one solution, we do want to be back in the office," observed Avinash Kumar, the Associate Partner at GAJ.

"Technology will play a large part in the offices and workplaces of the future with a greater reliance on videoconferencing for meetings and contactless options such as hands-free light switches and touchless elevator controls that can be controlled via your smart phone," he added.

Echoing Kumars observations, Managing Director for Mena region at LWK + Partners, Kerem Cengiz underlined the increased advancements in technology as key drivers for the industry.

"Architects, designers and engineers are relying heavily on digital collaboration tools with leading practices and contractors utilizing 4D and 5D simulations to plan projects and optimize schedules," said Cengiz.

"Further investments in technology or digitisation and innovation of building systems are a fundamental shift that will remain. With the prospect of rolling physical-distancing measures and restrictions on cross-border movement of staff will become even more acute," he noted.

LWK + Partners will showcase innovative and experimental projects and prototypes engaging in interdisciplinary thinking across artistic practice, material research and technological integration from city to home.

The live and in-person event will be held in adherence with Informa AllSecure, an enhanced health and safety standards that raise the bar on safe, hygienic, productive, and high-quality organised event experiences.

The summit returns with support from its key sponsors Colliers, JLL, Kohler, Land Sterling, LWK + Partners, Regus and WhiteBricks.

Looking further into the future, it is imperative for architectural firms to constantly innovate and develop solutions catering to the current and future needs of the public. With the world moving towards a more sustainable environment, it is essential for firms to shape the future in a sustainable manner.-TradeArabia News Service
Global technology company SAP has announced that its Saudi Arabia cloud data centre has earned Class B certification from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).

SAP continues to strengthen its qualifications to work with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to store their public data and restricted data on its data centre.

SAPs Saudi Arabia data centre earning Class B certification from the Communications and Information Technology Commission is another milestone in our support for Saudi Arabias nationwide digital transformation, said Ahmed Al-Faifi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SAP Middle East North.

We are proud to be among the first cloud providers certified for the Saudi government and private sector organisations to advance their digital transformation by storing their public and restricted data in-country on SAPs data centre.-- TradeArabia News Service
Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry has signed an agreement with Russias Ros Global Export to set joint development plans and programmes that boost trade, facilitate the exchange of delegations between both sides, and attract investment.



Signed at the Business Communication Centre at Expo 2020 Dubai, the agreement supports opportunities for collaboration to ensure both parties benefit from commercial, tourism, and investment prospects.



The accord will see the two parties collaborate to organise conferences, meetings, seminars, and workshops, in addition to agreeing on procedures to participate in external events. The two entities will also work together to set promotional plans and use social networks to announces their respective programmes and organise meetings for businessmen from both sides.



The agreement was signed by Mohamed Ali Al Janahi, Executive Director of Business and Investment Development at Ajman Chamber, and Dmitriy Polyakov, Director General of Ros Global Export.



The collaboration agreement calls for the two sides to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and statistics, and for each to benefit from the training programmes, activities, events, and conferences the other side organises. The two parties also agree to exchange expertise, studies, and research.



The Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry is always looking to expand and diversify its network of collaborators and partnerships around the world, said Mohamed Ali Al Janahi.



Signing this collaboration agreement is part of our activities here at Expo 2020, which presents the ideal backdrop for business development efforts and plans to boost and expand commercial activities across various sectors and countries.



Our objective from this agreement with Ros Global Export is to open new markets for Chamber members, increase our trade with Russia, and provide common ground for future meetings with Russian businessmen to explore available opportunities, he added.



As per the agreement, each side will provide all facilities necessary for the other party to implement their programmes and activities. The two parties will also coordinate visits from commercial delegations and explore new, mutually beneficial prospects.  TradeArabia News Service
Prysmian Group, a world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, said it has secured the largest ever awarded submarine cable contract in the US.

The contract has been awarded by Dominion Energy Virginia, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, to a consortium made up of Prysmian and the Deme Group, a leader in the offshore wind industry.

The Balance of Plant (BoP) contract includes the complete package for the transportation and installation of the foundations and the substations and the EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation) services for the inter-array and export cables for the future largest commercial offshore windfarm in the US.

This project is a major milestone for Prysmian Group, as it is the first cable company in the offshore wind industry to sign a Balance of Plant contract. The total value of the contract is

approximately 1.6 billion ($1.85 billion), of which around 630 million is related to Prysmian for the cable supply and the installation works under its responsibility.

The project is expected to be completed by 2026.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) is located 43 km off the coast of Virginia Beach. Prysmian Group will provide three 3-core 220kV HVAC export cables measuring 62 km each, with XLPE insulation and single-wire armouring, for a total of approximately 560 km.

The company will also supply 320 km of 3-core 66kV offshore inter-array cables with XLPE insulation. The CVOW project is crucial to helping the Commonwealth of Virginia meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045.

The offshore wind farm, made up of a total of 176 turbines, will be capable of supplying clean power to as many as 660,000 households.

"At Prysmian Group we consider US central in our growth strategy and the renewed Biden Administrations strong commitment on the development of infrastructure supporting the energy transition is something really positive," remarked its CEO Valerio Battista.

"Following the award of the Vineyard submarine offshore project and the SOO Green HVDC link, the Dominion Energy project represents a further confirmation of our major role in helping our customers meet their goals," noted Battista.

"Prysmian Group is an experienced, industry leader and plays a key role in supplying the subsea cables that will help us deliver the clean, renewable offshore wind energy onshore, so it can ultimately reach our customers homes and businesses," said Joshua Bennett, Dominion Energy vice president of offshore wind.

"This is Prysmians first Balance of Plant contract and our first in partnership with the Deme Group. Two companies, which are both leaders in their own field, are partnering to offer a winning solution to Dominion Energy," said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects, Prysmian Group.

"Dominion Energy decided to award the contract to the Prysmian-DEME consortium in light of their unique combination of financial strength, experiences, expertise, fleet and cable supply capabilities, which are unparalleled in the industry and fundamental for the smooth management of large-scale projects such as the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, as they allow to reduce interface risks during the project execution phase, concluded Ozmen.

Following the award of the 200 million Vineyard Wind project and the $900 million SOO Green HVDC link, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is an important addition to Prysmian Groups growing submarine cable system portfolio in North America.

The Groups track record includes projects like Neptune, TransBay, Exxon Mobile and the Hudson River.-TradeArabia News Service
The UN barometer of world food prices has surged to a new peak, reaching its highest level since July 2011, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the international prices of a basket of food commodities, is up 3.9 percent from September, rising for a third consecutive month.

Cereal prices overall increased by 3.2 percent, with wheat rising five percent, due to reduced harvests in major exporting nations, including Canada, Russia and the US. Prices of all other major cereals also increased.

The vegetable oil index went up 9.6 percent, hitting an all-time high, and dairy rose by 2.6 points, with increased demand for butter, skimmed milk powder and whole milk powder, as buyers try to replenish low stocks. By contrast, cheese prices remained stable.

For the third consecutive month, the meat index declined, amid reduced purchases of pork products from China, and a sharp decline in beef from Brazil. Poultry and sheep prices rose.

After six consecutive monthly increases, sugar prices also dropped, by 1.8 percent, amidst limited global demand and large surpluses for export.

Compared to last year, global cereal production for 2021, is anticipated to increase and reach a new record level, of some 2,793 million tonnes.

World cereal consumption for 2021/22 is heading towards a 1.7 per cent gain, led by an anticipated increase in global food consumption of wheat, rising in tandem with a growing global population.

The production, distribution and consumption of all this food, uses about a third of the worlds total energy, according to a new report launched on Thursday on the sidelines of the UNs Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Feeding the world population is also responsible for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a priority in the fight against climate change.

The report, Renewable energy for agri-food systems  Towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, shares several examples of how that can be accomplished. It is the result of a joint effort between FAO and the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena)

Solar irrigation, for example, can improve access to water, enabling multiple cropping cycles and increasing resilience to changing rainfall patterns.

In India, the use of solar irrigation pumps has raised farmers incomes by at least 50 percent compared to when rain was the only option. In Rwanda, smallholder farmers yields have grown by about a third.

In a video message, FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu, argued that the report "shows that there are many opportunities to implement renewable energy solutions across agri-food systems."

The publication also provides recommendations, including better data collection to guide renewable energy investments, improved access to finance, and a greater focus on raising awareness and building capacity.

Not only do a third of agri-food emissions stem from energy use (fuel for farm machinery for example), that number grew 20 per cent rise between 2000 and 2018.

According to the report, that growth has been mainly driven by mechanisation in Asia, such as irrigation pumps, farm machinery, processing equipment and inputs such as fertilisers.

Energy use in Africa, which hosts around 15 percent of the global population, has remained largely constant, and only accounts for about 4 percent of the global consumption.

The report is the result of a joint effort between FAO and the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has used WTM London to tell the trade it is ready to welcome international tourists.

Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin told a packed audience at the WTM Global Stage: Our ambitions are high. We are seeing far.

He said the destination is aiming to achieve 100 million visits by the end of 2030.

In a session entitled 'Saudi Arabia: A Destination of the Future  Putting Sustainability First', Hamidaddin issued a challenge to other destinations, saying: We are trying to build a leading destination framed with sustainability. Everybody talks about sustainability. Very few actually do something about it.

He also called for a Tourism 20  style delegation of world leaders, similar to the G20, which was hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Hamidaddin said: At the G20, it was very clear tourism was missing in the room. Theres no Tourism 20.

Underlining the countrys commitment to sustainability, Amr AlMadani, CEO of The Royal Commission for AlUla, one of the oldest cities in the Arabian Peninsula and home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra, said: Going green for us and being sustainable is not a choice, its the way forward.

John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Authority, a tourism project on an archipelago of more than 90 islands, which will open its first resort of 16 hotels and 3,000 rooms next year, proclaimed: Saudi Arabia is taking very bold steps. We are going to be the largest tourism destination in the world, powered 100 per cent by renewable energy, he said, inviting other tourism companies to follow this lead.

The tech exists. All thats lacking is the will. Lets restore nature, he said.

Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been instrumental in helping shape the plan for the sustainable tourism destination the country wants to be, said Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah Gate Development Authority, a $20 billion tourism project that will showcase the countrys history through a mix of heritage, hospitality, education, retail and dining experiences.

It is expected to have a population of more than 100,000 and attract 25 million visitors a year.

Inzerillo said the Crown Princes approach was to seek the best Saudi talent and match it with international talent.

While Saudi Arabia is a relatively unknown destination compared to other parts of the world, Hamidaddin said visitors would be impressed with what they found. He explained that 70% of the population is below the age of 35 and women play an important part in shaping the Saudi Arabia of the future.

Our Assistant Minister of Tourism is female, 43% of our total organisation are women and the average age is 32. This is what the new Saudi Arabia is, he said.

A key market for Saudi Arabia is the growing cruise sector and Fawaz Farooqui, Managing Director of Cruise Saudi, said the region is proving to be very interesting for cruise lines that are always looking for new ports of call.

During a session entitled 'Expanding the Saudi Tourism Ecosystem', Farooqui said Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned on the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.

The Red Sea and Arabian Gulf are very attractive for cruise lines, which are always looking for new destinations.

There are currently four cruise ports in the country, with plans to increase the number to six by 2025.

European passengers, including Italian, British, French and German, are just starting to experience the destination and Farooqui said he has had huge interest from operators in South Africa, Australia and Canada during WTM London.

Ive seen a lot of interest during WTM. I want Saudi Arabia to be on the list of every cruise passenger, he added.

Husameddin AlMadini, CEO of Soudah Development Company, a new entity that will lead the development of a mountain destination in the Asir region, said he plans to speak to tour operators and hospitality operators from around the world.

He said: The international market is such an important segment.-TradeArabia News Service
British Airways has announced a special sales offer this week with exciting fares from Dubai to London and New York in World Traveller (economy).

Return fares to the UK capital in World Traveller start from AED1,995 ($543) onwards while for New York it will be AED2,880 ($783). All tickets must be booked by November 16 for travel until March 31 next year.

Head of Sales (South Asia, Middle East and Africa) Moran Birger said: "Many of our customers have been separated from family and friends abroad. These offers are perfect for customers that want to plan a trip this year, while making the most of the best prices available."

"The British Airways flexible booking policy also gives our customers reassurance if their plans change," he added.

Customers booking can do so with absolute confidence, thanks to British Airways flexible booking policy.

Customers are able to exchange their booking for a voucher or move their dates without incurring a change fee if their plans change.

British Airways Holidays customers also have access to a range of additional flexible booking options, as part of the companys Customer Promise.

Safety is at the heart of British Airways business. The airline continues to implement a range of measures that it requires customers and colleagues to observe, which include:

*Observing government regulations around advice around travel

*Asking customers not to travel if they think they have any symptoms of Covid-19

*Wearing facemasks and bringing enough to replace them every four hours for longer flights

*Checking-in online, downloading a boarding pass to a mobile device where possible for self-scanning at security and the departure gate

*Observing social distancing and using hand sanitisers that are placed throughout airports

*Asking customers to ensure they have everything they need from their hand luggage before departure, and where possible, storing their carry-on bag under the seat in front of them

*Cabin crew wearing PPE and a new food service, which reduces the number of interactions required with customers

BA said its team cleans all key surfaces including seats, screens, seat buckles and tray tables after every flight and each aircraft is completely cleaned from nose to tail every day.

The air on all British Airways flights is fully recycled once every two to three minutes through Hepa filters, which remove microscopic bacteria and virus clusters with over 99.9% efficiency, equivalent to hospital operating theatre standards, it stated.

Digital health travel passport, VeriFLY, is currently available on all of the airlines inbound flights to the UK, as well as from the UK to the US and Canada.

It is designed to help those eligible to travel to navigate the changing entry requirements and facilitate a seamless journey by ensuring customers are ready to fly and have the appropriate documentation in place, before departing for the airport. The app is optional for customers and can be downloaded to a mobile device.

Customers are advised to check the entry requirements of their final destination. The UK is taking steps to help stop the spread of Covid-19. All persons (including UK nationals and residents) arriving ino the country must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 3 days of departure to the UK and complete online a Passenger Locator Form in advance. TradeArabia News Service
A high-level delegation from Air France-KLM held strategic meeting with Dubai aviation leaders and also signed two sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) contracts at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

A leading airline group in terms of international traffic on departure from Europe, Air France-KLM said the networking event was realised in partnership with lille3000 association and sponsored by Clarins.

Air France CEO Anne Rigail hosted a special networking reception at the French pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, where she welcomed guests from the Emirati community, the Ambassador of France to the UAE  Xavier Chatel, elite members of the Air France Flying Blue loyalty programme, airline staff, partners and representatives of the French business community.

Rigail also signed two SAF contracts with Dubai-based companies, and visited the airlines regional offices at Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA).

Speaking at the reception at the French pavilion, at Expo 2020 Dubai, Rigail said: "Air France is proud to have served the UAE and help connect the community to France and our international network for 46 years and this work continues."

"Today, our clients can fly day and night to Paris and beyond. We recently opened our new regional headquarters at Dubai Airport Free Zone with a strong emphasis on sustainability, which is at the heart of what we do, across our passenger and cargo services, including with the increasing use of sustainable aviation fuels, which we have supported for many years," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Help India!



In a Congressional Briefing, experts discussed the way Hindu supremacists in India have thrived off Facebook and its related platforms, using social media to make anti-minority hatred mainstream.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.  Whistleblower Frances Haugen has thrust Facebook under international scrutiny with her testimony, revealing the media giants direct role in facilitating anti-minority violence worldwide. In a Congressional Briefing on Thursday, experts discussed the way Hindu supremacists in India have thrived off Facebook and its related platforms, using social media to make anti-minority hatred mainstream.

The Facebook paper confirms what we have been saying for a long time in terms of the harm the social media platform is doing to Muslims, Dalits, women and refugees, said Meetali Jain, Deputy Director of Reset.Tech with two decades of experience as a lawyer, academic, and campaigner. Politicians and celebrities can share hateful content with impunity. There is inadequate attention and lack of investment by Facebook in India to address these issues.

Social media and online platforms share responsibility for physical violence and even murder, said Rohit Chopra, Associate Professor specializing in global and postcolonial media at Santa Clara University. It is not hyperbole to say that in the Indian context, social media platforms already have blood on their hands.

The use of Whatsapp is behind almost each and every hate crime that has happened in India over the last few years, said Paranjoy Thakurta, veteran journalist and co-author of The Real Face of Facebook in India. Whatsapp is being used for criminal offences. Some of the top executive officials of Facebooks India team are very close to the ruling BJP and top officials in the government. [Young people in India] have been fed and indoctrinated on Facebook propaganda.

Dr. Ritumbra Manuvie, a Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Foundation London Story, who has conducted empirical investigations into the effect of misinformation and hate speech on societies worldwide, stated that Facebooks India platforms are awash with content that is both hateful and widely shared. There are dozens of live posts, with over millions of views, which remain in circulation on the platform despite flagrantly violating community standards. One popular post she discovered read, In the world, places where Quran or Hadith are being taught should be shut down, while a widely posted video shows a Hindu supremacist leader announcing, My only goal in life is to exterminate Islam and kill Muslims. The reactions are filled with likes, hearts, and laughing emojis. Neither post has been taken down by Facebook.

Samina Salim, Associate Professor at the University of Houston, stated that India has moved away from its pluralistic roots, normalizing open anti-Muslim and anti-minority hate speech. India operates on hate, she said. This is not a problem that can be solved by ignoring it. We need policy interventions and international pressure. Lynching after lynching, pogrom after pogrom this is no accident. This is deliberate.

The briefing was co-hosted by 16 organizations, including Amnesty International USA, 21 Wilberforce, Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, International Christian Concern, Jubilee Campaign, Dalit Solidarity Forum, New York State Council of Churches, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, India Civil Watch International, Students Against Hindutva Ideology, Center for Pluralism, American Muslim Institution, International Society for Peace and Justice, Association of Indian Muslims of America, and the Humanism Project (Australia).
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Today's news: US bans imports from companies in Malaysia that use forced labour, protests by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq, a gene may be the cause of high death and hospitalisation rates from Covid-19 in South Asia.

CHINA - USA

A Chinese intelligence official was convicted by a US court of trying to steal information from US airlines. Xu Yanjun faces up to 60 years in prison and, arrested in Belgium in 2018, is perhaps the first Chinese agent to be extradited to the United States to stand trial for espionage.

MALAYSIA - USA

The US has banned the import of products from Smart Glove, one of Malaysia's largest companies that manufactures gloves for the medical and food industries. According to the US government, 'Smart Glove's production facilities use forced labour'. The company has rejected the accusations, but factories in Malaysia have come under increasing scrutiny for abuses against foreign workers.

SOUTH ASIA

According to an Oxford University study, there is a gene that doubles the risk of respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus. Around 60% of people of South Asian origin are thought to carry this gene, compared with 15% of people of European origin. The findings could partly explain the high death and hospitalisation rates in countries on the Indian subcontinent.

RUSSIA

Russia plans to open 'immigration preparation centres' in three countries - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan - where citizens of these countries will be able to start receiving some migration services before they even arrive in the Russian Federation. Migrants in Russia are needed for productive activities, and their decline due to the pandemic is causing serious problems.

IRAQ

Hundreds of pro-Iran protesters clashed with Iraqi security forces near the Green Zone in the capital Baghdad, contesting the results of the last elections. The political arm of the paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi went from 48 to 15 seats in parliament. More than 100 people were injured.

PAKISTAN

A telecommunications tower was destroyed yesterday in Pakistan, in a tribal district of North Waziristan. The facility belonged to China Mobile Pakistan and had been providing internet services for two days. The attack was not claimed but the Pakistani Taliban is known to operate in the area.

NORTH KOREA

More than 4 out of 10 North Koreans suffer from malnutrition, says a recent FAO report. It estimates that at least 10.9 million people, or 42.4% of North Korea's population, were undernourished between 2018 and 2020. Last week, the World Food Program also launched an appeal to improve the country's food situation.

MYANMAR

The United Nations hopes Facebook will work with a team of its investigators to gather information on crimes committed in the country in recent years. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar was created in 2018. The former Burma is accused of genocide by the International Criminal Court for its crackdown on the Rohingya in 2017.
To grow our economy and generate more good paying jobs, weve got to fix our crumbling roads and bridges, invest in transit systems across the country, modernize our infrastructure to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and tackle climate change, Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement. This bipartisan bill is a serious down payment on those priorities.
Marie-Elena studied creative writing, art, and photography at University of Nebraska at Omaha, graduating with a BA in Studio Art -Visual Media. She moved to California from Nebraska in 2019 and is happy to call Calaveras County her home.

Comment Policy Calaveras Enterprise does not actively monitor comments. However, staff does read through to assess reader interest. When abusive or foul language is used or directed toward other commenters, those comments will be deleted. If a commenter continues to use such language, that person will be blocked from commenting. We wish to foster a community of communication and a sharing of ideas, and we truly value readers' input.
Annapolis police responded to the 1000 block of President Street in Eastport around 8:15 p.m. for a report of a shooting, according to law enforcement. Upon arrival police said they located a victim suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was transported to a hospital for treatment, according to the department.
House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, said lawmakers will look at what the governor presents. She also noted that the panel she and Senate President Bill Ferguson are on is still working and receiving input from the public. The panel includes several other state lawmakers, including two Republicans.
Officers responded around 4:40 p.m. to the 1300 block of Tyler Avenue for a reported shooting. A man was found suffering from a gunshot wound and transported to a local hospital. Police were still on the scene as of 6 p.m. Friday.
The Treasury Department has told states that they needed to have spent 30%  Marylands figure was between 25% and 30%  or have allocated at least 65% of the funds by the end of September. It said it would begin reallocating states unspent money in mid-November unless remedial action was taken.
Heavy snowfall will sweep parts of northern China on Saturday and Sunday, bringing low temperatures, Chinese media reported citing National Meteorological Center.

"From Saturday morning to Sunday morning, heavy snow to blizzard are expected to hit parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shaanxi and Henan," Xinhua reported.

Some areas will see the depth of snow up to 20 centimetres, said the state-run press agency.

The observatory urged the affected areas to take necessary precautions with regard to traffic, transport and energy supplies.

Meanwhile, China on Friday was forced to close highways and school playgrounds in the capital city of Beijing due to heavy pollution.

This comes as China ramps up coal production and faces scrutiny of its environmental record at international climate talks.

The Beijing municipal government has issued a yellow alert for heavy air pollution which came into force from 4 pm Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. Under the country's warning system for air pollution, red is the most severe warning. This is followed by orange, yellow and blue.

According to the city's weather authorities, unfavourable weather conditions are blamed for the smog blanketing Beijing and neighbouring regions from Wednesday to Saturday.

(ANI)
After Islamabad reportedly agreed to release several Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists in the first phase, the terrorists might declare a nationwide ceasefire in return, reported a local media.

"The prisoners were supposed to be freed on November 1 this year but then there were some technical issues that delayed the release process. Then they were required to be freed on November 4 but again it didn't happen due to some reasons," The News quoted a source privy to the negotiations as saying.

Some of the prisoners including top Taliban leaders in Swat, Mehmood Khan and Muslim Khan, were taken to Afghanistan for their "likely release", said the newspaper citing the source.

Former spokesperson of the TTP, Maulvi Omar was reportedly in the first batch of prisoners who were supposed to be free as a "goodwill" gesture.

However, the development has not been confirmed by the Pakistani authorities and Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani.

The TTP had earlier demanded from the government to release five of its senior "leaders" so that they can start trusting the government's seriousness in the talks, the newspaper reported citing the sources.

"Pakistani authorities themselves offered to 102 prisoners, including the five important leaders so that the peace process could yield results," The News reporter the sources as saying.

All the prisoner terrorists had been taken from various prisons in the country to the headquarters of North Waziristan, Miransha for their likely shifting to Khost in Afghanistan and handing over to the Afghan Taliban for their release, the newspaper reported citing the sources.

"None of the prisoners had been shifted to Afghanistan yet. They are still in Miranshah but can be taken any time to cross the border in Afghanistan," The News quoted the sources.

"There have been a series of fruitful meetings between the Pakistan government and leaders of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The first meeting had taken place in Kabul after the fall of Kabul and then two sessions were held in Khost province of Afghanistan in which the two sides exchanged views and proposals for meaningful dialogue," The News quoted one member of the negotiation team as saying on condition of anonymity.

The acting interior minister in the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, Sirajuddin Haqqani is reportedly playing a role of a mediator between Pakistan and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to reach a "broader" "peace agreement" to bring an end to the two-decades of militancy in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

(ANI)

Also Read: Taliban Interior Minister mediates peace talks between Pakistan and TTP
I am inspired this week by an assignment my wife is doing for a Law in Education class. Her assignment was to write about religion in school and particularly release time for religious classes. It is an interesting assignment for her because, unlike most of her class, she grew up in a state 
Begale isnt worried about running short. He ordered more than 1,400 turkeys from a Minnesota farm in August. Grocery stores, too, say theres no reason to panic: cranberries and canned pumpkin wont be as scarce as toilet paper and hand sanitizer were at the start of the pandemic. Still, industry experts say people should avoid waiting until the last minute to shop, and expect to pay more.
We held Zoom classes and ended up delivering live lessons from the preschool classroom, which actually turned out to be extremely gratifying, as I got to experience a difficult time, and see how teachers were able to change their entire lesson plans and curriculum, said Parker, 17, who is now a senior and enrolled in her fourth year of Township High School District 211s Education & Training career pathway.
The 77-year-old took out his own gun and shot at the would-be robber, hitting him in the head and chest, police said. The robber, whose identity was not released, died at the scene, police said.
A fight broke out, and the assailant pulled out a weapon and shot the man before getting back in vehicle and fleeing. The unidentified man suffered one gunshot wound to the back, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he was pronounced dead.
Madigan challenger Jason Gonzales sought up to $2 million in damages in a federal lawsuit contending the speaker and his Democratic organization backed two candidates with Hispanic names in the primary to dilute the opposition vote and give the Democratic leader a clearer path to victory. A U.S. District Court judge had dismissed the case.
Airbus will produce and deliver the A321 single-aisle aircraft in China by expanding its Final Assembly Line Asia in Tianjin (FAL Tianjin), Airbus China said on Friday.

Airbus and its Chinese partners have recently signed a framework agreement on expanding and upgrading the production capacity of the FAL Tianjin, enabling the current A320 family assembly facilities to produce A321 aircraft, Airbus China said.

Work is scheduled to begin in July 2022 and will include the expansion of the plant, the upgrading of facilities and tools, and professional training. The new work will not affect the production rate of FAL Tianjin.

The move aims to meet global market demand for the A321 series single-aisle aircraft, particularly from the Chinese market. It marks significant progress between Airbus and China in expanding industrial and supply chain cooperation," said Michel Tran Van, chief operating officer of Airbus China.

Airbus has four A320 family assembly facilities worldwide, in Toulouse in France, Hamburg in Germany, Tianjin in China, and Alabama in the United States. The facilities in Hamburg and Mobile, Alabama, are capable of producing A321 aircraft.

The European airplane maker is upgrading the industrial capabilities of these sites to meet the demand for A321 aircraft.

Airbus in 2008 inaugurated the Airbus A320 family final assembly line in north China's Tianjin. By the end of 2020, Airbus had assembled and delivered more than 500 commercial aircraft from the facility.

Airbus delivered a total of 99 commercial aircraft to China in 2020, representing 17.5 percent of its annual global deliveries, according to Airbus China.
China has emerged as a significant player, advancing economic globalization with openness as a hallmark and shared prosperity as a vision of the world's second-largest economy.

Since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country's economic size has grown from the 6th to the second-largest in the world. Its trade in goods grew from the 6th to the first, and trade in services from the 11th to the second place worldwide.

It has led developing countries in utilized foreign investment, while outbound direct investment has risen from the 26th to the first position.

The changes mirrored China's consistent efforts in embracing the global economy by facilitating global trade and investment and upholding multilateralism.

Deeper integration

The latest moves to expand opening-up came at the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) that started on Thursday. At the expo, the country announced that it would set up more demonstration zones for the creative promotion of import trade. It will also promote Silk Road e-commerce.

China has previously designated several cities for developing international consumption centers, and it vowed at the CIIE that the building of such centers would accelerate. It would also establish a modern logistics system and boost its cross-border logistics capabilities to share the opening-up fruits with the world.

The opening-up determination has remained steadfast over time. Earlier in September, China announced new measures to open up its services sector. The measures include implementing a negative list for cross-border services trade and exploring the development of national demonstration zones for the innovative development of trade in services, among others.

Since 2013, China has built 21 pilot free trade zones, representing the new high ground for opening-up. Recent years have also seen opening-up measures, including enacting the foreign investment law, implementing pre-establishment national treatment, and shortening the negative list for foreign businesses.

The country has always supported multilateral and regional mechanisms to play a bigger role and developing countries to gain more representation.

Last month, China officially applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and vowed more efforts to expand market access than its practices in any existing trade pact.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, is the world's largest free trade agreement, covering about 30 percent of the world's population.

China, a member of the RCEP, has stated its readiness to further boost economic integration and recovery in the region through mutually beneficial cooperation with ASEAN on many occasions.

The enactment of the agreement is significant for further promoting intra-regional free trade, stabilizing industrial and supply chains, and promoting China's high-level opening-up, said China's Ministry of Commerce.

George Ye, vice president and general manager of Edwards Lifesciences Greater China, said China has made vital contributions to the world economy since its accession to the WTO.

The company is honored to witness China living up to its commitments when joining the WTO, continuing to open up to the outside world, accelerating the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and improving its business environment, said Ye.

Shared opportunity

As an old Chinese saying goes, "A single flower does not make spring." China's opening-up endeavors never lead to development behind closed doors, but mutual benefits enjoyed by all.

Over the years, China has unveiled multiple measures to lower market access thresholds to share market opportunities with the rest of the world.

It fulfilled its pledge of lowering the import tariff for goods to 9.8 percent from 15.3 percent when it joined the WTO 20 years ago. At present, its overall import tax stands at 7.4 percent, lower than the average level of developing members of the WTO, and is approaching the level of developed members of the organization.

Non-tariff barriers for international trade have also been significantly reduced, with non-tariff measures covering 424 tariff categories scrapped by January 2005.

Just as China benefited from increased exports, its trading partners similarly benefited from China's increased purchasing power and rising imports, said Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan.

The country has also endeavored to provide public goods to facilitate global and regional economic and social development.

The CIIE, the world's first import-themed national-level expo, is one of such platforms for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchanges, and open cooperation.

The ongoing fourth edition of the expo has drawn nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions. Over 80 percent of the world's top 500 companies and industry leaders who participated in the previous expos are here this year. The total exhibition area for businesses has expanded to 366,000 square meters.

Enjoying a larger venue, a record number of U.S. companies are attending this year's event. It is also seeing the participation of 90 companies from 33 least developed countries.

In the past 20 years, China has become the largest trading partner of most developing countries. Significantly, the country absorbs 20 percent of the least developed countries' exports, thanks to its duty-free and quota-free market-accessing initiative in favor of these countries, said Grynspan.

Eyeing more business opportunities from the world's largest market, participants from all over the world have hailed the CIIE as a platform for sharing China's development dividends.

Jose Vinals, chairman of Standard Chartered Group, said the expo is exciting and provides a powerful platform for exporters, suppliers, and service providers globally to connect with the opportunities in China.

When commenting on China's transformation in the past two decades, Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and Chief Executive Officer of L'Oreal China, said the country is committed to making the market more stable, transparent, predictable, and fair.

"It has also injected prosperity and stability into the whole world - from streamlining administration and delegating power, to reducing taxes and fees, international exchange to local innovation," said Megarbane.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), another global public good, has grown into the world's largest international cooperation platform over the past eight years, with over 200 cooperation agreements inked between China and over 170 countries and international organizations.

Through the BRI, China, in combination with different countries' competitive advantages, offered investments to accelerate economic development, and promote social welfare, said Sergei Glazyev, member of the board (minister) of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

China is leading the world's socio-economic development, and its proposal of building a community with a shared future for humanity inspires many Eurasian countries, Glazyev said.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said China has successfully positioned itself at the core of many global value chains. These production and trade networks have not only provided a lifeline for many countries during the pandemic, but also increased the quantity, quality, and variety of goods available worldwide.

Looking back over the past two decades, China's WTO accession is nothing less than the completion of the largest trading bridge between China and the West since Marco Polo's expedition in the 13th century, Okonjo-Iweala said.

"The WTO would not be the World Trade Organization without China," she said when addressing a high-level session held Friday on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO via video.
A group of enterprise executives from multinational giants shared their views on climate change and green development at a forum held on Friday during the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE).

The forum "Green Development and Global Trade under Climate Change" was featured as part of the CIIE's Hongqiao International Economic Forum. The strong lineup of guest speakers included Roberto Azevedo, executive vice president of PepsiCo; Mike Henry, CEO of BHP; Mike Roman, chairman and CEO of 3M; and Jochen Goller, CEO of BMW China.

"CIIE has served as a productive and positive platform to provide new opportunities for global trade, investment, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges," said PepsiCo's Azevedo, former director-general of the World Trade Organization. "Now we are facing our most challenging moment yet. The pandemic has forced us to pursue a new sustainability model that creates a safer and more prosperous society grounded in a more inclusive and resilient economy. In this context, I believe this panel's topic is particularly timely and meaningful."

He noted, "China has attached great importance to green development and climate change, targeting a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. It is a commendable vision for one of the world's largest countries. But even a country as great and powerful as China cannot meet this challenge on its own. The private sector has a key role to play, too, and at PepsiCo, we are committed to shouldering our share of responsibility."

The top executive shared the company's strategic plan for putting sustainability at the center of creating growth and value, and their new agenda pep+ (Pep Positive). As one of the world's leading food and beverage companies and a significant player in transforming the global food system, pep+, which means "Positive Agriculture, Positive Value Chain and Positive Choices," will guide how PepsiCo will transform its business operations. He said this includes everything from sourcing ingredients to making and selling its products in a more sustainable way. A key element in helping PepsiCo achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 is investing in breakthrough packaging technologies.

"We are leveraging our scale and strength to help build a more sustainable and resilient food system to protect the planet and positively impact people and the communities where we operate. Under the guidance of pep+, we will support the Chinese government's 14th Five-Year Plan and carbon goals," he added.

Mike Henry, CEO of BHP, also pledged to give full play to corporate responsibility while promoting green development and achieving carbon peak and neutrality targets. He said the company would do this by exploring low-carbon emission reduction technologies, focusing on the new energy industry, restructuring their assets, conducting research with industry allies, and promoting digital applications and blockchain technology.

The speakers of the forum also include Antoine Arnault, LVMH board member and Image and Environment director; Kamran Vossoughi, vice president of Michelin Group and president and CEO of Michelin China; Li Ping, co-founder and vice-chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Pamela Rosemarie Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center (ITC), and Jan Beagle, director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).

LVMH's Arnault said they would make sure that high-quality fashion products were environmentally friendly. They must limit the impact on the environment in the design and production process and strive to promote the development of biodiversity. LVMH vowed to protect the environment by making recyclable products, pursuing a low-carbon development path, developing regenerative agriculture, and funding forest regeneration.

Li Ping said his Contemporary Amperex Technology had developed energy storage batteries, a critical technology for green development. Now they are trying to achieve green production, consumption, and manufacturing in the supply chain system. He said they were introducing clean energy such as photovoltaics and hydropower in old manufacturing bases and finding sustainable energy sources for new grounds. Meanwhile, Kamran Vossoughi from Michelin also mentioned that their plant in Shanghai uses green energy. In addition, their Shenyang plant recently introduced photovoltaics and solar panels to reduce energy use.

As ITC Executive Director Pamela Rosemarie Coke-Hamilton noted, fighting climate change and preserving the natural environment means using fewer resources and finding cleaner means of production. Hence, humanity needs to move towards a sustainable economic model and aims to develop new economic growth free from finite resources.

"Sustainability is the new language that connects the world," BMW China President Jochen Goller concluded.
A top human resources executive of global medicine giant AstraZeneca revealed to China.org.cn that they are expanding their program to train more versatile talent in China.

This year marks the fourth consecutive year of AstraZeneca's participation at the China International Import Expo (CIIE). During the 4th CIIE held from Nov. 5-10, the corporation is focusing on a strategy of employment value proposition, which "will help our firm strengthen high-quality talent development," said Jenny Leo, vice president of AstraZeneca China and head of its human resources department.

On Friday, the first day of this year's CIIE, AstraZeneca signed three cooperation agreements concerning two major projects  school-enterprise cooperation and talent exchange.

The first cooperation project is with Nanjing University's School of Life Sciences. AstraZeneca will build a positive talent workstation through a series of interactive measures to realize the depth of cooperation and foster youth talent.

"We have planned such cooperation projects with several universities in different cities and are in discussions with them. Nanjing University is very open and has the essential need to sign the deal, so we chose them as the first partner," Leo explained. She added that she hoped they could do such deals with a total of five universities by the end of this year.

Such AstraZeneca workstations in key universities will integrate the commercialization of scientific research results, the development of students' professional abilities, corporate visits, the recruitment of interns and graduates, and scholarships. In addition, Leo said the company has committed to building up talent reserves for the reform and transformation of the medical industry. They hoped to cultivate versatile talent with local insights, international visions, and crossover capabilities, developing future leaders for the Chinese medical and health industry.

AstraZeneca also signed deals to collaborate with Chic Health and Huijiu Learning to fulfill its long-term talent strategy and enhance bilateral staff exchanges with "PLAN100." The plan is part of AstraZeneca's talent training plan that has persisted for many years, which they will upgrade to a talent development ecosystem. This plan aims to break down the barriers between enterprises and exchange talent, including sending staff to assist collaborating companies in foreign territories. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some international exchange plans are now virtual.

Next, as Leo revealed, AstraZeneca plans to work with the government, welcoming government staff to join the enterprise and learn about their operations.

AstraZeneca, headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom, is solidifying its presence in the Chinese market, which has grown into the company's second-largest market in the world. At its 1,100-square-meter CIIE booth, they exhibited several impressive achievements. Since entering the Chinese market in 1993, AstraZeneca has introduced nearly 40 global high-quality, innovative medicines, as well as advanced technology and production equipment. They have helped the Chinese medical system address respiratory diseases, the cardiovascular system, metabolism, digestion, and kidney health. It has invested more than $1 billion in China, with total R&D investment standing at $1.5 billion and import value reaching $20 billion.

"As a multinational company deeply rooted in China, AstraZeneca will continue to play our role as a bridge. We will bring not only good products and technologies into China but also bring Chinese innovative products and solutions to the world," said Leon Wang, executive vice president of AstraZeneca. He added they have been deeply impressed by the significant impact and spillover effects of the CIIE and achieved fruitful results each time for four consecutive years.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) held a meeting of its Council of Chairpersons on Friday afternoon to hear reports on draft laws and draft law amendments.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the meeting.

Li Fei, chairman of the NPC Constitution and Law Committee, presented reports on draft laws concerning organized crime, wetland protection, and the prevention and control of noise pollution. He also presented reports on draft revisions to the law on scientific and technological progress, the seed law, and the civil procedure Law.

Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, presented a report on the deliberation of a draft amendment to the trade union law, which has been proposed by the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee.

The meeting reviewed the aforementioned drafts and urged efforts to solicit further opinions to improve the drafts.
The Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Friday strongly disapproved of and firmly objected to a survey conducted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) on freedom of the press in Hong Kong.

The FCC survey released on Friday attacked the national security law in Hong Kong as well as freedom of the press in Hong Kong, said a spokesperson of the office.

"We urge the FCC to stop sowing discord and refrain from interfering with the law-based governance of the HKSAR government and Hong Kong's rule of law in the name of press freedom," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson pointed out that the lawful rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents, including freedoms of speech and the press, are upheld in the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the national security law in Hong Kong.

Contrary to the survey results, the national security law in Hong Kong has better protected the safety of the country, restored social stability and provided people with a stronger sense of security, the spokesperson noted.

"Targeting a very small handful of criminals for their activities that endanger national security, the national security law does not harm press freedom and any other rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people; rather, it protects their rights and freedoms in a more secure, stable and law-based environment," the spokesperson said.

Under the national security law in Hong Kong, the number of local, overseas and online news media and practitioners registered in the HKSAR government news and media information system has gone up, and the right of media professionals in Hong Kong to report in accordance with law has not been affected at all, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson stressed that the FCC has walked away from its professional ethics. "Its misleading report, based on just a few responses, is neither representative nor credible. Its smearing of Hong Kong's press freedom and playing-up of the chilling effect are interference in Hong Kong affairs," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that there is no absolute press freedom anywhere in the world that could be above the law. "Foreign media correspondents in the city must strictly abide by the laws of China and the HKSAR and accept legal supervision," the spokesperson said.

There is only one purpose for the relevant departments of the HKSAR government to improve management and service for the media sector in accordance with law -- to protect the rights of all law-abiding media outlets and journalists and safeguard press freedom in Hong Kong.

"The actions are, by all standards, legitimate and necessary," the spokesperson noted.

"We urge the FCC to distinguish right from wrong, respect the rule of law in the HKSAR, and stop driving wedge in Hong Kong and meddling in Hong Kong affairs under whatever pretext," the spokesperson said.
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Canadians under the age of 12 now account for over 20 percent of daily new cases of COVID-19, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said Friday.

Canadians under 12 represent 12 percent of the country's population of 38 million. There are about 4.3 million children under 12 who are not vaccinated in the country.

The overrepresentation is not unexpected, given the high level of vaccination in other age groups, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said at a press conference in Ottawa on Friday.

Canada has ordered 2.9 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine for children. It is still waiting for approval from the Canadian Health Ministry.

More than 58.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across Canada since vaccination began last December, according to the latest data from PHAC.

This means over 89 percent of the eligible population -- those 12 and older -- have received at least one shot, while more than 84 percent of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated.

The latest PHAC data shows 4 million people have not yet received a single dose, while 1.5 million people are only partially vaccinated. There have been some outbreaks in schools and daycares in Canada. Tam said they have generally been small in size.

She said COVID-19-related deaths among young children happen rarely.

Over the past month, Tam said Canada has made good progress in slowing the growth of COVID-19 across Canada, but the rate of decline has "slowed somewhat."

Over the past week, an average of 2,230 new cases were being reported daily. "This means we are about halfway down from the peak of the fourth wave when over 4,400 cases were being reported daily," Tam said.

Tam said the country could see some "bumps" in the trajectory of the pandemic in the months ahead, and noted that severe illness trends are "still elevated."

"This virus has proven time and time again that this virus could go through evolutions," she said. "It's possible that we could get different variants -- and we have to monitor that."

Since October, vaccination efforts and public health measures have helped to bring the fourth wave of the pandemic under control along the reduced transmission trajectory previously forecast, said PHAC.

The latest PHAC modeling shows if Canada continues along the path it is on now and maintains current levels of transmission, Canadians could expect to see around 1,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by early December.

However, Tam warned that it's "still too soon to fully ease public health measures."

"Now is not the time to let our guard down. We may still be in for a challenging winter and maintaining a cautious approach can help keep us safer as we move indoors for the arrival of colder weather," Tam added.

As of Friday afternoon, Canada has reported a total of 1,726,671 COVID-19 cases, including 29,126 deaths, according to CTV.
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Another 34,029 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,241,916, according to official figures released Friday.

The country also reported a further 193 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 141,588. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

There are currently 9,160 patients in hospital with COVID-19.

The latest data came as the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 in England has increased more slowly over a two-week period, but the trend was uncertain in the week ending Oct. 30, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 remained highest for those in school Years 7 to 11, at 7.47 percent in the week ending Oct 30, the ONS reported.

The coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number in England is between 0.9 and 1.1, the latest official figures showed.

The R number indicates the average number of people each COVID-positive person goes on to infect.

Meanwhile, more than 87 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 79 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed. More than 16 percent have received booster jabs, or the third doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that China and New Zealand should safeguard and practice true multilateralism, and join hands to promote regional economic integration.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.

Xi recalled that China and New Zealand worked together to overcome political, historical and cultural differences and created multiple "firsts" in bilateral cooperation.

Noting that the next year marks the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, Xi said the two sides should summarize successful experience, strengthen strategic communication, and not allow the cloud to block their views.

The two sides, he added, should adhere to openness and inclusiveness, seek common ground while reserving differences, deepen practical cooperation, and properly handle differences, so as to promote continued healthy and stable development of their comprehensive strategic partnership and create more benefits for the people in both countries.

Xi pointed out that the two sides should give full play to their complementary advantages, expand economic and trade cooperation and maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains.

China, he said, welcomes New Zealand's participation in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and stands ready to work with New Zealand to expand cooperation in such areas as vaccine research and development, environmental protection, clean energy, food safety, science and technology education, so as to bring their people a stronger sense of fulfillment.

The two sides should also carry forward "the spirit of Rewi Alley," encourage their young generations to strengthen exchanges, and enhance understanding and friendship between the two nations, he added.

Xi stressed that China supports New Zealand's role as the host of the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, and is willing to work with all other parties to push for positive results in the APEC informal economic leaders' meeting.

In doing so, he said, they can inject new impetus into the Asia-Pacific region's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, advance economic recovery, promote regional development and prosperity, and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

For her part, Ardern thanked China for supporting New Zealand's work as the host of APEC meetings, saying she looks forward to Xi attending the APEC informal economic leaders' meeting next week and sharing insight on jointly tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing APEC cooperation, promoting open and inclusive growth of the regional economy.

The relationship with China is one of New Zealand's most important bilateral relationships, she said, adding that cooperation between the two countries is extensive and in-depth, as well as complementary and beneficial to each other.

New Zealand businesses are actively participating in the 4th China International Import Expo, with a hope to deepen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, she said.

New Zealand, she said, firmly adheres to the one-China policy, and appreciates China's efforts in and contributions to addressing climate change and preserving biodiversity.

She added that her country is willing to work with China to strengthen strategic communication, deepen cooperation in various fields, boost people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and successfully hold 50th-anniversary celebrations.

New Zealand firmly believes that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be a complete success, she said.
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Lawmakers in Portugal voted on Friday to legalize euthanasia by approving a revised bill that fixed objections raised earlier by the Constitutional Court.

The vote was 138 in favor, 84 against and five abstentions. The original bill was vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in March.

The new law specifies the conditions under which medically assisted death is not punishable, thus changing the country's Penal Code.

The rules are quite restrictive, and only people over 18, who are Portuguese citizens or foreigners legally resident in the country, can resort to euthanasia, the practice of intentionally ending life to relieve pain and suffering.

Only patients in situations of "intolerable suffering, with severe permanent injury or incurable and fatal disease" can opt for this final procedure. Those diagnosed with mental illnesses cannot choose assisted suicide.

President de Sousa still needs to sign the bill into law.
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The United Nations relief agency said on Friday it is seeking additional funding to ramp up humanitarian response in South Sudan where flooding continues to impact people across the country.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the UN relief agency has allocated 20 million U.S. dollars from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund, with part of the allocation supporting flood response efforts, complementing bilateral funding sources.

"Some 760,000 people have been affected by flooding in areas along the Nile and Lol rivers and Sudd marshlands since May," the UNOCHA said in its latest Update on floods.

It said humanitarian organizations are responding to the immediate needs of flood-affected people with emergency response relief and community-based support.

According to the UN agency, some 294,000 people were reached with food assistance in September and October while some 174,000 people have been reached with shelter and non-food items support as of Oct. 31.

The UNOCHA said between May and Oct. 31, some 2,355 metric tons of assorted humanitarian cargo was transported by air, road and river.

"However, additional funding is urgently needed. Insecurity and access constraints also continue to hamper the overall flood response," it said.

The UN agency said close to 800,000 people have been affected to date by rising waters across the country since May.
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A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday reiterated that Taiwan, as a part of China rather than a sovereign state, can be neither a member of the United Nations nor of any specialized agency under the UN, including the World Health Organization.

This fact is an international consensus and cannot be denied by certain people in the United States, said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, in response to certain U.S. officials' support of Taiwan participating in the UN system.

The UN Resolution 2758 has resolved once and for all the issue of China's representation at the UN and other international institutions in political, legal and procedural terms, Zhu said, noting that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

Zhu urged the U.S. government to cease all remarks and behaviors that incite and support "Taiwan independence," and take concrete actions to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques.

She also urged the Democratic Progressive Party authority in Taiwan to cease seeking "independence" by relying on the United States or other foreign forces, stressing that any act that undermines the one-China principle and aims to split the country will fail.
Global Embedded Systems Market: Overview



Embedded system is a computer system, used within in large mechanical and electrical systems to solve real time computing constraints. It is integrated within the hardware of the electric or mechanical parts. These systems provide better adaptability, reliability, accuracy, power and smaller size. Embedded systems are employed in variety of industry verticals such as electronics, mobile communication, railways, automobiles, healthcare and aeronautics tom fulfill specialized purposes.

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The Embedded Systems market is expected to be driven by increasing adoption in automobiles, wearable devices, smart appliances in smart homes, use of multi-core processor technology in military applications and burgeoning demand in healthcare equipments. Moreover, innovation in technology coupled with smart grid initiatives likely to fuel of the Embedded systems market. However, the market is constrained with production of embedded systems, which requires set of complications arise on real time embedded systems implementations and theft and data privacy concerns.

The revenue generated in the global market for embedded systems is, as a result, expected to progress at a strong CAGR of xx % from 2018  2028. This market is expected to reach US$ xx billion by the end of 2028.

Global Embedded Systems Market: Segmentation



Embedded system market, by Functionality

Stand alone embedded systems

Real time embedded systems

Networked embedded systems

Mobile embedded systems

Embedded system market, by Microcontroller

Small scale embedded systems

Medium scale embedded systems

Large scale embedded systems

Embedded system market, by Types

Embedded Hardware

Embedded Software

Embedded system market, by Application

Automotive

Telecommunication

Healthcare

Industrial

Consumer electronics

Aerospace and defense

Others

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Regional Outlook



The major chunk of total revenue in the embedded systems market is expected to come from North America. The region is has consistently remained top consumer of embedded systems and is likely to show high demand in the region.

Asia Pacific is expected to show meteoric rise in demand for the embedded systems in the coming years. The region comprises of large number of industries that are rapidly evolving will require embedded systems to streamline their processes. The availability of skilled professionals in software development and presence of fabrication plants in the regions will further augment the growth of the embedded systems market.

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Competitive Scenario



The companies operating in the Embedded Systems Market are Intel Corporation (US), Infineon Technologies AG (Germany), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan), Texas Instruments Incorporated (US), Microchip Technology Incorporated (US), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), Qualcomm Technologies Incorporated (US), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (US), Analog Devices Inc. (US), Broadcom Limited (US), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Netherlands), and Toshiba Corporation (Japan).




Dysphagia is difficulty in swallowing, whereas eating difficulties refer to problems associated with transfer of liquid/food to the mouth. These problems coexists in many patients. Dysphagia is a common issue after stroke. In many cases, dysphagia gets resolved rapidly. However, in some cases, the swallow varies in function. Dysphagia has become a prevalent difficulty among geriatric population. Although, physiologic changes in swallow function is facilitated by growing age, age-related diseases significantly add to presence & severity of dysphagia. Swallowing rehabilitation is a great approach for providing safe oral intake to patients with dysphagia. The benefits of swallowing rehabilitation include reduced pneumonia rates, and improved nutritional status.

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Increasing Prevalence of OTC Drugs over Prescription-based Expected to Drive the Demand for Dysphagia Management

The global dysphagia management market is projected to register a health growth at XX% CAGR, according to a report by TMR. Demand for dysphagia management is expected to witness an upsurge in parallel with improvement in medical services and facilities in global healthcare sector. The global dysphagia management market is poised to reach US$ XX Mn by 2028 end, growing prevalence of retail pharmacies and specialty clinics are further expected to boost the demand for dysphagia management drugs & treatment solutions.

Medical treatments for dysphagia are undergoing qualitative developments owing to rapid improvement in healthcare services. The number of patients seeking dysphagia management is estimated to be increasing across the globe, as per TMRs report. OTC (over the counter) drugs are gaining significant prevalence among patients, as compared to medications based on prescription. These factors are anticipated to drive the demand for dysphagia management services, as oral treatment of such diseases is possible without the requirement of mandatory medical supervision. However, side effects emerging from dysphagia drugs is expected to be restraining factor for the growth of the global dysphagia management market. Additionally, decline in market exclusivity is also a key factor impeding the sales of dysphagia drugs.Global Dysphagia Management Market Poised to Reach US$ XX Mn by 2028

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NHSc and CSA in Collaboration Agreement for Improving Dysphagia Management

Various organisations have introduced innovative products for treatment of dysphagia management and post-stroke treatments. Chinese Stroke Association (CSA) and Nestle Health Science (NHSc) have taken part in a collaboration agreement, designed for improving management, screening and diagnosis of dysphagia among the patients suffered through stroke, a common cause of dysphagia. As a part of this collaboration, NHSc is going to launch Thicken Up, an innovative thickening agent, in leading hospitals of twenty-five provinces & municipalities in China. Thicken Up enables requirement-based modification of food & liquids, helping patients to overcome difficulties in swallowing. National Health Science will also collaborate & share resources with Chinese Stroke Association on introduction of clinical innovation & best practice standards in the leading stroke centers of China. In addition, NHSc has launched an Easy Eating hotline for non-hospitalized patients.

Stroke Management in Predetermined Manner Provides Improved Outcome

Although dysphagia management is similar in most of the stroke services around the world, its results are affected by availability of resources & staff for undertaking the service. Various services offer swallow screening at time of admission by following a protocol. Management plan consists of much variability, but stroke management in a predetermined manner provides improved outcome. Swallowing pathway comprises several key components. Generally accepted pathway consists of assessment, screening, feeding, rehabilitation, management, and investigation.

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Dysphagia Management Market: Competitive Landscape

Besides, Nutricia Advanced Medical Nutrition, Cipla Ltd., Nestle Health Science, and Astra Zeneca plc. are other leading companies profiled in the report
The Global Chlorobenzene Market Outlook 2019-2024 offers detailed coverage of chlorobenzene industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading chlorobenzene producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for chlorobenzene. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application, by products, and by geography.

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The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from key industry participants. The global chlorobenzene market has been segmented into five major regions, namely, North America (U.S., Canada, and others), Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and others), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, and others), South America (Brazil, Argentina, and others), and Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and others). Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key vendors operating in this market.

Key Regions

 North America

 Europe

 Asia Pacific

 Middle East & Africa

 South America

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Key Vendors

 Aarti Industries Limited (AIL)

 Anhui Bayi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

 ChemieOrganic Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.

 China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)

 Deepak Nitrite Limited

 Jiangsu Huaijiang Technology Co., Ltd.

 Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Group Co., Ltd.

 Kureha Corporation

 Lanxess AG

 Panoli Intermediates India Pvt Ltd

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 Analysis of the chlorobenzene market including revenues, future growth, market outlook

 Historical data and forecast

 Regional analysis including growth estimates

 Analyzes the end user markets including growth estimates.

 Profiles on chlorobenzene vendors including products, sales/revenues, SWOT, and market position, recent developments.

 Market structure, market drivers and restraints.
The Global Semi-trailer Market Outlook 2019-2024 offers detailed coverage of semi-trailer industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading semi-trailer producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for semi-trailer. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application, by products, and by geography.

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The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from key industry participants. The global semi-trailer market has been segmented into five major regions, namely, North America (U.S., Canada, and others), Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and others), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, and others), South America (Brazil, Argentina, and others), and Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and others). Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key vendors operating in this market.

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Key Regions

 North America

 Europe

 Asia Pacific

 Middle East & Africa

 South America

Key Vendors

 Anhui Kaile Special Vehicles Company Limited

 Ashok Leyland Ltd

 Avtopritsep-KAMAZ OAO

 Beijing Jingtuo Weiye Trailer Co., Ltd.

 Bernard Krone Holding GmbH

 CIMC/China International Marine Containers

 Facchini S.A.

 Great Dane Trailers, Inc.

 Hebei Hongtai Special Purpose Vehicle Co., Ltd.

 Hebei Lutong Special Purpose Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

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Key Questions Answered in This Report

 Analysis of the semi-trailer market including revenues, future growth, market outlook

 Historical data and forecast

 Regional analysis including growth estimates

 Analyzes the end user markets including growth estimates.

 Profiles on semi-trailer vendors including products, sales/revenues, SWOT, and market position, recent developments.

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The Global Zinc Sulfate Market Outlook 2019-2024 offers detailed coverage of zinc sulfate industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading zinc sulfate producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for zinc sulfate. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application, by products, and by geography.

The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from key industry participants. The global zinc sulfate market has been segmented into five major regions, namely, North America (U.S., Canada, and others), Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and others), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, and others), South America (Brazil, Argentina, and others), and Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and others). Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key vendors operating in this market.

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Key Regions

 North America

 Europe

 Asia Pacific

 Middle East & Africa

 South America

Key Vendors

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This was the second year that Connecticut allowed all voters to cast absentee ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic, following the passage of a temporary law in May. No-excuse absentee ballot voting cannot be made permanent without amending the state Constitution, and the measure failed to garner a supermajority in the last legislative session in the face of opposition from Republicans.
Boyle says that The Shattering grew out of courses he taught to undergraduates, and the book covers the range of material you would expect from any foundational account of the 1960s and the penumbra around it  Kennedy in Dallas, Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, unrest in Newark and Watts, LSD and The Pill. But he also writes about those moments that can sometimes get lost in the deluge. Boyle recalls how construction workers building the World Trade Center descended on anti-war protesters in a rampage fascisms bully boys would have been proud to call their own. And he reminds us how Eisenhower routed Sen. Joseph McCarthy by exploiting the publics homophobia  leaking to the press a report on the homosexuality of McCarthys top aide, a young lawyer named Roy Cohn.
Tuesdays marquee race in Virginia was the governors contest, in which Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin defeated former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The GOP also captured the lieutenant governors office after Republican Winsome Sears beat Democrat Hala Ayala, and the attorney generals office with Republican Jason Miyares victory over Democratic two-term incumbent Mark Herring. Sears will become the states first female lieutenant governor and the first woman of color to win statewide office in Virginia.
Just before 1 a.m., police say a Virginia state trooper saw the Infiniti sedan speeding on I-64 in New Kent County. The car was driving at around 100 mph and traveling on the shoulder, according to police. When the trooper tried to stop the Infiniti, the driver wouldnt stop and exited the interstate at exit 227.
Lubbock, TX (79409)

Today

Overcast skies and windy. High around 60F. Winds NNE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 32F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The Telangana High Court issued directions and guidelines to be followed by the police with regard to vehicles being driven by intoxicated persons. (DC file photo)

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court made it clear on Friday that the police have no powers to seize or detain a vehicle from its driver or rider who is in an intoxicated condition.

Justice K. Lakshaman found fault with the police for detaining vehicles for days together and not releasing the same even after the drivers produced certificate of registration, identity proof and driving licenses.

The court also issued guidelines to be followed by the police before taking custody of vehicles. The judge criticised the approach of the state government in building pressure on both the excise and the police departments to collect more revenue by way of sale of liquor as well as imposition of challans during drunk and drive. The approach of the government was not appreciable, Justice Lakshman said.

The Judge made it clear that the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and other governing provisions did not permit either to seize or detain the vehicle from the person who consumed alcohol. The Judge was dealing with a batch of around 40 petitions, who had approached the High Court complaining about the detainment of their vehicles, when they were traced out in a drunk and drive check.

The petitioners drew the attention of the court that it had previously held that under the MV Act, police officers did not have power to take custody of the vehicle driven under the influence of alcohol and directed the authorities who had custody of vehicles in question to release the same on production of certificate of registration relating to the said vehicle and on production of proof of identity and also a valid driving license.

Despite the orders, police officers were taking custody of the vehicles, the counsels for petitioners argued. Home department counsel Srikanth Reddy said once the police found a person driving the vehicle in an intoxicated condition and there was no other person to drive the vehicle, the police were seizing the vehicle. The vehicle is released either to the owner of the vehicle or an authorised person on producing proper proof of identification.

He said police officers did not have the power to detain or seize a vehicle from a person who drove it in an intoxicated condition. Further, he said the police had been taking all necessary steps to decrease the death rates caused by road accidents.

Issuing a set of guidelines and directives, Justice Lakshman made it clear that their breach would amount to contempt and necessary proceedings would be initiated against the police officials concerned.

The Telangana High Court issued directions and guidelines to be followed by the police with regard to vehicles being driven by intoxicated persons.

* If the driver/rider of the vehicle is under the influence of alcohol, he/she should not be allowed to drive the vehicle. If the police find other person who is not intoxicated and has a valid driving licence accompanying the intoxicated driver/rider, shall permit such person to drive the vehicle without seizing the vehicle.

* If there is no other person, the police officer or the intoxicated driver should inform a relative or friend to take custody of the vehicle.

* If no one comes to take custody of the vehicle, the police official should temporarily take possession of the vehicle and keep it at the nearest police station or any other appropriate place. It should not be seized.

* The vehicle should be released to the owner or any authorised person on production of certificate of registration (RC), proof of identity and a valid driving licence.

* If the police come to a conclusion that prosecution of the driver or owner or both is necessary, the officer should file a charge sheet before the magistrate within three days.

* The vehicle will be released by the officer who detained it after prosecution is complete. Magistrates are directed to receive the charge sheets within three days from the date of seizure.
Injured patients being shifted to safer place after a fire broke out at the ICU of Civil Hospital in Ahmednagar, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. (PTI Photo)

Mumbai: In a shocking incident, 11 Covid patients including four male and seven female were killed in the fire, which broke out in an ICU unit of Ahmednagar district civil hospital on Saturday. The fire broke out due to a short-circuit at around 10.30 am in the ICU unit in the hospital affecting the oxygen supply to the patients.

The state government has ordered a probe into the incident. It also said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis have expressed anguish over the death of innocent patients in the fire.

According to the sources, a fire audit had been carried out at the hospital, but all necessary systems were not in place due to lack of funds.

Officials said that most of the patients were senior citizens, and many of them were on ventilators or oxygen support, which made the rescue operation more complicated. Of the 17 admitted patients, 10 were killed before they could be rescued and a male patient, who was injured in fire, succumbed to his injuries around 5 pm in the evening.

Speaking with this newspaper, Ahmednagar district collector Rajendra Bhosale said that the prima-facie the cause of the fire appears to short-circuit in the electricity wires of the hospital.

Nashik divisional commissioner Radhakrishna Game would conduct an inquiry into it.

Mr. Bhosale said that a fire audit had been carried out, but despite that an unfortunate incident took place.

Maharashtra revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat visited the hospital. Mr. Thorat told this paper that due to short circuit, the fire erupted in the ICU unit of the hospital and later it may have intensified due to the sanitizers, which are kept near the beds.

There were 11 patients on the ventilator and six patients were on oxygen in the ICU unit of the hospital, Mr. Thorat said. Actual cause of the death of patients would be known after the postmortem of the deceased whether they were killed due to suffocation or burns.
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh government will procure total 7,000 mw of solar power in different lots from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) from 2024 onwards to benefit 18 lakh farmers of the state.

This will help provide nine hours free power during daytime for next 25 years through a special Discom, energy minister for energy Balineni Srinivasa Reddy said in a statement issued here on Friday.

He maintained that the quantum of procurement will be decided by AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) as per norms of Electricity Act. The commission will fix power tariff as per Electricity Act.

The minister ruled out any additional burden on existing Discoms for purchasing power. This is because AP government will bear the entire cost of procurement from SECI. He maintained that cost of power procurement from a project outside AP will be cheaper, as centre exempts central grid charges for power from outside the state.

Srinivasa Reddy said the land earmarked for setting up a 10,000 mw power project by AP government can be used for some other purpose.

He said curtailment matters will be subject to real-time operations by the grid operator, depending on demand-general gap at that point of time. This will ensure grid reliability in 24x7 uninterrupted power supply.

The minister said no new thermal power plants had been started by the previous Telugu Desam regime. This led to cost of power at Krishnapatnam plant going up to  9.3 per mw from  5.5 per mw.
It took nearly three hours to put out the fire completely. (By arrangement)

Mangaluru: The Indian Coast Guard rescued seven fishermen who were in distress after their fishing boat caught off Karwar on Friday night.

The fishing Boat Varda Vinayaka-I caught fire due to a short circuit in the wheelhouse when it was about 10 Nautical Miles from Karwar lighthouse, the Indian Coast Guard said in a press statement.

The Indian Coast Guard received the message at 10 pm and Coast Guard Ship C-155 from Karwar rushed to the spot for evacuation of the fishermen. The fishing boat had 7 crew onboard. ICGS C-155 immediately swung into action and doused the fire. The rescued fishermen were shifted to another fishing boat IFB Vajra. The Coast Guard team then provided assistance to IFB Vajra to tow the gutted boat to Karwar fishing harbour.

It took nearly three hours to put out the fire completely. The rescued fishermen are in good health condition, the press release added.
Chennai: State Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan visited the Mullaiperiyar dam, located in Keralas Idukki district, and reviewed the water storage there in the backdrop of the opposition AIADMK calling for a massive agitation on Tuesday, November 9, in all the five districts fed by the water from the dam.

Duraimurugan, accompanied by a few State Ministers, including PWD Minister E V Velu, DMK leaders and officials, reached the dam by boat from Thekkadi in Tamil Nadu on Friday and took stock of the situation there in view of the heavy inflow of water due to rains in the catchment areas.

The Minister who held the PWD portfolio during the previous AIADMK regime had never visited the dam in the last 10 years, he told the media on his return. The AIADMK had no moral authority to call for a protest relating to an issue on Mullaiperiyar, he added.

Stating that the AIADMK leaders knew nothing about the dam or the issues connected with it, Duraimurugan, who as PWD Minister in the government led by M Karunanidhi had dealt with the Kerala government when disputes had risen in the past over the dam, said he would resolve the issue through talks.

A final solution to the decades-long dispute with Kerala over the storage level of water in the dam would be found during the tenure of Pinayari Vijayan as Chief Minister, the Minister said.

Since the water from the dam, built at the confluence of the Mullaiyar and Periyar rivers by a British engineer John Pennycuick, is meant for the use of the people in Theni, Madurai, Dindigul, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts, the AIADMK has called for protests in all the district headquarters.

The AIADMKs allegation is that the DMK government had failed to protect the rights of the State vis-a-vis Mullaipeiyar as it brought down the level in the dam much below the 142 feet.

In the statement calling for the protest, AIADMK leaders, O Panneerselvam and Edappai K Palaniswami, claimed that the needs of five districts could be met only if the water was stored at 152 feet.

They said former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had striven for maintaining the water level at 152 feet through legal means and accused the DMK government-led by M K Stalin of giving in to the demands of Kerala and letting out water even before the level reached 142 feet.

They had also directly attacked Duraimurugan for covering up facts relating to the water release, which some media reports said was done by Kerala. They accused the government of not countering the rumours spread by Kerala over the safety of the dam.

Water from the Mullaiperiyar dam was crucial for the 7 lakh farmers in the five districts to irrigate their crops and to meet the drinking water needs of 80 lakh people, the AIADMK said.
The minister expressed ire at the TDP and its national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu for resorting to form alliances to win the elections. (Representational DC Image)

Tirupati: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) received yet another jolt just ahead of the Nellore Municipal Corporation elections with former Waqf board chairman Munwar bidding goodbye to the party, shifting his loyalties to the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRC).

Munwar, along with his followers, joined the YSRC in the presence of irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav. The minister cordially welcomed Munwar and his followers to the party fold by presenting the YSRC stole to them.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Kumar Yadav said the opposition party leaders were getting inspired by the slew of welfare schemes introduced and being implemented by their party president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had been extending welfare to all the people in the state, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion or parties.

The minister expressed ire at the TDP and its national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu for resorting to form alliances to win the elections. He exuded confidence that the people would support the YSRC even though all the Opposition parties joined together and contested against them in any election.

Flaying the TDP for failing to field candidates in majority of the divisions in the elections for the Nellore Municipal Corporation, the minister said the Opposition was not in a stage even to find someone to support their party candidate in his nomination to the 40th division in the city. He said the YSRC was going to win all 54 divisions in the Nellore urban and rural limits.
HYDERABAD: The bypoll scare continues to haunt TRS legislators even as the ruling party is yet to recover from the Huzurabad shocker dealt by the BJP.

TRS MLA from Achampet Assembly constituency Guvvala Balaraju has come under severe attack on social media platforms for his U-turn after earlier stating that he would resign if BJP candidate Etala Rajendar retained the seat.

The MLAs mobile phone is being flooded with hundreds of calls with almost everyone demanding him to honour his word and tender resignation now that Rajendar had emerged the victor.

This has led to heated arguments between the dumbfounded Balaraju and the callers, the audio clips of which have gone viral on social media platforms. In a last-ditch defence Balaraju is maintaining that he need not resign as BJP leaders G. Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay and D. Aravind had not.

Some of the callers are ridiculing Balaraju for trying to drag BJP leaders into the issue when none of them had been a party to the resignation challenge. Lost for explanations, the MLA has finally switched off his phone.

This being so, reports of an imminent byelection to the Vemulawada Assembly seat has become a nightmarish development for TRS leaders.

Incumbent legislator Chennamaneni Ramesh faces the threat of disqualification over his German citizenship. Reportedly the case, which is pending in High Court, reached its final stage after the Union home ministry submitted an affidavit that Ramesh possesses dual citizenship.

State BJP leaders are already making statements that they are gearing up for Vemulawada by-poll, where, they affirm, they would repeat the Dubbak and Huzurabad successes.

Dubbak MLA M. Raghunandan Rao said the party has initiated preparatory meetings as they are confident that Ramesh would be disqualified anytime soon.
HYDERABAD: The Telangana state government is facing the brunt of farmers and students anger over the issue of paddy procurement and job notifications.

Farmers are blocking roads and staging protests in several districts after the government's paddy procurement drive failed to take off even 15 days after it was announced. On the other hand, the unemployed and students organisations are gearing up for the Million March in Hyderabad on November 16 being organised by the Opposition BJP to protest the failure of the state government in releasing job notifications since 2018 even after 1.91 lakh vacancies were identified by the C.R. Biswal-led Pay Revision Commission in December last year.

The student organisations are angry that the government has not issued a single job notification even after Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao making a statement in December 2020 that they will fill 50,000 vacancies in three months. Although it is nearly a year since, there is no initiative on this front.

The holding of the proposed Vijaya Garjana Sabha of the TRS with 10 lakh people in Warangal on November 29 is facing stiff resistance from local farmers who are refusing to hand over their agriculture lands for the public meeting.

The party needs a 600-acre site for the meting and ministers and ruling party leaders are going for site inspections to identify the site but are facing severe opposition.

The government had announced that it would open 6,500 procurement centres to purchase paddy produced in the Kharif (June-September) season on October 18. However, the government could open less than 2,500. Relying on the government's announcement, farmers had stocked their paddy at the procurement centres.

Farmers in a few districts suffered huge losses due to recent rains as this paddy was either washed away or got damaged. Angered at the delay, the farmers are blocking roads and staging protests in undivided Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Medak Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Khammam, Adilabad, Karimnagar districts.

The rank and file of the ruling party who are yet to recover from the recent defeat in Huzurabad bypoll are a worried lot over a host of problems engulfing the party all of a sudden.
Children ages 5-11 years will be vaccinated with two 10-microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered 21 days apart. The dosage is one-third of the adolescent and adult dose.
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Donald Trump, President Joe Biden's predecessor, referred to him as "Sleepy Joe" and other derogatory terms for his political foes. Hundreds of people flocked to Twitter to criticize the president.

Joe Biden released his medical records during the presidential election campaign, revealing that he was in good condition, which was ascribed to his determination not to smoke or drink and instead work out at least five days a week.

"Sleepy Joe" trended online as the US President's video spread

Per Express.co, it comes ahead of the key UN climate negotiations in Glasgow, where world leaders are hoping to reach a deal that will limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Many believe, however, that it is difficult to take Biden's address seriously since he fell asleep while delegates spoke, and that, as a result, COP26 has done more to push the general public away from the cause.

By pointing out the global leaders' hypocrisy, many people have determined that the gathering is a farce. The internet is buzzing with a video showing US President Joe Biden sitting with his eyes closed during the COP26 climate change meeting on Monday, NDTV reported.

Biden is one of the world leaders attending the climate summit in Glasgow. He is first seen listening to a speaker in the video, which was first released on Twitter by a reporter for The Washington Post. However, a few seconds later, the US President closes his eyes - and keeps them closed throughout the address. After a few seconds, the footage shows an assistant approaching Biden.

After then, he opens his eyes and continues to listen to the speech, clapping when it is over. The incident occurred after an hour of introductory statements, according to multiple media accounts.

When Biden, 78, closed his eyes for roughly 20 seconds while listening to a pre-recorded message from South African disability rights campaigner Eddie Ndopu, he sparked fury on the internet. Within a day of being posted online, the video had over 4.5 million views.

Read Also: China, Russia Urge UN Security Council To Lift Economic Sanctions on North Korea

Biden's staff who accompanied him tested positive for COIVD-19

Joe Biden is the oldest president in the United States' history. This month, he will turn 79. Critics have frequently used his age as evidence that the US president is intellectually and physically unfit for the job. Former US President Donald Trump, who dubbed Biden "Sleepy Joe" during the 2020 presidential campaign, is one of the most vocal of these opponents.

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), which is taking place in Glasgow, is the latest in a series of gatherings in which the world's governments strive to address climate change. The tremendous reaction required to avert the climate crisis, Biden said Monday at the COP26 climate meeting, should be viewed as an opportunity for the world's economies.

Meanwhile, after testing positive for COVID-19 while accompanying US President Joe Biden to the COP26 meeting in Glasgow last week, a White House employee is reportedly still quarantined in Scotland.

On Thursday, November 4, the administration confirmed the claim, stating that the individual had no direct contact with the President, as per Republic World. Biden was accompanied to Europe by 13 cabinet ministers and other officials, who were carried around Rome in an 85-car procession that drew criticism for its high carbon footprint.

After testing positive on a lateral flow quick test supplied by the UK government, the fully vaccinated individual is being quarantined in Scotland while undergoing further tests. The test is required of all attendees to the United Nations Climate Summit, which is presently taking place in Scotland. Biden tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, November 2, according to the White House.

Related Article: Joe Biden Denies Paying $450,000 Each Separated Immigrant Families for Breaking the Law



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Retiring Rep. Anthony Gonlazez is using his remaining time in Congress to warn other GOP members of what former United States President Donald Trump could do if he decides to run for president in the 2024 elections, which is stealing the race.

Gonzalez was among the 10 House Republicans who voted in support of impeaching Trump after the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. Amid continuous criticisms and threats toward him and his family, the Ohio Republican has opted to retire from Congress. The decision was made to avoid having to face off with a Trump loyal primary challenger in next year's elections.

Stealing the 2024 Elections

During an interview, Gonzalez said that Trump's potential to run as president in the 2024 elections has forced him to try and do something to prevent the Republican businessman from getting a second term. He aimed to stop Trump from using the same 2020 playbook to overturn another presidential election. However, Gonzalez noted that next time, the former president could have more help from people who were managing and certifying the elections, CNN reported.

Gonzalez noted that the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot were unconstitutional and was an attempt by former President Trump to overturn an American election. The retiring official said the Republican businessman wanted to reinstall himself into power illegitimately. He added that these sorts of acts were from a fallen nation country, noting that his family left Cuba to avoid such actions.

Read Also: Donald Trump Won't Be Able To Keep Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Documents a Secret, Federal Judge Claims

The Ohio Republican said he believed there were only two possibilities if Trump runs for president in the 2024 elections, either he wins legitimately or tries to steal the race if he loses. There have been many GOP members who have received criticisms from Trump that have warned about the former president's threat to the American nation, the Daily Beast reported.

Running for President

A former White House official who served under former President Trump said she had concerns about what the Republican businessman could do if he won a second term as the country's leader. Trump's former White House communications director, Alyssa Farah, said there was a big possibility that Trump would become president once again and threaten the nation's institutions to the breaking point.

While Trump has not publicly announced that he would be running for U.S. president in 2024, he has strongly suggested in the last few months. However, Farah said such an event would be a "nightmare scenario" for the United States. The former official said that if Trump runs, "he'll likely be the nominee of the Republican Party, assuming nobody attempts to challenge him credibly."

Farah also argued that current United States President Joe Biden could lose support if he plans to run for president again in 2024 due to being 82 years old by then. During an interview, Farah was asked whether or not Trump was thinking of imposing some sort of autocracy, to which she answered," I think that he absolutely would."

The former communications director said that Trump had so many things he wanted to do when he was in office but was unable due to the decisions being outside the scope of a president's authority. She thinks that a second term could change this drastically and have Trump forcing his goals on the nation, Newsweek reported.



Related Article: Mayor-Elect Eric Adams Says First 3 Paychecks Will Be in Bitcoin To Boost Cryptocurrency Industry in New York

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A New York court has set a hearing date for Prince Andrew's motion to dismiss the sexual assault lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Roberts, the accuser of Jeffrey Epstein. In the morning of January 4, next year, the court will consider "the defendant's move to dismiss the lawsuit," according to Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Prince Andrew has been under increasing pressure since August, when Virginia Giuffre, filed a case in Manhattan federal court accusing the 61-year-old of sexual abuse while she was a teenager over 20 years ago.

Duke of York's sexual assault battle

Giuffre claims that late infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein hired her for sex with his rich and renowned associates, including The Duke of York. According to her, the prince molested her in Epstein's home in New York and on his own island in the US Virgin Islands.

In the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew reportedly sexually abused Giuffre. Epstein's accomplice has pleaded not guilty to charges that she helped recruit and cultivate adolescent girls for sexual assault by Epstein. Prince Andrew's trial will begin on November 29, Daily Mail reported.

Virginia Roberts is also expected to urge the Duke of York to testify under oath. David Boies, Giuffre's lawyer, said he expected to examine eight to twelve people, while the Duke's lawyers wanted to question a similar number. According to Judge Kaplan, if the prince's application is refused, a civil trial would be held between September and December of next year.

Neither session appears to have addressed the Duke's concerns about Giuffre's allegations, including a 2009 court deal she struck with Epstein that might provide Prince Andrew with legal protection. The court did not respond to any of the Duke's claims, including a 2015 article in the Daily News that quoted Giuffre's associates as saying she was a money-hungry sex kitten, rather than a sex slave.

Read Also: Queen Elizabeth Speaks Out About His Successors, Prince Charles and Prince William; Prince Harry Feels Snubbed

Prince Andrew's "wall of silence" falls down amid Virginia Giuffrelawsuit

The hearing took place two weeks before Ghislaine Maxwell's trial, in which she is accused of being Epstein's madam and a former close friend of Andrew's, is set to begin. Maxwell, 59, is accused of obtaining and trafficking minors to Epstein with the knowledge that they would be molested. She refutes each and every charge.

After it was reported on Wednesday that Prince Andrew's court case will go to trial next autumn, threatening to overshadow the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, a royal commentator sympathized with the Queen for her "stressful year."

Per Express.co, the pending lawsuit is said to be a "serious concern" for Buckingham Palace because of its reputational damage, as well as the "continuous aggravation" the Royal Family is feeling as a result of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Queen's husband Prince Philip's death.

Following public outcry, he resigned from his position as a senior royal, and a number of organizations and patronages terminated relations with him. After weeks of back-and-forth, his legal team has accepted the case and filed a move to dismiss the "baseless lawsuit" on the grounds that Giuffre had failed to offer enough specifics about her allegation.

Prince Andrew's attorneys contended in court documents filed last Friday that Giuffre was attempting to "get another payday" at the prince's cost, and that his "sullied reputation" was "just the latest collateral damage of the Epstein controversy."

If Prince Andrew's "wall of silence" breaks at any point throughout the course of his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre, he might face serious consequences.

Russell Myers, the royal editor of the Daily Mirror, stated in an interview with True Royalty's Royal Beat, "The difficulty he has is being non-committal in his defense by having this wall of quiet and now going so strongly on the attack," The News reported.

Related Article: Prince Andrew's Legal Team Exposes Virginia Giuffre's Past in Blistering Response to Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

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With China's continued provocation of Taiwan in an attempt to reclaim the island nation as part of its territory, the United States Congress is calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to pledge support for Taipei in the event of an attack by Beijing.

The situation comes as Biden has expressed mixed messages on his stance amid the rising tensions between the three governments. There have been conversations that have debated whether or not to adopt a more aggressive posture against China, including authorizing Biden to use military force in retaliation.

Urging Support for Taiwan

Bipartisan efforts to ditch "strategic ambiguity" are being fueled by the conversations along with efforts by White House officials in walking back some of Biden's allegedly mistaken statements. For four decades, strategic ambiguity has been the policy that has governed the U.S.'s posture toward conflict.

The doctrine was enshrined in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and stipulates that America remains purposely noncommittal about whether or not it would provide support for Taipei in the event of an attack by China. However, many argue that doing such, instead of deterring attacks from China, could be seen as a provocation by Beijing, Politico reported.

The situation comes as China continues to threaten supporters of Taiwan, saying that those who believe in "Taiwan independence" were criminally liable for life. The announcement was made by a spokeswoman for the nation's Taiwan Affairs Office on Friday, causing Taipei to erupt in anger as tensions between the two nations continue to rise.

Read Also: Joe Biden's UN Climate Summit Participation Torn Apart as US President Appears To Fall Asleep During the Event; Is He Old Enough To Rule?

The incident marks the first time that China has openly laid out concrete punishments for people it deems as supporting Taiwan. Beijing has not ruled out using military force to bring Taipei back under its wing despite the latter's claims that it is an independent country and will work on defending its freedom and democracy.

After the announcement, China has released a list of people it deemed were affected by the new punishment, including Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang, Parliament Speaker You Si-kun, and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Beijing has considered these individuals as "stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence. This is the first time that the Asian country has publicly laid out a list of people included in the category, Reuters reported.

Bolstering Taiwan's Defenses

In support of Taiwan, Republican Senators proposed a bill that would increase military support for the island nation as tensions with China continue to threaten its democracy. The bill is titled the Taiwan Deterrence Act and focuses on bolstering the island's defenses to give it a better chance of countering Beijing's potential military aggressions.

Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committe, is the lead sponsor of the bill. Co-sponsors include Sens. Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, John Cornyn, Bill Hagerty, and Mike Crapo.

The bill aims to have a funding of $2 billion annually in military grants and loans to Taiwan until 2032, but only until the island meets specific conditions and requirements. These include matching the influx of aid with its own spending and agreeing to engage with the U.S. in long-term planning about how to increase the island's defensive capabilities, The Hill reported.



Related Article: India, China To Purchase Russia's S-500 Missile Defense System; 3 Top Methane Emitters Won't Pledge To Cut Emissions

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The United States's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implemented a new vaccine requirement that would affect businesses that have more than 100 employees, warning workers that they could face $10,000 fines and six-month prison sentences for lying about their vaccination status.

On Thursday, OSHA announced the new vaccine requirements that would affect roughly 80 million workers across the country. The decision was made to urge businesses in the United States to ensure that all of their employees were either fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or agreed to weekly testing and wearing of face masks.

New OSHA Vaccine Mandate

OSHA's new vaccine mandate is implemented under the authority granted by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. This hands out fines of up to $10,000 and six-month prison sentences, or both, for any individual that is found to have knowingly made any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, records, report, plan, or other document pursuant to the new rule, Fox Business reported.

The new rule by OSHA comes unlike other vaccine requirements and allows workers to reject getting the vaccine but become subject to weekly testing instead. Businesses have been given a deadline of 30 days to enact their policies pursuant to the mandate if they fall within the eligibility category.

Read Also: South Asian Gene Related to Double Chances of Dying From Coronavirus, Study Finds

Galdean Law Firm's Trinidad Galdean said that many employers, especially with their kinds of clients, have been prepared since January regarding the mandate. OSHA's mandate is a nearly 500-page emergency temporary standards or ETS that laid out what workers would need to do under the rule.

In a statement, Galdean said they were combing through to assist employers and employees comply with the new vaccine mandate. Despite the rule giving workers the opportunity to choose weekly testing over vaccination, it also does not mention anything about having businesses pay for the tests, KWCH reported.

Curbing the Spread of COVID-19

OSHA deputy assistant secretary Jim Frederick said that the new vaccination rules for businesses would affect more than 84 million employees and help them slow the spread of the coronavirus infection while on the job. The official said that the agency estimated the rule could save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations in the next six months after implementation.

The agency said that mandate was called an emergency temporary standard because it deemed that unvaccinated individuals posed a threat to other people for exposure to the virus. He said that OSHA's goal was to make sure that workers would be able to go back home to their families at the end of the day. OSHA's solicitor of labor, Seema Nanda, said that the agency will always use its authority to keep employees safe while working.

The guidelines will also have businesses paying for their employees' time away from work to get vaccinated and give them sick leave if they experience adverse side effects due to the inoculation. "There may be other laws, state, local, federal, other federal laws that do require employers to pay for testing, which may be applicable, '' said Nanda, Fox11 Online reported.



Related Article: Houston Doctor Fined $500 For Promoting the Use of Hydroxychloroquine To Treat COVID-19

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Several iPhone 14 rumors have been circulating online, including about a possible chip upgrade. However, a recent leak declared that this chip shift will not occur--and that the next iPhone would only have a slightly improved chip based on what the iPhone 13 has.

Despite the recent iPhone 14 leak, there are still other things that consumers should look forward to on what the device would bring.

iPhone 14 vs. iPhone13: 3nm Chip Would Not be Happening

In a previous report, it has been cited that the chip manufacturer of Apple--which is the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)--has been struggling to improve the current 5 nanometers (nm) to meet the expectation for the iPhone 14.

Several iPhone 14 leaks suggested that the upcoming Apple device would have an upgraded 3nm, which is said to be the fastest chip that the tech giant would have on an iPhone. 9toMac also reported that this rumored 3nm chip is expected to produce a powerful and efficient processor without drastically increasing its size.

Despite the good benefits that the chip upgrade would bring to consumers, it is worth noting that there is a possibility that the speculations will not happen.

"The upshot of TSMC's struggles is that the iPhone's processor will be stuck on the same chip manufacturing process for three consecutive years, including next year, for the first time in its history, according to an analysis by The Information of Apple's previous chips. That could in turn cause some customers to put off upgrading their devices for another year and give Apple's competitors a bit more time to catch up," The Information expanded in a report.

Even though the chip shift may not occur, 9to5Mac added that TSMC is still expected to be the first chipmaker to achieve 3nm, beating out Intel and Qualcomm.

On the other hand, the supply chain expert DigiTimes has agreed to the stated report from The Information, per Forbes. DigiTimes explained that the Cupertino-based company will adopt the N4P chip for most of the mobile products that will be released in 2022. The said new chip is an improved version of the existing 5nm production technology used since the iPhone 12.

For background information, TSMC has announced the N4P process on October 26. The newly introduced chip is the third major upgrade to the 5nm variant of TSMC, in which it assures an 11 percent performance gain over the original N5 technology, per Gizmochina. Aside from this, N4P will also provide a 22 percent increase in power efficiency and a six percent increase in transistor density as compared to the N5P.

With these recent rumors, consumers may have been thinking about the battle between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13, and whether they should upgrade or not.

Read Also: Afraid That You Have an Instagram Stalker? 2 Ways to Protect Your Account and Yourself

iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 13: Which One Consumers Should Purchase?

Our previous report stated that the iPhone 14 would have a different look as compared to the current iPhone 13 lineup. It is rumored to look like an iPhone 4 crossed with iPhone 12. Aside from its physical look, several leaks also mentioned that the said Apple gadget would be notch-less and would use a punch-hole selfie camera instead.

Apart from the notch-free front, John Prosser, a well-known leaker, shared months ago that the iPhone 14 would lose its rear camera bump to offer a more seamless appearance of the device, per Tom's Guide. In addition, one of the iPhone 14 models would also reportedly include a hole-punch cutout in the front-facing camera, which is not clear if it will be on the Pro models or ordinary ones.

Keep in mind that these are just rumors and speculations since the tech giant has not released a statement yet confirming any of these specs.

Related Article: iPhone 13 5G Upgrade: How to Activate 'Allow More Data' Mode for Super-Fast Internet
Jung Bun-sun wipes her face during an interview at a special nursing facility for Korean atomic bomb survivors in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province. Korea Times photos and videos by Choi Won-suk



Korean gov't to conduct first nationwide survey of victims this year



By Jung Min-ho



HAPCHEON, South Gyeongsang Province  More than 220,000 people were killed by the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Japan during World War II. However, what is little-known is that up to 50,000 of those who died were Koreans.



During Japan's 35-year colonial period, many Koreans were forced to settle in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as laborers. Some had no choice but to flee their homeland after they had been stripped of everything they had.



Lee Su-yong, 90, was seven years old when she went to Hiroshima with her family in search of food and a better life. She attended schools there and eventually got a job at a state bank. Everything seemed fine until Aug. 6, 1945  the day that changed her life forever.





Lee Su-yong shows her injured foot.





A U.S. B-29 bomber dropped a 15-kiloton atomic bomb on the city in the morning when she was about to start the day at her office  only 1.5 kilometers from ground zero.



"After an ear-shattering bang, I hid under my table. The next thing I knew, my left foot was badly injured by a big splinter of glass and I was covered with blood. Everything I could see was destroyed," Lee told The Korea Times.



"When I walked out of the building, I could see a dark sky filled with smoke. Children were crying for their mothers. Charred bodies were strewn all over the city. Many people lost their arms or legs. One person I saw had his eye popped out of its socket. It was horrendous."



She was fortunate to receive medical treatment at a military facility on a neighboring island, where she saw burnt people and dead bodies every day. But her foot was damaged permanently.



Radiation exposure may have continued to affect her health. Later, Lee also suffered from uterine cancer and lung disease. After a few years, her mother and two brothers died. They all suffered lung disease, she said.



Jung Bun-sun, 90, also settled in Hiroshima as a child. To earn money, she sold side dishes on the streets and worked at various factories. When she was 17, her father told her to get married early. So she did. Jung said her father was worried that Japanese soldiers would take her to a wartime brothel as a sex slave.



"The same year, I got pregnant, and soon after, the bomb exploded," she said.



"It was the loudest bang I had ever heard. There was so much smoke in the air. I had no idea what had just happened."



The point of explosion was not close enough to kill her instantly. But Jung has suffered from unexplained illnesses throughout her life.





Jung shows a photo of her mother.








A memorial stone for thousands of Korean victims of a U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 was erected in the Japanese city on Saturday, its promoters said.



The monument was unveiled at a ceremony in Nagasaki Peace Park, which commemorates the atomic bombing of the city on Aug. 9, 1945, with some 100 people, including South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kang Chang-il, Nagasaki city council members and a peace delegation of Japanese high school students, attending the event despite the rainy weather.



Although there is a small memorial stone in the corner of Nagasaki Peace Park, which was set up in 1979 by pro-Pyongyang Korean residents and Japanese civic groups, this marks the first time that the monument is established with support from the South Korean government.



The atomic bombing is estimated to have killed about 74,000 people, including up to 10,000 Korean residents. It followed the other atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, the world's first ever nuclear attack said to have killed about 140,000 people, including up to 30,000 Koreans. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, bringing World War II to a close.



Many of the Koreans were brought to many Japanese industrial cities as forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.



The new monument is the result of 27 years of efforts by the ethnic Korean community in the southwestern Japanese city and the South Korean government.



The first memorial stone to honor the forgotten Korean victims was erected in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 1970 by the Korean Residents Union in Japan and memorial services were held every year, but there had been no similar events in Nagasaki.













To have a monument like one in Hiroshima, the local chapter of the pro-Seoul residents' organization in Nagasaki in May 1994 asked the city to provide a site in the park for the monument, but the then Nagasaki Peace Park was under renovation, and its request was denied.



The stalled process had a breakthrough in 2011, when the South Korean Consulate-General in Fukuoka officially requested a site in the park for the monument erection.



In 2013, the pro-Seoul residents' organization in Nagasaki formed a steering committee for the project and submitted a proposal to the city government the following year.



But the authorities did not approve it then, taking issue with its design, size and inscription that described the Koreans as victims of forced labor.



After relentless efforts by the local community and the South Korean mission, the municipal government recently gave the green light as the two sides reached an agreement about the monument's epigraph, written in Korean, Japanese and English.



The Korean and Japanese versions describes the victims as people who were mobilized as laborers and troops "against their will," while the English inscription refers to them as people "forced to work."



Originally, the group wanted to build a 3.5-meter high monument, but its height was reduced to 3 meters after accepting the Japanese city's proposal.



"Some people worry that the memorial stone for Korean people may create political problems between South Korea and Japan," South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kang said at a memorial service held after the unveiling ceremony. "But Japan should think about why there has not been a monument for Korean victims (at the park).". (Yonhap)


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Nearly 1,500 people were caught while driving under the influence (DUI) in the first four days after the country lifted business hour restrictions and raised the cap on private gatherings under its "Living with COVID-19" scheme, police said Saturday.



A total of 1,486 people were busted for DUIs between Monday and Thursday, according to the police, with 384 of them having blood alcohol content levels high enough to have their licenses suspended and the rest with levels warranting having them revoked.



South Korea began the first of three stages to gradually phase out coronavirus restrictions Monday under its living with COVID-19 policy in an effort to return to normalcy.



Under the first phase, operation hour curfews on cafes and restaurants have been fully lifted, while ceilings on private gatherings have been raised to a maximum of 10 people in the greater Seoul area and 12 in other regions.



The authorities also adopted the "vaccine pass" system, in which visitors have to show they have been fully vaccinated or have a negative test result when they enter high-risk facilities like nightlife establishments.






Mike Thompson (left) and Williams Atkinson, the two leaders of the Lexington Lightsaber League, ready their weapons on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, at Woodland Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Thompson and Atkinson are the two members that have been a part of the league for the longest. Photo by Kaitlyn Skaggs | Staff
A dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is injected into a patients arm on Saturday, April 10, 2021, at UKs COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Jack Weaver | Staff
EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES AT THE YWCA OF THE SAUK VALLEY!

Established in 1924, the YWCA of the Sauk Valley is a United Way Agency serving Lee and Whiteside Counties putting our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women into action.

Join our team and help make a difference in the world!

Bookkeeper : Be a part of our Fiscal Team and support the organization by helping maintain financial records, processing payroll and payables, and other accounting duties. Prefer a minimum of an Associate's Degree or the equivalent in experience. Requirements: must have valid driver's license with insured vehicle, proficient in Excel and QuickBooks, basic accounting knowledge.

Operations Assistant : Support YWCA operations by assisting with human resources functions, IT tasks, and supporting the fiscal team. Prefer a minimum of an Associate's degree or the equivalent in experience. Requirements: must have valid driver's license with insured vehicle, proficient in Excel and QuickBooks, basic accounting knowledge.

Dixon Office Coordinator : This position, based in our Dixon Office supports victims of domestic and sexual violence by assisting walk-ins, coordinating outreach efforts, and helping to staff our satellite office. Requirements: must have valid driver's license with insured vehicle, ability to respond to hospital call-outs in Sterling and Dixon within one hour, and schedule flexibility.

For all positions, training is provided and position descriptions are available.

These full-time jobs include health insurance, retirement, and generous paid leave.

Apply no later than Friday, November 19, 2021 by sending resume & cover letter to

YWCA of the Sauk Valley, 412 First Avenue, Sterling

or click APPLY NOW to send email.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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Description

At Liberty Mutual, our purpose is to help people embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow. Thats why we provide an environment focused on openness, inclusion, trust and respect. Here, youll discover our expansive range of roles, and a workplace where we aim to help turn your passion into a rewarding profession. We value your hard work, integrity and commitment to make things better, and we put people first by offering you benefits that support your life and well-being. To learn more, please visit https://www.libertymutualgroup.com/about-lm/careers/benefits Liberty Mutual has proudly been recognized as a Great Place to Work by Great Place to Work US for the past several years. We were also selected as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT on IDGs Insider Pro and Computerworlds 2020 list.



We have been named by Forbes as one of Americas Best Employers for Women and one of Americas Best Employers for New Graduatesas well as one of Americas Best Employers for Diversity. To learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion please visit: https://jobs.libertymutualgroup.com/diversity-inclusion Liberty Mutual is an equal opportunity employer. We will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, veterans status, pregnancy, genetic information or on any basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Must live in Tempe, SantanValley, Chandler, Apache Junction, Glendale, Surprise, Gilbert, Peoria and surrounding areas $5,000 Sign-On Bonus for new candidates that have an active P&C or active Life license or Unlicensed with 2+ years sales experience! *To qualify for the Sign-On Bonus, Applicants must be new (not applied in the past 6 months) and apply from 08/09/21 to 12/31/21 and started by 2/1/2022 to qualify. Bonus will be scheduled on day 30 for next period pay out date. There is a 1-year payback clause if your employment is terminated prior to your first year anniversary. Do you want to join a Fortune 100 company where youll be rewarded for developing new clients, discovering new markets, and providing customers with the products they need? As a Liberty Mutual field sales representative, youll enjoy a diverse, supportive environment, along with a competitive compensation program, including base salary, uncapped commissions and a bonus structure, and comprehensive benefits. In this full-time role, youll also stay ahead of the curve with industry-leading, paid sales training and mentorships with successful colleagues. First year earnings average is between $70K to $85K  through a combination of base salary, uncapped new business and renewal commissions, and bonus structure. Responsibilities: Selling Auto, Home, Life and other insurance and annuity products to individuals within an assigned territory using consultative sales techniques

Identifying prospective customers using established lead methodologies for new business

Counseling and advising prospects and policyholders on matters of insurance coverage that is tailored to their specific situational need

Developing and maintaining business relationships

Making presentations to decision-makers of corporations to establish or maintain an Affinity relationship

Participating in various incentive programs and contests designed to drive sales and exceed production goals

Exceeding sales goals for volume of quality new business quoted and written within company guidelines Competitive go-getter: Ready to earn uncapped commissions and bonuses? Youll have your chance while engaging in friendly (and rewarding!) competitions with your sales team and the opportunity to win recognition awards People person: Using your interpersonal skills and market insight, youll identify and cultivate prospective clients, and tailor products and services to meet the needs of existing customers Relationship builder: Youll play the long game, building strong relationships within local community and organizations, and maintaining open lines of communication for future sales opportunities We encourage you to RSVP and bring your expertise if you have experience as a business owner, generating new business, referral partnerships and client opportunities, are an active insurance sales professional, and/or have a background in network marketing, and outside sales! Experience Previous employment in sales where you have successfully turned prospects into customers

A state insurance licenseor willingness to earn one with Liberty Mutuals training and supportin Property & Casualty, Life, and Accident & Health Skills Effective written, oral communication and presentation skills

Well-developed persuasion and negotiation skills

Great interpersonal skills and a proven ability to build rapport with prospective and existing customers

Effective time management and organizational skills Knowledge Ability to learn insurance coverage and underwriting guidelines

Familiarity with finding, building and growing leads and customer base



Requirements

See job description.




Sodexo Health Care is currently seeking a highly experienced General Manager to join our team at St. David's North Austin Medical Center in Austin, TX. This position also oversees St. Davids Surgical Hospital a few miles down the road.

The General Manager will report directly to the Client Executive and will be responsible for directing all dining operations.

St. Davids North Austin Medical Center is a 441 bed acute care hospital and off-site Surgical Hospital is 40 bed. Both hospitals are part of the HCA family across Austin.

The General Manager will have experience leading a large team, preferably in a health-care environment, as well as a food production background and/or food and labor management experience. The ability to manage multiple priorities, demonstrate excellent communication skills and proven leadership is required. The ability to develop a strong collaborative team environment, fostering strong client relationships while delivering the highest level of customer satisfaction is mandatory. Strong organizational skills along with proven success in health care regulation including: CMS and JCAHO is critical. Previous experience with AYR or room service is also preferred.

APPLY TODAY!


Description



System ID 744164

Category General Management

Relocation Type No

Employment Status Full-Time

Unit Description

Lifesaving technology, powered by you. Your expertise impacts the lives of others. Sodexo is seeking a Director level Regional Operations Support Manager 3 to manage high level Clinical Technology Management in units in the South East Region around North Carolina area. They will manage several types of medical equipment. This individual should be a high level leader that can manage teams of approximately supervisors and technical professionals. This is a fantastic opportunity for an accomplished HTM leader! The successful candidate will work in the Southeastern states. The ideal candidate will have a successful track record of management performance within Healthcare Technology and have a broad understanding of the many service aspects that they will encounter and resolve day to day. The Director level (ROSI) will partner with region HTM Leaders to drive operational effectiveness and client satisfaction for clinical engineering services which enhances patient outcomes and client organization objectives. Our HTM professionals should have: Experience managing biomedical/ imaging services in a large healthcare system. Candidate must be knowledgeable about regulatory compliance (CIHQ, DNV, JACHO).

Solution oriented approach, critical thinking skills and the ability to navigate and successfully resolve conflict.

Ability to provide world class service and develop unbreakable partnerships with our customers, staff, and vendors.

Superior business acumen, agility, adept at making decisions and budget management proficiency.

Experience leading high performing teams including mentoring/development of new and existing talent within the organization.

Executive presence. Learn more about Sodexo's Benefits Not the job for you? At Sodexo, we have HTM positions at numerous client locations across the United States. Continue your search for HTM jobs

Position Summary

The Manager 3, Regional Operations Support (ROSI) has overall responsibility, or a portion of an on-sight operations area (ie Food, ES, Clinical, Culinary, Facilities, CTM) as assigned by the Client executive. In this role, the ROSI has direct accountability for executing Sodexo systems, programs, resources, tools, and talent management that drives operational excellence and our service commitments that are: Predictable, Reliable, and Repeatable. Primary Responsibilities: Client / Customer Service - 20% Navigates the client organization through effective communication while influencing and persuading at multiple levels. Seeks to collaborate for win-win outcomes.

Effectively partners with client and Sodexo stakeholders to drive successful outcomes.

Complies with all client policies and procedures. Operational Excellence - 20% Owns, drives, and measures operational excellence outcomes of Sodexo and client.

Effectively deploys, embeds and ensures Sodexo standardized processes are in place.

Creates a continuous quality improvement culture that drives operational efficiencies.

Drives change and creates a culture where change is embraced and operationalized.

Brings innovation to client organization through deployment of Sodexo programs and brand.

Utilizes data driven decision making processes around operational expenses and performance outcomes to drive continuous improvement and celebrate successes. Analysis & Decision Making - 20% Utilizes tools within Sodexo Healthcare to drive and manage middle of the page (Labor Expense, Raw Materials) to deliver positive outcomes.

Accountable for effective utilization of labor resources.

Analyses data such as labor and turnover reports, etc. to engage in data driven decision making around talent.

Brings insightful analysis to issues using data, logic, benchmarking, and leading practices in decision making to determine best solutions for the business.

Effective risk management by ensuring consistent regulatory and legal compliance.

Compliance with supply chain management requirements.

Knows, understands and effectively manages comprehensive unit finances including both Sodexo and Client budgets.

Set operational goals with key metrics and ensures quick analysis of variances to ensure a prompt resolution and mitigate adverse impact on our clients or our performance.

Delivers predictable top and bottom-line results at the site, relentless focus on driving efficiency, and makes difficult decisions.

Effectively delegates operational responsibilities to appropriate individuals / positions. Safety - 20% Ensures that individuals performing service-related tasks have the competence to do so without putting the health and safety of themselves or others at risk.

Behaviors include: Working as a team for safety

Communicating Effectively for Safety

Managing Safety Risks

Optimizing Human and Environmental Factors

Recognizing, respond and reporting incidents

Adherence to all operational safety practices and protocols

Drives a safety culture throughout the team. Talent - 20% Ability to effectively manage critical aspects of Human Resources (ie. Leadership, People Management, Employee Relations, etc) to support individual and team development and drive operational outcomes.

Creates a culture of continuous learning and development for self and those within the unit assigned.

Develops rigorous plans to continually enhance employee engagement and recognition



Qualifications & Requirements

Basic Education Requirement - Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent work experience Basic Management Experience - 3 years Basic Functional Experience - 5 years work experience in facilities (e.g., maintenance, plant operations, engineering services, grounds, custodial/environmental, or transportation) or food (e.g., food services or operations, concessions, retail sales, store operations, or vending) services, CTM, or Clinical Nutrition; Sodexo is an EEO/AA/Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran employer.



Requirements

See Job Description






Custodian II  Dayporter About Seattle Pacific University: Founded in 1891, Seattle Pacific University has a long and distinguished history in Christian higher education. Located just minutes from downtown Seattle, SPU seeks to be a premier Christian University fully committed to engaging the culture and changing the world by graduating people of competence and character, becoming people of wisdom, and modeling grace-filled community. Seattle Pacific University seeks applicants committed to its Christian mission. Diversity Statement As part of our mission of cultural engagement, SPU is committed to building an excellent and diverse staff and faculty. Diversity is an ethos that is inseparable from our Christian faith. At SPU, we recognize diversity as a basic feature of God's creation and a core theme of the gospel. At the heart of our mission-centered commitment to becoming a more diverse community is a desire to represent the breadth of God's kingdom more fully. We strive to become a workplace of choice and to recruit, develop, and retain faculty and staff who can embrace, value, and engage differences with humility and care. We invite you to join us on our journey by starting a career at SPU! Learn more about SPU's commitment to diversity and opportunities for our employees to deepen their capacity to serve our increasingly diverse student body. Seattle Pacific University provides reasonable accommodation to applicants. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any portion of the application or hiring process please contact the Human Resources Department at (206)281-2809, or email hr@spu.edu. Notification must be given at least five (5) working days before the accommodation is needed. General Summary: Provides custodial services for University buildings. Primarily works M-F, 8am-5pm. May occasionally be asked to work evenings and weekends to support university program event needs. Will carry a two-way radio during work hours for the ability to be dispatched to resolve problems that arise. Job Description: Daily Cleaning includes: Cleans McKinley Hall and Senior Art Studio daily.

Restocks and refreshes public restrooms: Demaray Hall, Otto Miller Hall, SUB 1st floor daily.

Cleans and sanitizes restrooms and shower rooms, including fixtures, in accordance with Facility department's established practices/procedures. Follows instructions and safety guidelines regarding use of chemicals and supplies.

Cleans floors (mops, vacuums)

Cleans whiteboards, whiteboard walls, and erasers; (leave any writing - don't erase)

Empties wastebaskets and trash containers; refills restroom dispensers.

Cleans glass on entry ways & interior doors. (hand-prints). As needed: Dusts and wipes furniture.

Performs cleaning and related activities in the near vicinity of buildings and entry ways using hand-operated leaf blower and/or remove snow or debris; sweep stairs, sidewalks, and entry mats.

Adds water to floor drains as needed.

Refills spray bottles with correct blend of concentrated cleaning solution and water.

Uses 6 foot ladder when required for work assignments (changes light bulbs, cleans light diffusers, cleans walls & ceilings.)

Uses and maintains assigned power equipment and hand tools such as vacuum cleaner, auto scrubber, broom, mop, and squeegee; for cleaning and general maintenance of the floors, carpets, walls, etc. Operates high-pressure washer, roto-washer, carpet extractor, buffer, and/or other floor care equipment as needed.

Refills hand sanitizer dispensers and sanitizing wipes dispensers across campus. Maintains & replaces batteries or dispenser parts as needed.

Occasionally moves furniture, equipment, supplies and tools; most often to return rooms to their original configuration and/or for cleaning purposes. Occasionally cleans furniture. Occasionally cleans appliances and living areas between occupancies in residential houses/areas. Occasionally lays carpet tiles in the gym and/or assists with other campus event support activities.

Occasionally deliver housekeeping supplies as needed to campus areas.

All Facilities employees are designated as "essential staff" and are subject to working during times that the university closes due to inclement weather or an emergency. Requirements: High School diploma or GED Equivalent. Education or training at the level to ensure ability to understand, speak, read, and write English.

Must have at least 1 year of custodial or related experience, 2 years is preferred.

Must be able to drive university service vehicle daily (small pickup truck). Must have a valid driver's license and maintain a good driving record.

Must be able to lift a minimum of 35 pounds.

Ability to load and unload materials and equipment. Must be able to walk and stand all day.

Must be able to access all areas of campus at any time.

Must be able to lift, carry, climb, and work from a 6 foot ladder. Must be able to climb stairs and ladders while carrying supplies or equipment.

Must be able to follow written and verbal instructions. Must be able to work independently and as a member of a culturally diverse team.

Strong commitment to the University's Christian ministry and mission statement. Additional Information: Position will remain open until filled. All SPU employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to submit documentary proof of vaccination unless an exception applies. For more information, see SPU's Vaccination Requirements FAQs web page. Salary: $18.00 per hour This is a full time position with excellent benefits. SPU pays the employee premium for medical, dental, and vision insurance. SPU makes contributions to an employee HSA account and to a retirement account after one year of eligibility in the plan. Tuition discount program available for the employee and qualified immediate family members. Application Instructions: Please submit a cover letter and resume along with the online application.

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Magnolia, AR (71754)

Today

Cloudy this morning with thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 42F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Digital media entrepreneurs are producing ground-breaking journalism and achieving significant impact on their societies, in spite of often tiny budgets and constant online threats and attacks, a new global report revealed today.

The Inflection Point International report, published by SembraMedia, a non-profit that supports entrepreneurial journalists in partnership with the global philanthropic organisation Luminate, carried out more than 200 global interviews and interviewed 49 independent digital native media organizations in Africa, in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

The researchers found that more than 85 percent of the media interviewed had contributed to significant political and societal changes, in a report that comes just a month after the award of Nobel Peace Prizes to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their achievements in defending freedom of speech and upholding democracy.

In similar vein, African media entrepreneurs reported achieving civic engagement, criminal investigations, and changes in the law through their articles. Almost half said they were engaged in some form of solutions journalism  compared with 15 per cent in Asia  citing solutions reporting and investigative journalism as key factors in achieving social change.

This report shines a light on a new generation of creative and courageous media entrepreneurs, developing solutions to Africas social and economic challenges and strengthening the workings of democracy and issues of governance, said Abdul Noormohamed, Director, Africa of Luminate.

The report found that 57 per cent of the African digital newsrooms interviewed had won national awards and 28 per cent had won international awards in recognition of their work. However, they had done so in the face of ongoing harassment, with more than a third reporting cyber attacks on their news platforms.

Some of the entrepreneurs also reported a degree of self-censorship, in avoiding stories that could lead to legal challenges, because they could not afford attorneys to defend themselves. Media in Nigeria and Ghana reported significantly higher incidences of lawsuits and legal attacks than the media organisations interviewed in other countries.

Yet most of the entrepreneurs appear to have survived the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While there are differences across the three regions, what struck us most as we reviewed the data were the similarities that emerged among these news organizations as they strive to cover their communities and build sustainable business models, said Janine Warner, co-founder of SembraMedia.

Some of the outlets were established news sites, such as the Daily Maverick in South Africa, but many were much smaller, with 60 per cent of the outlets interviewed globally earning less than US$50,000 in revenue.

Overall, the African digital media reported higher levels of advertising revenue than Latin American and South-east Asian digital media, with advertising contributing around 29 per cent of incomes for the African media in 2019, falling to 26 per cent in 2020. The top tier digital media on the continent was also found to be earning more for smaller audiences  measured as page views  than equivalent media in Latin America and South-east Asia.

However, the African entrepreneurs had the most limited financial records with around half unable to identify their total revenues or revenue sources. Those that shared financial details were also benefitting from a lower proportion of grants than digital media elsewhere, at 16 per cent of revenue in 2019. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the grants to African media rose, to account for more than 19 per cent of revenues in 22020.

Stephen King of Luminate said: This report demonstrates the vital role that grant funding is playing in supporting digital media organizations through this pivotal moment of change. This is not about funding without end  its about helping a vibrant new generation of media entrepreneurs to evolve their business models so they can build pathways to sustainability while continuing to produce important journalism in the public interest.

The researchers also investigated the staffing structures at the media outlets and found that those who employed a staff member to drive revenue earned six to nine times more revenue in 2019 than those who didnt. Similarly, media with a dedicated tech or innovation lead reported three times higher revenue.

However, fewer of Africas digital entrepreneurs were women, at 13 per cent, than in other regions, with 32 per cent of the founders of the companies studied worldwide being women. But this proportion still represented a far greater role for women in media ownership than exists in the mainstream media, where the ownership by women is as low as one per cent.

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Honourable Prime Minister,

You are presently attending the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow held from 31 October  12 November 2021.

The importance of this summit is heightened by the latest IPCC report that shows an alarming trend of rising global temperatures and the urgent need to drastically reduce emissions of Green House Gases (GHG) if net-zero emissions by 2050 as pledged at the Paris Climate Summit in 2015 is to be achieved.

Speaking of the first part of the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis as a Code Red for Humanity, the UN Secretary General stressed: This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet Countries should also end all new fossil fuel exploration and production (1)

In its Update of the Nationally Determined Contribution of the Republic of Mauritius (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mauritius has pledged to transition out of coal and to expand renewable energy in the electricity mix from 40% to 60% by 2030. (2).

At COP26 you will most certainly focus on the conditional support for mitigation and adaptation from international sources and donor agencies amounting to USD 4.2 billion, accounting for 65% of total funds that need to be mobilised, as per figures released by your government on 11th October 2021 (3).

Offshore Petroleum activities as a major economic activity at a time of climate emergency But within a few days of submitting this updated NDC your government announced the introduction of an Offshore Petroleum Bill in the National Assembly to provide a framework for petroleum activities in the Mauritian maritime zone. Pleading for funds for climate change mitigation and adaptation at the climate summit in Glasgow, while simultaneously moving for fossil fuel exploration and extraction in its maritime territory hardly signals seriousness and trustworthiness, and undermines credibility. The implications of this decision will surely not be lost on other participants, attendees and potential funders.

The introduction of the Bill a few days after the submission of the NDC leaves us, concerned Mauritian citizens, feeling bewildered and uneasy at the incoherence and contradiction between commitments under the NDC and the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Bill. We feel let down in the face of scrutiny by the international community.

The dissonance between speech and deed, the failure to walk the talk is evident when we consider how the decision to promote fossil fuel extraction and use conflicts with the Paris Climate Agreements global target of net-zero emissions by 2050, and about how this Bill may also be in contradiction with NDC commitments themselves.

Indeed, Section 3. Scope and coverage that deals with Absolute economy-wide emissions reduction target compared with a BAU scenario by 2030 of the NDC lists several sectors and activities that are to contribute to a reduction of emissions, either directly or indirectly. Directly, it is pledged to reduce emission from direct emitters (energy, transport, waste, industrial processes, and so on). Indirectly, it is pledged to have mitigation co-benefits as a result of adaptation measures and/or economic diversification plans such as building climate smart fisheries and aquaculture, and increasing carbon storage capacities of coastal ecosystems.

Yet Mr Prime Minister, the new pillar of economic diversification that you herald, offshore petroleum activities, is geared towards increasing emissions. We contend that this will totally annihilate the mitigation part of painstaking mitigation and adaptation actions, for which Mauritius has already received and will again be appealing for funds.

Mr Prime Minister, how will you plead Mauritius case for securing mitigation and adaptation funds while at the same time promoting major offshore petroleum activities? How will your government enlist the continued support of the International Renewable Agency (IRENA) when the organisation is advocating for and promoting an energy transition away from fossil fuels (not only coal) towards renewable energy (4) and for offshore oil and gas companies to upgrade their infrastructure and convert it for offshore renewable energy technologies? (5) Moreover, international funding agencies are moving away from fossil fuel financing. Where will the funding for the offshore petroleum activities come from?

Absence of a roadmap to the transition towards zero-coal

As disclosed in the NDC, the Government has announced that unconditional funding (6) for mitigation and adaptation estimated at USD 2.3 billion (around Rs 98,834,220) and representing 35 % of total funds required will be locally obtained through the Government and the private sector. No breakdown of proposed local contributions has been made public. Limited information is available so far regarding mitigation, the main commitment being a transitioning out of coal by 2030 (in eight years time) as announced in the 2021-2022 budget.

The figures released by the government do not say what proportion of the estimated funding required for the mitigation sectors of USD 2.0 billion (around Rs 85,942,800) will be from local funds and specifically from the public sector. Other questions that need to be answered are whether the amount of local funds mentioned in the NDC for mitigation is relative to capital expenditure only or also takes into account operational expenditure? Given the volatility of fossil fuel prices (presently skyrocketing), has consideration been given to LNG/HFO price fluctuations?

In short, Mr Prime Minister, we are left to ask: Where is the roadmap to the transition towards zerocoal? Absence of democratic process and transparency in the finalisation of the NDC

It has been stated that consultations with a selected group of stakeholders had been carried out in the preparation of the NDC, and that awareness-raising would be held to disseminate the findings of the updated NDC (7).

We note with concern that the Government (which has the final say in the document) has taken a unilateral decision to commit Mauritius in the NDC without a debate in the National Assembly. How can a government commit the country without parliamentary debate and consultation with the people of Mauritius and their representatives in Parliament for both zero-coal and the NDC? The calendar of the National Assembly could have been organised taking into consideration the date limit for submission of the NDC to UNFCCC.

Additionally, it has been noted that some of the documents used in the preparation of the NDC and mentioned therein are not available to the public. Transparency is key, Mr Prime Minister. We call on you therefore to direct relevant ministries and other bodies to update the Climate Change Information Centre (8) with all information relevant to the climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, and to pledges contained in the NDC.

We hope, Mr Prime Minister, that in these times where a national effort is needed to combat climate change and build our islands resilience, your government will take well-informed decisions and at last break with its practice of breaching good governance and transparency principles.

As a Small Island Development State, we cannot at a global Conference of Parties, ask the international community to fund adaptation primarily, hold past and current major emitters to account as victims of climate change, and then add to our mitigation account by committing to petroleum extraction in our vast Exclusive Economic Zone.

On the basis of all the above, we urge you Mr Prime Minister to withdraw the Offshore Petroleum Bill. This would be a strong signal to not only the Mauritian population  specially its youth  but also to the world that Mauritius is not in a business-as-usual mode and is firmly engaged in combatting climate change to avert a looming catastrophe on a local and planetary scale. You would thus also avoid inflicting uneasiness, embarrassment and indeed shame on Mauritian citizens during and after the COP26 summit.

Sincerely yours,

Adi Teelock

For Platform Moris Lanvironnman
Well, now I have more details on that. The eaterys last day in Quakertown was Saturday, Nov. 6, and it plans to relocate to a 4,000-square-foot restaurant at 1114 W. Broad St. in Telford, according to the business Facebook page. An open house at the new location will be held 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 19.
Sweeney is an ironworker by trade who has served as an executive with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. He is also a key ally and friend of Democratic power broker, George Norcross, whos widely considered to be one of the most powerful unelected people in the state.
Since he arrived at the hospital July 8 from home in Jamison, Bucks County, a child who loves swimming and roller coasters has not stepped outside once. He has been put in restraints as frequently as once weekly through the course of his stay to cope with his aggression. His parents try to keep him active with art projects, an exercise bike, and walks around the hospital floor, which are marked by his insistence on greeting people he passes and touching specific objects. Most of his day he spends with headphones on, playing games on a smart phone.
I asked my wholesaler on the last lease renewal to get off the lease, which they didnt want to do because they liked the area, Ahart said. They were then sold [to United Natural Foods, Inc., a natural and organic food company], which doesnt want to be on leases and didnt want to renew the lease. So, the landlord went out and secured a national name [supermarket discount chain Grocery Outlet] that will come in there, pay them more money, put money into the store and thats the end of the lease.
No. The only exceptions are if you are a voter with a disability and have designated someone, in writing, to deliver your ballot, or if you need an emergency absentee ballot. Return your own ballot as soon as you receive it. Mail it or deliver it in person to your county board of elections or other location designated by your county board of elections.
Sports

Anand to mentor Indian players as Tata Steel Chess returns to Kolkata

KOLKATA, NOV 6 (PTI) | Publish Date: 11/6/2021 1:34:34 PM IST

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will play the role of a mentor to the Indian youngsters at the third Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament, starting here from November 17.

The Indian challenge will be spearheaded by Vidit Gujrathi, Adhiban Baskaran and Dronavalli Harika.

Leading the young brigade are Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Karthikeyan Murali, D Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani, Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali.

I will interact with the youngsters, try to give them some tips and try to spur them on, Anand, who won the blitz tournament in the inaugural edition in 2018, said during a virtual media interaction on Saturday. As an ambassador of the event, Anand will also be part of the commentary team.

The itch is always going to be there to play, but recently Ive been dabbling a bit in commentary and find that enjoyable too.

I will see this tournament from another angle and will be trying to explain whats going on. I can also do a bit of commentary here and there. Basically, I will be all over the place, Anand said.

He will also be seen doing commentary during the upcoming World Championships in Dubai from November 24.

In the absence of Norwegian great Magnus Carlsen and Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi who are preparing for the World Championships, world number 10 Levon Aronian will be the top draw of the meet.

The draw will also feature other Super Grandmasters including US gold-medal winning Olympiad member Sam Shankland, former world junior champion Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran and former world blitz and reigning Asian champion Le Quang Liem of Vietnam among others.

There will be a new element of youth and women players participating this time, said Chanakya Chaudhary, vice-president (corporate services) of Tata Steel.

This year the rapid competition has evolved into a rating tournament while the blitz competition remains a tournament for amateurs as well.

The tournament invited registrations from 150 players per format and entries completed within a day.

The tournament was postponed last year because of the COVID-19 outbreak as its back at the iconic National Library.

We will ensure all COVID protocols are maintained. We are happy to organise a physical chess event after the almost exclusively virtual life we have been living, director of local organisers Gameplan, Jeet Banerjee said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 04:25:54|Editor: huaxia

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Representatives of the United Nations Security Council members attend the election of a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the UN headquarters in New York Nov. 5, 2021. The UN General Assembly and Security Council on Friday elected Australian Hillary Charlesworth to sit on ICJ in a nine-year term. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council on Friday elected a new judge to sit on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the world body.

Hillary Charlesworth, from Australia, will replace James Crawford, also from Australia, who died in May and had been on the court since 2014. She will serve a nine-year term.

Charlesworth defeated Linos-Alexander Sicilianos, from Greece, with an absolute majority of votes, becoming the fifth women judge ever at the ICJ.

She is well-known as a preeminent scholar of international law, and has also served as a judge ad hoc for the court in two contentious rulings of the ICJ: Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) and Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening).

The court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected by an absolute majority in both the General Assembly (97 votes) and Security Council (eight votes). The timing of elections is staggered so that the General Assembly elects a third of the court once every three years.

According to the court's Statute, its judges must be chosen by coordinated actions of both the council and the General Assembly, with the date of elections determined by the council.

Judges are chosen on the basis of their qualifications, not their nationality, but no two judges can be from the same country. Effort is also taken to ensure that the principal legal systems of the world are reflected in the composition of the court.

Established in 1945, and based in The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court - settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorized UN organs. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 18:04:27|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Nov. 6, 2021 shows the NRG Park, a complex where the Astroworld music festival was held in Houston, Texas, the United States. At least eight people died and scores of others were injured at the Astroworld music festival in the U.S. city of Houston on Friday night, officials said. The incident was said to have taken place at around 9:15 p.m. local time when rapper Travis Scott was performing. At least 17 people were transported to hospital after the crush and 11 taken by ambulance were in cardiac arrest, Houston officials said. Some 300 people were treated at a field hospital on the scene. (Photo by Lao Chengyue/Xinhua)

HOUSTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people died and scores of others were injured at the Astroworld music festival in the U.S. city of Houston on Friday night, officials said.

"The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told a press briefing outside NRG Park early Saturday morning.

"We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and scores of individuals that were injured," Pena said.

No cause of death was given for the confirmed fatalities, pending the medical examiner's investigation.

The incident was said to have taken place at around 9:15 p.m. local time when rapper Travis Scott was performing.

At least 17 people were transported to hospital after the crush and 11 taken by ambulance were in cardiac arrest, Houston officials said.

Some 300 people were treated at a field hospital on the scene.

The Astroworld music festival began in 2018 and was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials said Saturday's lineup has been canceled.

"Our hearts are broken," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told reporters.

"People go to these events looking for a good time," said Hidalgo, whose county includes Houston, adding that "it's not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities."

Houston, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas, is also the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 21:30:30|Editor: huaxia

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KIGALI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing China International Import Expo (CIIE) offers market access to the world's second-largest economy and creates investment opportunities, a Rwandan official has said.

In an interview with Xinhua Friday, Diane Sayinzoga, head of the Exports Department at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said CIIE offers an excellent platform for exhibitions, trade, and investment.

During the 4th CIIE, running from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai, four Rwandan companies are taking part, represented by their Chinese partners with a virtual country pavilion.

In this expo, the central African nation has brought to the Chinese consumers some of the best products from Rwanda, including coffee, tea, chilli, avocado oil, among others, the official said. This is the fourth time that Rwanda participates in the CIIE.

Previous participation in the CIIE has increased the visibility of Rwandan products in the Chinese market, according to Sayinzoga, adding that Rwanda is planning to host a coffee cupping event to be live-streamed.

Sayinzoga said the expo will help Rwandan companies know which other products would be of interest to the Chinese market apart from the country's traditional exports of tea and coffee.

"The CIIE will also assist to raise brand recognition for Rwandan products, and we aim to secure important business partnerships with Chinese buyers," she said.

"For the exhibitors, accessing a bigger market like China offers a big opportunity to do business. We may see new businesses coming out of these connections," Teddy Kaberuka, a Rwanda-based economist said.

"China is both a big supplier of different types of goods globally but also a big buyer of raw materials and other industrial inputs," he said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Rwanda. The two countries have a framework of cooperation that officials say is based on mutual trust.

Rwandan coffee has continued to gain popularity in China. Last year, over 3,000 bags of coffee were sold out in less than a minute at an online live streaming event held through the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP).

The eWTP was first launched in Rwanda by the government of Rwanda and Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba in October 2018 to offer African businesses easier access to new markets through simple and straightforward procedures. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-07 00:19:41|Editor: huaxia

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FREETOWN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio on Saturday expressed his condolences over a fuel tanker explosion in the capital Freetown that claimed more than 100 lives.

"Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life around the Wellington PMB area. My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result," said Bio.

The president pledged the government will "do everything to support affected families."

Earlier on Saturday, police and hospital sources revealed that over 100 people have been killed in the fuel tanker explosion in Freetown. The tragedy happened late Friday after the fuel tanker collided with a truck in the eastern part of the city and caused fuel leakage.

Eyewitnesses said residents within the community came out desperately to fetch the leaking fuel when the explosion occurred and caused heavy casualties.

Sinneh Kamara, a senior official at the Sierra Leone Connaught Hospital Mortuary Department, told Xinhua earlier that they have received 95 bodies in the early hours of Saturday and they feared the casualty figures are set to increase because of the critical conditions of those currently admitted at hospitals across Freetown.

Eyewitnesses said some other dead bodies have been taken by their relatives for burial.

Meanwhile, Bio canceled his trip to the Extraordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States Authority of Heads of State and Government, which is set to be held in Ghana on Sunday.

Police said further investigations into the accident are still underway. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 15:54:41|Editor: huaxia

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THE HAGUE, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- New COVID-19 infections are surging across most countries in Europe as the weather becomes colder, prompting concern that the continent has become an epicentre of the pandemic and posing questions on how to flatten the spike.

Experts are appealing to European countries to adopt a two-fold approach consisting of high vaccination rates and continued prevention tactics such as ventilation and mask-wearing.

Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, warned Thursday that the current pace of transmission across the European Region "is of grave concern."

"We are, once again, at the epicentre," Kluge said, warning that if Europe follows its current trajectory, there could be 500,000 COVID-related deaths in the region by February. Last week, Europe and Central Asia accounted for almost half of the world's reported COVID-19 deaths.

UPPING FOR HIGH VACCINATION RATE

Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Xinhua that Europe needs to "get vaccination rates up higher in all countries ... especially in those where rates are still low."

According to the latest cumulative uptake in the European Union (EU) and three countries of the European Free Trade Association -- Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway -- published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 75.7 percent of adult population is fully vaccinated, while 80.8 percent have had at least one dose.

Vaccination penetration is not equally spread across the EU. It ranges from high levels in counties such as Portugal, Malta and Spain, where more than 80 percent of the adults have been fully vaccinated, to as low as 39.6 percent and 26.5 percent in Romania and Bulgaria respectively, which hold the lowest vaccination rates among adults in the EU.

Romania and Bulgaria reported this week their highest death tolls since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, even countries with high vaccination rates are reporting a high number of infections. Germany, where 79.8 percent of the adult population has been vaccinated, has seen high spikes in cases, reporting 37,120 new infections on Friday as colder temperatures lead to more socializing indoors.

In the Netherlands, where adult vaccination has reached 84.1 percent, new infections topped 10,000 over 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday, the highest since July 18.

To contain the spread of the virus, current vaccination rates are not sufficient even among those EU countries which have achieved high rates of vaccination, experts suggest.

"Seventy percent is nowhere near enough. We need to get rates up to in excess of 95 percent," McKee told Xinhua.

Boosting vaccination rates is not the only source of concern. Coping with waning immunity is also worrying.

"We are also beginning to see waning immunity in those who were vaccinated first and who have not yet been boosted," McKee noted.

"The number of people who absolutely refuse vaccines is very small. A greater problem is that many people are finding difficulties getting vaccines easily in many countries. We need to make getting vaccines as easy as possible," he said.

CHANGE OF TACTICS

Britain and countries across the EU have widely relaxed social-distancing restrictions over the summer. But as the fourth wave of the pandemic is breaking out through Europe, several governments are re-imposing measures to cope with the tide of increasing infection numbers.

In the Netherlands, the caretaker government put in place new COVID-19 rules, which include mandatory mask-wearing in public indoor spaces and a recommendation to work from home, starting from Saturday.

In Belgium, where 86 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke called upon people "to get ready to work from home."

Speaking on local radio show "de Ochtend" on Friday, the Belgian health minister cautioned "if this surge continues, we will exceed the critical number of 500 people in intensive care."

To face the accelerating pace of the pandemic in Europe, McKee warned that "we need to avoid relying on vaccines alone."

Echoing Kluge, who stressed that Europe needs to change tactics from reacting to surges of COVID-19 to preventing them, McKee said: "The main concern is that we need a Vaccine Plus strategy, which combines high rates of vaccination with continued mitigations, in particular improved ventilation and face masks."

McKee cautioned that concern is growing among experts that a new mutation might worsen the situation. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 19:48:24|Editor: huaxia

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KIEV, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill designed to combat oligarch influence on the country's economy and politics, the presidential press service said Friday.

The new legislation is aimed at ensuring the state works in the interest of society and guiding Ukraine towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration, according to a statement.

The law allows the country's National Security and Defense Council to put individuals on the list of oligarchs based on certain criteria, which include significant influence on the media and political activities.

The individuals designated as oligarchs will be prohibited from sponsoring political parties and taking part in the privatization of big companies.

The law will fully take effect six months after being published in the Ukrainian parliament's newspaper Golos Ukrainy. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-06 09:19:30|Editor: huaxia

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Visitors queue up at the Consumer Goods Exhibition Area of the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 5, 2021. With an exhibition area of more than 366,000 square meters, this year's CIIE draws nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
ZIMBABWEAN President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he cannot be taken to court over his alleged unconstitutional and illegal seizure of Zanu PF leadership as he is now a sitting state President protected by the national constitution.

He also says he cannot be sued in his personal capacity, although the applicant is suing him as leader of the ruling party. This suggests Mnangagwa is raising a strawmans argument. A strawman is a fallacious argument that distorts an opposing position in order to make it easier to attack them.

Essentially, the person using the strawman pretends to attack their opponents stance, while in reality they are actually attacking a distorted version of that, which their opponent does not necessarily mean or support. Zanu PF member Sybeth Musengezi has taken Mnangagwa to court  not in his personal, but official capacity as Zanu PF leader  saying he was not properly elected as head of the ruling party by the central committee on 19 November 2017 after the coup.

As a result, Musengezi is seeking a declaratur against Mnangagwa that the special session of the Zanu PF central committee meeting after the coup at party headquarters in Harare from 10am to 4pm was ultra vires the party constitution, unlawful and thus null and void ab initio.

He also wants the court to rule that all the resolutions of the central committee meeting passed during its unlawful gathering to install Mnangagwa as party leader were unlawful, invalid and are accordingly set aside.

However, Mnangagwa says: The Presidents capacity in the party must not be confused with his official capacity as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

He further argues he has immunity: I am advised that Section 98 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013 provides for presidential immunity. It reads as follows: While in office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his or her personal capacity; civil or criminal proceedings maybe installed against a former president for things done or omitted to be done or before he or she became president or while he or she was president;

The running of prescription in relation to any debt of liability of the President arising before or during his or her term of office is suspended while he or she remain in office; In any proceedings brought against a former president for anything done or omitted to be done in his official capacity while he or she was President, it is a defence for him or her to prove that that thing was done or omitted in good faith. It follows that section 98 (1) creates presidential immunity. The literal import of the section is very clear. There is no need for any aids to interpretation of this section. The import of .section 98(1) is that whilst in office, the President of Zimbabwe is not liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his personal capacity whilst in office. The section confers immunity to prosecution to a sitting President, the papers say.

It is important to note that the theory of presidential immunity is not found in Zimbabwe alone. It is one that is common in most democracies. Section 98 entitles the President of Zimbabwe to absolute immunity for civil and criminal infractions whie he is still in office. The immunity insulates him from any civil or criminal prosecution.

The High Court therefore has no jurisdiction to try the President for any cause against him in his personal capacity whilst he is still in office. The provision is part of our constitution which is the supreme of the country and hence is authoritative on that point. The inescapable conclusion is that section (98) of the constitution creates presidential immunity, the papers say.

This court has no jurisdiction to try the president of Zimbabwe. The court must therefore decline to exercise jurisdiction over the president of Zimbabwe. The court must therefore decline to exercise jurisdiction over the president of Zimbabwe.

Mnangagwa also says the applicant (Musengezi) did not seek leave of the court to sue the President, as is required by rule 12 (21) of the High Court Rules 2021, which provides as follows: No summons or other civil process of the court may be sued against the President or against any of the High Court judges without leave of the court granted on court application of that purpose. It follows that the purpose of the rule 12 (21) is to protect the president from frivolous and vexatious litigation such as this one, he says.

No leave has been sought to sue the second respondent (Mnangagwa) in this matter. The first respondent (Zanu PF) is improperly before the court and the relief sought against him cant granted. The matter is defective and cannot go beyond this point. The whole application falls away on this point alone. It must be struck off the roll with costs.

Mnangagwas lawyers also say Musengezi does not have locus standi (legal standing), underlined by sufficient interest or competence to bring the proceeding. They also say the applicant failed to exhaust internal remedies to address the issue. The applicant, Mnangagwa argues, took too long to bring the case beyond the prescription years.

Further Mnangagwa says the application is now moot (academic) and is incompetent in terms of the law. On merits, Mnangagwa says Musengezi is not a member of Zanu PF. He also denies that the central committee was convened illegally. These arguments were filed by Zanu PF Secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu on behalf of Mnangagwa and other respondents with their consent, according to the court papers.

In the explosive lawsuit, Musengezi is demanding that the court should follow the precedent set by the opposition MDC-T case in the Supreme Court and resultantly force Mnangagwa to step down pending resolution of the issue. Mnangagwas lawyers completely ignored the Supreme Court precedent in relation to the MDC-T and how it impacts on the Musengezi application. NewsHawks
Parhars hot yoga studio was reportedly stripped of its license in March 2020 after its proprietor insisted a steamy workout would knock out COVID-19 and invited customers to visit. He has also shot videos inside health care facilities hoping to expose the truth behind the pandemic. One such video was filmed throughout the Royal Columbian Hospital at the height of the pandemic, when public health officials had asked that anyone not in need of urgent health care stay clear of hospitals.
Its sometimes assumed that this was a sad and grim time for the band, that they were falling apart, unhappy, and no longer really wanted to work together, Hanif Kureishi writes in the introduction. There were indeed disputes and differences, as there would be with any group of artists. But in fact this was a productive time for them, when they created some of their best work.
The boy came out first, resident Tahnia Brown said. His skin color was off and they were pumping his chest. He was unresponsive when they put him into the ambulance.
I looked through my peephole and just saw black, Anthony Vega, who was in his apartment when the fire erupted, said Saturday. I was praying for no one to be in that situation. To hear him, with his dad on the floor, that was real sad.
Nahoom said he was in contact with the controllers at area airports, and that they knew his flight plan. I was in contact with JFK and Newark, he said.
Theres no one checking up on this building, she said. They would bring a mattress inside the staircase, and they would sleep in the staircase. Theres a lot of foot traffic in this building, and none of them are for our safety. They are all homeless. They are all unwelcome visitors.
Cops were trying to identify the victim Saturday. Investigators were also scouring the area looking for surveillance footage that could help them identify the gunman.
His first strangulation arrest was in 2018, police said. In 2007 he was nabbed for drug sales and murder, in 2005 he was busted for having stolen goods and in 1992, when he was a teenager, cops nabbed him for arson.
A 42-year-old man, who police believe was not the shooters intended target, was shot in the buttocks and taken to Kings County Hospital where he was treated and released. At least five shell casings were left on the street after the shooting.
A 28-year-old woman in the backseat of the Hyundai, an East Hampton native who recently moved to the city, was left partially paralyzed, police said. EMS rushed her, a 27-year-old friend who was also in the backseat, and the for-hire driver to Elmhurst Hospital.
Gossett, as evidence presented in court showed, received $1,870,549 from Paycheck Protection Program loans and Economics Injury Disaster loans, stemming from the applications he submitted under false pretenses between March and August 2020, according to the statement.
Chirino was the first to see the suspect, who he tried to arrest. The arrest warrant says that the teen then resisted and pulled out the weapon.
The Idaho Statesman reports that the hotelier pulled the plug on the conference after learning about its incendiary details on social media. That report said the hotel owners cited for its reason the immense pain Zimmerman caused its guests, team-members and community when he gunned down the unarmed Black teen in February of 2012.
I just believe we dont have our fingers on the pulse of everyday Democrats and even in the purple areas  people who are trying to decide, he said. Democrats dont want to disband police departments. They want police officers to do their job. Democrats are not against closing Rikers Island, but they also want to close the pipeline that feeds Rikers Island.
Now what Im saying: In addition to all the fire houses being open, all units are operational, de Blasio said over the phone from Puerto Rico, where hes attending the political gabfest known as Somos. Thats actually a stronger position than we are in normal times when typically some units are out of service for either training or maintenance.
Im sure there are some meathead kids that might be into us, but then they find out we are like vegans and now think we are a bunch of f-----s and dont like us anymore. But whatever, he told the outlet. We are not going to shove s--t down peoples throats, but we are also not going to hide s--t just to sell more records or to be more acceptable.
According to Biden, the country should begin to see the impact of the new bill probably in the next two to three months as we get shovels in the ground. He plans visits to some ports expected to benefit from the plan in the next week as his administration seeks to alleviate the supply chain problems raising the costs of consumer goods as Christmas and Chanukah loom.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Such incidents in COVID hospital wards have been seen before in India, as well as Iraq and Romania. In one of those blazes in Iraq, the burst of an oxygen tank was identified as a possible cause.
The study of this room, which will be enriched by the results of ongoing analyses, will allow us to uncover new and interesting information on the living conditions and lives of slaves at Pompeii and in the Roman world, said Massimo Osanna, Italys director-general of museums.
Make room in the workday for vaccinations and recovery. While the rules require employees time off to get vaccines for themselves and recover from side effects, extending this to children will be crucial for employees in the wait and see mode. This is especially important for Black and Hispanic employees and parents. Half (49%) of Hispanic parents of unvaccinated adolescents are concerned they might need to take time off work to get their child vaccinated or care for those with side effects  twice the share of White parents (24%).
At the inquiry, Officer Justin DAmico recounted how hed spotted Garner, who he and Pantaleo had both arrested before, selling loosies  from about 350 feet away. It was eagle-eyed DAmico who made the call to arrest Garner (who in fact had just broken up a fight), telling him they could do this the easy way or the hard way just before Pantaleo took him down. Despite being inches from Garner, DAmico has claimed that he didnt hear the dying man say I cant breathe all those times.
It does not need to be like this. The MTAs counterpart in London shows us a different way a transport agency can relate to health and safety research. Transport for London, as it is known, not only cooperated with some of the foundational studies on the problem of suicide in rail systems, it actually funded them. At TfLs request, a panel of university scientists periodically measures airborne contaminants in its subway, the Underground, and the findings are public. When TfL had questions about its response to COVID  including some bad failures  it turned to university research centers for answers. And by involving those centers, TfL cultivates experts in its affairs who will be at the ready when new challenges arise. Far from radical, this approach is just the routine conduct of responsible governance.
Were excited to join together again at our Chelsea Thrift Shop for our beloved Fashion for Action event, said Housing Works chief operating officer Andrew Greene. We are very grateful to our New York City community  the shoppers, the donors, the volunteers  who help us raise vital funds for our programs and services all year long. This year were expanding our housing portfolio to serve even more unhoused New Yorkers in addition to continuing to offer accessible, integrated healthcare to all at our clinics.
Officials transported 17 people to hospitals, including 11 who were in cardiac arrest, Pena said. It wasnt clear whether all eight who died were among the 17 that had been transported to hospitals. Many people were also treated at the scene at NRG Park, where a field hospital had been set up. About 300 people were examined at that site throughout the day, he said.
The diapers will be necessary because of a broken toilet on the capsule, which NASA astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation as suboptimal but manageable. She and her three crewmates will spend 8 hours in their SpaceX capsule, from the time the hatches are closed until splashdown.
When you think of Chicago, you think about architecture, so I made an architectural piece. When I thought about Cleveland, Ohio, I made vinyl records to reflect the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said. Later on in his journey, hell make a Stetson hat in Dallas. Hes traveling region by region, and this Florida swing is in the fourth of five segments. Hes hitting 18 cities in 21 days, he said.
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Oswego, NY (13126)

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Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain this afternoon. High near 50F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

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Showers this evening becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 38F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Accra, Ghana (PANA) - A total of 23 persons were killed within two days this week along the Kumasi-Techiman Highway in road crashes, local media reported here Friday
Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - The Minister-Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Guinea, Colonel Amara Camara, on Thursday warned political actors and activists against any manoeuvres to destabilize the country
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, facilitated the evacuation of 172 vulnerable asylum-seekers including families, children travelling alone and a baby, from Libya to safety in Niger on Thursday


Samoa

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Tradition Unbound: Tattoos beyond Polynesia



Tattoos are the mark of the colonized other: the difference between the colonizer and the colonized is in the texture of the skin.



Marc Blanchard, Post-Bourgeois Tattoo As reports and images from European explorers' travels in Polynesia reached Europe, the modern fascination with tattoos began to take hold. Although the ancient peoples of Europe had practiced some forms of tattooing, it had disappeared long before the mid-1700s. Explorers returned home with tattooed Polynesians to exhibit at world fairs, in lecture halls and in dime museums, to demonstrate the height of European civilization compared to the "primitive natives" of Polynesia. But the sailors on their ships also returned home with their own tattoos.



Native practitioners found an eager clientele among sailors and others visitors to Polynesia. Colonial ideology dictated that the tattoos of the Polynesians were a mark of their primitiveness. The mortification of their skin and the ritual of spilling blood ran contrary to the values and beliefs of European missionaries, who largely condemned tattoos. Although many forms of traditional Polynesian tattoo declined sharply after the arrival of Europeans, the art form, unbound from tradition, flourished on the fringes of European society.



Machinery, design, and color led to an all-American form of tattoo.



In the United States, technological advances in machinery, design and color led to a unique, all-American, mass-produced form of tattoo. Martin Hildebrandt set up a permanent tattoo shop in New York City in 1846 and began a tradition by tattooing sailors and military servicemen from both sides of the Civil War. In England, youthful King Edward VII started a tattoo fad among the aristocracy when he was tattooed before ascending to the throne. Both these trends mirror the cultural beliefs that inspired Polynesian tattoos: to show loyalty and devotion, to commemorate a great feat in battle, or simply to beautify the body with a distinctive work of art.



The World War II era of the 1940s was considered the Golden Age of tattoo due to the patriotic mood and the preponderance of men in uniform. But would-be sailors with tattoos of naked women weren't allowed into the navy and tattoo artists clothed many of them with nurses' dresses, Native-American costumes or the like during the war. By the 1950s, tattooing had an established place in Western culture, but was generally viewed with distain by the higher reaches of society. Back alley and boardwalk tattoo parlors continued to do brisk business with sailors and soldiers. But they often refused to tattoo women unless they were twenty-one, married and accompanied by their spouse, to spare tattoo artists the wrath of a father, boyfriend or unwitting husband.



Today tattooing is recognized as a legitimate art form.



Today, tattooing is recognized as a legitimate art form that attracts people of all walks of life and both sexes. Each individual has his or her own reasons for getting a tattoo; to mark themselves as a member a group, to honor loved ones, to express an image of themselves to others. With the greater acceptance of tattoos in the West, many tattoo artists in Polynesia are incorporating ancient symbols and patterns into modern designs. Others are using the technical advances in tattooing to make traditional tattooing safer and more accessible to Polynesians who want to identify themselves with their culture's past.







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Katrina Martinez spent part of election day campaigning outside La Arboleda Center in Chimayo. She upset Matthew Casados in the position 4 race for Espanola School Board. Casados was not an incumbent, as he had been appointed to his position in July after Yolanda Salazar resigned in June.
In the run-up to the 2022 Assembly polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that he is ready to contest the elections from wherever the party decides.

Talking to reporters in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said: "I have always fought elections. Will contest the polls from wherever the party says. We have the party's parliamentary board which decides who will be fielded from which constituency.

"In the four and a half years of the BJP rule, the party has kept all promises made in the manifesto of the last Assembly polls in the state."

When the BJP came to power in 2017, law and order in the state was in a bad shape, but today, the state has privilege of being the best state in the country in terms of the said situation, he said.

Adityanath asserted: "The state saw no riots in the four and a half years years of the BJP-rule. All festivals, including Diwali, were celebrated peacefully.

"Uttar Pradesh's celebration of Deepotsav in Ayodhya has took the world stage."

Earlier also, Diwali was celebrated and Kumbh was also not organised for the first time in Prayagraj, but that time, the state has identity crisis, he said.

"With Deepotsav in Ayodhya, organisation of grand Kumbha in Prayagraj, better law and order, social welfare schemes, we have freed the state of identity crisis," the Chief Minister said.
In a 'bhai-dooj' day gruesome tragedy, at least 10 patients perished and 7 more are injured when a massive blaze swept through the Intensive Care Unit of the Ahmednagar Civil Hospital, here on Saturday, officials said.

"The fire broke out around 10 a.m. today. Of the 17 patients undergoing treatment in the ICU ward, 10 have died and the rest are injured," District Collector Dr Rajendra B. Bhosale told mediapersons.

He said the victims' bodies have been sent for autopsy to determine the exact causes of their death and further procedures will be followed thereafter.

At least four fire-tenders were rushed to battle the blaze which was finally brought under control around 1 p.m., said an official of Ahmednagar Police Control.

Hospital authorities, aided by locals and rescue teams, managed to shift many patients from the neighbouring wards as a precaution, he added.

At the time of the incident, there were at least 17 patients undergoing treatment in the ICU and scores of anxious relatives rushed to the hospital for details on their near and dear ones.

As the cooling operations were taken up after the horrific fire was tamed, eyewitnesses said that the entire ICU had been reduced to a heap of burnt rubble.

Though the prime cause of the fire is not clear, preliminary investigations point to a suspected short-circuit which may have led to the mishap.

Ahmednagar Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif said that a probe has been ordered into the tragedy and warned that those responsible for the lapses would not be spared.

Senior police, district and fire brigade officials have reached the spot and are supervising the rescue and relief operations.
Lawmakers in Portugal voted to legalise euthanasia by approving a revised bill that fixed objections raised earlier by the Constitutional Court.

The vote was 138 in favour, 84 against and five abstentions, reports Xinhua news agency.

The original bill was vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in March.

The new law specifies the conditions under which medically assisted death is not punishable, thus changing the country's Penal Code.

The rules are quite restrictive, and only people over 18, who are Portuguese citizens or foreigners legally resident in the country, can resort to euthanasia, the practice of intentionally ending life to relieve pain and suffering.

Only patients in situations of "intolerable suffering, with severe permanent injury or incurable and fatal disease" can opt for this final procedure. Those diagnosed with mental illnesses cannot choose assisted suicide.

President de Sousa still needs to sign the bill into law.
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WIA meets with ACMA In October representatives of Australia's IARU member society, the WIA, met with the communications regulator, ACMA, to discuss several important topics including Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) compliance



WIA News reports:



During October the WIA met with the ACMA to discuss several important topics including the new class licencing proposals, how the APANSA (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) criteria of EMR compliance will integrate with the potentially new Amateur licencing structure, some of the finer points of the 2x1 Callsigns and the FYSO (Five Year Spectrum Outlook) and the effects it will have on the Amateur Radio community long term.



ACMA welcomed the opportunity to meet with the WIA and were accepting that the previous very detailed submission on amateur licensing arrangements provided the ACMA with significant detail and knowledge to consider.



With respect to Amateur licencing arrangements, ACMA advise that the submission to the ACMA Authority was almost complete and would go forward shortly. The next step once approved is to proceed with a Response to Submissions and suggested steps going forward. This was most likely to occur Jan/Feb 2022, a busy time for both WIA and ACMA.



ACMA advised that the update on changes for the Amateur Service related to the APANSA EME Standard ACMA would consist of the intention to lift the current requirements from the Apparatus LCD into the new regulatory framework. There is no intention to impose any additional burden on amateurs. WIA finds this as an exceptional approach as any changes would entail a large educational requirement and that education in this area would be a necessity anyway.



The 2x1 Contest callsigns have been a great success and ACMA is not considering imposing any further operating conditions. It will be up to the Amateur Community to come to a consensus that is reflective of the international view of contesting criteria and appropriate use of the 2x1 contesting callsigns.



ACMA mentioned that they are working on the assignment process for Assignment of Repeater and Beacon apparatus licences. It was acknowledged of the WIAs role in International band plans. Discussions with ACMA and other parties are ongoing with the WIA developing a framework document for comment as a way of progressing to a suitable arrangement.



The outcome and discussions were robust and the WIA thanked the ACMA for scheduling the WIA into their very busy schedule.



Source WIA News

https://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/display.php?file_id=wianews-2021-11-07
New York (UN), 6 November 2021 (SPS) - The Polisario Front representative to the United Nations (UN), and responsible for coordination with the Minurso, Sidi Mohamed Omar, met on Friday with the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, on a visit to New York, on the prospects of the peace process in Western Sahara.



The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the United Nations General Secretariat, was an opportunity for Mr. Sidi Mohamed Omar to inform Mr. Staffan de Mistura on the position of the Polisario Front vis-a-vis the prospects of the peace process in Western Sahara.



The UN SG had announced on 6 October the appointment of Mr Staffan De Mistura to replace Mr Horst Kohler, the former German President who resigned from his mission in May 2019.



In a statement issued following the appointment of Mr. De Mistura, the Polisario Front recalled that this appointment "comes at a time when the UN peace process in Western Sahara has experienced, from 6 September 1991 to 13 November 2020, extremely dangerous developments.



"Morocco has undermined the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as established in Security Council resolution 690 (1991) and relevant resolutions, torpedoed the ceasefire and once again declared war on the Sahrawi people," the Polisario Front said.



"The Polisario Front, which has demonstrated through concrete actions its genuine commitment to a peaceful and lasting solution for the decolonisation of Western Sahara, stresses that no genuine, credible and viable peace process, which would serve the cause of peace, security and stability in the region, will be possible as long as the occupying state of Morocco persists, with impunity, in its illegal actions and its attempts to impose by force a colonial fait accompli in occupied Western Sahara."



It also reaffirmed that "the only way" to achieve a peaceful, just and lasting solution guaranteeing the decolonisation of Western Sahara is for the Sahrawi people to freely and democratically exercise its inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with international legality and the relevant United Nations and African Union resolutions.



The Polisario Front had furthermore stated that it "looks forward" to discussing with the new Personal Envoy of the UN SG how he plans to carry out his mission to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.



062/T
The rate fell to 2.6% from 3% last week, the lowest its been in Florida since the earliest days of the pandemic. This is the fifth week in a row with a positivity rate below 5%, the benchmark number used by epidemiologists to gauge what public health measures should be in place. At its worst, Floridas test positivity climbed as high as 20.5% for the week ending Aug. 19.
Were so excited to be able to get back out there and tell everyone: The world is back. South Florida is back, says Valerie Roy, co-owner of CI Management, which has produced the festival for more than six years. We need, more than ever, to celebrate South Florida and the culinary talent down here and the restaurants that were so resilient for the past so many months.
Johnny McCray, attorney for Eason and two other Pompano Beach residents who feel betrayed by the sale, said the Westview board failed to follow its own decision-making policies by approving the sale with only four trustees participating when a minimum of five are required by their associations bylaws. McCray also said the trustees dont have the right to sell the land.
Cortney Walters sister Katelynn Walters, 26, knew Shearer for many years before he started dating Cortney. She met Shearer in the sixth grade and the two were fast friends, she said. Shearer had been in her life ever since, eventually pairing up with her older sister Cortney. He went from a friend to family, said Katelynn Walters.
It was not clear whether all eight who died were among the 17 people who were taken to hospitals. Many people were also treated at the scene, where a field hospital had been set up. About 300 people were examined at that site throughout the day, the fire chief said.
The bobbleheads base features DeSantis name, with him standing at the podium dressed in a blue suit and red tie, making an announcement into a microphone during a press briefing. Since taking office in 2019, DeSantis has often gone through periods during which he held near daily press briefings, sometimes multiple times a day.
So why is there now a shortage of subs? Yes, the pandemic has had a negative effect, but it doesnt end there. Substitute teachers in Broward make about $12 an hour and there has not been any pay increase since at least I started. Classroom behavior has also deteriorated. Unless you are lucky enough to have a so-called high-end class of bright students, you are guaranteed to have a long, stressful day. It is unfair that teachers routinely give up their planning periods due to a lack of sub coverage. Maybe its time for a raise for subs.
Masks of the Lost Kings

Written by: Tom Bane

Available In: eBook|Paperback

Author Website: http://www.tombane.com/

Following the sudden disappearance of treasure hunter Ben Sanders in Mexico, beautiful archaeologist Suzy da Silva is snatched from the cloistered environs of Oxford University and thrust into a deadly maelstrom of intrigue and discovery.
Evening of Healing, Wakefield

An Evening of Healing and Intercessory Prayer will take place at St. Florence Parish, 47 Butler Avenue, with Father Albert MacPherson as the celebrant. From 6:00 to 6:45 p.m., there will be adoration, rosary, and confession, followed by Mass with the Sacrament of the Sick at 7:00 p.m. At 8:15 p.m., there will be an opportunity for personal prayer. Please email your intentions to stflorence@verizon.net.
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How do we serve? As Catholics, we all must ask ourselves that question. How do we use our God-given gifts in service to the Lord and one another? Two...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With the COVID-19 pandemic still underway and with restrictions on gatherings still in place in some countries, the Vatican has again...
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       MINE-EMI     
Oman Air, the national airline of the sultanate, has signed a reciprocal loyalty partnership with Qatar Airways, wherein members of Oman Air Sindbad and Qatar Airways Privilege Club can earn loyalty miles for travel on both airlines between Muscat and Doha exclusively, in either direction.

With this partnership Sindbad members can earn Sindbad miles on Qatar Airways flights on the sector; reciprocally, Privilege Club members can earn Qmiles on Oman Air flights, said the satement from Oman Air.

Members of both loyalty programmes will be able to redeem their miles for flights on either airline between the two cities, it stated.

On the strategic tieup, Oman Air CEO Abdulaziz Al Raisi said: "The strong relationship between Oman Air and Qatar Airways offers a world of exciting travel possibilities and were delighted that our Sindbad members can now earn and redeem Sindbad miles for travel on Qatar Airways between Muscat and Doha."

"Were equally delighted to welcome Qatar Airways Privilege Club members on board Oman Air flights on the popular sector, where they can earn and spend Qmiles," noted Al Raisi.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker expressed delight at the launch of this new partnership with Oman Air, offering valued members flying between the two countries significant opportunities to earn and spend miles across both airlines.

"This new loyalty partnership cements our dedication to the Sultanate of Oman, and we will remain committed towards creating more unique opportunities to reward our members, in addition to offering various avenues to use Qmiles with our airline partners," he added.

The reciprocal loyalty program partnership follows the strengthening of the relationship between both airlines and builds on the benefits of expanded code-sharing.

In December last year, Oman Air and Qatar Airways announced greater cooperation that would allow both airlines to expand commercial operations, boost connectivity and enhance travel options, said the statement from the Omani carrier.

Code-share expansion will significantly increase the number of destinations available to Oman Air passengers from three to 65 on Qatar Airways network across Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, India, and the Middle East.

Qatar Airways passengers too will benefit from additional connectivity, with the ability to book travel on an additional six destinations across Africa and Asia in Oman Airs network.-TradeArabia News Service
United Way Worldwide CEO Angela Williams poses outside the nonprofit network's headquarters on Oct. 15, 2021. Williams has taken the helm of the nations largest charity with a powerhouse resume behind her  and a long list of challenges in front of her.(United Way Worldwide via AP)


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Source: Xinhua| 2021-07-02 00:27:46|Editor: huaxia

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FREETOWN, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Authorities at the Sierra Leone's National COVID-19 Emergency Response Center (NaCOVERC) revealed Thursday that the country is currently battling with a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NaCOVERC Spokesman Solomon Jamiru said 1,428 positive cases were registered in June, and about 26 percent of the infections across the country were recorded within a month.

Sierra Leone has reported 5,575 confirmed COVID-19 cases since it recorded its first COVID-19 case in March last year.

The country has so far recorded 100 COVID-19-related deaths, of which, 21 were registered in June alone, the spokesman added. Enditem
Aviation experts have traced the cause of flight delays and cancelation besides weather and VIP movement to inadequate aircraft, which leads to hiccups caused by overutilisation of equipment.

The development, they stressed, would become more acute as Yuletide season approaches when travellers demand the highest number of seats in domestic air travel every year.

The Managing Director of Flight Logistics Solutions, Amos Akpan, explained that what causes delays is overscheduling without enough ground time for turn around, which he said is caused by ignorance and poor management.

Akpan said there should be schedule reliability, taking into consideration the factors of environment and earmark enough time for turn around.

He noted that when these realties are not observed, the airline would not be able to keep to its schedule.

"For example, if an operating aircraft is scheduled to fly to Port Harcourt, from Port Harcourt to Abuja and from Abuja to Asaba, the operations manager must allocate enough time for turnaround time. If an aircraft is scheduled to operate from Lagos to Abuja, leaves Lagos by 9:30 and it would fly for 55 minutes and the turn around time is 30 minutes, it might take more than 55 minutes if there is weather issue or VIP movement, by the time it would land it has already spent about one hour, 10 minutes and on landing disembarking and boarding can take a longer time after the 30 minutes scheduled for ground turn around has been eroded.

"This means that if the airline scheduled that the aircraft would operate the next flight by 11:00 it would be late by at least 45 minutes to one hour and if the weather or VIP movement that delayed the aircraft was longer, it may even delay the next flight by two hours, "he explained.

The experts said that airlines over schedule their fleet when there is not enough equipment and they would want to service their routes.

Akpan noted that if the airlines do not plan very well they would find it difficult to keep to their schedule.

"Airlines have environmental and managerial factors to contend with and these include bad weather, VIP movement because in Nigeria we don't have blue corridor, which enables commercial airlines to fly even when there is VIP movement. In VIP movement they don't tell you when it will end for security reasons. Also our airports do not have fuel hydrants at the airside, fuel bowsers have to come to fuel the aircraft. If this is not planned well it can cause delays. A flight should be given at least one hour to one and half hours ground time. Then an airline should schedule all its daylight airports first to make sure that they don't operate towards dusk because if there were delays the airline would be forced to cancel the flights," he said.

Akpan further suggest that airlines should review regularly what they send out to the public to reflect the real situation on ground, disclosing that maintenance must always update operations and logistics department on the aircraft that are airworthy so that they would be scheduled for operation.

"Operations and logistics would now notify ticketing and stations that the aircraft, example, 5NXYZ would not be in service today. But if it would be in service, maintenance would indicate when it would be in service and give enough time so that the schedule that would be done would not lead to delays.

"Maintenance department must tell the operations and logistics when it will release the aircraft for flights and it must be fuelled before handling it over to operations. There should be a synergy between maintenance, operations, customer, ticketing and stations. Operations are seen as customer to maintenance and customer service is customer to operations. They are known as internal and external customers. The external customers are the passengers, which must be satisfied by the airline," Akpan said.

Since the resumption of flights last year, domestic airlines have been facing the problem of under capacity, which has given rise to flight delays and sometimes flight cancellation, especially on daylight airports.

To solve this problem, airlines have embarked on leasing aircraft to at least meet the demand of the Yuletide season.

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In the last four months Nigerian carriers have leased aircraft from lessors and other airlines whose fleet are not in service due to shrinking market occasioned by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Mahmoud Abdullahi told THISDAY that aircraft leasing is good for Nigerian carriers because they do not have capacity and that explained why there have been issues of flight delays, flight cancellation and high cost of flights.

"Nigerian airlines don't have capacity, there are passengers, if you go to the airport as of today, you could see passengers begging for tickets. So all you are looking for is for capacity, just get the right aircraft, put it on the right route and passengers will fly. We could see the passengers' number growing and the high season is coming, we don't want Nigerians to go through what they have been going through in previous years most especially in November and December, "Abdullahi said.
For David and Maggie Kopp, Kenya is their second home.

For 20 consecutive years, the couple from the United Kingdom have been visiting the country to sample wildlife in the Maasai Mara and pristine sandy beaches on the Kenyan Coast.

Not even the Covid-19 pandemic could deter them from travelling to their little paradise - Travellers Beach Hotel and Club.

"I'm in love with Kenya, especially the weather. Kenya is my second home," said Mr Kopp in an interview with Business Daily.

The couple are among many international visitors who throng Travellers to get pampered at its spa facility.

It wasn't a surprise for the couple when their favourite hotel was voted the best luxury facility in Africa and its Uzima Spa the best in the World Luxury Hotel Awards.

"Our repeat clients are our biggest stakeholders. The UK couple have been coming here twice a year, for the last 20 years. Mombasa is their second home," said Travellers general manager Hilary Siele.

"Some were even here during the onset of the pandemic. They stayed in the hotel for a year. They were running their businesses here. They said Kenya was safer than Europe."

The award, he said, will boost the four-star hotel's business and improve its bookings.

"We were nominated by clients on a platform and were voted through our database. A team came to prequalify the hotel, and inspected the property to suit the categories," he said.

"This depends on how well you keep your database, clientele loyalty and satisfaction of service. We offer top-notch services."

He said the selection is thorough. "They just don't give awards. Early this year, the team came for the inspection," he said.

Mr Siele lauded his team, saying they are the best with top-notch training in therapy, aquaculture and hotel service.

"The spa has six masseurs (four women and two men). They do their research online, that's why they give the best services," he added.

The spa uses imported essential oils, he said.

Situated in Bamburi, the hotel has a big clientele of very important persons from the East African region.

It also has a 24-hour children's restaurant and offers free babysitting services.

"You can order anytime. We treat children as our ambassadors. We have a unique family concept, with babysitters who take care of children when parents are enjoying beach rides or at the spa," he added.

Mr Siele hopes for a five-star rating.

"But the only thing letting us down is the lack of a foyer. We have a sauna, steam room, gym and massage room. This facility is always busy, so we encourage clients to book in advance," he said.

Mr Siele narrated how the Covid-19 pandemic affected their business.

"It was a tough time for the industry, but we tried not to close. We instead embraced the local market, which saw us through the pandemic," he added.

The facility is now planning for the December peak season as industry players remain optimistic about a rebound.

He said the local and overseas markets are back although a few stringent measures like double vaccination from certain countries, remain a challenge.

"As we speak now, our December occupancy is at 43 percent, which is a good sign. By the end of November, we project full occupancy. The early bird bookings are getting a 25 percent discount," Mr Siele said.

The hotel gets visitors from Poland, Germany, the UK and Switzerland.

"Our international clients say Kenya is safer than Europe," he added.

He said they earned the award due to the diligent work they have been doing.

"My directors have done a lot of renovations. All our rooms are digital, with a keypad opening system, digital AC, which the overseas market appreciates," he added.

Silver Palm Spa and Resort bagged the Best Luxury Boutique Resort in East Africa.

The only four-rated star hotel in Kilifi County, located in the North Coast, got a major boost following the win, as it began registering more tourists.

Its general manager, Mr Michel Otieno, said the award is good for the hotel business as it boosts its recognition locally and internationally.

The World Luxury Hotel Awards are the pinnacle of achievement in the luxury hotel industry, offering international recognition as voted by guests, travellers and industry players.

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Over 300,000 international travellers vote each year, over four weeks, to select the winners.

This year, there were over 100 award categories, 850 listed hotel profiles, and 2,000 nominees.

In an interview with Business Daily, Mr Otieno said Covid-19 hurt the hotel industry, forcing Silver Palm Spa and Resort to close for six months.

The hotel, with 60 workers, has 50 percent bed occupancy.

Mr Otieno said the four-year old facility plans to broaden its customer base locally and internationally, and bolster and improve its service standards to exceed customer expectations.

Other winners are Maiyan, which bagged the luxury family resort in Africa award, and Royal Tulip Canaan, which took the luxury business hotel regionally.

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers official Dr Sam Ikwaye urged industry players to market their spa and wellness treatment products to attract more tourists.
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday said he used his United Kingdom (UK) visit to mount a diplomatic offensive aimed at strengthening the re-engagement drive while calling for the removal of sanctions.

He returned home on Thursday from his successful trip to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which was held in Glasgow, Scotland, where he met other global leaders to tackle issues to do with climate change.

It was the first time for a Zimbabwean leader to visit the UK after relations between the two nations were strained after Zimbabwe embarked on the corrective Land Reform Programme in the early 2000s.

Land reform saw Britain, America and their allies imposing sanctions against Zimbabwe including travel restrictions on the country's leaders.

After landing at Somhlolo Stadium in Lupane, Matabeleland North on his way to Lupane State University where he officiated at the institution's 12th graduation ceremony, the President addressed Zanu-PF supporters who had come to welcome him at the stadium.

He said he used the UK conference to push for the country to join the community of nations.

He said he met several world leaders, including the United States President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President of the European Union Council Charles Michel among other global leaders.

"That (meeting with Johnson) was the breaking of the ice between Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. We then spoke twice after the engagements. I was also invited to a dinner for heads of state organised by Queen Elizabeth. I went with my young brother (Kenyan President) Uhuru Kenyatta, although the Queen (Elizabeth) did not come as she was said to be not feeling well. However, she sent her son Prince Charles and grandson Prince Williams," said President Mnangagwa.

"So, I went to Prince Charles to say in 1980 you were the one who removed the British Union Jack confirming Zimbabwe's independence. So, I asked him that for 41 years, why haven't you returned to see how advanced the country you gave independence was? He failed to answer the question. So, I extended an invitation to him to come and see how the country was progressing."

He said he invited Prince William to also visit the Victoria Falls among other natural wonders that the country has.

President Mnangagwa said he asked President Biden why the US had unjustly imposed sanctions on the country.

"I told him that there is no crime that we committed against America and why are you imposing sanctions on us?

"I reminded him that America calls itself the biggest democracy; why imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe. He said 'Mr President kindly wait.' He then called his staffer and held my hand and said 'This is the Zimbabwean President, and I want that when we return home, we revisit this issue. I would like to talk to him.' That is what Biden said," said President Mnangagwa.

He said after engaging the Canadian Prime Minister, he invited him to visit Zimbabwe and the Prime Minister said he would first send one of his ministers.

President Mnangagwa said he spoke with the European Union (EU) representative who expressed readiness to re-engage with Zimbabwe.

He said Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Frederick Shava has already started talks with EU representatives on cooperation areas.

The President said he also met with the business community from the UK and the country's Diasporans in a bid to strengthen the re-engagement mantra.

Earlier in the morning, the President also addressed multitudes that came to welcome him when he landed at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo. He also spoke about his diplomatic offensive and the leaders he met.

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Welcoming the President at Somhlolo, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo, who is also Zanu-PF provincial chairman, said the province will continue to rally behind the President's developmental agenda.

"Following your trip to Glasgow as a province we are more than elated to host you as your administration pushes ahead with developmental projects and uplifting the standards of living of people. Your Excellency, we warmly welcome you to Lupane District. The people of Matabeleland North will remain indebted to your office," said Cde Moyo.

"We continue to solidly rally behind your developmental agenda until we reach the desired goal of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030. We are also grateful for your efforts in containing the Covid-19 pandemic in the country in particular through the vaccination programme."

@nqotshili
UNITED Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), in collaboration with the Vice President's Office (Environment), is implementing a project called "Promotion of Waste to Energy (WtE) Applications in Agro-Industries of Tanzania".

The project is funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) along with their stakeholders from government institutions and ministries. The aim is to support Mafia Island to produce electricity using alternative power sources. It will be able to produce up to 1,400KW. It is implemented in line with President Samia Suluhu Hassan's stance on measures to mitigate environmental pollution and promote business and economic development on the island.

In an interview with 'Daily News', UNIDO National Project Coordinator for Energy and Environment Robert Washija said the project would enable Mafia Island, which is situated in the Indian Ocean, to use green sources of power and protect the environment for current and future generations.

"UNIDO is supporting Kisiwani Farming Limited to intensify its use of residues from coconut oil plantations to generate electricity through modular thermal gasification and boost the island's power supply system," he said.

He explained that the company owned 2,700 plantation hectares and Mafia Island had already started using power from this source and all that was needed was financial and expert support so that it could produce electricity to its full capacity and get rid of diesel generators which had adverse effects on the environment.

Other stakeholders from public and private sectors joining UNIDO in this regard include the Ministry on Energy (MoE), Costech, Rural Energy Agency (REA), Tanesco and Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) - all of which are part of the Project Steering Committee (PSC).

This project aims at promoting the use of waste to energy technologies, more specifically the application of biomass and biogas technologies in agro-industries. It was selected due to its rapid scaling up and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential. This is in line with a GEF-5 climate change focal area strategic programme that promotes investment in rural energy technologies. On October 21, 2021 UNIDO with PSC members visited Mafia Island.

Speaking in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday during a United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), President Samia called on developed countries, which are major greenhouse gas emitters, to provide predictable and adequate funds to enable low income countries to achieve NDC goals sustainably.

President Samia said Tanzania's mitigation goals had been set in all important areas, but as a developing country, it could not achieve all of its goals without adequate technical know-how support to build its capacity.

"We in Tanzania haven't been spared by climate change effects. Sea level rise is impacting negatively our arable land and our pride - Mount Kilimanjaro - is changing due to glacier melting. We also experience unpredictable floods and droughts," she told the summit.

She said Tanzania was experiencing all this "despite our resolve to set aside 48 million hectares for forest conservation. Our beautiful Zanzibar is struggling with temperature rise, salt water intrusion and inundation is affecting tourism and ecology."

According to information from Tanesco website, Mafia Island, which is home to about 60,000 people, power demand is increasing. Mafia uses a generator plant with an installed capacity of 2.180KW. Its maximum demand is about 2,200KW.

According to UNIDO, pollution, climate change, habitat destruction and over-exploitation of natural resources such as fresh water and fisheries are doing great harm to human health, wellbeing and livelihoods, especially among poorer regions, and they are undermining the prospects of a long-term resilient and robust economy.

One of the prerequisites of industries to flourish in a sustainable manner is the availability of an assured supply of affordable clean energy, together with improved resource efficiency. UNIDO in Tanzania supports environmental management efforts, including the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements and the provision of sustainable clean energy.

It helps create new green industries, establishing the national road map for green supply chains, determining benchmarks and indicators, disseminating and sharing best practices, running a clean technology programme, undertaking various capacity-building initiatives and contributing to international forums with necessary research and expertise.

President Samia also said the country had put in place a national climate change response strategy, which aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a sustainable manner.

She said through hydro-geothermal and solar Tanzania had increased power generation and access rate from 43 per cent in 2017 to about 70 per cent in 2020.

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She explained the country's reforestation rate had increased from 25 to 27 per cent in 2020 and 276 million trees were being planted every year. "We know what is needed and what works. Our solidarity and commitment as leaders will be measured not by the ambitions we set today, but our actions across all pillars of Paris Agreements, mitigation and adaptation," she emphasised, while addressing the COP26. She also said if the world won't act accordingly, then developing countries, that had the lower adoptive capacity, remained with no option, but brace for more devastating eventualities.

Tanzania has alternative sources of power which include hydroelectric power, wind power and natural gas which boost the national grid. Apart from the melting of glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point, there are other indicators of climate change effects.

They include merging river banks and the water of Lake Victoria is submerging dry land in Kagera and Mwanza regions. The Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam has seen salinity water misbehaving to dry land.

The rainy season is no longer predictable like it was in the past. All this needs urgent intervention.
THE Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), retired President Jakaya Kikwete has comforted and pledged to help restore the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) after the October fire which destroyed students' practical laboratory at the Mizingani Campus in Stone Town.

"I received the news about the fire when I was in the US. Accept my sincere comfort with hope to restore the lab and offices. I urge the responsible authorities to minimize bureaucracy in supporting the repair or reconstruction of the damaged rooms," Mr Kikwete said on Friday.

The retired fourth Union President made the statement after a debriefing to him as his delegation toured the proposed site for the construction of a temporary lab for students resuming studies after the fire incident in October this year.

Mr Kikwete said that he would not like to see delays in construction of temporary labs and the renovation taking too long. He wants to see students continue to be trained theoretically and practically. The former president commended the Zanzibar Fire and Rescue Brigade, the Police Force and the Zanzibar Disaster Management Commission for a quick and successful response to the fire.

Urban District Commissioner (DC), Mr Rashid Simai Msaraka, said the renovation of the IMS in the Stone Town complies with the heritage and conservation requirements,

"Experts from the UDSM and Stone Town have toured the area to ensure conditions set by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are observed in construction," he said.

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In addition, Mr Msaraka said that he admires to see IMS construct an aquarium (a transparent tank of water in which live fish and other water creatures and plants are kept) that will attract tourists.

"We need to promote tourism industry and the blue economy in Zanzibar," he said.

The Fire and Rescue Commissioner, Mr Rashid Mzee Abdalla said fire started to spread to the roof area but his team worked hard to control it so that it did not spread to other areas.

Giving a brief report of the fire accident in Buyu, IMS Director, Dr Margareth Serapio Kyewalyanga, said the accident left three laboratory rooms damaged and all equipment was burnt and the rest can no longer be used.

She noted that the university conducted a preliminary assessment of the damage, such as laboratory equipment, chemicals, ICT and other materials and it amounted to be more than 1.71bn/-. She said the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has already approved money for the construction of a temporary lab at Buyu and the work is expected to take two months.
MINISTER for Agriculture, Professor Adolf Mkenda has said that the government has embarked on several strategies to address shortage of edible oil in the country.

Speaking at stakeholder's policy dialogue on edible oil seeds production in Tanzania held on Thursday in Dar es Salaam, Prof Mkenda said some of the strategies include increasing production of improved seeds of sunflower, groundnuts, oil palm and sesame for the farmers, increased budget and extension services and research activities.

The theme of the dialogue was 'investing on edible oil seeds production: unlocking challenges and opportunities for industrial competitiveness, food security and economic development in Tanzania'.

He said the current production of edible oil in the country is 290,000 metric tonnes, while the rest is imported from outside, which cost a total of 470bn/-.

"This is a big money that if retained, could be used to create employment to our youth who have no jobs," he said.

Commenting on sunflower production, Prof Mkenda said at the moment, ordinary farmer gets an average of 0.7 tonnes per acre while under best agronomy practices, the farmer can produce up to 4.0 tonnes per acre.

He said the government is planning to purchase 2,000 bicycles for extension services, smart phones and soil testing kits in its plan to boost edible oil production in the country.

According to Prof Mkenda, Tanzania leads for edible oil production in East Africa, followed by Uganda while Ukraine leads the world.

Sunflower oil processors Association (TASUPA) has said it is facing shortage of sunflower by 1,363,092 metric tonnes to effectively and efficiently operate and contribute to address the problem of edible oil in the country.

The Association's Chairman Ringo Iringo explained that the current production capacity of smallholder farmers is only 352,908 metric tonnes but the demand to feed the processing industries is 1,716,000 metric tonnes per year.

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He said that this means, the processors are working only for a short time let say three month or so then are compelled to close down production due to lack of raw materials supply.

In order to bridge the gap, Iringo has asked the government to allocate at least 2.1 million hectares to commercial farmers to produce enough sunflowers for the processors.

"Therefore, we are underutilization because there are low supply of seeds from the farmers," he said.

"What we are doing now is to increase production of sun flower seeds from the farmers. We are working with the government, the Ministry of a Agriculture, Tanzania Agricultural Bank (TADB) and other development partners to increase quality and quantity of sun flower," he said.

He added; "We are also working out strategies to support small scale min-refineries which can be available for cheap in rural areas and will be sold on credit bases to improve the production of safe sun flower edible oil to the market.

The policy dialogue was organized and conducted by the Ministry of Finance and Planning under financial support from the European Union.
KAGERA Regional Commissioner (RC) Major Gen Charles Mbuge has hailed the government for allocating over 3.440bn/- for the construction of 'satellite' schools to ensure that no child is left on the wayside from 2022.

Equally, he tasked District Executive Directors (DEDs) to make close follow-up and ensure value for money on the projects.

"On behalf of Kagera residents, I thank President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her efforts to improve key sectors in the country including education. At least 43 'satellite schools and 172 classrooms were under construction. No child of school going-age will be left on the way-side from next year," he said.

Giving a breakdown, he said Biharamulo Council will construct 17 'satellite schools and 68 classrooms and was allocated 1.360bn/-, while Ngara DC will construct six schools and 39 classrooms and it has been allocated with 780m/-.

Other Councils with funds in brackets include Muleba Council constructing seven satellite schools and 26 classrooms (520m/-), Kyerwa will construct eight schools and 24 classrooms (480m/), Missenyi would construct three schools and 10 classrooms (200m/-), while Karagwe DC will construct two satellite centres and five classrooms (100m/).

Major Gen Mbuge further thanked the government for allocating about 14.180bn/- for constructing 790 classrooms for secondary schools, a project expected to be completed before December 15, this year.

Under the project, Muleba District Council was constructing 208 classrooms at a cost of 4.160bn/-, while Ngara DC will construct 77 classrooms (1.540bn/-).

Missenyi will construct 53 classrooms (1.060bn/-), Kyerwa will construct 85 classrooms (1.700bn/-), Karagwe Council was undertaking the construction of 80 classrooms to cost 1,600bn/-.

Biharamulo Council will construct 91 classrooms at a cost of 1.820bn/-, Bukoba DC to construct 85 classrooms (1.700bnn/-) while Bukoba Municipal Council will be constructing 30 classrooms to cost 600m/--.
There are few professions in our world filled with unsung heroes; heroes who are willing to fly too close to the sun and risk melting. They risk burn-out due to exhaustion, all in the name of feeding an entitled beast with an infinite capacity that relentlessly asks for more.

One of these professions is journalism. For a category of professions whose bread and butter comes from telling stories, it is quasi-ironic that their own stories are rarely told. This reality becomes apparent as you skim through the book, Pioneers, Rebels and a Few Villains: 150 Years of Journalism in Eastern Africa.

Charles Onyango-Obbo -- the editor -- opens up the book with what seems like an editor's note, titled 'Introduction of madmen and madwomen.' He explains the aims of the book; revealing, in vivid imagery, how a rainy morning in Kampala sparked the idea to work on a book that would seek to explore the events of journalism in Eastern Africa.

In the chapter, he notes candidly that one of the aims of the book is to recognise and put on record the forgotten journalists who paved way for the new age of journalism in Eastern Africa.

While doing so, the book is in a quest to understand "why African journalists continue to put their necks on the line in perilous environments while stirring further exploration and get a younger generation of journalists and creators of content to tell their stories in new ways."

Instead of telling the Eastern African journalism story as one of torment -- as is wont of many publications -- the book focuses on telling individual stories of journalists surrounded by different circumstances but, more specifically, "exploring how they lived, live and why they still go out daily to do this dangerous and thankless work."

It is due to this that the book is segmented into different 'chapters' that not only explore different time periods of journalism in Eastern Africa, but also shed light on the various forms of journalism that have shaped the industry today.

Such is photojournalism.

In 1871, Welsh-American journalist and explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, got a scoop of a lifetime when he found the missing and ailing David Livingstone in a village along the shores of Lake Tanganyika. In the first chapter of the book, 'Henry Stanley's Heirs,' Morris Kiruga -- the contributing author -- looks at how foreign correspondents defined Africa while unravelling the intricacies of the history that encapsulates the relationship between foreign correspondents and Eastern Africans, both in the colonial and post-colonial eras.

Gender disparity

As the book notes, that relationship settled into an uneasy balance: On one hand, the locals viewed them (foreign correspondents) with suspicion, as colonialism's tail end, but they also considered them important to "communicating with their former colonial masters and the wider world, outside of diplomatic channels."

Not surprisingly, foreign correspondents had it easier during the colonial times than they did in the post-colonial era. All around the region, a good number of foreign correspondents were deported by uncompromising African leaders. Regardless of the hostility, the foreign press proved an effective platform to showcase the plight of Eastern Africans when it came to natural disasters such as drought, famine and floods.

A good example given in the book is that of South African photojournalist, Kevin Carter who, in 1993 while covering the war in Sudan, captured an emotive shot that would go on to grab global attention and land him the kind of jobs and access that many photo journalists could only dream about.

The photograph captured -- as detailed in the book -- shows a little starving girl with a white necklace. Her head on the ground, "in what appears as a pose she fell into rather than chose." Behind her, a vulture lurks. The little girl's fate became a subject of heated debate, prompting the The New York Times, in a special editorial, to note that the vulture had been chased away: The overhanging question that remained unanswered was whether "she (the girl) reached the (feeding) centre." In 1994, however, the revered photojournalist "was found dead in his red pickup truck in Johannesburg, a suicide note placed on the passenger seat." This was only two months after he had won a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography.

In one of the most compelling chapters, the book sheds light on one of the biggest discrepancies in journalism: Gender disparity. In a chapter dubbed, "Cracking the Glass Ceiling," Brenda Wambui -- the Contributing author -- begins by highlighting the career of Eunice Njambi Mathu, founder and editor in chief of Kenya's longest running print magazine, Parents. Mathu had dived into publishing earlier in 1984, when she started Consumer Digest, but Parents' success, after hitting the vendors' rack in July 1986, would lead to Consumer Digest Closure.

The chapter consequently highlights how Mathu's earlier steps and efforts, together with those of other female veteran journalists, such as: Serah Elderkin (former Deputy Editor of The Nairobi Times), Catherine Gicheru (who became the founding editor-in-chief of The Star newspaper in 2007) and Pamela Makotsi-Sittoni (who, five years later after Gicheru's appointment, became managing editor of The East African), compounded to "Cracking the Glass Ceiling" for upcoming female journalists.

Unexpected storm

As Brenda puts it: "For women journalists, it once looked nearly impossible to get in. Now that the glass ceiling has been cracked and some have made it, the price many are having to pay is very high."

In its last few pages, there is a palpable sigh of despair in a chapter titled, "And Along Came Covid-19." Rita Nyaga narrates how the unexpected storm that rocked the globe took a toll on journalists and media houses across the region.

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Survival at this point called for innovation and ingenuity. The reluctance to embed digital in news transmission felt like a blow in the gut for media houses. For journalists, despite the perilous nature of the assignment, many of them risked skating on thin ice to unravel the mysteries that surrounded Covid-19.

Of the many challenges that emanated from the virus, one of the most notable was the circulation of the print newspaper. The book details how Nation Media Group's (NMG) "sardonic" editorial director, Mutuma Mathiu, together with Churchill Otieno, NMG Head of Development and Learning, led a charge by NMG, at the height of the pandemic, to transform into a fully digital brand, "a move the company had been taking in baby steps for nearly 17 years."

Consequently, in September 2020, the Daily Nation was re-launched as an Africa portal Nation Africa. As the books highlights however, "this was a rare spot of good news for Eastern African media in the pandemic."

Many journalists lost their jobs as many media houses were almost pushed to complete closure. It is a reality painfully described by Nyaga; "Covid-19 could result in easily one of the largest physical dislocations of journalists in Eastern Africa, and their exit from the middle class, of recent times."

Kevin Maina is an editorial, digital marketing and broadcast intern.
Luanda  Outgoing US ambassador to Angola Nina Maria Fite Friday in Luanda considered "very positive" the engagement of the governments of both countries in consolidating cooperation relations in various fields.

The US diplomat stressed the two countries' commitment after an audience granted by the Angolan Head of State Joao Lourenco, ahead of her four-year term in Angola.

She said that Angola and US had a good engagement in the President Joao Lourenco's term in the health fields, with stress to the programmes related to the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS and Covid-19".

As for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Nina Faite said that her country has so far donated 3.4 million doses of vaccine, assuring that the US is available to continue cooperating with Angola in this area.

Regarding economic cooperation, she said that the two countries have implemented partnerships to fight corruption in Angola.

"I take the image of Angola as a country that is growing and we desire its growth in the future, with a view to achieving social and economic development", she underlined.

Nina Faite said that Angola has been carrying out serious and tough measures in its economy through the package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, for this reason, she believes in satisfactory results in the coming years.

Regarding Angola's contribution to the search for peace and political stability in Central Africa, with particular emphasis on the Central African Republic (CAR), the ambassador praised the efforts of the Angolan statesman, as president of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR ).

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Angola -US relations

Angola and the United States established formal diplomatic relations in 1993.

The energy sector is at the center of economic relations between both countries.

The American Ex-ImBank has a credit line to support US exports to Angola.

The United States-Angola Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting trade and investment between the two countries.

Fight against corruption

The US supports Angola in fighting corruption through various initiatives, including the Treasury Department's programme, launched in March 2019, to improve the country's ability to implement the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regime (AML /CFT).

Economic cooperation

US companies have significant investments in Angola, especially in the energy sector. ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Caterpillar, Chevron, Cummins, TechnipFMC and Tidewater are all represented in the country.

In 2019, a consortium led by Chevron announced plans to invest more than $2 billion in exploring new offshore natural gas fields and increasing production from existing fields.

The US Ex-ImBank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Angola in April 2019 to explore guarantees of up to US$4 billion in support of US exports to the country.
Luanda  The outgoing ambassador of Cote d'Ivoire to Angola Desire Bosson Assamai said Friday in Luanda that the Covid-19 pandemic affected the implementation of several projects between the countries.

This was during an audience granted by the President of the Republic, Joao Lourenco, aimed to bid farewell to the head of State at the end of his mission.

The diplomat said that the pandemic "halted everything", as there were several projects awaiting their implementation.

He mentioned, among others, the resumption of the air connection between the two countries and another in the field of agriculture, with well-advanced studies.

"The projects are still in the pipeline", said the ambassador, who considered the friendly relations and cooperation between the countries excellent.

Angola and Cote d'Ivoire maintain relations in the political, diplomatic and cultural fields.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, issued an urgent appeal for a ceasefire in Ethiopia.(screen shot)

Kenya is pushing for a speedy resolution of the conflict in Ethiopia to avert a possible influx of refugees and sneaking of illegal arms into the country.

This comes as experts warn that another fluid border could result in a spillover of the conflict and trade disruptions, given that Ethiopia is one of its key trade partners.

Ethiopia government forces have been fighting with forces in the Tigray region, forcing more than two million civilians to flee their homes and thousands others to seek refuge in the neighbouring Sudan, which has of late also been mired in conflict.

The conflict in Ethiopia reached a new high this week, with the government's declaration of a state of emergency following claims that Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters were advancing towards the capital, Addis Ababa.

Although the National Police Service yesterday said there has been no recorded movement of persons along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, experts warn that an actual spillover of the conflict into the country would deepen insecurity in the border region and complicate the already volatile security situation in Kenya's northern frontier counties.

"So far there has been no unusual movement at the border, though security has been enhanced to monitor happenings and ward off any potential threat to our country," police spokesperson Bruno Shioso told the Nation yesterday.

Dr Hassan Khannenje, the Director of Horn International Institute for Strategic Studies noted that Kenya is worried about potential spillover from a possible humanitarian crisis that could lead to thousands and possibly millions of refugees flowing into Kenya at a time the country is still grappling with thousands of refugees from neighbouring Somalia.

"With the shared cross-border communities and activities along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, there is a risk of a conflict spillover across the Kenyan border that would increase insecurity in the border region and complicate the already volatile security situation in Kenya's northern frontier counties," said Dr Khannenje.

Independent national security researcher Edward Wanyonyi cautioned that if the conflict is not resolved soon, its impact would be too expensive for the country, as Nairobi may be required to send mediators or even troops to help pacify the country as it has in the past done in Somalia and Sudan.

"If the situation worsens, it may spread the instability being experienced in the Sahel region further down to East Africa and make it hard for our aviation industry to thrive, seeing that Ethiopia is a major connection route for Kenya Airways," said Mr Wanyonyi.

Humanitarian crisis

Ethiopia is one of Kenya's key trading partners and an escalation of the conflict would mean disruption of transportation of goods along the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia (Lapsset) Corridor.

Mr Wanyonyi further noted that a humanitarian crisis of an imaginable magnitude could be in the offing, given Ethiopia's population of more than 100 million people.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) estimates more than 3,000 civilians have been fleeing the Tigray region into eastern Sudan daily.

This has been happening through the Hamdayet border point in Kassala state and at Ludgi in Gedaref state. The influx has been described as unseen over the last two decades.

"The transit centres are overcrowded, thus increasing the risk of disease, including Covid-19 and a full-scale humanitarian crisis as demand for shelter, food and health services soars," a brief by the refugee agency notes.

With Sudan's volatile situation, Kenya may find itself hosting some of those fleeing at a time when the country intends to close both Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps by June 30 next year.

Kenyan officials have been linking the refugee camps to terror activities and insecurity in the country, arguing that al-Shabaab militants have turned the camps into a recruitment centre and a base for launching attacks in Kenya.

In his address to the African Union's 12th High Level Retreat on the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa on Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the country is currently hosting 600,000 refugees from across the region.

"At the height of the conflicts in some neighbouring countries, especially in the early 1990s, Kenya was receiving 3,000 refugees every hour. It was and continues to be a difficult task, but we continue to offer a haven for our brothers and sisters who are unable to return home owing to serious indiscriminate threats to life.

Warring factions

"Today many of the refugees we have hosted have returned home and are making positive contributions to the development of their countries," said President Kenyatta, who has since joined other world leaders in calling for an end to the fighting in Ethiopia.

On Wednesday evening, President Kenyatta said he was deeply concerned that after one year, the crisis in Ethiopia had deteriorated amid the ongoing pandemic, with its attendant risks and disruptions, particularly for the most vulnerable.

"I have worked tirelessly and diligently to try and end the terrible crisis. I have lent the full weight of my office in insisting that despite the pertaining circumstances surrounding the crisis, the fighting must stop," he said.

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The President appealed to the Ethiopian government and the TPLF fighters to choose dialogue and end the suffering of their people.

"Kenya, Africa and the world want to see peace in Ethiopia. Today must be the day to start the journey towards that peace. We all stand ready to assist the process that the Ethiopians see fit," Mr Kenyatta said.

The United Nations, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union have also called for de-escalation of the violence.

IGAD's executive secretary Workneh Gebeyuh called on the warring factions to exercise restraint, work on de-escalating the tensions and resolve the differences through an all-inclusive national dialogue and reconciliation in the best interest of the country.

AU Chairperson Moussa Faki reminded the warring parties of their international obligations regarding compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians and ensuring communities access humanitarian assistance.

The union, however, said it would partner with the parties in supporting a consensual political process.

"To this end, the chairperson calls on the parties to engage with the AU High representative for the Horn of Africa, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo," the chairperson said in a statement.
Glasgow  Wealthy countries are not doing enough to stop climate change and the world is unlikely to meet its targets in the fight against global warming, African activists have said.

Speaking in Glasgow during the ongoing COP26 summit, the activists said very little progress has been made in efforts to ensure the world takes the much-needed turnaround from the climate crisis.

Although over 100 countries, among them the United States, have so far pledged to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent between 2020 and 2030, the lobbyists said this was not enough.

Kenya's Mohamed Adow urged the US and other developed countries to walk the talk and commit to ending the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), which are the biggest causes of global warming.

"We have spent too long talking about emission reductions without highlighting clear steps to end fossil fuel supply. Fossil fuel phaseout and energy transition are clear necessities to avoid the worst of climate change, especially for African countries who bear the least responsibility and worst effects," said Mr Adow, who is a director at Power Shift Africa.

A report released by civil society organisations on Wednesday in Glasgow, shows that by 2030, the industry is likely to extract twice as much fossil fuels as would be consistent with a 1.5C rise in temperatures.

The report, Fair Shares Phase Out: A Civil Society Equity Review of an Equitable Global Phase Out of Fossil Fuels, pointed out that the wealthiest countries (US, United Kingdom, European Union countries and Japan) were still not contributing their fair share of global efforts.

Mr Adow said Africa would only accept leadership from the US if it commits to ending fossil fuel production.

Commenting on the contentious issue of financial pledges made by wealthy countries to help poor nations deal with climate change, the activists said the promises were yet to be met.

In 2009, during a meeting in Copenhagen, developed countries, who are majorly to blame for the climate crisis having built their economies on the back of fossil fuels, promised $100 billion per year by 2020.

Impacts of global warming

Additionally, developing countries have demanded compensation, saying in most cases the damage caused by climate change is irreversible.

Ms Ineza Grace, a climate activist from Rwanda, said it was time to address the needs of those suffering from the irreversible and unavoidable impacts of global warming.

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"We urge countries to start the process to deliver finance for loss and damage. It is time for our political leaders to address the needs of vulnerable communities already facing climate impacts. It is a matter of urgency and justice," said Ms Ineza, the director of Loss and Damage Youth Coalition.

Mr Adow called for accountability, saying richer countries had overused their share of the atmospheric carbon budge. He said these countries needed to own up to their climate debt by taking primary responsibility for the pollution.

On Thursday, Britain's COP26 president Alok Sharma praised efforts to phase out fossil fuel financing, suggesting that the end of coal was in sight.

Negotiations process

However, Mr Colin Besaans, a climate activist from South Africa, said most developed countries were leveraging COP26 to make other announcements and commitments that fall outside of the negotiations process.

"While many of these announcements may seem promising on the surface, they are creating dangerous distractions from the commitments within the negotiations that continue to go unfulfilled. We still see Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) failing to meet 1.5 degree Celsius warming targets," he said.

He said there was still lack of accountability to meet financing commitments to vulnerable countries and urged wealthy countries to "put their NDCs where their mouths are".

"If they are going to make big announcements, add those commitments to your NDCs with clear and robust plans to deliver change, not just offset obligations," he added.
As the civil war in Ethiopia is coming to a head, PM Abiy Ahmed's opponents are forging an alliance for a "safe transition." A national dialogue that provides a way out of the crisis appears to be a distant prospect.

"The situation in Ethiopia is currently very perilous. This is probably the most dangerous moment in the country for decades," Murithi Mutiga, International Crisis Group Project Director for the Horn of Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, told DW.

"The primary issue is that all sides have decided that they can settle this conflict militarily." According to the analyst, the Tigrayan forces have gained strength: "They seem determined and try to make a decisive move that could either lead to the end of the siege in Tigray or to the collapse of the Abiy government," Mutiga said.

For its part, the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has stepped up its war rhetoric. Facing a possible advance on the capital, Addis Ababa, it is calling for a general arming of the people, as well as for all civilians to join the fight. According to observers, there have been busloads of forcibly recruited teenagers and clampdowns during which Tigrayans still staying in the capital were arrested. In the meantime, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, has arrived in Addis Ababa. "I think it is essential, that he, the AU and possible neighbors, at least get all parties to give talks a chance," Mutiga said.

Abiy 'can flee and go into exile'

The Ethiopian Army and troops from Tigray siding with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) party have been battling for the region in the north of the country for exactly one year now. Voluntary fighters have joined both sides. In the meantime, the TPLF has received reinforcements from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and claims to have made territorial gains in the course of its advance on the capital.

On Friday (November 5), TPLF and OLA announced the formation of an alliance along with seven other opposition groups -- with the aim of reversing "the harmful effects of the Abiy Ahmed rule" and precipitate a "safe transition" for the country.

Abiy, who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize as a reconciler at the Horn of Africa, imposed a state of emergency on Tuesday. He labeled TPLF leaders as terrorists, "a cancer," or "weeds." His Facebook post that called on people to "bury" advancing fighters was deleted by the social network on Thursday.

Is there any chance for negotiations between the arch enemies? Norwegian peace researcher Kjetil Tronvoll believes there isn't: "There is no negotiated takeover of power. We can expect an ongoing conflict," he told DW.

The TPLF, he added, had no interest in assuming power in Addis Abeba through political means, "but they want to topple Abiy (and achieve) a transitional agreement." Abiy's political career, Tronvoll said, was over: "He can flee and go into exile."

The will to win

The current fight was no military challenge for the troops of the Tigray regional government -- they could reach Addis Abeba within a week, Tronvoll believes.

But why is the TPLF campaign so successful? Abiy, Tronvoll explains, made a mistake when he dealt with the national army, which had long been dominated by Tigrayans. "He arrested 17,000 soldiers and officers in the chain of command (of the government army) when he came to power. He incapacitated his own army. Being from the Oromo ethnic group, he could not trust them." Today, there was a lot of infighting in the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), Tronvoll added.

The troops from Tigray, Tronvoll emphasizes, have a stronger fighting morale and the will to win. There is discipline in TPLF troops, who are "highly educated people, not peasants as in the resistance war. Now they are recruiting doctors and high school graduates, and they believe in their course."

In addition, the survival of their families is at stake. In the face of a situation like this, international efforts came too late and, worse still, most diplomats are unfamiliar with the complexity of Ethiopia, with the people, with the sentiment of the parties, according to Tronvoll.

Diplomacy has failed

Bayisa Wak-Woya, a former UN employee from Ethiopia, also mentions a setback in diplomacy: Many diplomats, he said, do not know enough about the different traditions and cultures of the country and were, therefore, failing in their mediation efforts. "It is very difficult to know what is happening at the war front in Ethiopia now. Transparency is a rare commoditiy in that country."

One thing, however,is certain, he believes: "Civil wars are different from wars of aggression." In the former, maintaining the state's sovereignty is a non-argument: "What are human rights violations for some is maintaining law and order for others. This makes it difficult to design a dignified exit (from the fighting) for the parties involved."

What, then, is the way forward? "External powers (... ) should refrain from taking sides and putting pressure on the parties in the conflict. So far the diplomatic talks failed to bear fruit, because the international community started to condemn parties. Not a good start," Wak-Woya says, who, nonetheless, is still hopeful that peace can be brought to the region.

Inner balance in disarray

Considerable efforts are being made to prepare international negotiations, according to people familiar with the situation. But discretion is of the essence here, so as not to jeopardize the prospect of successful talks. The inner balance of Ethiopia's immature political system has been in disarray for decades, ethnohistorian Wolbert Smidt, an expert on Ethiopia, tells DW.

That disarray, Smidt says, originated in the late 19th century, an era which saw Ethiopia massively expanding into neighboring regions, which were organized in completely different ways with regard to languages, ethnic groups and cultures. Today's conglomerate of regional states is lacking equality on the political level; there are extreme differences in education, wealth, access to power and recognition, accoring to Smidt.

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Realistic offers to advancing troops

One symptom of those long-lasting marginalizations is the current civil war. "Talks must clarify whether there's any common ground left," Smidt says. The government is holding on to its autocratic tendencies, he believes. Now, however, clarity about the military situation is paramount, instead of forcing through reforms.

African partners believe that Ethiopia is tearing itself apart because of these internal contradictions, Smidt says. "We must now make realistic offers to the advancing troops."

According to Smidt, the only formula for peace is a national dialogue involving all ethnic and regional-political groups. At first, however, the guns must remain silent. "No reform, no matter how idealistic, can work if you don't integrate stakeholders of central importance."

That political process collapsed years ago. "That means that in the short term, we only have the option of stopping the war, so that a transitional government can be established. It is only on that basis that a longer civil process can be set in motion."

This article was translated from German.
Tensions between the two neighboring North African countries have been growing, and Algeria's rhetoric points towards an armed conflict. Analysts however doubt that an escalation is imminent.

Relations between arch-enemies Morocco and Algeria have hit a new low after three Algerian truck drivers were killed on Monday.

So far, Morocco has denied any involvement in the bombings that took place in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara near the border with Mauritania. Morocco controls 80% of the Western Sahara, Algeria supports the independence movement Polisario Front.

But Algeria's president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has already warned Morocco that "their killings will not go unpunished"," as the state news agency APS reports.

"At the moment there are still many question marks over the origins of the attack; some early research suggests that the location where it took place is considered Moroccan by Rabat but under the control of the Polisario by Algiers," Alice Gower, director of geopolitics and security at the London-based political adviser Azure Strategy, told DW on the phone.

The killing of the three drivers on a desert road is the latest peak in a series of growing tensions between the two Maghreb states that support opposite sides of the dispute over the Western Sahara territory, a former Spanish colony.

In November last year, then-US president Donald Trump had recognized Morocco's claim over the phosphate-rich Western Sahara as part of a quid pro quo for Rabat's normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel.

This agreement was much to Algeria's dismay as it has been a firm supporter of the local Polisario Front with the Sahrawi group that seeks independence for the region.

Since then, relations between Algeria and Morocco have been going downhill with ambassadors being recalled, borders closed, accusations for sparking forest fires being thrown around, airspaces being blocked and the killing of three Algerian truck drivers adding fuel to the fire.

This week, the difficult situation has been even further exacerbated, with Algeria ending the contract for a gas pipeline that runs via Morocco to deliver gas to Spain.

A presidential statement confirms that Tebboune had given the order to not renew the contract "in light of the hostile behavior of the (Moroccan) kingdom which undermines national unity."

Algeria's leverage

Algeria has been using the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe pipeline (GME) for the past 25 years to deliver natural gas to Spain and Portugal -- via Morocco.

Morocco, in turn, has been receiving about 10% of its gas supply as compensation.

However, the contract between Algeria's state-owned energy company Sonatrach and the Moroccan National Office for Energy and Potable Water (ONEE) ended without renewal in late October this year.

While Algeria has promised to meet Spain's demand by using the smaller undersea Medgaz-pipeline instead -- as it doesn't run through Morocco -- the decision has sparked fear of gas shortages and soaring energy prices in Spain and other European countries.

However, for Algeria, much is also at stake if they can't meet the demand.

"Algeria has obviously said it can replace the supplies to Spain through the Medgaz pipeline. There are expansion plans for that, but they're not due for completion until the end of this year at the absolute earliest," Gower said, adding "there is no back-up plan. Medgaz was the backup plan. So, it is quite a risky position to take."

Morocco's leverage

The 10% cut of energy supply is a setback for Morocco as well, since the country has to import about 95% of its energy.

Solar panel initiatives are already up and running but Morocco is far from being energy-sufficient enough to cover such a loss.

However, Morocco's ONEE was quick to assure in a statement that "the decision announced by the Algerian authorities not to renew the agreement on the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline will currently have only a minimal impact on the performance of the national electricity system."

More important is though, that the "Moroccan King Mohammed VI. can rely on a broad social and political consensus that the Western Sahara should be Moroccan and he has little criticism to fear from his own people," Sonja Hegasy, Vice Director at the Berlin-based Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (Leibniz Center for the Modern Orient, ZMO), told DW on the phone.

In addition, Morocco has been keen on mending ties with various European countries, among them Germany, after several fallouts in the past year.

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"Morocco is in a difficult position where it needs to repair its relationship with the EU at the moment, and particularly now it wants to complete that process so it can focus its diplomatic efforts on the situation with Algeria. It doesn't have the capability to handle both at the same time," Gower said.

Armed conflict in sight?

While Tebboune has been upfront that his country would go to war with Morocco, both experts believe that there is actually little reason to fear an armed conflict at the moment.

"There might be some effort to whip up support domestically and to try and create an enemy which therefore empowers the Algerian elite and the regime again. But without strong evidence, I think they would be hard pushed to launch some kind of military attack in response," Gower said.

She believes that neither side can really afford to push the envelope too far.

This view is echoed by Sonja Hegasy who is convinced that "both countries don't have any interest in waging a war on this conflict, so the most realistic scenario is that the bilateral relations are going to continue to stagnate."
Benguela  The ruling MPLA party's vice president Luisa Damiao guaranteed Friday in the municipality of Catumbela, coastal Benguela province, that the provincial conferences will make the party stronger and more cohesive, to face future challenges.

Luisa Damiao is in Benguela to attend the XIII Ordinary Provincial Conference on the balance and renewal of MPLA mandates, which will elect/return the only candidate, Luis Nunes, to the position of provincial secretary of Benguela.

According to Luisa Damiao, the organic process is taking place throughout the country that will culminate with the holding of the 8th congress, next December, from which a much stronger MPLA will emerge towards victory in the next general elections.

The vice president reiterated her appeal on the need to comply with the statutory requirements, as recommended by the MPLA's electoral regulations.

According to Angop, Luisa Damiao has already met with the members of the Executive Committee of the Provincial Committee, namely the members of the secretariat and the first municipal secretaries of MPLA.

The XIII Ordinary Provincial Conference of Balance and Renewal of Mandates in Benguela takes place this Saturday with the participation of 800 delegates.
Mbanza Kongo  Minister of State for the Social Sector Carolina Cerqueira has reiterated the need for the eligible population to take the Covid-19 vaccine to halt the spread of the disease in the country.

The minister made the appeal on Friday in Mbanza Kongo, northern Zaire province, during the inauguration of the bust of the Kingdom of Kongo's envoy to the Vatican, Dom Antonio Manuel Nsaku Nvunda.

The official called for compliance with the Executive's measures aimed at combating this deadly evil.

"Covid-19 is ravaging the world and threatening humanity, so we must continue to believe that the vaccine and respect for biosafety measures will prevent further human losses as a result of this virus," she said.

She said that she hoped that this health crisis, which has had serious consequences for the social and economic fabric of the country and the rest of the world, will be overcome in the near future.

The minister thanked the Angolan population for their understanding of the constraints created at the personal, family and community level due to the measures that have been taken to mitigate the effects of this pandemic.

The country has 64, 612 confirmed cases, of which 57, 493 recoveries and 1,719 deaths.
Mbanza Kongo  The minister of State for the Social Sector Carolina Cerqueira Friday in Mbanza Kongo, northern Zaire province, described Dom Emanuel Antonio Nsaku Nvunda as the forerunner of the relations between Angola and the Vatican State.

Carolina Cerqueira remembered Nsaku Nvunda, who died at the age of 33, as a noble man, politician, diplomat and intellectual of great wisdom.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the bust of this diplomat, the official said that "Negrita" is the architect of the current good relations between the Angolan government and the Catholic Church, forged over five centuries of evangelisation and sealed with the agreement signed on July 8, 1997.

She recalled that this prince of Kongo was buried with state honours in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, in Rome, by order of Pope Paul IV.

First African ambassador to the south of the Sahara at the Vatican, representing the Kingdom of Kongo, "Negrita" arrived in Rome in 1608, already dying, as a result of various adventures experienced during the trip by caravel that lasted four years.

According to the minister, the relationship with the Holy See is characterised by mutual respect, understanding, cordiality and cooperation in various fields, as part of agreement signed recently with the Vatican State.

Carolina Cerqueira highlighted the inauguration of the bust in Mbanza Kongo, stressing that it also serves to honour this historical figure from Angola and Africa, aiming to recover his memory.

"This ceremony represents a national tribute to one of the most outstanding historical figures of the Angolan Nation, with a view to recovering his memory", she stressed.

This project, she said, responds to a concern of the Angolan head of State, Joao Lourenco, aimed to honour the unavoidable figure of Dom Antonio Manuel "Negrita" so that his name is perpetuated in the historic city that saw him born precisely 446 years ago.

The minister stressed that the tribute to Nsaku Nvunda is the recognition of cultural diversity in the context of Angola, which is based on elements forged over generations and that give meaning to the collective identity, from whose shared memories the Angolan nation rises.

On the occasion, she appealed to the Angolan youth to get to know and deepen their knowledge of historical facts represented in places of memory in this city that she considered necessary for the maintenance of the country's history and contemporary reality.

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To her, the fact that Mbanza Kongo is the center of the expansion of Christianity in Central and West Africa and a reference within the framework of international diplomacy, the bust adds a value that will arouse the interest of tourists and scholars.

Dom Antonio Manuel Nsaku Nvunda, as she said, was also the second non-European ambassador to the Vatican.

The ceremony was witnessed by the provincial governor, Pedro Makita Armando Julia, the minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Filipe Nzau, the bishop of the diocese of Mbanza Kongo, Dom Afonso Vicente Kiazikua, the secretary of State for Culture, Maria da Piedade de Jesus.

The bust which honours Dom Nsaku Nvunda was erected in the square named after him, in the center of Mbanza Kongo, capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo and current Cultural Heritage of Humanity, since 8 July 2017.
In September of 2018, heads of various Liberian universities and colleges converged at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MoPT) to discuss the establishment of a National Research and Education Network (NREN) in Liberia. Subsequently, on December 13, 2018, the same group met and signed an agreement for the establishment of an NREN which was later named, the Liberia Research and Education Network (LRREN). The LRREN is expected to join/connect to regional and international NRENs to boost research and education in Liberia; an endeavor that ultimately enhances our national economic development initiatives.

Before going further, let's briefly discuss what an NREN is and what benefits it brings to Liberia, at a time when the nation faces serious economic strangulations. I will first provide some insight into NRENs and briefly discuss Liberia's newly established NREN; the LRREN.

A National Research and Education Network or NREN is a specialized Internet Service Provider (ISP) that interconnects research and educational institutions within a nation or region, and externally to similar networks across the global Internet. NRENs are often considered strategic assets of economic and social value to a nation because they play a major role in closing the digital divide between academic and research institutions.

Succinctly put, NRENs specialize in fulfilling the data communications, networking, application, and e-services needs of the host country's research and education community. They are usually distinguished by their support of a very high-speed network both at the core and access levels with the possibility of offering dedicated channels for individual research projects.

NRENs are considered incubators of creativity and sources of innovation of both scientific and technological ideas that often spill over to society. For example, the Internet and the World Wide Web are well-known products emerging from NREN academic and research activities.

In the past, it was common to see NRENs connect universities and research labs and provide them with the required facilities for advanced education, research, and development. Nowadays, the scope of NRENs has extended to hospitals, schools (primary and secondary), museums, telecom service providers, and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Despite the diverse membership list, universities and research institutions are the main players in the NREN community.

Liberia Research and Education Network (LRREN): Enshrined in the Draft 2018-2023 National ICT Policy is a mandate for the creation of a research and education network to improve education and research for national development. And, acknowledging the need for an NREN in Liberia, the MoPT, the University of Liberia, and several other tertiary institutions, Digital-Liberia E-Government Project (DLEG) and USAID held discussions on the possibility of establishing a one in Liberia.

As I mentioned above, a subsequent meeting was held in December of 2018 with various parties including local universities and colleges (University of Liberia, AME University, United Methodist University, AME Zion, Stellar Maris Polytechnic, Bomi Community College, Bassa Community College, Starz, Bluecrest and Barshell University) that led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Liberia Research and Education Network (LRREN).

Since the signing of the MoU, both USAID and the DLEG have made significant financial and technical investments to expedite the establishment of the LRREN. In addition, USAID and the DLEG are also providing funding for the deployment of a CAMPUS NETWORK for the UL; the institution that has taken lead in the establishment of the LRREN. DLEG and USAID are expected to assist in connecting ALL four campuses of the UL (Fendall, Capitol Hill, AM Dogliotti, and Sinje), thus providing internet access for faculty, staff, and students. The CAMPUS NETWORK project involves connecting backbones through fiber optic cables, high-end networking equipment and solutions, and the expertise of both local and international professionals.

To prepare universities and colleges for this endeavor, DLEG and USAID sent technicians from the UL, AME University, and Stellar Maris Polytechnic to Ghana for training (train the trainer) and to garner an understanding of how NRENs operate. DLEG has also brought a consultant from Ghana who is familiar with NRENs based on his work with GARNET, Ghana's NREN.

A few days ago, a team from the Network Startup and Resource Center (NSRC) of the University of Oregon arrived in Liberia to provide a five-day technical training for technicians and network engineers of members of the LRREN. At the same time, the LRREN, through the UL joined the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), which is an entity that promotes collaboration among national, regional, international research and education communities. The UL is also in the process of identifying a facility (on Capitol Hill) that will serve as the secretariat for the LRREN. And, since the LRREN is a SPECIALIZED INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP) there are plans to obtain an ISP license from the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA).

So, what does the LRREN bring to Liberia's developmental agenda? The first thing we need to know is that the LRREN will support the demands of education, research, efficient communication, and collaboration in Liberian academia. It is expected to promote cooperation and collaboration between the academic and research communities' constituents. The LRREN will position Liberia's academic and research communities in the international scene by connecting the NREN to other worldwide NRENs; and hence better exposure and easier access to the international accumulated research and knowledge base.

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LRREN will significantly reduce the cost of the internet for faculty, staff, and students of institutions that are connected to its network. Since the LRREN is an amalgam of colleges and universities, cost-sharing of network and research equipment, services, and applications will take the burden off each of its members. The LRREN can benefit from things like economies of scale since it operates as one single network entity in the procurement of connectivity services and applications from service providers (CCL, LIBTELCO, Orange, Lonestar, et al).

Finally, as far as sustainability goes, the LRREN will be supported by contributions from its membership and the services it intends to provide. Furthermore, funding is expected from donors (local and international) including the World Bank, USAID, DFID, EU, hopefully, the Government of Liberia, private and public foundations, NGOs, private industry, and others. I am very excited and optimistic about UL's campus network and the establishment of the LRREN. I see both initiatives overwhelmingly impacting our national social, economic, and educational goals. That's it for today.

Until next week,

Carpe diem!!!!
Kampala, Uganda  Stanbic Bank Uganda together with other well-wishers, have donated medical mama kits worth UGX35.5 million to Kawempe Referral Hospital as part of its year-ender Corporate Social Investment programme.

The donation is part of an ongoing campaign in which the bank and several other organisations and well-wishers, have been supporting efforts to improve maternal health in Uganda under the theme, 'Every Mother Counts'.

Barbara Kasekende, the Stanbic Bank corporate social investment manager handed over the kit on behalf of the bank on Nov.06.

"Increasing the maternal survival rate is an important goal for the bank and every member of the community because it enhances social-economic transformation," Kasekende said, "at Stanbic Bank, we believe mothers are nation builders and any support given to them would go a long way in building Uganda," she added.

Donations of this nature contribute to the new target of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) - to accelerate the decline of maternal mortality by 2030.

The latest donation is in addition to the UGX24 million made in July this year. The bank also partnered with Rotary International in September this year to push for the same cause.

The bank chose Kawempe Referral Hospital as a focal beginning point because it continues to register the highest patient numbers and mortality deaths. It receives over 4000 pregnant women a month, from all parts of the country and delivers an average of 100 babies daily.

However, the hospital also reported the highest number of maternal deaths at 116, followed by Hoima (46), Masaka (38), Fort Portal (37), and Mbale RRH (33), according to the 2019/2020 Annual Health Sector Performance Report.

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Dr. Lawrence Kazibwe, the Acting Deputy Director and Clinical Head at Kawempe Hospital said, some of the leading causes of maternal deaths in Uganda are haemorrhage, high blood pressure and infections that are largely preventable if detected early enough.

"We are sure that this contribution will provide clean and safe delivery to our mothers at Kawempe Referral Hospital especially at this critical time when the country awaits full reopening," Dr. Kazibwe said.

According to the World Health Organization, while motherhood is considered a fulfilling natural experience, a high percentage of women face several challenges that cause them to suffer and in some cases, to die.

The maternal mortality rate in Uganda remains relatively high at 336 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to a 2020 UNICEF report.
analysis

Malaria is a risk to three quarters of the population in the Southern African Development Community, a 16-member organisation that draws in countries across southern and eastern Africa.

Some countries in the region have set a target to eliminate the disease from as early as 2023 to 2030.

Though this won't be simple, it can be done. It's a race between changes in mosquitoes, the malaria parasite, and changes in what people can do when they work together.

This complex disease is still responsible for almost half a million deaths annually worldwide, including more than 260,000 African children under five. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 35 million children under five and about 8.5 million pregnant women in the region are at risk.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) renewed its malaria control efforts in 2009 by establishing the Elimination 8 initiative. This is a coalition of eight countries working together to curb the spread of the disease. Four of them - eSwatini, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa - are reporting very low transmission. The other four - Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe - are high-burden countries.

Current control strategies mostly target the mosquito vector, which transmits the malaria-causing parasites to humans when feeding. Vector controls include indoor residual spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets. Resistance to insecticides and changes in mosquito biting behaviour are slowing down gains made in malaria control over the past decade.

In the Southern African Development Community region, malaria transmission dynamics remain highly interconnected. This is because countries share related populations, economies, ecologies and epidemiologies.

This interconnectedness is leading to the identification of new gaps and challenges. But it is also allowing innovative alternative and complementary strategies to be developed through research across disciplines - and through collaboration.

Our experience over the past 10 years includes collaborations across the sciences and social sciences. Our work addresses anything from vector and parasite control to capacity building and education. It's testament that an integrated approach is needed to reach elimination.

Latest breakthrough

The most recent advance in the fight against malaria is the first ever vaccine (RTS,S/AS01). The WHO announced in October 2021 that it had approved the vaccine for use in children living in moderate to high malaria transmission areas.

The vaccine brings hope to affected communities. It is a step toward malaria elimination.

But it's not a cure. And it has limitations:

it is only effective in very young children (five to 17 months)

at least four doses (including a booster 18 months after the initial dose) are needed for optimal effect

it prevents severe disease but not necessarily infection

it is only effective against Plasmodium falciparum - one of five human malaria parasites.

In spite of these limitations, the vaccine can contribute to making gains in malaria control again. The danger is that the vaccine announcement may lead to countries taking their eyes off the ball. This can't happen.

Even with a vaccine in hand, there are some big gaps that need to be filled for the region, and the globe, to reach malaria elimination.

Some of the gaps

One such a gap is in human resources. In particular, leadership and management skills in national malaria control programmes. Adequate training is needed to address these capacity challenges. The Southern African Development Community region has not benefited from routine training offered to national malaria control programmes in west and east Africa.

To address this, the Gates Foundation is providing financial backing for a course to be developed and delivered by a transdisciplinary team. The course aims to provide people with the skills they need as leaders, managers, implementation scientists and facilitators that can develop and apply effective evidence-based elimination strategies. This is an exciting new collaboration that will involve the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute.

The course will also aim to get women into more senior positions on national malaria control programmes.

A second worrying gap relates to fighting growing resistance to antimalarial drugs. Malaria treatment is dependent on drugs that either prevent disease onset or treat infected patients and prevent death. But there's evidence of increasing parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs.

Continuous discovery and development of innovative antimalarial drugs that target all forms of the parasite are needed. We are doing ground-breaking work in this area. For example, a consortium approach has made a breakthrough discovery and has led to exciting developments in the areas of parasite transmission blocking, where two potent chemical compounds showed activity against all parasite forms in a laboratory setting. Both compounds show potential as drug candidates for malaria treatment and transmission blocking.

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Future antimalarial drugs like this will ultimately mean that the region can move from malaria control to elimination.

In addition, more sustainable vector control methods need to be developed to overcome insecticide resistance.

Our work across disciplines has shown how collaboration can produce tools and strategies to address this. For example, ongoing research have looked at innovative product development, including polyethylene wall linings, and new repellent formulations.

There are also still gaps on the ground in how control strategies are rolled out. Many don't have enough community buy-in. This is key to success. Communities must be aware of malaria research taking place to understand its purpose and benefits. And people need knowledge about the disease so they have the power to take responsibility for their own health.

A major - and important - gap is funding. The malaria budget must increase substantially to incorporate the human resources, technology and other resources needed to effectively reduce transmission and to reach elimination.

Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC: Project Manager and Coordinator, University of Pretoria and Tiaan de Jager, Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences and Director: UP Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, University of Pretoria
Presidente @PedroCastilloTe: No defraudaremos el esfuerzo de las ollas comunes. Seremos vigilantes para que ninguna de nuestras ollas se quede vacia. Desde San Juan de Lurigancho, reitero mi compromiso y gratitud a este pueblo y a las autoridades comprometidas con su poblacion. pic.twitter.com/0on25Y7xhQ
El presidente @PedroCastilloTe sostuvo un encuentro con los representantes de organizaciones sociales de personas con discapacidad de Lima Metropolitana para atender sus demandas, que permitira identificar una agenda articulada entre el Ejecutivo y la sociedad civil organizada. pic.twitter.com/6WTyZIIIeV
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. China is one of Armenias main export destinations, with exports totaling 300,000,000 dollars, but the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan still sees untapped opportunities.

Speaking at the November 6 How to Successfully Export to China roundtable-discussion in Yerevan, Kerobyan presented the statistics of total exports from Armenia in the nine months of 2021.

He said total exports grew 17,2%,, and 27,5% if not counting minerals.

Most exported Armenian product is copper concentrate (578 million dollars), followed by cigarettes (162 million dollars), cognac and other liquors (158 million dollars) and iron alloys (120 million dollars).

Main products in Armenian exports are resource-based products  1 billion 270 million dollars or 60%, low tech products  225 million dollars or 10,5%, mid tech products  9,3% and then only high tech products.

Main destinations of our exports are Russia with 550 million dollars, China with 300 million dollars, Switzerland with 237 million dollars, EU countries with 500 million dollars and Iraq with 115 million dollars. Nearly 100% of products exported to China are minerals, Kerobyan said.

However, he added that service exports to China are very little. At the same time, Kerobyan pointed our Digital Pomegranate as an exception, because the most of the companys clients are Chinese companies.

Obvoiusly there are untapped opportunities. The government plans to change the content of the exports and to diversify the destinations in the next five years. Now, our export policy is being reviewed, where we will change the emphases on export of sophisticated products of high growth potential. From this perspective we will focus on innovation-oriented companies having great potential for growth and big goals, Kerobyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, 6 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 6 November, USD exchange rate stood at 475.91 drams. EUR exchange rate stood at 549.25 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 6.64 drams. GBP exchange rate stood at 639.29 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price stood at 27482.64 drams. Silver price stood at 363.09 drams. Platinum price stood at 15943.5 drams.
Hub Artsakh has been operating in the Vahe Fatal Hall of Stepanakerts Paul Eluard Francophone Center for over a month. The founder is Vahe Keushgueryan, and the executive director is Shushan Keshishyan.

November 6, 2021, 12:27 "Hub Artsakh". A club for motivated young people operates in Stepanakert

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 6, ARTSAKHPRESS: Shushan was born and raised in Beirut. She has been in Artsakh for about six months and is sure that as long as there are young people here who strive to take innovative and progressive steps, Artsakh will prosper:

"It has been a priority for me to invest my potential in the development of Artsakh," says Sh. Keshishyan. "Hub Artsakh" is a newly established non-governmental organization, a place of joint work in Stepanakert. "The idea arose as a result of assessing the needs of Artsakh, when we realized that such an organization with its resources can make a great contribution to the development of Artsakh," Sh. Keshishyan said.

According to our interlocutor, the goal of "Hub Artsakh" is to promote social innovation in Artsakh and to support social programs, which will contribute to the reconstruction of Artsakh after the war. "Our advantage is our unique environment, which is a stimulus for cooperation and support, which will help our community members to turn their ideas into innovative, profitable and effective programs.

'We try to reveal the wonderful work done in Artsakh by active, talented people in various fields, sharing it with our compatriots in Armenia and the Diaspora.

During this time we have already managed to create a community of motivated and energetic young people in "Hub Artsakh.

We organized a networking evening, where the youth of Artsakh were given an opportunity to establish contacts with the Diaspora High Commissioner, the participants of the "Young Ambassador of the Diaspora" program. We also organize training programs, various other events to support the social entrepreneurs and initiatives of Artsakh," Sh. Keshishyan.
AMI Expeditionary Healthcare

AMI Expeditionary Healthcare

AMI Expeditionary Healthcare

RESTON, Va., Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMI Expeditionary Healthcare earns the distinguished title of International Travel and Health Insurance Journal's (ITIJ) Medical Provider of the Year Award 2021 for being the global leader on the frontlines of COVID-19, providing exceptional clinical expertise, working seamlessly with communities and clients, and doing this at scale in response to the global pandemic. The award announcement was made at the conclusion of the International Travel Insurance Conference (ITIC) in Madrid.

"We dedicate this prestigious recognition to our devoted employees on the pandemic's frontlines, putting others' safety and well-being above their own," Dr. Andrew Walker, Founder and CEO of AMI states. "Winning Medical Provider of the Year is a testimony to our commendable frontline teams, being recognized as truly global healthcare professionals."

Named to the Top 7% on the Growjo 10,000, - The Fastest Growing Companies in the World, AMI has been noted for its impressive growth. Providing medical solutions and delivering critical services to federal, state, and local governments, schools, international organizations, private corporations, and institutions all over the world, AMI employs a diverse staff of trained professionals. AMI corporate demographics are an equal balance of men and women. Their collective employee base speaks over 50 languages including Arabic, Afrikaans, Swahili, French, Creole, German, Spanish, Russian, and many more.

Capturing the essence of AMI's expeditionary nature, the company has recently deployed a Forward Surgical Team (FST) and an Aeromedical Evacuation Team (AMET) in support of the UN Peacekeeping Forces and staff in Afghanistan. The FST provides damage control surgery for life-threatening injuries while the AMET provides additional resuscitation, stabilization, and transfer of critically ill and/or injured patients. Together these two AMI teams deliver a robust medical and surgical capability for the UN in a far forward, dynamic, and challenging environment showcasing the global excellence and innovation ITIJ celebrates.

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ITIJ recognizes companies that go above and beyond to serve their customers and clients and drive forward positive change in the industry, showcasing excellence and innovation across all sectors that serve global travelers.

About AMI:

Physician-owned and physician-led, AMI Expeditionary Healthcare provides medical services to the private sector, government agencies, international aid organizations and humanitarian concerns in a wide range of remote and challenging environments. AMI has delivered countless healthcare solutions to over 140 clinical and hospital settings on four continents.

Contact:

If you would like to learn more about AMI and its services, please visit www.ami.health.

Email info@ami.health Phone 571-375-8366

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Exclusive-Baby handed to U.S. soldiers in chaos of Afghanistan airlift still missing Baby handed to U.S. soldiers in chaos of Afghanistan evacuation still missing

By Mica Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) -It was a split second decision. Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya found themselves and their five children on Aug. 19 in a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan when a U.S. soldier, from over the tall fence, asked if they needed help.

Fearing their two-month old baby Sohail would get crushed in the melee, they handed him to the soldier, thinking they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet (5 meters) away.

But at that moment, Mirza Ali said, the Taliban - which had swiftly taken over the country as U.S. troops withdrew - began pushing back hundreds of hopeful evacuees. It took the rest of the family more than a half hour to get to the other side of the airport fence.

Once they were inside, Sohail was nowhere to be found.

Mirza Ali, who said he worked as a security guard at the U.S embassy for 10 years, began desperately asking every official he encountered about his baby's whereabouts. He said a military commander told him the airport was too dangerous for a baby and that he might have been taken to a special area for children. But when they got there it was empty.

"He walked with me all around the airport to search everywhere," Mirza Ali said in an interview through a translator. He said he never got the commander's name, as he didn't speak English and was relying on Afghan colleagues from the embassy to help communicate. Three days went by.

"I spoke to maybe more than 20 people," he said. "Every officer - military or civilian - I came across I was asking about my baby."

He said one of the civilian officials he spoke to told him Sohail might have been evacuated by himself. "They said 'we don't have resources to keep the baby here.'"

Mirza Ali, 35, Suraya, 32, and their other children, 17, 9, 6 and 3 years old, were put on an evacuation flight to Qatar and then to Germany and eventually landed in the United States. The family is now at Fort Bliss in Texas with other Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled somewhere in the United States. They have no relatives here.

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Mirza Ali said he saw other families handing their babies over the Kabul airport fence to soldiers at the same time. One video clip https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/the-only-way-out-scenes-from-the-kabul-a-idUSRTXFVLJR of a small baby in a diaper being hoisted by her arm over razor wire went viral on social media. She was later reunited with her parents.

Ever since his baby went missing dates are a blur, Mirza Ali said. Every person he comes across - aid workers, U.S. officials - he tells them about Sohail. "Everyone promises they will do their best, but they are just promises," he said.

An Afghan refugee support group created a "Missing Baby" sign with Sohail's picture on it and are circulating it among their networks in the hopes that someone will recognize him.

A U.S. government official familiar with the situation said the case had been flagged for all the agencies involved, including the U.S. bases and overseas locations. The child was last seen being handed to a U.S. soldier during the chaos at the Kabul airport but "unfortunately no one can find the child," the official said.

A Department of Defense spokesperson and a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing resettlement efforts, referred queries on the matter to the State Department, since the separation took place overseas.

A State Department spokesperson said the government is working with international partners and the international community "to explore every avenue to locate the child, which includes an international amber alert that was issued through the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children."

Suraya, who also spoke through a translator, said she cries most of the time and that her other children are distraught.

"All I am doing is thinking about my child," Suraya said. "Everyone that is calling me, my mother, my father, my sister, they all comfort me and say 'don't worry, God is kind, your son will be found.'"

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Jonathan Landay in Washington;Editing by Mary Milliken and Rosalba O'Brien)
Callum Isted

A seven-year-old boy who is campaigning to replace single-use water bottles in school lunchboxes has been invited to COP26.

Callum Isted wants all primary children in Scotland to have a reusable bottle and access to taps where they can refill them at school.

He completed the John Muir Way in stages to raise 1,400 to buy steel bottles for all pupils at his school.

They were previously given single use bottles with a packed lunch on Fridays.

On Mondays to Thursdays the children at Dedridge Primary School in Livingston, West Lothian, had water or milk in washable cups.

But on Fridays, when they have a half day, children were sent home with a packed lunch and a bottle of water.

"What used to happen is all the plastic bottles got chucked in the bin and they go out to sea," Callum said. "And that is 180 bottles per day. Now we're just to zero a day."

'Determined and passionate'

Earlier this year Callum walked the 134-mile John Muir Way, from Helensburgh to Dunbar, to raise enough money to buy Klean Kanteen steel bottles for the 185 pupils in his school.

He was one of the winners of Education Scotland's Learning for Sustainability Youth Awards last month.

After the online award ceremony Callum and his parents were given tickets to the COP26 Green Zone at Glasgow Science Centre, where public events are being held during the United Nations climate change conference.

And earlier this week his petition to the Scottish Parliament, which received 146 signatures, was considered by MSPs.

He was congratulated by Jackson Carlaw at the Scottish Parliament's petition committee for being the county's youngest known petitioner.

Callum would be invited to Holyrood's Citizen Participation committee to give evidence in support of his petition to allow the committee "to explore the issues raised in the petition in some detail", Mr Carlow said.

Sue Webber MSP told the committee she was happy to support him. She said: "He's certainly a determined and passionate young man already."

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His mother, Sarah Isted, told BBC Scotland she was very proud of Callum.

She said he weighed a bottle he'd brought home from school and calculated the total weight of bottles his school threw out each year was about that of a giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo.

"That figure really upset him and really galvanised him into action," Mrs Isted said.

At home he questions where food and clothes come from and questions the family's use of plastics.

"He really holds us to account. It can only be a positive thing because things do need to change."

Access to taps

There are more 2,005 mainstream state primary schools in Scotland, and 394,000 pupils.

In some schools children are given water in single use plastic bottles with lunch. The responsibility for providing school meals lies with the local authority, not the Scottish government.

While many schools encourage children to bring a reusable water bottle each day, some have restricted access to taps for refilling bottles.

When schools reopened in August 2020 after the coronavirus lockdown, staff in some areas were advised not to allow children to refill their bottles because of the risk of transferring saliva if bottles touched the tap.

In a committee briefing for Callum's petition, government researchers said tap water caused 180 times fewer greenhouse emission that than a standard single use plastic bottle of water.

A "typical" plastic reusable container needed to be used 15 times to have a lower carbon impact than a single use one, and could be expected to have positive environmental impact and cost less than bottled water, it stated.

The Scottish government aims to have moved away from a "throw-away" economy to one where resources are reused wisely by 2045.

A deposit return scheme has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Michael Matheson MSP told the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee in September that the government was taking measures to support schools reduce waste.

More on climate summit top strapline
A search continues for a 57-year-old man reported missing at a West Australian beach where it's feared he may have been attacked by multiple sharks.

The incident happened about 10am on Saturday at Port Beach in the suburb of North Fremantle, police say.

Two teenagers on a boat saw what they believed was a shark attack and called emergency services.

WA Police Acting Inspector Troy Douglas said the search for the missing man would continue for as long as possible on Saturday.

It will resume at first light on Sunday if he is not found.

The man regularly swam at the beach, Insp Douglas said.

He said police were unable to confirm how many sharks were involved in the attack but said it was "obviously at least one".

Insp Douglas said the teenagers "made a fantastic effort" and "reacted really, really well" by alerting emergency services and providing information to assist the search.

All beaches in the area have been closed.
The Lock 52 Historical Society hosted a walk about the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Oct. 23. The focus of the walk were a few of the 237 men who volunteered to fight in the Civil War from the town and village.

After a brief history of the Grand Army of the Republic monument, we learned about Edward Turner and John Thomas, two men who had no family connections to the area, but lived out their lives on Howland Island. Edward lost a leg while fighting and had a dog named Shep who was trained to fetch the mail for him. John was one of the eight African-Americans who fought in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) and are buried in Mt. Pleasant. John was at Appomattox to witness the surrender of General Lee. These men are some of the many buried in the GAR plot.

We then headed over to see Smith Taylor, who when he died in 1927, was the last remaining member of the 111th Regiment from the town. The 111th were called the Harpers Ferry cowards after their surrender and capture there. After serving 11 months in a war prison, the men were paroled and returned to their regiment to fight again at Gettysburg, where they became the heroes for their gallantry in holding their line, albeit with extremely high casualties. Next to Smith is Richard Warren, who was another member of the 111th. It seems kind of fitting that these men who fought together in battle, in prison, and then in battle, are buried next to each other. Next to Richard is R.R. Stilwell, who fought in the 3rd Wisconsin. His battle experiences were different from our local guys and you need to wonder if they ever argued about who had it worse.

Of course we had to visit the memorial marker of John Lockwood, who died when trying to escape from a train during a prison transfer. John was another man who was in the 111th and suffered the same hardships of battle and prison. After Gettysburg, he was captured at Reams Station and sent to the infamous Libby prison. He was killed when he jumped from the train and tried to escape during a prison transfer. Nathan and Adeline Marble were next on the list. Nathan was too old to go off and fight, but the couple had been fighting against slavery for years prior to the war and had hosted Frederick Douglas in their home. We stopped by James White, who was another man who settled in Port Byron after fighting in the war with the 3rd NY Light Artillery out of Cayuta.

Thomas McChesney is another of the eight African-Americans who fought in the USCT. His brother Sylvester is also buried in Mt. Pleasant and both men fought in the all black regiment 26th NY. Next to Thomas is John Stewart and his wife Jane Ann. John was born a slave in Virginia and after his escape he settled in Port Byron. When the war broke out and African-Americans were allowed to serve, he joined the fight and returned to his homeland. He survived and lived a long life, dying in 1904.

William Root served in the 75th NY Infantry. He and his daughter would tell the story about how the school principal at the time of the start of the war, a Mr. Fuller, called William into his office and told him that should take over as principal and teacher as Mr. Fuller was going to enlist. William declined, and with a lump in his throat, he said that he was enlisting also. In 1945, his daughter wrote: To the end of his long life my father could never tell this story without that lump coming back to his throat, nor yet without the light of patriotism burning in his face. William was captured at the battle of Sabine Pass and served a year in prison. His second wife, Minnie, wrote a book titled the "Permanent War Record for Mentz," and presented it to the town and legion. The book, as the paper noted, was so well crafted that it would last for centuries. To this date, we have no idea where the book might be. We never got to see Augustus Sweet, who when he died in 1935 was the last surviving veteran from the town. He would tell how he was in the hospital when Lincoln would come to visit. These are only some of the stories to be found in the cemetery.

Michael Riley is the Mentz town historian and the president of the Lock 52 Historical Society. The Lock 52 blog can be found at portbyronhistorical.org. Riley can be reached at mriley20@twcny.rr.com.

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U.S. Rep. John Katko is one step closer to achieving his goal of improving how federal disaster aid is delivered to communities.

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed Katko's bill to reform how the preliminary damage assessment process is conducted in the aftermath of a disaster, such as a flood or other storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency works with state and local officials on the preliminary damage assessments, which determine whether communities are eligible for disaster aid. But Katko, R-Camillus, said that there have been challenges in coordinating with FEMA, including conflicting guidance and duplicative paperwork requirements.

Katko's legislation would create an advisory panel consisting of state and local emergency personnel from the 10 FEMA regions to work with the agency on improving the preliminary damage assessment process. The measure also standardizes training for FEMA personnel so that the guidelines for reviewing damage assessments are consistent.

The bill also requires FEMA to provide information about preliminary damage assessment procedures, including their communication with state and local officials.

Katko introduced the legislation after seeing Lake Ontario communities affected by flooding wait for aid because of delays in the preliminary damage assessment process.

"Persistent flooding along Lake Ontario, as well as the recent flooding disasters in Cayuga County and across central New York, have underscored the need to enhance FEMA's processes for delivering disaster aid," said Katko, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee. "My bipartisan legislation takes important steps to make these improvements and ensure timely and reliable relief for disaster-impacted communities."

Among the supporters of Katko's bill is U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, who represents parts of the Hudson Valley in Congress.

Delgado, a Democrat, has seen how natural disasters have affected his district. The bill he worked on with Katko will bring "more consistent and timely relief" to communities affected by weather-related disasters.

The House voted 402-11 to pass the legislation. It's unknown when, or if, the bill will be considered in the Senate.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Germany has set a new record for registration of electric vehicles as one out of every three new vehicles registered in the country last month was an electric vehicle, as per data from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). As per a release from the Germany Trade & Invest, the sale of combustion engine vehicles has been significantly slowing, Teslarati reported.

Last month, electric vehicles accounted for 30.4 per cent of new car registrations in the country given the current dynamics of the market, the release mentioned. It added that the sales of gas-powered vehicles have been slowing due to supply shortages and longer delivery waiting times. On the contrary, automakers offering electric options have been seeing an increased rate of purchase.

(Also read | Volkswagen ID.3 finds 70,000 new buyers as Europe embraces EVs)

As per data from VDA, Germany witnessed registrations of 178,800 cars in October, which was comparatively a slow month for the industry with a 35 per cent decline. However, there were 54,400 EV registrations - an increase of 13 percent. Additionally, registrations of purely electric vehicles increased by 32 percent month to month.

Explaining the reasons for the increase in sale of electric vehicles in the country, an automotive expert from Germany Trade & Invest, , Stefan Di Bitonto, said that Germany subsidizes the purchase of EVs with up to EUR 6,000, Teslarati reported. Additionally, auto dealers offer a EUR 3000 rebate against the purchase of battery-powered vehicles, which is making buyers purchase such cars.

(Also read | Tesla hits German blockade yet again, Elon Musk cries foul)

He added that in such a scenario, carmakers are prioritizing putting semiconductors in EVs. The profit margins for electric vehicles are currently quite high Everyone all around is profiting," he said. Elaborating on the trend, he said, "This part of the automotive market is quite resistant to supply shortages because carmakers will continue to use the parts they have to build the vehicles that are the most profitable."
Tesla Inc opened a factory to produce battery manufacturing equipment in the Canadian city of Markham, Ontario, the city said on Friday, as the electric carmaker ramps up the production of cheaper, higher-range 4680 battery cells.

In 2019, the U.S. electric carmaker acquired Canada-based Hibar, which manufactures pumps used in fast-speed battery assembly that Tesla is introducing for its new 4680 cells.

"I'm delighted to share that Tesla Canada is joining our already robust automotive and technology ecosystem by locating a manufacturing facility in the City of Markham," the city mayor Frank Scarpitti said on Twitter.

"The facility will be the first branded Tesla Canada manufacturing facility in Canada and will produce state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to be used at the Gigafactories located around the world in the production of batteries."

City official Bryan Frois told Reuters the Markham facility opened this summer, marking an expansion of another site in neighboring Richmond Hill.

Tesla did not immediately comment on the mayor's tweet. Last year, Tesla senior vice president Andrew Baglino said at the Battery Day event that its "vertical integration" with Hibar and others would allow them to build batteries faster and scale up production of its 4680 battery cells.

Baglino said last month that Tesla will start delivering its first vehicles with 4680 batteries early next year, but added that "this is a new architecture and unknown unknowns may exist still."

Tesla currently builds the 4680 cells at its pilot factory in California and plans to start their production at its upcoming factories in Texas and Berlin.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
Northern Arizona University hosted a ceremony Wednesday evening to rename the campus art museum after the universitys 13th president, Clara Lovett.

Jose Luis Cruz Rivera, NAUs current president, said it was a privilege to recognize Dr. Lovett.

She served as NAUs -- and the Arizona systems-- first woman president, leaving a legacy of institutional advancement and modernization and advocacy for the arts, he wrote in a Thursday update.

Lovett was president at NAU from 1994 to 2001. Accomplishments during her presidency include bringing a Pew Higher Education Roundtable to campus and restructuring the universitys mission and goals for the 21st century. After leaving NAU, Lovett became president and CEO of the American Association for Higher Education.

The Clara M. Lovett Art Museum emphasize[s] the diversity of voices, media, themes and creative impulses at work in todays art, according to its website. It believe[s] in the centrality of artistic expression in all communities and cultures and the incalculable value of art as an educational experience.

It is in the fourth stages of its post-pandemic reopening. Located on the second floor of Old Main, it displays a number of exhibitions each year and is currently open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday.

Our university will forever be grateful for President Lovetts legacy of leadership, Cruz Rivera tweeted Thursday. I look forward to working with the Lumberjack family to build on her many accomplishments.

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The Flagstaff City Council convened Tuesday to discuss placing bond measures up for voter approval in the November 2022 election -- an effort that, if approved, would see a variety of city needs and projects funded by a secondary property tax.

A citizens committee will begin reviewing bond options in December, and the council discussion on Tuesday took place to provide the committee with a scope of consideration. The potential bonds discussed come after funding needs were identified by city council earlier in the year.

Council identified a set of potential bond projects during an annual budget retreat in April, discussing bonds placed on the ballot to fund housing projects, climate action initiatives and an Alternate Response Care Center.

Another set of bond measures were identified by the council during the annual infrastructure retreat in September, including stormwater infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure and equipment for firefighters.

Following the city council discussion, a Citizen Bond Committee, selected earlier this year through the city managers office, will begin reviewing bonds that are being considered for next years ballot. Shannon Anderson explained that the committee plans to receive community feedback throughout the review process.

On Tuesday, city project manager Christine Cameron presented city council with specific projects related to infrastructure bonds.

One of the bond projects is a longstanding plan to build a pedestrian underpass from Florence Street to Walnut Street, creating a north-south Flagstaff Urban Trails System (FUTS) corridor for bicycle and pedestrian use. The construction of the underpass is included in the La Plaza Vieja Neighborhood Specific Plan, which was adopted in 2015 but currently has not secured funding.

Cameron also presented the Southside Community Civic Space as a bond consideration that would be located next to the future Lone Tree Overpass and bring additional civic and recreation space for the Southside community. While funding has not yet been secured, the city could seek grant funding in addition to a bond.

City council was also presented with bond considerations related to the citys flood control efforts, focused in the Museum Fire Flood area.

Now that the council has expressed an interest in holding a bond election, Vice Mayor Becky Daggett said she is interested in seeing how the committee assesses the bond projects that have been identified by the council.

My preference would be that we let the committee come back to us. Id like to see a ranked list with the bond issues they feel are most critical to the community, Daggett said.

But Mayor Paul Deasy felt further input from city council on potential bond measures was warranted before a committee review. He cited voter fatigue, or placing many items up for voter consideration in a short period of time, as a reason to narrow the number of bond measures being considered.

Right now we are looking for the parameters for the discussion and what we as a council body would like to see on the ballot. We have a very short amount of time to make that decision, Deasy said. We really need to provide those parameters for the [committee's] sake.

Deasy asked for the council to consider which needs were crucial for the upcoming election, and suggested that the rest were held off to be placed on a future ballot.

Councilmember Austin Aslan said he believes the city can avoid voter fatigue by framing the issues correctly. He suggested that some of the bond issues can be packaged together to categorize the bonds in a way that is helpful.

When talking about potential bond measures like flood control and climate action, for example, Aslan said the voters are likely to see a connection and the city may want to consider combining those items. He also noted that bonds related to public safety have historically been supported by voters, and could be packaged together.

If we were to package a public safety bond together all by itself, without respect to whatever else were doing, in my mind it has a high likelihood of passing, Aslan said. Voters understand public safety and those needs are ongoing.

Daggett said she has a list of the types of projects she would support, including housing, but would also like to explore how the bonds can be packaged together.

Councilmember Adam Shimoni said he hoped for representation in the review process from neighborhood representatives. City manager Greg Clifton said the city is in the process of ensuring input is gathered from stakeholders geographically and not just by the topic of the considerations.

It is very important. And we do have representation from Southside, but it is important that we have representation from La Plaza Vieja and Sunnyside as well, Clifton said. I think we do have good representation on the topics of sustainability and housing.

There's just a lot of needs in the community  and they are each rightfully important, Shimoni said. I dont really have much clarity on how to move forward with narrowing this list down. I am interested to see how the committee wrestles with it and what they bring back to us.

The Citizen Bond Committee is anticipated to arrive at a list of potential bonds by October, and it will be brought to the community for feedback through surveys and public meetings. After reviewing the public input, the committee will present final recommendations for bond measures to the council.

Approved bond items will then go back to the Citizen Bond Committee to assist the city with support before the November 2022 election. Ahead of the election, the committee will employ a campaign to educate and promote the upcoming bond ballot measures, city staff said.

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Its getting harder for the little guy to compete.

That was the message from Andrew Meyer regarding the recent merger of RE/MAX Peak Properties and RE/MAX Fine Properties in October.

Meyer had been the sole owner and broker for Peak Properties for the last 18 years. But he said a changing real estate industry and the introduction of larger online companies into the market spurred the decision to join with Fine Properties.

Fine has had a real estate office in Flagstaff for some time, but also has offices across the state.

We're just seeing radical change in the real estate industry, Meyer, who is now a partner with Fine Properties, told the Arizona Daily Sun.

Companies like Zillow and Open Door are quickly reshaping how many sellers and buyers look at real estate, Meyer said.

Those kinds of companies can bring millions of dollars to bear on things like marketing that a local real estate firm simply doesnt have the resources for, said Fine Properties partner Jamie Wong. And that is making it significantly more difficult for smaller mom and pop shops to stay viable, she said.

A good metaphor might be that of the local hardware store when the new Home Depot opens up, Wong said. That is the threat of companies like Zillow, and the decision for Fine to absorb Peak Properties was in part a way to respond to it.

So with that reality, thats becoming our competition, more so than even the local competing real estate brokerages. So for us to compete we have to become larger entities that are offering more services, better customer experiences, local experts, just to compete with the that industry shift, Meyer said. I think everyone really sees the vision and understands that its in everyones best interest to have one RE/MAX team in Flagstaff.

Wong said the merger has been something she has hoped for and worked toward for some time. And Wong said by joining forces, Meyer and his team now get all the benefits offered by a larger statewide agency such as Fine Properties, which had $1.8 billion in sales last year and is on track to exceed $2 billion in 2021.

We can take all of the tools that are mainstream in the Valley [real estate market] but often dont get to Flagstaff, and we can help the agents here up their game. Meaning: we have a full-time marketing department; no one else has that. We have a full-time videographer; no one else has that, Wong said.

Still, Meyer said it is a little hard to see Peak Properties, which has been solely his for nearly two decades, be absorbed into something larger. But Meyer said it is a change he is excited about.

We knew in our hearts that us working together as one would be better for everyone, better for the brokerage, better for the agent, better for the home seller and home buyer and becoming a better option than these large funded entities like Zillow. They dont have local expertise, Meyer said.

Adrian Skabelund can be reached by phone at (928) 556-2261, by email at askabelund@azdailysun.com or on Twitter at @AdrianSkabelund.

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PHOENIX  A 90-day public comment process has begun on a proposal to allow more endangered Mexican wolves to be released into the wilds of Arizona and New Mexico, where, federal officials say, the animals are thriving.

Recovering the Mexican wolf remains a top priority for the service, and we continue to make steady progress toward this goal, Amy Lueders, the Southwest regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said at a news briefing Wednesday.

At least 186 Mexican wolves live in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, according to a 2021 study. The wolves  a rare subspecies of the gray wolf  were all but wiped out by the 1970s before being listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Efforts to reintroduce them to the region began in 1998.

The wild population of Mexican wolves in the United States saw its fifth consecutive year of growth in 2020, Lueders said.

To keep the population growing, Fish and Wildlife wants to remove the population limit, which is set at 325. It also wants to increase the number of wolf pups that are bred in captivity and released into dens to help improve the genetic diversity of the growing population. The service also wants to temporarily restrict what is considered an allowable take, meaning to kill or capture a wolf threatening livestock or human lives.

Proposed changes follow a 2018 court order for the service to revise the designation of the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project to make sure the experimental population contributes to long term recovery of the wolf.

The possible changes to the plan come under whats known as the 10(j) designation, which allows Fish and Wildlife to designate land for reintroduction of a species for an experimental population. Mexican wolves are a part of an experimental population that roams the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area.

We believe these changes to the Mexican wolf 10(j) rule will allow us to recover Mexican wolves more effectively in the wild, Lueders in a later news release. The revision process presented an opportunity to work closely with our partners in aligning our regulatory framework with the science-based management recommendations in the 2017 revised recovery plan.

Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, said the changes would fix some problems the court ruling identified.

The most important fix is that it would no longer keep the wolf population at 320 animals, Robinson said. On the other hand, theres a lot of problems in management of the Mexican wolf that really arent getting fixed under this proposal.

For the final plan, Robinson said, the center will push for wolf families, not just pups bred in captivity, to be released together.

We want family packs to be released, he said. Thats how they were reintroduced from 1998 through 2006. There was a much higher success rate. Since 2016, theyve only been releasing pups, only a few days old, that they take from captivity and place with unrelated wolves in the wild.

We want resumption of those successful family pack releases.

Millions of dollars and decades of research have gone into saving the Mexican wolf, including breeding wolves in captivity and placing newborn wolf pups in wild dens, Cronkite News reported last year. The hope is that natural-born Mexican wolves will increase and the populations gene pool will diversify over time.

The Center for Biological Diversity also is pushing for livestock owners to take basic responsibility to prevent tempting wolves and then having them removed, Robinson said. Until genetic diversity objectives are reached, Fish and Wildlife wants to temporarily restrict three conditions that allow Mexican wolves to be killed or captured.

Robinson said cattle can die of multiple causes, including disease and inadequate grazing ability, and a wolf in the area is more likely to feed on dead animals or live animals in poor condition.

Removing sick and injured cattle to prevent conflict between ranchers and wolves can be done in several ways, he said, including burying the cattle or contacting a service to have it removed.

It has to be a mandate, not just, We think well try and prevent these conflicts because the conflicts are still happening and wolves are still being shot and trapped by the government as a consequence, Robinson said.

Livestock deaths have increased where Mexican wolves range, the Associated Press reported this week, and ranchers blame the wolves. Confirmed livestock deaths are at 95 for the year, the AP said.

Between this proposed rule and the public comment period and court victory on the recovery plan last week, Robinson said, which will require a revision of the recovery plan, its a huge opportunity for a real change in the direction where we recognize the vital ecological role that these wolves play and we nurture their survival.

The Fish and Wildlife Service will hold virtual public information sessions on Nov. 18, Dec. 8 and Jan. 11.

The public comment period is open through Jan. 27. For more info, visit https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/10j-revision/public-participation.html.

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For most of their lives, three Omaha Public Schools seniors have stepped into the role of interpreter when someone needed their help.

Hser Kmwe, who speaks Karen, has helped translate in the grocery store after seeing someone struggle to communicate. She often translates for her parents. The Karen language is spoken widely in parts of Thailand and Myanmar.

Karen Soto translates for her Spanish-speaking family and volunteers to help other parents.

Families in Pu Mehs community often offer to pay her for her help, but the Karenni-speaking senior at Northwest High School has always refused payment.

Im just helping people because even my parents struggled when they first came to America, and I didnt know English, so other people helped my parents, she said. I want to give back to them through helping other families.

Facing staff shortages, OPS has turned to these bilingual students and others to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences.

OPS has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages. And more than 18,000 students have received English Learner services at some time while at OPS.

Lisa Utterback, chief student and community services officer for OPS, said the district has about 20 students contracted as interpreters to help out at parent-teacher conferences. The students are paid $18 an hour for the work.

It is the second time this year that OPS has looked to its student body to help deal with the staffing shortages that school districts and other employers have been experiencing locally and nationally.

This summer, OPS hired high school students to mentor and tutor elementary students during Next Level Learning, the districts summer school program.

This is the first time that weve really looked at what our students can bring to the table as paid employees of the Omaha Public Schools, Utterback said of the recent student hires.

Utterback said the student interpreters are going through the same application process and training as non-student contracted interpreters.

To protect the privacy of their classmates and peers, the high school interpreters are helping only with middle and elementary school conferences.

Utterback said communication between teachers and families is vital for them to work together to identify problems, provide any necessary help and celebrate students successes.

The interpreters are getting professional experience, Utterback said, but theyre also bringing their experiences to the conversations.

For Pu Meh, that was understanding that families she was helping wouldnt understand words such as science.

When we went to school in our country, we didnt have science, so we did not know how to interpret science, she said. I would tell them its where they experience stuff because in science I just think of experimenting.

Hser Kmwe, a senior at Northwest, said even if the words were available in Karen, she made sure the parents understood what their student was doing and learning in school.

When she was in elementary school, a high schooler interpreted for her parents.

I always kind of looked up to her at that time because I didnt really understand English, she said.

Hser Kmwe promised herself that she would do the same thing when she got older.

For Pu Meh, shes providing a service that wasnt available to her own parents.

I wish we were around to help my parents in elementary when they needed help translating or interpreting because they had Burmese interpreters, but my parents didnt really understand Burmese, she said. They spoke a little but not too much. They said they didnt really understand it, and so I couldnt quite help them with that because I was still young.

Pu Meh helped her family some in elementary school until OPS hired a bilingual liaison when she was in middle school.

Soto said some interpreters were available at her school conferences, but most of the time, she was the one to translate for her parents.

Helping families understand the words they dont know in English brought Pu Meh joy. Other families didnt know English at all. Without her help, she said, many of the families would not understand what their kids were doing at school or what their grades were, or be able to ask the teachers questions.

All three seniors hope to continue to use their language skills in their future careers. Soto and Hser Kmwe want to enter the medical field. Soto wants to be an OB-GYN, and Hser Kmwe wants to be a nurse.

Pu Meh wants to become a teacher and return to OPS to teach students and translate at the same time.

Utterback said OPS will likely continue to tap into the talent within the district and provide similar opportunities to OPS students.

Our young people that have a skill that we need are being trained and paid according to the skill that theyre providing, she said. Theyre getting experience. And the service that our teachers and families are getting, I believe, is second to none.

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A spokesman for Youngkin, who campaigned heavily on election integrity, said the son misunderstood Virginia's laws.

"Its unfortunate that while Glenn attempts to unite the Commonwealth around his positive message of better schools, safer streets, a lower cost of living, and more jobs, his political opponents  mad that they suffered historic losses this year  are pitching opposition research on a 17-year old kid who honestly misunderstood Virginia election law and simply asked polling officials if he was eligible to vote; when informed he was not, he went to school," Devin O'Malley said in a statement.

Virginia law allows any person who is 17 and will be 18 by Election Day to register in advance and vote in any intervening primary or special election.

Jennifer Chanty, a precinct captain, told The Washington Post she encountered the son, who left after initially being told he was too young to vote. She said he returned a short time later, saying a friend who was also 17 had been allowed to cast a ballot.
But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates agreed to back that bill if the budget office's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, was a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

Elated by the bills passage, Biden held forth with reporters for over a half hour Saturday morning, joking that his chances of getting the bill done had been written off multiple times, only for him to be able to salvage it. He said he would wait to hold a signing ceremony until lawmakers  Democrats and Republicans who voted for it  return to Washington after a week's recess.

The president acknowledged uncertainty surrounding his larger social and environmental spending package, saying time will tell whether he can keep popular provisions like universal paid family leave in the final version. He wouldn't say whether he has private assurances from moderate Democrats in the House and Senate to pass the nearly $2 trillion bill, but said he was confident he would get the votes.
The male bobcat kitten, named Doug, must undergo a mandatory 30-day quarantine before it will be introduced to Bob, another bobcat already living at the Red Lodge facility. The two will eventually live together.

Doug was transferred from Montana WILD Education Center, a Helena-based facility operated by FWP to rehabilitate injured and abandoned wildlife, while also providing educational programs to the public.

This is exactly the type of situation the sanctuary is here for, said YWS education manager Eden Wondra in a press release. Although we are very sad that this had to happen to him, we are excited to take in this adorable guy and give him the best life that we can.

In testifying in support of the legislation, Robson said the change will make a major impact on the welfare of nonreleasable wildlife while also helping agencies like FWP. He pointed to one of the sanctuarys two black bears as an example of a similar wild animal that has lived in captivity since 1994, helping to educate thousands of visitors about living safely in bear country.
Also in October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the administration of booster shots for all three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States. While the state has tracked thousands of breakthrough cases since vaccines became available, The Gazette reported data from the Montana DPHHS shows that Montanans who are unvaccinated face hospitalization and death rates that were four and five times higher than the vaccinated, respectfully.

Since the VA started administering vaccines in Montana at the start of 2021, according to the latest Department of Veterans Affairs COVID-19 summary, the number of enrolled veterans and VA employees considered to be fully vaccinated in the state has reached 17,750 people. The Montana VA has tallied nearly 2,100 COVID-19 cases among its enrolled veterans and employees and just over 1,900 recoveries. Of those enrolled in the VA and its employees, 75 have died due to COVID-19.

Regarding vaccine booster shots, the CDC has recommended additional doses for those who have been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine after at least six months. The CDC has also recommended the additional shot for those who are 65 or older, or 18 and older with underlying health conditions.
In the special session beginning Monday, the Legislature planned to validate the frontier culture that has dominated North Dakota policy process since the first oxen broke a furrow in the prairie grass.

In the early warning signs we found that the Legislature planned to reapportion itself, cut the income tax, reject mask mandates and deny Black people their place in history. Except for the household function of reapportionment, all of the other plans constituted 1880 on hold.

But before going too far, the nature of our frontier culture must be described so everyone is on the same page.

Demographically, the first settlements establish the patterns by which future generations live. However, in many states, there are some with cognitive flexibility to move into the future along with the economy, technology and population.

In North Dakota, we do not seem to have enough cognitive flexibility to swing with a changing world, except in agriculture technology. Even so, we still treat agriculture as North Dakota's basic economic sector. It was in 1880 but not in 2021.

This was pointed out to me by two university faculty members working on a new book about North Dakota. When they called my attention to this fact, they probably thought I should noise this abroad but I am wise enough not to criticize the priests of the soil. So I kept my peace even though they were right.

What branded North Dakota with the frontier culture were the first settlements of farmers, usually one farm per quarter, often miles away from the nearest neighbor.

So what happened when something went awry -- the binder breaks down and there is no one to help within 3 miles. The prairie farmer had to fix it him/herself or it wouldnt be fixed. Haywire was the primary repair. A woman is due and there are no women for miles, so she and her husband became the midwives.

Early settlers required a high level of self-reliance. They pulled themselves up by the bootstraps even when they didnt have any. So an early ingredient of frontier culture was rugged individualism. And we never forgot.

We became a state of independent self-reliant individualists and we still regard that virtue as the Eleventh Commandment. The only problem is that the state economic, political and social structures of 2021 no longer work in an 1880 mindset.

Many people have not been equipped with frontier self-reliance because it is no longer the characteristic of our society. Finally, new emphasis on technology training appeared in the last session and cities are now bidding to be locations of new technology.

The dramatic changes that have occurred since 1880 have left thousands unemployed because the new jobs couldn't use them and the state has done very little in training and retraining. But we think everyone without a job is a loafer, which isnt true but we like that line of thought because it makes us feel more superior.

Cutting the income tax is a manifestation of a frontier self-reliant culture. We dont realize that the modern culture requires a new commitment to a common good and the common good requires common investment in the social and economic problems of 2021. Cutting the taxes needed to fund 2021 is withdrawing resources from the common good.

North Dakotas common good has never blossomed. We still carry the burden of the frontier mindset. As a state, Minnesota has done much better addressing the need for a greater common good.

Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota Democratic lieutenant governor.

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A proposal to use $150 million in federal stimulus money to build another pipeline delivering natural gas from the Bakken to eastern North Dakota is among the issues state lawmakers will consider next week when they convene at the Capitol.

Lawmakers plan to divvy up $1 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan Act during the special session, and the money leaders hope to set aside for a pipeline could make the prospect of such a project more attractive to developers.

"There's been a longstanding desire to see more North Dakota gas be used in the state," North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad said.

Kringstad is the state official who keeps tabs on oil and gas production and transportation data, and for years he's heard conversations lamenting the disparity between the western and eastern parts of the state in terms of gas access. The Bakken region of western North Dakota produces substantial quantities of gas alongside oil, and some of it is wastefully burned off in flares at well sites rather than piped to a processing plant and put to use due to a lack of infrastructure.

Some eastern North Dakota communities have gas service because they happen to be near a limited number of pipelines that extend to that part of the state, but many do not.

Much of the gas produced within North Dakota is transported to markets in other states on major pipelines such as Northern Border, which ends in the Chicago area.

WBI Energy operates a pipeline that already delivers gas to parts of eastern North Dakota.

Cost appears to be the major barrier to building another pipeline that would carry Bakken gas eastward within the state. Such a project comes with a roughly $1 billion price tag. The economics tend to work out better to send gas down existing pipelines into other states rather than build a new project from scratch, Kringstad said.

Companies such as WBI, part of MDU Resources Group, have thought about building a new pipeline crossing the state in the past. WBI gauged interest in a proposal early last year, but the project did not garner enough customer commitments to make it economical, spokesperson Laura Lueder said.

WBI is among several companies watching the Legislature's next moves.

"Certainly WBI would be well-positioned to help with that initiative," Lueder said.

Oklahoma-based Oneok is another pipeline developer with assets in the Bakken, including numerous gas processing plants. Oneok "is continually looking for and evaluating opportunities to provide new and expanding markets for growing Williston (Basin) production while enhancing the economic development opportunities of North Dakota," the company told the Tribune in response to an inquiry about whether it would be interested in developing a new pipeline within the state.

Xcel Energy delivers natural gas to some eastern North Dakota cities by tapping into a pipeline in western Minnesota. The utility company told the Tribune it continues "to actively review ways to extend natural gas service to more communities in North Dakota" and is interested in working with the state to accomplish that.

Kringstad said the state might need to kick in more than $150 million to make a project viable.

Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, said the state could consider making more funding available during the next regular legislative session in 2023.

"The important thing is to decide is this a good investment for the state," he said.

Holmberg chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is slated to discuss the proposal contained within Senate Bill 2345 next Tuesday. The legislation carves out $10 million of the $150 million specifically for pipeline service to Grand Forks County. Some parts of the county can access gas, but not all.

"We don't have enough gas," Holmberg said. "We need gas, particularly for industrial development."

Manufacturers and other industrial facilities that use fuel in their operations tend to view natural gas as among their cheapest options. Proponents say the availability of gas can be a key factor in a company's decision on where to locate a plant.

Many parts of North Dakota without access to gas use propane and electricity. That's the case in Rugby, a small town in north-central North Dakota. Community leaders there have searched for years for a way bring natural gas to the town. The community is too far from any pipelines to cheaply tap into them.

"Having natural gas in our community is what would allow us to attract manufacturers," said Karl Frigaard, executive director of Rugby's Job Development Authority.

If a new pipeline were to pass near Rugby, service to the community could also benefit its agriculture sector, as well as residents wanting another option for home heating, he said.

It's too early to know the route of any future pipelines. The bill the Legislature will consider next week would make $150 million in grant money available to the North Dakota Industrial Commission to distribute. The three-member commission is chaired by Gov. Doug Burgum.

The addition of new pipelines and processing plants in recent years has allowed the Bakken's oil and gas industry to rein in the percentage of gas flared off at well sites. The coronavirus pandemic caused oil and gas production to fall in 2020, which also helped bring flaring in line with state targets.

Kringstad's projections show the state will need new gas infrastructure in as little as two years if the industry is to keep flaring at bay.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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Theres little doubt that many, if not most, North Dakotans dislike vaccine mandates. Still, it makes sense for the State Board of Higher Education to allow university presidents and system leaders to decide whether to comply with President Joe Bidens vaccine mandate.

The presidents mandate requires people who work with federal contractors and their subcontractors, as well as support staff in areas such as billing, human resources and custodial services, to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The board was told last week by two university presidents that the schools could lose tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts if not in compliance. The schools face a Dec. 8 deadline to comply, so the board approved a motion to give the universities flexibility in deciding what to do.

University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost said UND could lose from $11 million to $20 million. The schools medical dean, Dr. Joshua Wynne, called the threat real and said the resolution was intentionally ambiguous to allow presidents to be as surgical as need be ....

The reach of Bidens mandate remains uncertain, and thats why the universities want flexibility to deal with it. Its unknown when more details will be provided. There are many in the public who might argue the university system should just ignore the mandate despite the risks.

The state has played another card in the controversy with Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem joining legal action against the mandate. How long it will take the challenge to wind through the courts isnt known, and theres no guarantee the multistate lawsuit will be successful.

The Tribune editorial board believes the higher education board is being practical. Why take a chance of losing funds that play a key role in research? If the universities have to comply, its possible the surgical approach could reduce the pain.

Biden is doing everything within his power, or what he thinks is within his power, to stem the pandemic. Getting more Americans vaccinated is at the top of the list. Pushback to vaccine mandates and mask requirements has been intense.

It has reached the point where airline travel has been disrupted on the ground and in the air. Some passengers have become violent, attacking crew members.

Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, was barred from boarding a flight in Minot after a dispute with a Transportation Security Administration agent. Hoverson said everyone overreacted, including himself. However, passengers have the responsibility of obeying TSA regulations and instructions. They should be aware of the rules before arriving at the airport.

Its time for people to calm down and take a civil approach to pandemic issues. The Board of Higher Education took a logical step in dealing with Bidens mandate. Its still possible the courts will squash the mandate. If not, the universities have options available.

COVID-19 has been testing the nations resolve, and we cant allow the pandemic to continue to divide us. We need to find a middle ground like the Board of Higher Education is doing.

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Its easy to worry over Chinas increasing bellicosity and economic strength, but its demographic woes, regional challengers, and declining productivity provide new opportunities for the West and its allies. []

The recent announcement that China had tested something akin to a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, which is launched into space and then orbits the globe before discharging a missile at its target, underscored yet again that America and its allies have serious grounds to be worried about China.

Whether it is Beijings extinguishment of Hong Kongs special status, bellicose tone regarding Taiwan, ongoing theft of intellectual property from Western companies or inflicting jail sentences on dissidents like Jimmy Lai and Martin Lee, these are signs of a regime determined to throw its weight around.

These and other developments over the past 10 years have forced the United States to rethink relations with its Pacific partners. Part of that repositioning naturally involves considering how to counter Chinas strengths. But part of the realignment should also involve reflection upon Chinas present liabilities.

One-child policy didnt pay off

The first and most pressing problem facing China is demographic. Having embraced the population bomb lie propagated by most development economists, the United Nations, and numerous Western governments in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, China is now paying a significant price for the one-child policy it followed between 1980 and 2015.

Chinas working-age population is forecast to shrink by 170 million people over the next 30 years. That means more retirees being supported by a smaller base of workers. It will also result in China spending more on aged care, social security and healthcare. This will weaken consumption demand and diminish Chinas capacity to bulk up its military expenditures as well as research and development.

Then there is the gender disparity resulting from numerous Chinese families having aborted female babies in favor of male babies. Many young Chinese men wont be able to find a wife in the near future. That is a recipe for social cohesion problems.

State-driven economy isnt thriving

Chinas second major problem is its economy. The Chinese economy is losing momentum as a result of its shift away from the limited market liberalization permitted between 1979 until the mid-2010s and Chinas subsequent reembrace of state-driven approaches to economic growth.

All the dysfunctionalities associated with government-driven economies  industrial policies that breed cronyism and corruption; severe misallocations of capital by state-controlled banks; the deterioration of the disciplines associated with domestic and international competition, to name just a few  are now rolling through the Chinese economy.

Productivity is falling and growth is diminishing. It is telling that, since the mid-2010s, Chinas National Bureau of Statistics has steadily reduced the amount of information it makes available about the state of Chinas economy. Its as if they have something to hide.

This trend reflects a major political problem facing China, perhaps best called domestic sclerosis.

In the 1980s, Chinas then-paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, introduced political changes designed to facilitate regular personnel changeovers in the Chinese Communist Partys higher ranks. The objective was to inject new ideas and youthful energy throughout the government. This, however, has been undercut by President Xi Jinpings recentralization of power in the CCPs higher ranks and regular purges of anyone venturing even mild criticisms of official policy.

Truth about government grows rare

hese changes have corroded something needed by any government: a willingness to entertain fresh thinking. At some level, all regimes depend on individuals unafraid to make the type of critique that leads to policy adjustment and corrections. Xis stance, however, has encouraged a growing reluctance to tell the truth. To do so might seriously compromise many a young party apparatchiks career prospects.

Part of its efforts to promote more centralized control has involved Beijing stoking nationalist feelings throughout China, particularly among young people. This has resulted in ever-tightening censorship, as well as systematic punishments of groups like Uighur Muslims, crackdowns on political dissidents and the demolition of any religious activities that implicitly challenge the CCPs authority.

There is a price to be paid for all this. The feedback mechanisms that would help Beijing know what its people really think are being degraded. This breeds greater insecurity within the CCP. The result is further clampdowns on dissent. China is thus entering a vicious circle whereby repression produces silence, silence creates insecurity and insecurity makes the likelihood of more repression even greater.

International response hasnt been rosy

Looking outside China, Beijing finds itself confronting some formidable challenges. Its belligerent actions and words have generated at least two new sets of alliances directed at containing China. One is quaintly called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue  colloquially known as the Quad.

Consisting of America, Japan, India and Australia, this was recently reestablished as part of an effort to respond to Chinas growing economic and military power. We know that this is the objective because Chinese officials loudly protested the Quads reemergence.

Paralleling this was the announcement in September 2021 of a new trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS). There is no doubt that the big three Anglosphere nations have drawn a line in the sand and will now work even more closely to counter Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

This, however, isnt the end of China geopolitical headaches. Think about it this way: China is bordered by 14 countries; four of these have nuclear weapons; five have territorial disputes with Beijing. Some of these nations are significant regional players.

Every year, India is becoming militarily and economically more powerful. Japan is aging, but it remains wealthy and possesses a strong military. To Beijings north, Russian President Vladimir Putin is busy trying to restore Russia to something akin to its pre-1991 place in the world. When combined with a highly unpredictable North Korea and a Vietnam that showed back in 1979 that it wasnt going to be pushed around by China, Beijings strategic settings are hardly optimal.

That China represents an increasing threat to Americas national security is indisputable. But responding to that challenge requires realistically assessing not only Chinas strengths but also its weaknesses.

The latter are deeper and wider than we realize. While they require careful handling, they also represent opportunities for America that we would be foolish to ignore.

This article originally appeared in The Detroit News on Nov. 4, 2021
North Korea's press office is famously bellicose, hurling bizarre insults and denunciations at the hermit kingdom's adversaries. My own parody of it, the North Korea Press Release Generator, had its time in the sun of Mount Paektu. But far better is @DPRK_News, a Twitter account regularly commenting on topical events in a totalitarian stiff talk so perfectly imitative that it has fooled countless celebrities, politicians and journalists into thinking it was realno matter how absurd or deranged the comical subject matter.

The authorsmostly @PresidentDawg and @NinjaDerrick, recently joined by @BelarusMiniInfohave even fooled The New York Times.

Sadly, Twitter has just locked the account, citing its rules against impersonation.

"I'm sorry to say effective immediately @DPRK_News is defunct," wrote @PresidentDawg, an attorney named Patrick. "I founded the account in 2009. Twitter decided today that it violates their rules. I'm not going to label a parody a parody. That moots the point. It gives away the joke. The DPRK never complained. One of you did."

I'm sorry to say effective immediately @DPRK_News is defunct. I founded the account in 2009.



Twitter decided today that it violates their rules. I'm not going to label a parody a parody. That moots the point. It gives away the joke.



The DPRK never complained. One of you did. pic.twitter.com/29C6B8i53P  President Dawg (@PresidentDawg) October 20, 2021

The lock means that the account is still readable, but its authors cannot update it until they agree to add the disclaimer.

US attorney William Barr, forced to grovel before bible-wielding Donald Trump, plays sorrowful lament for his own lost dignity.



And his emasculated manhood. pic.twitter.com/sXh8tTKXAx  DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) June 2, 2020

UPDATE: DPRK_News is back, without having to add a joke-ruining disclaimer. This is an excellent shift in policy by Twitter, acknowledging (I hope) that its rules against impersonation need not be as strictly applied to organizations as it is to people.
The University of Florida, a publicly-funded college, ordered three of its professors not to give expert testimony at a hearing that might embarass Florida governor Ron DeSantis. After it was reminded of the First Amendment by advocacy groups such as the ACLU and FIREand roasted in the press and online mediait is now reversing course.

Attorneys representing the professors said they were still planning to move forward with a lawsuit against the university. "Despite reversing the immediate decision prohibiting the Professors from testifying, the University has made no commitment to abandon its policy preventing academics from serving as expert witnesses when the University thinks that their speech may be adverse to the State and whatever political agenda politicians want to promote," David O'Neil and Paul Donnelly said in a statement. "It is time for this matter to be rightfully adjudicated, not by press release, but in a court of law."

Seems a good idea to press it. The university's obeisance first to political pressure and then to countervailing media pressure looks like feckless brand management and can't be trusted not to change again with another Friday-evening press release. Anything that draws attention to problems caused by the university's lack of genuine political independence (and the degree of commercial activity it is involved in) is worth doing.
If you haven't started your Christmas shopping, you'd better get going.

That's the advice from retail experts who warn supply chain backups could leave many shelves empty leading up to the holiday season this year  especially when it comes to toys and electronics.

It began when overseas factories were shut down due to Covid-19, leaving the manufacturing and shipping of raw materials, components and finished products at a standstill.

But demand stayed strong. Economic stimulus funds and supplemental unemployment pay kept consumers afloat and powered strong discretionary spending.

That imbalance in supply and demand was a recipe for disaster that continues to drag out at clogged California ports, where dozens of cargo ships wait to be unloaded and have their contents trucked away to warehouses and stores.

The snarled supply chain, along with short staffing, higher prices and other issues in retail, are combining to make for a difficult holiday shopping season this year. The National Retail Federation has warned consumers to be prepared for higher prices and empty shelves.

Rising costs across the board, including gasoline, are affecting everything from shipping to labor. That means there will be fewer bargains and sales that might normally ease the pressure.

Problems at ports

President Biden last month announced new measures to alleviate shipping bottlenecks, signing a deal that will keep the Port of Los Angeles open around the clock seven days a week. Dozens of container ships have been idling outside the port, waiting to dock.

One cargo ship can hold 24,000 20-foot containers  equivalent to a freight train with cars extending 44 miles long. With dozens of ships inaccessible, millions of tons of goods are stranded and delayed. Now consider the fact that 40% of all shipping containers pass through the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.

With that many retail orders backlogged, empty shelves and higher prices are a sure thing. Consumer prices are up 5.4% over last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Driver shortage

But even when ships gain access to the ports, companies face the continued challenge of finding workers to unload them and drive them to stores. And the trucking industry has had an employment crisis for years  long before the pandemic began, said Brian Kimmins, CEO of Buffalo Transit Co. in North Buffalo.

"This driver shortage is not a new phenomenon," he said. "There's been a chronic shortage for as long as I can remember  going back 10 to 15 years."

And it is about to get worse.

The current pool of baby boomer truckers is nearing retirement age, and there is no sign that younger workers are ready to step into the void. Tractor trailer drivers are required to hold an advanced commercial driver's license, which can take as long as 24 weeks to earn.

Younger workers that might have filled open positions in the past have been steered away from the industry and into college over the years, drying up a pipeline of potential help from the next generation. Initiatives such as the Northland Workforce Development Center have been working to train and certify skilled workers as quickly as possible. Still, there is a severe shortage of trade workers.

Across industries, companies are poaching workers from their competitors. That makes it harder for smaller companies  which don't have the resources to offer big signing bonuses and better wages  to compete.

That's why Kimmins, who has an aging workforce but little turnover, said it's so important for companies to treat workers well.

He consistently hires, even when he's not short on workers, in a long-term strategy to keep a solid workforce going ahead.

"I don't think it's ever gonna let up," Kimmins said. "I think it's going to be very, very challenging."

Made in the USA

Mark Andol understands supply chain woes from two perspectives as owner of both General Welding and Fabricating, and the Made in America Store. But the shortages and supply chain snarls that are affecting the welding company are greatly mitigated at the retail store because every product on its shelves is made domestically and by American companies.

From toys and socks to grills and clothing, nothing in the store comes from outside the borders of the United States. That means he doesn't have to depend on overseas manufacturers, transglobal shipping or tariffs, and he's not affected by the major clogs at American cargo ports.

"We really shouldn't need all these ships and containers," he said.

Andol opened the store in 2010 after losing a major customer contract to a factory in China and having to close two of his four factories. He wanted to preserve local jobs and strengthen domestic manufacturing  and it has given him a leg up in the pandemic. The company's online sales rose 1,400% during the pandemic, he said.

Retailers have warned consumers that there will be empty shelves and limited supply this holiday season, and people are taking heed.

A tour group visited the store Thursday and shoppers said they wanted to get as much Christmas shopping done as they could before things run out. In just one hour, the 52 people had spent $4,600, Andol said.

"Usually we've got to wait for Black Friday to Christmas, or really the 12 days before Christmas," he said. "But they are shopping now for Christmas like you've never seen."

That doesn't mean the store doesn't have to deal with the labor shortage, trucking delays and rising prices. But it has kept shelves full and helped other homegrown companies grow.

Amid the lasting supply chain debacle, Andol hopes more people will take seriously the importance of domestic manufacturing.

"It's like a restart for the country. It's forcing people to rebuild the supply chain it took 40 years to destroy," he said.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has set up separate hubs to deal solely with supply chain and labor difficulties. In the long term, it is important to help domestic suppliers better compete by helping them access the credit, investment, customers and advisory services necessary to scale up.

In the near term, customers should brace for a more trying shopping experience this year, said Charles Lindsey, a marketing professor at the University at Buffalo's School of Management.

"This holiday season, more than any other in the past, I'd emphasize the benefits of both online shopping and being an early bird," he said.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
"What was happening on a large scale downtown gave us the confidence to wonder why it can't happen in smaller communities throughout the city," said co-owner Pete Scarcello. "And it can."

The conference also helped change Buffalonians' perceptions of the importance of preserving historic buildings, said Bob Skerker, who co-chaired the conference with Catherine Schweitzer.

"Prior to the conference, people complained about putting money into projects like the Martin House and the Richardson," Skerker said, referring to the Darwin Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Richardson Olmsted Campus, whose buildings were designed by H.H. Richardson.

"The conference helped people understand that historic architecture had value to us and value to others," Skerker said. "It ended that argument about putting money into historic assets."

The conference's effect on Buffalo's psyche was huge, said Ed Healy, Visit Buffalo Niagara's vice president of marketing.

"So many people in Buffalo were amazed and pleased that all these people had come to Buffalo and were so taken by our community," Healy said. "I think it gave people a kind of pride and confidence that had been in short supply for a long time. I don't think you can overstate how important that is."
His district, populated by significant numbers of police officers, firefighters and other city workers, provided the highest turnout (8,620 votes) and highest plurality (84% to 16%) for the mayor.

Tuesday's election and what it portends for the future is creeping into the statewide scene. As he weighs a decision about running for governor within the next few weeks, Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi of Nassau County told reporters in a Thursday conference call that the election of moderates like Brown in Buffalo and Eric Adams in New York City should send a message to the far left.

He says Democrats could be "sleepwalking into catastrophe" by pinning their hopes on far left candidates. He called himself as "progressive as you can get," but fears the party will not benefit from embracing socialist positions.

"No candidate (for governor), none of them, is standing up to the far left," Suozzi said. "We are not going to move our country forward and the Democrats are going to lose unless we stand up to the far left."

None of that resonates with Taylor, who believes Walton accelerated a timetable for a progressive takeover of Buffalo politics as a "fantastic politician" who captured the attention of the city, state and even the nation.

"She inspired a generation of folks and I don't think anyone else could have done that," he said. "That can only come from someone who has experienced life on the ground as has India."

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There was a lot of public anger, he said. Many people were willing to accept restrictions, but not the lack of rationale and logic, particularly for couples and families separated for long periods.

There were ways around the restrictions, but they were often difficult and expensive. For instance, the air travel ban didnt restrict citizens of those countries, but rather travel from those countries.

For Barbara Feitoza of Brazil, that meant staying for two weeks in Colombia, where she knew no one and didnt speak the language, so she could travel to the U.S. to be with her boyfriend in March. It was her first international trip, and she said it was terrifying to fly at the height of the pandemic.

The 28-year-old civil engineer from outside of Rio de Janeiro was at work when she learned the U.S. was preparing to drop its travel restrictions. Feitoza said she was euphoric, jumping from her seat as bewildered colleagues looked on.

Some of those separated from loved ones found support in an online group called Love Is Not Tourism. Among them was Linardaki, who said she was impressed by the variety of people's circumstances.
In other words: Remember. She had known and loved women and men born into slavery, and she understood what it meant for her grandfather to climb from that barren experience into the career as an oysterman that sustained his family. She grew up in a place where the vote was a dream and not a right. She had witnessed changes unimaginable when she was young, yet she was intensely and painfully aware that Buffalo remains in far too many ways a segregated city, and that too many children in neighborhoods around her were, all too often, wounded and suffering.

+3 For V-J Day, honoring factory 'Rosies' who helped win the war Even now, the generation that endured the war carries the memory of V-J Day with a mesh of joy, relief and sorrow.

To Cleo, the passion and urgency we bring to their fate is the defining question on what this city will become. She sensed something had gone awry in the culture, that we had lost our ability to be caring and concerned about others, Renee said. Even so, Cleo remained a person of faith who believed, based on her own witness, in the idea that somehow, as her children say, we still can find communion.

When he spoke of his mother at her memorial, David, who works in senior enterprise marketing in Boston, brought up the famous thought from Maya Angelou: I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

+3 Sean Kirst: In Buffalo, mourning the little girl who grew up to be Aretha If Aretha Franklin was defined by the pain and passion in her voice, a raw and searing honesty that carried her vast talent to an almost untouchable level, then Buffalo was far more than a place that she passed
I am hearing a lot of criticism about Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. They are being harassed for not voting for the presidents legislation. It seems to me that the real problem is the other 50 members of the Senate also refusing to even discuss it. Why arent they being pressured? Not everyone will agree with all of it, but the people in their districts will benefit if even parts are passed.

Most of us agree that the environment must be saved, drug prices must be regulated, roads, bridges, water system and such need repairs, seniors deserve better medical care, and so many other things are needed. The Republican senators only seem interested in making sure President Biden fails. If we ever do get some of the bill passed will they refuse to take the money for their districts? Of course not.

I am really afraid for the future of our country. I am elderly, but what kind of world will our grandchildren inherit? There are 100 senators, lets demand all of them work for their districts, not for power.

Judy Capodicasa

Buffalo
There are two holidays during the month of November which provide an opportunity for us to express gratitude. It is fitting that Veterans Day and Thanksgiving are observed closely together as both days offer us a chance to reflect on the blessings we enjoy due to the sacrifices made by others.

Most notably I refer to Nov. 11, Veterans Day, when we recognize those who served our country in the military and provided us with the security we enjoy. As a member of the armed forces, an individual is required to possess fortitude when answering the call for duty. In addition, a veteran's family must be able to endure the uncertainty of their loved one's well being. Ask a Gold Star Mother what the emotional roller coaster feels like to have a son or daughter in harm's way.

So as we sit back in our warm home, having a turkey dinner, and watching a Bills game on TV, give thanks and say a prayer for those who made all this possible. Remember "we didn't know them all but we owe them all."

Joe Pasek

Vietnam veteran

Tonawanda
AS Inc. / Shutterstock.com

America is the richest country in the world, and 2020 receipts prove it. During the peak of COVID, the U.S. saw the highest growth of financial assets due to tax cuts and an explosive stock market. But as all too many folks know, the prosperity is not very well spread out; in fact, the income gap is widening. Billionaires' wealth skyrocketed during the pandemic, with data from Forbes finding that as of April 12, 2021, America's 719 billionaires accounted for more than four times more money ($4.56 trillion) than all 165 million Americans on the bottom of the socioeconomic plane ($1.01 trillion). It wasn't always this way. Back in 1990, it was the opposite: billionaires held $240 billion of the country's wealth, while the bottom half of earners had $380 billion combined.

See: These Billionaires Got Richer During the Pandemic

Find: Weird Things Top Billionaires Have in Common



As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the U.S. is hardly the country where everyone's dreams can come true. It is indeed getting tougher for the middle class to hold their ground, let alone manage their bills and other expenses. Could it be worse though, if you lived in another country? In other words, is the cost of living considerably less elsewhere? The answer is: Absolutely yes.

Here's a look at how much you need to be considered rich in 23 countries around the world.

Last updated: June 22, 2021

GagliardiImages / Shutterstock.com

1. Australia

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $219,931

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: 103,376

Australia has been a pioneer in economic freedom since the dawn of the of Economic Freedom Index in 1995. In 2019, its annual GDP was $1,356.21 billion. In 2020, unemployment soared to 6.9% but has since stabilized some, now at 5.1%.

More: 10 of the World's Richest Millennials -- And What We Can Learn From Them



Sohel Parvez Haque / Shutterstock.com

2. Bangladesh

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $42,746

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $12,338

It doesn't take much money (in American dollars) to live like a king in Bangladesh. According to the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom, Bangladesh's economy remains primarily unfree and the opening of the banking branch to foreign competition could economically help the country. In 2020, it held an unemployment rate of 5.3% and is now hovering at 6%.

Story continues

Discover: The Richest Celebrity From Every State



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3. Brazil

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $150,658

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $34,751

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Brazil is mostly an unfree economy, and it has overwhelming debt (just like America!). Its fiscal health score is poor and it has been nearly devastated by COVID outbreaks. It holds a staggering 14.7% unemployment rate.

Try: How To Invest In Foreign and International Stocks



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4. Canada

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $268,197

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $107,026

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Canada's economy is in the upper tier when it comes to the most free. The unemployment rate stands around a dreary 8.2%.

Related: LeBron James, David Beckham and the Richest Athletes In The World



zhaojiankang / Getty Images/iStockphoto

5. China

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $121,168

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $44,182

China has one of the largest economies in the world, but according to the Index of Economic Freedom, it's mostly unfree and has been slumping in fiscal health. Its unemployment rate was about 13% as of February 2021, with many young people struggling to find work in a semi-post-COVID world.

Learn: China To Sell Off Reserves of Aluminum, Copper and Zinc In Order To Tame Prices



Tony Moran / Shutterstock.com

6. Egypt

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $152,424

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $39,906

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Egypt has been improving its economic freedom score for the past three years, but it still needs to cut down on public debt and up the ante on property rights and other rule-of-law indicators.

benedek / Getty Images

7. Ethiopia

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $35,868

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $8,381

Eight thousand bucks doesn't go far in the U.S., but in Ethiopia it can launch you into the top 10% of earners. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the country's economy is mostly unfree and could benefit from a rejuvenation of its multiparty democracy. The unemployment rate in Ethiopia is currently around 2.1%.

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8. France

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $251,865

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $92,016

It's still not anywhere near what you need in the U.S. to rank high (we'll get to that later), but an annual income of $92,016 to be in the upper crust isn't exactly pocket change -- at least, not when you compare it to countries like Ethiopia. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, France runs a mostly free economy, and is working to reduce unemployment, which currently hovers at a rate of 8%.

TomasSereda / Getty Images/iStockphoto

9. Germany

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $327,069

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $100,996

Even more expensive than France is its next door neighbor, Germany. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Germany is a largely free economy, but could be even more so if the government cut down on its spending and relaxed its strict labor laws. Germany's unemployment rate is around 6%.

narvikk / Getty Images/iStockphoto

10. India

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $93,917

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $14,077

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, India has a mostly unfree economy, and would need ample and wide-reaching reform to improve its fiscal health. Decimated by COVID, the OECD's Economic Outlook 2021 shows that the Indian economy contracted by 7.7% in 2020. The unemployment rate stands at around 8.7% and should be falling as infections drop.

amadeustx / Shutterstock.com

11. Indonesia

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $113,939

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $30,544

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the Indonesian economy has been slowly rising to be a more free economy, but needs more governmental measures to decrease corruption and modernize investment regulations.

More: The 50 Cheapest Countries To Retire To



Freeartist / Getty Images/iStockphoto

12. Italy

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $207,748

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $78,923

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the economy in Italy is mostly free, but as we've seen with other countries, high government spending is holding it back. One of the ground zeros for COVID when it first struck, Italy's unemployment rate hovered at around 9.2% in 2020.

Sean Pavone / iStock.com

13. Japan

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1%: $240,301

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $89,643

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Japan's economy falls in the mostly free category. Its only major stumbling block is high government spending. In 2020, the unemployment rate in Japan held at roughly 2.34%.

GoranQ / Getty Images

14. Korea

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $234,887

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $79,531

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, South Korea is a mostly free economy, with a top-notch labor force and a tremendous aptitude for innovation. But there's still some corruption going on that would need to be addressed in order for the economy to better thrive. North Korea, on the other hand, is the least free economy in the world.

ferrantraite / iStock.com

15. Mexico

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $187,917

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $51,709

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Mexico is a moderately free economy, but governmental scandals have held the country back from being in the clear. A serious revamping of governmental integrity and a cleaning up of corruption are in order. As of March 2021, Mexico had an unemployment rate of 4.43%.

peeterv / iStock.com

16. Nigeria

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $87,331

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $23,638

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Nigeria's economy is predominantly not free, seeing extreme political instability, policy failures and serious security threats. Nigeria's unemployment rate has soared over the last five years as the economy endured its own recessions, and now stands at 33% -- the second highest rate on the global list.

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17. Pakistan

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $70,024

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $16,058

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Pakistan's mostly unfree economy isn't looking too bright for the future. The country faces mountainous debt and chronic corruption.

fazon1 / Getty Images

18. Philippines

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $102,436

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $26,512

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the Philippines is so-so free, but it has some significant challenges around weak spots in its judicial system and chronic corruption with slack government response. As of April 2021, the unemployment rate in the Philippines was at 8.7% -- relatively low given its past unemployment rates.

See: 24 Ways To Stretch Your Unemployment Benefits



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19. Russian Federation

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $174,753

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $44,195

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Russia doesn't have much of a free economy -- but it has been getting better in that department. To make it even freer, the government needs to liberalize its investment code and strengthen its rule of law, among other things. As of April 2021, Russia's unemployment rate stood at 5.2%.

lena_serditova / Getty Images

20. Singapore

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $627,111

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $193,352

It takes a lot of dough to be among the wealthy elite in Singapore. This is partly because the country is the most stable in the world, with no foreign debt and high government revenue. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Singapore is ranked as the freest economy in the world.

PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek / Shutterstock.com

21. The United Kingdom

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $255,019

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $84,900

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the UK has a mostly free economy, but it stands to do better through post-Brexit opportunities. In April 2021, the UK unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%, the lowest it has been since the summer of 2020.

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22. The United States

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $506,752

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $138,475

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the United States is mostly free -- but it still ranks at only No. 20 on the list of free economies. America's biggest setback continues to be its high government spending and completely unfeasible levels of debt. And let's not forget the less than fair healthcare system. As of May, 2021, the unemployment rate in the U.S. is 5.8%.

DieterMeyrl / Getty Images

23. The United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the 1% : $689,468

Annual pre-tax income needed to be in the top 10%: $223,955

Welcome to the richest country in the Middle East -- and one that requires even more bread to classify as wealthy than any other country on this list. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the UAE's mostly free economy could better thrive if it lessened its dependency on the hydrocarbons sector and was more open to foreign investment.

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Methodology: GOBankingRates used data from the World Inequality Database to find the lower income threshold of the top 1% and top 10% of earners in 25 major countries in 2019 US dollars, adjusted for purchasing power parity. Countries were chosen for inclusion in this piece on the basis of their exceptionally high GDP, population, or income bracket threshold. All data was collected on and up to date as of June 11, 2021.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Heres How Much You Need To Earn To Be Rich in 23 Major Countries Around the World
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  After several weeks of increases, projected cuts in prices of petroleum products next week are expected to give motorists some relief, according to trends noted in the industry.

In its fuel price forecast covering the Nov. 9 to 15 trading week, the Unioil Petroleum Philippines said the price of diesel is expected to be reduced by about 0.40 to 0.50 per liter.

The pump price for gasoline may also be slashed by 0.90 per liter, it added.

Oil firms usually announce price adjustments every Monday, for implementation the next day.

Data from the Department of Energy showed that as of Nov. 2 local fuel companies raised the prices of gasoline by 1.10 to 1.15 per liter. Prices of diesel, on the other hand, decreased by 0.35 to 0.40 a liter.

Since the start of the year, gasoline prices have recorded a net increase of 21.95 per liter, and diesel by 18.10 a liter.
(CNN)  Even if they get a breakthrough infection, vaccinated people don't get as sick with COVID-19, two different teams of researchers reported Thursday.

Both studies show the vaccines strongly protect against severe disease and death, even months after people were first vaccinated and as the more transmissible Delta variant renewed the spread of the virus.

One large, ongoing study of 780,000 veterans shows all three vaccines being used in the US provide strong protection against death from COVID-19, even as their efficacy against mild and asymptomatic infection fell off dramatically.

Researchers looking at men and women getting treatment at Veterans Health Administration facilities found that overall vaccine efficacy against all types of infection fell from 87.9% in February to 48.1% in October. They only counted fully vaccinated veterans, and only counted test results from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the gold standard for determining infection.

"Although breakthrough infection increased risk of death, vaccination remained protective against death in persons who became infected during the Delta surge," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.

"Our analysis by vaccine type, including the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and (Johnson & Johnson's) Janssen vaccines, suggests declining vaccine effectiveness against infection over time, particularly for the Janssen vaccine. Yet, despite increasing risk of infection due to the Delta variant, vaccine effectiveness against death remained high, and compared to unvaccinated Veterans, those fully vaccinated had a much lower risk of death after infection. These results demonstrate an urgent need to reinstate multiple layers of protection, such as masking and physical distancing  even among vaccinated persons  while also bolstering current efforts to increase vaccination."

The researchers say their data is more up to date than data provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although it looks only at veterans, who may not be representative of the US population. The group studied represents 2.7% of the US population and while it skews more heavily in favor of males, it may represent more minorities than other study groups, Barbara Cohn, an epidemiologist at the Oakland, California Public Health Institute who helped conduct the study, told CNN.

In March, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was 86.4% effective in preventing any type of infection. By September, this had fallen to 13%, they reported.

In March, Moderna's vaccine was 89.2% effective in preventing any infection. This fell to 58% by September.

Pfizer's vaccine was 86.9% effective against any infection in March and effectiveness fell to 43.3% by September, they reported.

From July to October 2021, they found, vaccine effectiveness against death among veterans under 65 was 73% for J&J's Janssen vaccine, 81.5% for Moderna's, and 84.3% for Pfizer's and for those 65 and older it was 52.2% for Janssen's, 75.5% for Moderna's, and 70.1% for Pfizer's.

"Everybody does better if they are vaccinated, Janssen people included," Cohn said. "Vaccination is keeping people out of the hospital, even during Delta."

A second study was coordinated with the CDC and found that people vaccinated with either Pfizer's or Moderna's vaccines are much less likely to end up in the hospital on a ventilator or to die from infection than unvaccinated people.

Unvaccinated patients accounted for 91% of COVID-19 deaths and nearly 94% of those with a combined need for ventilators or death, the team reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"We are very confident now that the vaccine is still helping you, even if you get Covid," Dr. Wesley Self, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University who led the study team, told CNN. "Even those who get sick don't get as sick as they would if they were unvaccinated."

The team at 21 US hospitals in 18 states studied 4,513 patients admitted to hospitals with respiratory diseases between March and July. "Unvaccinated patients accounted for 84.2% of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Hospitalization for COVID-19 was significantly associated with decreased likelihood of vaccination," the team wrote.

Not enough people had been vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine to provide sufficient data for the study, Self said. He noted that other studies have shown the Janssen vaccine is less effective than the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.

"We have known for several months that the mRNA vaccines prevent people from being infected with Covid and prevent people from being hospitalized with Covid. What was not clear from data before was if people still get Covid despite being vaccinated. Was the vaccine beneficial? The answer is a resounding yes," Self said.

"They are far less likely to become critically ill and die. That tells us the vaccines are attenuating the severity of disease."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Even if they get breakthrough infections, vaccinated people don't get as sick with Covid-19, studies show"
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6) The chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vowed the military will remain nonpartisan as the election season kicks off.

"The Armed Forces has always been and will always be nonpartisan when it comes to elections," AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Jose Faustino, Jr. said in an interview on CNN Philippines' special presentation "The Generals" which aired on Saturday.

"We also pray for this peaceful and successful elections," he added. "We can guarantee that the Armed Forces will be nonpartisan when it comes to this election."

Last month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reminded troops to remain neutral and professional ahead of next year's polls, stressing that soldiers "are not allowed to campaign for anybody."

In September, President Rodrigo Duterte also called for a peaceful conduct of the polls, and even warned he may be forced to "use the military" to avoid incidents of violence.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier said it was closely working with security forces to ensure fair elections. The sentiment was echoed by the military.

"We have always been a professional organization and we abide by that and I suppose in the coming elections, we will again be called together with the Philippine National Police as part of the main organization to be tapped by the Comelec," Army chief Andres Centino said on the same program.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  The country's COVID-19 cases breached 2.8 million after 2,656 more people were reported infected on Saturday.

The Department of Health's latest bulletin showed the nationwide tally is now at 2,800,621 - with 1.2% or 34,866 active or people currently sick.

At least 67.1% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 14.86% are in moderate condition, 8.7% have severe symptoms, 5.6% have no symptoms, and 3.7% are in critical condition.

The death toll also rose to 44,239 - which is 1.58% of COVID-19 total - after 154 more people lost their lives. Daily fatalities have been at over a hundred for the past eight days. OCTA fellow Guido David on Friday said the country's seven-day average for deaths was "high" at 209.

Meanwhile, 5,130 others got better, raising the number of recoveries to 2,721,516 or 97.2% of the case tally.

The Health department said it reclassified 118 survivors into deaths after validation and deleted 21 duplicate cases, including 20 recoveries.

Eight laboratories did not submit data and were excluded from the count. These laboratories contributed an average of 0.4% of tested samples and 0.5% of positive individuals in the last 14 days.

The positivity rate - or percentage of tested people with positive results - dropped to 5.6% based on 48,218 tests reported on Nov. 4. On Friday, the rate was at 6.5% based on 44,583 tests reported on Nov. 3.

The DOH also gave two projections for this month which, it said, would depend on the easing or tightening of restrictions and the publics compliance with health measures.

The department said active cases could further decline to 22,000 by Nov. 15 if the government retains the current restrictions. On the other hand, the infections could jump to over 52,000 if the rules are relaxed.

The DOH earlier said the Philippines has achieved "low risk" status for COVID-19 due to decreasing cases. But Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire warned the people against complacency despite the recent downtrend in new infections as COVID-19 case trends could change.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  Presidential aspirant Isko Moreno vows to hire young professionals as Cabinet members if he will be elected as the nation's top leader next year.

"Sa gobyerno ko pabataan, hindi patandaan (My government will be younger, not older)," Moreno said during his visit to Cebu.

"Kaya first time, makakatsamba kayo. Baka puro bata ang mga sekretaryo ng bansa (This first time, we'll get lucky. The next Cabinet secretaries of this country will be young)," he added.

In his dialogue with the members of the business process outsourcing, information technology, and creative sectors in the Visayas on Saturday, Moreno emphasized the power of the youth will be crucial in his government's policy directions if he wins the presidency in 2022.

"I like young people. I don't care what your preference in life is. What matters most to me are your skills and understanding and heart on it," Moreno said.

The incumbent Manila mayor cited as an example the head of the Department of Trade and Industry, who he said must know how to balance the rights of consumers and the interests of businessmen.

"I have to find a person in DTI, a very good person who understands things not because he's going to visit palengke (the market) and you show the price of meat and sugar," Moreno said.

He added that he wants an information technology expert to head the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

"I need a kind of people who are really good in DICT, not a general but an IT person," Moreno said.

The presidential hopeful appears to take a jab at former DICT Secretary Gringo Honasan - a former military colonel - who held the post for over two years after ending his term as senator in 2019. Honasan resigned as DICT chief last month to try his luck again for another Senate term in 2022.

Aside from having young Cabinet members, the standard bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko also vowed a more efficient government.

"Sigurado ako, ang gobyerno natin maaga. Hindi madaling araw ah, maaga. Tatakbo ng umaga at kung kinakaya pa natin kapag may aberya, tatakbo ng 24 oras (I assure you, our government will start early in the morning. Not the wee hours, but in the morning. It will run in the morning, and even run for 24 hours if there's any trouble). It's going to be fast," Moreno said.

Moreno is running with vice presidential hopeful Dr. Willie Ong and three senatorial aspirants: Mindanao civic leader Samira Gutoc, entrepreneur and nurse Carl Balita, and media personality Jopet Sison.
(CNN)  World food prices have surged to the highest level in more than a decade, driven by robust demand and lackluster harvests, according to the United Nations.

Prices increased for the third consecutive month in October, rising 3% over September, according to an index published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The gains were driven by a sharp rise in vegetable oil and wheat prices.

The FAO Food Price Index tracks monthly changes across a range of food commodities. The index has risen by more than 30% over the past year. It now stands at its highest level since July 2011, the FAO said on Thursday.

The price of wheat, which is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop, surged 5% in October because of reduced harvests from major exporters including Canada, Russia and the United States. Barley, rice and maize prices also increased.

Firmer prices for palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils led to a 9.6% increase in the FAO vegetable price index. Palm oil prices spiked on concerns about subdued production in Malaysia due to a shortage of migrant workers.

The FAO cited high global demand for a range of products such as milk powder, poultry, vegetable oils and barley.

Food supplies and prices are under pressure from extreme weather, snarled supply chains, worker shortages and rising costs.

Supermarkets in some major economies have struggled to keep their shelves fully stocked at points during the pandemic. In the United Kingdom, where worker shortages have been exacerbated by Brexit, fast food chains have been forced to remove popular menu items because of shortages.

This week, a missive about stockpiling food from China's Ministry of Commerce sparked panic buying among the public. The notice ordered local authorities to ensure that their citizens have an "adequate supply" of essentials this winter, and to keep food costs stable.

Rising food commodity prices are leading to higher costs for consumer goods companies, some of which are passing price increases on to shoppers. Unilever, Kraft Heinz and Mondelez have all hiked prices on popular products.

There may be relief coming in some areas.

Falling demand for pigs in China helped push the FAO meat price index to its third consecutive monthly decline. Sugar prices dipped in October after increasing for six months in a row.

This story was first published on CNN.com World food prices are up 30% in a year
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 5)  The Department of Health is in favor of easing the use of face shields in enclosed spaces, but it is reevaluating evidence before making a formal recommendation on its possible removal.

"Definitely the Department of Health supports itong pag-ease ng mga protection, gaya ng face shield, dito sa mabababa ang transmission. Kailangan lang natin ng ebidensya para mas mabuo natin ang rekomendasyon sa IATF," DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Friday.

[Translation: The Department of Health definitely supports the easing of this kind of protection, the use of face shields, in areas with low COVID-19 transmission. We just need more evidence to complete our recommendation to the IATF.]

Vergeire said experts from the Living Clinical Practice Guidelines are reevaluating the existing evidence on the protection face shields offer. DOH will present its recommendation to the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force on Monday.

Meanwhile, the health official said it's safe to forego the use of face shields in cinemas as long as the other health standards are followed, namely physical distancing, proper wearing of face masks, and proper ventilation inside the theaters.

The Trade Department said moviegoers can remove their face shields inside the cinemas.

Movie houses in areas under Alert Levels 3, 2, and 1 are allowed to resume operations at limited capacity for fully vaccinated individuals.

The effectiveness of face shields has been a contentious issue among the public and lawmakers. A wind engineer from the University of the Philippines earlier said face shields would only trap COVID-19 airborne particles and that they offer no additional layer of protection.
(CNN) Greta Thunberg criticized world leaders and called the COP26 summit a "failure" on Friday, as she led a huge youth protest outside the venue of the climate summit in Glasgow.

Young activists poured into the Scottish city to demand action from leaders, as the focus of the official event turned toward the impact of climate change on future generations.

But in the headline speech of the demonstration, Thunberg told crowds that "history will judge them poorly," calling the pivotal conference "a global north greenwash festival" and "a two-week long celebration of business as usual."

"Many are starting to ask themselves, what will it take for the people in power to wake up? But let's be clear: they are already wake. They know exactly what they are doing," she said.

"The leaders are not doing nothing. They are actively creating loopholes ... to benefit themselves."

Her remarks come after several of the major players present at the conference talked up the achievements of the first week. Leaders have so far announced a series of climate pledges at the conference, including a deforestation commitment, a deal on coal and a plan to stop investing public finances into fossil fuel projects abroad.

But many of the young activists in Glasgow urged more radical commitments, as the United Nations warned that the world is not adapting fast enough to the climate crisis.

Thousands of demonstrators covered the city's streets on Friday, with many bearing placards that warned of the effects of rising temperatures and extreme weather events.

Young Filipino climate advocate Jan Karmel Guillermo told crowds the summit was a "crucial moment" in the climate crisis.

Thunberg spoke to protesters more than three years after she founded the "Fridays for Future" school strikes movement that galvanized youth action over climate change.

"Some people say that we are being too radical," she told an adoring audience. "But the truth is that they are the ones who are radical. Fighting to save our life supporting systems isn't radical at all."

"We don't need any more distant, non binding pledges. We don't need any more empty promises."

Thunberg's speech came after a week in which she has been mobbed by supporters and members of the media.

Crowds chanted "We are unstoppable, another world is possible," and other slogans as they attempted to attract attention near the venue. A large police contingent corralled crowds as they grew throughout the morning.

Daisy Deakin, a 7-year-old from Glasgow accompanied by her mother Isabel, said she wanted to come to the protest to see Thunberg.

"She saves the world from climate change," she told CNN, as she displayed a sign saying "Save our planet."

"Our parents will die from old age. Our children will die from climate change," warned a banner carried by 22-year-old Maia Runciman, originally from Texas and now living in Glasgow.

"I'm here to push world leaders to put the [climate] policies in place and protect the world for the future," she said.

During the event, young climate leaders from around the world presented the Global Youth Statement to high-level delegates, relishing the opportunity to bring the youth perspective to the high-profile summit.

Young people have been "traditionally excluded entirely from global climate negotiations," said Guillermo.

But on Friday, young people were also the focus of the summit. The theme of the event's fifth day was "youth and public empowerment," with leaders seeking to appeal to younger audiences worldwide as they pressed ahead with negotiations.

"I talk to people who are frustrated all the time, and I consider myself one of the frustrated," the United States' climate envoy John Kerry said in response to protests outside.

Cordelia Murray-Brown, 14, told CNN she had missed school to attend the protest, and criticized global leaders for flying to the summit. "It's a good thing that the leaders are here but it also defeats the purpose since they all took planes to come here ... I think there's now enough people for them to listen. I think they are making promises they know they can't keep."

"I'm frustrated. I just want them to do what they say they'd do," Prudence Stamp, 18, added.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Greta Thunberg slams COP26 as a 'failure' at youth protest in Glasgow."
(CNN) -- At least 84 people died on Friday after a fuel tanker exploded in a suburb of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, according to authorities in the West African country.

Mohamed Lamrane Bah, director of communications for Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), told CNN that several people were also in critical condition following the explosion.

Authorities have transferred injured people to hospitals and collected the bodies, and the rescue effort at the scene has ended, Bah added.

Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said in a statement on Facebook that she was "saddened to hear about an explosion along Bai Bureh Road, Wellington, after a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck."

"The video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing," Aki-Sawyerr added.

"My sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of the victims of the explosion. May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "At least 84 killed in Sierra Leone fuel tanker explosion"
The Butler County Area Foundation Fund (BCAFF) recently presented a very large check -- $100,000 -- to the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art.

The BCAFF had a special meeting on Nov. 1 to celebrate the $100,000 grant, which it will mete out to the museum over five years. The museum will receive the first $20,000 this month.

The BCAFF has been working to increase its endowment over the last few years, with help from the Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF), a nonprofit organization that supports the growth of philanthropy in communities around Nebraska.

At the Nov. 1 meeting, NCF Chief Operating Officer K.C. Belitz congratulated the BCAFF on the work it has done since the organization began nearly 40 years ago.

"Man, the next 40 are going to be extraordinary," Belitz said. "We're certainly excited to be along for the ride."

The BCAFF isn't done yet this year, though -- at the meeting, BCAFF Chair Kent Clymer said they will be announcing another $30,000 in grants this year.

"(Carol Fuxa on BCAFF's grant selection committee recently said), 'You guys probably don't understand how much fun this is -- I remember the first time when we got to $10,000,'" Clymer said. "I was talking to  a former board member, and he goes, 'Yeah, when we got to $5,000, we thought we had something.' And we're doing four or five grants this year of over $5,000."

Clymer said it's exciting to be able to support the efforts of other community groups.

"The neat part is that we can give them the economic boost for them to go out and do these things," Clymer said.

The museum will use its BCAFF grant to support the Bone Creek Museum Campaign -- a fundraising effort to expand the museum's capacity. So far, the museum has secured $1.1 million toward a $3.9 million goal.

"Thank you -- we all are extremely appreciative of the grant that you have so generously bestowed on us. It's exciting," Museum Board of Directors President Ruth Thoendel said at the Nov. 1 BCAFF meeting.

The ultimate goal of the campaign is to relocate the museum from its current home at 575 E St. in David City to the Ford Building, 312 Fifth St. in David City.

The Ford Building was recently donated to the museum, and the museum board and volunteers have been working to clear the building out over the last several months.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 13, the museum is holding an event at the Ford Building, where the Bone Creek Museum Campaign steering committee will present plans for restoring the Ford Building and moving the museum there.

Visitors will have the chance to tour the historic property and enjoy select art pieces, special music, speakers and food.

The Nov. 13 event, Thoendel said, will serve as the public kickoff for the Bone Creek Museum Campaign.

"We have been quietly fundraising for a few weeks now and we have over $1 million already raised," Thoendel said.

There's still a ways to go before the campaign will reach its $3.9 million goal, Thoendel said, but those interested can go to the Nov. 13 event to learn more about the expansion and relocation campaign. More information is also available online at campaign.bonecreek.org.

Molly Hunter is a reporter for The Banner-Press. Reach her via email at molly.hunter@lee.net.

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The precinct and polling place for some rural Butler County voters -- specifically those in Alexis, Savannah, Read and Ulysses townships -- have changed in the wake of Nebraska legislative redistricting for the 2020 census.

Butler County Clerk Stephanie Laska said she has tried to keep travel distance in mind when arranging the new precinct lines and polling places.

Ulysses Township residents previously voted in Ulysses but will now vote in Dwight.

"Now they have to drive from Ulysses Township, wherever they are, to Dwight. The driving distance from the furthest corner (of Ulysses Township) to Dwight is 12 miles," Laska said.

Meanwhile, residents in Read Township will vote in Rising City, whereas they previously voted in Ulysses.

"The distance from the furthest corner of Read (Township) to Ulysses was 10 miles," Laska said. "The furthest distance to drive from Rising City to Read is also 10 miles."

Previously, the residents of Alexis and Savannah townships were part of the same precinct and they voted together at the St. Peter parish, 211 Esplanade St. in Bellwood, of the St. Peter and St. Joseph Catholic Church and Rectory.

Laska is considering having Alexis Township residents instead vote at the church and rectory's other parish: St. Joseph, 4211 B Road, roughly seven miles west of Bellwood.

"If I can use it and it's ADA compliant, then it'll be that. If I can't, then I'll have to have two precincts voting in Bellwood at the (St. Peter) parish," Laska said.

That set-up would resemble the one at the David City Municipal Auditorium, 699 Kansas St. in David City, where the residents of David City's three wards vote alongside each other and the residents of Union and Olive townships.

The polling places for Alexis and Savannah township voters are still being finalized, but Laska said all of the information will be published online by the start of January at butler.gworks.com. She also stressed that new voter registration cards will eventually be sent to voters, with their new precinct and polling place information.

The silver lining is that Laska was able to eliminate a polling place and the need for poll workers to staff it, thereby saving the county some money.

The precinct changes are related to legislative redistricting that was completed by the Nebraska Legislature about a month ago.

Before the legislature's latest redistricting, all of Butler County was included in legislative district 23. Most of Butler County is still part of district 23, represented by Sen. Bruce Bostelman, but the eastern quarter of the county now belongs to district 24, represented by Sen. Mark Kolterman.

The geographic boundaries for each Butler County precinct cannot cross legislative district lines, which is why the precinct boundaries have had to change.

The boundaries for every elected representative in the United States -- from village board members to members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- are redrawn every 10 years according to population data from the latest U.S. census.

The lines must be redrawn as population shifts so that the number of people represented by each member of a governmental body -- be that body a village board, city council or state legislature -- remain roughly equal.

In a Sept. 10 press release put out during the redistricting process, Kolterman indicated a desire to keep all of district 24 in Four Corners Health Department. The final redistricting map does keep district 24 entirely under Four Corners.

"As we all have learned over the past year-and-a-half, our local public health departments provide an important task. Currently, (district 24) resides completely within the Four Corners Health Department," Kolterman said in the release.

Kolterman, meanwhile, was staunchly opposed to an initial proposal that would have moved district 24 to Sarpy County, a change that was eventually thrown out and did not make it to the final map.

While the eastern quarter of Butler County is now part of Kolterman's district, Bostelman's district gained some ground to the north and now covers the entirety of Colfax County.

Molly Hunter is a reporter for The Banner-Press. Reach her via email at molly.hunter@lee.net.

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OMAHA  More than 90% of employees of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems that require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have gotten their shots.

The health systems' chief medical officers jointly announced the plan in early August, well ahead of President Joe Biden's September announcement that all government contractors  including those that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars  require employee vaccination.

All of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems have granted exemptions to a small percentage of their employees on medical or religious grounds, including roughly 5% of Bryan Health's staff. Most established committees to review the requests and granted them on an individual basis. Employees granted exemptions typically have agreed to wear masks and test regularly for COVID-19.

Thursday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued emergency regulations that will apply to roughly 17 million health care workers at 76,000 providers nationwide.

Under the rules, eligible health care workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. The regulations require health care facilities to provide for exemptions for recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Unlike a separate rule requiring vaccination in most cases for businesses with 100 or more employees, the CMS rule doesn't allow for periodic testing as an alternative to vaccination. The agency said, however, that health care facilities may voluntarily institute testing alongside other infection control measures, such as distancing and source control.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that he will fight back against the new federal rules.

The Omaha- and Lincoln-area medical chiefs said in August that their voluntary effort was intended to ensure the safety of patients and employees and the communities in which they operate.

The announcement came as a joint statement signed by the CEOs of Boys Town National Research Hospital, Bryan Health, CHI Health, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, Methodist Health System, Midwest Surgical Hospital and Nebraska Medicine.

On Monday, Bryan said it had only 10 employees  out of 5,552 people  leave over a vaccination mandate that became effective Oct. 29.

Below is a summary of where the other health systems stand:

Nebraska Medicine

More than 97% of employees had been vaccinated by the health system's deadline in late October, officials said. The health system granted 304 exemptions for religious and medical reasons, representing about 3% of total employees.

Thirty employees opted not to follow the vaccination policy, or about 0.3% of total staff. Only 18 worked full time.

Children's Hospital & Medical Center

Omaha-based Children's and its affiliates reported that 99.7% of its 3,351 employees were fully compliant as of Thursday, either vaccinated or with an accepted medical or religious exemption. Only .03% of the health system's staff had taken no action by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Methodist Health System

Some 98% of Methodist's nearly 8,000 employees are fully compliant, either vaccinated or with an accepted exemption.

A total of 129, or 1.6%, of employees elected not to comply with the vaccine mandate. Those people will be facing "corrective action" up to and including suspension and possible termination, officials said.

CHI Health

Some 92% of CHI's approximately 12,000 employees are either fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or have applied for and received a medical or religious exemption.

Employees who are not vaccinated and do not have an approved exemption may be able to continue working while replacements are secured, officials of the system that includes St. Elizabeth in Lincoln said. They will be subject to additional masking and testing requirements.

Midwest Surgical Hospital

As of late October, the hospital had a vaccination rate of 92%, said Dr. Stephen Doran, chief medical officer. That represents an increase of about 15% since the health systems initiated their policy.

All of those who are not vaccinated, he said, have submitted requests for exemptions.

Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals

As of early this week, 93% of Madonna's employees were vaccinated and 123 exemptions had been granted for medical and religious reasons, representing 6% of all employees.

Twenty had taken no action by the system's Oct. 29 deadline, which represents about 1% of staff members. As of Tuesday, five had resigned or said they intended to resign rather than comply with the vaccine policy.

Boys Town National Research Hospital

The vast majority of Boys Town employees are vaccinated, officials said. Exemptions continue to be evaluated on an individual basis.

Journal Star reporter Matt Olberding contributed to this report.
When one hears the word sterling, a few things may come to mind  sterling silver, jewelry or tableware, or a sterling reputation, quality or attribute. In other words, something or someone genuine, classic, stellar or exquisite.

Those are words that perfectly describe the thoughts behind Columbus Community Hospital Foundations new Sterling Society.

Having the best health care for our families, loved ones, friends and neighbors is something we can easily take for granted. We are blessed to have an outstanding community hospital right here in Columbus that houses talented providers and staff who care for us each day. They do so during the most memorable moments in our lives  and sometimes, at the hardest and worst moments in our lives.

These health care professionals have a beautiful facility with the newest equipment and top-of-the-line technology, along with a supportive leadership team, because of our community of givers.

How does our hospital keep growing, evolving and thriving? It takes hard work, a team of dedicated leaders, a talented board of directors and more than 900 tremendous staff members who make it all happen. Thanks to the foundation and the monetary gifts we receive from estates, endowments and donations, the hospital can continue to have the most current advancements in medical technology, the newest equipment and the best providers to care for you and your loved ones.

The Columbus Community Hospital Foundations Sterling Society is a group of individuals who have designated funds from their estate to be directed to the Sterling Society of the foundation. This group of individuals genuinely cares about improving the health of those whom our hospital serves. They value our hospitals sterling reputation and the stellar care our patients receive, and they want our hospital to continue to be here for generations to come.

You can be a part of this group, too. There are no prestigious, elite membership requirements  just honest, hardworking individuals who want their estate monies to go toward something they are proud of.

Do you have your will or estate planned or completed? Wouldnt it be comforting to know your wishes will be honored as you see fit, so your loved ones wont have to argue or disagree over your hard-earned money and belongings?

Death is extremely difficult, and emotions are very hard to control, especially when it comes to those we love so deeply. Planning will provide your loved ones with comfort, and they will be grateful for the decisions you made ahead of time.

For more information about the foundation or Sterling Society, please call 402-562-3377 or visit www.columbushosp.org/foundation.aspx.

Cori Fullner is the executive director of the Columbus Community Hospital Foundation.

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Prosecutors at trial argued he had taken Thomas out to a boat ramp along the river intending to kill her, and dumped her body in the river. Keadle maintained he left the 19-year-old there  alive  when she refused to get back in his Ford Explorer.

Her body never was found.

On Tuesday, though, as Pickens cast new doubt on the same facts of the case, justices cast doubt on the lawyer's understanding of his own appeal.

Pickens appealed to the state's Supreme Court on the basis of corpus delicti, a common law legal devise that refers to the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing it.

But in Nebraska murder trials, the device revolves largely around confessions.

"What's the purpose of the common law rule of corpus delicti?" Justice Stephanie Stacy asked, interrupting Pickens as he described Facebook posts Thomas had made before her disappearance. "What's the purpose? What's trying to be achieved by the rule?"

"To ensure that folks who confess to crimes that weren't actually committed are not convicted," Pickens replied.

"Do we have a confession in this case?" Stacy asked.

"No," Pickens conceded. "There's some unfortunate statements. There's some dishonesty. There's, I suppose, some misdirection. But there's no confession."

"So, in a murder case where there is no confession in play, what purpose does the rule of corpus delicti serve that isn't already served by requiring a jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?" Stacy asked.

And so went the latest appeal of Keadle's conviction.

Pickens, throughout his argument on Tuesday, was peppered by nearly every justice on the state's Supreme Court with questions that seemed to cast doubt on the merits of the appeal.

The lawyer maintained that he was not simply asking the justices to reweigh the evidence  which is not the role of an appellate court. Instead, Pickens recited the facts of the case and the events that led up to Thomas' disappearance, claiming the state didn't have sufficient evidence that a crime occurred.

Even if prosecutors proved the elements of the crime, he argued, it doesn't mean they'd proven corpus delicti -- that the crime had been committed at all.

And Pickens lamented what the common law rule has come to mean in Nebraska, now seeming to require an attached confession, though the dictionary definition of the doctrine doesn't mention one.

"The corpus delicti rule at least used to mean something," he said. "It certainly doesn't mean as much as it used to."

Speaking on behalf of the state, Assistant Attorney General Melissa Vincent summarized Pickens appeal as "nothing more than an invitation to this court" to reweigh the evidence already considered by a jury.

Vincent noted that prosecutors don't have to provide blood evidence in murder cases when circumstantial evidence is enough to convict a defendant, as it was in the case of Keadle, whose own admissions helped put him away.

She said that the existence of physical evidence has never been a requirement in murder trials to prove that a crime occurred.

"Nor does that requirement make sense," she said. "It's possible to kill a person in ways that do not produce physical evidence apart from the body itself. And in any event, physical evidence can be destroyed.

"Both possibilities exist in this case."
Writers try to avoid cliches, like he is a sight for sore eyes; beauty is in the eye of the beholder; and seeing is believing. Some phrases are so overused, they make us see red.

But we do like stories. So, here is one.

A woman invited her neighbor over for coffee one day and, as they chatted about current topics, the womans four-year old would interrupt them, calling from outside where she played.

Mommy! Mommy! the girl would say. Come look at this!

The mother would dutifully excuse herself and go outside to see whatever colorful bug, imaginative play, or dandelion discovery her daughter had found.

After three times of sipping coffee alone in wait, the neighbor grew irritated, and when the mother returned, she said, I dont know why you even bothered to invite me over. It is apparent you have no time for me. All you do is jump up and leave whenever your daughter calls.

The woman was surprised at her neighbors angst.

Well, she replied. I brought her into this world. The least I can do is let her show it to me.

I love that story. In 144 words, it conveys lessons about selfishness, patience, and taking time to see life through a different lens. It also speaks to immediacydoing something right away, so as to not lose an opportunity or experience a special moment with somone.

This story came to mind recently when I learned a good friend of mine passed away. JoLyn, whose name means Yahweh is gracious, was an exemplary Christian, praising God for every blessing she had and prayerfully seeking grace for what she did not.

The last 13 years of her life were lived in a wheelchair, but JoLyn never complained. Never.

Covid isolated even more of her solitary life, but we saw each other every now and then. I remember meeting her at a local pumpkin patch about this time last year. How simple it was for me to saunter through the rows, lifting and sorting both heavy and small choices. She didnt have it so easy.

Every task we take for granted took preparation and perseverance for her: getting out of bed, taking a shower, changing clothes, making a sandwich, getting groceries. It may be easy to order online, but you still have to get the boxes off the front porch, find the scissors, and open them up.

I also recall the last time we met for supper. While I selfishly shivered in the blustery January wind, she slowly and methodically lowered herself out of her van, scolding me to get inside where it was warm.

While I lamented about work and personal obligations, she set goals for herself, attended every family event she could, and spent hundreds of dollars on cards and stamps to tell others she was thinking of and praying for them. JoLyn was someone who would eagerly leave her cup of coffee behind to go discover the world outside. And thats point of this months column.

During JoLyns service, I realized 10 months had passed since I last saw her in person. I had thought about calling her several times and texted her once or twice, but we each were busy and there was always tomorrow.

But there isnt.

Our days on this earth pass much too quickly to hang onto maybes, hold grudges, or repeatedly wipe should-ofs off our countertops. Contrary to the cliche, time does not heal all wounds.

In fact, I encourage you to stop reading this right now and ask a friend, your child, or grandchildren to show you their world. Call someone you havent talked to in a long time just to say, Hello. Invite a friend to coffee or dinner, especially when its cold and seems inconvenient. Send a card or write a note to someone you love and let them know you are thinking about them.

You never know. You may not get another opportunity.

Jeanne Schieffer is a published writer, poet, and professional communicator with undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Dakota and the University of Nebraska-Kearney, respectively. She can be reached at threesidescolumn@gmail.com. Schieffers column will publish the first Saturday of every month.

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" " It's easy to change your Gmail password. MoMo Productions/Getty Images

Now, more than ever, password security should be at the top of your mind when considering online safety. Whether you're protecting vital information from malicious hackers or simply adding a layer of security between your online identity and the rest of the world, Google makes changing your Gmail password a safe and easy process. Here's how to do it.

Go to Google.com If you aren't already signed into your account, sign in now. Click the Account button. On the top-right corner of the screen, click the account button  that's the one with the account photo (or if no photo, it will have your first initial). Click Manage Your Google Account. Click "Security." On the left-hand side of the screen, click the Security tab. Choose "Password." In the middle of the screen, choose the Password option. Sign in. Google will ask you to re-sign in with your current password before you can change it. Pick your password. Now it's time to do the deed. Now it's time to do the deed. Longer passwords are typically more secure; Google recommends a minimum of 12 characters made up of a unique combination of letters, numbers and symbols.

When it comes to picking a password, don't use info someone could easily get from your social media pages, like your pet's name or your date of birth. And don't use obvious passwords like "123456" or "password" or "picture1." All three appeared in the top 5 of a list of most-common passwords.
Bettye Kearse, author of The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a Presidents Black Family, will take part in a book talk at 7 p.m. Friday at New Dominion Bookshop.

Kearse, a retired pediatrician, wrote the book over the course of three decades, traveling to Ghana, Portugal and across the U.S. to document eight generations of her African American familys struggles, perseverance and achievements. She became her familys oral historian in 1990.

The event is free. The staff recommends arriving early for best seating. Learn more at ndbookshop.com or (434) 295-2552.

Gail Morin, a childrens author from Orange County, has released The Adventures of Super Alert Dog. The book teaches children about the dangers of cyberbullying.

Morin leads in-person and online events for schools to emphasize the importance of being kind to each other. To learn more about her work, go to adventuresofsuperalertdog.com.
Kirk Douglas, in his late 30s at the time of the alleged assault, was known for such films as "Spartacus," "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." He also was one of the first major actors to form his own production company and a prominent liberal activist who has been widely credited with helping to break the Cold War blacklist against suspected Communists when he hired Dalton Trumbo to write "Spartacus" and listed him by name for the 1960 release. Douglas and his second wife, Anne, donated millions of dollars through the Douglas Foundation they co-founded in 1964 with a mission to "helping those who might not otherwise be able to help themselves."

Douglas received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 and the Legion of Honor from France in 1985. He was given an honorary Oscar in 1996, when the film academy praised him as "a creative and moral force."

Douglas himself acknowledged that he was a womanizer and an unfaithful husband. Speaking to The Associated Press about Douglas in December 2016, less than a year before the #MeToo movement caught on, the actress and dancer Neile Adams lightheartedly said of her friend, "You could not sit beside him without his hand crawling up your leg."
It was clear that the board and I did not see eye to eye and it was untenable. So I resigned, Woolley said.

I stand by my work. I stand by all that Ive done. And Im ready to defend it. And I will defend it and have defended it in the past. But as far as anecdotes  that have not seen the light of day in a courtroom where Ive been disposed of, theres nothing to say about them, he said.

Councilor Lloyd Snook also gave Woolley the opportunity to address multiple lawsuits that had come against him while he was employed at the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

I was one of several defendants named including the organization itself  there were four cases, three of which involved lawyers that were disgruntled. One was taking corporate documents, another was living outside the city. And then another ones representing both the housing authority and a wayward police officer, Woolley said.

In most cases its very difficult, near impossible for one attorney to represent both sides. And so I just ran into some issues there, but because of it, I was named in the suit. And it was disposed of  and the attorney in question was reprimanded by a federal judge from the bench, he said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Biden even called her mother in India, though it was unclear why.

This was not to bribe me, this is when it was all done," Jayapal told reporters. The lawmaker said her mother told her she just kept screaming like a little girl."

In a two-sentence statement, the five moderates said that if the fiscal estimates on the social and environment bill raise problems, we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies" to pass it. The five included Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., leader of a group of centrists who this summer repeatedly pressured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule earlier votes on the infrastructure bill.

In exchange, progressives agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which they'd spent months holding hostage in an effort to pressure moderates to back the larger bill.

The day marked a rare detente between Democrats' moderate and progressive wings that party leaders hope will continue this fall. The rival factions have spent recent weeks accusing each other of jeopardizing Biden's and the party's success by overplaying their hands and expressed a deep distrust of each other.

But Friday night, Jayapal suggested they would work together moving forward.
The project reflects plans by President Joe Biden's administration to develop enough offshore wind energy by 2030 to power 10 million American homes for a year. An estimated 80,000 jobs are expected to be created.

State officials have said the offshore wind farm off Virginia's coast is expected to support about 1,100 long-term jobs, although there will likely be about 1,500 jobs during peak construction.

Last month, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will partner with Dominion on a $200 million factory making turbine blades for offshore wind projects. It's expected to create 310 jobs.

The factory will be located at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal and will produce turbine blades for the project in Virginia as well as other offshore wind farms around North America.

Over the next 10 years, building and operating the offshore wind industry will be worth $109 billion to businesses in its supply chain, according to a recent report from the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind.

Dominion's pilot project off Virginia's coast is already providing useful information to the industry on anything from safety issues to coordinating with cargo ships heading for the Port of Virginia.
Everyone eligible should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment.

Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals.

Vote

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Were all rolling on up toward the holidays, and I want everyone who has any connection to me, either positive or negative, to have a good one. Theres been a ton of research coming out this last couple of weeks that many of the COVID-19 ritualistic class would find upsetting. But in the spi
In 2006, Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to hang for crimes against humanity, and more events that happened on this day in history.
They also had to deal with the toilet leak, pulling up panels in their SpaceX capsule and discovering pools of urine. The problem was first noted during SpaceX's private flight in September, when a tube came unglued and spilled urine beneath the floorboards. SpaceX fixed the toilet on the capsule awaiting liftoff, but deemed the one in orbit unusable.

Engineers determined that the capsule had not been structurally compromised by the urine and was safe for the ride back. The astronauts will have to rely on what NASA describes as absorbent undergarments.

On the culinary side, the astronauts grew the first chile peppers in space  a nice moral boost, according to McArthur. They got to sample their harvest in the past week, adding pieces of the green and red peppers to tacos.

They have a nice spiciness to them, a little bit of a lingering burn," she said. "Some found that more troublesome than others.

Also returning with McArthur and Pesquet: NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. SpaceX launched them to the space station on April 23. Their capsule is certified for a maximum 210 days in space, and with Friday marking their 196th day aloft, NASA is eager to get them back as soon as possible.
Its unfortunate that Americans have little understanding of our Constitution  reporters, citizens, and judges. Reporters say that federal vaccine mandates are superior to state law. The states formed the federal government and gave it power  not the other way round. The 10th Amendment says that unless power is delegated to the federal level, it remains with the states. I challenge anyone to show where in the Constitution our congress or president got the power to establish medical standards.

Constitutional offender and contributor to the Eagle John Crisp thinks entitlements got a bad rap. He thinks all Americans are entitled to free money forwhatever. Thats my money  stolen by government despite no authority to conduct charity (find it).

Another reader just wrote the Eagle wanting everyone to write their legislator to force vaccines. Our founders rationale was that government shouldnt have any power that a person doesnt have. If a person cant make a person get a vaccine, they also have no power to delegate that  no matter how many of us vote on it.
A train of the Cat Linh  Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi, Nov. 4, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

The Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi began commercial operation Saturday morning, 10 years after its construction began.

The service, Vietnams first, would help increase the number of public transport users, and together with the nine other routes planned, form a key transport network to help reduce traffic congestion, the city Deputy Chairman, Duong Duc Tuan, said.

The first train left Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District at 7:40 a.m. for Yen Nghia Station in Ha Dong District to the southwest.

A full trip on the 13-kilometer elevated track will take 23 minutes after stopping at all 12 stations.

After being free for the first 15 days, it will cost VND8,00015,000 ($0.350.66) for a ticket.

There will also be monthly tickets for VND100,000-200,000.

In the first week, the service will be from 5.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day with a train every 15 minutes. The frequency will be increased from the second week with a train leaving every 10 minutes.

After six months, the service will be extended to 10.30 p.m., and there will be a train every six minutes during rush hour.

Built by China Railway Sixth Group Co Ltd, the project took 10 years to complete with hurdles and conflicts delaying the work several times.

Its cost increased by 57 percent from the original estimate to VND18 trillion ($868 million), with 77 percent of it coming from official development assistance loans from China.

The city of 8.3 million people is plagued by traffic congestion during rush hour due to the large number of motorbikes and cars.
Takes an army to fight invisible foe on a war footing

Vietnam had to tackle the unprecedented scale of the fourth Covid-19 wave on a war footing and 130,000 soldiers were dispatched to support HCMC and other southern localities.

Deputy National Defense Minister Vo Minh Luong spoke to VnExpress about the perils of fighting an invisible foe.



The army has decided to withdraw its forces after completing its mission of helping HCMC and other southern localities in the Covid-19 fight. From a commanders perspective, what can you share with us about the past three months?

In a campaign with a thin line between life and death, we only wished to do whats best for the people, not knowing exactly how many tasks this entailed. We had to be flexible and creative. I find it difficult to summarize everything that the people and the political system, including the army, have achieved.

Transporting goods was a normal task for us, but shopping for people was something we were not prepared for. It was strange at first, but eventually things fell into place. Then there was the particular job of transporting the dead bodies and ashes of those who died of Covid-19, which was unprecedented and emotionally taxing on the soldiers. But we learned to let go of the fear, as we knew we had to act with love, compassion and a sense of duty.

Deputy Minister of National Defense Vo Minh Luong speaks to VnExpress, November 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen

The ministry dispatched around 137,000 soldiers and militia members for the job. This was the largest army mobilization since the war. How was that decision made?

After a meeting with the Politburo, secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen discussed raising the alarm level in the Covid-19 fight. HCMC had consulted with the governments Covid-19 taskforce and considered tightening coronavirus restrictions, allowing the army to take care of food supply for the general populace. We discussed this issue the whole day.

At that time, HCMC had already gone through more than a month of strict social distancing. I remember saying that if HCMC wants to take a step further in prevention, two conditions had to be met. One was preparing enough food and other necessities for 10 million people for a month, and there had to be enough medicine and medical equipment. If these two conditions were met, the army would be willing to take on any task the city gave us.

After much consideration, the taskforce and the city both agreed to go full throttle. Starting August 23, residents were asked to stay home and the army was dispatched to make sure social distancing measures were followed and medical capabilities were enhanced, among other tasks.

Soldiers bring food packages to residents in District 10, HCMC, September 6, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

How were the army forces distributed?

As we faced the onslaught of the coronavirus and an overloaded medical system, the Politburo and the Prime Minister decided to send in reinforcements, including the army, to HCMC and southern provinces. It was the right decision at the right moment.

Over 130,000 soldiers were dispatched. 20,000 were sent to the border, and around 100,000 stationed in HCMC. Most of them were military forces already stationed in the south, and only around 20,000 came from the north.

That might seem like a lot of people, but they were only a fraction compared to the 10 million population of HCMC. We had to perform multiple tasks at the same time, including patrolling, goods transportation, testing and vaccinating. But thanks to clear directions from the Central Military Commission and the ministry, as well as the sense of duty we had to the people, we were able to make sacrifices and overcome many challenges.

The coronavirus situation in HCMC back in August was very tough, requiring all resources. The army also had to come in at such short notice. How did you respond to the challenge?

All forces were trained for at least one-two days before coming to HCMC. We were trained to do tasks like patrolling at traffic stations, maintaining order, which is what we do as the military. We also had to persuade people to follow social distancing orders, so we made soldiers read the regulations, recorded them and broadcast them on loudspeakers.

The same was with Covid-19 testing. The army helped the city form 500 teams of medics, but they werent enough to perform mass testing quickly. There was one time when the city requested 5,000 soldiers to take samples, so we sent in 1,000 from the north and the rest from existing forces in the south. We asked for 4,000 test kits for training purposes one day before we reached HCMC. Thats how we were able to send enough soldiers so quickly.

Among the tasks in HCMC, which part did you feel the military could have done better?

Out of all the tasks, the most troublesome was erecting checkpoints at entrances. Many people tried to go past them, so if we werent firm enough, they would break through. This happened at checkpoints in Long An Province. We were afraid the same thing would happen in Tien Giang, where people gathered in the thousands. So I ordered more reinforcements to the checkpoints, adding hospital frameworks there for screening purposes. Those who tested positive must stay back, and those who tested negative for the virus could pass. People then understood they could come and go, and not be absolutely confined to one place, so they gave up on trying to circumvent the checkpoints.

One morning, we let thousands of people go through the checkpoints without letting the virus break through to other areas in the Mekong Delta. I also informed localities that they could test people trying to get in if needed.

Another challenge was the shopping. Many soldiers are complete novices at that. But there was no other way than to take it on, and they eventually got used to it.

Then there were the dead bodies and the ashes. Some soldiers were terrified of the task at first, but we reassured them and they managed to get it done as well.

These were new and unprecedented missions for us as soldiers. We had never done anything like it before. But we went ahead and did it anyway.

Military personnel prepare to hand over ashes of Covid-19 patients to their families in HCMC, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

What can you tell us about the sacrifices made by soldiers, those who lost loved ones but couldnt go back home to grieve, or continuing with the mission despite the fear of getting infected?

Our sacrifices are nothing compared to what our people have lost. But as a commander, I see those sacrifices. Dozens of doctors and nurses at the frontline were coronavirus patients themselves, yet they all chose to stay.

Not just health workers, but soldiers and militia members also got infected a lot, and had to be treated. At first, such cases were only reported to team leaders, and they didnt inform me until much later. It showed their spirit of duty and sacrifice.

Many soldiers also lost their parents and grandparents while they were on missions. But amid the coronavirus outbreak, they all decided to stay back and grieve the loss of loved ones from afar.

Looking back at the three months of fighting the coronavirus, as the head of the governments Covid-19 taskforce, what decision did you think was the most important one for HCMC and other southern localities?

When the fourth wave broke out, HCMC has gone all out to stop it. But the Delta variant proved to be a formidable foe, spreading quickly and embedding itself in the population, especially at industrial parks and neighborhoods with high population density, catching the city off-guard. Medical facilities were overwhelmed, and more people were dying every day.

So the government decided on the three planks: quick isolation, stringent contact tracing and quick testing. Each campaign was carried out in two-three waves spanning over three-four days, which helped to remove coronavirus cases from the populace and cut down the chain of transmission.

Regarding Covid-19 treatment, we created several ICUs and field hospitals, equipped with over 6,000 beds with enough equipment, medicine and personnel.

The Prime Minister said each ward and commune should be a fortress against the coronavirus, and each resident would be a soldier. Thats how the city was able to quickly amass human resources and medical equipment for the fight. He also requested mobile medical stations to take care of Covid-19 cases at home, ensuring early and easy access for the people. That plan helped reduce the number of severe cases and deaths, relieving pressure from medical facilities.
The three localities with the highest numbers of new infections were Dong Nai with 1,085 cases, Ho Chi Minh City with 986 cases and Binh Duong with 921 cases.

58 deaths were added to the national database on Saturday, with 32 cases in HCMC, five each in Binh Duong and Kien Giang, four in Dong Nai, two each in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Dong Thap, and one each in Binh Dinh, Soc Trang, Lam Dong, Binh Thuan, Long An and Can Tho.

22,470 coronavirus deaths have been recorded so far, accounting for around 2.4 percent of all infections.

With increasing cases, Can Tho and several Mekong Delta provinces, as well as Dong Nai, have let patients with mild symptoms be treated at home to prevent hospitals from getting overloaded.

Several northern provinces with new outbreaks have imposed restrictions on large gatherings like weddings. Hanoi, which recorded 116 cases on Saturday, has changed school reopening schools, now allowing several schools in safe areas in only Ba Vi District, instead of all outskirt districts as it announced earlier, to resume on-site classes from Monday.

1,754 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered on Saturday, bringing the number of recovered cases so far to 839,101.

Vietnam has vaccinated 60.3 million people with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. 28.1 million people have been fully vaccinated.
The respect and kindness of the Vietnamese people, together with the exquisite street foods, are what make the country so attractive, foreigners say.

"I feel safe here and far safer than in my country. I can walk down alleyways late at night or walk halfway across Ho Chi Minh City by myself and not feel like Im in any danger. Ive left my bicycle unlocked outside of shops and my apartment block and its never moved, or someone has guarded it for me. Ive left my motorbike keys by accident in my bike and my bike remained where it was with the keys still in the ignition. Ive even been in situations where people, who dont speak a word of English, stepped in to try and help me."

Elizabeth Petty

"There are so many little things that make me say that living here is special. I arrived in Vietnam almost by coincidence (or maybe was fate) and I immediately fell in love with the country and its people.

I feel at home here and it's a fantastic feeling. I love people's smiles and their helpfulness; the greetings with neighbors and the toasts they force me to make with them.

It's wonderful how many people are willing to participate in [volunteer] activities: here there is a really beautiful community but there is more, much more and the most important thing is that I am happy to be here."

Karim Schneider

"The people are amazing and incredibly humble and generous to us sometimes silly, ignorant foreigners. Considering what the country went through not too long ago the people are open and willing to share the beauty and uniqueness of their culture and country."

Alan Stokes

"The Vietnamese people. They are the most hospitable, humblest, well-mannered, law-abiding, family-oriented and affectionate race on earth.

Oh, I need not mention their exquisite cuisine. The entire world knew that already."

Rob Ocampo

"I never understood the word respect until I lived two years in Vietnam. Vietnamese are the kindest most respectful people I have ever met."

Michael McAlister

"It is no rumor or exaggeration that the people are extremely generous and kind in this beautiful country, I have experienced first-hand encounters with both old and young where I live and work. In fact, they would go out of their ways to render help to me despite having little knowledge about their language. During all the lockdowns, I would constantly meet some relief packages in front of my gate. I shouldn't forget to mention how I was contacted for my vaccine shot. Wherever I am, and it is safe, is a place I consider my home."

Thay Charles (Teacher Charles)
One month after they were named in a hostile work environment complaint, Board Chair Cathy McAdoo and Vice Chair Patrick Carter signaled Friday that they will temporarily step aside as board leaders during the outside investigation into the higher education system chancellors claims.

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Nevada Independent the leaders internal announcement and the scheduling of a special meeting on Nov. 12. It will be the boards first public meeting since publication of the chancellors allegations.

McAdoo and Carter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The resignations were first reported early Friday by the Las Vegas Sun.

Though McAdoo and Carter will retain their seats on the 13-member board, which regents might emerge as leaders in the interim is unclear.

An agenda for that meeting posted late Friday afternoon included a single action item to elect officers pro tempore in accordance with the decision by McAdoo and Carter to temporarily relinquish their leadership roles.

The agenda item also notes specifically that the newly elected leaders will serve through the duration of the investigation, and in no event serve any later than June 30, 2022.

The boards bylaws do not explicitly define guidelines for the removal or replacement of board leaders, instead providing only that in the absence or inability to act of both chair and vice chair, a regent designated by the chair may step in to run a meeting as a presiding officer pro tempore.

However, Regents may also move to select a new chair and vice chair under bylaws governing vacant leadership positions, which would allow the board to vote for new leaders. Per Fridays agenda, that election will occur next week.

In her complaint filed early last month, Chancellor Melody Rose accused McAdoo and Carter of abusing their power, violating the boards code and working to minimize her influence in an attempt to force her out of her position. Few regents have commented publicly on the matter, as an investigation by an outside law firm continues to probe the chancellors allegations.

In a joint statement issued one week after the complaint became public, McAdoo and Carter said only that the board takes all complaints seriously and is committed to having a thorough investigation conducted.

But at least one regent, John T. Moran, publicly called for McAdoo and Carter to step down. Explaining his stance to The Nevada Independent last month, Moran said he made the call in part to avoid the appearance of impropriety and out of an abundance of caution for the board.

In the weeks since, the Nevada System of Higher Educations inner workings have outwardly slowed to a crawl or been delayed altogether, as three interim board or committee meetings have since been canceled or postponed indefinitely.

Before the announcement of the Nov. 12 meeting, regents had not been set to meet before a regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on Dec. 2 and 3.

Among items included in those canceled meetings were decisions on a new special counsel and chief of staff for the board. On Wednesday, Carter confirmed that he would step down as the search committee chair for the special counsel search, and said he recommended canceling the search and hiring a third-party search firm.

Multiple sources have also confirmed media reports  first reported late Wednesday by KSNV News 3 in Las Vegas  of a second hostile work environment complaint against the board filed by Truckee Meadows Community College President Karin Hilgersom.

The contents of that complaint remain unknown, but sources confirmed that the document does not name specific regents.

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Much of the nonsense that is fracturing our country is coming out of our education systems. Restricting math education because scores are not equitable, making sure that eight-year-olds know more about fringe sexual behavior than a nineteenth century sex worker, and avowing without question that the sun rises and sets on racism are all coming out of our schools.

But we still teach the basics, dont we? Not really. Research has shown there are almost 25 countries where children have better science and reading skills. Almost 40 have better math skills. Most people educated in America cant even name 40 countries.

When I first started teaching, every professor in my department had an elementary education in an American K-12 school. When I retired, only one professor had attended an American elementary school. Everyone else had been educated in other countries.

Moreover, we spend more money than any country in the world to get these results. The cost per student in New York State is $24,000 per year. It is $12,500 in California. Does anyone believe students in New York are twice as well educated as those in California? In Oregon, which suggested doing away with math, a million dollars will educate only 83 students for less than one year.

Start your own business. Recruit 83 students and receive the million dollars. Hire four teachers at $100,000 each (25% more than Oregon teachers now receive, even with perks). Hire a secretary and a whole-purpose person at $50,000 each. Rent your space, pay all utilities and other costs. You still would make a profit of $400,000 per year.

About half of the money spent on schools never sees a student. Something is very wrong with our schools, and it is not just how much it costs.

Research is clear that the colleges of education at our state universities take the worst students (as determined by standardized tests), give them the highest grades, and then turn them loose to educate our children.

But dont worry. As one teacher opined on social media, it is OK that teachers have low academic scores because, Elementary school teachers do not need to know the most advanced material in order to teach the basics of grammer [sic] and arithmetic.

Some suggestions:

1. Eliminate an undergraduate major in education. Even professors with a doctorate in education are bored with education. Just look at their journals. Much of what is contained there is actually about politics and social issues. Require a student to get a real degree before getting certified.

2. Get rid of teachers unions. Research has shown that most teachers do not even like their unions. It is difficult to say at this point if teachers unions are an arm of a political party, or if a political party is an arm of the unions. Either way, the unions are more interested in politics, trendy social issues, and money than they are in actual education.

3. Eliminate the federal Department of Education. It has no legitimate function. It exists to buy votes and to exercise federal control over local schools by withholding tax money. It costs about $70 billion a year to administrate one of the worst bureaucracies on the planet, and it is obviously failing.

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Twice a year the majority of Americans change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. The change happens on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November each year. The shift is always done on the weekend at 2:00 am to limit the amount of disruption caused. On Sunday 7 November most Americans will have to remember to change the hour on their clock, and enjoy an extra hour in bed.

There is a saying to help remember which way to change your clock, Spring forward, Fall back, so in the springtime you turn your clock forward one hour and in the autumn you turn your clock back an hour. However, there are parts of the US that dont have to worry about what time it will be when they wake up because where they live there is no Daylight Saving Time.

Residents in some states will not be changing their clocks

For some the twice annual time change is a bother, which has led to calls to end the practice of Daylight Saving Time. 29 states have introduced legislation to do away with the twice-yearly switch, but it is contingent on neighboring states to do the same. However, the ultimate authority to do so has been under the Department of Transportation since 1966.

The only parts of the US that do not have Daylight Saving Time are Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

Arizona experimented with the change beginning in 1918, but decided to permanently opt out of the Daylight Savings Time in 1968. Although the state observes Standard Time, the Navajo Nation, a Native American territory in the north-east of the state, which also crosses over into New Mexico and Utah, does make the twice a year time shift.

Hawaii is the only other state that currently doesnt observe Daylight Saving Time, along with the other US territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea. Since they are close enough to the equator that there is no significant difference in sunrise and sunset times across the year there are no benefits from changing the hour.

Why we change the clocks for Daylight Saving Time

The first person credited with suggesting the idea of changing our clocks to take advantage of the longer summer days was Benjamin Franklin while he was living in Paris. But the man credited with getting the ball rolling was a British builder named William Willett who suggested the idea to Parliament as a way for the nation as a whole to make better use of daylight.

However, Germany was the first to implement the practice of seasonal time changes, desperate to save energy during the First World War. The policy quickly caught on with most European nations, the US and the United Kingdom along with its allies adopting the Daylight Saving Time by 1918. However, many nations ditched the system in the years after the war only to adopt it again when there was a need to conserve energy.

Does Daylight Saving Time really conserve energy?

The Daylight Saving Time is credited with reducing crime, people are doing activities in the daylight so there are less opportunities for criminals, as well as saving lives and preventing traffic accidents. However, the primary reason for the twice-yearly shift comes from the energy savings it is purported to have. According to the US Department of Transportation study in 1975, the US experienced nearly a one percent daily savings on energy use during the yearly Daylight Savings Time period.

However, those findings have been contradicted by more recent analysis performed in 2006 when Indiana implemented Daylight Saving Time statewide, previously it had been in effect in just a few counties. Researchers found that residential energy consumption actually increased by around one percent. They ventured that although less lighting is needed, the longer summer evenings caused a spike in AC usage in households throughout the state.

The official end to summer is well in the rearview mirror and the days grow shorter as winter sets in. Remember, if you live in a part of the US that has Daylight Saving Time, on Sunday 7 November to turn back your clocks one hour, 2:00 am will become 1:00 am. You can do so Saturday before you go to bed or when you wake up. That is, unless you dont mind arriving an hour early to whatever appointment you have the next day.
After much anticipation the third series of Narcos: Mexico lands on Netflix today with new stars and a female narrator for the first time in the shows history.

The Netflix original crime drama centres on the Mexican drug war and follows the stories of the real-life drug kingpins who plotted, battled and stole their way to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. This is the third series set in Mexico, after the huge success of the original Columbia-based series, Narcos, which followed the life of Pablo Escobar.

The original Narcos spanned just two seasons and reports suggest that the third installment will be the last for the Mexican spin-off; meaning there will be no season four of Narcos: Mexico. However that does not mean that the franchise is ending for good.

Could there be another series of Narcos?

Narcos began in 2015 with two series focused on Escobar and his rise in prominence in Columbian society, before switching to Mexico in 2018 after the lead character was finally gunned down by police.

The switch between the two locations did not follow a linear timeline, moving from 1990s Columbia to Mexico City in 1980. This suggests that the team behind Narcos have no issue with jumping around chronologically to capture the ongoing drug war and American involvement in countries south of the border.

Those involved clearly now feel that the story of Narcos: Mexico has been told, but there is plenty of scope for more spin-off series. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter last year, Eric Newman, executive producer and showrunner of the Narcos series, made clear that he believes they is no shortage of material.

He said: So in terms of how long it could go? Unfortunately, it could go forever.

By the time we were to catch up with the present, it would no longer be the present. It would be sad chapters of a continuing story that would become the past, he added.

What to expect from season three of Narcos: Mexico

After moving away from Arellano Felix, the head of the powerful Guadalajara cartel, after he is finally capture at the end of series two, the new season will focus on Amado Carrillo Fuentes. The third series follows Fuentes ascent to power to become the head of the Juarez cartel.

As well as a new lead there is also a new director for two episodes; Wagnor Moura, the actor who played Pablo Escobar in previous season of the show. New characters will see Luis Gerardo Mendez play Victor Tapia, Alberto Guerra introduced as Ismael El Mayo Zambada and musician Benito Antonio Bad Bunny Martinez Ocasio make his series debut as Arturo Paez.
Earthquakes continue on La Palma

There have been 27 earthquakes detected by the National Geographic Institute (IGN) during the early hours of Monday in La Palma and they have occurred at depths of between 9 and 37 kilometres.

The highest magnitude earthquake reached 3.4 at 1:00 a.m. in the municipality of Fuencaliente and at a depth of 13 kilometres.
Against the wishes of Progressive Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi brought the Bipartisan Infrastructure package to a vote in the House of Representatives. The Progressive Caucus has argued that they would not vote on the package until the reconciliation bill was also introduced in the chamber. Despite the Progressive opposition, all Democrats voted to approve the bill. Additionally, thirteen Republican members voted with Democrats, separating from the common position of their party.

Which Republicans voted to approve the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan? Bacon -- Nebraska

Fitzpatrick -- Pennsylvania

Garbarino -- New York

Gonzalez -- Ohio

Katko -- New York

Kinzinger -- Illinois

Malliotakis -- New York

McKinley -- West Virginia

Reed -- New York

Smith -- New Jersey

Upton -- Michigan

Van Drew -- New Jersey

Young -- Alaska



Democrats had a hard election night on Tuesday. Terry McAuliffe lost the governor's race in Virginia, and Phil Murphy scraped by with a victory after many had projected a landslide. This may have been a sign to Democratic leadership that they needed to work to enact the President's agenda or else their electoral chances in the Mid-Terms could parallel what was seen early this week.

The White House has released a factsheet detailing the measures that made it into the final version.

Household health and technological benefits

The package includes funding to eliminate lead piping from the countries water system. Around the country, around ten million people lack access to safe drinking water. This issue disproportionately impacts communities of color and Tribal Nations and the bill will invest $55 billion to tackle the issue.

At the household level, the bill will also ensure that every American has access to high-speed internet. The White House stated that more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Those in rural areas tend to have less access to reliable internet and also tend to pay higher prices. The infrastructure package allocates more than $65 billion to help lower prices for internet service and help close the digital divide so that more Americans can afford internet access.

Investments in traditional infrastructure

While President Biden had initially proposed a much more sweeping infrastructure package that included investments in workers, Republicans rejected the plan. Instead, this package is much more focused on traditional investments in physical infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, ports, and more. More than $110 billion will be spent to repair and rebuild our roads and bridges with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users.

The proposal also aims to decrease traffic fatalities, which took the lives of more than 20,000 people in the first half of 2021, by establishing the first-ever Safe Streets and Roads for All program.

As for ports/waterways and airports ways more than $17 and $25 billion, respectively will be spent to repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies. The pandemic has taken a massive toll on supply chains and this money could really help logistic and transport industries bounce back and help bring prices for consumers down.

Public transportation and passenger rail expansion

Climate advocates argued that investments in public transit systems are needed for two key reasons. The first is that reaching the nations climate targets is reliant on taking many gas cars off the road. Additionally, many systems have taken a hit during the pandemic as many commuters began working from home. The bill includes $89.9 billion in guaranteed funding for public transit over the next five years  the largest Federal investment in public transit in history. The package also includes measures to support accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities.

Additionally, the bill makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. Amtrak will see a $66 billion investment to eliminate the Amtrak maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor, and bring world-class rail service to areas outside the northeast and mid-Atlantic.

When will the reconciliation bill be brought to a vote?

In speaking with the press, Nancy Pelosi said she aimed to bring the reconciliation social spending bill to a vote by Thanksgiving. While many more conservative Democrats had signed onto the agreement, some backtracked saying that they wanted to see the report from the Congressional Budget Office on possible deficit implications.
A see-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou XII manned space mission is held at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, June 17, 2021. [Photo by Su Dong/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The crew members of China's Shenzhou XII spaceflight have finished their quarantine and are in the recuperation period, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

The agency said in a news release that the astronauts -- mission commander Major General Nie Haisheng, Major General Liu Boming and Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo  have recovered from the physical effects of their three-month mission and took part in some medical comparison experiments.

The release quoted the astronauts as saying that they feel honored to receive greetings and regards from the public, noting that they will attend a news conference after the recuperation period concludes to share their experience with the public.

The Shenzhou XII spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F carrier rocket that blasted off on June 17 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The astronauts entered Tiangong later that day after the two spacecraft docked with each other, becoming the first inhabitants of the station.

They flew 90 days with the Tiangong and made two spacewalks to use a large robotic arm and other equipment to install and adjust devices outside the station. They also performed a number of scientific experiments and technological tests.

The crew landed at the Dongfeng Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in mid-September and was soon flown back to Beijing.

Currently, the Tiangong station is hosting the Shenzhou XIII crew -- Major General Zhai Zhigang, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu  who were lifted in mid-October atop a Long March 2F at the Jiuquan center. They are scheduled to stay inside the station for six months.
China on Friday released the World Openness Report 2021, analyzing the global trends in opening-up, economic governance, global trade and investment.

The report comprises 12 chapters, mainly on the World Openness Index, economic globalization, global economic governance, trade and investment, China's opening-up, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to the publication, the World Openness Index, which measures 129 major economies, had been fluctuating between 0.74 and 0.78 from 2008 to 2019, showing an overall trend of volatility and decline.

Opening-up is the only way for a country to achieve prosperity and development, a key step to its solution of contemporary problems, and also the fundamental driving force for the progress of human civilizations, the report stated.

It added that multilateralism and regionalism are the two wheels driving economic globalization and governance, and the two wheels need to work together to improve global economic governance.

New trends are evolving from global economic governance, including more multilateral governance platforms and changing governance landscape, with governance reform still lagging behind, according to the report.

All countries should adhere to multilateralism and open regionalism, give full play to the constructive role of global and regional multilateral mechanisms, jointly safeguard rules-based multilateral trading system, and strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, the report stated.

The report, compiled by the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Center for Hongqiao International Economic Forum, was released during the ongoing fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

China releases World Openness Index

World Openness Index, which gauged the openness level of 129 major economies from 2008 to 2019, was released Friday at the fourth Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai.

The index, compiled by the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Center for Hongqiao International Economic Forum, was included in the World Openness Report 2021.

The 10 most open economies in 2019 were Singapore, Germany, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Canada, and Malta, according to the index.

Though around 80 percent of economies saw their level of openness expand, the global index declined from 0.7790 to 0.7480, or around 4 percent, from 2008 to 2019.

The United States, which was the most open economy in 2008, slid down to the 22nd position, with its openness index dropping to 0.7666 from 0.9328.

As the United States accounts for about 25 percent of the world economy, the country has dragged down the regional and global pace of cross-border opening up, the report noted.

The continual expansion of openness of China has raised the country's index ranking from the 62nd in 2008 to the 40th in 2019, up 22 places and reaching 0.7420, showed the index report.

China has rolled out a slew of concrete measures in opening-up, including promoting joint efforts to build the Belt and Road, establishing pilot free trade zones, and hosting the China International Import Expo. These actions have effectively eased the momentum of shrinking global openness, stated the report.

The world still has a great potential for openness, and expanding openness is in the common interest of mankind, the report concluded.
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (right) received Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Switzerland Philipp Rosler. (Photo courtesy of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)



At the meeting, Rosler said it was an honour for him be appointed as Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Switzerland, affirming that he will do his best in his new role to contribute to promoting cooperation between the two countries in many fields, especially in areas he has experience and expertise such as business connectivity, digital transformation, and healthcare.



He said that Swiss businesses are very interested in Vietnam. They highly appreciated the open policy and development potential of Vietnam and have looked forward to visiting and surveying its business investment environment right after the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled, he said.



Rosler said that the international community strongly supported Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), adding that the Prime Minister's statement has created a new attraction for foreign investors, who both want to develop their business in Vietnam and contribute to environmental protection.



Congratulating Rosler on his appointment as the Honorary Consul, Son emphasised that this is evidence of Vietnam's appreciation for his contributions to Vietnam - Switzerland relations in recent years and reflects that Vietnam considers Switzerland as one of the important partners with great potential for cooperation.



The minister hoped that Rosler would continue to make more positive and effective contributions to the process of opening, recovering and developing the economy of Vietnam, contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-Switzerland relationship, especially in the fields of health, policy consultancy, and attracting foreign investment in high technology, innovation and maintaining global supply chains./.
Wild geese and swans are seen at the Hongjiannao Wetland Reserve in Shenmu, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Nov. 3, 2021. Flocks of wintering wild geese and swans have arrived at the Hongjiannao Wetland Reserve on their route of migration. (Xinhua/Tao Ming)

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Murat Kolbasi, chairman of Arzum Electrical Home Appliances, receives an interview with Xinhua in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Sadat)

by Zeynep Cermen

ISTANBUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- As the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened on Thursday in the country's east coastal city of Shanghai, a Turkish brand is in the hope that more Chinese consumers will taste the delicious Turkish coffee.

Established in 1966, Arzum is a major Turkish producer exporting products to 42 countries and regions, including China.

Among the company's product ranges to be showcased at the expo, a distinguished machine will become a big draw, Murat Kolbasi, chairman of Arzum Electrical Home Appliances, told Xinhua at a showroom in Turkey's Istanbul.

"The main product range which was planned to enter the Chinese market in the upcoming period and be presented at the expo will be the Turkish coffee machine," he said.

In Kolbasi's view, coffee consumption has seen a tremendous rise in China, and the country's market has enormous potential for Turkish coffee, which was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 2013.

"We think we can achieve significant growth in the Chinese market," he said, voicing his hope that Turkey's share will rise exponentially with the help of the expo.

Kolbasi's teams have also been working on making Turkish coffee with coffee beans grown in China. "As our experiences get matured, we will develop this part of business as well," he said.

The expo will be beneficial for Arzum to develop new business relations with Chinese companies and promote a wide range of products, he added.

The pandemic, he said, has brought about a change in the way of life in China, and people started to spend more time at home, cooking, cleaning, and doing diverse housework.

"So Chinese people realized a large increase in demand for all kinds of electrical home appliances," he said, adding that "we think that we can satisfy these demands in the market with our products."

The company has participated in the previous CIIEs. Initiated in 2018, the CIIE is the world's first dedicated import exhibition. Nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions are attending the fourth CIIE, which covers an offline exhibition area of 366,000 square meters.

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Editor: JYZ
Tatiana Valovaya, director general of the United Nations (UN) Office at Geneva, visits a photo exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat in the UN, held in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 4, 2021. The exhibition, titled "Promoting Shared Prosperity for a Peaceful Future," was jointly hosted by the Chinese Mission in Geneva, the UN Office in Geneva and Xinhua News Agency. Li Song, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Mission in Geneva, together with dozens of UN officials and ambassadors from other countries, visited the photo exhibition . (Xinhua/Chen Binjie)

Editor: JYZ
On November 6, TET Group began importing electricity from Belarus in the amount of 5 MWh, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Utility Services Andriy Gerus has said.

"The import of electricity from Belarus to Ukraine in the amount of 5 MWh has begun," Gerus wrote in his Telegram channel on Saturday.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that it was imported by Vitaliy Butenko's TET Group LLC, which, according to him, was the only one that received the right to import electricity from Belarus, unlike Energoatom and ERU Trading, which also bought out rights to import electricity via cross-border sections at Ukrenergo auctions, but physically it is not imported.

At the same time, Gerus said that earlier TET Group, which was founded in the summer of this year and began its activity only in October, did not import electricity.

"Nevertheless, it is TET Group that bypasses both the state-owned Energoatom and ERU Trading, which has been operating on the market for over five years, and gets exclusive/monopoly access to Belarusian electricity," the head of the committee said.

Gerus suggested that the company received access to the Belarusian electricity as a result of certain agreements.
Washington continues to monitor Russian troop movements near the country's border with Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby briefed reporters on Friday.

"We continue to watch and monitor unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine and we also continue to consult with allies and partners on the issue," Kirby told reporters.

"I obviously can't speak to Russian intentions and I'm not going to get into an intelligence and assessment of exactly what we're seeing, but again, we continue to monitor this closely any escalatory or aggressive actions by Russia would be of great concern to the United States," he said.

"We would urge Russia to be more clear about its intentions," he added.

Asked what is unusual about the Russian military activity, Kirby said that it is a matter of scale. "It's a matter of the size of the units that we're seeing."
On the day of the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Kyiv from the Nazi occupiers, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky laid flowers in the memorial hall of the Monument - Museum of the Liberation of Kyiv, located on the territory of the National Museum "Battle for Kyiv in 1943" in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Kyiv region.

"The liberation of Kyiv is a story of boundless indifference and cruelty of "great" leaders and boundless feats of great fighters who liberated the city from the Nazis," the press service of the head of state reported, citing Zelensky as saying.

He recalled that according to official data, the losses in the battle for the Dnipro River amount to 417,000 dead. In the battles for Kyiv, up to 240,000 soldiers and officers fell. But according to the calculations of a number of historians, the total death toll is at least twice as high, because those mobilized through the field recruiting offices were often not taken on the military record, so as not to worsen the statistics of losses.

"Even not dressed in uniform and extremely poorly armed, hundreds of thousands of our ancestors were thrown into the battle for the liberation of Kyiv to certain death. We will never forget at what cost the capital of Ukraine was liberated from the Nazi occupiers on November 6, 1943," Zelensky said.

"Eternal memory and glory to all who liberated Kyiv from the Nazi invaders," he added.

The head of state also talked with veterans of military operations in eastern Ukraine and instructed Head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration Vasyl Volodin to step up the creation of a Center for National-Patriotic Education on the territory of the Museum.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine canceled the decision on the victory of Yevhen Oleinikov in the competition for the post of head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. The document was promulgated by MP (the European Solidarity parliamentary faction) Oleksiy Honcharenko.

"The Cabinet of Ministers canceled the decision on the victory of Yevhen Oleinikov in the competition for the position of the Chairman of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. This was reported by the Department for Supporting the Activities of the Commission on the Higher Corps of the Civil Service. On September 27, Oleinikov was named the winner of the competition with a score of 11.23 points. And on November 3 this decision was canceled," Honcharenko wrote in Telegram.

As reported, on Thursday, November 4, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the place of residence of Oleinikov and his mother. As Oleinikov himself explained, the searches were connected with the fact that, in the opinion of NABU, he may be involved in covering up the illegal activities of a certain group of enterprises.

The NABU, in turn, reported that the searches were carried out in the premises of the central office of the State Tax Service, the State Tax Service in Poltava region, at the place of residence of officials of the tax service and a number of individuals in Kyiv, as well as in Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions.

The State Tax Service said that back in December 2020 and in January 2021, it conducted its own audit of the head office of the State Tax Service in Poltava region regarding the development of risky companies, including the enterprises that appear in this criminal case. Based on the results of the audit, the department revealed a number of violations of the service discipline of the employees of the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in Poltava region and applied disciplinary measures to officials. Regarding the circumstances revealed in the course of the specified audit and which could have signs of criminal violations, the State Tax Service forwarded the information to the State Bureau of Investigations.
Prince William in Confusion in Regards to Queen Elizabeth's Health? (Photo : REUTERS )

The most recent release of Woman's Day reports Prince William was worn out in the wake of discovering Queen Elizabeth went through the night in a clinic. In the wake of getting the news, it at last hit William that the sovereign is close to the furthest limit.



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The sovereign was immediately set free from the emergency clinic, and castle sources said she was recuperating, yet she promptly dropped her public appearances and requested rest.



While William has been attempting to get tightly to his feelings, his better half, Kate Middleton, is there to help. "Kate's tragic also, yet she's made it her central goal to carefree her better half along," an insider muses. He wants to move forward and support her, and keep the family moving along as planned. Truly, Wills doesn't have a clue what he'd manage without Kate."



Along these lines, Middleton got together her family and took a holiday.



It just bodes well that Prince William would be somewhat enthusiastic when pondering losing his grandma. That being said, we question it's thwarting his capacity to work. Sovereign William keeps on satisfying his imperial obligations without taking a beat. Also, most as of late, the duke conveyed an incredible discourse during the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference. While we're certain Middleton upholds her significant other inwardly, we question she's the sole thing holding him back from self-destructing.



Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth's wellbeing isn't in any impending peril. While she couldn't go to the UN environment emergency, she experienced no difficulty recording a cozy location for the occasion. Not long after, spectators were astonished to see the sovereign cruising all over Windsor entirely all alone. Since the sovereign isn't going anyplace for a brief period, we're sure her friends and family are keeping it together.



This isn't whenever Woman's Day first has been off-base with regards to the Duke of Cambridge. Last year, the newspaper asserted William requested Meghan Markle to "quit wearing" Princess Diana's adornments. Then, at that point, the power source claimed the sovereign planned to name him the following ruler. Also, the distribution even detailed William and Middleton were travelling to Los Angeles to go up against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Woman's Day isn't the most dependable with regards to the Cambridges.


The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided that two seats in each of Egypt's bank boards will be reserved for women, CBE Governor Tarek Amer told MENA, the state-owned news agency, on Wednesday.
President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi arrived in Glasgow on 31 October to attend the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). World leaders gathered in the Scottish city in an attempt to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming.

Addressing attendees, President Al-Sisi said Egypt has taken serious steps to implement a sustainable development plan and aims to make 50 per cent of government-funded projects green by 2025, and 100 per cent by 2030. He also noted that renewable energy sources currently produce 20 per cent of Egypts energy, a figure that will rise to 42 per cent by 2035.

Al-Sisi also urged industrialised countries to meet their commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, warning of the devastating economic and social consequences of climate change on poorer countries should they fail to do so.

On the sidelines of the two-day summit, Al-Sisi met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Next years climate summit is due to be hosted by an African country, and Egypt is a frontrunner among nominees. (see p.8)

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 November, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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China hit back Wednesday against criticism by US President Joe Biden, who had accused Beijing of not showing leadership after President Xi Jinping skipped the make-or-break COP26 United Nations summit in Glasgow.

Xi -- who leads the planet's largest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change -- has not travelled outside of China since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and has not joined world leaders for COP26.

Biden on Tuesday had launched blistering criticism of the Chinese and Russian leaders for not attending the summit.

"Actions speak louder than words," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded Wednesday.

"What we need in order to deal with climate change is concrete action rather than empty words," he added. "China's actions in response to climate change are real."

He also made a jibe at Washington by adding that the United States pulling out of the Paris Agreement under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had harmed global climate governance and the implementation of the accord.

Biden has apologised for Trump's decision.

COP26 has been billed as vital for the continued viability of the 2015 Paris Agreement under which nations promised to limit global temperature rises to "well below" 2C, and to work for a safer 1.5C cap.

At the summit on Tuesday, nearly one hundred nations joined a US and European Union initiative to cut emissions of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- by at least 30 percent this decade, with China among notable absentees.

Experts say the initiative could have a powerful short-term impact on global heating.

"It just is a gigantic issue and they walked away. How do you do that and claim to be able to have any leadership?" Biden told journalists before flying out of Glasgow.

"It's been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China not showing up. The rest of the world looked at China and said: 'What value are they providing?'"

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One protester was killed and scores of people, mostly members of Iraqi security forces, were injured late Friday when scuffles between supporters of pro-Iran Shia militias who had camped outside Baghdad's Green Zone and anti-riot police turned deadly, officials aid.

The protesters reject the results of last month parliamentary elections that saw the pro-Iran militias as the biggest losers.

The health ministry said the injuries in early Friday's scuffles were mostly from smoke inhalation and rock throwing. Most of the injured were members of the riot police.

It was not clear what sparked the clashes later Friday.

There were reports of an exchange of fire erupted after dark Friday following a day of tense rallies and scuffles between the Iraqi forces and the protesters who have been camped out outside the Green Zone for over three weeks.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into Friday's violence to determine what sparked the clashes and who violated orders not to open fire, a statement from the joint security operations room said.

About 300 protesters marched, apparently trying to storm the heavily protected Green Zone, and used rocks to pelt the security forces. The anti-riot police responded with batons, tear gas and water cannons to push them back.

At least 27 civilians and 98 members of the security were injured, the health ministry said. Then clashes erupted, killing at least one protester, two security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Following the vote, militia supporters had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence unless their demands were met.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters is also increasing tensions among rival Shia factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shia southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs through Iran-backed militias.

The militias lost popularity since the 2018 vote, when they made big election gains. Many hold them responsible for suppressing the 2019 protests, and for challenging the state's authority.

The biggest gains were made by influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who won the largest number of parliament seats, 73 out of 329. While he maintains good relations with Iran, al-Sadr publicly opposes external interference in Iraq's affairs.

The protests appear to be aimed at pressuring al-Sadr to ensure that Iran-aligned factions are part of the next Cabinet. As the winner, al-Sadr's bloc will seek coalition partners and name the prime minister.

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With 78 million cases in the WHO's European region- which spans 53 countries and territories and includes several nations in Central Asia -- the cumulative toll now exceeded that of South East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean region

The rising number of cases of Covid-19 in Europe is of "grave concern" and the region could see another half a million deaths by early next year, the World Health Organization warned on Thursday.



With 78 million cases in the WHO's European region- which spans 53 countries and territories and includes several nations in Central Asia -- the cumulative toll now exceeded that of South East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific, and Africa combined, the organisation said.

"We are, once again, at the epicentre," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference.

Kluge noted that the "current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the European Region is of grave concern."

According to "one reliable projection" the current trajectory would mean "another half a million Covid-19 deaths" by February, Kluge added.

The increases were observed "across all age groups," he said.

Kluge blamed the soaring caseload on "insufficient vaccination coverage" and "the relaxation of public health and social measures."

Hospital admission rates were higher in countries with lower vaccination rates, he said.

Measures like testing, tracing, physical distancing and the use of face masks were still part of the "arsenal" in fighting the virus.

"We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place," Kluge said.

The number of new cases per day has been rising for nearly six consecutive weeks in Europe and the number of new deaths per day has been rising for just over seven consecutive weeks, with about 250,000 cases and 3,600 deaths per day, according to official country data compiled by AFP.

Over the past seven days, Russia has led the rise with 8,162 deaths, followed by Ukraine with 3,819 deaths and and Romania with 3,100 deaths, according to the data.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry left on Friday for Washington to take part in the strategic dialogue between Egypt and the United States, slated for Monday and Tuesday.

The two-day talks will tackle "all aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation areas targeted to be reinforced," a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry read.

The two sides "will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest," the statement added.

Shoukry is scheduled to meet with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, other officials, congressmen, and members of the most prominent US think tank organizations.

The US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue was first launched in the mid-1990s, lasting until 2009 when it was halted, before resuming in 2015.

On Thursday, the US Department of State expressed its commitment to strengthening the forty-year US-Egypt partnership by enhancing security cooperation, advancing human rights, and growing economic relations and cultural ties.

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Ethiopia must be ready to make "sacrifices" to "salvage" the country, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Saturday, as fighting in the north intensifies between government forces and Tigrayan rebels who threaten to advance on the capital.

His announcement came a day after nine rebel groups said they would join forces in an alliance built around the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been locked in a year-long war against Abiy's government.

TPLF representative Berhane Gebre-Christos said Friday the alliance aimed to "remove the regime," as he signed the nine-party agreement in Washington.

Abiy then tweeted on Saturday that "there are sacrifices to be made, but those sacrifices will salvage Ethiopia."

"We have seen the tests and obstacles and it made us stronger," he said, adding: "We have more allies than the people who turned their backs on us."

"For us, Ethiopians, dying for our sovereignty, unity and identity, is an honour. There is no Ethiopianism without sacrifice," the government's communication service said on Twitter.

'Existential war'

Last weekend, the TPLF said it had taken two strategic cities in the region of Amhara, where its fighters had advanced after retaking their Tigray bastion in June.

It said Wednesday it had reached the town of Kemissie in Amhara, 325 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of the capital.

The TPLF added it was running "joint operations" with another rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, which predicted Addis Ababa could fall in a matter of weeks.

The Ethiopian government, which on Tuesday declared a nationwide emergency, has denied any major rebel advance or threat on the capital, vowing to press on to victory in "an existential war".

Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum on Friday accused the rebels of spinning "an alarmist narrative that is creating much tension among different communities, including the international community".

"This information warfare and this propaganda that they have been propagating is giving a false sense of insecurity," she added.

Faced with the recent escalation in fighting, the United Nations' Security Council on Friday called for a ceasefire in a rare joint declaration on the issue.

But neither side has yet responded to requests for ceasefires and talks relayed by the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, who travelled to Addis Ababa.

Several embassies, including those of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Norway, have urged their nationals to leave Ethiopia.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF, which he accused of having attacked military bases. Weeks later, he declared a victory.

By late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray and expanded into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.

Thousands have been killed and at least 400,000 forced into famine-like conditions, according to the UN, warning of a humanitarian crisis.

Twitter disables 'trends'

The conflict has also exacerbated ethnic rivalries, in particular on social media where calls for war and hatred have been rife.

Twitter announced on Saturday that it had temporarily disabled its "trends" section -- which groups the most viral tweets on a subject -- for Ethiopia.

The social media giant said it was "focused on protecting the safety of the conversation on Twitter," adding that "inciting violence or dehumanising people is against our rules".

Facebook's parent company Meta said Wednesday that it deleted a post by Abiy that called for Ethiopians to "bury" the rebels.

Tuesday's declaration of a nationwide emergency triggered a wave of police operations.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International slammed the emergency measures, calling them "a blueprint for escalating human rights violations".

Thousands of Tigrayans have been arrested since Tuesday, lawyers said. The authorities said they are only targeting TPLF supporters.

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Iran told Russia Saturday that Western governments should be "realistic" when nuclear talks resume later this month and not to exceed the bounds of a 2015 deal they are seeking to revive.

A telephone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, which Moscow said was requested by Tehran, came just weeks before the talks reopen in Vienna on November 29 after a five-month gap.

"The rapid approach of the talks requires the European and American sides to adopt a constructive and realistic approach, avoiding excessive demands that go beyond the terms of the nuclear agreement" struck in 2015, the Iranian minister said, according to a ministry transcript.

The Russian foreign ministry said the two "sides spoke in favour of restoring the nuclear deal in its original, balanced configuration, approved by the UN Security Council".

"They confirmed that this is the only correct way to ensure the rights and interests of all participants of the comprehensive agreements."

The nuclear talks, which are being brokered by European Union mediators as Tehran refuses to deal with US negotiators directly, are aimed at bringing Washington back into a 2015 agreement with Iran that was abandoned by former US president Donald Trump.

The remaining parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France and Germany as well as Russia -- are also taking part.

President Joe Biden has said he is ready to rejoin the deal, under which Iran agreed to strict limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sweeping sanctions.

But the two sides remain at odds over the details.

Iran wants a lifting of all US sanctions which were imposed after Trump's withdrawal.

The Biden administration says it will only negotiate measures taken by its predecessor over the nuclear programme, not steps imposed over other concerns such as human rights.

Tehran also wants commitments that the United States will remain bound by the deal -- an unlikely proposition in Washington, where Trump's Republican Party fiercely opposes Biden's diplomacy with Iran.

Washington insists Tehran must return to full compliance with the limits on its nuclear programme it agreed in 2015, and has warned repeatedly that the window of opportunity for a deal is closing fast.

Amir-Abdollahian said Saturday that Tehran would return to full compliance just as soon as Washington did so too.

"If the US side returns fully to its obligations and makes no other demands, Iran will honour its obligations too."

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The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said Saturday it has killed more than 150 more Houthi rebels in the past 24 hours in raids around the northern pro-government bastion of Marib.

The coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, has reported near-daily strikes over the past month against the Iran-backed Houthis, each time claiming high losses.

"Fourteen military vehicles were destroyed and more than 157 terrorist elements eliminated" in the latest raids, the coalition said in a statement carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA.

The air strikes targeted two regions of oil-rich Marib province, Al-Jawf in the north and the south's Al-Bayda, it said, as well as Sirwah, west of Marib city.

The Houthis began a major push to seize the city in February and, after a lull, they renewed their offensive in September.

Marib is the embattled government's last stronghold in the north. A loyalist military official acknowledged Tuesday that the Houthis have made advances on the ground.

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.

Tens of thousands of people have died and millions displaced in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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The Egyptian Public Prosecution will host starting Sunday an international conference on the role of prosecution in combatting transnational crimes.

The Egyptian prosecution said in a statement that it will also chair the 15th annual meeting of Africas top prosecutors and the first annual meeting of Arab top prosecutors, which will run for three days from 7 to 9 November.

The conference, held under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, will receive African and Arab top prosecutors, the statement added.

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Rescuers supplied around 800 migrants on a charity ship off Italy with emergency food and warm blankets Saturday, as their appeal for a safe port went unanswered and they braced for another night at sea.

German NGO Mission Lifeline said its ship Rise Above had delivered "urgently needed relief supplies" for the hundreds of people stuck on board fellow charity ship Sea Eye 4, including over 200 minors.

The Sea Eye 4 had already been carrying nearly 400 people pulled to safety at sea when it raced to the rescue of another 400 people crowded onto a wooden boat on Thursday.

The Ocean Viking, a charity vessel run by SOS Mediterranee, is also looking for a port for over 300 people it has rescued, bringing the number of migrants seeking to disembark in Italy to over 1,100.

There were "many children under the age of 10" and five pregnant women on board the Sea Eye 4, the NGO said in a statement, adding that over 200 people had been treated so far at the onboard hospital.

"At present, we receive more support from the small Dresden-based sea rescue organization Mission Lifeline than from all EU states together!" Sea Eye chairman Gorden Isler was quoted as saying.

"Our crew is working at the limits of what is humanly possible. The ship must be allowed to dock immediately to ensure the safety of all those rescued and the crew," he said.

Italy is one of the main points of entry into Europe for migrants from North Africa, mainly from Libya and Tunisia, with tens of thousands of people seeking to cross the central Mediterranean each year.

Under previous interior minister Matteo Salvini's "closed ports" policy, European states had to agree to take a certain number of rescued migrants before the charity ships were allowed to dock.

Isler said "negotiations on the distribution of the rescued" should be conducted after the migrants land.

Nearly 55,000 migrants have disembarked in Italy this year, compared to just under 30,000 last year, according to figures from the interior ministry.

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Italian President Sergio Mattarella has called for "due account to be paid to the rights of the Sahrawi people" in an "equitable" and UN-brokered solution to the Western Sahara conflict.

Mattarella's comments, came on a visit Saturday to Algeria, the main backer of Western Sahara's Polisario Front independence movement, which has been locked in an escalating war of words with neighbouring Morocco since US ex-president Donald Trump recognised Rabat's sovereignty over the former Spanish colony late last year.

In an interview with Algeria's El Moudjahid newspaper, Mattarella said Italy had "always strongly supported the role played by the United Nations" in the search for a solution.

The world body has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara since 1991, overseeing a now broken ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario, and attempting to organise a self-determination referendum for the territory.

"We support Algeria's role and its commitment to the UN framework on Western Sahara," added Mattarella, whose office is largely ceremonial.

Trump's recognition of Morocco's claim to sovereignty last December broke with years of international consensus that Western Sahara's future should be settled by a UN-supervised referendum.

It has posed a diplomatic headache for European countries with close ties with North Africa, particularly Spain and Italy.

Italy is the largest consumer of Algerian gas, importing more than a third of the North African country's output.

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Egypt extended its condolences on Saturday to Sierra Leone over a fuel tanker explosion in the capital, Freetown, which left scores of deaths and injuries.

At least 99 people were killed and over 100 others were injured when a fuel tanker collided with a truck in the citys eastern suburb of Wellington late on Friday, causing a massive blast and clouds of smoke, according to local authorities.

The Egyptian government and people express sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also reiterated solidarity with the west African country in such hard circumstances.

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Egypts First Lady Entissar Amer and Brigitte Touadera, the First Lady of Central African Republic, discussed on Saturday the two countries' efforts to support and empower women.

On Facebook, Amer said she was honored to meet with Central African Republics first lady, underscoring Egypts efforts over the past years to empower women.

Over the past years, Egypt has made great achievements in enhancing the status of Egyptian woman in society and in boosting their condition at all levels, Amer wrote.

She added that Egypt has been implementing national initiatives to establish the principle of social justice, including Hayah Karima (Decent Life), Takaful wi Karama (Solidarity and Dignity), and Nour Al-Hayah (The Light of Life).

The country has launched many social support and medical initiatives, especially over the past five years, that have targeted female breadwinners and women in general.

Egypt, through these and other initiatives is making its way toward the new republic, with Egyptian woman taking the lead, she said, adding they are currently living in a golden age.

On many occasions, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has affirmed the importance of supporting and empowering Egyptian women.

In September, El-Sisi launched Egypts new National Strategy for Human Rights that secures the rights of all peoples, including women and other marginalised groups.

Women have also occupied an unprecedented percentage of seats in parliament and state offices over the past five years, including heading many ministries.

In October, El-Sisi also issued a decree to appoint a total of 98 female members of the State Lawsuits Authority and the Administrative Prosecution to positions within the State Council.

This comes a few months after he announced that Egyptian women can work at the State Council and the Public Prosecution for the first time in the countrys history.

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The U.N. Security Council called for an end to the intensifying and expanding conflict in Ethiopia on Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world's worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region.

The U.N.'s most powerful body expressed serious concern about the impact of the conflict on the stability of the country and the wider region, and called on all parties to refrain from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness.

The press statement was approved by the 15 council members the day after the first anniversary of the war in the northern Tigray region that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. It was only the council's second statement on the conflict, and the first to address the worsening conflict.

Today the Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia, said Ireland's U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason. For the first time, the Council clearly calls for a cessation of hostilities. We believe this should happen immediately, and that all civilians must be protected.

The statement was drafted by Ireland, Kenya, Niger, Tunisia and St. Vincent and The Grenadines. Those countries and the United States had called for an open Security Council meeting on Ethiopia on Friday afternoon, but it was postponed until early next week, probably Monday. Diplomats said African Union representatives weren't available to participate so the meeting was delayed.

The council called on the parties to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting cease-fire, and for the creation of conditions for the start of an inclusive Ethiopian national dialogue to resolve the crisis and create the foundation for peace and stability throughout the country.

Council members said the language in the statement was watered down after objections from Russia to the original statement which called on all parties to immediately end hostilities without preconditions.

But the statement, read by Mexico's U.N. Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez, the current council president, did call for an end to hostilities -- though without the word immediately. It did single out the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia.

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The US said on Saturday it had ordered all of its non-essential diplomats and their families to leave Ethiopia, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged people to make sacrifices to fend off rebels threatening to advance on the capital.

The US State Department said it had "ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and their family members" on Friday, and it was also urging all other US nationals to leave.

Saudi Arabia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other countries have also urged their people to leave Ethiopia in the past week.

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Authorities at Cairo International Airport seized a collection of manuscripts from different ages, an Ottoman coining die and two papyri from a passenger.

The objects will be handed over to the Supreme council of Antiquities according to the Antiquities Protection Law number 117 of the year 1983, head of the Archaeological Units in Egyptian Ports Hamdy Hamam said.

The objects include 13 manuscripts of Islamic jurisprudence, spiritual medicine of Bishop Michael, Bishop of Atrib, a manuscript of the Great Fasting Prayers written in Coptic and Arabic and supplications beginning with the names of Prophet Muhammad.

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Progressive and moderate lawmakers seemed near a truce Friday evening expected to result in quick House passage of a long-stalled $1 trillion infrastructure bill, clearing the way for a victory that President Joe Biden and his party are increasingly anxious to claim.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accompanied by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., left and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer D-Md. [Photo: AP]

Under the agreement, brokered by Biden and top Democrats, progressives would end their roadblock against the package of road, water and other projects. In exchange, moderates whove balked at a separate 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure boosting social and environment programs would commit to backing it later this month if official estimates of its cost are in line with expectations.

The emerging pact came after a topsy-turvy day and was described by one Democrat who discussed it only on condition of anonymity.

A vote on the larger measure boosting health care, family services and climate change efforts is now expected later this month, an abrupt retreat from earlier plans to vote on it Friday. That scheduling shift represented a setback for Democrats, many of whom anticipated the day would give Biden a double-barreled triumph on the two pillars of his domestic agenda.

But moderates' apparent willingness to consider backing that measure stood as a significant step toward a House vote that would ultimately ship it to the Senate.

And under Democrats' current political circumstances, simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for them. The Senate approved that bill, which would create jobs in every state, in August with bipartisan support.

House passage of the infrastructure measure would whisk it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose party got a cold shoulder from voters in this weeks off-year elections.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks have made party leaders  moderates and progressives alike  impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. They also can ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could result in Republicans regaining congressional control.

The White House issued a statement from Biden on Friday night aimed at reinforcing the accord. I am urging all members to vote for both the rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act and final passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill tonight, he said, using the administrations name for the two measures. I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act.

When party leaders announced earlier in the day that the social and environment measure would be delayed, the scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over the party.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their top priorities. Thats been hard, in part because of Democrats slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

Welcome to my world, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters, adding, We are not a lockstep party.

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity.

Among those Biden reached was Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has been at the forefront of delaying the infrastructure measure for leverage. Biden asked her and her 95-member group to back the bill, said a person who recounted the conversation only on condition of anonymity.
A snub-nosed monkey, aka Yunnan golden hair monkey, is pictured at a national nature reserve located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, October 26, 2021. The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey is a first-class protected animal in China. The species is also on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Thanks to the efforts of the government, researchers and locals, the population of the monkeys has risen from no more than 1,500 in 1996 to over 3,300 in 2021. [File Photo: VCG]

Snub-nosed monkeys, aka Yunnan golden hair monkeys, are pictured at a national nature reserve located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, October 26, 2021. The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey is a first-class protected animal in China. The species is also on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Thanks to the efforts of the government, researchers and locals, the population of the monkeys has risen from no more than 1,500 in 1996 to over 3,300 in 2021. [File Photo: VCG]

A snub-nosed monkey, aka Yunnan golden hair monkey, is pictured at a national nature reserve located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, October 26, 2021. The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey is a first-class protected animal in China. The species is also on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Thanks to the efforts of the government, researchers and locals, the population of the monkeys has risen from no more than 1,500 in 1996 to over 3,300 in 2021. [File Photo: VCG]

Snub-nosed monkeys, aka Yunnan golden hair monkeys, are pictured at a national nature reserve located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, October 26, 2021. The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey is a first-class protected animal in China. The species is also on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Thanks to the efforts of the government, researchers and locals, the population of the monkeys has risen from no more than 1,500 in 1996 to over 3,300 in 2021. [File Photo: VCG]
Millions of migratory birds fly to the Hongze Lake Wetland scenic area in winter. The Hongze Lake Wetland in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, is a large freshwater wetland in east China. It's an ideal place for migratory birds with its good water quality, luxuriant vegetation and abundant aquatic food. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]

Millions of migratory birds fly to the Hongze Lake Wetland scenic area in winter. The Hongze Lake Wetland in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, is a large freshwater wetland in east China. It's an ideal place for migratory birds with its good water quality, luxuriant vegetation and abundant aquatic food. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]

Millions of migratory birds fly to the Hongze Lake Wetland scenic area in winter. The Hongze Lake Wetland in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, is a large freshwater wetland in east China. It's an ideal place for migratory birds with its good water quality, luxuriant vegetation and abundant aquatic food. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]

Millions of migratory birds fly to the Hongze Lake Wetland scenic area in winter. The Hongze Lake Wetland in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, is a large freshwater wetland in east China. It's an ideal place for migratory birds with its good water quality, luxuriant vegetation and abundant aquatic food. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]
A judge entered not guilty pleas on tax evasion charges Friday on behalf of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd's death, and for the officer's ex-wife.

Washington County District Judge Sheridan Hawley also set the next court date in the case for Jan. 21. A trial date has not been set.

Derek Chauvin appeared via Zoom for the brief hearing from the state's maximum security prison at Oak Park Heights, where he's serving a 22 1/2-year sentence for his conviction in April for second-degree murder in the May 2020 death of Floyd. The white former officer knelt on Floyds neck for 9 minutes as the Black man pleaded that he couldnt breathe.

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis June 25, 2021. [File photo: Court TV via AP, Pool]

Sitting in a prison conference room and wearing a white T-shirt, Chauvin said little except yes, your honor, to answer routine questions from the judge. Kellie Chauvin appeared from a different location.

The nine felony tax evasion counts filed in July of 2020 allege that Derek and Kellie Chauvin underreported their joint income by $464,433 from 2014 through 2019, including more than $95,000 for his off-duty security work. Kellie Chauvin was a real estate agent and also operated a photography business. At the time, prosecutors said they owed $37,868 to the state, including unpaid taxes, interest and fees. Prosecutors have said the tax investigation began before Floyd's death.

Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce shortly after Floyds death, and a judge approved the divorce last February under terms that were kept sealed. The judge rejected an initial proposed settlement that would have given Kellie Chauvin most of their property and money, which had fueled speculation that the Chauvins were trying to shield their assets,

Derek Chauvin also faces a separate federal civil rights trial, along with the three other former officers who still face trial in state court with aiding and abetting Chauvin in Floyd's death. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to the civil rights charges and is appealing his murder conviction.
The first man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha was acting belligerently that night but did not appear to pose a serious threat to anyone, a witness testified Friday at Rittenhouse's murder trial.

Kyle Rittenhouse looks back as Susan Hughes, the great aunt of Anthony Huber, enters the courtroom during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Anthony Huber was one of two men who Rittenhouse killed on Aug. 25, 2020. [Photo: Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool]

Jason Lackowski, a former Marine who said he took an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to Kenosha last year to help protect property during violent protests against racial injustice, said that Joseph Rosenbaum asked very bluntly to shoot him and took a few false steppings ... to entice someone to do something.

Lackowski got up from the witness stand and demonstrated what he meant by false stepping. He took a small step and slight lurch forward, then stopped.

But Lackowski, who was called as a witness by the prosecution, said he considered Rosenbaum a babbling idiot and turned his back and ignored him. He admitted he didnt see everything that went on between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum, including their final clash.

In other testimony, the prosecution suffered a potential blow when Rosenbaums fiancee, Kariann Swart, disclosed that he was on medication for bipolar disorder and depression but didn't fill his prescriptions because the local pharmacy was boarded up as a result of the unrest  information Rittenhouse's lawyers could use in their bid to portray Rosenbaum as the aggressor that night.

The judge allowed the defense to elicit testimony about Rosenbaum's mental illness because prosecutors brought up mention of medication. Had prosecutors not touched on the topic, it is unlikely the judge would have let the defense bring it up.

On the day he was killed, Rosenbaum had been released from a Milwaukee hospital. The jury was told that much, but not why he had been admitted  after a suicide attempt.

Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with shooting three men, two fatally, in the summer of 2020. The one-time police youth cadet was 17 when he went to Kenosha with an AR-style rifle and a medical kit in what he said was an effort to safeguard property from the demonstrations that broke out over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha police officer.

Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot.

Prosecutors have portrayed Rittenhouse as the instigator of the bloodshed, while his lawyer has argued that he acted in self-defense, suggesting among other things that Rittenhouse feared his weapon would be taken away and used against him.

On Thursday, witnesses testified that a hyperaggressive Rosenbaum angrily threatened to kill Rittenhouse that night and that Rosenbaum was gunned down after he chased Rittenhouse and lunged for the young man's rifle.

A state crime lab DNA analyst testified Friday that she tested swabs from the barrel guard from Rittenhouse's rifle and did not find DNA from Rosenbaum or the other man killed that night, Anthony Huber. But Amber Rasmussen said she received no swabs from the actual barrel and would have no way of knowing if Rosenbaum touched it.

Under cross-examination by Rittenhouse attorney Corey Chirafasi, Rasmussen was shown still images of Huber and Rittenhouse and agreed they appeared to depict Huber touching the rifle. She also acknowledged that the absence of Hubers DNA on the gun doesn't mean he didn't touch it.

In other testimony Friday, a Kenosha officer said that because of the chaos after the shooting and other gunfire that night, police didn't realize Rittenhouse was the gunman as he approached a police vehicle.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2021 - 16:55 | All, Japan

The number of geothermal power plants in Japan has quadrupled since the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, according to industry data.

Despite the surge, showed in the Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society data, geothermal power accounts for only 0.3 percent of the country's total power output because many of the plants are of small scale.

With world leaders calling for urgent action to rein in global warming at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, analysts say it is vital for Japan to accelerate the introduction of renewable energy.

Despite the abundance of geothermal resources in Japan, development of geothermal power has stagnated but it is now attracting renewed attention as a renewable energy source, with the government aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent from fiscal 2013 levels in fiscal 2030.

As part of the goal, the Cabinet approved a plan in October to double Japan's geothermal power facilities by 2030.

Geothermal power does not emit greenhouse gases, but it takes time and money to develop, and the national budget continued to decline until the 2011 disaster involving Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

A geothermal plant generates electricity by extracting the steam heated by high-temperature magma deep underground through winzes to rotate turbines.

Geothermal power generation is more stable than wind or solar generation, which are vulnerable to weather changes.

Japan has the third-largest geothermal resources in the world after the United States and Indonesia, with the country possessing an amount equivalent to estimated generation of 23.47 million kilowatts.

According to the data, the number of geothermal power facilities in the country jumped to 92 units in 70 sites in fiscal 2019 from 20 units in 17 sites in fiscal 2010.

The total output has remained unchanged at about 540,000 kilowatts as some large power plants have reduced output.

But development of small-scale power plants of 1,000 kilowatts or less has progressed in Kyushu and other areas, partly due to the country's feed-in tariff program for renewable energy.

In the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan, the 46,000-kw Wasabizawa geothermal power plant, the country's first large-scale power plant of 10,000 kw or more in 23 years, started operation in 2019.

In addition, 15,000 kilowatt-class geothermal power plants will start operation by 2030 in Iwate, Miyagi and Akita prefectures, bringing the total amount of power generation in the Tohoku region to about 325,000 kilowatts, equivalent to one small nuclear power reactor.

Citing advantages of geothermal power, Noriyoshi Tsuchiya, a professor of geology at Tohoku University Graduate School of Environmental Studies, said geothermal, a domestically generated resource, can supply electricity in a stable manner.

"It has a high operating rate and can play a major role" as a key energy source for the country, Tsuchiya said.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2021 - 14:28 | All, Japan

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to appoint his close aide and former education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi as foreign minister when he launches his new Cabinet next week, a source close to the matter said Saturday.

The appointment, slated for Wednesday, comes as Japan faces a host of diplomatic challenges such as China's assertive territorial claims in the East and South China seas, as well as North Korea's nuclear weapons development and missile launches, on top of strategic competition between the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific.

Kishida has doubled as foreign minister since Toshimitsu Motegi took up the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's No. 2 post of secretary general on Thursday.

Hayashi, who has served as defense, agriculture, as well as economic and fiscal policy minister, is the No. 2 leader of an LDP intraparty faction led by Kishida.

A graduate of the University of Tokyo, Hayashi, a 60-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker and son of a former finance minister, also studied at Harvard University.

Hayashi resigned as a member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, and won a single-seat district in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, in the Oct. 31 lower house election.

The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito retained a comfortable majority in the election, paving the way for Kishida to continue as Japan's leader.

Related coverage:

Kishida to be reappointed as Japan PM in Diet session on Nov. 10

Japan gov't panel to propose support for local digitalization

PM Kishida to double as foreign minister until Cabinet relaunch
New Delhi:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the latter used hatred in his campaign while he used love and added that he was confident that love will win.

"I thank the media for working will full force. This election has been fought on the issues of unemployment, farmers' plight, demonetisation, GST and Rafale deal. Narendra Modi used hatred in the campaign and we used love and I am confident love will win. We will accept what the people decide," Gandhi said after casting his vote in Delhi's Aurangzeb Lane.

The campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections has witnessed a series of attacks and counter-attacks from both sides. While Rahul has been trying to corner the Modi government over over issues like alleged irregularities in Rafale fighter jet deal, unemployment, demonetisation and GST, the prime minister has cornered the Congress chief over the alleged corruption in defence deals during the UPA regime.

Last week, Rahul had tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for wrongfully attributing to the apex court the 'chowkidar chor hai' remark in the Rafale verdict. He also sought closure of the criminal contempt proceedings against him on a petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi.

On the other hand, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress by terming former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as "Bhrashtachari No. 1".

Besides, PM Modi accused the Gandhi family of using warship INS Viraat as its "personal taxi" when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

The BJP had swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, winning a clear majority by bagging 282 seats. The NDA had won 336 seats, while the Congress was restricted to 44 seats.

This time, the BJP is facing the challenge of a virtually united opposition in several states. While the saffron party claims it will win a bigger mandate than 2014, several pre-poll surveys have predicted a dip in BJP's vote share.
New Delhi:

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has acquired iconic British toymaker Hamleys. Though neither the Hamleys nor RIL have disclosed the exact price of the deal, there were reports that the energy-to-telecoms conglomerate will acquire the toymaker for 67.96 million pounds (around Rs 620 crore) in an all-cash deal. Hamleys, a 259-year-old toy-maker, has struggled to generate profits in recent times. It reported a profit after tax of 2.44 million pounds in 2018 after suffering a loss of 11.24 million pounds in 2017.

It is currently owned by Chinese fashion conglomerate C Banner International, which had acquired it for 100 million pounds in 2015. C Banner also owns the Chinese units of marquee consumer retail brands such as Steve Madden and Sundance.

Reliance Brands Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, and C Banner International Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed company, today signed a definitive agreement for Reliance Brands to acquire 100 per cent shares of Hamleys Global Holdings Ltd, the owner of Hamleys brand, from C Banner International, the company said in a statement.

Reliance Brands would acquire 100 per cent equity shares of Hamleys Global Holdings Limited (HGHL) for a cash consideration of GBP 67.96 million, RIL said in a BSE filing.

Hamleys started with a single-store shop, Noahs Ark, in 1760. It now has 167 stores across 18 countries. Besides the UK, it has stores in China, Germany, Russia, India, South Africa and West Asia.

Reliance Retail, Ambanis flagship retailer, already has a pan-India franchise agreement with Hamleys to merchandise its famous toys.

This acquisition will catapult Reliance Brands to be a dominant player in the global toy retail industry, the company said in a statement.

In India, Reliance has the master franchise for Hamleys and presently operates 88 stores across 29 cities.

Reliance Brands President and CEO Darshan Mehta said the worldwide acquisition of the iconic Hamleys brand and business places Reliance on the front-line of global retail.

Personally, it is a dream come true, he added.

Over the last few years, we have built a very significant and profitable business in toy retailing under the Hamleys brand in India. This 250-year-old English toy retailer pioneered the concept of experiential retailing, decades before the concept of creating unique experiences in brick and mortar retailing became the new global norm, Mehta said.

Hamleys was delisted from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2003 when it was taken over by Icelandic investment firm Baugur Group for USD 68.8 million. In 2012, it was sold for USD 78.4 million to Groupe Ludendo of France.

Hamleys opened it flagship Regent Street London store in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors covering 54,000 sq ft, with over 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It is considered one of Londons prominent tourist attractions, receiving over 5 million visitors each year.

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New Delhi:

As many as 12 Indian nationals were arrested for allegedly running an illegal networking business and duping several people at Kathmandu in Nepal. All the accused belonged to Uttar Pradesh and were arrested from a hotel in the Nepalese capital on Friday while organising an orientation and training programme to run the illegal networking business for around 300 people, the Himalayan Times reported. Networking business, under which money is sent to foreign countries without any legal channel, has been banned by Nepal Rastra Bank.

"They were asking the people participating in the orientation to invest $1,250 promising them attractive return, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Crime Range DSP Hobindra Bogati was quoted as saying. He further said the arrested Indian nationals had opened an unregistered marketing company in Nepal named Shine Group International.

"The arrestees have already swindled many Nepalis in the name of the company," the official said.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

At least eight children were killed and two others sustained injuries in a roadside bomb explosion in the south-eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan on Saturday.

The horrific incident took place when the children were playing in the area stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The blast occurred at around 8 am in the Muqer district of the province.

According to the regional authorities, the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device planted by Taliban militants. So far no group, including the Taliban, has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

However, Taliban have been using IED to target security forces. As per official figures, at least 120 civilians in Afghanistan are affected by mines and unexploded ordnance every month.

Later, an Afghanistan woman journalist named Meena Mangal, who was also a cultural advisor to the Parliament, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the eastern part of Kabul. Importantly, as many as 15 journalists were killed in a series of bombings that began early this year, with nine of them in a single day.

On May 8, an explosion shook Afghanistans capital Kabul. Fortunately, there was no casualty reported. Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted the American NGO Counterpart International, which is working with the US Agency for International Development in Afghanistan.

It is to be noted that Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban movement and the Islamic State terrorist group. The national security forces are involved in anti-terrorist operations across the country.

According to figures released by the United Nations, more than 1,690 civilians have been killed and over 3,430 others injured in conflict-related incidents in the first half of the year in the war-torn country.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
London :

Indian-origin brothers dominate the annual rich list of Britain's wealthiest, with the Hinduja brothers ranked at No. 1 with a fortune of 22 billion pounds followed by Mumbai-born Reuben brothers in second place with 18.66 billion pounds.

Sri and Gopichand Hinduja, who run the Hinduja Group of companies in the UK, registered a 1.35 billion pounds jump in their fortunes over the previous year to return to the top of the Sunday Times Rich List' after topping it back in 2014 and 2017.

"Whether or not Britain leaves the EU, Gopi Hinduja is convinced it can forge a closer relationship with his family's homeland, notes the newspaper's profile on the 79-year-old Co-Chair of the Hinduja Group, G.P. Hinduja.

The London-based industrialist, along with UK-based brother Sri, 83, and their brothers Prakash, 73, and Ashok, 68, who live in Geneva and Mumbai respectively, control more than 50 companies with a total turnover of nearly 40 billion pounds worldwide in 2018, notes the Rich List.

The family occupies four interconnected London homes in Carlton House Terrace, bought from Queen Elizabeth II in 2006.

The Hindujas, described as devout Hindus eschewing meat and alcohol, have stakes in oil and gas, IT, energy, media, banking, property and healthcare. Some of the biggest hike in profits last year came from London-registered Hinduja Automotive, which includes North Yorkshire bus maker Optare and saw profits rise by 50 per cent to 337 million pounds on 3.5 billion pounds sales in 2017-18.

Mumbai-born siblings David, 80, and Simon, 77, with interests across property and internet, have been on a buying spree, taking hold of 1 billion pounds of London property last year. The Reuben brothers snapped up Mayfair's 300-million pounds Burlington Arcade, Shoreditch's Curtain hotel and a 132 million pounds block in Piccadilly.

"The pair could be excused for feeling flush after selling another stake in their Global Switch data centres for 2.1 billion pounds last July, two years after banking 2.4 billion pounds for a separate chunk of the business," the Sunday Times' notes.

The brothers, who were ranked fourth in 2018, also saw a massive 3.56 billion pounds jump in their fortunes over the previous year.

Another Indian-origin billionaire, Lakshmi N. Mittal, suffered 3.99 billion pounds in losses to slip down to No. 11 in this year rich list, from No. 5 in 2018. The Rajasthan-born steel magnate logged a business worth 10.66 billion pounds last year as he gets set to take control of his first steel plant in India with a purchase from Essar Steel.

Meanwhile, chemicals firm founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who topped last year's list, has slipped to third place, with 18.15 billion pounds.

The list, which estimates the 1,000 richest people in the UK, is based on identifiable wealth including land, property, other assets such as art, and shares in companies. It does not include the amount contained in people's bank accounts.

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New Delhi:

Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer Suzuki is all set to launch the highly awaited Gixxer 250 on May 20 in India. Now, ahead of the launch, the technical specifications and design of the upcoming Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 have been leaked online by Motoroids.

The leaked image of the Suzuki GIxxer SF 250 show a fully faired bike in white. According to the leaked image, the motorcycle features a fully-fledged fairing which looks sleek clean lines, contoured fuel tank, and split-seats. Also the leaked brochure reveals the design language on the new Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 that takes inspiration from the larger GSX-R models.

On the other hand, the leaked brochure also reveals the specifications of motor-cycle in detail. According to the brochure, the fuel tank capacity stands at 12 litres, while the rear view mirrors are fairing mounted. Gixxer SF 250 will be suspended by telescopic forks up front and a swingarm type monoshock at the rear. The motorcycle will ride on 17-inch dual 5-spoke alloy wheel shod with a 110/70 section tyre for the front and a 150/60 section tyre for the rear, both of which are tubeless.

Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 will draw power from a 249 cc single-cylinder, oil-cooled, fuel-injected, SOHC motor tuned for 26 bhp at 9000 rpm and 22.6 Nm of peak torque available at 7500 rpm. The bike is mated with a 6-speed gearbox. Suspension duties are performed by oil damped telescopic forks up front and a swingarm-type monoshock unit at the rear. Discs at either end take care of braking duties on the motorcycle. For braking, the motorcycle will employ disc brakes at both ends and will be equipped with dual-channel ABS.

Prices are expected to be around Rs 1.40 lakh (ex-showroom). The motorcycle will take on the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200, Yamaha Fazer 25, and the Honda CBR 250R in India.
New Delhi:

Delhi's oldest voter, 111-year old Bachan Singh on Sunday cast his vote at a polling booth in Sant Garh. He was wheeled into the polling both using a chair. "I will vote for those who worked for us," he said. He doesnt even know that the Aam Aadmi Party exists. For him, every election has been a contest between the BJP and the Congress, news agency PTI quoted his youngest son, Jasbeer Singh as saying.

Till a few years ago, he would cycle to the polling booth and cast his vote. He never needed any help. He cooked for himself and spent most of time doing seva in gurdwara, Jasbeer says.







A total of 59 constituencies spread over six states and Delhi are going to polls in the seven-phase election today. Elections are being held across 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand. A total of 979 candidates from across parties are testing their luck. Altogether, 66,85,401 voters, including 31,79,720 women and 116 of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise. The polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.




New Delhi:

The candidates who have appeared for TS EAMCET 2019, we have some important news for you. As per the latest update, the JNTU Hyderabad has released the TS EAMCET 2019 Answer Key and the Response Sheet for the entrance exam. The candidates must note that the TS EAMCET 2019 Answer Key released by the TSCHE and JNTU Hyderabad is preliminary in nature and will be revised based on the objections filed by the candidates. The candidates can visit the official website of the university i.e. eamcet.tsche.ac.in to download the preliminary answer key.

The Telangana State Engineering, Agriculture & Medical (Pharmacy, Veterinary etc.,) Common Entrance Test is a state-level entrance test that is conducted by the JNTU Hyderabad on behalf of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education.

For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can download the answer key:

Step 1: Visit official website eamcet.tsche.ac.in

Step 2: Find and Click on the Question Paper & Answer Key Direct Link

Step 3: A new window will open with details of different slots and subjects for the exam

Step 4: Download the TS EAMCET 2019 Answer Key as per your slot

The candidates must note that apart from TS EAMCET 2019 Answer Key, the Council has also made available individual response sheet of the candidates who had appeared for the exam. By using the TS EAMCET 2019 Answer Key and the Response Sheet simultaneously, the candidates can now predict their expected score in the entrance exam.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the opposition or questioning the action by security forces against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Today terrorists were killed by our Army in Kashmir. Now some people are worried as to why did Modi kill the terrorists when voting is underway? An armed terrorist is attacking, do my jawans go to the Election Commission to seek permission to kill him? said PM Modi while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Kushinagar.

PM Modi also predicted defeat of the opposition parties, saying the people were voting for an effective government. "Opposition parties will fall flat in Lok Sabha polls. This is because people are voting for an effective and honest government."

The PM said the Congress government wanted to suppress the Alwar gangrape case involving a lower caste woman, adding that the party thought "hua toh hua", a reference to Sam Pitroda's remark on 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The scathing attack by the PM came on a day when 59 Lok Sabha seats across six states and Delhi are voting in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Elections are being held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand.



Over 10.17 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 979 candidates. The Election Commission has set up over 1.13 lakh polling stations for smooth conduct of the polls.




New Delhi:

Manabadi TS SSC Results 2019: The Telangana State Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) has announced the SSC or Class 10 results today 13 May at 11.30 am. The scorecards is now available on the official website of the board i.e. bse.telangana.gov.in. The results is also available on manabadi.com. The candidates can also check the results by clicking on the link given below. The declaration of the results will seal the fate of lakhs of students who have appeared for the examination.

CLICK HERE FOR TS SSC RESULTS 2019

LIVE UPDATES:

11.56 am: TS SSC Result 2019 has been announced. The students who have not scored the requisite qualifyng marks can appear for TS SSC Supplementary Examinations. BSE

11.52 am: TS SSC Result 2019 has been annouced. Overall pass percentage this year is 92.43%. The results have been declared.

11.47 am: Over 5.3 lakh students are awaiting the result.

11.42 am: TS Telangana SSC Results 2019 @manabadi declared, pass percentage touches above 80 percent.

11.39 am: TS SSC Result 2019 have been declared. Results have been announced by BSE Telangana. The candidates can check the results by clicking on the link mentioned above.

11.30 am: Results announced.

11.25 am: Press Conference has started. Students would be able to check their TS SSC 10th Result 2019 in a short while now.

11.19 am: TS 10th Result 2019 is releasing shortly. Press Conference, as per the information received from BSE Telangana would begin in another 10 minutes.

11.12 am: The official website of the TS Board has crashed minutes before the result declaration. The result was to be declared at 11:30 am.

11.06 am: To check your TS SSC Result 2019, students would require their hall ticket number. The result would be available on different websites.

11.04 am: The Telangana Board class 10 result will be declared within minutes now.

11.01 am: Press conference will announce shortly.

11.00 am: Updates on Manabadi state that the TS 10th Result 2019 would be released at 11:00 am.

10.57 am: The candidates can check the results by clicking on the click mentioned above.

10.55 am: TS SSC Result 2019 would release soon now. The Press Conference for TS 10th Result 2019 would begin at 11:30 am sharp.

10.53 am: TSBSE, Telangana SSC Board would release TS SSC 10th Result 2019 today. Over 5 lakh students have appeared for the TS SSC 2019 examination. In 2018, 5.33 lakh students had appeared for the SSC examinations. Pass percentage was just above 83 per cent. Check your 2019 results soon on the official website links provided for bse.telangana.gov.in and results.cgg.gov.in. Results also on Manabadi.

10.43 am:

10.41 am: To clear the TS SSC 10th exam, a student needs to score 35 per cent marks in each of the subjects as well as in aggregate. Students also get another chance to re-appear for the exam in June. Only those who fail in one or two exams are eligible for supplementary exams. Failing in more subjects, a student will have to give another year in SSC class 10.

10.29 am: The results will be out within one hour.

9.18 am: According to the latest reports, the board officials have made all the arrangements and will be announcing the results on time.

9.12 am: This year around 5 lakh students appeared for the TS SSC Class 10 Exam 2019.

9.03 am: For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can download the TS SSC Results 2019:

 Visit english.newsnationtv.com/board-results and click on TS Inter 1st Year Result 2019

 Enter the roll number/roll code in the space provided

 Click on the submit button

 Check your results

8.55 am: The candidates are asked to keep all the details ready for the fast and easy access to the results.

8.54 am: The Manabadi TS SSC Results 2019 will be announced at 11.30 am.

Telangana SSC Result 2019: Total number of students

This year around 5 lakh students appeared for the TS SSC Class 10 Exam 2019. The Telangana 10th result 2019, will be announced on the official website i.e. bse.telangana.gov.in. The Telangana Board of Secondary Education conducted the TS 10th exam from March 16 to April 2, 2019.

Telangana SSC Result 2019: Last year result data

In 2018, the TS SSC Telangana Class 10 exams were held from March 15 to April 2, 2019, at around 2,500 various test centres all over the country.

Further, a total of 5, 33,701 candidates had appeared for the TS SSC Telangana Class 10 Exam 2018 across the state.

About Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE)

The Telangana Board of Secondary Education and Telangana Board of Intermediate Education were established in the year 2014, after the formation of the state of Telangana from the territories of Andhra Pradesh. The State Board of Telangana or Telangana Board is divided into two sections. The Telangana Board of Secondary Education conducts the SSC exams and the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education conducts the Intermediate exams, i.e. 11th and 12th.

The Telangana Board of Intermediate Education regulates and supervises the system of intermediate education in Telangana State. It executes and governs various activities that include devising of courses of study, prescribing syllabus, conducting examinations, granting affiliations to colleges and providing direction, support and leadership for all educational institutions under its jurisdiction. Honourable Minister of the State for Secondary Education acts as chairman and secretary of Government, Secondary Education as vice-chairman of the board. The secretary of I.A.S. Rank acts as the chief executive of the board.
Paris: As a measure to contain the spread of Covid-19 in France, the French parliament passed a draught bill that extends the use of health passes until July 31, 2022.

According to reports, the draught bill, which was passed by the French National Assembly by a vote of 118 to 89, would allow the Prime Minister to issue a decree mandating the health pass in specific areas based on the country's epidemic situation. The French president can also restrict or prohibit travel, order the closure of public shops and places, and even impose a curfew or lockdown.

It also gives school directors and secondary school principals access to information about students' vaccination status, which the opposition sees as a breach of medical confidentiality. Since July 21, the health pass has been required for gatherings of more than 50 people in leisure and cultural centres (such as cinemas and museums), proving that the holder has received two doses of a vaccine, has recently recovered from Covid-19, or has tested negative for the disease.

Macron wants to strengthen France's strategic partnership with Vietnam.

France shut down another mosque linked to Islamist extremism

Japan to shorten the period of quarantine for business travellers
Afghanistan: On November 10, India will host the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan, according to sources. The meeting will be held at the level of the national security advisor (NSA). The meeting will be chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval next week.

The NSAs of Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan had been formally invited to the meeting by India. According to sources, India's invitation has received a massive response. Several countries, including Russia and Iran, have confirmed their attendance at the meeting, which is open not only to Afghanistan's immediate land neighbours but also to Central Asian countries.

According to sources, the enthusiastic response demonstrates India's importance in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan has declined India's invitation to the regional countries' national security advisers meeting on Afghanistan. "Pakistan's decision is regrettable, but not unexpected. It reflects the country's attitude toward Afghanistan as a protectorate. Pakistan has never attended a meeting of this type before. Its media attacks on India are a failed attempt to divert attention away from its heinous role in Afghanistan "according to sources.

Taliban gave open threat to the world said, ''If you do not want any threat from...''

Taliban seeks international community's backing for sanctions removal

Afghanistan: 500,000 people receive health assistance this year: Report
Kabul: In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it has continued to provide food and other essential aid to vulnerable Afghans ahead of the winter season.

The announcement by the UN migration agency came after IOM Director General Antonio Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino's two-day visit to Afghanistan, during which he expressed concern about a humanitarian disaster in the country if it is not prevented, according to reports.

"Afghanistan has been pushed to the brink of collapse by conflict and insecurity, grinding poverty exacerbated by an economy in freefall, severe drought, and the Covid-19 pandemic. However, I am very concerned about the future "This is what Vitorino was quoted as saying. "There is a real risk that the deteriorating humanitarian situation will result in increased displacement, vulnerability, and suffering, and that the modest social and development gains of the past two decades will be lost," he said as the cold winter approaches.

"As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated, we are in a race against time to assist these people in preparing for winter. We're going door to door to see what's needed and providing shelter, blankets, warm clothing, and money for fuel and heating "he stated.

Kabul's security needs to be beefed up: Afghan interior ministry

A key Taliban commander killed in a bombing at a military hospital in Kabul.

Top Taliban commander Maulvi Hamdullah killed in Kabul bomb blasts and firing
From November 8 onwards, the Japanese government announced that the Covid-19 quarantine period for vaccinated business travellers from outside Japan will be reduced to three days. According to reports, the relaxed quarantine rules will apply to short-term business travellers who are inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines that the Japanese authorities deem effective.

Companies that accept them must report ahead of time on their plans for the seven days following quarantine and supervise them accordingly. Business travellers must currently undergo a 10-day quarantine period upon entering the country. Long-term travellers who are fully vaccinated, such as students and technical intern trainees, will be allowed to enter Japan with a 14-day quarantine period, according to the government.

Schools and businesses that want to accept them will have to report ahead of time what they plan to do in Japan and how they'll be monitored. Beginning November 8, the government will accept applications from their sponsors. Tourist entry, on the other hand, has yet to be opened. "This time, the measures do not cover tourists," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said. The government, on the other hand, is considering a plan that would allow visitors to enter the country in stages.

Intl Organization for Migration continues to provide assistance to Afghans

Blinken will host a virtual Covid Ministerial On November 10th,

Former S Korean Prosecutor General wins opposition President nomination
RAMALLAH: Palestine has welcomed the UN General Assembly's Third Committee's agreement on the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. According to a press release from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 158 UN member states voted in favour of the resolution, 10 abstentions, and six votes against it.

"Palestine welcomes the resolution's overwhelming support," the statement said. It went on to say that the right to self-determination is the foundation of all rights, "particularly for Palestinians who have been subjected to a long-term Israeli occupation." In the June 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim, and has controlled them ever since. Since then, Palestinians have sought self-determination in order to create a separate state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The right of all peoples to self-determination was first enshrined in the United Nations Charter. It has, however, sparked a lot of discussion and controversy. In international law, both the content of the right and who can assert it are still evolving.

US House passes infrastructure bill after months of postponement

A Nepalese peacekeeper named UN Woman Police Officer of the Year for 2021

French Parliament passes a bill to extend the health pass until July 2022.
Senegal (Africa): Senegal and India met to discuss ways to strengthen their bilateral business and defence relations. V. Muraleedharan, the Minister of State for External Affairs, paid a visit to Senegal and met with President Macky Sall to discuss ways to improve bilateral cooperation.

India has been reaching out to African countries in order to strengthen military and commercial ties. Muraleedharan met President Macky Sall during his visit, who emphasised the unique nature of India-Senegal relations and expressed his desire to continue working with India to realise its full potential.

He briefed Senegal's President on the JCM's deliberations, particularly in the areas of health, energy, railways, mining, defence, development partnership, and others. Sall had previously visited India in October 2015 for the India-Africa Forum Summit and in May 2017 for the African Development Bank's 52nd Annual Meeting in Gandhinagar. Muraleedharan was a co-chair of the third India-Senegal Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), which took place in Dakar on November 4 and 5, 2021.

Both sides discussed and agreed to improve cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, including trade and commerce, investments, health, energy, agriculture, railways, defence and security, education and culture, development partnership, consular, and Indian community-related matters.

Palestine applauds the UN's decision on the right to self-determination

US House passes infrastructure bill after months of postponement

Dubai hopes to attract 25 million tourists In 2025: Sheikh Hamdan bin
Home  Just In  Bhaitika, the main and final day of Tihar, being observed across Nepal

Kathmandu, November 6

On the last day of the five-day Tihar festival, Bhaitika is being observed across the country on Saturday.

This day is considered the most important part of the annual festival, which is considered the second biggest cultural event for Nepalis every year.

Today, on the occasion, siblings gather at one place and exchange seven-colour tika between brothers and sisters wishing them longevity, happiness and prosperity. The siblings also exchange various delicacies including sel roti, fruits, dry fruits and other gifts on the occasion.

Those without their own siblings celebrate the festival with their cousins and other relatives. There is also a tradition that such people gather at designated places such as the Balgopaleshwar temple at the centre of Ranipokhari in Kathmandu and exchange tika and gifts with each other.

Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Bikas Samiti, the government body responsible for finalising festival dates as per astrological calculations, says the most auspicious time to receive Bhaitika today is 11:02 am.

Meanwhile, state officials such as President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur have extended their Bhaitika greetings.
Kathmandu, November 5

The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that Nepals Covid-19 tally has reached 909,093 as of Friday afternoon.

The ministry said 183 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours.

In this period, 2,307 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which returned 174 returned positive. Likewise, 2,537 people underwent antigen tests for the virus, of which an additional 9 tested positive.

Of total tests, 7.54 per cent of the PCR and 0.35 per cent of antigen samples returned positive, keeping the overall per-day positivity rate at 3.77 per cent.

As of today, there are 8,413 active cases across the country. Of them, 650 are hospitalised, 200 in intensive care units and 55 on ventilators.

In the past 24 hours, 649 people have achieved recovery whereas two deaths have been reported.

Of the total cases so far, 794,434 people have achieved recovery. Likewise, 11,438 died, according to the ministry. The countrys recovery rate is 97.4 per cent and the death rate is 1.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, 3,375 people were vaccinated today.
A new year is the mark of a new beginning. It is the start of new dawn among the 365 days of a calendar.

You might think there is just one new year around the world. But, in Nepal, a small multicultural country, only, there are several new years as there are different people, communities and beliefs. Different communities follow their separate calendar systems that indicate their own traditional/local new year, unique from others. On these days, people from their respective communities decorate their houses, spend time with their loved ones, take delicious feasts and celebrate and enjoy their culture and traditions. It is also the time to reflect on ones past mistakes and plan for upcoming days.

Below are some of the new years celebrated by different communities in Nepal. They are arranged chronologically as per the dates they fall next time (given in the brackets):

1. Nhu Dan (November 5, 2021)

File image

Nhu Dan is what the Newa community, consisting of indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley, calls its new year. The community follows a lunar calendar system referred to as Nepa(l) Sambat, which came to use, all thanks to Shankhadhar Sakhwa after he released the people from their debts. It marks the beginning of a new era, and to commemorate that day, the people of the community celebrate Nepal Sambat. The celebration also includes Mha Puja, the worship of the self, and it coincides with the fourth day of Tihar, the festival of lights, flowers and sweets.

On this day, most of the Newa people wear their traditional attire for a cultural procession/rally. They worship their local gods as the indication of a new dawn and hope for good luck, fortune, and more ecstasy in their day-to-day lives.

2. Tamu Lhosar (December 30, 2021)

File: Gurung community members celebrate the Tamu Lhosar.

Every year in the Nepali month of Poush (December), people from the Gurung community celebrate Tamu Lhosar/ their new year with respect to their own calendar system called Tamu Sambit with great enthusiasm. This festival marks the end of winter and the start of spring. The celebration includes feasts, getting together, and enjoyment just before the next workload.

Every Lhosar, they bid farewell to the existing year and welcome a new one. Lhosar has become their means of reuniting with all their family and friends. In the morning, they visit gumbas for the prayers to receive blessings for prosperity and happiness. In various cities, recently, they have established community buildings with respect to their past villages known as samaj ghars. So, in their traditional attire, they visit their samaj ghar to celebrate Lhosar. Delicious Food and their traditional dance are a huge part of their celebration.

3. English New Year (January 1, 2022)

Photo: Pexels/ cottonbro

The first of January is the only time of the year when the whole world has the feeling of a new beginning on the same day. The date was chosen by Julius Caesar with respect to the Roman God of beginnings, Janus. Therefore, Romans celebrated this day by offering sacrifices to Janus and sharing gifts with one another in ancient times.

It is said to be the end of all past misery and the beginning of a new story. Many people who are conscious about their life tend to stay alone, analyse themselves, work on their past mistakes and create a new year resolution for a better future. And, there are some people whose day is filled with shopping, celebrations, feasts, parties, friends and family gatherings.

4. Maghi (January 15, 2022)

The first day of the Magh month as per the Nepali calendar is commonly known as the Maghe Sankranti or Maghi festival for many communities. Mainly, people from the Tharu, Magar and Kirant communities celebrate this day as their new year.

Tharu

File: Maghi Festival of 2015

Maghi is an auspicious festival of the Tharu people. It is their largest harvest festival. On this day, their local village leader and elders are appointed for the better functioning of their locality. Maghi falls around mid-January every year.

Tharus take bath early in the morning and pray for prosperity and their well-being. Then, they wear Tharu dresses, eat and drink their local traditional cuisines and perform their traditional dances, rituals. Meanwhile, the Tharu people living in Kathmandu wear their cultural dress, eat their traditional cuisines and gather at Tundikhel for Shakiya Naach, a special traditional dance, the display of grandeur, and fervour.

Magar

File image

People of the Magar community mark Maghe Sankranti as the transition from winter to spring. According to the Naagchi Sambat calendar system, this day is celebrated as their new year, when they organise various programmes and festivals showcasing their culture, tradition in different places of Nepal including Kathmandu.

They invite their married daughters and their families for festive activities and also worship them. They enjoy their delicious cuisine filled with yam, sel roti, sweet potato, sesame laddus, and many more.

Kirant

File: Kirant women celebrate a festival with their traditional dance, in Kathmandu. Photo: Bikash Shrestha

People belonging to the Kirant community such as Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar celebrate their new year on the day of Maghe Sankranti as the first day of the Yele Sambat calendar system. From this day, the Kirant people end their Udhauli and begin their Ubhauli, meaning they begin their downward migration for six months to be safe from the harsh winter.

On this day, Kirant people eat different dishes of yams. Ban tarul, a species of yam, is related to their Kirant Mundhum, their greatest religious scripture. In the past, during the scarcity of grains and foods, ban tarul kept them alive. So, in the morning of the first day of Magh/ Maghe Sankranti, they put the tika made from ban tarul in the tap from where they take the shower from. Also, they put their traditional attire on with some traditional dance and eat lots of delicious foods.

5. Sonam Lhosar (February 12, 2022)

On Magh Shukla Pratipada as per the lunar calendar, people of the Tamang community celebrate Sonam Lhosar. Here, Sonam denotes agriculture, Lho refers to year/age and Sar refers to new. Finally, the Tamang word, Lhosar denotes New Year whereas Sonam Lhosar means the harvest festival. They follow the ancient Tibetan/Chinese lunar calendar, so Sonam Lhosar falls on different dates from January to February in the English Calendar every year.

In the present time, the day before Lhosar is the time to clean and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for good fortune, happiness, and prosperity from the start of the new year. For the celebration of Lhosar, some people go to monasteries, stupas, and chaityas to perform ceremonial rituals. At the monasteries, there is a traditional, special ritual with a mask dance, aimed to remove negative forces.

In Kathmandu, people get new clothes, wear their traditional attires, and gather at Tundikhel to celebrate Sonam Lhosar, where musical programmes are performed with Tamang Selo in the beat of damphu, a traditional musical instrument. They eat delicious feasts made from pigs, ducks, chicken and end it with sweet desserts.

6. Gyalpo Lhosar (March 3, 2022)

File photo: Gyalpo Lhosar 2017

The new year of the Sherpa people (or the people mainly influenced by the Tibetan culture) is referred to as Gyalpo Lhosar. This Lhosar falls on Phalgun Shukla Pratipada as per the lunar calendar, and it is also known as Tibetan New Year. It is believed that during the period of Tibetan King Pude Gungyal, the incense-burning custom of the Bon religion was merged with the harvest festival to form their Lhosar festival.

The preparation of Lhosar begins with the creation of a unique Sherpa snack named Khapse. The two days before Lhosar, all the members of the Sherpa community gather and enjoy a special soup named Gutung which is made from the combination of nine different kinds of beans. One day before the Lhosar, they clean and decorate their houses. Finally, when the clock hits midnight, they exchange their traditional greeting Tashi Delek among family and friends, welcoming each other to the new year. And in the early morning, most of the people change the dhoja/prayer flags in their homes which symbolises a fresh new start.

People enjoy their day by singing, dancing to traditional Sherpa songs, eating and drinking delicious Sherpa cuisines. At local monasteries, various traditional dances representing the struggle between demons and gods are shown. People chant mantras and pass fire torches among them in the crowd.

7. Nepali New Year (April 14, 2022)

Navavarsha, the new year of all the Nepali people, falls on the first of the Baisakh month in the Bikram Sambat calendar system. It normally falls on the second week of April.

This day is celebrated with family gatherings, parties, parades/ rallies, and delicious feasts. Many young people are actively involved in street performances like dramas, parades, and dances whereas some local people visit temples, monasteries and offer their prayers and offer puja for their devoted god wishing for happiness and prosperity.
Description

St. John's Lutheran Church, 1675 Coates Avenue, Holbrook, is hosting their annual Outdoor Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, November 6th (rain date Nov. 13) from 10 am to 3 pm. Lots of Thanksgiving, fall and Christmas crafts.... ornaments, wreaths, centerpieces, trees, stocking stuffers, jewelry, gift items, jam, Grandma's Attic and more. Our Ladies Aide Cafe is back! Homemade clam chowder and chili, hot dogs and meatball heroes!
(Changes source, adds details)

MILAN, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Italy's medicines agency AIFA on Wednesday recommended a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine to those innoculated with the Johnson & Johnson shot.

All those who have had a single shot of the J&J vaccine, regardless of age - about 1.6 million people in Italy - will be eligible to receive the booster from six months after the first dose, the agency said in statement.

It said it considered the booster necessary because the J&J vaccine had showed a slow decline in efficacy against mild and moderate forms of the disease as the months went by.

Italy started to inoculate vulnerable groups and the over 60s with a third vaccine dose in September.

More than 44.8 million Italians, or 83% of the population over the age of 12, are fully vaccinated against COVID.

Italy has registered 132,161 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.78 million cases to date.

The weekly incidence of cases, after months of decline, has been rising rapidly since last week, the National Health Institute said in a report on Friday.

In Europe, Spain and Germany have already authorised boosters for those who have had the J&J vaccine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Oct 20 authorized booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster. (Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Apple has been incredibly secretive about its efforts to develop a self-driving car, but according to Bloomberg, its latest move is hiring a key personnel from its toughest competition. The tech giant has reportedly hired Christopher "CJ" Moore, who's been the director for Tesla's Autopilot Software since 2019 and who's been with the company since 2014. While Moore has yet to update his LinkedIn page, Bloomberg says he will also work on software at Apple and will report to Stuart Bowers. Like Moore, Bowers worked as Tesla's head of Autopilot unit until he left in 2019.

Back in May, Moore was one of the employees who told the California DMV that Elon Musk exaggerated the automaker's full self-driving timeline. In a DMV conference call, he said Musk's statements that Level 5 automated driving is coming soon didn't "match engineering reality." Musk has been saying that Tesla's technology will soon be able to operate with zero human intervention. At the moment, it's still only capable of Level 2 self-driving, which still requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel. Moore was called as a witness in a lawsuit over the death of a man in a 2019 Autopilot crash in Florida. The documents for that lawsuit revealed in early October that Moore had already left Tesla.

Moore and Bowers are just two of the former Tesla employees Apple had hired for its car division. Other hires include Michael Schwekutsch, who used to be Tesla's VP of Engineering and who worked on drive trains, and Steve MacManus, who was also a Tesla VP of Engineering.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas biggest internet companies, their shares beaten down by government regulation this year, have a new catalyst to lure buyers: semiconductors.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Tencent Holdings Ltd., Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. and Baidu Inc. are among the consumer-oriented technology companies that have pursued chip development, in line with Chinese authorities ambition for the nation to be self-reliant when it comes to semiconductors.

Just Wednesday, Tencent shares erased losses and finished 1.1% higher after the company unveiled an artificial intelligence chip for search and recommendation, another for compressing video files and a networking chip for cloud servers. Alibabas stock jumped in October when the e-commerce behemoth unveiled one of the nations most advanced semiconductors, for use in data centers.

The efforts show the companies are trying to appease the Chinese government, which wants to establish dominance in chip design and production by 2030 through state-led efforts. That should reassure investors who have been rattled by Beijings crackdown, in which its pressing companies to curb monopoly practices and thus affected their growth in consumer e-commerce.

Its definitely good news for their shares, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian. Its an area that the government supports the most. Its something that investors will want to hear at this moment, as they are looking for reasons to buy after such a big correction.

The Hang Seng Tech Index has plunged 42% from its February peak, with Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent each down 36% or more.

Baidu is a pioneer among technology giants in tapping into the semiconductor industry. Its AI chip, called Kunlun, powers the companys in-house applications including its search engine, and the company is considering a spinoff of the AI chip unit.

Story continues

China is fighting against a global shortage of chips caused by the pandemic, as well as a U.S. ban on the use of American technology by Chinese companies.

The push into chip development is a strategic move for these Chinese tech companies to be aligned with Beijings policies, Nuno Fernandes, a U.S.-based portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management, said in an interview.

It shows that they are compliant with most of the requests from the government and willing to channel a big portion of their profits into a strategic investment like this to support the nations goal, he said, adding that the chip industry is less likely to attract regulatory scrutiny.

The chip development plans require long-term investments and should contribute little to their near-term earnings, said Castor Pang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International Hong Kong Ltd. But still, the moves have eased some investors concern about the tensions between Chinese technology companies and the government, Pang said.

At least they have proved that they are loyal to this country and to the government. They are somehow helping Beijing to solve the problem of the chip shortage. And perhaps in return, the government may hold less high-profile regulatory meetings with them, said Pang.

Top Tech Stories:

Chipmaker Qualcomm, one of Apples suppliers, forecast stronger earnings than analysts expected, showing that its strategy of diversifying suppliers is paying off. Qualcomm shares rose 8.2% in U.S. premarket trading.

Roku didnt fare as well, with the video-streaming platform company sinking 7.8% premarket after results fell short of expectations and supply-chain disruptions weighed on its holiday outlook.

Cathie Woods exchange-traded funds have been busy, dumping 3.9 million shares in Zillow just a day after topping up a stake in the property firm as the stocks rout deepened.

Meanwhile, Facebook deleted a post on the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds page for breaching its policies against inciting violence.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
European natural gas supplies are not only waning because of lower Russian supply. Brussels, Berlin and even the Hague are keeping a keen eye on the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and market reports about reduced flows through the Yamal pipeline and Ukraine. At the same time, it seems that Fort Europe is being besieged from all sides. The market is also being confronted by the negative implications of a political crisis between Morocco and Algeria, negatively impacting the latters gas supplies to the Iberian Peninsula.

For a few weeks a full-out political, economic and possibly security crisis has been building up between Algeria and Morocco, mainly caused by the still continuing Western Sahara-Mauritania conflict. For decades, Morocco has exerted control over the Western Sahara, fighting a military conflict with rebel movement Polisario, which is backed by Algiers. Until now, Morocco has controlled most of the Western Sahara territory, considering it to be Moroccan. And since August 2021, when Algeria severed its diplomatic relations with Morocco, the conflict has spread to gas pipeline politics too.

Algeria is facing a struggling economy, which has been hit hard by COVID-19, endemic corruption, mismanagement and internal political strive. Algerias leaders are also increasingly worried about Moroccos growing political influence in the region, and even its improving relations with Israel. Internal instability, especially after the death of its former leader Bouteflika, has caused economic mayhem, and has led its oil and gas sector, the major source of income, to decline.

The last decade, both countries also have been in an arms race, which Algeria due to higher oil and gas prices has been winning, but in which Morocco is returning to take the lead. The arms race, combined with a regional power strive between Morocco and Algeria, even into the Gulf region, has caused immense friction. Until now, the strife between the two North-Afican nations, has not had a major impact on Europe. While Brussels, Madrid and other European powers, have been keeping an eye on the conflict and internal developments, the rift was regarded as an insignificant power struggle. This has, however, changed dramatically since Algeria decided to close the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline on November 1st.

Story continues

Algiers decided to close down the conduit after Morocco refused to invest in its own part of the gas export pipeline, while still taking a part of the gas in the pipeline as payment for the transfer rights. Morocco used the gas to produce around 12% of the countrys electricity. Due to the closure, Spain is directly affected. In the heads of Algerian leaders, the Medgaz pipeline is seen as a replacement, which would allow Algeria to get rid of intermediaries and to cut Morocco out.

The closure was expected, after that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune issued an order to Sonatrach, Algeria's state energy firm, to stop supplying export gas to Spain through the Maghreb pipeline on October 31. Even though Spain has been known as a major renewable energy proponent, mainly wind and solar, the country still relies on natural gas for almost 50% of its energy needs, most of it is being supplied via the Maghreb pipeline.

Knowing that Algeria refuses to renew the contract with Morocco, Spain has been left scrambling for whatever gas supply it can get hold of. Increasing LNG imports is the first option that comes to mind, but buying spot cargoes on the market isnt going to be easy. Madrid will have to compete with various other European and Asian buyers, which are already paying top-dollar for extra cargoes. As the Iberian Peninsula is not strongly connected to the European gas grid, importing gas from other European nations is also going to be challenging in the short term. Algerian natural gas supplies are still the main and at present the only real option. As the Magrheb-Europe gas pipeline delivered around 6 BCM per year, the gap is immense.

The only other solution is to increase the Medgaz pipeline flows. Medgaz was inaugurated a decade ago and it is controlled jointly by the Algerian state (51%) and by the Spanish energy company Naturgy, formerly known as Gas Natural Fenosa (49%). Normally it provides around 25% of natural gas that reaches Spain. Algeria has pledged to raise its capacity from eight bcm to 10 bcm a year, but Spain would still need around four bcm more to cover its needs. Some Algerian LNG could also be heading to Spain, but the price for these spot cargoes will undoubtedly be high as other countries are also bidding for the same cargoes.

The overall impact on Spain could be significant. Natural gas is not only used for heating or industry use, but also for combined cycle power plants, which are generating around 30-33% of total electricity consumed. When looking at the available strategic gas reserves, the options are limited. Spanish minister of energy Teresa Ribera reported yesterday that the country has only natural gas reserves equivalent to 43 days of consumption. She however also reiterated that Algeria has offered to send higher volumes to Spain if needed.

Algerias strategy is very diffuse at present. The lack of transparency in its oil and gas sector is extreme, while overall production capacity is under pressure. Some are even stating that the current crisis could be a way of hiding ongoing supply constraints or outright lack of export volumes.

At the same time, Algeria stated bluntly today that it targets a 30% gas market share in Europe. On October 2nd, Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab stated that his country was seeking to increase its share of the European gas market to over the current 30%. Algerian press agency APS said that the minister reiterated the country's ambition to further strengthen its presence on this market by suggesting additional quantities". Markets are however very doubtful this will happen in the next 2-5 years. Algeria is currently producing 1.2 million oil barrels per day and 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, making it Africas largest gas exporter.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) stock may not have had the best run in the third quarter, but the weakness presented a buying opportunity for a big investment bank.

What Happened: Germany's Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE: DB) boosted its Nio holdings by 22% in the third quarter, a Form 13F filed with the SEC Thursday showed.

At the end of the third quarter, the German bank held 7.136 million shares of the Chinese EV maker, up from the 5.85 million shares it held at the end of the second quarter.

The value of Nio shares held by Deutsche Bank increased from $254.251 million at the end of the second quarter to $311.236 million at the end of the third quarter.

Related Link: Nio Vs. XPeng Vs. Li Auto: How October EV Deliveries Stack Up

Why It's Important: Despite the lukewarm showing by Nio's stock, the company is a big favorite among sell-side analysts.

Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu reiterated a Buy rating on Nio shares and increased the price target from $60 to $70.

While noting that the stock has underperformed vis-a-vis its peers in the last three months, the analyst said he sees three catalysts that could change the narrative on the stock.

Nio's upcoming earnings report and guidance, due Tuesday; the November deliveries report due in early December; and the Nio Day 2021 event scheduled for Dec. 18 could serve as catalysts to propel the stock higher, he said.

NIO Price Action: Nio shares were down 1.79% at $42.35 late in Friday's session.

Related Link: Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Delivers Nearly Double The EVs Sold By Nio, XPeng, Li Auto Combined In October

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(Bloomberg) -- China is resolutely sticking with its zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19, even as the delta variant continues to penetrate its formidable defenses. Officials are implementing increasingly aggressive measures  ranging from internal travel restrictions and snap lockdowns to mass testing of millions  in an attempt to rein in the virus.

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Yet more parts of the country are grappling with outbreaks than at any time since the deadly pathogen first emerged in Wuhan in 2019. Hundreds of locally transmitted infections have been found in about two thirds of its provinces.

The last of the major Covid Zero holdouts, China is becoming ever more isolated, and its unpredictable curbs are beginning to disrupt the worlds second-largest economy. How long can the vast nation maintain its strategy as the rest of the world learns to live with Covid, and what factors might force the country to re-open?

The Health Experts

My personal estimate is China wont reopen for another year, said Chen Zhengming, an epidemiology professor at the University of Oxford.

The countrys success with suppressing flareups has won public approval, he pointed out, while places treating the virus as endemic are seeing what the government fears  once you relax, cases surge.

Chinas vaccination rate is very high, but most are vaccinated with an inactivated shot that is less effective than an mRNA inoculation. Without adequate coverage of boosters and a significant change in outbreaks elsewhere, I think the chance of China reopening and giving up Covid Zero is small, he said. Otherwise, the Communist Party is not going to change unless it gets to a situation where they cant control [the virus] any more.

Story continues

One way out of Covid Zero may be to pick a few places to start experimenting with controllable risks, he said. Testing what happens once extreme measures are abandoned will give people tremendous confidence, he said.

But even if the government opts to stay isolated for another three or four years, China is such a big country, it could sustain itself still pretty well internally, he said.

Another reason to hold off on re-opening is the health system, according to Jason Wang, director of Stanford Universitys Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention. Its already difficult to get care in many cities, he said. A little bit of a surge could just really overwhelm hospital capacity and that could lead to social unrest.

Its difficult to predict how long Covid Zero will last, he added. It could last a long time.

Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, expects no change until after the 20th Party Congress in late 2022 at the earliest. The Chinese government doesnt allow and couldnt afford any risks before that.

A shift in the state medias tone may signal that a government pivot is coming, he added. As long as reporting remains so critical of infection numbers in more open countries, its very unlikely they could win the trust of their people when changing the policy abruptly.

However a winter surge in cases could still force the government into a rethink within weeks, said Peter Collignon, an infectious disease physician and professor at the Australian National University Medical School.

Thatll be about the time  January, probably  when they think, well, weve got a lot of cases here and were just going to have to live with Covid and control it as best as we can, he said. New Zealand, Australia and Singapore have taken very much the Chinese approach to the virus, he added, but it actually has spread during their winter periods.

The Political Observers

It would be a major shock if the party were to relent ahead of the Winter Olympics and next years 20th party congress, said George Magnus, a research associate at Oxford Universitys China Centre. China sees its Covid record as a badge of honor, and a change in strategy would be seen in Beijing as an embarrassment.

Its hard to see China running the risk of relaxation before their vaccines have improved, Magnus added. I cant see any circumstances influencing the decision to persist with zero Covid and keep foreign visitors largely out.

Frank Tsai, a lecturer at the Emlyon Business Schools Shanghai campus and founder of consulting firm China Crossroads, agrees the government will be extremely reluctant to abandon zero Covid, so as to avoid any outbreaks that damage its legitimacy.

Chinas strong Covid response has been among the best arguments in favor of its system of government, convincing both to Chinese themselves and to many non-Chinese around the world, he said.

However, the nation will find it harder to counter anti-China rhetoric without foreigners who have actually been here who can argue its case.

The Market Watchers

The transmissibility of delta means Chinas zero-tolerance approach may become quite difficult, especially if other nations employ a different living with Covid-19 strategy, said Jessica Tea, an investment specialist at BNP Paribas Asset Management Asia Ltd.

The approach could delay a full recovery of some services consumption, especially in hospitality sectors, she added. However Tea sees technology, life sciences and energy-transition related stocks as growth areas for 2022.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius agrees holding to an elimination strategy wont kill off Chinese investment opportunities. You can shut off China completely from the world and you have still a very big domestic market which is very attractive.

However, if you look at Hong Kong as the gateway to China  for many, I would say most, foreign investors  then the degree to which Chinas cracking down and extending that to Hong Kong is not a very good thing, he said. We have to wait and see if it lasts for much longer. I think its definitely going to have a detrimental effect.

Jason Brady, chief executive officer and fund manager with Thornburg Investment Management, said the policy gap between greater China and the rest of the world is going to become more and more stark. As the reality of endemic coronavirus sets in, investors need to cast their minds forward to whats the world going to look like six months from now.

The Economists

Chinas approach may cap the upside potential of the economy, especially for consumption and the service sector, said Shuang Ding, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd.  but it also curbs the downside from an uncontrolled outbreak. He expects the nation to stick with Covid Zero possibly until the conclusion of the NPC [National Peoples Congress] meetings in March.

After that, China may reconsider based on the experience of other countries, he said. Especially those that have reached herd immunity vaccination rates and decided to treat Covid as endemic.

Inoculating the population is key even with a no-tolerance approach, said Bruce Pang, head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance Securities Hong Kong. If China sticks to its zero Covid strategy, we think a sustained and vibrant recovery in China will not be seen without higher vaccination rates and availability of booster shots.

The Travel Professionals

We really dont know when the nation will re-open its borders, said Gary Bowerman, director of travel and tourism research firm Check-in Asia. Its clearly not going to be before the Beijing Winter Olympics and that seems guaranteed. It could be the second quarter of next year  or maybe another year.

You look at the recent travel period for the October holiday and it was a little bit disappointing. So we dont know how strong travel confidence is, according to Bowerman. When China does re-open, he expects it to be in a very phased way.

The government has been quite public that they will continue to manage this in a fairly tight manner at least until the middle of the next year, said Jeffrey Goh, CEO of the Star Alliance of 26 airlines. But his organization is working with its Chinese members to bring to the table the medical and scientific evidence to persuade the authorities to look at things at a slightly different light. Goh added that his counterparts at OneWorld and SkyTeam are mounting similar efforts.

Goh said the alliance is optimistic that the authorities may be convinced to change tack. We saw this work in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand, he added.

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Indias largest private company has finally launched its ultra-affordable smartphone, but disrupting the market, which it intends to, will likely involve a serious battle.

The 6,499 rupee ($87.26) JioPhone Next, developed by Reliance in association with Google and Qualcomm and launched yesterday, targets first-time users and those eyeing an upgrade from the feature phones.

But will it pack a punch strong enough to get Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, and RealMe and the South Korean Samsung to loosen their grips on the $25 billion Indian smartphone market?

India is a populated country and Jio is a trusted name with a customer base of 400 million users. A mingling of the two can provide the necessary success for the new launch, said Siddharth Maurya, resource specialist and a fund management expert.

A majority of Indians fall in the belt between middle class to lower levels. Coming out with an affordable range with all the features, plus value additions, can hold worth for the target audience.

What Reliances JioPhone Next offers

The dual-sim smartphone was to be launched in September, but that didnt happen due to a chip shortage. It features a 5.45-inch HD+ display and is protected by third-generation Gorilla Glass. Powered by a 3,500 milliampere/hour battery, JioPhone Next has a 13 MP main camera and an 8MP selfie lens.

Reliance has rolled out an EMI option with a down payment of Rs1,999, eyeing the first-time smartphone user from rural and low-income groups. The instalment amount starts from Rs300 and is for 18 and 24 months.

In 2019, there were around 550 million feature phone users in India, some 45% of whom used handsets costing under Rs1,000.

Indias China-dominated smartphone market

The bright prospects aside, some analysts are circumspect about any easy success for JioPhone Next.

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The India smartphone market is hyper-competitive, with the top five smartphone brands garnering a lions share. There are other brands that own a clear niche with their differentiated smartphone offerings, explained Prabhu Ram, head of market intelligence firm Cyber Media Research (CMR).

Chinese players Xiaomi, Vivo, and RealMe rule the roost with a variety of products priced even below Rs5,000. OnePlus leads the premium segment.

Pricing aside, the Chinese monopoly rides on both efficient and productive labour and technology.

"Once Reliance will focus on bringing in the technology rather than utilising the existing labour at home, the results can be dramatically good for JioPhone Next," Maurya said.

The road ahead for JioPhone Next

Affordability will clearly be a key factorsomething Reliance's JioPhone Next, priced at a little more than what was expected, will have to address, experts said.

"In 2022 and beyond, Jio would be better placed to drive volumes with the easing of supply constraints," Ram of CMR said.

Another factor would be innovation.

"If Reliance fails to come up with new features, it might be possible that its JioPhone Next will actually end up boosting sales of its competitors," said Prachir Singh, senior analyst at market research firm Counterpoint Research.

"Reliance will unlock the new world for feature phone users upgrading to the smartphone era, but to sustain this userbase it has to keep offering new things or else they will migrate to other brands in the search of a better user experience."

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High-yielding dividend stocks can be tempting to invest in because that means you're collecting more on your investment. Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) and Altria Group (NYSE: MO) don't have yields that high, but at around 9% and 8%, respectively, they are definitely on the top end of the scale. Are these examples of dividend stocks that are too risky to be in your portfolio or could they be among the best deals on the stock market today?
NEW YORK and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, a preeminent national consumer rights law firm, announces that it has filed a complaint on behalf of current and former King's Seafood Company, LLC ("King's Seafood") customers and employees.

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King's Seafood is a growing restaurant chain, with 22 restaurants throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada, and has employed thousands of people to operate and supply these restaurants. King's Seafood employees and customers entrust it with their sensitive and confidential personally identifiable information ("PII"), such as their names, driver's license information, payment card information, medical cards, telephone numbers, and partially redacted Social Security numbers.

On or around August 23, 2021, King's Seafood learned that PII may have been compromised during a cyber-attack which began on June 4, 2021. The hacker gained access to directories where PII was stored. The unauthorized individual was capable of accessing and acquiring the PII in the directories. Nearly a month later, King's Seafood issued a "Notice of Data Breach," dated September 14, 2021, to those whose PII may have been impacted.

If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH from King's Seafood and you reside in the United States, if you wish to discuss this litigation, or if you have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this matter, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at gstone@whafh.com, or visit our website at www.whafh.com

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has extensive experience in the prosecution of consumer rights litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. Courts have repeatedly recognized the reputation and expertise of this firm and have appointed it to major positions in complex consolidated litigation.

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The name of U.S. 1 is set to change on Jan. 1, and residents and businesses along U.S. 1 in the Fredericksburg area need to adjust their addresses accordingly.

The Virginia General Assembly approved a bill earlier this year to change any portion of U.S. 1 named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis to Emancipation Highway. The bill, which was sponsored by Del. Josh Cole, DFredericksburg, and signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam, allowed local officials to establish another name for the highway, as long as it is done before Jan. 1, 2022.

In the Fredericksburg region, U.S. 1 traverses four localities: Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, Spotsylvania and Stafford. The highways name will be different in each locality.

Fredericksburg: Emancipation Highway

Caroline: U.S. 1

Spotsylvania: Patriot Highway

Stafford: Richmond Highway (except the Falmouth stretch named Cambridge Street).

The localities will change the small green-and-white intersection signs, but the Virginia Department of Transportation will replace the larger highway signs: four in Caroline and 21 each in Stafford and Spotsylvania.
When his wife, Karen, came home last April and told him about the for sale sign she saw outside of Country Traditions, Loren Paquette said his first instinct was to buy the business.

Im kind of the entrepreneur and shes the quilter, and so we put our brains together and decided this was an adventure we were going to jump on, he said. And so we took the big leap to move our lives forward because we both were looking for something we both love.

Now two weeks married, the Paquettes are rebranding the downtown Fremont store as Nebraska Quilt Company since taking over as owners in September.

Although the store has continued operations at 330 N. Main St. since the change in ownership, the couple plans to open it with the new name from Nov. 9-13. A ribbon-cutting and building blessing ceremony will be held Nov. 30.

Sure theres nerves, but our customers are good people and we want them to succeed, and I think they want to see us succeed, Loren Paquette said. It really helps the community. We want to build community, so this gives us an opportunity to do that.

As a 4-H kid from northeast Nebraska, Karen Paquette said she first got interested in quilting from her mother, who was not only a schoolteacher but a seamstress who would make 10 to 20 new outfits each year.

We were the family that had matching clothes, she said. She had a dress, and dad had the matching shirt, my brother had the matching shirt and I had a matching dress.

As clothing superintendent for 4-H, Karen Paquette said her mother was a perfectionist.

We would go around and round and round and I would never sew anything correctly, she said. So its kind of funny that this is now where were at, because I disliked sewing clothes.

After her mothers death, a 17-year-old Karen Paquette went through her boxes of UFOs, or unfinished objects of quilting blocks. Her grandmother also had several boxes.

I had no desire to put those together, but I was very fortunate, I had a grandma on my dads side of the family that put all of those quilts together, she said. So I have some wonderful heirlooms my brother and I split up.

It wasnt until her sons were in the fifth grade when Karen Paquette discovered her passion for quilting.

I took a quilting class, and thats all she wrote, she said. I fell in love with it.

Karen Paquette would often shop at Country Traditions, which was owned at the time by Leslie and Kevin Main. She also rented a long-arm quilting machine from a shop in Omaha and make T-shirt quilts.

Then in 2019, I decided it was time for me to have my own machine at my house, so I bought a machine here from Country Traditions, and its been in my basement since then, just working away, she said.

Loren and Karen Paquette first started dating on Oct. 23, 2013, exactly eight years before their wedding last month.

When he first met his future wife, Loren Paquette said she was in her home quilt studio, nicknamed the sweat shop, as she was cutting a piece of fabric into 1,000 little pieces.

She was like, Well, Im just going to sew them back together, maybe I can get you to do that someday, and I was like, I dont think so, he said. And then we get seven years down the road, and we saw the for sale sign here.

At first, Karen Paquette thought her husband was nuts for wanting to purchase the store, as quilting had only been a side hustle for her.

But Loren Paquette was determined, as he had been training in the business field.

When the opportunity came, it was like, I get to use the skills Ive learned for the last few years and test it, he said. And its testing out pretty well. Theres still a lot to learn, but its definitely a good jump.

The ownership transfer was finalized on July 12, and the Paquettes became owners of the building and business two months later.

With the stores name-changing, Loren Paquette said the process was long and arduous, as they wanted the name to represent what it would be known for.

We wanted to make sure people know we were a quilt shop, and its obvious in the name, he said. We made a list of easily 150 different names.

Eventually, the couple settled on Nebraska Quilt Company after sleeping on the name for a few nights. The store is still in the process of making all of the changes to the new name, including the addition of a new sign.

I bet our luck is that its going to happen next week with all of the chaos, which is OK, Loren Paquette said. Its good to see positive change. People are excited, and thats what were trying to create, is some excitement.

The Paquettes aim to keep the business existing services, including providing fabrics, patterns and machines.

Weve added maybe some more modern fabric lines, but kept our traditional reproduction lines, Karen Paquette said. So were just building on the wonderful base that was here to create our shop.

Additionally, Karen Paquette said she wants to upgrade the stores second floor, including adding a restroom and sink and updating the cutting mats.

Were starting to update those, were starting to update our irons and our ironing boards and things to make it feel more like the room that they want to spend time in, she said. And then weve got to get paint and other things.

Loren Paquette said he also wants to create more classes with outside educators, as well as multi-day retreats. The store has unused space next door on the second floor that they plan to remodel.

Theres some ladies, they get together in groups and they go off and they sew with all of their friends, and they need someplace to stay, he said. Well, I could probably get 15 to 20 over there, they could stay next door and have all of this room to sew.

As the Downtown Business Improvement District Board recently moved its meetings to the second floor, Loren Paquette said he wants to continue to be a host for the organization.

We want to be part of the community, he said. Were trying to source whatever we can in Fremont and support the Fremont community, which is really important to us because we are now part of it.

The Paquettes have also brought their dog, Jax, to explore the store as they work there during the day.

I think with the customers, hes probably more of a celebrity than we are, by far, Loren Paquette said. They love coming and seeing him, and theyll bring him some treats and boxes of treats.

As Nebraska Quilt Company moves forward, Loren Paquette said hes tried to involve the customers as much as he can. For instance, hell consult them with samples when representatives come to visit the shop.

If theres some way we can bring their product in, we will, he said. The shops not just for us, its for them. If we arent doing things that serve them, we dont have a shop.

Karen Paquette said she was most excited to build community with other quilt shops in the region and the stores customers.

I love helping them pick out their projects, she said. Theyll come in with this fabric that theyve had already or theyve got a partial project, and then they just want help finishing their projects.

Although quilting may be difficult, Loren Paquette said he often thinks of a quote from the stores designer, Scott Flanagan: Its only hard if somebody tells you its hard.

And thinking back to making his very first quilt, Loren Paquette said he wants to spread that philosophy to his customers.

We want to build their ability to do more difficult things, he said. Everybody has it in them, its just a matter of somebody believing in them.

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Nye Legacy and Nye Pointe have welcomed Patrick Fairbanks as their new executive director.

Fairbanks joins the Nye Health Services team with over 34 years of experience in senior health care administration throughout Nebraska.

I am thrilled to join the Nye Legacy and Nye Pointe team as the new executive director. I am passionate about making a positive impact in peoples lives and supporting our team members as they provide exceptional service to the seniors we serve, Fairbanks said in a prepared statement.

Kristin Harris, VP of Operations, said, We are excited to welcome Patrick to the Nye Legacy and Nye Pointe team. Patricks life commitment to providing quality care paired with his depth of leadership experience in senior health care administration is going to allow him to successfully lead our team that strives for excellence in care.

Fairbanks has lived in Nebraska all his life. When hes not working, he enjoys hunting and spending time with his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.

Nye Legacy and Nye Pointe provide traditional skilled care, short stay rehab, and outpatient therapy services to seniors in Fremont and the surrounding communities. For more information on Nye Legacy and Nye Pointes services, call Jessica Lewis, clinical liaison, at 402-721-9300. To learn more about Nye Health Services, visit www.nyehealthservices.com.

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One teen drove another around a North Omaha neighborhood on Oct. 18, headlights off, looking for rival gang members, a prosecutor said Friday.

Authorities say Justyn Wagner, 19, jumped out of the car that evening and fired 10 shots at 18-year-old KorVanta Hill, killing him. Elijah Robinson, 18, drove Wagner away from the shooting and to Cabela's to get more bullets, said Lindsey Grove, a deputy Douglas County attorney.

Robinson appeared in court Friday, charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. The judge ordered that he be held without bail.

Grove said Robinson admitted that he was driving the car that night.

The teens drove up and down the neighborhood near 39th and Pratt streets, looking for rival gang members, Grove said. When they spotted someone walking down the street, Wagner got out and fired, then returned to the car. Robinson drove away.

Authorities found that Robinson had turned off his cellphone before the shooting occurred about 8:10 p.m.

Hill had been walking with his stepfather. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he died.

He is the eighth teen to be slain in Omaha in 2021 and the citys 25th homicide victim of the year.

Wagner also faces first-degree murder and two firearms charges. He also is being held without bail.

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Two people have been arrested in connection with the killing of four women, including a rights activist, in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

A Taliban Interior Ministry official confirmed the arrests in a video statement posted on Twitter on November 6, saying the suspects confessed to luring the women to the home where their bodies were discovered this week.

The official did not say if the suspects had confessed to the killings, and offered no motive.

One of the victims has been identified as Frozan Safi, 29, a university lecturer and women's rights activist with the Zainuddin Mohammad Babar Cultural Center. Safi sought to join her fiance abroad and feared of her future under the Taliban, which seized control of the country in mid-August, according to the director of the center.

The director told AP that Safi left her home three weeks ago to meet with someone she believed could help her leave Afghanistan.

With reporting by AP and AFP
Colorado Springs welcomed the annual Veterans Day Parade back to downtown Saturday after the event was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19 last year. It marked the first time Colorado Springs did not have the event since its inception in 2000.

The parade didnt miss a beat Saturday with attendance nearing pre-COVID numbers with roughly 40,000 people, despite the parade featuring around 30 fewer entries in the parade totaling about 1,000 fewer people, Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade Board President Roger Ehrke said. There were around 70 entries in the parade this year.

Jay Bowen, a 20-year army veteran and department state commander of the Neal Thomas Jr.-Centennial Post 209 of the American Legion, was simply excited to celebrate veterans with the Colorado Springs community again.

[The Energy] was so high. In fact I heard many, many comments [saying], Thank God were back doing this again, he said. We all were kind of in a funk last year not being able to get out and do anything because of COVID, so everybody is so excited and hyped about the opportunity to just get back out into the streets and be among the citizens again.

The theme for this year was the greatest generation, honoring World War II veterans. It was supposed to be last years theme but the board kept it, wanting to celebrate World War II veterans in the region for what could be a final time. Ehrke said about 6 to 10 people over 100 years old were either in the parade or in the honorary guest bleachers located on Tejon Street at Pikes Peak Avenue.

The parade route runs down Tejon beginning at St. Vrain Street down to Vermijo Avenue.

The parade featured entries from military and military adjacent organizations in the Pikes Peak Region as well as school marching bands and their junior ROTC programs including Daughters of the American Revolution, Fort Carson Mounted Color Guard, U.S Air Force Academy Cadet Honor Guard, USAA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and more.

Bringing the parade back was challenging this year, administrative assistant Eileen Howe said. The board lost its secretary who oversaw duties like getting insurance and sponsorships, and many of the other responsibilities that keep the parade running. Howe, who moved from Colorado Springs to Charlotte, N.C. in 2015, picked up the slack and helped remotely. Howe said that she and members of the board took on additional responsibilities to make the parade happen this year.

The daughter of a veteran who was in the Minnesota National Guard and the mother of an Air Force Academy graduate, Howe said putting the parade together is a labor of love.

I love the parade, I love working for those men and women, she said. Its what we need to do for our military. We need to celebrate them.

Howe thanked the community for doing its part to bring the parade back downtown. From Flex Tec which provided stickers which were miniaturized versions of the parade poster to Colorado Springs Utilities who send 20 people each year to help the board staff organize the parade lineup.

Bowen echoed that sentiment.

We love doing this because it shows that not only does the city support [veterans] but we support the city, he said.

That love and support could be felt by Brianna Bebb, who was in the parade as a member of the Vista Ridge High School Air Force Junior ROTC. Bebb, fighting back tears, expressed what she enjoyed about this years parade and what Veterans Day means to her.

It brought everybody together. Everybody came together to support and celebrate the people who have served in the past, she said. My grandpa was in Air Force 22 years. It means a lot to my family.
A law passed by the Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature threatening public schools with a $25,000 fine for using any American Indian name as a mascot is being challenged in federal court by Native Americans who believe it violates their civil rights.

Five plaintiffs filed a lawsuit this week against Gov. Jared Polis and a number of other state officials saying that Senate Bill 21-116, titled Prohibition on use of American Indian Mascots, violates their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs include two minors attending Colorado public schools, two adults and the Native American Guardians Association.

The statute, says attorney Will Trachman of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the plaintiffs, prevents them from petitioning schools to name themselves in honor of Native Americans. The $25,000 fine chills their speech and the statute is so vague that persons of common intelligence must necessarily guess at the meaning, scope, and application of SB 21-116, says the complaint.

The complaint also alleges violation of Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides that no person shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

The plaintiffs believe in the idea of reappropriation, in which they petition school districts to use Native American names, iconography and imagery in positive, honorific ways, rather than as derogations of their heritage. This statute, they say, violates their rights by prohibiting schools from portraying Native Americans in a positive light.

"Reappropriation allows Native Americans to self-identify, and non-Native American allies to associate their identities with the messages that Plaintiffs seek to convey, in order to persuade others to join the cause of Plaintiffs," says the complaint.

Trachman told The Denver Gazette, The law is very poorly drafted. Not only have they swept in all the things they meant to sweep in, like Indians and warriors, but theyve swept in things like the Cherokee Trail Cougars or Pagosa Springs teams because theyve got the words Pagosa and Cherokee in them. And theyve also swept in honorific names. So, if you wanted to name a school Sitting Bull High School in honor of Sitting Bull, well, they would have to pay a $25,000 per month fine.

Trachman says the law is patronistic and that the state has deemed certain things offensive on behalf of Native Americans and banned those expressions.

For example, the word queer, a term long used as an insult, has been successfully reappropriated. Trachman says the ability of his clients to persuade public schools to use Native American symbols in a respectful, positive way is destroyed by the law and prevents them from righting the wrongs of the past.

My clients are Native Americans who appreciate tasteful and respectful images related to Native Americans, said Trachman. Even if something is a little bit edgy like savages, they believe in reappropriation. Weve seen this with a number of other racial demographics.

There's an Asian American band called the Slants that went all the way to the Supreme Court litigating for their right to call their band the Slants even though it's typically an offensive name for Asian Americans, Trachman continued. They said, Look, our theory is reappropriation. We intentionally use an offensive name as part of what we're doing here.

Spokespeople for Polis and state Attorney General Phil Weiser said they would not comment because the lawsuit is ongoing.

An email sent Thursday to the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs for comment on the lawsuit was not immediately returned.

The suit asks for a temporary restraining order, a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent enforcement of the law, a declaratory judgment that the law is unconstitutional, attorneys fees and nominal damages of $1.00.

The case has not yet been set for trial.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A new federal law, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, takes effect Friday with changes that boots-on-the-ground workers like Brian James, who runs a therapeutic foster home in Colorado Springs, say will prevent foster kids from falling through the cracks and give them a better chance at becoming successful adults.
The impending removal of two Ward Lockwood murals has sparked controversy at Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

Painted in 1935 and revealed during the FAC's grand opening in 1936, the art deco-style works will be taken down due to racist imagery and damage accumulated from their location in a food service area. The timeline for removal is unknown, but depends on a timeline from a conservator, said FAC's Director of Visual Arts and Museum Michael Christiano.

The works feature two Black figures  a minstrel playing a banjo and a slave on his knees with a white angel above, representing the main character in a show based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

"Id never want to show work that advanced a racist agenda," Christiano said. "It is our responsibility to understand how racism operates in the visual arts, and how we can better do our work in order to become a more anti-racist institution. In this instance, someone in Blackface is a force of dehumanization for Black people. Its our responsibility to engage with that history and not cause harm in showing work to someone who might have experienced that form of racism or dehumanization."

Jim Raughton, former Chair of the Trustees of FAC and longtime philanthropist, who has promised to leave an endowment and art collection to the museum, disagrees that the murals are racist and damaged enough to be removed. He wants to see the works remain on the walls, and contextualized with two accompanying written statements on how to view them. One statement would explain how the murals can be viewed as racist and the other would explain how to see the historic murals within the context of the time in which they were painted.

"That would lead to a teachable moment," Raughton said. "Lockwood was arguing for the inclusion of Black culture in this new magnificent theater. This is a guy who wasnt trying to be racist as they have implied these murals are. They do depict two scenes offensive to some people. It was a brand new modern theater and four artists were invited to do murals. He was the only one who went out of his way to include African Americans in one form or another."

At an October Curtain Call event, a membership group at the FAC that gets together for dinner and a performance-related conversation before watching the show, Raughton asked for the murals to be unveiled so attendees could judge for themselves whether the imagery was racist.

Security was called for what staff deemed inappropriate behavior, and Raughton was escorted out of the building. He is banned from the FAC and CC campus until he offers an acceptable apology, the college said.

Both murals are located on the north wall of what was originally the FAC theater lobby, but is now Taste, a currently closed restaurant. The murals are covered and unavailable for public viewing. After the murals are removed and restored, there is no immediate plan to reinstall them. They will be placed in the museum's permanent collection and treated like other objects  available for research and reinstallation.

"Our understanding of racial dynamics has evolved over time, and it's incumbent upon us to understand how works of art produced in this time period relate to our current moment and sensibility of anyone who might come into the FAC today," Christiano said. "It is a work of art and we retain curatorial purview to put up and take down works of art in relationship to what were trying to achieve in our program."

Raughton calls Lockwood a progressive artist who participated in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural projects during the '30s, and whose work was noted for including minority groups and their contributions to American culture, as well as references to their repression. After painting the FAC murals, Lockwood traveled to Taos, N.M., where he had been commissioned to paint a set of murals for the Taos courthouse dealing with the oppression of Hispanics and American Indians, and became a member of the Taos Artist Society, a progressive modernist school of art.

Last year Raughton published a piece about the murals in the Cheyenne Mountain Kiva journal, a publication by the Cheyenne Mountain Heritage Center that seeks to preserve the history and art of the Pikes Peak region.

"I have long since recognized that 'Justice for All' is a goal of our society that has not always been realized. It is my belief that the root of prejudice is the condescension that one group directs toward another based on inaccurate and incomplete information. It is my belief that this has been recently applied to the murals of John Ward Lockwood," he wrote in the summer edition of the journal.

Beginning the mural conversation

The murals first came into question during a town hall meeting in 2018, where attendees expressed mixed opinions about what to do with the works. At the time, it was believed the works were frescoes and permanently attached to the wall  to remove them would be to ruin them. It was decided the works would be covered.

"These coverings are temporary while we investigate thoughtful alternatives to address the problematic imagery in these murals. We do not seek to whitewash the past, or the present; rather, we commit to grappling with and understanding our history while at the same time upholding values of justice, equity and inclusion. The presence of these two murals in our restaurant, a public space of gathering and community building, counters the FAC's work toward creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all," reads part of a gallery guide for patrons inside Taste.

In August the conservator hired to assess the condition of the murals found the works were painted on canvas and applied to the walls, meaning the works could be safely removed, cleaned, preserved and placed in the permanent collection. It was decided to go ahead with the removal.

Raughton believes the murals can be restored where they are, and that they are being removed solely due to the imagery. He believes the FAC museum committee, an advisory group that helps monitor the museum's collection, was given no say in what happened.

"It's one thing to cover them and another to remove them," Raughton said. "This is an executive or administrative decision. That the removal is for restoration is their justification. Like other murals weve restored, you just go up and do it. You dont have to remove them. Its a device to get them down."

Blake Wilson, The Art Bank & Oriental Rug Center co-owner and a member of the FAC museum committee, has been part of several discussions about the murals. There is no vote by the committee to take action one way or the other, he said. Decisions about the museum's accessioned works of art are made by curatorial and administrative staff members.

"I support and understand their rights to do so," Wilson said about removing the murals. "Like many works executed in the '30s, the murals represent images commonplace at the time, but are offensive to many today. They are part of our history and deserve to be preserved and conserved. The manner in which they are exhibited is up to curators now and in the future."

The museum and CC, which assumed management of the FAC in 2016, are working to become anti-racist institutions, Christiano said. And the murals are an example of contending with a complex history. It's not an issue unique to the FAC. Many museums are now working to address problematic imagery in their collections. Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Director Matt Mayberry called it a challenging time.

"Our mission, vision and values guide how we are to approach everything we exhibit," Mayberry said. "We try to create context and a story for objects we put on exhibit. Were thoughtful about what objects we put on exhibit. We dont just throw things on the wall. Whats the story were trying to tell and how do we tell it in a way thats respectful and in context?"
The city of Fountain is on the hunt for more water to support growth and the most likely short-term option is an agreement with Colorado Springs Utilities.

"Fountain is coming to the ceiling of the treated water supply," said Mike Fink, city water resources manager, during a recent board meeting.

While the city owns enough water rights to double its treated water capacity, enough to serve 8,800 taps, developing the infrastructure to treat that water will take time and purchasing water could provide a more immediate solution, Utilities Director Dan Blankenship said.

In the long-term, the town expects residents could consume about four times as much water as they do now, a recent water master planning process showed, Fink said. The study showed the town uses about 3,167 acre feet of water annually, or about 1 billion gallons and it will need 11,527 acre feet or about 3.75 billion gallons, he said. The town's maximum daily demand for water could also increase four fold, he said.

The need for more water is not tied to a calendar date, rather it will be driven by the speed of growth within the city's service area. Those developments will also be expected to pay for additional water infrastructure, Blankenship said.

The town's service area is distinct from the town's boundaries because five water providers serve homes and businesses within the city's boundaries, Fink said.

To meet the need, Blankenship said he recently put in a formal request to Colorado Springs Utilities to purchase treated water and would like to have an agreement in two years, he said.

"Thats an extremely aggressive approach," Blankenship said.

The water could be delivered to Fountain by way of a new water main line that could run from the Edward Bailey Water Treatment Plant south to the eastern side of Fountain, he said.

Blankenship would like to see an agreement to purchase water over 15 to 25 years until the water is needed to serve Colorado Springs, he said.

Colorado Springs Utilities confirmed it has received a request from Fountain and such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

"These agreements can provide an efficient use of our infrastructure in circumstances where we have capacity, as they allow us to help spread the costs of conveyance (delivery of water) over a larger customer base," spokeswoman Jennifer Kemp said.

Fountain is also working on a new reservoir so it can use water rights it already owns. It has purchased gravel pits on the very southwest side of Fountain west of Interstate 25, just north of the Nixon power plant and has hired a consultant that is designing the new facility. However, the excavation company must complete reclamation on the property before the town can start work, Blankenship said.

Town officials are also exploring other options, such as injecting the Widefield aquifer with surface water from Fountain Creek to store it, he said. When water is stored in existing aquifers none of it is lost to evaporation.

The Widefield aquifer is contaminated with chemicals from firefighting foam that used to be used on Peterson Space Force Base and all the water from the aquifer goes through extensive treatment to ensure its safe for consumption.

Still, Fountain, Security and Widefield are interested in the injection as a potential to increase water storage, Blankenship said.

"Theres science that indicates the aquifer could be cleaned over time," he said.

Fountain could also become a partner in the project to recapture Denver basin groundwater water released into Fountain Creek by northern water users.

Colorado Springs Utilities, Monument and six groundwater districts are working together on the feasibility of capturing the water.

It's possible the water could be diverted below Colorado Springs and may require new water storage, such as a reservoir or tank, Colorado Springs Utilities said in the past.

The city of Fountain could also consider new residential landscaping rules to help cut consumption, Fink said. Such rules would have be approved by Fountain's council.
If you had told retailer Lori Sanders a few years ago that nearly every building in downtown Sheffield would be filled with businesses, she likely wouldn't have believed you.

"It used to be a ghost town," Sanders said of the city's business community. "It was always so slow."

Sanders opened her store, Forever Yours, a floral and gift shop, in 2005, and for many years, she watched a barren downtown struggle to attract customers.

"I just refused to close," Sanders said. "I didn't want to leave another building empty."

But in the past 12 months, Sheffield's downtown has received a major shot in the arm, with many new businesses opening their doors.

One of those is Maple Lane, a furniture-refurbishing store opened in June by a pair of lifelong friends, Jenny Jurgens and Kristine Trask who grew up in town.

Trask and Jurgens both work full-time alongside running Maple Lane, but owning a store and bringing a different selection of items to Sheffield was something the pair were always interested in.

"I remember we went to Des Moines one day, and we were like 'it's unfortunate that we can't find what we like in our area,'" Trask said. "So we decided to take the plunge and try it out."

Maple Lane is open for a "market" one weekend each month for customers to browse their wide selection of refurbished furniture. Between markets, Jurgens and Trask spend their time finding pieces to restore.

"The support has been unbelievable," Jurgens said of the customer response. "Sometimes it's almost a little overwhelming even."

Another new storefront the area is Peachy Keehn Boutique, a clothing and home decor business owned by Alyssa Noss.

Noss had originally been operating out of her basement, but eventually that became unsustainable.

"I outgrew my basement," Noss said. "That's when I started looking for a place in Sheffield."

Last December, Noss bought a building and began renovations shortly after. Peachy Keehn opened its doors to the Sheffield community in the spring.

The influx of new businesses has come paired with an influx of new customers to the streets of Sheffield.

"It's been booming," Lori said. "It's nice to see people in town."

The sentiment is shared by Noss, Trask and Jurgens. "It's been crazy. It honestly blows my mind," Noss said. "(It's) Awesome to be a part of it."

Sheffield Mayor, and Lori's husband, Scott Sanders, said the revival of the downtown has been exciting.

"I got into this position (mayor) for that reason," Scott said. "I've been very impressed."

The combined efforts of these businesses and others in town, such as Block 10 coffee shop, home-accent retailer Koselig and thrift market Reborn in a Barn, have inspired Scott to have optimism in the future of the downtown.

"It's too early to tell; new businesses come and go," Scott said. "But I think these have a really good chance to make it."

"It's great to see the town come alive again," Trask said. "Now I think more people are seeing that downtown has more to offer, so it's cool seeing the domino effect from that."

Zachary Dupont covers politics and business development for the Globe Gazette. You can reach him at 641-421-0533 or zachary.dupont@globegazette.com. Follow Zachary on Twitter at @ZachNDupont

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A Nashua-Plainfield student won first place in his entered category at the 2021 National History Day National Contest.

According to a news release from Mix 107.3 FM, Caleb Sinnwell, a junior, won the award for his entitled project Ghost Army: Deceptive Communication and the Power of Illusion. The project focused on the Ghost Army, a World War II unit of 1,100 men assigned to deceive German Intelligence. Sinnwells research dives into created deceptions, like inflatable tanks and radio transmissions used to confuse enemy forces.

Sinnwell was also awarded the Certificate of Achievement by the U.S. Special Forces Army Unit. Sinnwell is currently asking members to support the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act.

National History Day is a year-long academic enrichment program that challenges students to research, develop and present papers and other documents about historical topics related to an annual theme. The theme this year was Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.

Abby covers education and public safety for the Globe Gazette. Follow her on Twitter at @MkayAbby. Email her at Abby.Koch@GlobeGazette.com

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In the months before he was charged with storming the Capitol, Doug Jensen was sharing conspiracy theories he'd consumed online. But it hadn't always been that way, says his brother, who recalls how he once posted the sort of family and vacation photos familiar to nearly all social media users.

A world away, Wahab hadn't always spent his days immersed in jihadist teaching. The product of a wealthy Pakistani family and the youngest son of four, he was into cars and video games, had his own motorcycle, even studied in Japan.

No two ideologues are identical and the gulf between different kinds of extremists, including in how deeply they embrace violence in the name of their cause, is as wide as it is obvious. But to dwell only on the differences obscures the similarities, not only in how people absorb extremist ideology but also in how they feed off grievances and mobilize to action.

For any American who casts violent extremism as a foreign problem, the Jan. 6 Capitol siege held up an uncomfortable mirror revealing the same conditions for fantastical thinking and politically motivated violence as any society.

The Associated Press examined the paths of radicalization through case studies on two continents: a 20-year-old man rescued from a Taliban training camp on Afghanistan's border, and an Iowa man whose brother watched him fall sway to nonsensical conspiracy theories and ultimately join the mob of Donald Trump loyalists that stormed the Capitol.

Two places, two men, two different stories as seen by two relatives. But strip away the ideologies, says John Horgan, a researcher of violent extremism, and look at the psychological processes, the roots, the experiences.

"All of those things," Horgan says, "tend to look far more similar than they are different."

THE AMERICAN

America met Doug Jensen, 42, via a widely circulated video that exposed the mob mentality inside the Capitol. Jensen's the man in a dark cap and black "Trust the Plan" shirt, leading a crowd chasing a Capitol Police officer up the stairs.

William Routh of Clarksville, Arkansas, had an unsettled feeling even before the riot. "I said, if you go down there and you're going to do a peaceful thing, then that's fine. But I said keep your head down and don't be doing something stupid."

In interviews with the AP days and months after his younger brother's arrest, Routh painted Jensen, a Des Moines father of three who'd worked as a union mason laborer, as a man who enjoyed the trappings of a conventional American existence.

"This was a shock to me more than anything, because I would not have thought this from my brother Doug, because he's a very good, hardworking family man and he has good values."

Precisely how Jensen came to absorb the conspiracies that led him to the Capitol is bewildering to Routh. But in the months before the riot, the brothers communicated about QAnon as Jensen shared videos and other conspiracy-laden messages he purported to find meaning in.

Before Jan. 6, Routh says, "We have been being told for the last  what?  seven, eight months that if the Democrats get control, we're losing our country, OK? That scares a lot of people."

A Justice Department memo that argued for Jensen's detention cites his criminal history and his eagerness to drive more than 1,000 miles to "hear President Trump declare martial law." It notes that when the FBI questioned him, he said he'd gone to Washington because "Q," the movement's amorphous voice, had forecast that the "storm" had arrived.

His lawyer, Christopher Davis, countered by calling Jensen a "victim of numerous conspiracy theories" and a committed family man whose initial devotion to QAnon "was its stated mission to eliminate pedophiles from society."

In July, a federal judge agreed to release Jensen on house arrest, citing a video showing Jensen referring to the Capitol building as the White House as a likely indication he couldn't have planned an attack in advance "when he had no basic understanding of where he even was that day."

But in September, Jensen was ordered back to jail for violating the conditions of his freedom. A federal officer visiting Jensen found him in his garage using an iPhone to watch news from Rumble, a streaming platform popular with conservatives.

THE PAKISTANI

Wahab had it all. The youngest son of four from a wealthy Pakistani family, he spent his early years in the United Arab Emirates and for a time in Japan, studying. Wahab liked cars, had his own motorcycle and was crazy about video games.

His uncle, who rescued the 20-year-old from a Taliban training camp on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan earlier this year, asked that his full name not be used because militants have deep-reaching tentacles in the northwest where the family lives. He agreed to be quoted using his middle name, Kamal.

Kamal is one of five brothers who runs the family-owned import/export conglomerate. Each brother has groomed their sons for the business.

Wahab's future was to be no different. He returned to Pakistan in his early teens from abroad.

His uncle blamed his slide to radicalization on the neighborhood teens Wahab socialized with in their northwest Pakistan hometown, plus video games and Internet sites his friends introduced him to that told of Muslims being attacked, women raped and babies killed.

"He felt like he hadn't known what was going on, that he had spent his life in darkness and he felt he should be involved. His friends insisted he should. They told him he was rich and should help our people," his uncle said.

To his uncle, Wahab seemed to become increasingly aggressive, fixated on violence.

Earlier this year, Wahab abruptly disappeared. When Wahab's father discovered his son was at a training camp, he was furious, his uncle said.

"He told the people 'Leave him there. I don't accept him as my son anymore.' But I took it on myself to bring him back," Kamal said.

Today, Wahab is back in the family business, but is being closely watched.

"We are watching all the young boys now, and most nights they have to be home  unless they tell us where they are," Kamal said.

___

Moral outrage. A sense of injustice. A feeling that things can only be fixed through urgent, violent action.

Those are what tend to motivate people who gravitate toward extremism, says Horgan, who directs the Violent Extremism Research Group at Georgia State University.

"Those similarities you will find repeated across the board, whether you're talking about extreme right-wing militias in Oklahoma or you're talking about a Taliban offshoot in northwest Pakistan," Horgan says.

Research shows people who espouse conspiracy theories tend to do poorer on measures of critical thinking, reducing complex world problems to reassuring answers, says Ziv Cohen, an expert on extremism at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University.

That's where the stories of Jensen and Wahab seemingly intersect. Both were seeking something. Both found answers that were enticing, attractive  and distorted versions of reality.

"For reasons he does not even understand today, he became a 'true believer' and was convinced he (was) doing a noble service by becoming a digital soldier for 'Q,'" Davis, Jensen's lawyer, wrote in a June court filing. "Maybe it was mid-life crisis, the pandemic, or perhaps the message just seemed to elevate him from his ordinary life to an exalted status with an honorable goal."

But is that goal ever reached? Perhaps counterintuitively, research has shown that when extremists' conspiracy theories are reinforced, their anxiety levels rise rather than fall, Cohen says.

"People seem to not be able to get enough of a conspiracy theory," he says, "but they're never quite satisfied or really reassured."

Associated Press writer David Pitt in Des Moines contributed to this report.

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KENOSHA, Wis.  As he ran from the scene of the shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, Kyle Rittenhouse encountered one of the heavily armed men who had been with him at the Car Source used car lot throughout the night.

Jason Lackowski of Green Bay testified Friday during the fifth day of Rittenhouses trial that he came to Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, after seeing reports of rioting following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer, saying he was meeting his friend Ryan Balch, who testified Thursday, in the city.

Lackowski said he arrived armed with an AR-15 and a knife, and later also acquired a tear gas canister. Asked why he and Balch came to Kenosha Lackowski said just to come down and help in any way we could, to protect local property.

How did you plan to do that? Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked.

I was trained to shout, shove, show and shoot, Lackowski said.

Lackowski said he met Rittenhouse that night. He introduced himself, he said he was an EMT.

Did he tell you how old he was? Binger asked.

I assumed he was 18  because in the State of Wisconsin you have to be 18 to be an EMT, and because he was carrying a firearm.

Rittenhouse is accused of killing Anthony Huber of Silver Lake and Joseph Rosenbaum of Kenosha and seriously injuring Gaige Grosskreutz of West Allis on Aug. 25, 2020. Rittenhouses attorneys contend he was acting in self-defense as he was being accosted.

Encounter with a pale Rittenhouse

When the first shooting occurred, Lackowski said he was farther north on Sheridan Road and began running toward the gunfire. The first shooting happened in a lot at the corner of Sheridan Road and 63rd Street.

Lackowski said he encountered Rittenhouse as he ran north along Sheridan.

In an interview with the FBI shortly after the shootings, Lackowski had said Rittenhouses face was pale white. On Friday, Lackowski said that Rittenhouse seemed frazzled, shocked.

Although in testimony Friday Lackowski said his memory of what was said was not clear, in his statement to the FBI he said Rittenhouse told him he did not shoot anyone, but he needed help.

I told him to run to the police, he said. At that point he started running and I followed.

Lackowski testified that he heard gunfire behind him, stopped and turned south. He said he then heard gunfire to the north. He said he blacked out and the next thing he remembers is coming across an injured Gaige Grosskreutz.

There was an individual on the ground screaming. Someone was screening for a tourniquet I believe  I believe his name was CJ. I gave it to him and he applied it wrong and I took it off and applied it correctly, then I stayed with Gaige until the police showed up.

Lackowski said he also found a pistol on the ground  presumably Grosskreutzs  and took out the magazine and cleared the chamber.

In cross examination, Rittenhouse defense attorney Corey Chirafisi asked whether it did not make more sense that Rittenhouse said I just shot somebody and I need help

Lackowski said he was not sure.

During his testimony, Lackowski said he had encountered Rosenbaum earlier in the evening and said he was agitated, was shouting shoot me, shoot me, and that he was stepping up aggressively to people.

Lackowski said he did not find Rosenbaum threatening, and said on questioning from the state that he never saw Rosenbaum with any weapons  only a plastic bag  and that he never saw him attempting to injure anyone.

Chirafisi asked Lackowski about the behavior the defense says Rosenbaum was engaged in before Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum, if he would feel threatened.

If I threaten to kill you that night and Im running at you and try to take your gun? Chirafisi asked

A threat to my life, yes, Lackowski said.

Rosenbaums fiancee on stand

Rosenbaums fiancee, Kariann Swart, testified Friday that Rosenbaum had been released from a hospital the day of his death, and was dropped off in Downtown Kenosha. Although it is not being shared with the jury, Rosenbaum had been in the hospital for mental health treatment after a suicide attempt.

In criminal cases like that against Rittenhouse, a jury would almost never hear information about either the defendants past if it is not directly related to the case, or that of the past of victims in the case if it is not something that the defendant would have known.

Prosecutors asked the judge in the case to allow them to introduce information about some of Rittenhouses past conduct, including a fight on Kenoshas lakefront in which he was videotaped punching a girl, and another in which he is heard on audio on a videotape saying he would like to shoot rounds into people with his AR-15 that he presumed were stealing from a store. In both cases, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled against the state.

Similarly the defense asked that information about Rosenbaums past criminal history be allowed as evidence, arguing that because he had a felony conviction it made it more likely he wanted to take Rittenhouses gun. That request was also denied by the judge.

During testimony by both Swart and Anthony Hubers Great-Aunt Susan Hughes Friday, attorneys for the defense argued that testimony from the women was opening the door to the defense asking about their past.

The prosecution had hoped to ask Hughes about a past action of Hubers when he had run into a dangerous situation to aid his family. But Schroeder said that if they pursued those questions it would then allow the defense to ask questions about Hubers criminal past, which included two convictions for domestic violence involving his siblings.

Prosecutors opted to withdraw their questioning about Huber, with Hughes testifying briefly about Hubers love of skateboarding, and a visit she made with him to her sons memorial bench in Petrifying Springs Park the day before Huber was killed. She said he talked to her about Jacob Blake, who he had known personally.

It just sticks in my memory that he said he knew him, that was the reason we went out there that day, Hughes said.

Last conversation shared

In her testimony, Swart said Rosenbaum walked to the hotel where she was staying. The couple had been homeless during portions of their relationship, at one point living in a tent, but had recently been staying in a hotel room. She estimated it would have taken Rosenbaum an hour to walk from the transit center where he had been dropped off by hospital personnel to her hotel.

When he arrived he was carrying a plastic bag he had received at the hospital  the same bag he threw at Rittenhouse before Rittenhouse shot him. Although there has been some discussion during the trial that the bag may have been used as some sort of weapon, Swart said she looked inside, wondering if he wanted to throw it out.

I saw socks, a miniature deodorant, a little toothbrush and toothpaste, paperwork, and an empty water bottle, she said. He told her he wanted to keep the bag to carry his things, saying she thought he also put a shirt in the bag before he left.

It was really good, she said of their last conversation. We were talking about things we needed to work on in our relationship. She said he seemed excited and happy, and was talking about changes he wanted to make in his life. When he left he said he would see me in the morning.

Not shared with the jury was why Rosenbaum, who had bipolar disorder, was not able to stay with Swart. He was out on bond for domestic battery, and had a no contact order with Swart. She told him to stay away from the area where there had been rioting.

I did explain to him that things had gotten bad the last few days because he had not been in town the last few days and I did tell him explicitly not to go downtown, Swart said.

Swart testified that she learned that Rosenbaum was dead at about 4 a.m. the following morning when she got a call from the Kenosha County Medical Examiner. She said she looked on social media to see if there was information about the shootings.

There was a video link and I clicked that and thats when I saw the video of Joe dying. I broke down  I cant get that image out of my head, Swart said.

She said her sister drove her to the Car Source lot where Rosenbaum had been killed.

There was the mark where Joe had been laying, and I put my hand in it and my hand was wet with his blood, Swart said. Then I again collapsed on the ground.

Prosecutors are expected to continue to present their case through early next week, with Gaige Grosskreutz expected to be among their witnesses. The defense will then present its case, with the trial anticipated to stretch into a third week.

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One rainy November day 20 or so years ago, the lovely Catherine and I were hopelessly lost in the streets and lanes of Glasgow, Scotland, while searching for an art museum. By the time we finally conceded defeat and hailed a taxi to take us there, we were soaked, shivering, and couldnt have cared less about art.

That memory comes to mind as leaders of more than 120 countries meander around often-wet Glasgow for COP26, the United Nations latest climate summit, which, tellingly, had been delayed a year because of another curveball from Mother Nature, a global pandemic.

So far, though, no leader there has gotten close to where these talks must go: a decisive international plan to stop killing ourselves with carbon, as requested by Antonio Guterres, the U.N.s secretary-general in the conferences opening speech.

Instead, most have done the bare minimum of light lifting; theyve signed promises to curb methane emissions, end deforestation, and spend billions to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Therein lies the problem with climate change conferences. Earnest talk almost always relies on an economic analysis of todays ecological overshoot, says William Rees, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia and the originator of the popular carbon footprint calculus.

(An earlier paper on climate change by Rees was highlighted in an August Farm and Food File. That column is posted at farmandfoodfile.com.)

The real problem, Rees recently explained in the online journal real-world economics review, is physics -- the laws of thermodynamics -- not economics and the laws of supply and demand.

The human enterprise is in a precarious state of ecological overshoot propelled by excessive economic activity and growing populations, Rees writes. As such, this is not a technical problem amenable to technological fixes but rather a meta-problem with deep roots in both biology and culture.

In short, any fix at this late date cant involve economic carrots -- like tax credits, government subsidies or, say, farmer/corporate partnerships in carbon sequestration -- because climate change isnt an economic problem fixable through tax code tinkering or cottony corporate subsidies.

Indeed, its how we got here in less than 200 years. We created a dominant socio-economic system that, at its core, is economically extractive, not nature regenerative. That makes us unexceptional; most animals, in fact, do the same.

Moreover, Mother Nature knows we are no different and, like other species  (we are) subject to the laws of physics, chemistry and biology, the most important of which are the first and second laws of thermodynamics and the law of conservation of mass.

They are laws, Rees explains, because everything in nature -- including us -- is a self-producing dissipative structure and the more important flows in the economy  are not  circular flows of abstract money value but ... irreversible one-way flows of energy and matter.

And those one-way flows have been headed south for decades with us as the drivers.

Equally important is that no amount of net-this or net-that has a snowballs chance in our ever-hotter world of ever working. Real change is net reversal everything, not net zero anything, and will require dramatic change.

How dramatic? Upside-down dramatic, suggests Rees, who lists nine specific ideas like Create national sub-systems of self-reliant bioregions  centered on existing smaller cities and Reintegrate animal husbandry with food-cropping in keeping with sound soils management.

All are 180 degrees from the capital intensive, growth-oriented solutions supported by governments, corporations, and international organizations now in Glasgow that are narrowly focused on climate change, a solitary symptom of economic overshoot that emerges from an economic vision  devoid of bio-physical insight.

There is room for hope, though. The tide may be turning. Increasing number of thoughtful citizens  recognize that the most effective stimulus for rapid social progress has always been popular resistance.

In short, we need to stop waiting for political leaders to solve this problem; theyve had more than 40 years and are still walking in circles in the Glasgow rain.

The Farm and Food File is published weekly throughout the U.S. and Canada. Past columns, events and contact information are posted at www.farmandfoodfile.com.

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ANNIVERSARY

New Ephesus Baptist Church, 375 Ephesus Church Road, Semora, North Carolina, will celebrate the 13th anniversary of its pastor, Bishop Gerald Franklin, and Lady Sharon Franklin with two events. Today, they will be honored with a drive-thru parade. To participate in this meet and greet, join the line of vehicles in the church parking lot at 4 p.m. Health and safety is encouraged. On Sunday, events will start at noon with the Rev. Tonia Cunningham, of Life Outreach Worship Center, preaching and accompanied by her choir. If desired, donations may be made through CashApp$Bishgk. Guidelines provided by the CDC will be in place including wearing masks inside the building. Service can also be viewed through Facebook Live, using the conference call number 1-978-990-5000 access code 197724, or if in the church parking lot, tune to radio station FM 107.3.
The only time Danville and Pittsylvania County moved to the safer zones of virus transmission was in the early summer month before the delta variant became a threat. Currently about 72% of the United States is still in the high-risk category for COVID-19.

Fatalities keep mounting

Over the last seven days, Danville and Pittsylvania County added 11 new deaths to the record books from COVID-19 in age ranges from 40s to 80 and older.

While these fatalities were reported in the last few days, they likely occurred weeks ago because of a meticulous process the health department uses to verify COVID-19 was a cause.

Officials must wait for the death certificate to arrive before logging a fatality in the COVID-19 database. Even then they may need to conduct an investigation that includes talking to health center officials or family members. That process can take at least two weeks or more.

If someone contracted COVID-19 but death was caused by something unrelated, its not categorized as virus-related.

So far, 315 residents of Danville and Pittsylvania County have died of COVID-19 since the first fatality was reported on March 25, 2020.

Vaccinations
SAN DIEGO (AP)  A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, who served four years in the Navy before being forced out, was christened and launched in San Diego Bay on Saturday.

The replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk slid down the shipyard ways after a bottle of champagne was smashed on the bow by former Navy officer Paula M. Neira, clinical program director for the John Hopkins Center for Transgender Health.

Milks nephew, Stuart Milk, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro watched the traditional ceremony.

The secretary of the Navy needed to be here today, not just to amend the wrongs of the past, but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ community leaders who served in the Navy, in uniform today and in the civilian workforce as well too, and to tell them that were committed to them in the future, Del Toro said.

Del Toro said that, like many others, Milk had to mask that very important part of his life while he served in the Navy.

For far too long, sailors like Lt. Milk were forced into the shadows or, worse yet, forced out of our beloved Navy, Del Toro said. That injustice is part of our Navy history, but so is the perseverance of all who continue to serve in the face of injustice.
Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears achieved historical success once before when in 2002 she became the first Black Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates, defeating a 20-year incumbent Democrat. Her victory is a slap in the face to those Democrats who are the real racists when they keep pitting us against each other. In social media posts and in campaign mailers, there was a photo of Sears carrying a rifle, apparently to demonstrate her support for the Second Amendment. This played well in rural Virginia.

It was a clean sweep for Republicans as they also took back the office of attorney general and flipped the House of Delegates from Democrat to a GOP majority. Suddenly all those claims that Virginia has turned irreversibly blue seemed to have been wishful thinking by Democrats and the media, which kept promoting it as a state lost forever to Republicans. Independents, who helped Joe Biden win the state by 10 points last year, moved in large numbers to Youngkin.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a video targeting Virginias black church members, urging them to vote for McAuliffe, predicted before the election that results in Virginia would forecast what next years congressional races will look like, as well as the 2024 presidential contest. Republicans can only wish she has the gift of prophecy.
Im concerned with the notion that diversity brings a lowering of standards, said Teresa Artis Neal, one of three Black board members. She noted that the incoming class of students has some of the highest academic achievements and is extremely diverse.

Student Body President Lamar Richards, who is Black and serves on the trustee board, called the resolution disrespectful.

The idea that somehow by creating a more diverse campus we have to lower our standards is just false, Richards said.

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In response, Kotis said throwing people into different buckets is a feel-good type measure and it is disrespectful to those who are applying by telling them that theyll be judged based on a label, not merit.

He said the point of his resolution was to ensure that a lower-quality applicant or job candidate is not picked because of their skin color.

Kotis proposal said the university would not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to an individual, group or company on the basis of race, sex, color or ethnicity.

In an interview with The News & Observer, Kotis said the federal admissions case was one reason he raised this motion.
Second appeals court judge: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Toby J. Heytens to serve as a judge on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Heytens, Virginias solicitor general since 2018, was previously a law professor at the University of Virginia and lawyer in the U.S. Solicitor Generals Office. The vote on Monday, Nov. 1, was 53-43.

Nays: Burr

Not voting: Tillis

Foreign aid official: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Isobel Coleman to be deputy administrator for policy and programming at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Coleman has been a longtime senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a policy ambassador to the United Nations during President Obamas second term. The vote on Wednesday, Nov. 3, was 59-39.

Yeas: Burr

Nays: Tillis
Morrissey said he would not vote for a Texas-style abortion law and sees the Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a womans right to an abortion as part of the fabric of the country. But he also said there has to be middle ground, implying that he would consider some restrictions.

He also expressed some skepticism about how long the post-election honeymoon period would last.

At the beginning of every session, everything is kumbaya, everyone holding hands, then it often takes about one week for the bipartisan divides to be created, Morrissey said. Its important for moderates on both sides to bridge those gaps.

Todd Gilbert, the House minority leader and a contender for speaker, said in a news conference that his caucus's priority will be education. While The Associated Press has not yet called each contested House race, Democrats conceded control Friday night.

He said Republicans will be focused on tweaking, not scrapping, a recently enacted marijuana legalization bill. Asked whether the GOP will seek to reinstate restrictions on abortion that Democrats rolled back when they were in full control of state government, he suggested that issue wouldn't be a focus.
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" " Paying for medical care as a senior can be complicated. Cecilie_Arcurs/Getty Images

Elizabeth Clark and Natalie Stewart have likely never met, but they share a title that more and more adult children are adopting these days: caregiver. As parents age, their risk of developing some pretty dreaded problems skyrockets, including cancer, diabetes, neurodegeneration and cardiovascular disease. With those diagnoses come some pretty hefty costs, which can be financially catastrophic if preparations haven't been made.

Clark and Stewart are two members of a legion of adult children who face keeping elderly parents comfortable, cared for and financially secure. Even with programs like Medicare available there are still loopholes, mistakes and fees that a lot of people don't foresee, costing both sleepless nights and big bucks. Clark and Stewart gives us an inside look at how they make the finances work.

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Elizabeth's Story

When Elizabeth Clark's father developed Parkinson's disease she took on the role of part-time caregiver, with her mom handling many of the responsibilities. Shortly after he passed away, however, her mother's cognitive decline symptoms worsened dramatically. This time, the caregiver role fell squarely on the shoulders of Clark, an only child. Over the past few years she's become a crash-course expert in the ins and outs of paying for the costs of old age, including Medicare, private insurance and prescription supplements. "I could write a book on it, probably," says the Tucker, Georgia-based high school teacher.

One of the most difficult decisions Clark has had to make involved removing her mother, Paula, age 78, from her longtime home and placing her in a memory care facility once it became medically apparent that she couldn't live unsupervised anymore. "You have to go through hospitalization to be officially diagnosed and then to be accepted at a facility," she explains.

Fortunately for Clark, her parents prepared for such circumstances. "My parents worked their whole lives, saved their money," she says. Bills are paid with her mother's retirement income and social security. A portion of the memory care facility fees are also paid by a supplemental Veterans Affairs (VA) payment, since Clark's father served in the United States Navy. Still, the fees are enough to make even the most committed saver quake  Paula's monthly prescription costs run about $200 per month (and that's with an AARP prescription supplemental plan that pays a large chunk), and the memory care facility costs are a whopping $4,300 per month. (The nationwide average is even higher -- at $5,000, though it varies by state.) Then, of course there are the monthly health insurance premiums that are deducted automatically. Paula's income sources cover most of the regular monthly costs, but it's also the norm for Clark to pay out a couple hundred a month from savings to cover extra, unexpected fees.

The best months run like clockwork. But inevitably, extras happen, and that's where it really gets tricky. Paula has had three serious hospitalizations recently, one for a fall and two for pneumonia. Medicare Part A and B, which she subscribes to, covered all the in-patient medical costs. However, once she was discharged and returned to the memory care facility Paula still required constant supervision for her own safety. Such a service is not included in the facility fee, and Medicare doesn't pay for it.

"Nobody watches her, so I'm having to hire people (certified nursing assistants, or CNAs) to come watch her while I'm at work," Clark says. "I've already decided when this happens again I will take my pajamas and work clothes and do it myself." It's easy to understand why she'd go this route next time, as each post-hospitalization period required two weeks' worth of round-the-clock care, at about $800 per week. Do this too often and a person's savings will dwindle pretty quickly.

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Natalie's Story

Natalie Stewart's 82-year-old mother-in-law Marie has lived with her family for 24 years in their Lawrenceville, Georgia, home. Her list of ailments (legally blind, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, broken bones, etc.) runs so long that Stewart and her husband eventually decided that it makes more sense for her to quit her job as an elementary school special education teacher to care for Marie, especially since she requires three days of dialysis every week, and has had multiple hospitalizations.

Marie's health issues started to crop up before she reached retirement age, so she qualified for disability and Medicare earlier than most. At that time, Stewart and her husband helped her select Medicare Part J to help with medical costs. "We picked it way back then because it would cover her prescriptions the most," she says, noting that insulin in particular was the main concern. "It's about a $250 deductible every year and she still pays a couple hundred a month in prescriptions. But considering the overall cost of her prescriptions it's not nearly what she should pay," Stewart explains. She also has supplemental Anthem BCBS coverage thanks to her previous employer. "Medicare was the best (option), but I knew she could get the supplement from her previous employer to fill in the gaps," she says. "Other people I know that don't have it (the private supplement) are paying for things that we aren't paying for."

Despite her physical limitations, Marie remains cognitively sound, and as a result can live at home with Stewart and her husband. "The fact that she can live with us is a huge help. Other people would have to pay out of pocket," she says, noting that Marie's retirement, social security and disability checks cover most expenses not covered by her insurance plans.

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What to Do at Age 65

So far you've heard about a few different Medicare plans and private supplements, but if you're like most people it's borderline painful to understand what's what. The good news is that, if nothing else, the government makes Medicare Part A a no-brainer. "When you turn 65 you're going to be auto-enrolled (in Part A) as long as you have work credits through yourself or a spouse," says Adam Hyers, an insurance broker in the Columbus, Ohio, area specializing in Medicare, noting that Medicare Part A is free, and that a card should be automatically mailed to you. Part A covers a nice array of services, including inpatient hospital care, hospice, lab tests, surgery, home health care and skilled nursing facility, but it falls short in many other areas.

This is where Part B, which covers a wider range of medically necessary services and preventive services, often comes in. These include routine doctor's visits, ambulance services and mental health services. "If you don't have another kind of insurance (such as a private policy purchased via a former employer) you want to enroll in Part B," Hyers says, noting that at age 65 insurance companies stop offering policies to people. Part B does come with a monthly cost that varies depending on income, but the standard amount for 2020 is $144.60 per month, which is often automatically deducted from a person's Social Security check.

Unfortunately, even Part B has some gaps in coverage. "Medicare Part B only covers 80 percent of outpatient expenses, meaning anything outside of a hospital. So, everyone needs a secondary policy to cover the costs, or be prepared to cover 20 percent out of pocket," explains Susan Garcia, a licensed medical social worker (LMSW), who works with elderly adults with chronic health problems, including Stewart's mother-in-law. In terms of a secondary policy, "The best option is to have a retirement health insurance policy from your former employer, but that's fairly uncommon," Garcia says. That's where higher-level Medicare plans, like the Part J plan (no longer available to new enrollees) that Stewart's mother-in-law enjoys, come in to play.

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Breaking it Down

To recap, at age 65, everyone is automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A, which is free, but doesn't cover everything.

People who don't have another private insurance plan (and most people don't), should also enroll in at least Part B. But there's a limited time window (begins three months before a person's 65th birthday, includes their birthday month and then ends three months after that).

"If you don't enroll in Part B  and people make this mistake  then you have to wait for the general open enrollment window," Hyers says, adding that the repercussions of missing the window are significant. "It delays when your Medicare starts and you get a premium penalty of 10 percent for each year missed," and this premium increase is a lifetime penalty. So, fail to sign up for 5 years and you'll pay 50 percent more in premiums per year than those who did sign up on time.

As Garcia noted, even Part B has coverage gaps, so many people who don't also have private insurance choose to purchase additional Medicare plans to cover their bases. As of 2020, the most robust supplemental Medicare plan is Part G, according to Hyers. Part G covers most of the out of pocket costs associated with original Medicare except for the Part B deductible. Part F would cover that but the premiums for F are a lot higher than for G. In any case, F is not available to new retirees as of January 2020.

With 10 supplemental plans (only eight are available to new retirees), how's a person to know which plan to choose? Often, Hyers consults with clients who have a family history of serious diseases. "They might buy up a little bit because of that," he says. However, "You can't time these things out. You have to take advantage of it while you can."

The ideal time for a person to speak with a Medicare professional is during their open enrollment window. "There's no guarantee that you can switch plans later," Hyers cautions. "Open enrollment doesn't guarantee that you can go from lesser to stronger coverage in your supplemental [later on]."

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Medicare Mistakes to Avoid

Not everyone has devoted caregivers like Clark and Stewart looking out for them. Whether you're thinking about Medicare for yourself or somewhere else, take steps to avoid these common mistakes:

Talk to somebody. "Don't assume that you know what it all means. If you're not 100 percent sure reach out and talk to people," Hyers. "There's a stigma with insurance agents that we're going to try to sell you something," he explains, adding that agents are well-versed in the subject and can help you. "Explore options and make sure you know how this works in your particular situation." "Don't assume that you know what it all means. If you're not 100 percent sure reach out and talk to people," Hyers. "There's a stigma with insurance agents that we're going to try to sell you something," he explains, adding that agents are well-versed in the subject and can help you. "Explore options and make sure you know how this works in your particular situation." Medicare.gov is also a great resource with lots of information on the various supplements and plans.

Never miss a payment. Often, monthly premiums are auto-deducted, which takes the worry out of bill-paying. But not always. "Many people sign up for Medicare and get a supplement, then maybe miss a payment a few years down the road," Garcia says. "The Medicare supplement policy terminates and if they have pre-existing conditions, they can't get a new one and are left with Medicare only for the rest of their lives."

Don't forget about your other health needs. "Medicare patients also need a Part D drug plan to cover prescriptions. And none of that covers dental or vision so go ahead and sign up for that too!" Garcia says. "You can see how this is expensive and confusing for people."

Don't fall for non-creditable coverage. Some people decline to enroll in Part B because they have creditable coverage, like insurance from a previous employer, the VA or Tricare coverage. However, plenty of people mistake other plans for being creditable, when they actually aren't. "COBRA is another trap," Hyers explains. "People think, 'I've left work, I'll take COBRA and I don't have to enroll in Medicare Part B.' The way the laws are now, that's not the case. COBRA is not necessarily deemed creditable. If you retire you can take COBRA, but you still need to enroll in Part B unless you want to pay these penalties."

It's not one size fits all. It's important to realize that the ideal plan scenario for one person isn't suited to someone else. So be sure to thoroughly consider your own needs and budget when figuring out post-retirement health care coverage.

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What Can Medicare Do Better?

Medicare is a saving grace for many people, but like all programs there could be room for improvement. "If the living situation is medically necessary then they need to cover more of that, which would require those facilities to bill in a different way," Clark says. "So their bills should be required to be itemized so that Medicare can pay the part that is medically necessary, like bathing, dressing, toileting, medication management," she says. "At the very least I should be able to claim it on her tax return."

That said, Clark is fully aware that her mother is well cared for thanks in large part to Medicare. "I lived in Ecuador for five years. Medicare has its flaws, however, in some countries there's no Medicare. They don't get the services we get and the family has to figure it out," she says. "I'm grateful for these programs. The government steps in and ensures that each person gets adequate and fair treatment."

HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article.

Now That's Important No Medicare plan will cover long-term round-the-clock nursing care, and likely no private insurance will, either. "Typically Medicare will only pay for the first 100 days of skilled nursing care," Hyers says. "Consumers would need a long-term care policy to account for those types of expenses. And those policies must be purchased while someone is in good enough health to medically qualify for one." The average monthly premium for this is around $227.
Helena-area veterans, their spouses, and their caregivers can receive the Moderna and Janssen (J&J) COVID booster vaccines at a three-day Montana VA vaccine clinic from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. this Monday through Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who received a J&J (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine who are 18 years or older and who were vaccinated at least two months ago also receive a COVID-19 booster.

Each person must bring their COVID-19 vaccine card in order to receive a booster shot. Masking is required at all Montana VA booster events. As more booster clinics are scheduled, this information will be available at Montana VA Health Care Systems webpage, https://www.va.gov/montana-health-care/programs/covid-19-vaccines.

Veterans who meet the above eligibility requirements should call and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Unenrolled veterans and veterans spouses, caregivers, and household family members are eligible to schedule a vaccine appointment through Montana VA under authorization of the SAVE LIVES Act.

Appointments are limited and can be made by calling the Montana VA scheduling line at 877-468-8387 and select Option 2, and then Option 2 again to be scheduled. The Montana VA scheduling line is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The COVID-19 vaccine clinic is hosted in partnership with the National Guard at the National Guard Aviation Readiness Center, 3330 Skyway Drive, near the Helena Regional Airport. First, second, and third doses of COVID-19 vaccines are available. Appointments are preferred; walk-in vaccines are available based on availability.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommends that people who completed an original two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago should get a booster if they fall into one of these categories:

 People age 65 years and older

 People age 18+ who live in long-term care settings

 People age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions

 People age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings

Vaccines are the best way we can protect Veterans, employees, and all Montana communities against COVID-19, Dr. Judy Hayman, Montana VAs executive director, said in a news release.

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DECATUR  Land of Lincoln Credit Union is pleased to announce that Jonan Tiarks has been hired as a commercial loan officer.

Tiarks was previously a commercial loan officer for LLCU for over five years and has re-joined the team after briefly holding the position as business lender for Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Before joining Land of Lincoln Credit Union, Tiarks was a commercial loan officer at First Mid Bank & Trust Co. in Decatur.

We are delighted to have Jonan back on the Commercial Lending team at LLCU, states Howard Martin, LLCU chief lending officer and senior VP of Commercial Lending. Jonan has so many strong relationships with area businesses already and he has a proven track record of helping small businesses achieve success through LLCU financing.

Tiarks is a graduate of MacMurray College and is also a United States Army veteran. Tiarks will work both remotely and out of the Prosperity Place branch in Decatur covering LLCUs 27-county central Illinois service area.

LLCU is a certified SBA Express Lender and specializes in a wide variety of commercial lending products.

For more information about Land of Lincoln Credit Union go to llcu.org or call 1-844-222-7788.

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Business Achievements celebrate new hires, promotions and business and employee honors. Send information to scott.perry@lee.net. Read more about these companies and individuals at herald-review.com.

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Todays Highlight in History:

On Nov. 6, 1860, former Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln of the Republican Party was elected President of the United States as he defeated John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

On Nov. 6:

In 1632, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed in battle.

In 1893, composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg, Russia, at age 53.

In 1906, Republican Charles Evans Hughes was elected governor of New York, defeating newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.

In 1928, in a first, the results of Republican Herbert Hoovers presidential election victory over Democrat Alfred E. Smith were flashed onto an electric wraparound sign on the New York Times building.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower won re-election, defeating Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson.

In 1977, 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam in Georgia burst, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan won re-election by a landslide over former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic challenger.

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In 1990, about one-fifth of the Universal Studios backlot in southern California was destroyed in an arson fire.

In 2011, Greeces embattled prime minister, George Papandreou, and its main opposition leader, Antonis Samaras, agreed to form an interim government to ensure the countrys new European debt deal.

In 2012, President Barack Obama was elected to a second term of office, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

In 2014, the march toward same-sex marriage across the U.S. hit a roadblock when a federal appeals court upheld laws against the practice in four states: Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. (A divided U.S. Supreme Court overturned the laws in June 2015.)

In 2015, President Barack Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal at the center of his environmental legacy. (President Donald Trump would reverse the Obama decision, but President Joe Biden canceled the permit for the pipeline on the day he took office.)

In 2016, FBI Director James Comey abruptly announced that Democrat Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges related to newly discovered emails from her tenure at the State Department.

In 2017, former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner reported to prison in Massachusetts to begin a 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden overtook President Donald Trump in Georgia as the counting of votes continued in the battleground state; Biden also expanded his lead over Trump in Pennsylvania and Nevada. The federal agency that oversees U.S. election security pushed back at unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in a statement, saying that local election offices had detection measures that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said Trump was damaging the cause of freedom and inflaming destructive and dangerous passions by claiming, without foundation, that the election was rigged and stolen from him. As the nation set daily records for confirmed cases of the coronavirus, two senior administration officials confirmed that Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had tested positive.

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Dethroned Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan received some good news Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a long-shot appeal in a federal court case involving the question of whether Madigan put up sham candidates to help him win the 2016 Democratic primary for the Southwest Side Illinois House seat he had held for decades.

Madigan challenger Jason Gonzales sought up to $2 million in damages in a federal lawsuit contending the speaker and his Democratic organization backed two candidates with Hispanic names in the primary to dilute the opposition vote and give the Democratic leader a clearer path to victory. A U.S. District Court judge had dismissed the case.

Madigan won the primary with 65% of the vote.

The high court declining to review the appeal bid ended a yearslong fight that shined a bright light on the inner workings of Madigans political organization through dozens of depositions, including the only one the speaker said he had ever given.

Were extremely disappointed, said Tony Peraica, Gonzales attorney and a former Republican member of the Cook County Board.

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Peraica noted the high court often has been loathe to take up political cases, but he said he had hoped the conservative-leaning court would have made an exception this time.

A spokeswoman said Madigan had no comment on Fridays decision.

Madigan failed to hold onto the speakership in January when a faction of his own House Democrats refused to grant him another term at the helm despite his nationwide record of 36 years in charge of a state legislative body.

During his last year as speaker, Madigan had been implicated as part of the sweeping ComEd bribes-for-favors scandal in which the company paid a $200 million federal fine. He has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing.

In the lawsuit, Gonzales had argued lower courts incorrectly tossed the case on grounds that voters knew about the alleged sham candidates because he raised the issue repeatedly during the campaign, effectively giving voters a chance to evaluate the matter when filling out their ballots.

Gonzales had maintained such logic put a chilling effect on future campaign speech. He did not seek to overturn the election but argued damages should be awarded because of Madigans alleged deception on the face of the ballot.

In his deposition, Madigan denied that he directed anyone who worked for him or was associated with him to recruit candidates to run against Gonzales.

But even while initially dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly called it undisputed that some members of Madigans political organization worked to put the two alleged shams  Grasiela Rodriguez and Joe Barboza  on the ballot.

Kennelly also wrote the evidence supports a reasonable inference that Madigan authorized or at least was aware of the recruitment effort.

But Kennelly explained that Gonzales made Madigans deceptive tactics a central issue in his campaign and news outlets publicized the allegations. Such publicity placed the alleged misconduct squarely within the political realm, enabling voters to rebuke Madigan by electing his challenger, Kennelly wrote.

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I interviewed Gov. J.B. Pritzker a few days before his Democratic Party was stunned by losses and near-losses in Virginia and New Jersey last week.

Now, I am not one of those folks who automatically believes that candidates should plan for the next election based on the most recent election results. I also dont think that things which work well in one state will work in another.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom soundly beat back a recall effort in September partly by trumpeting his proud record battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Virginias Democratic governor also ran on his robust anti-COVID program and lost last week to a Republican who opposed mask and vaccine mandates. That same Republican ran as unabashedly pro-life and blasted the incumbent pro-choice Democrat for being against parents rights.

During the recent fall veto session, the Illinois House and Senate passed a bill repealing the states Parental Notification of Abortion Act. The conventional wisdom seems to be that repealing the law could be a politically dangerous thing for the Democrats to do. Several Democrats even voted against the bill.

I told Pritzker that most polls Ive seen showed opposition to the bill hes about to sign into law. For instance, when 600 registered Illinois voters were asked during a March 7-10 poll taken by the Tarrance Group, If a minor under age 18 is seeking an abortion, do you think the law should require her parent or guardian to be notified before the procedure? 72% of respondents said yes.

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So, I asked Pritzker, who loves his long soliloquies, if he could give me a quick, brisk sound byte response to the question of why he supports the PNA repeal bill. Were heading into campaign season and long soliloquies dont usually play very well on the campaign trail.

Well, the reasons why girls are afraid to tell their parents are frightening, he said. I mean, physical abuse, rape, incest. And we are, there is a certain percentage of minors fit into this category. And if we do not protect them, if we did not protect them by getting passage of the PNA repeal, we would see continued back-alley abortions and serious potential illness and death.

But, I asked, what do you say to a good parent who simply wants to know when their daughter has an abortion and maybe for whatever reason she doesn't tell them?

Most importantly, the vast majority of situations, kids are telling their parents. And those good relationships that exist, nothing in this interferes with those good relationships and that has not been a problem. The problem has been where you don't have the relationship or where the parents are abusive or worse. So this is about protecting the most vulnerable children, not about protecting the children of for example, the members of the General Assembly.

The only poll Ive seen where even a plurality of respondents supported the PNA repeal was commissioned by the pro-choice Personal PAC back in late April.

Most young women live in supportive and loving homes, the question began, but an Illinois law forces a small number of other young women who live in homes where there is violence and sexual assault to tell a violent parent she needs an abortion. Do you support this law that forces young women to tell their parents they need an abortion, or do you think it should be repealed?

The Public Policy Polling survey of 700 Illinois registered voters found that 46% of Illinois registered voters favored repeal under those circumstances, 29% said they support this law that forces young women to tell their parents they need an abortion, and 25% were unsure.

But Terry Cosgrove of the pro-choice group Personal PAC believes that the 25% who said they were undecided is good news because its an indication the issue is not the all-encompassing sledgehammer that opponents portray it as.

Cosgrove, who raises a ton of money for pro-choice candidates every election cycle and spends even more on his groups direct mail, online and TV ads, also seemed to indicate that the best defense of the bill would be a good offense.

Come election time, Cosgrove told me, voters will completely and unmistakably understand that those who want to put the health and lives of Illinois young women at risk are the same people supporting the outrageous Texas law and seeking to make abortion illegal in Illinois, even in cases of rape and incest.

I suppose well see.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

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A young man, a student at Illinois State University, walked out of his residence one day, and then vanished.

The rest of the story is a nightmare that Jelani Days family has been living for more than two months. The 25-year-old graduate student was last seen on Aug. 24. Two days later, his car was found in Peru, about an hour away from Bloomington. Day was found dead on Sept. 4 in the Illinois River near Peru  nine days after his car was found.

Someone somewhere knows something. A march Friday in Bloomington will help keep the cases profile high. But more than anything else, the case requires a conclusion. What happened to Jelani Day? Central Illinois isnt large enough for a person to go missing without a trace. Cameras caught Day outside a Bloomington business on Aug. 24. The next day, his family in Danville and an Illinois State faculty member reported him missing.

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Somewhere after his departure from the Bloomington business, something terrible happened. Anyone with information, however insignificant it might seem, should contact authorities immediately. Their information could be the needle in the haystack that leads to a solution.

Activists continue to call for a federal investigation. Peru police have given their case files to the FBI. The federal organization will assist, but not take the lead. A multi-jurisdictional task force comprised of the Peru and Bloomington police, the LaSalle County sheriff's and coroner's offices, the Illinois State Police, and the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit continues to lead the investigation.

Day's mother, Carmen Bolden Day, has remained in the public eye, demanding answers. Shes due.

Jelani Days family, friends and loved ones deserve answers. Society demands they get it.

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Even the craziest conspiracy nuts, what they are saying is not arbitrary, he said in a Miami meeting of the Diocese of the South, which I attended as a delegate from my parish in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Its like an alarm bell. Its like an alarm bell that you can hear, and you can understand that the person thats ringing the alarm maybe doesnt understand what is going on. ... They may think that they have an inside track based on what theyve heard, and think that they know what is going on. But the alarm is not a false alarm, necessarily.
UPDATED: BRISTOL, Tenn.  Fire destroyed a home Friday morning along U.S. Highway 11E in Sullivan County.

The Avoca Volunteer Fire Department was alerted to a structure fire in the area of Davis Marina after 7 a.m. Dispatch received multiple calls but was receiving conflicting location information, the fire department said in a statement late Friday.

The Bristol Tennessee Fire Department was also dispatched to the report of a fire on Highway 11E between Hendrickson Lane and Oakdale Lane.

Bristol firefighters located the fire. Volunteer firefighters from across Sullivan County were dispatched to assist in the blaze.

Avoca crews operated in tandem with Bristol firefighters to extinguish the blaze and worked through about 2 p.m. Friday. Crews used almost 190,000 gallons of water.

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The fires cause remained under investigation late Friday. The fire department said residents in the area will likely continue to see a small amount of smoke. Due to structural issues, firefighters said they were unable to enter the home.

No one was reported injured.
A giant chalkboard details the offerings from superfood bowls featuring fresh fruit, to smoothies, loaded toasts, protein shakes, cold brew coffee and pressed juices. Not only are there an unlimited number of bowl combinations, there is also the option to create your own.

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Linderme recommends starting with the Pedalers Way house bowl, which was created by the staff and is made up of acai or dragon fruit as the base, banana, strawberry, kiwi, cocoa nibs, coconut flakes, peanut butter and honey.

Dont be surprised to see Rob Trivett come in to Blended Pedaler with one of his wifes famous cakes in hand, eager to complete his daily trade of cake for a berry bowl.

Everything Ive tried here has been off the chain, berry bowls you cant go wrong on a berry bowl, cant go wrong on a smoothie. I havent had the toast yet, Ive got to try that, but everything Ive had I mean, Im going down the menu to get everything is what Im trying to do, Trivett said. Ill bring them a cake and just treat them, man, theyre a good bunch of kids and I support local businesses.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden said Saturday that the families of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Trump administration should be compensated, as his Department of Justice is in settlement talks with affected families.

Raising his voice, Biden said that regardless of the circumstances, people who had their children taken from them under the Trump administration's family separation policy, meant to deter families from crossing into the U.S. illegally, should be remunerated.

If, in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you coming across the border, whether it was legally or illegally, and you lost your child  You lost your child. It's gone  you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance," Biden said. What that will be I have no idea. I have no idea.

Shortly after taking office Biden created a task force to attempt to reunify hundreds of children and parents affected by the policy, which was in place for several months during 2018 and sparked a domestic and international outcry.
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When I say there is some debate about the inflection point, I mean that some researchers think its around 2,000 to 4,000 students. Others think its in the low tens of thousands. Alas, North Carolinas largest systems exceed these thresholds. Wake Countys district enrolls nearly 160,000 students. Charlotte-Mecklenburg has 140,000. Guilford (69,000), Forsyth (51,000), and Cumberland (49,000) are also quite big.

While I have long advocated dividing the gargantuan Wake and Mecklenburg systems into three or four districts, Im open to the idea that the other urban systems should be subdivided, as well. My main argument has long been that giving parents more choices among district-run public schools would improve academic quality and the return on taxpayer investment.

Two recent studies show the promise of such a strategy. In a 2017 paper, Katie Sharron of Florida State University and Lawrence Kenny of the University of Florida exploited the fact that some states require there to be only one school district per county while others impose no such requirement. That allows for a robust test of whether school-district competition has educational benefits. We find strong evidence that restricting competition among public school districts has an adverse impact on student learning, they found.
" " A group of men get rid of a vampire in a graveyard in Romania in 1893, about the time some New Englanders were exhuming bodies to see if any of their deceased were vampires. Bildagentur-online/uig/Getty Images

It was a scene only Dracula and his blood-spattered ilk could love. In the late 18th and early 19th century, New Englanders were gripped by a vampire panic. In desperation, they began dismembering suspected vampires in hopes of driving off the terror and death that threatened to upend their lives.

But how did vampires come to invade the newly created United States?

It all began in some unfortunate New England villages, as tuberculosis (then called consumption) ravaged entire families and communities. This bacterial lung disease, which spreads easily among family members, has horrid symptoms, giving feverish sufferers an ashen appearance and sunken eyes. In some cases, blood would drop from their mouths.

It was a slow, wretched death  almost as if the life was gradually being drained out of them. It earned the name "consumption" for the way it caused dramatic weight loss. So severe was the epidemic that it claimed around 2 percent of the region's population from 1786 to 1800 and eventually killed perhaps 25 percent of the East Coast's citizens.

"Imagine a communicable disease a great deal slower to manifest than COVID-19, with symptoms even more ambiguous," says folklorist and author Michael Bell in an email interview. "One that did not explode through a population  leaving in its wake the dead and those who survived through good fortune or natural immunity  and then disappear or become latent. A disease that, instead, once it grasped a person, could go in and out of remission over a period of months, or years or even decades."

No one understood how diseases spread back then. All they knew was that as consumption victims perished, their surviving family members would begin to fall ill, one by one. Neighbors would be afflicted, too.

"Adding to its mystery, consumption seemed capricious in choosing its victims," says Bell. "Some families escaped intact while others were thoroughly decimated."

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Finding the Vampires

So, frightened villagers began to believe that the first to die were perhaps vampires of sorts. At night, those sharp-toothed bloodsuckers would wriggle out of their graves, stalk their own families, and slowly but surely suck the life out of them, until they too died horrendous deaths.

Terrified, villagers reasoned there was only one way to halt the vampire attacks  but first, they had to dig up the bodies and examine them. If the corpse appeared to be less decayed than expected, they'd slice the bodies open and sift through the internal organs. If the organs contained liquid blood, the person was deemed possessed.

"The theory seems to have been that this corpse was being inhabited by some sort of evil spirit that was sustaining itself by draining the life (or blood) from the living," says Bell. "This spiritual possession had to be destroyed and the evil bond between the living and dead needed to be broken, usually by burning the infected organ and, sometimes, feeding the ashes to those who were ill."

To be extra sure that the vampire wouldn't arise again, sometimes the corpses were beheaded. Some had their bones shattered and rearranged in a skull-and-crossbones symbol.

"The 'vampires' were always corpses," says Bell  they were never living people. "The people who were performing the ritual never referred to the corpses they exhumed as vampires, although some outsiders, including newspaper writers and local historians, sometimes labeled these consumption rituals as vampirism."

According to Bell, desperate gravedigging scenes played out at least 80 times throughout the vampire panic.

Often, the bodies were disinterred at night, the grisly ceremony attended only by close relatives. But some Vermont towns took things a step further, burning organs for hundreds of witnesses to see, perhaps providing them some hope that the plague of vampires was ended.

"The earliest documented consumption/vampire ritual I've found is from Willington, Connecticut, in 1784, says Bell. "The last, authentically documented case occurred in 1892, in Exeter, Rhode Island. These dates coincide with the consumption endemic in New England, which began to rise dramatically in the late 1700s and continued throughout the 1800s. But, in 1882, the year that [German physician] Robert Koch proved that tuberculosis was caused by a bacterium, the vampire rituals slowed to a halt."

But before it all ended, there was a climax of sorts, one that's become known as the Mercy Brown vampire incident.

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Mercy Brown and Dracula

In 1892, a Rhode Island farmer named George Brown watched consumption kill his wife, and then two daughters in succession. Then, his son Edwin became deathly ill, too. Although he wanted no part of the ritual, villagers eventually persuaded Brown to let them exhume the bodies of his wife and daughters for examination.

The bodies of his wife and one daughter were just bones. But Mercy  the most recent to die, just two months prior  was surprisingly intact. That she died in midwinter and thus was partially preserved by the frigid temperatures did not stop the examiners from being suspicious. They also noted that her fingernails and hair had grown, a trick of the eyes that we now know is caused by the flesh retracting around them.

Armed with this evidence, the villagers were certain they'd found their vampire. They cut out her heart and burned it. Then, for good measure, they had Edwin drink the ashes in hopes that he'd recover. Not long after, consumption claimed him too.

Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that Rhode Island was reportedly called the "Vampire Capital of America."

Such was the power of the Exeter vampire "slayings" that their stories carried across the Atlantic. According to some accounts, when Irish-born writer Bram Stoker  the author of the novel "Dracula"  died in 1897, witnesses say they found newspaper clippings of the Mercy Brown saga in his files.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Is there any relationship between the Vampire Panic and the Salem Witch Trials of a century earlier? Bell doesn't see a direct link but says there are some connections. "Magic certainly was in New England's cultural DNA, flowing from an ancient wellspring of folk ideas, mostly brought from Europe, especially Britain. There was a supernatural idea system in which early New Englanders wholeheartedly participated," he says. But here's one big difference: "In Salem, the 'witches' were still alive (but subsequently executed) when they became scapegoats. The 'vampires' were already dead when they became scapegoats."
While youre likely to have some fatigue, some headache, some body aches  I had them  theyre likely to go away within a day or two after the vaccine, she said.

What about the heart conditions weve heard about?

There have been cases of an inflammatory heart condition known as myocarditis following vaccination for COVID-19. Its very rare, Thompson said, ranging from 20 to 40 cases for everyone 1 million doses of the vaccine. It occurs primarily in men in their late teens and 20s.

The COVID-related cases of myocarditis and a related condition called pericarditis have mostly been mild and are easily treated with medication and rest, according to the CDC.

Thompson said people who are worried about developing myocarditis should know that its also a side effect of COVID-19, resulting in about 450 cases for every million people infected with the coronavirus.

What about long-term side effects?

The CDC says no long-term side effects have emerged from using the coronavirus vaccines. And thats because of how they work, said Thompson. The vaccines stimulate an immune response to the coronavirus, leaving behind antibodies that are able to fight off future infections.
Maldonado said her daughter, Retona Sosa, and granddaughter were not up for an interview with The News & Observer.

Sosa told WTVD-Channel 11, The N&Os media partner, days after the shooting she didnt know what to do when the gunshots started. Estrella and her sister were in the backseat. Estrellas older sister jumped on her to protect her.

Still, Estrella was shot in the back three times. Another bullet hit her in the head, shattering into two dozen fragments inside her brain, her grandmother said. When Estrella tried to move, her mother was shot in the left arm as she tried to keep her down.

Estrella and her sister are especially cherished after Sosa lost 14 babies before the two were born. The miscarriages were linked to weak cervical tissue. Both of the girls were premature and spent weeks in the hospital before they could come home.

Causes of the increase?

Ceartas said its hard to pinpoint why gun violence is rising, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added stress, including job loss, to families across the state.
Next Match: Wright State 11/6/2021 | 4:00 p.m.

- An efficient Northern Kentucky attack led the Norse past IUPUI in four sets on Friday night (Nov. 5), 25-17, 24-26, 25-14, 25-11. IUPUI got even with a second set win before the visiting Norse controlled the third and fourth to take the win. Freshmanled the IUPUI offense with 13 kills andadded nine and hit .241 on the evening. Fifth-year seniorhad 12 digs and four service aces from the libero spot andfinished with 22 assists.NKU's balanced attack hit .358 for the night and got double-digit kills from Abby Kanakry (13), Reilly Briggs (12) and Anna Brinkmann (10). Katy Yopko delivered 27 assists and Miranda Wucherer had 20.NKU scored the night's first three points before Pogue put home a kill from the right side. The Norse lead grew to 6-1, forcing Froehlich into an early timeout. IUPUI stemmed the tide with a point before NKU rattled off three more-in-a-row to take a commanding 9-2 lead. Even after IUPUI closed within 13-8 on an Alan ace and a kill from Madison, NKU ended any suspense with the set's next five points on way to a 25-17 win. NKU hit .519 in the opening set, committing just two errors against 16 kills.Similar to the first set, IUPUI fell behind in the second set 10-4 before catching fire. The Jags turned a 13-8 deficit into a 16-13 lead on eight straight points with Schuenemann on the service line. NKU called two timeouts during the burst, but couldn't slow the Jags. Things ultimately got tight late as the score was tied at 22, 23 and 24 before Brown turned in back-to-back kills to close the set. IUPUI hit .239 in the second set as Brown and Pogue combined on 11 kills and just one error.NKU continued the trend of building a quick early lead in set three, this time blasting out to a 13-5 advantage. This time, IUPUI had no answer as the Norse maintained at least an eight-point lead en route to a 25-14 win. Things followed suit in the fourth as NKU hit .367 and the Jags had more errors (6) than kills (3) in dropping the final set, 25-11.came off the IUPUI bench to provide nine assists and a pair of aces andput down five kills.IUPUI will cap the week with a home contest against Wright State on Saturday (Nov. 6) at 4:00 p.m. inside the Jungle. IUPUI will honor the senior duo of Schuenemann andimmediately before that contest.
BLOOMINGTON  For weeks Jelani Days family, supporters and loved ones have been calling for the FBI to take the lead on his death investigation, marching in the streets and chanting his name.

So whats stopping the agency?

If a violation of federal law has occurred, then the FBI can initiate an investigation and we would typically work that jointly with the other agencies, said Patrick Hoffman, supervisory senior resident agent, covering the Peoria and Quad Cities resident agencies within the Springfield division of the FBI. If there is no federal violation  so for example state or local laws have been violated  then the FBI may not have jurisdiction over those crimes. Theres other ways that we can still assist, but it would be in an assistance role, not necessarily as the lead investigative agency.

No law enforcement agency has publicly said a federal crime has occurred or is suspected in the case of Day, the 25-year-old Danville native and Illinois State University graduate student whose disappearance in August sparked national attention.

The FBI Springfield office began communications with the Bloomington Police Department regarding this investigation when Day was still considered missing from the Bloomington area.

However, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Becky Cramblit said the Springfield office had not formally moved into an assistance role before Days body was found in the Illinois River on Sept. 4, a week and a half after he was reported missing.

When he was identified on Sept. 23 as the person pulled from the Illinois River, the case moved into the Chicago offices jurisdiction. Special Agent Siobhan Johnson from the Chicago office confirmed Friday the agency is assisting with the case. Previously the FBI confirmed its Behavioral Analysis Unit, which is based at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., is assisting in the investigation.

Several local and state agencies are also part of the multi-jurisdictional investigation, including the LaSalle County sheriffs and coroners offices, Peru, LaSalle and Bloomington police departments, and Illinois State Police.

Most commonly, the FBI looks to partner with local, state or the other federal agencies throughout all of our investigations, Hoffman said. We heavily rely upon our relationships with the other agencies in order to successfully investigate any matter.

During a meeting with The Pantagraph editorial board Thursday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said a hate crime would be the nexus that brings the FBI in as the lead investigator on Days case.

Jackson, who led a march Friday afternoon through Bloomington and Normal, has compared Days death to that of Emmett Till, a Black teenager who was lynched in 1955 Mississippi. Till's attackers brutalized, shot and dumped him in the Tallahatchie River. His body was unrecognizable when he was found.

It smells like a hate crime to me, not a suicide, but a homicide, said the Rev. Courtney Carson of Decatur, one of the organizers of Friday's march. Why else would someone murder another human being in such a wicked way?

The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenders bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.

According to the FBI website, the bureau works with local and state authorities when hate crimes are considered, even when federal charges are not filed, and "The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes."

No suspects have been identified publicly by law enforcement agencies in connection to Days death. The LaSalle County Coroners Office autopsy report, which opined his cause of death was drowning, states The manner in which Mr. Day went into the Illinois River is currently unknown.

There must be reason to believe a federal crime has been committed, Johnson said.

John Fermon, public affairs officer for Bloomington police, reiterated what FBI representatives said: The federal agencies need a nexus/connection to be a lead agency e.g. a federal crime has to be committed," adding that his department was always willing to seek assistance if needed.

Hoffman noted if a case crosses state lines, that's often one of the issues that could help the FBI to be involved.

Peru Police Chief Robert Pyszka previously told The Pantagraph that investigators had given all files in this case to the FBI and despite his request for the federal agency to lead, the FBI declined to take the lead on this investigation.

The FBI is assisting on this case, but will not take over the lead of this investigation. They will assist us in any possible way they can, but they will not take over the lead in this case, he said. The family numerous times asked us to pass this investigation off, and we have attempted to do such.

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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An off-duty Chicago police officer threatened to shoot herself before a struggle for her gun left her husband, another off-duty officer, dead, prosecutors said in court Friday.

Jacqueline Villasenor, 39, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after shooting German Villasenor, 44, on Tuesday night at a home in the 8500 block of West Winona Street on the Far Northwest Side near OHare International Airport, police said.

Villasenor appeared Friday before Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz, who ordered her held in lieu of $50,000 bail, after lowering the amount during a hearing that was broadcast live on YouTube.

The married couple lived together at the home where the shooting occurred, prosecutors said.

Assistant States Attorney James Murphy said the two were arguing in their bedroom of their home over Jacqueline Villasenors recent affair.

During the fight, Villasenor produced her service weapon and indicated she was going to shoot herself, sparking a struggle over her gun, Murphy said.

The gun discharged once, hit him in the chest and pierced his heart before exiting his back and lodging in a bedroom wall.

Their 16-year-old son was home and heard several loud banging noises, then more and then heard a single gunshot, Murphy said. The boy went upstairs and saw his dad face up and bleeding and his mom performing CPR. He called 911, said Murphy, and he went outside to wait for paramedics.

One of the paramedics told police Villasenor had said she and the victim had a bad day, according to Murphy.

Another witness, an officer with an FBI task force who was also off duty and had a police radio on, was the first officer on the scene, Murphy said. He found Villasenor leaning against a dresser and asked if she was OK.

No, but yes, she replied to the officer, Murphy said. She wasnt crying, and she allegedly smelled of alcohol. She declined a breath test, Murphy said. Villasenor and her husband tested positive for gunshot residue, he added.

At first, Ortiz set bond at $100,000 but Villasenors attorney, Tim Grace, said her family was only able to come up with $5,000, so Ortiz lowered it to $50,000, to accommodate her financial situation.

According to the city of Chicagos website, Jacqueline Villasenors annual salary as of March was $76,266.

This is a tragic case obviously, Grace said, before the judge set bond.

Grace, who said there was such little evidence, said the couple had been married for 20 years and she grew up in Chicago and attended Mother Guerin High School.

They have an adult daughter as well as the teen son. Additionally, Villasenor has at least one commendation and honorable mention for her work as a police officer. She had been assigned to the Grand Central District, in a summer mobile unit.

She had no prior mental health history and is not a flight risk, Grace said. This was a terrible, just terrible, event.

Several times Ortiz, who ordered that all guns be removed from her home, asked Villasenor if she understood what was happening and Villasenor replied: Yes, judge.

It was the defendant who introduced the gun into the argument, Ortiz said before setting bond, adding that her actions make her a danger to those around her.

German Villasenor was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead, according to officials.

The shooting is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Villasenor has been placed on 30-day administrative leave.

Villasenor, who if convicted faces a three- to 14-year sentence, is due back in court Nov. 23.

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John Deere

John Deere (February 7, 1804-May 17, 1886) was a blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere and Company. The agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer is one of the largest companies in the world.

Deere was born in Vermont and later settled in Illinois. As Deere had served an apprenticeship as a blacksmith in Vermont, he had no trouble in finding work as a blacksmith in Grand Detour, Illinois.

Deeres farmer friends complained about how difficult it was to turn the soil prior to planting each Spring. Deere found that his friends were using cast-iron plows.

Deere came to the conclusion that a plow made out of highly polished steel and a correctly shaped blade would be better able to handle the soil conditions of the prairie, especially its sticky clay.

In 1837, Deere developed and manufactured the first commercially successful cast-steel plow. Deeres design made it ideal for the tough soil of the Midwest.

By early 1838, Deere completed his first steel plow and sold it to a local farmer. The farmer quickly spread word of how well the new plow worked. Soon other farmers in the area placed orders with Deere for the purchase of his plows. By 1841, Deere was manufacturing approximately 100 plows per year.

In 1843, Deere took on a partner by the name of Leonard Andrus to produce more plows to keep up with demand. However, the partnership did not last long as Deere wanted to sell to customers outside the area. Andrus opposed expanding.

In 1848, Deere dissolved the partnership and moved to Moline, Illinois. The move enabled Deeres plows to be transported down the Mississippi River.

By 1855, Deeres factory sold more than 10,000 plows. The plow became known as The Plow that Broke the Plains.

Deere insisted on making high-quality equipment. He once stated, I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me.

By 1857, Deere turned over the day-to-day operations of his company to his son, Charles. In 1868, Deere incorporated his business as Deere and Company.

With the company now managed by his son, the senior Deere focused more of his attention on civil and political affairs.

He served as president of the National Bank of Moline, a director of the Moline Free Public Library, and was a trustee of the First Congregational Church. Deere also served as Molines mayor for two years. He did not continue his political career as in his later years he suffered from both chest pains and dysentery.

He died in Moline on May 17, 1886, at the age of 82.

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NCHA is continuing to review the new regulations and will be a resource to assist our members in coming into compliance.

Employers who fail to comply with the OSHA vaccine mandate could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

Biden perspective

President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday that while I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good.

Since the Biden administration mandated vaccines for the military and federal contractors in late July, the number of unvaccinated Americans ages 12 and older has dropped by 40% from 100 million to 60 million.

The deadline for full-vaccination compliance for those contractors has been shifted from Dec. 8 to Jan. 4. More than a dozen states have sued to block the mandate on contractors.

Biden stressed that rounds of employer vaccine mandates have not led to mass firings or worker shortages.

Affected employers must verify employees vaccination status through CDC vaccination cards and records from doctors or pharmacies. An employees signed declaration is acceptable as well.

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Enoch and Elijah ascended to heaven in their physical bodies, and Jesus was resurrected as more than flesh and ascended in a different way. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, Paul explained the transformation that takes place between the pre-death body and the body that is raised to new life in the resurrection. So will it be with the resurrected body. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

The book of Revelation presents a different event and belief about heaven. People will not go up to heaven because the new Holy City will come down from heaven to a new heaven and a new earth. Gods dwelling place will be with his people. The words in Revelation 21:22-23, provide important concepts. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Revelation 21: 26-27 presents the inclusive nature of heaven and its purity. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life.
We need people to know that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world, said Eustache, a criminal defense attorney in Winston-Salem.

Alex Nelson, a retired Army command master sergeant, told the parades participants about the history of the national anthem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and the U.S. flag.

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This flag have been through everything that you can imagine, Nelson said. But it is still here.

JROTC units and marching bands from Mount Tabor, Atkins, Glenn, East Forsyth, North Forsyth, West Forsyth, Reynolds, Walkertown, Carver and Reagan high schools took part in the event.

It was a great to see with this environment of troops, said Jonathan Hatcher, a member of the Reagan Air Force JROTC.

Hatcher said he plans to join the Air Force after he graduates from college.

Annie Xiong, another member of the Reagan Air Force JROTC unit, said participating in the parade was fun.

It was cold, Xiong said. When we came out here, it was 35 degrees.

Xiong said she is considering joining the Air Force.

Its a viable career option, Xiong said.
My, how quickly things can change with the right message and the right messenger.

Glenn Youngkins impressive victory over Democratic retread Terry McAuliffe in the race for Virginia governor ought to be a reminder that kindness wins over name-calling and that issues are more important than personality.

Parents in Virginia saw the curtain pulled back on the indoctrination of values counter to their own in public schools. McAuliffe denied critical race theory (CRT) was being taught in public schools, but a visit to the Virginia Department of Education web page shows three different instances in which it was promoted, including back in 2015 when McAuliffe was governor. The site also uses the term white fragility and references a presentation that encourages teachers to embrace Critical Race Theory in order to re-engineer attitudes and belief systems. The constant focus on race, class and division is wearing thin and it would appear, at least in Virginia, that many voters have tired of it.

Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins wrote its time for Democrats to retire the white sheets. Can we move on from divide and conquer in favor of promoting togetherness as Americans? In his victory speech that is what Youngkin did, speaking less about himself and more about his fellow Virginians and fellow Americans. Donald Trump take note.
The last time I saw Gen. Colin Powell in person was a couple of years ago at the High Point Market.

We had dinner together before he gave the keynote address at the induction celebration at the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation. At our table, we laughed and shared stories about our grandchildren, our lives and our passion for living.

Our friendship has grown over the years. He was a loyal friend of High Point University. He became one of the founding members of the National Board of Advisors at HPU, and seven years ago, he gave our commencement address on the lawn at Roberts Hall.

I do miss him. I think of him often. He was a giant of a man, a grand gentleman, a servant leader and the embodiment of the American Dream. I was proud to call him my friend.

Weve all heard the news by now. Powell died Oct. 18. He was fully vaccinated, but he was dealing with several underlying conditions that had caused his health to deteriorate.

He was 84 when he passed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He was surrounded by his family. He may be gone, but his zeal for patriotism and public service will live on with so many of us. This dignified soldier represented the best of us.
While all flight activity is currently taking place on the south end of the terminal, it will eventually shift to the north end. That's where work is now occurring to expand the terminal.

As part of the project, the north end of the terminal is being expanded by about 35,000 square feet, expanding the existing terminal by more than 60%. The north end will also be home to all six gates once work is complete.

The work area is mostly off-limits to passengers, other than a temporary hallway constructed to allow people to use the skywalk from the parking garage to access the terminal.

"The intent is to keep (the skywalk) open for 99% of the time," said Chad Lay, the airport's director of planning and development.

Some other airport services are closed, such as the restaurant. Its space is being turned into the new security screening area.

However, that doesn't mean flyers don't have food options. In fact, they now have something they've never had before: food and drinks in the gate area.

Last week, the airport completed the move of all concessions and gift items to the secure gate area. It's something most airports, even small ones, have, but it's an amenity the Lincoln Airport has never been able to offer because of logistical issues.
Adams said he was continually impressed by each regional teams ability to be flexible and creative to adapt to the needs they saw.

COVID-19 is a polarizing topic, he said, and communities needed to be approached according to, for example, how open local businesses were to masked outreach workers and to displaying information about coping with the pandemic.

In many cases, outreach workers said, the common ground was a focus on stress and anxiety, whatever the source, and on paying attention to self-care and neighbors in need.

Region 5s Nebraska Strong team, based in Lincoln, worked under the tightest COVID-19 restrictions, Adams said. The team had outstanding organization, communication and reach despite team members working remotely and not meeting each other for months, he said. Even then, the first meeting was outdoors.

When large group events resumed, outreach workers were there.

Now were doing door-to-door, Henning said. We hope to reach some individuals we werent able to reach at events.
Prosecutors at trial argued he had taken Thomas out to a boat ramp along the river intending to kill her, and dumped her body in the river. Keadle maintained he left the 19-year-old there  alive  when she refused to get back in his Ford Explorer.

Her body never was found.

On Tuesday, though, as Pickens cast new doubt on the same facts of the case, justices cast doubt on the lawyer's understanding of the appeal.

Pickens appealed to the state's Supreme Court on the basis of corpus delicti, a common law legal device that refers to the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing it.

But in Nebraska murder trials, the device revolves largely around confessions.

"What's the purpose of the common law rule of corpus delicti?" Justice Stephanie Stacy asked, interrupting Pickens as he described Facebook posts Thomas had made before her disappearance. "What's the purpose? What's trying to be achieved by the rule?"

"To ensure that folks who confess to crimes that weren't actually committed are not convicted," Pickens replied.

"Do we have a confession in this case?" Stacy asked.

"No," Pickens conceded. "There's some unfortunate statements. There's some dishonesty. There's, I suppose, some misdirection. But there's no confession."

"So, in a murder case where there is no confession in play, what purpose does the rule of corpus delicti serve that isn't already served by requiring a jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?" Stacy asked.

And so went the latest appeal of Keadle's conviction.

Pickens, throughout his argument Tuesday, was peppered by nearly every justice with questions that seemed to cast doubt on the merits of the appeal.

The lawyer maintained that he was not simply asking the justices to reweigh the evidence  which is not the role of an appellate court. Instead, Pickens recited the facts of the case and the events that led up to Thomas' disappearance, claiming the state didn't have sufficient evidence that a crime occurred.

Even if prosecutors proved the elements of the crime, he argued, it doesn't mean they'd proven corpus delicti  that the crime had been committed at all.

And Pickens lamented what the common law rule has come to mean in Nebraska, now seeming to require an attached confession, though the dictionary definition of the doctrine doesn't mention one.

"The corpus delicti rule at least used to mean something," he said. "It certainly doesn't mean as much as it used to."

Speaking on behalf of the state, Assistant Attorney General Melissa Vincent summarized Pickens' appeal as "nothing more than an invitation to this court" to reweigh the evidence already considered by a jury.

Vincent noted that prosecutors don't have to provide blood evidence in murder cases when circumstantial evidence is enough to convict a defendant, as it was in the case of Keadle, whose own admissions helped put him away.

She said that the existence of physical evidence has never been a requirement in murder trials to prove that a crime occurred.

"Nor does that requirement make sense," she said. "It's possible to kill a person in ways that do not produce physical evidence apart from the body itself. And in any event, physical evidence can be destroyed.

"Both possibilities exist in this case."
RACINE  A 19-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman have been accused of having 5.871 pounds of marijuana in their house, likely worth more than $30,000. The man allegedly said he had been able to sell a pound of weed as often as twice a month.

Jaiden Taylor Kruger, 19, of the 1600 block of Roosevelt Avenue, was charged with three felony counts of manufacture/deliver marijuana (less than or equal to 200 grams) and maintaining a drug trafficking place, a felony count of possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture marijuana (200-1,000 grams) and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Danielle E. Kruger, 36, of the 5900 block of 16th Street, was charged with felony counts of possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana (between 1,000-2,500 grams) and maintaining a drug trafficking place, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a criminal complaint:

On Thursday, agents of the Racine County Metro Drug Unit executed a search on a residence in the 1600 block of Roosevelt Avenue for the sale of controlled substances.

Agents located both Krugers, as well as another man who was allowed to stay at the house and a 2-year-old child. Jaiden Kruger said he sells about a pound of marijuana every two to three weeks. Danielle Kruger admitted to having between a quarter-pound and a half-pound of marijuana, and said she had given marijuana to both Jaiden Kruger and the other man.

A search of the residence found 2,663.2 grams of marijuana including THC wax and edibles, a handgun with 32 rounds loaded into three magazines, multiple digital scales and 2.8 grams pf psilocybin (i.e., psychedelic mushrooms).

One pound (453.59 grams) of marijuana has a street value of more than $5,600, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune.

Both were given a $10,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Friday. Both have a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 11 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

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Keefe Real Estate President and CEO Tom Keefe announced Thursday that his company, which has an office in Burlington, is joining Compass, a leading real estate technology company.

The deal is subject to certain standard closing conditions and is anticipated to close later in November.

Under the new Keefe Real Estate Compass brand, the company will continue to operate as a market leading real estate brokerage in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, maintaining its leadership team, agents and staff, as well as existing offices, with the added resources and technology of Compass, the company stated in a press release.

Over three generations of family ownership, our mission has always been to enhance the lives of our agents and staff through careers in real estate, and go above and beyond for our clients, Keefe said in the news release. This is a mission we have carried out over the years, and it is one we intend to continue to fulfill, by partnering with Compass.

We are excited to join a company that shares the same philosophy we do and values their agents as customers and trusted partners. Compass has made decisions to create a company that provides its agents with unmatched tools and the strongest platform to run their business. This expansive level of resources will allow our agents to bring an even higher standard of service to our customers and clients, Keefe adds.

Rachael Rohn, Compass Regional President, says, As a Chicagoan, Ive spent the last 16 years taking getaway trips to Lake Geneva and have incredibly fond memories of the people and the experiences Ive had here. Ive been professionally admiring Keefe Real Estate over the years, and I am thrilled to partner together to match Compass technology with Keefes legacy and local expertise to serve our agents and customers.

Adds Keefe, The regional and national exposure of Compass continues to grow stronger by the day, and we are looking forward to partnering with a company with such a strong connection to Chicago, which is our primary feeder market. We are excited for the opportunity to be contributing to a growing company by focusing on doing what we do best: building relationships, going above and beyond for our customers, and growing our business.

In partnering with Compass, Keefe Real Estate will join forces with the nations largest independent brokerage. Compass is currently home to over 23,000 agents, serving hundreds of the top cities across the country, stated a press release issued Thursday afternoon.

Last year Compass agents sold approximately $152 billion in residential real estate and completed 66% more transactions than they did the year before. In Chicago, Compass is now ranked #2 for closed sales volume and market share, up from its #5 ranking at the end of 2020 (source: BrokerMetrics), and is home to more than 1,400 agents.

Earlier this year, Compass also started operations in Wisconsin, based in Milwaukee.

Founded in 1943, Keefe Real Estate is a full-service real estate brokerage, specializing in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois with over 90 agents in Walworth, Racine, Kenosha and McHenry counties. Keefe Real Estate and its associates have been the market leader for decades in Walworth County, as well as the leading seller of lakefront properties, handling nearly 50% of all lakefront transactions in the region.

Keefe Real Estates local expertise and market dominance combined with Compass powerful agent network, real estate technology platform and consumer programs will provide expansive exposure for the companys valued clients, listings and agents locally, in the Chicagoland area and nationally, the press release stated.

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TOWN OF NORWAY  The town police department is getting ready for a changing of the guard.

Police Chief John Hanrahan is retiring after 23 years on the job, and Sgt. Jon Schulteis is moving up to take over leadership of the department.

The change is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 18, when Hanrahan steps aside as chief.

Hanrahan declined to comment on his retirement except to say that he is grateful for the opportunity to have served the people of Norway, a town of 8,000 in western Racine County.

Im looking forward to spending more time with my family and entering the next period of my life humbly and without any fanfare, he said in an email.

Town Chairwoman Jean Jacobson said the police chief has served Norway well and should feel proud of what he accomplished here. Under his leadership, the police officers developed a camaraderie that has contributed to excellent public service, Jacobson said.

He ran a very tight ship and took care of business in a very professional way, she said.

The towns police department is a part-time operation, so many officers hold other jobs elsewhere in law enforcement. Hanrahan is chief deputy of the Racine County Sheriffs Office, while Schulteis works as a sheriffs deputy.

Schulteis, who has been a Norway officer for many years, could not be reached for comment.

The town police commission in September approved promoting Schulteis to the chiefs position as soon as Hanrahan steps down.

Commissioner Sharon Adamczyk said Schulteis was qualified for the job; he was the only person to apply and the only person interviewed.

We look forward to working with him, Adamczyk said.

The police chief position pays $35.93 an hour for about 22 hours a week, or $41,000 a year.

The department operates on a yearly budget of $287,000, with a staff of eight to 12 part-time officers. The second-ranking Lt. Matthew Johnson is also the full-time police chief in Waterford.

Town Administrator Tom Kramer said he has appreciated Hanrahans service to the town, especially considering Hanrahans vast knowledge of law enforcement.

He runs a very good department, Kramer said.

Jacobson and Kramer both voiced confidence in Schulteis ability to step into the chiefs position.

Jacobson called the sergeant an excellent choice, while Kramer said he feels certain that the police department will enjoy a smooth transition in leadership.

Of the new chief, Kramer said, Hes a very thorough guy, a hard worker.

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A Dane County circuit judge on Friday ordered Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to provide records related to the ongoing investigation into Wisconsin's 2020 election being carried out by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.

Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel need to provide records relating to the investigation from the point that Gableman was hired in May through Aug. 27, when attorneys for Vos say Gableman officially became an authority over those records.

"These need to be produced unless there is a darn good reason why not and I dont see one at this point," Bailey-Rihn said during a Friday hearing.

Bailey-Rihn said those records need to be produced within 10 days of her Friday ruling.

Vos' attorney Ronald Stadler said the records requests, which were filed this summer by liberal watchdog group American Oversight, needed to be filed with Gableman.

"Its not about us trying not to produce, its that we dont have them," Stadler said of the records.

Vos alleged that Gableman was the sole authority over those records. Gableman was retained by Vos as a contractor on June 26, one month after Vos announced the investigation. The office of special counsel was created Aug. 27.

However, Bailey-Rihn said state authorities like Vos are responsible for records produced by hired contractors and giving the newly formed office of special counsel retroactive protection over records would essentially create a "shell game."

"Thats what the effect of this is," Bailey-Rihn said. "You cant have open records requests that are valid on their face to an authority in July and August and then say, 'OK, were going to make a subunit and then we can deny these records requests because its not us, its the subunit.'"

The American Oversight lawsuit alleged Vos and Blazel failed to release documents related to the investigation submitted in an open records request. The Wisconsin State Journal, as well as other media outlets, also have requested similar documents, which have not been provided.

Speaker Vos has done everything in his power to protect this investigation from scrutiny," American Oversight executive director Austin Evers said in a statement. "After months of delay tactics, finger-pointing, and bureaucratic run-arounds, we are grateful the court has put a stop to these shell games. We are pleased Vos and the Assembly have been ordered to comply with the law and release these records.

A second lawsuit filed by American Oversight last month seeking records related to the investigation into how the 2020 election was conducted. That lawsuit, which is pending, identified Vos as the sole defendant for not releasing the requested documents in a timely manner.

Vos' office had not responded to a request for comment on Bailey-Rihn's ruling, but the speaker in October accused those seeking public records related to Gableman's probe of trying to "torpedo" the effort. Vos said at the time he planned to release those records when the one-party investigation is finished.

Vos said last month his hope is the investigation  which was originally planned to be finished by the end of October  would be completed before the end of the year. Vos did not say if the investigation could cost more than the $676,000 in taxpayer dollars allocated to the effort in June.

A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. Four voters out of roughly 3 million who cast ballots have been charged with fraud.

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Friday felt historic to UW-Madison senior Paige Skenandore. It also felt long overdue.

A little after 10:30 a.m., UW-Madison raised the Ho-Chunk Nation flag above Bascom Hall, marking the first time that the university flew another nations flag with the U.S. flag and state flag.

I think this is a great first step, said Skenandore, who grew up on a reservation in northern Wisconsin and is one of roughly 100 Native American students on campus. Its been a long time coming. Its kind of shocking that it hasnt happened before.

Brenda Neff, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation who attended the flag-raising, never imagined such a welcoming event from the university whose land is the ancestral home of her tribe. She said shed like to see the flag flying atop Bascom every day.

Ho-Chunk Nation Chief Clayton Winneshiek told attendees the flag-raising was a start.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the flag-raising is more than a symbolic gesture but part of an ongoing commitment to educate and acknowledge the states tribes and their sovereignty.

For many years, UWMadison was not mindful of this history, and we paid little attention to our relationship with the descendants of those who were here long before us, she told a crowd of at least a couple hundred. But we are working to change that.

Ignorance to awareness

Almost 190 years ago, the U.S. government and Ho-Chunk Nation signed the Treaty of 1832, which forced the tribe to cede, or give up, territory that includes the UW-Madison campus. The Ho-Chunk had lived in this area for some 12,000 years.

The treaty arose after the Black Hawk War, a conflict that came about when the Sauk, another tribe, attempted to reoccupy their homelands that were near Ho-Chunk land. The U.S. won the war, which had spilled over into Ho-Chunk territory and even though the Ho-Chunk were largely decentralized and did not take part in the conflict, the government forced the tribe to cede some of its land, according to UW-Madison history Professor Stephen Kantrowitz.

If there is significant bloodshed on (the Ho-Chunks) territory, the U.S. will use that to extract concessions in the form of land, and thats exactly what happens, said Kantrowitz, who teaches in the Afro-American Studies and American Indian Studies departments. They terrorized that treaty out of the delegation.

The 1832 treaty was supposed to provide the Ho-Chunk with $10,000 a year for 27 years, but Kantrowitz said the government used the threat of withholding yearly payments to coerce the tribe into signing more treaties, including the Treaty of 1837, which ceded all remaining Ho-Chunk land.

In 2019, UW-Madison dedicated a new sign on Bascom Hill that recognizes the campus as the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk tribe. Blank said the marker would begin to move the campus from ignorance to awareness.

Land-grab university

UW-Madisons ties to Native American land go beyond the Ho-Chunk nation.

President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 signed the Morrill Act, which gave states public land on the condition that the land be sold or used for profit and the proceeds be used to establish at least one agricultural college.

High Country News, a media outlet that covers the American West, drew attention to this arrangement and specifically to how land taken from tribal nations was turned into a source of funding for 52 land-grant universities, including UW-Madison.

Titled Land-grab universities, the story that was published last year traced more than 99% of the Morrill Act acres to its original Indigenous inhabitants and found the U.S. took almost 11 million acres of land from nearly 250 tribes, bands and communities, often through coercion or violence, and turned it into endowments for universities that continue to generate profits.

Chances are you have heard land acknowledgements recited at many of these universities, formal statements that recognize the Indigenous peoples who formerly possessed the lands those colleges now stand on, the story said. What many of these statements miss is that land-grant universities were built not just on Indigenous land, but with Indigenous land.

Wisconsin received 235,530 acres from the Morrill Act, all of which was located in the northern half of the state and obtained through treaties with the Menominee and the Ojibwe, according to the reports findings. The U.S. government paid a total of $12,449 for the land and Wisconsin was able to sell all but 40 acres for $303,439 by 1912.

Documents from the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, the state agency responsible for managing revenue from the Morrill Act lands, largely confirm the numbers cited in the report. The boards executive secretary, Tom German, said money from the land sales was put into a fund to benefit the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Over the past five years, the fund has paid out an average of $10,811 annually, documents show.

After the Wisconsin State Journal this summer began asking UW-Madison questions about how the college spends this money, university officials did their own research and found the money has been held in a University of Wisconsin System fund for more than two decades, UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone said. Staff were unable to determine why that change occurred.

UW-Madison invests far more than $10,811 annually in supporting Native students, McGlone said, but the university recognizes the symbolic and practical value of the money and is open to ideas on how it could be allocated.

Unheard, unwelcome

For decades, thousands of UW-Madison students navigated the campus with little awareness of the states Indigenous history  an omission UW-Madison tribal relations director Aaron Bird Bear said was intentional.

The organizing principle and goal of all settler colonial societies is replacement, he said. The settler colonial education model is one that does its best to obscure the Indigeneity of any place.

On a campus as large as UW-Madison, where Native students number in the dozens, they can often feel unsafe, unheard and unwelcome.

A lot of Native students have a lot of trauma both from home and from campus and it makes navigating classroom spaces 1,000 times more difficult, said fifth-year senior Giselle Monette, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from North Dakota.

A freshman orientation exercise, for example, was deeply unsettling for Monette when the question of whether it was appropriate to dress as a Native American for Halloween came up. Most students said they had no issue with it. She tried explaining to the group why it was problematic but said a staff member shut down the discussion instead of helping her educate students about cultural competency.

A lot of time its me alone or me with a few other Native students advocating and defending to a much larger group of people, she said. Its never an equal fight.

Skenandore has felt the same way, remembering a class exercise one day when someone in her group asked when she had become a U.S. citizen. Congress extended U.S. citizenship to all Native people including those born on reservations almost a century ago.

That was a hard one, she said. That will live with me forever.

Education efforts

UW-Madison is attempting to engage in a course correction, trying to educate students about the uncomfortable truths behind the state and universitys history.

James Flores, an Oneida tribal nation member who works as a UW-Madison admissions counselor, appreciates the push to promote awareness.

When it comes to the Indigenous presence in this country, I think the United States is in a perpetual state of historical amnesia, he said. We have to continuously reassert ourselves into the historical narrative. If we are acknowledging this historical narrative, there has to be a commitment to action.

Recent efforts to educate the campus about its past include the formation of an Indigenous language revitalization group, the creation of a series of classes for incoming freshmen that focus on Native land use and food systems and the launch of a working group called Native Nations UW that has held listening sessions with tribes across Wisconsin. The university hired a full-time tribal relations director, a part-time Indigenous education coordinator and two positions directly serving Indigenous students.

More initiatives are underway, such as an Indigenous research center and a public history project.

I do think the university is taking good first steps, whether it may be a few decades or century late, Skenandore, a member of the Oneida Nation, said. These are all small baby steps. Its good but considering the history and everything Indigenous people have experienced, its hard to close that gap.

Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison executive director Dan Brown struck a slightly more optimistic note. He saw the flag-raising as a fantastic step for the community to understand Ho-Chunk people as the original inhabitants of the region.

Its been a long time with us being invisible, he said.

Some colleges waive tuition One way other colleges have supported Native American students is by covering the cost of their tuition. The University of Michigan has offered waivers to all Michigan tribal residents since 1976. The University of Minnesota earlier this month announced that it would offer state tribal members free or reduced tuition beginning next fall. In Wisconsin, a tuition waiver policy for tribal members would require both legislative and UW System approval. Gov. Tony Evers included a provision allowing students from federally recognized tribes to receive in-state tuition in his 2021-23 state budget proposal, but it did not make it through the legislative process. A similar bipartisan bill in the 2019 session failed to gain traction. Spokespeople for Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, didn't respond to a question asking if they support tuition waivers for the state's Native students. Some Wisconsin tribal members may already receive support through Buckys Tuition Promise, a UW-Madison scholarship that covers tuition and fees for all Wisconsin families with incomes below $60,000. UW-Madison student Giselle Monette, who is a member of a tribe in North Dakota, supports tuition waivers as a way to "repair some of the systemic damage that our families have experienced for a long time."  Kelly Meyerhofer

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1. Yes. Nonprofit youth organizations are underfunded in the city. Its a good decision.

2. Yes. In conjunction with city-run programs, it will provide needed opportunities.

3. No. The money should be used to benefit all residents, not just the citys youth.

4. No. The funds should be invested in the area where the project is being developed..

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether its an appropriate use of the money.

Vote

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KEARNEY  Learn what its like to live in poverty at a Compass-planned simulation set for 6:30-9 p.m. Nov. 15 at First Baptist Church, 3610 Sixth Ave.

The Cost of Poverty in Kearney will offer a glimpse into how low-income individuals and families live in this area. Three facilitators from Compass will lead the event and direct discussions afterward.

Compass serves 150 children and families each day, helping them grow and succeed. It also has a foster care program.

By role-playing as low-income persons, participants will come away with a deepened understanding of the realities of poverty. They will learn how to effectively engage with low-income people, and build partnerships to improve outcomes for them.

Our goal is to provoke feelings and thoughts through the experience. We hope to spur people to action, said Ryan Williams, CEO of Compass.

Compass hopes to attract 80 participants.

He said 51,085 Nebraska children currently live in poverty. Nebraska has 2,536 homeless families. The poverty rate in Kearney alone is 16.7%.
Protesters against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in South Dakota filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Kristi Noem after the state denied their application to demonstrate on Capitol grounds during a special legislative session this month.

The group of protesters, who call themselves Blue State Refugees, said they planned to hold a demonstration next week to push the Legislature to take up a bill that would keep businesses from requiring vaccines as a condition of employment. But they were told by state employees that they could not hold the event on Capitol grounds because it was being decorated for a Christmas display.

The Institute for Free Speech, a conservative interest group that is representing the plaintiffs in their lawsuit, called that decision a deprivation of speech and petition rights.

The Noem administration is restricting First Amendment rights and blaming it on Christmas. It doesnt take two months to decorate, and it doesnt require banning rallies across the entire capitol grounds, Alan Gura, the organization's vice president for litigation, said in a statement.
The so-called labor shortage has been in the news for a while. Many have blamed the problem on workers and poor people, however the truth is more complex than poor people are lazy. We are in a rare time when workers have power in the labor market, yet businesses dont seem to have realized it.

The position of the working class has been on the decline for decades.

During the last 50 years, real wages have increased by 11% (less than 0.22% per year), unionization rates have plummeted, and the labor share has taken a nosedive. With worker power hanging on by a thread, and the rewards for labor at an all-time low, corporations and their owners have shaped the economy to their benefit, and to our detriment.

Despite the obviously desperate situation of workers, those with economic and political power choose to blame the current turmoil on unemployment benefits.
The vaccination deadline for Gundersen Health System employees has now passed, while Mayo Clinic Health Systems updated, more stringent requirement will take effect this winter.

Mayo last summer announced it would give staff until Sept. 17 to be inoculated against COVID-19 or to complete a declination process, and has since issued a new policy. Staff who have not been vaccinated by Dec. 3  excluding those given a medical or religious exemption  will be given a final written warning, which is the highest level of corrective action prior that a staff member can receive prior to their employment ending, Mayo said in a statement to the Tribune.

Staff who received a first dose of the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccine by Dec. 3, but are overdue for their second dose by Jan. 3, will also receive a final written warning.

On Jan. 3, Mayo Clinic staff who remain unvaccinated, who are partially vaccinated and overdue for their second dose, and who have not received an approved exemption will no longer be able to work with Mayo Clinic, the hospital says.

Gundersen, which announced its mandate in mid August, issued a deadline of Nov. 1 for completing the vaccine series. Protests at both Gundersen and Mayo have been held in the weeks prior, with some staff starting an anti-mandate website, creating a picture petition and inviting people to contact leaders at the health care facilities. The most recent rally was held Nov. 2.

Gundersen is expected to release data on staff vaccination rates and a statement next week.

Many hospitals nationwide have already issued vaccine requirements, and President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the administrations vaccine/testing mandate for large employers will begin Jan. 4. Companies with at least 100 employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly as of that date, or the employer will face fines for every infraction.

Health care facilities which receive Medicare and Medicaid funding  over 75,000 nationwide  will also have a Jan. 4 deadline for inoculation.

The administrations mandate will affect around 100 million employees, or approximately two-thirds of U.S. workers.

A Gallup poll from mid September found the majority of U.S. residents support mandates for workplaces, with 60% in favor of requirements for federal government employees, 58% supporting requirements or weekly testing for companies with 100 or more staff, and 63% agreeing with mandates for hospitals and other health care facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funds.

An October Kaiser Family Foundation poll found 25% of respondents had been required by their employer to have the shots, and 37% of those not yet vaccinated said they would leave their job if they were mandated to get the vaccine or undergo weekly testing. However, only 5% of unvaccinated workers stated they have actually quit due to a requirement.

While mandates are a hot button issue, they are legal, and there is a precedence. Per the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, employers may require the COVID-19 vaccine for onsite workers so long as alternatives are available to those with legitimate medical or religious exemptions.

According to Highlights of Historical Events Leading to National Surveillance of Vaccination Coverage in the United States, published on ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, Massachusetts in 1809 issued a requirement for vaccination against smallpox, making it the first immunization law to be passed in the U.S. In 1905, the Supreme Court upheld the authority of states to pass and enforce compulsory vaccination laws on reasoning that freedom of the individual must sometimes be subordinated to the common welfare and subjected to the police power of the state.

The military has long had vaccine requirements, with at least nine mandatory shots and an additional eight given dependent on risk or occupation. The COVID-19 vaccine deadline for active duty Air Force personnel was Nov. 2, the Navys deadline is Nov. 28, and active duty Army members have until Dec. 15.

Noncompliance fines are also not unique to the COVID-19 vaccine  also in Massachusetts, a smallpox vaccine requirement was issued in the early 1900s, with a monetary penalty imposed on those who declined the shot. Employers and schools are legally allowed to require vaccinations for various viruses and diseases, and Wisconsin law requires all students to show proof of required immunizations, which include the Polio, MMR and Hepatitis B vaccines, or have a signed waiver. The CDC advises youth up to age six have nine different vaccines, some with multiple doses spaced out between months or years, and a yearly flu shot after 6 months of age.

Several hundred colleges and universities have issued a requirement for the COVID-19 vaccine, and some K-12 districts may follow suit. In California, the Los Angeles Unified and Culver City Unified districts are requiring the shots for students 12 and older. In Wisconsin, Madison and Milwaukee public school staff need to be fully inoculated.

The Kaiser Family Foundation survey, published a week prior to the authorization of vaccine use in the 5 to 11 age group, found 31% of parents stated they will definitely not have their 12 to 17 year old vaccinated against COVID-19, and 30% said the same for their 5-11 year old. For the latter age group, 27% of parents said they were eager to have their child get the vaccine.

An October Politico-Harvard survey found 54% of U.S. residents favor a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for public school students 12 and older, though that number dropped to 49% among those with a child age 12-17. There was a sharp political contrast in results, with 72% of Democrats but only 40% of Republicans in support. Broken down by race, of those in favor 63% were Black, 59% Latino, and 51% white.

Vaccination for all individuals age 5 and older is strongly advised by the CDC, DHS and La Crosse County Health Department as the pandemic continues to cause infections  over 46 million to date  hospitalizations and deaths, the latter which have surpassed 749,000.

Nationwide, over 58% of residents are fully inoculated against COVID-19.

Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net.

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A 46-year-old woman with no permanent address was charged Friday in La Crosse County Circuit Court after allegedly setting a portable toilet on fire.

Melissa E. Miller faces a felony count of arson of property other than a building. She also faces the same charge in a separate Oct. 28 incident, along with a felony charge of child abuse with intention to cause harm.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called Nov. 4 shortly after 4:30 p.m. to Cameron Park, where video surveillance reportedly showed Miller removing toilet paper from a dispenser inside the portable toilet and placing it on the toilet floor. She then allegedly lit the toilet paper on fire, which caused a large flame to erupt. The complaint says she placed other items on top to keep the fire going.

The complaint says an unidentified bystander confronted Miller and smothered the fire. Miller reportedly sat on a picnic table and remained there until police arrived. The complaint says she showed police the cigarette lighter she used to ignite the fire. The portable toilet sustained significant damage.

It was Miller's second encounter with police in less than a week. Police were called to a La Crosse residence Oct. 29, where a 14-year-old said Miller slapped her in the face and punched her with a closed fist. The complaint says Miller also burned a mattress inside the residence.

Miller was released on a $2,500 signature bond after the Oct. 29 incident. La Crosse County Court Commissioner Kara Burgos ordered a $500 cash bond for the Nov. 4 incident.

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A Dane County circuit judge on Friday ordered Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to provide records related to the ongoing investigation into Wisconsin's 2020 election being carried out by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.

Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel need to provide records relating to the investigation from the point that Gableman was hired in May through Aug. 27, when attorneys for Vos say Gableman officially became an authority over those records.

"These need to be produced unless there is a darn good reason why not and I dont see one at this point," Bailey-Rihn said during a Friday hearing.

Bailey-Rihn said those records need to be produced within 10 days of her Friday ruling.

Vos' attorney Ronald Stadler said the records requests, which were filed this summer by liberal watchdog group American Oversight, needed to be filed with Gableman.

"Its not about us trying not to produce, its that we dont have them," Stadler said of the records.

Vos alleged that Gableman was the sole authority over those records. Gableman was retained by Vos as a contractor on June 26, one month after Vos announced the investigation. The office of special counsel was created Aug. 27.

However, Bailey-Rihn said state authorities like Vos are responsible for records produced by hired contractors and giving the newly formed office of special counsel retroactive protection over records would essentially create a "shell game."

"Thats what the effect of this is," Bailey-Rihn said. "You cant have open records requests that are valid on their face to an authority in July and August and then say, 'OK, were going to make a subunit and then we can deny these records requests because its not us, its the subunit.'"

The American Oversight lawsuit alleged Vos and Blazel failed to release documents related to the investigation submitted in an open records request. The Wisconsin State Journal, as well as other media outlets, also have requested similar documents, which have not been provided.

Speaker Vos has done everything in his power to protect this investigation from scrutiny," American Oversight executive director Austin Evers said in a statement. "After months of delay tactics, finger-pointing, and bureaucratic run-arounds, we are grateful the court has put a stop to these shell games. We are pleased Vos and the Assembly have been ordered to comply with the law and release these records.

A second lawsuit filed by American Oversight last month seeking records related to the investigation into how the 2020 election was conducted. That lawsuit, which is pending, identified Vos as the sole defendant for not releasing the requested documents in a timely manner.

Vos' office had not responded to a request for comment on Bailey-Rihn's ruling, but the speaker in October accused those seeking public records related to Gableman's probe of trying to "torpedo" the effort. Vos said at the time he planned to release those records when the one-party investigation is finished.

Vos said last month his hope is the investigation  which was originally planned to be finished by the end of October  would be completed before the end of the year. Vos did not say if the investigation could cost more than the $676,000 in taxpayer dollars allocated to the effort in June.

A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. Four voters out of roughly 3 million who cast ballots have been charged with fraud.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  A judge said Friday that Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has 10 days to turn over records about a secretive review of the 2020 election that Republicans have been conducting for months.

Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn accused Vos of trying to hide records by changing who was technically responsible for the information. She ordered Vos to provide records that were created between May and late August.

It was the same order Bailey-Rihn issued in October when she told Vos he could either release the records or come back in another month and state his case. After those arguments were rejected Friday, Vos attorney Ronald Stadler said it would be up to Vos and Assembly Republicans to decide whether to appeal the decision, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

The group reviewing the election has a taxpayer-funded budget of $676,000 and is headed by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who claimed without evidence last year that the presidential election was stolen. Joe Bidens roughly 21,000 vote win over Donald Trump has withstood recounts and multiple court rulings. There was no widespread fraud.

The liberal group American Oversight filed a series of requests for records this summer, but Vos and others did not produce all of them. The group has sued twice for their release. Similar records requests filed by The Associated Press and other news outlets have also not been fulfilled.

Vos argued the group had sued the wrong person because the records in question are held by the newly created Office of Special Counsel that Gableman oversees.

Bailey-Rihn said Friday that Vos had given up his opportunity to argue that he could withhold a subset of the documents because of attorney-client privilege or other reasons. Essentially, she said, he waited too long.

These need to be produced unless there is a darn good reason why not and I dont see one at this point, Bailey-Rihn said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Cyprus expanded its COVID-19 vaccination booster shot drive on Thursday to include everyone 50 and over, as well as those who have been diagnosed as obese irrespective of age.

A precondition for receiving a booster shot is for six months to have elapsed since a person was fully vaccinated. Cyprus began administering booster shots last month to people aged 60 and over.

According to the latest available data, nearly 80% of adults, 40% of 16-17 year-olds and 25% of kids between 12-15 have been fully vaccinated.

Around one in 10 people on Cyprus have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the epidemic with some 570 having died as a result of the virus.



Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
A pedestrian was struck and killed in Sadsbury Township on Friday night, according to Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni.

Daniel Wagner, 57, of Christiana, was struck by a car as he was crossing Gap Newport Pike (Route 41) at 7:11 p.m., according to a state police news release Wagner was not named in the police news release, but was identified by Diamantoni.

Wagner, who was walking to the Dutch-Way Farm Market at 365 PA-41, walked out from behind a van into the southbound lane when he was struck.

Wagner died of multiple traumatic injuries, Diamantoni said.

None of the occupants of the striking vehicle were injured.

Pennsylvania State police did not immediately provide information about the crash.
When: Lancaster City Council meeting, Nov. 1.

What happened: Council heard a request to approve a memorandum of understanding ordinance with East Lampeter, Lancaster and Manheim townships and the Little Conestoga Creek Foundation. The agreement is necessary to take the next steps in the Little Conestoga Creek Blue/Green Corridor Project. The city is also being asked to contribute $75,000 to that project.

Why it matters: Physical work on the project is expected to begin in 2022 and would take 5 to 7 years to complete. It aims to excavate about 143,000 cubic yards of sediment from a stretch of the creek that runs from Marietta Avenue to Swarr Run along with restoring the surrounding floodplain and installing a recreational trail.

Cost: Estimates put the cost at around $14 million. So far, more than $1.1 million has been contributed by the Steinman Foundation, $100,000 from Lancaster County and $130,000 from private donors. About $880,000 for the first phase of construction has been secured from the state Department of Environmental Protections Clean Water Program and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation small watershed program with applications for other sources of grant money outstanding. The Steinman Foundation is a local, independent family foundation funded by companies that make up Steinman Communications. Those companies include LNP Media Group.

Whats next: Council will give the ordinance a first reading on Nov. 9 and could vote on Nov. 23.

Stepping stone: Most of the Little Conestoga project does not touch city property. The exception is an outfall area near Park City Center. Stephen Campbell, director of public works, said the memorandum of agreement is an example of how regional partnerships can be built to tackle water problems. We have to  get out of the idea that we are a silo, that we can only control the things that we literally have physical control over, Campbell said. We have to be partnering with the different municipalities and entities in order to make a much larger difference. He said that also applies to the health of the Conestoga River, which was involved in a sewer overflow presentation also given to council.

Report specifics: The report documented 51 overflow events from January through September. In a typical year, overflows  which can last several minutes or several hours  occur on between 55 and 65 days in at least one of five outfalls along the Conestoga River. Remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 resulted in 176 million gallons of combined sewer overflow. Thats more than half of the amount of overflow that resulted during the first eight months of the year. City officials are working on a combined overflow 20-year plan required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to meet requirements of the citys wastewater discharge permit. Council was told that an anticipated 2022 completion date for that may be overly optimistic.

Quotable: We are moving into a new reality with climate change, the severity of the storms (and) the frequency of a lot of volume of rain happening, said Mayor Danene Sorace, commenting on what she said complicates the citys efforts to incrementally reduce the number of sewer overflows. Our system is built for a certain amount of rain and volume. And our ability to build controls that meet average precipitation  when that average precipitation continues to escalate  is particularly daunting.
A well-known political commentator once quipped that if Democrats running for office told the truth (about their real intentions), no one would vote for them.

Tuesdays gubernatorial election in Virginia was a case study for this assertion. In an unguarded moment during the campaign, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe slipped up and told the world what he (and, in my view, most Democratic leaders) think about parents responsibility with respect to their childrens education  that its none of the parents business how the state educates their children.

The media, of course, went into damage control but, for a number of reasons, were not able to cover for McAuliffe like I believe they were able to for President Joe Biden.

There was, of course, heavy voting for McAuliffe in the extremely wealthy Democratic counties along the Potomac, but the truth that McAuliffe let slip was enough to help a Republican win the governors race in a blue state.

Timothy Hess

Earl Township
Saturday, November 6, 2021

Several months of decisions have recently been posted on the web page of the Arizona Presiding Disciplinary Judge.

One interesting matter led to a reprimand and probation for one year for assertions of systemic racial injustice in criminal cases.

The discipline was imposed based on a conditional admission of misconduct.

In several cases, the attorney asserted in pleadings that the court was illegitimate, had been complicit in enforcing racial policies of the prosecutor's office for decades. used "white privilege" jury selection systems, that the "Judicial Branch of Arizona is a law and order cabal," and that the Superior Court lacked legitimacy.

Each pleading commenced with a quote from George Orwell's 1984 and cited a recently-released ACLU report on the Maricopa County justice system.

The attorney explained that his racial injustice concerns were heightened by the death of George Floyd and the release of the ACLU report. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2021/11/reprimand-for-attacks-on-court-legitiimacy.html
A bright red, green and yellow arch rises over the entrance to the Eden Center marketplace. Lion statues sit to the right and left, as if on guard. Smells of sweet and spicy food flow out of the restaurants, filling the air.

Almost everyone at the market is speaking in Vietnamese. Vietnamese street signs also hang around the market. And a South Vietnamese flag, yellow with three red stripes, flies overhead.

But this marketplace is not found in Vietnam. Eden Centers home is Falls Church, Virginia, a small city just outside Washington, D.C.

About 80,000 Vietnamese immigrants and Vietnamese-Americans live in the national capital area. It is the fifth largest population of ethnic Vietnamese in America. And, the Eden Center is widely considered to be the heart of that community.



Eden Center has more than 120 businesses, most of them owned and operated by ethnic Vietnamese. Many are family businesses. There are restaurants, coffee and tea shops, and food stores. Vietnamese-run travel agencies, haircutters, accounting agencies and other businesses also can be found there.

You can come over here and eat every kind of Vietnamese food from all over the country, said Vinh Tran. He, his wife and other family members have worked at Phuoc Loc, a bakery and deli, since 1994. In 2013, Tran became its owner.

Cho Eden is a food store, or grocery, in the market. Its owner, Kevin Tran, arrived in Virginia in 1980. He was part of a large migration of Vietnamese refugees to America. They fled the country after years of civil war ended with the capture of the capital city, then called Saigon. Northern Vietnamese forces had defeated an opposing force from the South that was backed by the American military. The Vietnamese Embassy says up to 2 million civilians from the North and South died during the war.

Most of the refugees were from South Vietnam. Many of them left behind all their possessions. They fled across dangerous seas on small, overcrowded boats. Over time, the refugees became known as the boat people.

Kevin and his family stayed with a relative in Falls Church when they first got to the U.S. It was just across the street from where the Eden Center would open a few years later.



Vietnamese in Northern Virginia

Kevins relative was able to immigrate to the U.S. because he was a member of the South Vietnamese Navy. Military connections were common for the first Vietnamese who settled in Washington, said Kim OConnell. She is a Vietnamese-American writer who has researched the history of Vietnamese in Northern Virginia and the Washington area.

Families of higher ranking Vietnamese officials and better connected Vietnamese were the first people outAnd so thats why Washington, D.C. ended up being such a hub for so many, because of military connections.

In just five years from 1975 to 1980, more than 235,000 Vietnamese immigrated to the U.S., OConnell said. Later arriving refugees were generally poorer and less educated than the early boat people.

In the Washington area, the immigrants soon sought to open their own stores, restaurants and other businesses. At that time, there were many empty retail spaces in Arlington, Virginia. The rent, or payments, for use of such space, were low. Many Vietnamese businesses opened in the area named Clarendon. People starting calling the neighborhood Little Saigon.



By the early 1980s, however, Little Saigon became a building site for the Washington area subway, or underground train. The new system expanded transportation service and made Clarendon a more desirable place to live. Rents greatly increased as a result, forcing Vietnamese businesses to close.

Several Vietnamese investors decided to team up to buy a failing marketplace just a few miles west of Little Saigon. It grew into the Eden Center of today.

The name comes from the Eden Arcade, a popular marketplace in 1960s Saigon.

Cho Eden owner Kevin Tran says the Falls Church center brings back remembrances of life in Vietnam for many visitors, especially because of the food it sells.

The food. Especially, the food. Youre not going to find any more in the northeast, where you can have a bunch of restaurants and these specific food items that youre not going to find along this northeast here.

Eden Center plays a big part in keeping the culture together, Tran added. It holds traditional Vietnamese festivals and other cultural events throughout the year.

Researcher OConnell, who was born and raised in the U.S., agrees. She says visiting Eden Center makes her feel more connected with her mother and Vietnamese ancestry.

I just treasure the fact that I can kind of see her experience, her heritage with my own eyes and experience that with herSo its always been really special to me.

Keeping Eden Center Vietnamese

Although a large majority of businesses in Eden Center are Vietnamese, Korean, Thai and Chinese businesses have moved in more recently.

Eden Center businessman Quang Le thinks that trend is going to continue.

The owner of Huong Binh Bakery & Deli, Le says young Vietnamese in the area are generally better educated than their parents were. They do not seek the hard jobs their parents had to take in America, he told a local public radio station.

Kevin Tran, the grocery store owner, has two children attending graduate school.

The kids here, when they go to school, or they get degrees theres a lot more opportunity for them, you know, than doing this.

Le said Vietnamese are like other immigrant communities in the U.S.

They came to the U.S., worked very hard, created these centers and then as their children become more successful, they move away from these centers and eventually it fades away.

Eden Center shows no sign of fading yet, however. Every store in the shopping center is open except one. And business is close to the level it was before COVID-19, said Alan Frank. He is General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Eden Center owner, Capital Commercial Properties. Frank said the marketplace will remain Vietnamese for years to come.

Kim OConnell is similarly unconcerned about the changing face of Eden Center. Change is how Little Saigon became Eden Center, she noted.

I think it will be an important place for a long time to comeIm really not that worried about changes that are happening. You know, it's kind of life, its the way it goes.

Im Dan Novak.

And I'm Caty Weaver.

Dan Novak reported this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_______________________________________

Words in This Story

arch  n. a usually curved part of a structure that is over an opening and that supports a wall or other weight above the opening

bakery  n. a place where bread, cakes, cookies, and other baked foods are made or sold

deli  n. a store where you can buy foods (such as meats, cheese, salads, and sandwiches) that are already cooked or prepared

hub  n. the central and most active part or place

retail  n. the business of selling things directly to customers for their own use

festival  n. a special time or event when people gather to celebrate something

heritage  n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation 

trend  n. a general direction of change : a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common

opportunity  n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

fade  v. to lose strength or freshness


Our story today is called "Athenaise." It was written by Kate Chopin. Here is Barbara Klein with the story.

Athenaise went away one morning to visit her parents, ten miles back on the Bon Dieu River in Louisiana. She did not return in the evening, and Cazeau, her husband, was worried.

Cazeau expressed his worries to his servant, Felicite, who served him dinner.

He ate alone by the light of a coal-oil lamp. Felicite stood nearby like a restless shadow.

Only married two months and she has her head turned already to leave! It is not right! she said.

Cazeau shrugged his shoulders. Felicites opinion of his wifes behavior after two months of marriage did not matter to him. He was used to being alone and did not mind a night or two of it. Cazeau stood up and walked outside.

The night was beginning to deepen and gather black around the groups of trees in the yard. Far away, he could hear the sound of someone playing an accordion. Nearby, a baby was crying.

Cazeaus horse was waiting, saddled. He still had much farm work to do before bed time. He did not have time to think about Athenaise. But he felt her absence like a deep pain.

Before he slept that night Cazeau was visited by an image of Athenaises pale, young face with its soft lips and sensual eyes. The marriage had been a mistake. He had only to look into her eyes to feel that, to sense her growing dislike of him. But, the marriage could not be undone. And he was ready to make the best of it and expected the same effort from her.

These sad thoughts kept Cazeau awake far into the night. The moon was shining and its pale light reached into the room. It was still outside, with no sound except the distant notes of the accordion.

Athenaise did not return the next day, although her husband sent a message to do so through her brother, Monteclin. On the third day, Cazeau prepared his horse and went himself in search of her.

Athenaises parents, the Miches, lived in a large home owned by a trader who lived in town. The house was far too big for their use. Upstairs, the rooms were so large and empty that they were used for parties. A dance at the Miche home and a plate of Madame Miches gumbo were pleasures not to be missed.

Madame Miche was sitting on the porch outside the house. She stood up to greet Cazeau. She was short and fat with a cheery face. But she was clearly tense as Cazeau arrived.

Monteclin was there too. But he was not uneasy. He made no effort to hide his dislike of Cazeau.

Dirty pig! He said under his breath as Cazeau climbed the stairs to the porch. Monteclin disliked Cazeau for refusing to lend him money long ago. Now that this man was his sisters husband, he disliked him even more.

Miche and his oldest son were away. They both respected Cazeau and talked highly of him.

Cazeau shook hands with Madame Miche who offered him a chair. Athenaise had shut herself in her room.

You know, nothing would do last night, Madame Miche said. Athenaise just had to stay for a little dance. The boys would not let their sister leave!

Cazeau shrugged his shoulders to show he knew nothing about last night.

Didnt Monteclin tell you we were going to keep Athenaise? she asked. But Monteclin had told him nothing.

And how about the night before? asked Cazeau. And last night? Do you have dances every night?

Madame Miche laughed and told her son to go tell Athenaise her husband had arrived. Monteclin did not move.

You know as well as I do that it is no use to tell Athenaise anything, said Monteclin. You and pa have been talking to her since Monday. When Athenaise said she was not returning to Cazeau she meant it.

Two fiery red spots rose to Cazeaus cheeks. What Monteclin said was true.

Upon arriving home, Athenaise had announced she was there to stay. It was difficult for her to understand why she had married. Girls were just expected to get married. And she did like Cazeau.

Monteclin had asked Athenaise to explain herself. He had asked her if Cazeau abused her, or if he drank too much.

No! Athenaise had said. It is just being married that I hate. I do not like being Missus Cazeau. I want to be Athenaise Miche again. I do not like living with a man, all his clothing everywhere and his ugly bare feet.

At the time, Monteclin had been sorry his sister had no serious evidence to use against Cazeau.

And now, there was Cazeau himself looking like he wanted to hit Monteclin.

Cazeau stood up and went inside the house to his wifes room.

Athenaise, get ready, he said quietly. It is late and we do not have time to lose.

Athenaise was not prepared for his calm request. She felt a sense of hopelessness about continuing to rebel against the idea of marriage. She gathered her hat and gloves. Then, she walked downstairs past her brother and mother, got on her horse and rode away. Cazeau followed behind her.

It was late when they reached home. Cazeau once more ate dinner alone. Athenaise sat in her room crying.

Athenaises parents had hoped that marriage would bring a sense of responsibility so deeply lacking in her character. No one could understand why she so hated her role as wife. Cazeau had never spoken angrily to her or called her names or failed to give her everything she wanted. His main offense seemed to be that he loved her.

And Athenaise was not a woman to be loved against her will.

At breakfast, Athenaise complained to her husband.

Why did you have to marry me when there were so many other girls to choose from? she asked. And, it is strange that if you hate my brother so much, why you would marry his sister!?"

I do not know what any of them have to do with it, Cazeau said. I married you because I loved you. I guess I was a fool to think I could make you happy. I do not know what else to do but make the best of a bad deal and shake hands over it.

It now seemed to Athenaise that her brother was the only friend left to her in the world. Her parents had turned from her and her friends laughed at her. But Monteclin had an idea for securing his sisters freedom. After some thought, Athenaise agreed to his plan.

The next morning, Cazeau woke up to find his wife was gone. She had packed her belongings and left in the night.

Cazeau felt a terrible sense of loss. It was not new; he had felt it for weeks.

He realized he had missed his chance for happiness. He could not think of loving any other woman, and could not imagine Athenaise ever caring for him. He wrote her a letter stating that he did not want her back unless she returned of her own free will.

Athenaise had escaped to the big city of New Orleans. She was staying at a private hotel that Monteclin had chosen and paid to rent for a month. A woman named Sylvie owned the hotel and took good care of Athenaise.

Athenaise soon became friends with Mister Gouvernail, who was also staying at the hotel. This friendship helped her feel less lonely about missing her family. But Mister Gouvernail soon started to fall in love with Athenaise. He knew she was uninformed, unsatisfied and strong-willed. But he also suspected that she loved her husband, although she did not know it. Bitter as this belief was, he accepted it.

Athenaises last week in the city was coming to an end. She had not found a job and was too homesick to stay any longer. Also, she had not been feeling well. She complained in detail about her sickness to Sylvie. Sylvie was very wise, and Athenaise was very stupid. Sylvie very calmly explained to Athenaise that she was feeling sick because she was pregnant.

Athenaise sat very still for a long time thinking about this new information. Her whole being was overcome with a wave of happiness. Then, she stood up, ready to take action.

She had to tell her mother! And Cazeau! As she thought of him, a whole new sense of life swept over her. She could not wait to return to him.

The next day Athenaise spent travelling home. When she arrived at Cazeaus, he lifted her out of the horse carriage and they held each other tight. The country night was warm and still except for a baby crying in the distance.

Listen, Cazeau! said Athenaise. How Juliettes baby is crying! Poor darling, I wonder what is the matter with it?

You have heard the story Athenaise by Kate Chopin. Your storyteller was Barbara Klein. This story was adapted and produced by Dana Demange.

_______________________________________________________________

Quiz

Try this Listening Quiz to check your understanding.

Quiz - "Athenaise" Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

For Teachers

This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the strategy of personalizing to help students understand the story.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

shrug - v. to raise and lower your shoulders usually to show that you do not know or care about something

sensual - adj. relating to, devoted to, or producing physical or sexual pleasure

gumbo - n. a thick soup made in the southern U.S. with meat or seafood and usually okra

role - n. the character played by an actor

secure - v. to get (something) by using effort

homesick - adj. sad because you are away from your family and home

overcome - v. to affect (someone) very strongly or severely - usually used as (be) overcome


Local LGBTQ+ groups in Corvallis are still reeling from an assault police have labeled a bias crime at the 7-Eleven at 746 NW Kings Blvd. on Oct. 24 during which homophobic and transphobic slurs were allegedly directed at the victim.

Dharmakrishna Mirza, a transgender woman of color who lives in Corvallis, said although arrests have been made in connection with the incident, it is still a really difficult time in the transgender community.

Through these kinds of incidents we see a lot of performative solidarity from OSU and various organizations, Mirza said. But what we dont see is tangible commitments to our communities to keep us safe.

She added that Corvallis is seen as an accepting and inclusive area for the LGBTQ+ community, but in her daily reality, she hears about violence and other instances of transphobia quite often.

I think that people really like to come out and support us when there's a crisis, but they dont want to support us through our daily struggle, Mirza said. People need to support us while were alive before we experience that type of violence.

Corvallis Mayor Biff Traber said the city is continuing to work on the area bias response initiative, which aims to find effective ways to report, track and deal with bias incidents in Corvallis.

Bias crimes and bias incidents are not tolerated in Corvallis, Traber said in an interview with Mid-Valley Media.

As part of the final budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, councilors unanimously agreed to make a one-time expenditure of $150,000 to create a anti-hate and bias program for the city. The budget was approved on June 21, 2020.

The city of Corvallis put out a statement Friday afternoon condemning bias crime, and offering support to affected communities.

Expressions of hate and violence have no place in our community, and we are committed to standing up for marginalized communities targeted by this vitriol, Traber said in the statement. In particular, I want to reassure those in our LGBTQ+ community: We see you, we support you, and our community is stronger because you choose to be here.

Corvallis City Manager Mark Shepard echoed the mayors sentiment.

City services reflect the communitys closely held values, including a commitment to equity and diversity for everyone, Shepard said. I appreciate the thorough investigation and prompt action by Chief Nick Hurley and the Corvallis Police Department.

Mirza said that the focus on accountability and retribution still does not speak to the lack of transgender services in Corvallis. She said transgender women, particularly transgender women of color, do not feel safe in the area.

She encouraged people to donate to the victim's GoFundMe until her needs have been met, and then continue to financially support the transgender community.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20, a day that memorializes those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.

Transgender women are facing the highest rates of violence theyve ever faced in the community, Mirza said. I want people to remember why that is. Transphobia hasnt gotten away, especially in neoliberal cities in the U.S., like Corvallis.

Joanna Mann covers education for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6076 or Joanna.Mann@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @joanna_mann_.

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Sameea Kamal is a reporter/production assistant at CalMatters. She joined CalMatters in June 2021 from the Los Angeles Times, where she was a News Desk editor. Sameea was one of three 2020 IRE Journalist of Color fellows, and previously worked for the Center for Public Integrity. She earned her bachelors degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her masters degree in journalism from Columbia Journalism School. Sameea was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California and is one of the Maynard Institute's M200 fellows.
One person sustained burn injuries in a residential fire reported near the intersection of Neptune and Starlite drives on Monday, according to Cal Fire officials.
Dinesha Samararatne (University of Melbourne - Law School; University of Colombo - Faculty of Law) has posted Sri Lankas Guarantor Branch: Constitutional Resilience by Stealth? (Tarunabh Khaitan, Swati Jhaveri and Dinesha Samararatne Constitutional Resilience Beyond Courts: Views from South Asia (Forthcoming with Hart)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Early signs are that Sri Lankas Guarantor branch is an innovation that is developing resilience by stealth. It has been vulnerable and the subject of constitutional ping-pong due to dominant political parties, the ambivalence of the judiciary as well that of the Attorney-General. From the late 1980s, the proposal for a Constitutional Council and a Guarantor branch has gained ground, primarily due to demands by civil society and the support of minority political parties. This branch affirms an older tradition of independence of public institutions but is hybrid in its contemporary form due to its inclusion of the judiciary. I provide a constitutional perspective of these developments through a study of the 2000 Draft Constitution and the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Amendments. Even though the Guarantor Branch has not been supported by strong governments or by the judiciary, it has been central to the state formation project as a means of advancing constitutionalism in Sri Lanka.
According to the complaint:

The victim went to a guest bedroom "in order not to be social" after a group of people unknown to a majority of the partygoers showed up at the homecoming dance after-party hosted by her friend.

While sitting on a bed with her friend, Nyang appeared in the doorway and asked them where the bathroom was. The victim's friend left the bedroom, and Nyang locked the door and attacked the victim, covering her mouth with his hand as she tried to call for help.

The girl told investigators she "repeatedly swore at him and told him no" and yelled at Nyang to "get the (expletive) off me." She eventually was able to get away, though Nyang pinned her to the door before letting her leave.

While outside with other partygoers, the victim's friend was told someone was having sex with a girl in the guest room, and the friend and others went to the bedroom and started knocking. After answering the door, Nyang then pushed it shut as the partygoers tried to open it. The girl told investigators that people began knocking on the bedroom door during the assault.

The girl left the bedroom looking "extremely upset," and Nyang immediately left the residence in a vehicle.
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NAMPA  Raymond Cook kept his backpacks packed and stowed on his bunk at Nampas Salvation Army family homeless shelter, not sure when his familys time there might run out.

The 150-square-foot room that he shared with four sisters and his dad had been home, if thats what youd call it, off and on for nine months. The six of them shared two bunk beds, a wardrobe, and an old TV theyd picked up from a friend.

Rodney Cook, Raymonds dad, had been trying for years to find a Nampa apartment they could afford on his wage of $14.25 an hour as a full-time bus driver. Raymond picked up a job on his 16th birthday to try to help.

On sleepless nights, Raymond would lie on his top bunk and stare at the shelter ceiling, wondering how long hed have that view. The shelter, meant to be a three-month stay, had extended the Cooks room on a monthly basis; but each day was one day closer to an eventual move-out deadline.

Was he doing enough to help his family find housing? Raymond worried.

What if his family was still homeless when he turned 18  would he have to split from his sisters if he was no longer a minor in the family shelter?

My dad says were going to be in a place soon, but what if were not? Raymond said in August. Thats what he said when we first moved here  and its been two years.

At last count, more than 7,300 of Idahos K-12 students were experiencing homelessness amid the COVID-19 pandemic and an affordable housing crisis that has spread across the state.

This impacts education. Kids with unstable housing can struggle to get to school, or to focus in class with competing outside stressors. Far fewer homeless students meet state expectations on standardized tests compared to their peers, and data shows that gap widened during the pandemic.

The federal government gave out new funds to school districts this year, to try to help homeless youth recover academically from the pandemic. But the funds dont pay for families most desperate need: stable housing.

Homeless education coordinators, called McKinney-Vento liaisons, are seeing working families priced out of their homes across the state. And once a family becomes homeless, its getting increasingly difficult to find a new place. Competition is stiff for affordable rentals with dozens of applicants, and years-long waiting lists.

It is crisis level. Theres just no question about it, said Natalie Sandoval, a homeless education coordinator in Nampa. And I dont see an end in the near future.

Families are reporting heightened need

Its hard to say whether Idaho is seeing more homeless youth, but between pandemic illnesses, learning disruptions and the housing market boom, educators worry their situations are getting more intense.

The statewide count of homeless K-12 students dropped during the 2020-21 school year, though state officials assume thats an undercount. School closures and virtual learning made it harder for educators to connect with families experiencing homelessness, even as the pandemic wrought new economic and housing emergencies.

At least 450 of the states homeless students went missing from Idahos enrollment sheets in the fall 2020, after the pandemic hit, said Suzanne Peck, homeless education coordinator for the State Department of Education. Shes seeing more families moving into cars and RVs and hotel rooms, and has heard more reports of domestic violence and trauma.

Its just been worrisome, Peck said in June. The calls that Ive gotten this year have been heightened in their need.

The Cooks moved to Nampa during the summer of 2019, chasing the promise of work. A friends house became the latest stop for the family who left native Tennessee for California after the death of a relative, then struck out for Idaho when California had no jobs.

Rodney signed his kids up for school, found a job, and after a few months started searching for houses across the valley. He and Raymond would comb through housing websites, searching for at least two bedrooms under $900. The prospects were bleak. On some of his calls, Rodney learned he was the 30th person on an apartment waiting list.

In the meantime, Rodneys kids learned the ropes of yet another school system.

Raymond did the same science projects in Nampa that hed done in California and in Tennessee, acing his repetitive 9th grade curriculum. He switched to an advanced class sophomore year, and nearly failed.

Im not good at science, I had just been doing the same things over and over, Raymond said. (Moving districts) goes back and forth between a really good thing, because Ive already learned it all, or its a really bad thing, because I dont know whats happening.

The longer the Cooks housing search dragged on, the harder it became. Home prices in Idaho continued to climb through 2019 and then surged in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The booming housing market drove more potential homeowners into rentals, and rental prices got steeper.

Rodney considered moving to a more affordable state, but didnt want to uproot his kids again. He thought about taking a second job, but that meant his five kids would get less time with their single parent.

Im just trying to raise my children in a home, and take them to the schools I want to take them to, Rodney said. And its just out of my reach.

The hot housing market isnt just a Treasure Valley problem. Homeless education coordinators from Notus to Idaho Falls report the same lack of affordable options, exacerbated by surging home sales.

You expect this in Denver, but not in rural Idaho, said Angie Harker, a McKinney-Vento liaison in American Falls.

When times are good, homeless families can struggle to get an apartment because of poor or missing credit and lack of rental history, Harker said. Now theyre competing with renters who dont have those issues  and they dont stand a chance, she said.

Most of her unhoused families are working, but cant find a lease or rental in their income brackets. Families can get housing vouchers from the government to help, but landlords are increasingly picky about accepting that aid.

The majority of Idahos homeless students are doubled up, or sharing a space with another family. But in the course of the last year, the state has seen more families moving into less stable situations, like hotels, cars, RVs and shelters.

None of it is ideal, obviously, said Jessica Baksis, a homeless liaison in Bonneville. Families are just doing what they can to get by.

McKinney-Vento liaisons can help connect families to housing assistance, and can help with emergency costs like gas for a family living in a car, or a temporary hotel stay. But they dont control the rental market.

A school districts primary responsibility is making sure kids can still access their education, even if their housing situation is in flux. They give out school supplies, clothes and food, and arrange transportation to make sure a student is getting to school.

If a student is bouncing from place to place, a school can be their stability, Peck said.

We will get kids back to their school of origin, their original school, so that the kids can be with their friends, they can be with the teachers who know them and understand what their circumstance is, she said.

Academic outcomes lower for unhoused youth

Moving is one of many hurdles that can strain a homeless students academic success. Exhaustion, emotional trauma, transportation issues  the challenges stack up. In Idaho, only 60% of homeless youth graduate on time, and less than a third of homeless youth were considered proficient on this years standardized math and English tests.

Consider Raymonds challenges during his sophomore year of high school, when a global pandemic was in full swing:

Raymond started the year learning online, a hurdle for students across the state. His family left their friends house for a homeless shelter, where he struggled with internet connection and shared a single room with four younger siblings.

When school resumed in person, so did his hectic schedule.

He took two buses to get to school, one from near the shelter to a different high school, then a transfer bus to Nampa High School. When he got home around 3 p.m., Raymond would help his sisters with their homework before heading to work from 5 p.m. to midnight.

He rushed through his own schoolwork on the bus or in class, managing to keep up, but struggling to retain the lessons he was supposed to learn. He rarely had the time, or transportation, to seek out tutoring after school.

Raymond started falling asleep, and breaking into tears, at school.

I was so stressed out, and I was worried about my sisters, I was worried about my dad  I was just worried, he said. Typically an A and B student, Raymond finished the year with his lowest grades ever, including two Ds and a C.

Raymond told some of his teachers about his living situation, usually to explain why he couldnt afford supplies for class.

His told his peers during an argument last spring.

As Raymond remembers it, his classmates were debating whether students should have to wear masks in school. If students got sick, Raymond thought, schools would close, and hed have to go back to online classes from the shelter, where his internet connection was so spotty he added more money to his phones data plan, just to access class.

I got irritated and I snapped, Raymond said.

My dad works full time, and were homeless. We live in the shelter, he told his class. I cannot afford to do online classes anymore unless I take away from other things to help us improve as a family. And thats not fair to my family. Its not fair to me.

What theyre saying about me and my family is wrong

Raymond tries to shelter his sisters from the stereotypes he hears from his peers, that homeless people are deadbeats and drunks. And he tries to prove them wrong. He doesnt drink or smoke. He takes care of his siblings and has a job to help pay the bills.

I want to show people that I can do these things to help, and that what theyre saying about me and my family is wrong, and not fair, he said.

In his last two years in Nampa, Raymond has built foundations hes proud of. He ranked highly at a state acting competition last year and is involved in Nampa High Schools theater department. He loves his job at a local restaurant and hopes that someday he can open his own cafe. Hes considering studying psychology in college.

Raymond saved up enough money last year to buy himself a Camry. The car became another refuge at the shelter, a place for his family to sing and cut loose during karaoke parties in the parking lot.

It was in the car, as Raymond prepared to drive to work one day in August, that Rodney broke some news. After two years on the waiting list, their family had been approved for an apartment.

Weeks later, Raymond moved his backpacks from the shelter to his new home. He only shares a bedroom with one sister, now. They put fairy lights on the walls to make it more cozy.

Im still struggling with accepting the fact that we dont have to leave, he said. Every single day, its like  oh yeah, I get to go home now.

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BOISE  Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has reduced her supplemental budget request for funding to pay for outside legal bills that arose from a lawsuit filed by the Idaho Press Club over access to public records.

State records obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun also indicate the state cut a check last week for almost $29,000 to pay the Idaho Press Clubs costs and attorney fees, which a judge ordered McGeachin to cover.

McGeachin originally filed documents with the state seeking $50,000 to cover legal expenses she incurred over the suit, Boise State Public Radio reported Oct 1.

Since then, McGeachin reduced the request to $28,973.84, according to documents obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun. In an Oct. 18 email to an Idaho Division of Financial Management deputy administrator, McGeachins chief of staff Jordan Watters explained the $28,973.84 was for covering the press clubs expenses.

Now that the legal dispute has been resolved, the Office of the Lt. Governor is lowering its supplemental request for fiscal year 2023, Watters wrote in the email. The Office of the Lt. Governor was advised by the Attorney Generals Office regarding public records requests. Her Office responded and acted upon this advice. The Idaho Press Club sued the Office of the Lt. Governor and the judge ruled in favor of the Idaho Press Club. Judge (Steven Hippler) has ordered the Office of the Lt. Governor to pay the legal fees of the Idaho Press Club in the recent lawsuit. Now that this issue has been resolved, we are lowering our supplemental request to $28,973.84, which represents the legal fees of the Idaho Press Club.

Other records obtained by the Sun show the state sent a check for Stoel Rives LLP for $28,973.84 on Oct. 29 to pay for the Idaho Press Club settlement, according to a copy of the check and the stub attached to it.

It is still not clear if McGeachin owes legal bills for the private attorney who represented her in the lawsuit.

The Idaho Attorney Generals Office gave its final legal counsel to McGeachin on June 7, the Attorney Generals Office announced in a Oct. 14 statement. After that, McGeachin sought outside, private legal representation and the Idaho Press Club filed its suit in July.

In response to a previous public records request, McGeachins office provided a heavily redacted copy of a legal agreement with Boyles Law. However, everything on the five-page agreement, including the page numbers, was blacked out aside from attorney Colton Boyles hourly rate of $250 and the $120 hourly rate for his paralegal.

The Idaho Capital Sun sent Watters an email Wednesday afternoon and left a message Thursday at his office asking whether McGeachin now has invoices or records of bills for her outside legal services. Watters could not be reached for comment.

In response to another public records request, Watters told the Idaho Capital Sun in an Oct. 7 email After a diligent search, we are unable to find any invoices.

The Idaho Press Club filed the lawsuit after McGeachin declined to release more than 3,000 public comments and records related to her education task force, which met at the Idaho Statehouse this summer. McGeachin eventually released the records after a district judge ordered her to do so when she lost the lawsuit. The overwhelming majority of public comments opposed McGeachins task force or voiced support for Idaho public schools.

The Legislatures Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will consider McGeachins supplemental funding request after the Legislature convenes in January, Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, said in October. If JFAC doesnt approve the supplemental request, McGeachin could have to come up with the money elsewhere. In her original supplemental request, McGeachin said that could come at the expense of reducing staff hours.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  Tens of thousands of climate activists marched Saturday through the Scottish city hosting the U.N. climate summit, physically close to the global negotiators inside but separated by a vast gulf in expectations, with frustrated marchers increasingly dismissive of the talks and demanding immediate action instead to slow global warming.

The mood at the protest in Glasgow was upbeat despite the anger and bursts of rain. Similar protests were also held in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Copenhagen, Zurich and Istanbul.

Many of the marchers condemned government leaders for failing to produce the fast action they say is needed, with some echoing activist Greta Thunberg's view Friday that the talks were just more blah, blah, blah.

We're having these conversations, but there's no policies to actually back them, said Daze Aghaji, a marcher from London at the Glasgow demonstration, shouting over the steady beat of the drums.

And on top of that, the real people should be in the room," Aghaji said, referring to complaints that the Glasgow summit has too sharply limited participation by the public. How are we expecting to make decent policy when the people who are the stakeholders of this aren't even present in the room?

Marchers held signs with messages including Code Red for Humanity, Stop big polluters, COP26, we are watching you or simply Im angry. One sign asked If not you, then who? If not now, then when?

Megan McClellan, 24, of Glasgow said she doubted that climate negotiators were listening.

This is a very easy thing for them to ignore. Theyre nice and comfortable" inside the summit conference center, she said, which is ringed by steel fences.

But her friend Lucette Wood, 30, of Edinburgh disagreed.

They might not actually do anything about it but they pretend that they do ... and they will just put it off for 20-30 years," Wood said.

Thunberg's dismissive talk of the two-week climate summit  which has another week to go  has touched a nerve inside and outside the summit site. Government leaders and negotiators insist they are as equally aware as the marchers of the urgency of their task, with time slipping away to rein in pollution from fossil fuels before the Earth faces much higher levels of warming.

Jamila Khatoon from Pakistan carried a sign in Glasgow about three glaciers in her region that may disappear because of climate change.

The glaciers are melting, Khatoon said. Villages are drowning. Nobody is doing anything.

Elaine Knox, 69 and William Oliphant, 60, both from Glasgow, said they were attending the rally for the next generations.

Im dying before the worst happens, Knox said. Its the youngsters were leaving a horrible, horrible world.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country is hosting the talks, has defended the progress made by governments in raising promises of emissions cuts and climate financing, while acknowledging the public's demands that more needs to be done.

At the huge U.N. conference venue, negotiators spent a seventh straight day haggling over draft agreements that can be passed to government ministers for political approval next week. Among the issues under discussion were a fresh commitment to capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), pushing countries to review their efforts more frequently to increase the pressure for deeper cuts, and providing more financial support for poor nations to adapt to climate change.

The summit's president, Alok Sharma, told reporters he understood the protesters' frustration.

I think we have overall made progress," Sharma said Saturday. "I think people have been constructive in the negotiating rooms.

We are getting to the point where the rubber hits the road, where were going to have to make, you know, tough decisions" by government officials, he said. "I dont, certainly do not, underestimate the difficulty of the task which is ahead of us.

Saturdays marches drew a range of participants and ages, a day after tens of thousands of young people in the Fridays for Future movement protested outside the Glasgow conferences fences. Thunbergs mix of school strikes, blunt and impatient talk about government excuses, and mass demonstrations have galvanized climate protests since 2018, especially in Europe.

The climate protest movement  and the worsening droughts, storms, floods, wildfires and other disasters around the world this year  have brought home to many the accelerating damage of global warming and have kept the pressure on governments for stronger and faster action to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Elizabeth May, a Canadian member of parliament and 16-time participant in the U.N. climate talks, said the protests are making a difference.

Most of the people on the inside are here in their hearts and sometimes physically, May said, who joined the Glasgow demonstrators Saturday.

In central London, thousands of climate protesters marched from the Bank of England to Trafalgar Square. Protester Sue Hampton, 64, said everyone is at risk and all generations need to press for action.

We cant let the young people do all the work here. Weve all got to do it together, she said.

In Istanbul, climate protesters brought their children to the demonstration Saturday, emphasizing the impact of global warming on future generations.

I want my children to live on a beautiful planet, said Kadriye Basut, 52, in Istanbul.



Danica Kirka in London and Andrew Wilks in Istanbul contributed to this report.



Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/Climate.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Here we are once again, America, this time at a mall in Boise, Idaho, where a gunman went on a public shooting spree, killing two innocent people, Jo Acker and Roberto Padilla Arguelles, before dying in a shootout with police.

And once again, we are finding out that the warning bells were going off like a five-alarm fire in the months leading up to the shooting.

Idaho State Police flagged Jacob Bergquist when he was spotted open carrying in the Idaho State Capitol, seeking an audience with Gov. Brad Little to talk about making sure that guys like him  a convicted felon from another state  could still possess firearms in a state like Idaho.

Meridian police, too, had a run-in with him in Walmart where he worked and was open carrying, which is against the policy of that private business, according to KTVB.

Bergquist became verbally abusive to the manager, according to police, and stormed off.

Boise Police officers came into contact with him, again open carrying, practically daring officers to bust him for jaywalking, apparently trying to elicit contact in order to have a confrontation with police, according to one officer.

Boise police located his YouTube channel, Guns N Rodents, which was devoted to gun culture and showed very racist attitudes toward Central Americans, according to police.

Bergquist was unhinged, and it seems like every police agency in the Treasure Valley knew it  but could do nothing.

The best we can do, apparently, is just to watch and wait until someone like Bergquist kills someone.

How frustrating it must be for a law enforcement officer in Idaho when your experience, training, knowledge and instincts tell you somethings not right  but theres nothing you can do until you get the call, Shots fired at the mall, people down.

Then, you can do something  but not a minute before.

Bergquist was convicted in 2012 in Cook County, Illinois, of theft of more than $300, a Class 3 felony, punishable by 2-5 years in prison.

Because the conviction carries a sentence exceeding one year, such a conviction bars him from possessing firearms under the federal Gun Control Act of 1968.

However, under Idaho law, theft is not a corresponding crime that is included on a list that can get you banned from possessing a firearm.

Idaho Code 18-310 provides a long list of felonies for which a convicted felon may not get their gun ownership rights restored. Among those are murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, rape and a whole host of lewd conduct and sexual abuse charges, even indecent exposure  so theres some recognition by the Idaho Legislature that there are some people out there who shouldnt have a gun.

Notably, people convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance are also on the list. Bergquist at one point was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance in Wisconsin, but he pleaded down to a misdemeanor.

It was later when Bergquist was charged and convicted of theft in Illinois. As it turns out, that charge has no corollary on Idahos list of felonies that get you banned from owning a firearm.

The fact that Idaho let someone who is prohibited by law to carry a firearm in the state is an example of Idahos extremely permissive attitude around guns, and it shows up in their gun death rate, Allison Anderman, senior counsel and director of local policy for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a phone interview.

The Giffords Law Center gives Idaho an F for its combination of lax gun laws and higher rate of gun deaths, and ranks Idaho 48th out of 50 states for gun-law strength, based on analysis of 55 policies, Anderman said.

Idaho has some of the weakest gun laws in the country, and took action to expand its dangerous permitless carry law in 2020, according to the Giffords Law Center. To save lives from gun violence, lawmakers should require background checks on all firearm purchases and enact an extreme risk protection order law to allow for the temporary removal of firearms from individuals in crisis.

You would think that Idaho legislators might want to look at the sections of Idaho code that allowed Bergquist to possess firearms in Idaho.

Thats probably not going to happen in a Statehouse that is constantly looking to weaken gun laws rather than look for ways to protect the citizenry with stronger, fair, common-sense measures.

I dont believe that theres anything related to a theft charge in another state that would ever really ring our bell as something that should permanently deprive someone of their constitutional rights, state Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, who is chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told the Idaho Press.

Oh, well. Shrug your shoulders. Nothing we can do. Just wait for the next shooting, I guess.

State Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, is no stranger to the gun debate in Idaho.

A couple of years ago, she tried to get state law to simply match up with existing federal law when it comes to domestic violence offenders having guns.

In 2018, Wintrow introduced a bill that would have prevented convicted domestic abusers from owning guns. It got shot down, 39-31, in the House.

Federal law bans anyone convicted of a misdemeanor or felony domestic violence charge from possessing a firearm, but even though the law applies to all 50 states, the federal statute is contingent on matching state laws in order for local officials and judges to enforce the ban, according to The Associated Press.

Following the Boise Towne Square mall shooting, Wintrow doesnt sound optimistic that anything will happen.

I think whats reasonable is to have the discussion and try to drop political lines and really put our heads together when we see a tragedy like that, Wintrow said in a phone interview. I think its a really reasonable thing to have that discussion. I dont know that were in a position in the Legislature that were there.

In fact, Idaho has headed in the exact opposite direction, having passed laws in 2014 and another one this year that prohibit aiding in enforcing federal gun laws.

Idahos relatively lax gun laws apparently attracted Bergquist to Idaho, according to an Idaho State Police trooper who listened in on a conversation Bergquist had with a receptionist at the office of Idaho Gov. Brad Little in April.

Bergquist, who was open carrying a holstered handgun on his hip inside the Capitol, requested an audience with Little to to get his thoughts on persons convicted of felonies being able to carry guns, according to the state trooper.

Let that sink in for a minute. A guy who fired off 18 rounds, killed two people, injured four and fired at police officers was in the governors office just a few months before.

Bergquist was an advocate for getting rid of prohibited possessor lists in various states so that felons can possess firearms, even carrying them into the state Capitol and right on into the governors office.

Bergquist was trying to get the word out to others that they, too, could carry in Idaho, according to the trooper.

After terrorizing a community through a public shooting rampage, Bergquist is a poster child for exactly the type of bad guy we dont want having guns in Idaho.

Unfortunately, the states gun laws and politics send a different message to guys like Bergquist: Welcome to Idaho.

Scott McIntosh is the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman. You can email him at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com or call him at 208-377-6202. Follow him on Twitter @ScottMcIntosh12.

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She was born in Michigan. The places shes lived include Puerto Rico, Morocco and a small navy base on the Tennessee/Kentucky border.

Growing up in the service and knowing the sacrifices people in the military make has given her an appreciation.

One of those sacrifices was that he would volunteer to be on duty on holidays so the other servicemen could be home with their families. When it was on a small base, as an officer he could do round and come home. Anyone else would have to stay, she said.

Her husband, Larry Cassada, was one of many of his family to serve: My grandma sent four boys to war: two to World War II, one to Korea and one to Vietnam, he said. I was getting drafted, so I joined.

He was in the army from 1973-76, serving in Japan during the Vietnam War. He did Morse code and direction-finding, he said. We would watch the North Vietnamese to see if they would move.

The poor countries could send Morse code halfway around the world on 3 watts, he said. You had to have a big receiver to pick up the signals.

Sometimes the Russians, who were relatively close, would tease them, he said.
Martinsville City Council pushed the reversion process another step Thursday night with the adoption of an ordinance on first reading, approving the voluntary settlement agreement (VSA) with Henry County and authorizing the filing of a petition to have the the city become a town within Henry County.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Cleo Smith was back to her laughing, bubbly self as she played in the backyard of her Australian west coast family home on Thursday, hours before a 36-year-old stranger was charged with abducting the 4-year-old from a camping tent more than two weeks ago.

Police charged Terry Kelly, a local resident, with forcibly taking a child among other offenses, a police statement said.

Kelly appeared briefly in court in the town of Carnarvon where a magistrate refused to release him on bail.

Police visited Cleo's family in Carnarvon as they prepared to gather crucial eyewitness evidence involving Kelly, who is suspected of snatching her from a campground north of the town of 5,000 people on Oct. 16.

"I can only see her on the outside, but from that point of view, I'm amazed that she seems to be so well-adjusted and happy, and it was really ... heartwarming to see that she's still bubbly and she's laughing," Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine said.

"I'm sure that it has had an impact, but just to see her behaving quite naturally like a 4-year-old girl should do and just enjoying being in the presence of her little sister and her family was good," Blaine added.
A medical assistant prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to a patient. Credit: Public domain image courtesy of Lisa Ferdinando, U.S. Department of Defense

US company Ocugen announced Friday that it had asked authorities for emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, which was developed in India, for ages 2 to 18.

Ocugen's data, gathered from clinical trials conducted outside of the United States with only a small group of children, may not be enough for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant the request.

Covaxin, developed in India by Ocugen's partner, Bharat Biotech, gained emergency approval from the World Health Organization on Wednesday and has already been cleared for use in 17 countries.

Tens of millions of doses have been administered to adults outside of the United States, notably in India.

The immunization uses inactivated virus technology, common in other childhood vaccines including polio shots.

The approval request is based on results from a study of 526 kids between ages 2 and 18 who received two doses of Covaxin 28 days apart.

The findings were compared with those from a group of 25,800 adults in India, which suggested "similar protection in children, ages 2-18, to that demonstrated in adults older than 18 years," the company said.

Ocugen co-founder Shankar Musunuri in a press release called the move "a significant step toward our hope to make our vaccine candidate available here."

In the clinical trial with 526 children, no serious adverse events or hospitalizations were observed, but the study's sample size may not have been large enough to detect rare side effects.

The FDA asked Pfizer and Moderna, whose COVID-19 vaccines have already been authorized in the United States, to conduct trials with thousands of children to have a better insight into any side effects.

Pfizer's shot is the only one approved in the United States for children under the age of 18, and health authorities cleared the way this week for 5 to 11-year-olds to receive the vaccine.

Explore further Moderna: FDA delaying decision on its shot for adolescents

 2021 AFP
People wait to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe reported spiraling coronavirus cases Thursday, with several hitting new daily records in the regions that have lower vaccination rates than the rest of the continent. Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia reported their highest numbers of daily cases of the pandemic, while other countries registered the most infections in months. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Bandic

Croatian authorities will limit gatherings and widen the use of COVID-19 passes to curb soaring infections after the numbers of infected people hit new records again on Friday.

The country's crisis team said after a meeting that the new rules for gatherings will apply starting Saturday while the use of COVID passes will take more time to prepare.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic complained that vaccination is going "at snail's pace" after reaching some 50% of the population of 4.2 million.

"That is not normal," Plenkovic said, according to the state HRT television. "We have had a pandemic for nearly two years, more than 5 million people have died, and we have a situation where some of our citizens still do not realize the danger COVID-19 poses."

Like much of Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has seen a huge rise in infections and hospitalizations in the past weeks due to low vaccination rates and relaxed virus rules.

Most countries in the region have vaccination rates of about 50% or less, which is lower than the European Union average of about 75%.

Alarmed by the raging virus, some Croats who so far have not gotten vaccinated could be seen lining up Thursday evening to get a jab at a vaccination point in the capital Zagreb.

Drago Coric said he had been "skeptical" about vaccines but changed his mind after daily new cases peaked to several thousand.

Croatia reported nearly 7,000 new infections on Friday after confirming around 6,300 a day before.

"There are lot of (people) today and lately who have been infected," he said. Coric added he came to get his first shot "for safety."

Blaz, who gave only his first name, said he wants to have full freedom in the coming holiday season when relatives from abroad come to visit.

"I don't want to be restricted with movement and measures that will be imposed apparently," he said.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic announced that only gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed indoors from Saturday and they must end by midnight.

Bozinovic also said COVID passes will be introduced for employees in all state institutions, including the education system from mid-November.

Previously, Croatia had introduced the passes in health and social care systems, requiring proof of vaccination, a certificate that someone has had COVID-19 or a negative test.

Bozinovic said that depending on the situation, the use could be further extended.

"We will monitor the situation," said Bozinovic. "There is enough time for those who have not managed so far to vaccinate."

Most governments in the region have been reluctant to revert to lockdowns in response to the rise in infections, but have sought instead to boost vaccination.

In Slovenia, a government meeting will be held later Friday to discuss what measures to take amid reports in local media of divisions on the issue among ministers.

Slovenia has seen record numbers in the past weeks that have forced hospitals to scrap any non-urgent interventions. In a joint statement, medical directors of Slovenia's hospitals said they are facing the most difficult days since the outbreak.

"We will do everything in our power," the statement said, according to the STA news agency.

The small EU state of 2 million people reported 3,770 additional cases on Friday.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Merck's molnupiravir works by decreasing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease.

What if a simple pill could help heal from COVID-19?

US pharma giants Merck and Pfizer have announced encouraging results for oral drugs, while an anti-depressant has also shown promise in what could open up a new chapter in the fight against the pandemic.

What are these treatments ?

They are pills taken orally as soon as the first symptoms of COVID-19 appear, to avoid serious forms of the illness, and therefore hospitalisation.

This form of treatment has been sought since the start of the global health crisis.

After months of research, Merck and Pfizer say they have reached that elusive goal.

Early October, Merck said it was seeking authorisation in the United States for its pill molnupiravir, and Pfizer followed suit on Friday with paxlovid.

They are both anti-virals that act by reducing the virus's ability to replicate, slowing down the disease.

Both companies say clinical trials showed a strong reduction in the risk of hospitalisation.

Those who took molnupiravir saw that risk diminish by 50 percent and those who took paxlovid by nearly 90 percent, although direct comparisons of these efficacy rates should be avoided because of the different study protocols.

An anti-depressant which is already available to the public, fluvoxamine, has also shown encouraging results in preventing serious forms of COVID-19, according to a study published in October by Brazilian researchers in The Lancet Global Health journal.

Trials show Pfizer's paxlovid is 89 percent effective against severe disease.

Why are they important?

If the efficacy of these drugs is confirmed, it will be a major step forward in the fight against COVID-19.

They would add to vaccines to bolster the world's therapeutic arsenal against the virus.

Treatments already exist, mostly in the form of synthetic antibodies.

But these drugs, which usually target those who already have severe forms of the disease, are injected and therefore more difficult to administer.

A pill can be quickly prescribed to a patient who will then take it easily at home.

Merck and Pfizer's treatments, which so far have not shown many side effects, would entail taking around 10 doses over five days.

"The success of these antivirals potentially marks a new era in our ability to prevent the severe consequences of SARS-CoV2 infection," British virologist Stephen Griffin told the Science Media Center.

What limitations ?

It is difficult so far to properly evaluate Merck and Pfizer's treatments given both groups have only published statements and have not made the data of their clinical trials available.

French infectious diseases specialist Karine Lacombe warned in September that these types of announcements should be treated with "caution" until the studies can be scrutinised.

She pointed out that these treatments represent a "potentially enormous" market for pharmaceutical groups.

The pills would bolster the world's therapeutic arsenal against Covid-19, adding to vaccines.

Nevertheless, some elements indicate that Merck and Pfizer are not making empty promises.

For one, they both stopped their clinical trials earlier than expected as the results were so strong, with the okay of independent monitoring committees.

Where fluvoxamine is concerned, the data is available but is not without criticism.

Several researchers have complained that the authors did not just limit themselves to evaluating the frequency of hospitalisations, but also assessed the frequency of prolonged emergency room stays.

This, they say, complicated the interpretation of data.

When? And how much?

Merck's molnupiravir has already been approved in the United Kingdom where health authorities on Thursday gave their green light to its use in patients at risk of developing a serious form of the illness, such as the elderly, obese people, or those suffering from diabetes.

US and EU health authorities are also urgently reviewing the drug.

The European Medicines Agency promised on Thursday to "accelerate" proceedings, without giving a firm date.

Several countries have already ordered stocks of molnupiravir, such as the United States, with 1.7 million courses of the drug.

The US order gives an idea of the steep price of the drug.

It comes to $1.2 billion, which equates to around $700 for a five-day course.

As for Pfizer, while it has not outlined a price for paxlovid, it has promised it will be "affordable" and subject to a tiered pricing approach based on the income level of countries.

Explore further EU medicines agency starts review of Merck oral COVID drug

 2021 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Germany's regional health ministers on Friday called for COVID booster jabs for all as the country scrambles to tackle a surging fourth wave of infections.

"The federal states agree that everyone who had their second jab six months ago or longer should be able to get an appropriate booster," Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek told a press conference.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has also called for booster jabs for all, but the Stiko vaccine commission has so far recommended them only for those aged over 70 or with preexisting health conditions.

Germany registered 37,120 new infections in the past 24 hours on Friday, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) health agencya record rise for the second day running.

The health ministers from Germany's 16 states had met for two days of talks on how to tackle the alarming trend, which comes as Germany is in political limbo following September's general election.

The incoming coalition parties, aiming to form a government by early December, have so far ruled out mandatory jabs and said there will be no new lockdownsat least not for the vaccinated.

But with just 67 percent of the population fully inoculated and intensive care beds filling rapidly, calls are growing for action to tackle the upward curve.

Several of Germany's states, which have significant powers to decide their own COVID approach, have already agreed or introduced restrictions for the unvaccinated.

These include limiting certain events and spaces to people who are fully vaccinated or can show proof of recoverya system that excludes the unvaccinated and is known as "2G" in Germany.

Explore further Germany experiencing 'massive' pandemic of unvaccinated

 2021 AFP
Medical staff members treat a coronavirus patient in the ICU of the Asklepios Clinic in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021 as the country has been experiencing an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Credit: Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP

Germany recorded its second consecutive daily record for new coronavirus cases on Friday as infections pick up across Europe, and its disease control center said unvaccinated people now face a "very high" risk of infection.

The country saw 37,120 reported new infections over the past 24 hours, according to the disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute. That compared with Thursday's figure of 33,949which in turn topped the previous record of 33,777 set on Dec. 18 last year.

While it's possible that the figures were pushed up by delayed testing and reporting following a regional holiday Monday in some of the worst-affected areas, they underlined a steady rise in infections over recent weeks. Another 154 deaths linked to COVID-19 brought Germany's total to 96,346 on Friday.

The country's infection rate has now exceeded its peak during a spike of cases in the spring, though it's still short of the worst-ever showing in December, according to Friday's figures. There have been 169.9 reported cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, up from 139.2 a week ago.

That's still a lower rate than in several other European countries, but it is ringing alarm bells. Officials point to a large number of unvaccinated people and to often-lax enforcement of regional rules, which restrict access to some indoor activities and venues to people who have been vaccinated, have recently recovered or been tested.

Head physician Lorenz Nowak treats a coronavirus patient in the ICU of the Asklepios Clinic in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021 as the country has been experiencing an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Credit: Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP

In a weekly report late Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute said unvaccinated or partly vaccinated people now face a "very high" risk to their healtha change from its previous assessment that they face a "high" risk. "For fully vaccinated people, the threat is considered moderate, but rising in view of the increasing infection figures," it added.

"It is important to break the momentum" of infections, Bavaria's state health minister, Klaus Holetschek, said after chairing a previously scheduled meeting with his federal and regional counterparts. In decentralized Germany, state governments bear the primary responsibility for imposing and loosening restrictions.

Holetschek said officials agreed that booster shots should in principle be available to everyone six months after they have completed their initial course of vaccination, and that obligatory testing at nursing homesincluding of vaccinated visitorsshould be expanded.

A woman receives her first vaccination in the so called "vaccination express" tram in central Frankfurt, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. About 100 people are vaccinated every day in two trams. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Probst

Authorities also are appealing anew to German residents who haven't yet been vaccinated to get their shots. They say pressure on hospital beds is rising, particularly in regions where vaccination rates are relatively low.

Official figures show that about two-thirds of Germany's population of 83 million has completed its first round of vaccination, but there are significant regional variations. Authorities say 16.2 million people aged 12 or above remain unvaccinated, including 3.2 million over-60s.

"I'm sure all of us thought in the spring and summer that the number of people who simply don't want to be vaccinated would be smaller, but it is how it is," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert. "However, we must now continue to work with information, clarification and all our good arguments."

An 85-year-old man receives a booster vaccination in the so called "vaccination express" tram in central Frankfurt, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. About 100 people are vaccinated every day in two trams. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Probst

Students wear mouth-to-nose coverings while sitting close to each other during the lecture 'BWL 1' in lecture hall H1 of the Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet in Muenster, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2021. Germany's disease control agency has reported the highest number of new infections with the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic. Credit: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa via AP

A bit more than 2 million booster shots have been administered so far, a number that also falls short of officials' hopes.

"Boosters after six months should become the rule, not the exception," federal Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

Explore further Germany sees 2nd straight COVID case record, mulls response

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A patient waits to be called for a COVID-19 vaccination booster shot outside a pharmacy in a grocery store, Nov. 3, 2021, in downtown Denver. The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again.

Nearly 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated and the nation's over-65 population, which bore the brunt of the pandemic when it started nearly two years ago, is enthusiastically embracing vaccines.

Nearly 98% of the over-65 population has received at least one COVID-19 shot and more than 25% of them have gotten boosters, just weeks after they were authorized. The improving metrics could get a boost from President Joe Biden's workplace mandate unveiled Thursday and the launch of COVID-19 shots in elementary-age students.

Seniors also are playing a role in getting other family members vaccinated. Erin Lipsker plans to get her 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son vaccinated as soon as possible so they can see her parents and her 98-year-old grandmother. An added motivation is that Lipsker was treated for cancer two years ago, and her 8-year-old daughter, Kennedy, has asthma.

"The more children and adults are vaccinated, the quicker we will be able to resume a new normal. I want that for my kids. I want that for our planet," said Lipsker, of Spokane, Washington. "I think I will feel much safer around our family. I have a 98-year-old grandmother that my kids adore. I will feel safer having my kids around her, and my parents."

Jamie Onofrio Franceschini, 11, watches as RN Rosemary Lantigua prepares a syringe with her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children five to 12 years at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Nov. 3, 2021, in the Bronx borough of New York. The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

But the pandemic has proven hard to control. In the U.S., winter is coming and diseases like COVID-19 often spread easier with people indoors and closer together. The worst surge in the nation happened last winter, before the vaccines were widely available.

While cases around the world are declining, the World Health Organization said this week new cases jumped by 6% in Europe, compared with an 18% increase the previous week. The U.S. plans to open its borders to international travelers Monday.

The trends in the U.S. have health officials feeling better for the first time in months and hoping the progress will continue as long as a new variant doesn't pop up or the rate of newly vaccinated people declines. But they have also been down this road before and have come to the conclusion that COVID-19 is going to be an issue for years to come.

"It is going to be endemic. It is going to exist in our population for a long period of time," said Deborah Fuller, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington. "You saw what looked like an inflection point coming and, boom, here came the delta variant."

Matthew Yip, 8, waits in line to receive a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in San Jose, Calif., Nov. 3, 2021. The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger, File

There are still plenty of encouraging signs in the U.S. Pfizer announced Friday its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections and it will soon ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize its pill.

The number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 is averaging around 42,000, the lowest number since the beginning of August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The hospitalization dip matches a dip in overall cases.

But deaths, which lag behind increasing case counts because it can take weeks for the disease to kill, continue to mount. The U.S. is averaging 1,100 coronavirus deaths per day, down from more than 1,600 two weeks ago.

More than 750,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. in less than two years, about the population of Denver. The latest 50,000 deaths happened in the past month.

Dr. Rhonda Achonolu comforts her son Amechi, 7, as he is inoculated with first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children five to 12 years at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Nov. 3, 2021, in the Bronx borough of New York. The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

With hospital beds emptying, case counts declining and an increase in vaccinated people, however, it has been a slow return to a new normal. Louisiana's Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards last week ended a face covering requirement almost everywhere but schools, saying he was "optimistic, relieved that the worst of the fourth surge is very clearly behind us now."

Memphis also ended its mask requirement, and so did a number of schools around Atlanta as the spread of the virus decreased. Amazon ended a mask mandate for most vaccinated workers in places where local or state rules don't require them. Hawaii's governor ended pandemic capacity limits on businesses like restaurants, bars and gyms, but owners must continue to enforce social distancing rules.

Color-coded virus maps that were a sea of red in September have started to turn yellow and blue in recent weeks, indicating a much slower spread of disease. The CDC says about 350 counties are now experiencing moderate or low transmission, many of them in the Deep South.

In the U.S., nearly 60% of the populationmore than 193 million peopleare fully vaccinated. More than 21 million have received a booster dose, and those numbers are soaring each day. The average number of Americans getting booster shots has reached nearly 800,000 per day. That compares with about 265,000 people per day getting their first shot.

Medical assistant Jessica Martinez administers a Moderna booster shot to a resident at Cameron County Public Health's Moderna booster clinic, Oct. 30, 2021, in Los Fresnos, Texas. The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Credit: Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP, File

It's still too early to know how many children under 12 have gotten shots in the three days they have been available.

Lagging behind are Southern and more rural states and that rural divide even extends to states with higher vaccination rates like Maine, where more than 70% of the population is vaccinated. Many of the rural states are starting to experience cold weather that is driving people indoors and creating ripe conditions for more virus spread.

In Maine, the five counties with the lowest vaccination rates are rural ones along the border with Canada, where rates hover just over 60%.

"One theory is that residents of those counties feel less at risk of infection because they interact less often with others. Vaccine hesitancy among residents of those counties also seems to dovetail with political identity factors." said Robert Long, a spokesperson for the Maine Center for Disease Control.

Explore further Louisiana lifts mask mandate amid sharp drop in COVID cases

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Two things about Glacier National Park might seem obvious but arent.

First, for all its million wild acres of peaks and lakes, Glacier is not legally wilderness.

And second, for all the satellites, traffic counters, lidar scanners and other gizmos monitoring activity in the park, we dont have a good measuring stick showing how its wild qualities have changed over time.

Yes, we know Glaciers namesake ice fields have shrunk or ceased to move. And we know visitation numbers have climbed, to the point park staff have imposed a ticketed entry system limiting motorists seeking to cross the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

But thanks to former President Richard Nixon, Glacier Park is a recommended wilderness. Nixon sent a wilderness recommendation to Congress on June 13, 1974, but the bill wasnt ratified. Ever since, the National Park Service has managed 927,550 acres of Glacier as a potential wilderness area.

Which brings us to that measuring stick and Brad Blickhan, Glaciers wilderness and wild and scenic river corridor manager.

Blickhan and colleague Jillian McKenna spent much of last year developing a wilderness character analysis of the park. The map breaks the park down to thousands of 30x30-meter squares, each with at least 20 kinds of data measurements. Those include features such as presence of invasive weeds or scientific instruments, historic use of chainsaws and opportunity for solitude.

Wilderness is a diminishing resource throughout the world, Blickhan said. Climate change is showing us our impact on the globe is much greater than we thought. Its never been more important than it is right now to preserve wilderness character and have those places where we escape from modern society, and see how far we can hike, how far we can climb, and have a chance to see grizzly bears. Three million visitors a year are telling us thats something we need to maintain.

Just to the south, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and other places designated through the Wilderness Act of 1964 have a requirement to track their wilderness character. Rangers and biologists routinely measure the width of trails, the use of backcountry campsites, the amounts of trash and the expansion of invasive weeds. Glacier Park has not been so systematic about maintaining a history of change on its turf.

It would be great if I had a baseline of wilderness character set down in 1974, but I dont have that, Blickhan said. But with this, managers who have my job will have something to look at 15 years from now.

Glacier Park manifested from the National Park Service, which gives it a more complicated mission. In addition to preserving scenic and scientific wonders, parks also have a mandate to provide recreation and public access. Those two goals can tangle, on both physical and policy levels.

Many features, like the Many Glacier Hotel, got placed before the Wilderness Act defined different standards for human impact on pristine landscape. On the other hand, nearly 90 percent of the park has kept its optimal or nearly optimal character.

Just eight of those 30x30-meter pixel points on Glaciers wilderness character map are in the least optimal category. They are all in places such as the Going-to-the- Sun Road corridor, the road corridors leading into Many Glacier and Two Medicine valleys, and the Inside North Fork Road corridor along the parks western boundary.

Such collections of hotels, visitor centers and roads would never be permitted in a wilderness area, but are expected in a national park. The challenge, for NPS monitors, is how to best protect the other 90% of Glacier that rests in the most optimal or next best categories.

"This gives a manager those data points to show where an action needs to happen," McKenna said. "It can also be a predictive tool, so whenever a big project comes up, we can plug this in and see what threats might come from the project."

For example, outside researchers often want to set up scientific monitoring gear in remote areas. The wilderness character map can show if an area already has too intrusive equipment in place, or guide what kind of operations would have the least noticeable impact.

Former Glacier Superintendent Chas Cartwright advocated for full wilderness designation in 2009, which would have coincided with the parks 100th birthday the following year. That effort didnt succeed, but NPS leadership did start paying more attention to wilderness character beginning in 2012.

McKenna devised ways to log those on an interactive map that will become the baseline for future changes  good or bad  observed at impact sites. In the future, they hope to add more factors, such as the soundscape (how far does car or airplane noise affect the backcountry) and night-sky quality (is light from developed areas interfering with star-gazing?).

Blickhan said backcountry camping use, while growing in popularity, has not had much impact on Glaciers character.

The amount of day use  thats one of our main problems, Blickhan said. Thats where you see trail widening, threats to solitude, human waste issues and invasive weeds.

The weight of character factors can be subjective. Opportunity for solitude is a prime objective for wilderness areas. The Avalanche Lake Trail gets about 1,500 hikers a day during the summer. A Montana resident might find that crowded, while someone from New York City would consider it vacant compared with the crowds in Central Park.

And other forces drive change. Forest fires reshape the landscape. Researchers from Utah State University report that the warming climate could rearrange recreation patterns nationwide, as the Southeast gets too hot to enjoy in summer and the Northwest becomes more attractive.

Our results suggest there will likely be a greater overall demand for recreational ES on U.S. public lands in the winter and spring, and a lower demand for recreational ES in summer, compared to past visitation patterns, study lead author Emily Wilkins wrote. (I)t is possible that certain recreational sites within a region (e.g. higher elevation locations or places with water-based recreation) may still see increased demand in summer.

The Glacier National Park Conservancy, Glaciers nonprofit advocacy partner, helped fund the wilderness character mapping project. It also plans to support a staff person next year whose job will be to steward all the character data so park managers can prioritize where to protect values at risk.

So much of Glacier is in pristine condition, GNPC Executive Director Doug Mitchell said. Our mission is to preserve and protect that for future generations. So if you ask: Whats a visitor going to notice through this project? the goal is nothing. Its that it looks the same as it always has. I cant tell you how giant a victory that is, when people say it looks the same as its always looked.

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A Yellowstone County District Judge on Friday set bond at $1 million for the suspect in Wednesday nights downtown stabbing spree.

Brandon Bird appeared before Judge Ashley Harada in court Friday to answer charges that he stabbed several people at Jakes restaurant in downtown Billings and tried to rob at least two people. Bird pleaded not guilty to all six felonies, four assault with a weapon and two robbery charges, and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Deputy county attorneys argued for bail to be set at $1 million citing the egregious nature of the charges and the apparent randomness of the crime. The state also cited the defendants status on prerelease and that he has two prior felonies and was a violent offender.

John Ryan told the court that even though the suspect is young at 21 years old he has shown a history of extremely violent behaviors. They also asked that he be subject to GPS monitoring and barred from contact with the victims or from going within 1,500 feet of the restaurant.

Public defenders arguing on behalf of Bird asked the judge to reduce the bond to $100,000 believing a $1 million bond to be quite excessive. They did agree to GPS monitoring and the other conditions of release.

I actually dont think a million dollars is excessive, said Harada. I think a million dollars is necessary to keep this community safe.

In the end, Harada agreed with the states request and set bond at the $1 million mark with the conditions barring contact with the victims and from going near the restaurant.

Bird had been fired from his job at the restaurant earlier in the day after getting in an altercation with another employee the night before. Bird worked as a dishwasher. At about 5:43 p.m. he allegedly came into the restaurant near the bar, grabbed two steak knives and yelled, Give me all your money.

Bird allegedly came after employees with the knives following them into the kitchen. The employees tried to fend off the attacks. One of the victims threw dishes at Bird to get him to stop attacking another employee.

Bird then left the restaurant, possibly because he was being shoved or chased out, police said. He is alleged to have started confronting people on the sidewalk and he possibly demanded money from passersby.

One of the two responding officers used a Taser on Bird, but he continued to resist commands to put his hands behind his back. After the three cops wrestled with Bird, he was arrested.

In total, five people were wounded and three were taken to area hospitals.

Bird is a prior felon for crimes he committed in Missoula County in 2019. Bird was on prerelease in Billings for both criminal mischief and robbery when he entered Jakes on Wednesday night.

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The state Legislature's special counsel next week will examine records related to the dispute between the Montana Attorney General's Office and a Helena hospital, a spokesperson told news outlets Friday.

The counsel's meeting with the top law enforcement office in the state follows an incident where St. Peter's Hospital in early October said three public officials threatened and harassed its doctors who refused to administer ivermectin, which is not approved to treat COVID-19, to a patient who requested it. Two of the officials are Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Chief Deputy Attorney General Kris Hansen. The third has not been publicly identified.

The Attorney General's Office disputes the hospital's characterization of the exchange and has said its Department of Justice still investigating "serious allegations" of patient mistreatment and that the patient was being denied access to legal documents. The Attorney General's Office sent a Montana Highway Patrol trooper to the hospital to gather statements. That trooper took their report to the Lewis and Clark County Attorney's Office, which found nothing that warranted further criminal investigation.

Special Counsel Abra Belke last week requested the Attorney General's Office provide the materials by Friday. That came after the state Legislature approved using the newly created special counsel position to investigate the incident.

The patient at the center of the dispute has since died.

Due to the ongoing investigation by the DOJ, Belke will instead examine the records at the Attorney General's Office next week, legislative spokesperson Kyle Schmauch said Friday. The ongoing nature of the investigation could mean the Attorney General's records related to the dispute are considered confidential criminal justice information. Schmauch emphasized Friday the Legislature's probe is still in the early stages.

"The AG has told both the press and the special counsel that there's an ongoing investigation, and invited (Belke) to come do her initial examination in person in light of that," Schmauch said Friday. "It's too early for anyone from the Legislature to say what records may be privileged, protected by law, or not."

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said in an email Friday "at least some" of the records prepared for the legislative probe fall under the statutory definition of confidential criminal justice information.

The Montana State News Bureau has also made several requests for records and information related to the incident, several of which are outstanding.

The Attorney General's Office has characterized the probe as a partisan political stunt, but House Speaker Wylie Galt and Senate President Mark Blasdel, two Republicans, gave their requisite approval for the investigation sought by Senate Minority Leader Jill Cohenour and House Minority Leader Kim Abbott, both Democrats.

Belke was the chief of staff for the Senate Republicans during the 2021 Legislature, when the special counsel position was created.

With degrees from Gonzaga University in law and George Washington University in political management, Belke passed the Washington Bar Exam in 2017 and Belke was recently admitted to the state bar in Montana on a temporary basis until she takes the exam here in February. Belke was a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association from 2011 to 2013 and by then had already notched some Capitol Hill experience as a legislative assistant for Rep. Denny Rehberg.

At the end of the 2021 session, Blasdel, who is now termed out of office, praised Belke for her work with the GOP leadership during the Legislature.

"She was my conscience," Blasdel said. "Every time Id get over my skis she would rein me back in."

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  Tens of thousands of climate activists marched Saturday through the Scottish city hosting the U.N. climate summit, physically close to the global negotiators inside but separated by a vast gulf in expectations, with frustrated marchers increasingly dismissive of the talks and demanding immediate action instead to slow global warming.

The mood at the protest in Glasgow was upbeat despite the anger and bursts of rain. Similar protests were also held in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Copenhagen, Zurich and Istanbul.

Many of the marchers condemned government leaders for failing to produce the fast action they say is needed, with some echoing activist Greta Thunberg's view Friday that the talks were just more blah, blah, blah.

We're having these conversations, but there's no policies to actually back them, said Daze Aghaji, a marcher from London at the Glasgow demonstration, shouting over the steady beat of the drums.

And on top of that, the real people should be in the room," Aghaji said, referring to complaints that the Glasgow summit has too sharply limited participation by the public. How are we expecting to make decent policy when the people who are the stakeholders of this aren't even present in the room?

Marchers held signs with messages including Code Red for Humanity, Stop big polluters, COP26, we are watching you or simply Im angry. One sign asked If not you, then who? If not now, then when?

Megan McClellan, 24, of Glasgow said she doubted that climate negotiators were listening.

This is a very easy thing for them to ignore. Theyre nice and comfortable" inside the summit conference center, she said, which is ringed by steel fences.

But her friend Lucette Wood, 30, of Edinburgh disagreed.

They might not actually do anything about it but they pretend that they do ... and they will just put it off for 20-30 years," Wood said.

Thunberg's dismissive talk of the two-week climate summit  which has another week to go  has touched a nerve inside and outside the summit site. Government leaders and negotiators insist they are as equally aware as the marchers of the urgency of their task, with time slipping away to rein in pollution from fossil fuels before the Earth faces much higher levels of warming.

Jamila Khatoon from Pakistan carried a sign in Glasgow about three glaciers in her region that may disappear because of climate change.

The glaciers are melting, Khatoon said. Villages are drowning. Nobody is doing anything.

Elaine Knox, 69 and William Oliphant, 60, both from Glasgow, said they were attending the rally for the next generations.

Im dying before the worst happens, Knox said. Its the youngsters were leaving a horrible, horrible world.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country is hosting the talks, has defended the progress made by governments in raising promises of emissions cuts and climate financing, while acknowledging the public's demands that more needs to be done.

At the huge U.N. conference venue, negotiators spent a seventh straight day haggling over draft agreements that can be passed to government ministers for political approval next week. Among the issues under discussion were a fresh commitment to capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), pushing countries to review their efforts more frequently to increase the pressure for deeper cuts, and providing more financial support for poor nations to adapt to climate change.

The summit's president, Alok Sharma, told reporters he understood the protesters' frustration.

I think we have overall made progress," Sharma said Saturday. "I think people have been constructive in the negotiating rooms.

We are getting to the point where the rubber hits the road, where were going to have to make, you know, tough decisions" by government officials, he said. "I dont, certainly do not, underestimate the difficulty of the task which is ahead of us.

Saturdays marches drew a range of participants and ages, a day after tens of thousands of young people in the Fridays for Future movement protested outside the Glasgow conferences fences. Thunbergs mix of school strikes, blunt and impatient talk about government excuses, and mass demonstrations have galvanized climate protests since 2018, especially in Europe.

The climate protest movement  and the worsening droughts, storms, floods, wildfires and other disasters around the world this year  have brought home to many the accelerating damage of global warming and have kept the pressure on governments for stronger and faster action to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Elizabeth May, a Canadian member of parliament and 16-time participant in the U.N. climate talks, said the protests are making a difference.

Most of the people on the inside are here in their hearts and sometimes physically, May said, who joined the Glasgow demonstrators Saturday.

In central London, thousands of climate protesters marched from the Bank of England to Trafalgar Square. Protester Sue Hampton, 64, said everyone is at risk and all generations need to press for action.

We cant let the young people do all the work here. Weve all got to do it together, she said.

In Istanbul, climate protesters brought their children to the demonstration Saturday, emphasizing the impact of global warming on future generations.

I want my children to live on a beautiful planet, said Kadriye Basut, 52, in Istanbul.



Danica Kirka in London and Andrew Wilks in Istanbul contributed to this report.



Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/Climate.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Haiti's fuel crisis is deepening, with the country's Professional Association of Banks announcing Friday that a shortage of petroleum is forcing institutions to cut their hours and days as dozens of gas stations across the capital remained closed.

Starting next week, banks will operate only three days a week instead of the usual six and will close in the early afternoon.

Long lines, fights and boisterous crowds formed earlier this week around a handful of gas stations that were still operating, with a gallon of gas costing roughly $15 in some places. Motorcycle drivers, business owners and even police officers have been forced to search for fuel, with many customers waiting hours for their turn.

The shortage has hit hospitals, schools, ambulances, public transportation and others in recent weeks as anger and frustration grows.

The government has blamed gangs for blocking gas distribution terminals, with local newspaper Le Nouvelliste reporting Friday that several truck drivers have been kidnapped and at least four fuel tankers seized. At least one gang has said it would lift the blockade if Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down.

Last week, Henry said the country was not running out of petroleum and that ships were waiting to unload fuel. He added that police had created a security corridor to protect gasoline shipments and truck drivers, and that airports, Coast Guard boats and some hospitals and telephone companies had received fuel. He also said officials from various government agencies were working together to find a quick solution, although he did not provide details.

However, the situation seemed to have worsened this week, with the president of Haiti's petrol stations federation warning that meetings with government officials have not yielded a solution.

The real crisis will start in upcoming days, Marc Andre Deriphonse told Magik9 radio.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Need a vaccine?

Clinic at St. Charles

WHAT: First, second, third and booster doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines

WHEN: Wednesday through Friday from 3-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Saturday, Nov. 6 through Dec. 18

WHERE: St. Charles Catholic Church, 728 W. Union St. in Morganton

HOW: Walk-ins welcome, but appointments preferred and can be made at https://bit.ly/3BJxwAA

INTERPRETERS: Spanish, American Sign Language and Hmong interpreters all will be present

Clinics at the health department

WHAT: First, second, third and booster doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines

WHEN: Nov. 23 and Nov. 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Burke County Health Department, 700 E. Parker Road in Morganton

HOW: Walk-ins welcome, but appointments are preferred and can be made by calling 828-764-9150
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Bumping their elbows in greeting, European lawmakers met with Taiwan's premier on Wednesday in the first official visit of a European Parliament delegation to the self-ruled island, which is also claimed by China.

Seven members of the European Parliament committee on foreign interference in democratic processes are visiting Taiwan, after the parliament passed a resolution last month calling for the body to intensify EU-Taiwan political relations."

Although we are geographically very far away, between our two sides, we share the same values, such as freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law. ... In those regards, we are actually very close, Taiwan's Premier Su Tseng-chang said.

The European delegation will also meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Digital Minister Audrey Tang, and visit Taiwanese think tanks, NGOs and others working on countering disinformation.

The visit comes amid growing support for the democratic island, which China claims as part of its territory to be annexed by force if necessary, and rising negative perceptions toward Beijing in Western countries.
Under the OSHA directive, workers at larger businesses will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face regular testing. According to U.S. Labor Department guidance, workers who choose the testing option may have to bear the cost, as well as beginning Dec. 5 being required to wear a face mask on the job.

Officials within Democratic President Joe Bidens administration have been encouraging widespread vaccinations as a way to halt the spread of COVID-19 and end the pandemic.

Last week Reynolds signed legislation that allows employees in private Iowa businesses to claim they are medically vulnerable or have a religious objection to a mandated vaccine based solely on their statements, rather than with the backing by a professional. Under the bill that took effect upon enactment, Iowans who lose their jobs for refusing to comply with an employer's COVID-19 vaccination requirement will still be eligible for unemployment benefits if they are terminated.

On the same day, Reynolds announced that Iowa had joined nine other states in a lawsuit challenging Bidens vaccine mandate for all workers employed by a federal contractor, which is one-fifth of the nations workforce.
The company formerly known as Facebook is facing a possible trademark challenge to its big rebranding plans.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the renaming of its parent company to Meta during the companys Connect 2021 conference last week.

The name alludes to Facebooks focus on the metaverse, the concept that describes future virtual environments in which people can congregate and communicate. It will also help to separate the companys corporate identity from its apps.

However, another company has beaten Facebook to the trademark rights on Meta.

Arizona-based startup Meta PC, which sells Meta-branded computers, components, and PC peripherals, filed a trademark for the Meta name in August 2021. A filing on the Patent and Trademark Offices website has confirmed the claim.

The company has been selling products carrying the Meta name since November 2020.

Facebook only filed for the term Meta on the day of its announcement, possibly to avoid any possible leaks that would spoil the big reveal.

However, the non-profit Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has owned the META trademark since 2018.

The owner of a federal trademark has certain legal protections over it but does not own the word.

It would not bar another company from using the name for its products, unless a conflict arises that would lead to consumers confusing the products.

BusinessInsider said it would be unlikely that a court ruled that a conflict exists in this instance, given that Meta and Meta PCs have vastly different offerings.

Tabloid publication TMZ has claimed the founders of Meta PC want $20 million (R304.6 million) from Facebook to give up their claim to the name.

The founders have denied they said this in an interview with Business Insider.

Meta PCs posted a funny retort to Facebooks name change in which it said it was now renaming itself to Facebook.

an announcement regarding our new name from our founder @zackshutt pic.twitter.com/I7tofqPa6Z  META PCs (@METAPCs) October 28, 2021

Now read: Facebook to launch a smartwatch
To call Elon Musks Tesla a success would be an understatement. In just over a decade, the Pretoria-born billionaire has pivoted the company to profitability and, whats more, transformed the motoring industry.

Not too long ago, the prospect of going electric would have doused the flames running through a petrolheads veins. No longer. Musks range of all-electric vehicles has made emission-free vehicles desirable and trendy.

As mainstream manufacturers play catch-up (and start-ups Rivian and Lucid battle the EV giant), theres no denying Tesla is at the forefront of electromobility.

In South Africa, the electric car is yet to catch on. A few manufacturers (BMW, Porsche and Jaguar) offer alternatives to combustion-engined vehicles but load-shedding and a lack of government support play a big role in the reluctance.

Despite plenty of interest in the brand, Tesla has not made its vehicles available for sale in South Africa.

Local company Rubicon made headlines earlier in the year when the energy and e-mobility business announced it would be importing the first-ever Tesla to the country.

Speaking to MyBroadband, Rubicon energy and electric mobility director Greg Blandford noted that he recommends South Africans dont import Teslas to SA owing to the expensive and complex nature of the process.

The combination of customs duties, sales tax, and ad valorem duty (luxury tax) make it difficult to justify bringing in EVs to South Africa. The barriers for entry are just too high, Blandford said.

According to Rubicons website, The arrival of the Model X gives South Africans the opportunity to see up close what an electric future looks like, and to experience high-performance electric vehicles and the technology showcased within the Tesla Model X for the first time.

However, an advert, which first appeared on one of South Africas largest car advertising websites, Cars.co.za, lists a Model 3 for sale, at R2.2m.

The midsize premium sedan, which retails for $44,940 (R690,000) in the United States, is not available for purchase through Tesla.

The vehicle above, listed at Mystic Cars, has already been sold but a spokesperson for the dealership told BizNews that customers wanting a Tesla will most likely be able to import an example from next year.

There is still no word from Tesla as to whether the EV maker will enter the local market anytime soon.

Republished with permission from BizNews. Original article: A Tesla for sale in South Africa? Model 3 appears for sale at KZN dealership
Alongside the launch of Chrome 96, Google is dropping support for its sync feature in older versions of the browser, the company said in a statement.

Information such as browsing history and saved pages will not be synced to other devices for those using older browsers.

This change will affect anyone using Chrome Browser M48, and these users will need to update to Chrome M49 or higher to continue using the sync feature.

Google had previously mentioned the change when it released Chrome 94. The company has now indicated that the change will go live when it launches the stable build of Chrome 96.

Chrome 48 was released at the start of 2016 and offered several fixes and improvements over previous builds.

Those who still wish to sync their search history and saved items to other devices are advised to update from the M48 build.

Even those running outdated versions of Windows, such as XP, can update to keep the sync feature. Windows XP supports Chrome versions up to M49.
It is necessary to form the new possible actions of the pan-Armenian national opposition in order to prevent the Turkification of Armenia and the eviction of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Ishkhan, Saghatelyan, the National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker from the opposition "Armenia" Faction, stated about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"We do not need any additional information that could confirm our concerns. We do not try to confirm them or persuade anyone. We have had enough time to become convinced that the incumbent authorities are able to provide the country only with defeat and various disasters," Saghatelyan said.

To the question why the opposition "Armenia" Bloc decided to resume the street struggle in November and not in September when the weather conditions in Armenia were more favorable, the vice-speaker of the parliament gave a negative answer.

"If we condition our actions on weather conditions, we must take into account both the summer heat and the winter cold. We do not believe that all problems will be solved in one step. That way we will not achieve our goal. It is a long-term and sequential process," he said.

In his opinion, the Armenian diaspora should also join this movement. He is convinced that this struggle must become networked.

"We must show the incumbent authorities, the whole world, the enemy that new concessions will not be forgiven by the Armenian peoplealthough we have not forgiven their past sins," the opposition MP said, stressing the need to continue the struggle within the legislature.

According to him, the Armenian opposition continues to demand the resignation of the incumbent authorities and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

To the question whether second President Robert Kocharyanwho heads the Armenia Blocwill take part in the November 8 rally, Saghatelyan gave a firm answer.

"He will participate and send a message," the NA deputy speaker concluded.

To note, the "Armenia" Bloc will hold a rally on November 8, starting at 6pm, at Yerevan's Freedom Square.
In Mexico, 600 migrants were found in two trucks

US is going to build a nuclear power plant on the moon

Biden's son helps Chinese company buy mine in Africa

China lowers level of diplomatic relations with Lithuania

Russia and US confirm their intentions to send joint mission to Venus

Putin and Pashinyan discuss situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and measures to stabilize it

Honored Art Worker of Armenia, composer Ruben Altunyan passes away

492 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Armenia

Armenian Foreign Minister and Otto Luchterhandt discuss Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

Armenian contract soldier dies amid violation of rules for handling weapons

Man, 29, jumps from Yerevan bridge

Armenia MFA confirms PM Pashinyan's readiness to meet with Azerbaijans Aliyev on December 15

Quake shakes coast of Vanuatu

State minister: Nationwide quarantine, specific restrictions planned to be imposed in Karabakh

Artsakh President convenes National Security Service consultation

Opposition MP: Armenia FM stated that Turkey has proposed new precondition: corridor

Armenia military expert: US Embassy warns its citizens to avoid Karahunj-Davit Bek, Kapan-Chakaten road sections

Armenia opposition MP: Air carrier operating flights from Syunik Province cannot have any security guarantees

Singapore is good example for Armenia, says President Sarkissian

Iran seizes foreign ship in Persian Gulf

2 Azerbaijanis injured in anti-tank mine explosion at Karabakh conflict zone

US, Turkey presidential advisors discuss situation in South Caucasus

Synopsys boss pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims

Russia peacekeepers escort 15 convoys to, from Artsakh in one week

Catholicos Karekin II to Patriarch Kirill: We appreciate your warm attitude towards Armenian Church, people

China fines Alibaba for violating antitrust law

36 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh

UK Premier Johnson considering boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Artsakh President visits Askeran city, meets with regional capitals youth

President to Russia Patriarch: Armenian people highly value your efforts aimed at achieving peace in our region

870 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

8 injured in tragic accident on Yerevan-Gyumri motorway are discharged from hospital

China, Russia, US agree to promote political dialogue on Iran

Azerbaijan mother, son commit suicide on same day

One pedestrian dies on the spot, other hospitalized after hit by car in Armenia village area

US beauty consultant is accused of killing woman by injecting silicone into her butt

Brazil Amazon deforestation reaches highest level in 15 years

Newspaper: Armenia soldiers are prohibited from filming episodes from their service, posting them on internet

Newspaper: Armenia opposition is forming large-scale resistance network

Armenia President visits National University of Singapore

Gia, wanted by French law-enforcement authorities, found at Armenia's Bagratashen checkpoint

Leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to meet in Brussels

European Council: Pashinyan and Aliyev agreed to establish direct communication line at level of defense ministers

Armenia's Representative to OSCE speaks about Azerbaijan's recent attack at Permanent Council's session

Armenia serviceman Meruzhan Harutyunyan, killed in Syunik Province, was buried at Yerablur Military Pantheon

Armenian News-NEWS.am's special report: Drive from Kapan to Tchakatashen is 150 km instead of previous 8 km

3 Armenian servicemen killed during Nov. 16 Azerbaijani attack posthumously awarded presidential medals

Left-wing trade unions hold protest against Turkey's Erdogan in Izmir

Armenia FM presents situation following Azerbaijani attack during meeting with Lithuanian Seimas Vice-President

Armenia delegation covers Azerbaijan's Nov. 16 attack during online meeting of CSTO PA Permanent Commissions

Armenia PM receives delegation led by Vice President of Lithuanian Seimas

Lavrov, Cavusoglu discuss bilateral ties and regional issues

Karabakh: Azerbaijani side, in Shushi, transfers bodies of 3 Armenian soldiers killed on Nov. 16

NEWS.am daily digest: 19.11.21

Armenian Embassy in Russia: Armenia citizens - mother and child - evacuated from Afghanistan

Georgia refuses to be a part of '3+3' format with regard to South Caucasus

The occupied Hadrut of our days (PHOTOS)

Arabologist: Photo of map of Turkic world shown by Erdogan and Bahceli is simply a gift for Armenian diplomacy

Situation is tense in Armenia's Kasakh, residents protesting against acting village head (LIVE)

Opposition With Honor legislature faction MP: No one knows if Armenia petitioned to Russia for military assistance

Armenia opposition MP: There is a threat that Baku will always get what it wants through use of force

Lavrov is certain that the Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan summit will take place

Ann Linde: OSCE working very closely with Russia to resolve Karabakh conflict

Karabakh FM congratulates newly appointed Abkhazia counterpart

Dollar relatively stable in Armenia

Armenia parliament majority members do not deny possibility of exchange of territories with Azerbaijan

Armenia ruling party MP: Public and competent authorities need to know circumstances behind captures of soldiers

Armenia ruling party MP assures that situation on the border is currently stable

Armenia ruling party MP: Confidentiality of process of preparing for demarcation is strictly necessary

Armenia PM: Citizens of EEU countries will be able to receive loans in all territories of member states

Armenian serviceman, 19, dies in Georgia's Akhalkalaki

Armenia legislature majority faction lawmaker: Russia military intervention is not end in itself

High commissioner: Diaspora is considering ways to help hundreds of Ethiopia Armenians

Opposition With Honor parliament faction: Armenia authorities trying to push territorial losses issue to backburner

Legislature majority faction MP: Armenia authorities do not make any demands on Russia

Opposition Armenia Faction in parliament: Authorities are unable to distinguish between priority and secondary issues

3 more die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Bruno Retailleau: France must support Armenia more firmly against aggressions by Azerbaijan

Armenia parliament majority faction: Border delimitation preparation process will start from point zero

PM: Armenia exports to other EEU countries increased by 27.8%

Armenias Pashinyan: Azerbaijan provocations are aimed at disrupting arrangements reached by trilateral statements

California Armenian couple accused of fraud flee leaving their 3 children behind

799 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Katherine Clark: Azerbaijan must acknowledge and respect Armenian sovereignty

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council enlarged meeting underway in Yerevan

Russia peacekeepers patrol along Karabakh border delimitation line

MOD: According to current data Armenia has 6 military casualties as result of Tuesdays attack by Azerbaijan

Turkish Islamic preachers organization denies reports of his death

Newspaper: What happened to missing Armenia soldiers during recent hostilities?

Armenia MOD dismisses reports about not allowing officers with higher rank than major to go up to combat positions

US virtually completes development of new tactical nuclear gravity bomb B61-12

Newspaper: Officers with higher rank than major not allowed to combat positions during recent hostilities in Syunik

Opposition MP: Granting corridor to Azerbaijan through Syunik Province will be gravest crime against Armenia

US Department of State representative says why Azerbaijan is not invited to Summit for Democracy

Armenian human rights activists to submit letters to ECHR regarding soldiers captured and considered missing

Armenia FM stresses importance of addressable response to Azerbaijan's actions during talk with Greek counterpart

Ex-ruling party official: Armenia authorities found reason for MOD's resignation after his visit to Karabakh

Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson: Nikol Pashinyan gave a confessional testimony in parliament yesterday

Armenia President talks about states' collective responsibility at Bloomberg New Economy Forum

Turkish website reports poisoning of Fetullah Gulen
Azerbaijan has destroyed the school of Madatashen village, its house of culture, the monument, and damaged the St. Astvatsatsin Church, reported Monumentwatch.org, which monitors the cultural heritage of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)

According to satellite photos of October 10, Azerbaijani have destroyed the school of Madatashen village in the Askeran region, and reached the wall of the church next to the school. The village hall and the house of culture were also located in this school.

Next to the church there was a monument dedicated to the victims of the Artsakh liberation war in the early 1990s, and this monument was also destroyed by the Azerbaijanis immediately after their current occupation of the village.

The respective video disseminated by the Azerbaijani side clearly shows how and armed Azerbaijani soldier breaks, dismantles, and destroys the monument to the heroes of the Artsakh liberation war, breaks their pictures, and is happily photographed against the backdrop of this destroyed cultural heritage. To note, the video that was made before the Azerbaijani occupation proves that the aforesaid school and the adjacent monument were standing at the time.

The history of Madatashen village dates back to the mid-17th century, and it was named after Russian army general Valerian Madatov, whose cattle ranches were located in this area. The St. Astvatsatsin Church of this village was built in 1904, and its wall as well as the roof were damaged, too.

The Madatashen village school, the house of culture, and the church are not part of the new road construction by Azerbaijan, and it is not ruled out that the building stones obtained as a result of the destruction of these cultural treasures are used by the Azerbaijanis as road retaining walls.
This is the first rally to be convened by the "Armenia" Bloc since the parliamentary elections [on June 20], and it is natural that the leader of the bloc, the second President Robert Kocharyan, will not only be present at the rally, but will also deliver a comprehensive speech reflecting on the accumulated issues. Opposition "Armenia" Bloc MP Agnesa Khamoyan stated this to Armenian News-NEWS.amand referring to our question as to whether Kocharyan will also make a speech at the November 8 rally in Yerevan.

At the same time, the lawmaker emphasized that neither the objectives of their bloc have changed, nor ex-president Kocharyan has backed down from the strugglethat is, to get rid of the incumbent Armenian authorities as soon as possible.

"After the elections, various assessments are made on our actions, there are opinions that we have been content with the parliamentary struggle alone, the fate of our country remains in danger, the geopolitical chain is being tightened around us. And in these conditions, I believe, the citizens who are worried about the fate of our country will surely getat the November 8 rallythe answers to the questions that concern them," the opposition MP stated, emphasizing that the start of the pan-Armenian resistance will be given on November 8.
China boosts daily coal output to new annual high

This aerial view shows coal being loaded onto trucks near a coal mine in Datong. Photo: AFP

China has boosted daily output of coal to a new annual high of 11.88 million tonnes after concerted efforts to alleviate a supply shortage as it heads into winter, the powerful state planner said, and production could rise further.



The Asian giant's consumption of polluting coal has drawn scrutiny this week as nations gathered in Glasgow to discuss further measures needed to slow global warming.



Beijing, by far the world's biggest consumer of coal and also the top producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases, is committed to reducing coal use, but only after 2025.



"According to current production increase trends, the daily production rate is expected to soon exceed 12 million tonnes," the National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday.



Thursday's milestone of 11.88 million tonnes was an increase from the previous day's figure of 11.2 million, it added.



Daily output in the top coal producing regions of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia has risen by 220,000 tonnes and 420,000 tonnes respectively, compared to the beginning of October, the state planner said.



Inner Mongolia was "sparing no effort" to raise production and transport capacity, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, as regional companies deliver large shipments to the major coal port of Qinhuangdao at discounted prices in a bid to stabilise the market.



Annual production capacity in the city of Ordos alone has been raised by 140 million tonnes, with a further 106 mines recently approved to expand output, it said.



China has been beefing up coal production to control soaring prices as it tries to ensure sufficient winter stockpiles for power plants and heating suppliers.



A severe energy crunch in October was blamed on soaring demand, supply disruptions and a fixed price system that made it impossible for power generators to pass rising costs to consumers. (Reuters)
Climate protesters hit Glasgow streets

Climate protesters hit Glasgow streets

About 500 people in Seoul, South Korea, have demanded immediate action for communities already hit by the fallout of a heating planet. Photo: AFP

Thousands of climate protesters braved rain and wind in Glasgow on Saturday to take part in worldwide demonstrations against what campaigners say is a failure of crunch UN talks to act fast enough to tame global warming.



Dozens of events are planned worldwide to demand cuts in fossil fuel use and immediate help for communities already affected by climate change, particularly in poorer countries.



In Glasgow, organisers and police said they ultimately expected up to 50,000 people to parade through the streets of the Scottish city.



Demonstrators began gathering on Saturday morning in a park near the Cop26 summit venue, chanting: "Our world is under attack, stand up fight back!"



"I think a lot of politicians are scared of the power of this movement," said a 22-year-old Norwegian protester who gave her name as Jenny.



Delegates from nearly 200 countries are in Glasgow to hammer out how to meet the Paris Agreement goals of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.



At the halfway stage of the Cop26 negotiations, some countries have upgraded their existing pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while there have been separate deals on phasing out coal, ending foreign fossil fuel funding, and slashing methane.



The promises followed a pre-Cop26 estimate from the UN that said national climate plans, when brought together, put Earth on course to warm 2.7C this century.



With just 1.1C of warming so far, communities across the world are already facing ever more intense fire and drought, displacement and economic ruin wrought by global heating.



And a major assessment last week showed global CO2 emissions were set to rebound in 2021 to pre-pandemic levels.



Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg said the summit had gone nowhere near far enough in a speech at Friday's youth march in Glasgow, where she labelled the conference "a failure".



In Australia on Saturday, protesters in Sydney and Melbourne  some dressed as lumps of coal or Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a vigorous defender of the mining industry  echoed that sentiment, calling the talks "a sham" and their national leader "an absolute embarrassment".



South Korean capital Seoul saw roughly 500 take to the streets demanding immediate action for communities already hit by the fallout of a heating planet.



And about 1,000 people gathered in London outside the Bank of England with placards reading "Less talk more action" and "No More Cop outs". (AFP)
LAS CRUCES - Two World War II veterans and 12 Korean War veterans were honored Saturday, Nov. 6 as Grand Marshals of Las Cruces 26th annual Veterans Day Parade, receiving engraved medals from area military officials.

The parades 2021 theme was Honoring our Korean War Veterans.

The Korean War was fought from 1950 to 1953 between North and South Korea. The northern peninsula was aided by the Soviet Union and China while the southern peninsula was backed by Western countries, including the U.S. It was the first Cold War conflict but is often referred to as the Forgotten War  as little attention was given to it in the U.S.

Kirby Prickett receives a medal in recognition of service ahead of Veterans Day in Las Cruces on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.

More: Las Cruces farmers market moved to Sunday this week to accommodate Veterans Day parade

In the past, the Las Cruces parade only honored two Grand Marshals, but exceptions were made this year as the 2020 parade was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Presentation of the 14 medals took place at 9:30 a.m. at the parades staging area. Grand Marshals included:

Santos Alderete (WWII)

Carlos Armendariz

Christobal Chavez

Critt Coburn

Jeronimo Del Bozque

Henry Diaz

Jose S. Enriquez

Edward Gamboa

George George

Kirby Prickett

Paul Roach (Korean Prisoner of War)

Sam Serna

William Slobojan (WWII era)

Charles Spicka

Presenters of the medals included Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima; Brigadier General Eric Little, White Sands Missile Range Post Commander; Colonel James Brady, Fort Bliss Garrison Commander; WSMR Command Sergeant Major Jose Melendez and retired Brigadier General Fermin Rubio.

It is a great privilege that we are honoring the veterans that came before us, said Brady, a U.S. Army veteran. We look back on those wars  World War II, Korea  they were very difficult engagementsSince then they've given to our community.

Henry Diaz receives a medal in recognition of service ahead of Veterans Day in Las Cruces on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.

More: Veterans Day Parade and other upcoming military appreciation events in Las Cruces

Aaron Henry Diaz, the grandson of Korean War veteran and former sheriff Henry Diaz, said it was important to him to be present Saturday morning for his grandfathers recognition.

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Grandpa, he was saying pretty much, Who am I? I'm just a Navy man, Diaz said. A lot of these heroes, they have a lot of human humility and they don't feel like they deserve the honor they get, and that's even much more reason to raise them and elate them and honor them.

He added that Las Cruces and the state of New Mexico have a great culture of honoring veterans, who make up a large part of who the community is as a whole.

Paul Roach receives a medal in recognition of service ahead of Veterans Day in Las Cruces on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.

Paul Roach, a veteran and Prisoner of War of the conflict in Korea, was one veteran recognized Saturday. He said it was a very great honor to be one of the Grand Marshals this year, and that he is glad there are still so many veterans left who served in the 1950s era conflict.

Anytime these guys get together there's a sparkle, a twinkle that kind of remerges in their eyes. And that's also great to see, Diaz said. These individuals, they're in their golden years and they deserve these golden moments.

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: WWII, Korean War vets honored at the Las Cruces Veterans Day Parade
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A transport truck smashed into a toll booth and six other vehicles on a highway in central Mexico Saturday, leaving at least 19 people dead and three injured, authorities said.

The brakes on the truck, which was transporting shampoo base, apparently failed before it crashed into the toll booth and then the vehicles, igniting a large fire on the highway connecting Mexico City with Puebla state, said a statement from Mexico's Federal Roads and Bridges and Related Services agency. The accident occurred in Mexico State.

The agency raised the death toll to 19 late Saturday.

Videos posted on social media showed some of the vehicles involved in the accident engulfed in flames, while others near the toll booth were completely destroyed.
FARMINGTON  San Juan County early childhood education providers will receive more than $7 million in federal funds to help with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the providers.

The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department in October announced that more than $157 million in American Rescue Plan funds will be awarded to 1,004 qualifying childcare providers, according to a news release.

The state agency called it one of the largest investments in state history for early care and education.

More: San Juan County, Navajo Nation COVID-19 case updates for November 2021

This investment will be transformational for our states childcare sector, which was hit especially hard by the pandemic, said New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky in a statement.

A Gold Star Academy & Child Development Center employee Adrianne Lopez, left, pushes children on merry-go-round in the infant-toddler playground at the center on Nov. 5 at 1115 N. Auburn Ave. in Farmington,

Micah McCoy, state early childhood care spokesperson, provided The Daily Times a list for 35 San Juan County early childhood care and education providers who would receive about $7.77 million.

Kids Corner Learning Center in Farmington received the largest amount with about $708,000.

A Gold Star Academy & Child Development Center in Farmington was next with about $643,000 followed by Child Care Castle Preschool & Early Learning Center in Farmington with about $513,000 then Childrens Discovery Place in Farmington with about $415,000 and First Steps Daycare in Farmington with about $413,000.

The funds can be used for a variety of expenses including utilities, personnel costs, cleaning, rent and health and safety practice. The childcare providers detailed how they would spend the funds in the applications.

More: San Juan County reported 924 new COVID-19 cases last week; New Mexico cases surge 23%

The Daily Times reached out to several of the childcare providers on the list and one agreed to an interview.

A Gold Star Academy & Child Development Center owner Barbara Tedrow plays with the infants and toddlers on Nov. 5 at its location on 1115 N. Auburn Ave. in Farmington.

Barbara Tedrow, owner of A Gold Star Academy & Child Development Center, told The Daily Times the funds come at a time when most childcare providers were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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We have talked to most providers around the state. And we are all still suffering tremendously in trying to find qualified staff, not even just qualified staff that have the degrees that we need, Tedrow said. Even finding a warm body is getting difficult at this point in time.

Tedrow said she made a tough call to close a childcare center on Largo Street near Dads Diner in Spring 2020.

It served three and four-year-old children as part of the New Mexico pre-kindergarten grant and shut down when children were moved to remote learning.

She gave up the $5,000 a month lease and diverted funds to keep paying her staff due to the loss of children.

Tedrow said the center is developing a new site on the old Halliburton property near the intersection of East 30th Street and East Main Street, stating it would be near the incoming Dions Pizza restaurant.

The new facility will be built with the help of the federal funds and increase access for infants and toddlers along with school-aged children.

It's a blessing in disguise and it's giving us the opportunity to take the funding and give it back to the community and put a center where it's needed, Tedrow said.

Tedrow also highlighted how the state early childhood care and education agency will pay a $1,500 one-time stipend to workers in November.

She said all staff, including maintenance personnel, cooks and bus drivers, would also qualify. Applications for the stipend close on Dec. 1.

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: County childcare providers received $7.7 million in federal funds
A Bastrop student was charged with felony terrorizing following an incident that occurred Friday.

According to authorities, Bastrop police and Morehouse Parish deputies responded to a complaint of an active shooter at Bastrop High School.

Authorities said there was no active shooter found on the campus.

The investigation into the complaint resulted in the arrest of a juvenile on a count of terrorizing. Authorities said the juvenile falsely reported an active shooter on campus.

Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.

Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer.

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Bastrop student charged with terrorizing after false shooting threat
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's health ministry on Saturday said it would open up bookings for booster shots a month before people were eligible to receive the shots to help speed up the rollout ahead of the challenging winter months.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is relying on booster doses as a major plank of his plan to avoid lockdown this winter through COVID-19 vaccines rather than social distancing rules or mask mandates, but has been criticised for a slow start to the programme.

Around 3 in 5 eligible over-50s have had booster shots in England, with more than 9 million people getting booster doses in Britain overall so far.

Over-50s and vulnerable people will still become eligible for their booster shots 6 months after their second dose. But from Monday, they can book the appointment after five months.

Currently, people can only book the appointment six months after their second dose.

"This will accelerate the booster programme, ensure the NHS is able to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, and importantly help more people maintain protection against COVID-19 as we know immunity will dip over time," Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who sets policy in England, said.

The health ministry said that the winter would be challenging for the National Health Service (NHS), owing to increased spread of other seasonal viruses such as flu.

Britain is currently reporting an average of 40,000 new cases each day. Even though vaccines have greatly reduced deaths from COVID, doctors are warning that pressures are building inside hospitals.

Johnson has so far resisted calls for a "Plan B" involving mask mandates, vaccine passes and work-from-home directives, and Javid has said that while the NHS faces "huge" pressure, it is not currently unsustainable pressure.

"COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your family ahead of a challenging winter and this change to the booking system will make it as easy as possible for people to book their booster jabs," Javid said.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
ZEELAND  The Zeeland City Council voted Monday to proceed with buying two buildings on Main Avenue.

Under the city's control one or both buildings could be torn down to make way for a walkway between a public parking lot to the north and the Main Avenue shopping district, a project that has been part of the city's long-term vision for downtown for more than a decade.

The downtown storefronts of 135 and 137 E. Main Ave., Zeeland, are pictured on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. The Zeeland City Council signed off on an agreement to buy the buildings Monday.

The pair of buildings at 135 and 137 E. Main Ave. have been owned by Springer LLC since 2003, according to property records.

The city has long eyed Springer's properties as a potential site for a midblock downtown passageway.

The single-story buildings are in an ideal position for the passageway, according to the city, and present a "strong potential" for redevelopment due to their physical condition and turnover in building tenants.

"We spotlighted these properties at 135 and 137 E. Main because in the span of our downtown they are centrally located in the middle of the block, and they are in prime position to be able to connect the north parking lot to Main Street, therefore connecting customers to the rest of the businesses on the block," City marketing director Abby deRoo told council Monday.

Sketches of potential designs for redevelopment alongside or overtop a pedestrian walkway the city is planning at 135 and 137 E. Main Ave.

Along with the walkway, the city would turn to a private developer to redevelop or build new construction there and create a "quality" mixed-use building or buildings. The city's downtown plan envisions a two- or three-story building with ground floor retail or restaurants and upper floor residential or professional offices/services.

deRoo said a private buyer had been in talks with the owner about the properties, but that buyer fell through and the city, which has been in communication about the sale of the properties and the downtown passageway plans, was able to make an offer.

deRoo said the city wanted to secure the building in "friendly hands" before tenants were committed to new leases.

The tenant in 137 E. Main Ave., a home decor and home furnishing business that reopened this spring under the name Altered Finishes, recently moved out.

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Owner Brenda McCulloch said she had been searching for a smaller location in Zeeland for her business since learning of the possible sale of the building to a private buyer earlier this year. As the fall and Christmas shopping seasons approached, supply chain issues and product delays made it financially challenging to keep her storefront on Main Avenue open.

The business now rents booth space inside Not So Shabby in Holland and Rustic Corner in Jenison to sell home goods and McCulloch is opening a home workshop for furniture upholstery and restoration.

"The business location in Zeeland is now closed and we are in the process of packing up remaining inventory and displays," McCulloch told the Sentinel. "We expect to be done with our move by mid-month."

Signs in the window of Altered Finishes, 137 E. Main Ave., explain the business's recent move to Holland.

A massage therapist and fitness instructor are located at 135 E. Main. The massage therapist, Claudia Bos, declined via email to comment on the sale and future plans.

Plans for the immediate future of the two buildings were not known Monday. Ownership of the building will change hands in January; the current tenants are on month-to-month leases, according to the city.

"After city council makes a decision, then the next step would be what is the timeline for the building?" deRoo told council. "If there's not a project to move forward on immediately, perhaps those buildings stay up and we resume those leases. Perhaps they come down right away and we get to work on a major development."

The tenants were informed by the city Monday ahead of the council's planned vote on the purchase.

Mayor Kevin Klynstra stressed the city should work with the current tenants to help them find new locations for their businesses.

Council's vote to buy the two properties for $370,000 passed 5-1; Glenn Kass voted against the purchase and Phung Lam was absent.

 Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: City to buy downtown Zeeland buildings
People try to get into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021 Stringer/REUTERS

An Afghan father trying to provide food for his family sold his kid daughter to a 55-year-old man.

Parwana Malik was sold for $2,200, according to CNN.

Abdul Malik said he sold his 12-year-old daughter Parwana to make ends meet.

An Afghan father said he sold his 9-year-old daughter, Parwana Malik, to a man for $2,200 to be able to afford food for his wife and other kids, CNN reported.

The family has lived in a northwest province of Afghanistan for years, struggling to pay for basic needs like food. Together, they earn just a few dollars a day, according to CNN. A few months ago, Parwana's father sold her 12-year-old sister to make ends meet.

The family was forced this time around to sell another child, once again to put food on the table. Parwana's parents sold her to a 55-year-old for $2,200, according to CNN.

Parwana's father, Abdul, is "broken," CNN reported. He and his wife tried to borrow money from relatives and beg on the streets but could not come up with enough. "We are eight family members," he told CNN. "I have to sell to keep other family members alive."

Last month, a woman named Saleha said she sold her 3-year-old daughter for $550 because, like the Maliks, she didn't have enough money to sustain herself. When Insider readers heard of Saleha's story, dozens offered to pay off her debt.

Afghanistan is heading toward "universal poverty" following the Taliban's swift takeover of the country, according to a projection from a United Nations' development agency.

Within a year, the poverty rate in Afghanistan will hover at a whopping 97% or 98%, said Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP's Asia-Pacific Director.

"Afghanistan pretty much faces universal poverty by the middle of next year," Wignaraja said. "That's where we're heading - it's 97-98% no matter how you work these projections."

The Taliban took over Afghanistan following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the region after two decades spent trying to rid the country of extremists. In its takeover, the Taliban renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reverting back to the same name used during the last time the regime held power, in 1996. The regime remained in power until 2001, after the US invaded Afghanistan.

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After the US ousted the Taliban from power in 2001, Afghanistan made several developmental gains including the doubling of per capita income and an increase in the average number of years of education, Wignaraja said.

Over the past two decades, Afghanistan made significant economic gains that are now in danger of collapsing because of political instability. Afghanistan faces "a crush on local banking" because of the Taliban takeover, Wignaraja said. That instability is only worsened by the pandemic.

The Biden administration, in an effort to limit the Taliban's resources, froze nearly $10 billion in reserves in the country's central bank - most of which is reportedly held by the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The move has been criticized as misdirected and will ultimately hurt Afghans more than the Taliban, Shah Mehrabi, a senior board member of Da Afghanistan Bank, told Bloomberg.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A massive fireball sparked by a fuel tanker explosion killed 98 people in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, the West African country's disaster management agency said on Saturday.

The blast happened when a fuel tanker collided with another truck at a petrol station on Friday night, according to witnesses.

The flames then spread, burning people in cars and on roads nearby.

The majority of the victims were street vendors and motorcyclists, many of whom were caught in the blaze while trying to retrieve fuel leaking from the tanker before it ignited, according to volunteer worker Jusu Jacka Yorma who was at the scene.

The National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement that 98 deaths had been recorded so far and "92 survivors are currently admitted to various hospitals in Freetown".

Vice-President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh had earlier given a death toll of 98 after arriving at the scene, adding that all those injured would receive free treatment.

A nurse at a hospital where victims were sent told AFP that many women, men and children had sustained "serious injuries".

Rescue operations continued under police supervision on Saturday.

- 'Horrendous loss' -

Hundreds of people gathered at the scene of the tragedy, many searching for missing relatives under the eye of security forces, an AFP correspondent said.

Contrary to some initial reports, a fuel depot near the accident did not explode, the correspondent added.

Video footage showed a burnt-out tanker and a truck, and the surrounding area littered with husks of vehicles, some still smouldering.

"Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life," President Julius Maada Bio wrote on Twitter.

"My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result. My government will do everything to support affected families."

The United Nations office in Sierra Leone expressed its "deepest condolences" to the victims.

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"The UN family closely monitors the situation and stands ready" to help with the response to the fire," it said in a statement.

- 'Harrowing' footage -

Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said she was "deeply saddened" by the explosion.

"The video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing," she wrote on Facebook.

"The extent of damage to property is unknown," she said, adding she was unable to visit the scene because she was travelling abroad.

Despite being rich in diamonds Sierra Leone remains one of the world's poorest countries, its economy devastated during a 1991-2002 civil war that left 120,000 dead.

Accidents involving petrol tankers have happened before in the former British colony of 7.5 million.

In other parts of Africa, similar incidents have also left many dead as people gather to collect leaking fuel.

In 2009, more than 100 people were killed when a petrol tanker overturned northwest of Kenyan capital Nairobi and an explosion burnt those gathering to try and grab some of the fuel.

At least 100 people were killed when a tanker exploded in Tanzania in 2019, while in 2015 more than 200 perished in a similar accident in South Sudan.

In July this year, 13 people were killed and others seriously burnt when a "huge fireball" engulfed a crowd in Kenya as they siphoned fuel from an overturned petrol truck that ignited without warning.

sb/dl/har
The US said on Saturday it had ordered all of its non-essential diplomats and their families to leave Ethiopia, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged people to make sacrifices to fend off rebels threatening to advance on the capital.

Nine rebel groups said on Friday they would join forces in an alliance built around the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been locked in a year-long war that has killed thousands and pushed many more into famine-like conditions.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into Tigray in November last year to topple the TPLF, accusing them of attacking military bases.

The US State Department said it had "ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and their family members" on Friday, and it was also urging all other US nationals to leave.

Saudi Arabia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other countries have also urged their people to leave Ethiopia in the past week.

TPLF representative Berhane Gebre-Christos said on Friday the alliance was aiming to "remove the regime" as he signed the nine-party agreement in Washington.

Abiy then tweeted on Saturday that "there are sacrifices to be made, but those sacrifices will salvage Ethiopia".

"We have seen the tests and obstacles and it made us stronger," he said.

The government's communication service said on Twitter: "For us, Ethiopians, dying for our sovereignty, unity and identity, is an honour. There is no Ethiopianism without sacrifice."

- 'Existential war' -

Last weekend, the TPLF said it had taken two strategic cities in Amhara region, where its fighters advanced after retaking their Tigray bastion in June.

It said on Wednesday it had reached the town of Kemissie in Amhara, 325 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of the capital.

The TPLF added it was running "joint operations" with another rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, which predicted Addis Ababa could fall in a matter of weeks.

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The Ethiopian government, which on Tuesday declared a nationwide emergency, has denied any major rebel advance or threat on the capital, vowing to press on to victory in "an existential war".

Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum on Friday accused the rebels of spinning "an alarmist narrative that is creating much tension among different communities, including the international community".

"This information warfare and this propaganda that they have been propagating is giving a false sense of insecurity," she added.

The UN Security Council on Friday called for a ceasefire but neither side has yet responded.

Abiy declared a victory in the conflict shortly after sending in the troops.

But by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray and expanded into neighbouring Afar and Amhara.

- Twitter disables 'trends' -

The conflict has also exacerbated ethnic rivalries, in particular on social media where calls for war and hatred have been rife.

Twitter announced on Saturday that it had temporarily disabled its "trends" section  which groups the most viral tweets on a subject  for Ethiopia.

The social media giant said it was "focused on protecting the safety of the conversation on Twitter," adding that "inciting violence or dehumanising people is against our rules".

Facebook's parent company Meta said Wednesday that it had deleted a post by Abiy that called for Ethiopians to "bury" the rebels.

Following Tuesday's declaration of a nationwide emergency, lawyers told AFP thousands of Tigrayans had been detained.

The authorities say they are only targeting TPLF supporters.

But rights watchdog Amnesty International slammed the emergency measures, calling them "a blueprint for escalating human rights violations".

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The tragic saga of a 2015 traffic accident where two young people died may have finally come to an end this week as the former Nocona woman convicted and sentenced in the case was arrested after a SWAT team converged on where she barricaded herself inside and threatened to use a gun.

It was the dramatic conclusion of a long legal appeals battle involving Terri Sanders who was convicted in a December 2018 trial on two counts of manslaughter with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison.

Sanders

The fatal head-on collision occurred on U.S. Highway 82 between Wichita Falls and Nocona on Oct. 23, 2015. Sanders was driving home to Nocona after a party in Wichita Falls. Brent Michael Winkler, Kyle David Kemp, both 20, and Jackson Pennington, 22 were riding in Winklers Dodge Intrepid to Wichita Falls from Nocona.

Shortly before midnight, the vehicle violently collided when Sanders crossed the center line into the other lane hitting the westbound vehicle. Kemp of Burkburnett and Winkler of Iowa Park were both killed and Pennington was seriously injured. Sanders was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both for two counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of manslaughter and a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

More: Crime of the Week: Radio station assault, $1,000 reward offered

Following her trial, Sanders lawyers filed an appeal during which time Sanders was released on bond and required to use an interlock device which is something like a breath analyzer before a vehicle starts.

More: Wichita County DA and 97th District DA will be on call for deadly drunk driving accidents

During the trial they countered the allegations of intoxication and reckless driving with a defense that wet road conditions caused the crash. In the appeal, they questioned the validity of expert testimony and evidence. During the trial, the blood evidence was challenged and could not be submitted.

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More: Appeals court upholds convictions of woman who killed two men in crash in Montague County

In September 2020, the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas denied that appeal, stating there was no error in the trial court judgement and the judgement was affirmed.

More: Two DAs who won tough intoxication homicide case bring training to Wichita Falls

Following that, Sanders attorney filed a petition for discretionary review, which is essentially the last ditch effort in a criminal case asking the court to review the decision. Earlier in the summer, the court denied that request and a mandate ordering the trial judge to issue a warrant for her arrest was filed.

District Attorney Casey Polhemus said when that warrant was issued, they found out Sanders was living in Temple, so they contacted local law enforcement to pick her up.

When they tried to make contact she ran, abandoning her vehicle, moving out all her stuff and taking off. That was in late summer. The Department of Public Safety tried unsuccessfully to find her.

Officials contacted the Texas Ranger who works this jurisdiction who got in touch with the Attorney Generals Fugitive Task Force two or three weeks ago and they were able to identify her boyfriend who was unknown before. They followed him and found her, said the DA.

More: Police report: Abby Saldana told family, boss she feared man now charged with her murder

However, taking her into custody was not easy. Polhemus said she doesnt have the police report yet so she does not know all the details, but it appears when officers went to find her, they saw her through a window and she then barricaded herself inside threatening to kill herself with a gun. A SWAT team went in to get her with no further injury to anyone.

The Comal County jail records show the 58-year-old Sanders was booked in on a Montague County warrant on Nov. 4.

Polhemus said without knowing the details of the capture incident she is uncertain if Comal County may file its own charges. Sanders is expected to be transferred immediately to state prison to begin serving her sentence of 20 years. Due to the deadly weapon charge, Sanders will have to serve at least half of her sentence, day for day, before she is eligible for parole.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: SWAT swoops in, arrests former Nocona woman convicted in 2015 deaths
MILAN (AP)  A humanitarian rescue boat stuck in the Mediterranean Sea carrying 800 migrants received a delivery of food and blankets Saturday while it awaits permission to come to shore.

The German rescue boat Sea-Eye 4 set a course for the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday after picking up 400 migrants from a sinking wooden boat, doubling the number of people on board.

Even though they were just hours away from Italys southernmost island, officials at the charity Sea-Eye said Italy has not yet assigned the ship a safe port and that Malta shirked its responsibility by not responding to the wooden boats distress signal in its search and rescue area.

Half of those on board are minors, including children under 10 and five pregnant women, the charity said Saturday. Doctors on board are treating 25 people for hypothermia, sea sickness and high blood pressure, along with injuries that doctors say are consistent with torture administered during their escape.

We must urgently point out that these people should be given medical treatment on land as soon as possible ... There must be no standoff here, said Dr. Christine Winkelmann, chair of German Doctors charity that also operates the Sea-Eye 4.

Supplies were brought by the Dresden, Germany-based charity Mission Lifeline, which said more than 200 cities and towns in German have signaled a willingness to take in migrants.

The number of migrants daring the dangerous central Mediterranean crossing is spiking dramatically this year to more than 54,000, but still far off those of 2014-2017, when 120,000-180,000 people reached Italy a year, often in rickety smugglers boats.

___

Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
The Art Force Piano Series continues at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9 when the visiting husband-wife duo of Alex and Rachel Li McDonald present Dances and Romances at Amarillo College.

The Art Force Piano Series continues at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9 when the visiting husband-wife duo of Alex and Rachel Li McDonald present Dances and Romances at Amarillo College.

All concerts in the piano series are free and open to the public, and they each take place in the Concert Hall Theater on ACs Washington Street Campus.

The Juilliard-trained McDonalds, who operate the McDonald Music Studios in Plano, Texas, will perform their arrangement of five movements from the Nutcracker, Piazzollas Grand Tango, Stravinskys Suite Italienne and more.

Pianist Alex McDonald made his orchestral debut at age 11 and has since performed across the United States and in Israel, Mexico, Canada, Japan and South Korea. He has soloed with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Alex McDonald both graduated from and taught at Juilliard School. He received the 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award in teaching from the Texas Music Teachers Association, and he presently is director of the Basically Beethoven Festival, a thriving summer concert series in downtown Dallas Arts District.

Rachel Li McDonald is an accomplished violist who has actively performed and taught throughout North America and Japan since her debut chamber performance at Carnegie Hall was broadcast on PBS.

She holds a bachelors degree from The Julliard School, as well as a masters degree from Rice University. As a performer, Ms. McDonald has soloed with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic and performed as an orchestral musician in the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, and Shepherd School of Music Orchestra.

ACs 2021-22 Art Force Piano Series kicked off in October with Thirty Dirty Fingers, in which three current and former AC faculty members simultaneously shared the keyboard to deliver a range of classical music, from Debussy to Sousa.

The three remaining presentations in the five-concert, yearlong series will be on these Tuesday nights in 2022:

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 Feb. 1, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.  2022 Jam with Love!  featuring AC Music Faculty.

 March 1, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.  Forgotten Masterpieces of Central European Piano Music  featuring Slawomir Dobrzanski.

 April 5, 2022  Beethoven 250  featuring David Palmer, artistic director of Chamber Music Amarillo.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Guest artists to present Dances and Romances in Art Force Piano Series
Meaningful change takes a group of people coming together and making a stand. Thats exactly what my colleagues in Congress and I did in 2009 and 2010 when we voted for the Affordable Care Act. These votes may have very well cost me and countless of my fellow Democrats our jobs as the bill was quite divisive at the time. Heres what really matters: today, millions are enrolled in the federal marketplaceand the majority of Americans approve of the groundbreaking legislation.

Paul Hodes

Since the passage of the ACA, Republicans have not stopped in their quest to repeal the one piece of legislation that has made affordable health care a reality for so many Americans. They havent succeeded so far and they never will.

Twenty of my former colleagues and I recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asking that Congress take advantage of the opportunity right now to shore up key pieces of the ACA in the ongoing budget reconciliation negotiations. With the midterm elections on the horizon, this is my partys best chance to ensure that the cost-saving measures we worked so hard to pass are made permanent.

One critical part of the ACA that was strengthened in this years American Rescue Plan Act is expanded subsidies to help bring down premium costs for enrollees. This relief has made health care more affordable and it has brought more Americans into the federal insurance marketplace. Millions of Americans enrolled for the first time during the most recent special enrollment season. But heres whats so urgent: these subsidies are set to expire at the end of next year unless Congress steps in to save them.

Allowing these subsidies to lapse would have a devastating impact on both our health care system and our communities across New Hampshire. If the tax credits expire, millions of Americans would face higher monthly premiums. Almost 23,000 of the newly insured in New Hampshire would lose out on cost-reducing relief that helps them afford health insurance. We cant let this happen by letting a vital program expire.

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Thankfully, Congress has the opportunity to make these subsidies permanent in the upcoming budget. If this happens, 19,000 Granite Staters could have access to affordable care through marketplace tax credits next year. Permanent subsidies would bring down the number of uninsured Americans next year by an estimated 4.2 million.

New Hampshires leaders in Congress can help continue the fight my colleagues and I took up in 2009 to help expand access to affordable health care. Senator Maggie Hassan, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Representative Annie Kuster, and Representative Chris Pappas  this could be our last, best shot to ensure these cost saving measures are kept in place permanently. Constituents of all ages and backgrounds are counting on you to be their voice and advocate for quality, affordable care for all.

I loved serving New Hampshire in Congress but every day, I understand that my vote to pass the Affordable Care Act was worth losing my race for the US Senate when I contemplate the peace of mind that comes with health coverage for those who never thought it would be within reach. Allowing these subsides to expire poses a direct threat to that peace of mind for countless people in the federal marketplace who may soon have to face the difficult position of losing their coverage. Lets ensure this outcome is not the reality for anyone.

Hon. Paul W. Hodes served as the United States Representative for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District from 2007 to 2011.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hodes: Congress must act to ensure Affordable Care Act remains affordable
Leprosy is an ancient disease, the oldest disease known to be associated with humans, with evidence of characteristic bone pitting and deformities found in burial sites in India as far back as 2000 B.C.

Its thus only natural that many might think the disease is a relic of the past. My studies in 2018 in a Brazilian state where the disease is prevalent shows that leprosy is closer to us than we might think, however. The disease is growing in armadillos. And while these animals are not exactly the cuddly type to which humans are drawn, armadillo-to-human contact is spreading. And, when the species do interact, armadillos are giving leprosy back.

An unsightly animal, a worse disease

Leprosy, also called Hansens disease, is caused by infection by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, causing skin lesions, nerve damage, disfigurement and disability, leading to social stigmatization common to people with this disease. It is is spread mainly by aerosol infection, or coughing and sneezing, from human to human.

Typically, infection requires living in close contact with an untreated infected individual. Symptoms develop slowly, as long as three to seven years after infection. It is rare in the United States, with an average of less than 200 cases diagnosed per year in the last 10 years, mostly in individuals who immigrated from foreign countries where the disease is prevalent. It is found mostly in tropical countries such as Brazil, India, Indonesia and other countries in Africa, southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. There were 214,783 new cases worldwide in 2016.

Claudio Salgado , CC BY-SA

Although drugs to treat and cure leprosy are cheap and available for free to anyone diagnosed with the disease, pockets of high incidence in dozens of countries have kept the numbers from declining much in the last few years. The root causes for the continued high prevalence rates remain poverty, poor sanitation and nutrition, and lack of health care availability to treat those diagnosed before nerve damage and disability occur.

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Enter the armadillos

Dasypus novemcinctus, commonly known as the nine-banded armadillo in the U.S. or chicken-armadillo in Brazil, is the only species whose range includes North, Central and South America. These armadillos first extended their range from Mexico into Texas around the 1850s and then went north and east into the Gulf states of the southern U.S. In late 1940s, another group of armadillos escaped from captivity in central Florida and spread throughout Florida, eventually merging with the Texan armadillos in the early 1970s in the Florida Panhandle.

Around this time, Dr. Eleanor Storrs found that armadillos infected with M. leprae experimentally eventually came down with symptoms of leprosy, even having the same skin lesions and nerve damage found in human cases. Shortly after this, she and her team discovered that armadillos living in the wild in Texas and Louisiana were naturally infected by M. leprae. Analysis of archived serum samples for antibodies specific for the bacterium indicated that animals from this area had likely been infected since the 1960s. Exactly how the armadillos became infected by humans is not clear, but one theory is that they picked it up from contaminated soil by digging. Surveys of armadillos in the Gulf states found that up to 20 percent were infected with M. leprae.

At first, armadillos susceptibility to leprosy was a boost to science and medicine. Because they were the only animal other than humans in which the bacteria could be isolated, armadillos allowed scientists to study leprosy and possible treatments.

Now, there are millions of armadillos in the southern U.S., and people interact with them in a variety of ways. The animals leathery carapaces were fashioned into purses and boots; some were kept as pets in the home or brought to entertain people at petting zoos, childrens schools and at armadillo races at county fairs. In certain areas, people hunted them to serve at barbecues.

All of this exposure eventually had consequences. In 2011, Dr. Richard Truman from the National Hansens Disease Program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, published a study showing that the strain infecting the majority of armadillos and native leprosy patients in Texas and Louisiana were identical, indicating that the disease was a zoonotic infection being transmitted to humans.

In 2015, another study from the same group found that a different strain type that existed only in central Florida was causing a second cluster of cases in armadillos and humans. Both of these reports caused a huge amount of media coverage, with people being somewhat surprised and alarmed that this ungainly and not very cuddly animal was transmitting the oldest and one of the most feared diseases to humans. Still, once the excitement died down, most people probably resumed their behaviors with these animals, ignoring the possible risks involved.

What goes around, comes around: The same is true in Brazil

Two things stand out about Brazil. Armadillos are native to South America; and leprosy, first brought to Brazil over 500 years ago by the European explorers and through the slave trade from West Africa, has been widespread there for hundreds of years. Knowing this, our research team wanted to know how much human contact there was with armadillos in Brazil and whether this could lead to leprosy transmission from these animals as had been shown in the southern U.S.

Our study focused on people living in a rural area in western Para state in the Brazilian Amazon in the city of Belterra. People living there frequently ate armadillos as a source of protein. And there was a lot of interaction of people from this town with armadillos: 19% hunted the animals in the forests, and 65% cleaned the meat for cooking or ate armadillos at least once per year. The percentage of people with a positive antibody response to the bacterium (63% were positive, normal for this region) indicated that the majority of people had been infected by M. leprae.

A surprising 62% of armadillos killed by hunters showed signs of infection with M. leprae, a rate three times higher than in Texas and Louisiana. Most importantly, a group of 27 individuals who ate armadillo meat most frequently had antibody levels 50% higher than other groups, indicating that increased consumption almost doubled their risk for disease. The study concluded that similar to the southern states in the U.S., leprosy is being transmitted from armadillos to people in Brazil.

The broader message about this work is that wild animals harbor all kinds of diseases that can be transmitted to humans, particularly when there may be contact with blood or when eating the meat. Although leprosy remains a disease that few people in the U.S. worry about, people should take care with how they interact with armadillos.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

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John Stewart Spencer receives funding from The Heiser Program of the New York Community Trust for Research in Leprosy and a J. William Fulbright Scholar to Brazil Award 2015-2016.
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British Iranian held in Iran since 2016, vowed to maintain a hunger strike he started nearly two weeks ago to denounce the "complacency" of the British government and its failure to secure the release of his wife.

"It's not a stunt. It's not a game, a hunger strike, it's not a light thing," Richard Ratcliffe told AFP on Friday during a vigil held to support his fast, which he started on Sunday, October 24 outside the Foreign Office in London.

"The status quo is unacceptable," he said, on the pavement with their daughter Gabriella in front of a display of candles spelling out "Free Nazanin," three weeks after Zaghari-Ratcliffe lost her appeal against a second jail term in Iran.

A project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media organisation's philanthropic wing, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in 2016 in Tehran during a visit to her family and convicted of plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime -- accusations she strenuously denied -- and sentenced to five years in prison.

After serving her time, she was sentenced again at the end of April to another year's imprisonment for participating in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.

In mid-October, she lost her appeal, with her family fearing she will soon return to prison, which she had been allowed to leave with an electronic bracelet in March 2020 amid Covid-19 concerns.

Ratcliffe has said he believed his wife "is caught in a dispute between two states" over an old debt of 400 million pounds ($540 million) that London refuses to settle since the shah of Iran was ousted in 1979.

He began his new hunger strike, his second since 2018, in the face of "complacency running through the government strategy".

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think their strategy was failing," he said.

With winter approaching, Ratcliffe said he had received lots of hats and scarves and other warm clothing from wellwishers.

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"Your metabolism slows down when you're on a hunger strike, so I feel the cold more, so I'm wearing a huge number of layers now," he said.

Despite the falling temperatures, Ratcliffe said he intended to continue his protest, in particular, because Iran is attending the COP26 climate talks in Scotland.

"I intend on going on into next week, not least because the Iranians are sending a delegation to Glasgow," he said.

"They might be coming down to London as well, and I just think they shouldn't be able to wine and dine and carry on like normal whilst holding British citizens hostage."

cdu/mtp/jah
The Jacksonville Icemen open their home season on Saturday night against South Carolina, a sold-out ECHL matchup at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

When: 7 p.m. Saturday.

Where: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

The skinny: The long-awaited home opener finally arrives as the Icemen begin their fifth home season in Jacksonville against the ECHL South rival Stingrays. ... Saturday night's game has already been declared a sell-out. ... Jacksonville leads the ECHL in short-handed goals with three already, after netting only one all last season when down a man. ... The Icemen rank third in the ECHL on the power play at 27.3 percent, including three assists from forward Abbott Girduckis. ... Jordan Subban, younger brother of New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, leads the Stingrays with three assists.

Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Icemen vs. South Carolina Stingrays: 2021 ECHL home opener
The current Dubai Expo includes a Womens Pavilion dedicated to a journey on womens impact to creating a better world (AP)

While the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public relations experts are busy laundering reputations, presenting an image of Emirati tolerance and openness, evidence which came before a recent cross-party panel suggested something quite different.

Just listening to the testimony of British women who had experienced the UAE legal system gave a very different flavour of what justice is like in the Emirates. The current Dubai Expo includes a Womens Pavilion dedicated to a journey on womens impact to creating a better world  making the suggestion that the UAE is greatly improving the lot of women. Unfortunately, this is largely an illusion.

Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Debbie Abrahams MP and I produced a report this month which reveals the shocking lack of fundamental protection of womens rights in the UAE. Although the UAE government likes to remind its critics about recent reforms, such as the removal of the legal defence for so-called honour killings, the law still leaves women vulnerable to serious abuses of their rights, with little legal recourse.

For example, chastisement in the form of physical violence by a husband on his wife remains lawful, as does marital rape. Even on a day-to-day level, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of association appear to be luxuries not afforded to women in the UAE.

For British women in the UAE, many have found themselves arrested for activity that simply wouldnt be crimes anywhere else, such as insulting someone in a WhatsApp message. At the evidence hearing which was held in order to compile our report, we heard testimony from women such as Caitlin McNamara. Her own experience after being seriously sexually assaulted by a government official is especially striking.

She was advised to flee the country by consular officials after she had been attacked, warned that she herself could end up being prosecuted for making such an accusation. She was also advised that no lawyer would take her case for fear of receiving backlash themselves.

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Her attacker faced no consequences whatsoever. Proof, if it were needed, of how fragile the protection for women really is in the UAE, especially when it comes to the interests of powerful officials.

The UAEs desperation to bolster a falsely positive image globally means that freedom of expression, especially on social media, simply does not exist in the country. Criticism of the regime is suppressed, often brutally. Asa Hutchinson, another woman who attended our hearing, was arrested after she had merely witnessed a fight but found herself being falsely accused of wrongdoing. We heard in her testimony that it enrages them when things hit the newspapers.

While the UAEs marketing departments work their magic to present the country as a modern utopia, as soon as something goes wrong, the brutal truth of the UAEs attitude towards womens rights quickly becomes clear.

Of course, it is not just the UAE that is to blame for not defending British women in the Emirates. Our very own Foreign Office does not appear to be sufficiently capable or prepared to help British women who find themselves in difficult positions there.

According to Caitlin, who turned to the British consular services after the trauma of her attack, they said the right things, but  there was no proactive help. She was merely sent the links for generic sexual assault advice websites back in the UK. And when Caitlin took her case to the Crown Prosecution Services in London, her case was dismissed because events took place outside of this jurisdiction and international law does not do very well by women, even when they are raped. It was never drafted with women in mind. This epitomises how womens rights are susceptible to neglect globally.

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The Foreign Office recorded over 1,350 detentions of British women in the UAE from 2011 to 2016. Given the lacklustre support we heard about being offered to women, we can only imagine the scale of inaction across these many cases. I have no doubt that for many of those women, the experience of arrest in the UAE was terrifying and traumatic, yet they were expected to deal with it alone.

Our report showcases the stories of just a few women, but the evidence that we heard painted an alarming picture. In light of the many thousands of Britons visiting or living there at any one time, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office needs to step up and fulfil its consular duties to British nationals. The UAE governments own apparent reforms are simply not sufficient, and they have a long way to go before they can legitimately claim to be proponents of womens safety, let alone prosperity, in the country.

It is uncomfortably clear that the Dubai Expos Womens Pavilion is just another PR stunt. It is time for the Foreign Office to listen and respond to the thousands of women with similar tales, and urgently put the necessary pressure on the UAE to reform.

Baroness Kennedy is a barrister, broadcaster and Labour peer in the House of Lords

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GLASGOW, Scotland  A delegation of mostly Democratic lawmakers arrived at the U.N. Climate Change Conference early Saturday morning to receive the welcome news that President Bidens infrastructure bill had been passed by the House of Representatives and would soon become law.

In interviews with Yahoo News at the conference, eight Democrats  Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tom Carper of Delaware and Michael Bennett of Colorado  all expressed some measure of relief about the infrastructure bills passage. They also were, by and large, confident that the Build Back Better plan, Bidens companion proposal to spend at least $1.7 trillion over 10 years on a host of domestic policy priorities, especially mitigating climate change, would also pass.

Its really, really encouraging, Heinrich, one of 18 U.S. senators to travel to COP26, said of the infrastructure package. I worked a lot on that bill on [improving electricity] transmission, which is an enabler for all this clean energy.

While progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who voted against the infrastructure bill, have criticized it for not containing enough to address climate change, Heinrich called it a giant step forward to be able to build the grid of the future that we desperately need if were going to decarbonize.

Cardin, who sits on the Environmental and Public Works Committee, said that criticism from some progressives about the bills shortcomings on combating climate change ignores what the infrastructure bill does contain both for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.

Sen. Ben Cardin speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on March 23. (Erin Scot/ Pool via Reuters)

The transportation sector included the strongest climate section ever dealing with electric vehicles and charging stations, dealt with the adaptation issues, dealt with resiliency, Cardin said. Also in the water section, we also dealt with resiliency, so it was a strong commitment to the realities of climate change and what we need to deal with it.

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Rosen sought to emphasize the positive aspects of the bill.

Im a positive person, so I want to think about what we are doing. What were going to invest in, what we havent done before," she said. "These are new and exciting things that we are going to do. Were going to invest in broadband and airports and all kinds of infrastructure.

While Durbin said he thought the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better plan complemented each other, Merkley stressed that he was less impressed with the climate aspects of the infrastructure package.

The bill has some pros and cons on the climate front, for example, it develops some hydrogen hubs. It also develops what I refer to as dirty hydrogen hubs that are based on natural gas, Merkley said. Really, were looking to the Build Back Better bill to be the key bill that is going to take us forward on climate.

Cardin said the infrastructure bill paves the way for the Build Back Better bill, which he described as containing an unprecedented commitment for the environment.

Green New Deal co-author Markey also expressed optimism that Democrats would, in the end, rally around Build Back Better.

I believe that Joe Biden has the capacity to bring the Build Back Better bill home. I think were very close, and my opinion is that we will get a historically strong bill, Markey said. We dont have a choice. The Build Back Better bill must pass. The climate sections in the Build Back Better bill must become law, and were all gonna work as hard as we can to make sure that happens.

Sen. Joe Manchin pauses during remarks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 1. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

The biggest single obstacle to passing the bill is Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. To date, Manchin has been something of a one-man wrecking ball to the legislation, knocking out sections of the bill like the clean energy provision that some climate advocates say was needed to ensure the U.S. meets its goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Each of the senators who spoke with Yahoo News has had ample practice answering questions about where Manchin stands on the latest negotiations for Build Back Better and whether he might ultimately be persuaded to support it. The one who was least confident in the bill's prospects was the one in the best position to judge them.

I dont know the answer to that, Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said, when asked if the Senate would muster the votes to pass the hotly contested legislation. First, we have to get it through the parliamentarians office and through 50 Democratic senators.

Merkley was equally hesitant to predict whether Manchin would ultimately support the bill. Thats probably the most important question on all of our minds, because theres so much in this, its investment in families, its investment in housing, which we tremendously need, and its investment in climate, which, we cannot miss this opportunity, Merkley said.

There have been a lot of discussions with Sen. Manchin. I think hes gotten a lot of changes made in the package, Cardin said, adding, Were working in a very constructive manner. Weve got to get to the finish line.

Part of the effort to sway Manchin has come from Carper, who recently held a town hall in West Virginia to draw attention to the provisions of the Build Back Better plan.

Sens. Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley speak on infrastructure and climate protection on June 15 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Joe Manchin was born in West Virginia, I was born in West Virginia, Carper said. I held a hearing there two weeks ago and the hearing focused on what the bipartisan infrastructure bill can do for West Virginia with respect to drinking water, waste water treatments, flood mitigation.

And all politics is local, he added, and it was an opportunity just to remind Sen. Manchin and Shelley Capito, who is my wingwoman on the Environment and Public Works Committee. So, I think hes there to represent West Virginia. Hes also there to represent the rest of the country.

All of the senators spoke of the toll that climate change was already taking on their home states.

Delaware is the lowest-lying state in the nation, Carper said, Its under siege because of rising sea levels.

This is impacting everything that I hold dear about my home, Im just seeing it change in real time, Henrich said. I see forests burn, and they come back and its not the same forest.

We have a much longer, hotter fire season, Merkley said, of Oregon. Last Labor Day, a year ago, we had six towns burn to the ground, absolutely devastated, as if theyd been firebombed.

Bennet said that Colorado has been severely affected by wildfire smoke. For us, its very much about the present, he said. This summer in Colorado, there were many days when you couldnt see the mountains because of the smoke from California. There were many days when there were health warnings saying you shouldnt go outside if youve got preexisting conditions because of the smoke.

No one lives in Colorado to stay indoors all summer, he added. Its affecting our economy and our way of life.

It was with those dramatic impacts of climate change in mind that the delegation came to COP26, yet for each of the senators, the unfinished business at home remains a top priority.

I would say that people are very hopeful [at COP26]. Theres a ton of goodwill here for the Biden administration and I think for the United States generally, Bennet said. People are very hopeful that were actually going to get something done, and they feel like the combination of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation bill together will represent a very meaningful investment in climate. Ive been saying that I think well pass it because I do think well pass it.

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Congress has cleared a multibillion-dollar infrastructure package that could improve Americans' commutes and quality of life, but which fails to meet President Joe Biden's ambitious pledge to cut emissions off at their root: the transportation sector.

The bill, H.R. 3684 (117), is historic in its scope with $550 billion in new money funneled into hard infrastructure, from overhauling bridges to supercharging Amtrak's most popular rail corridor in the Northeast. But it falls far short of Biden's original vision, which promised to dramatically reduce the climate impacts of transportation, the single largest source of pollution. In the end, the final product was the victim of the bipartisan focus it took to get the bill done and is an example of the razor thin governing majority Democrats must navigate.

Democrats did manage to bolster climate policies lacking in that bill with a reconciliation package that, at present, will add billions for transit and passenger rail, set new expectations for states to reduce carbon emissions and makes it easier for Americans to buy electric vehicles. But even combined, the two do not approach how Biden promised to move the nation toward carbon neutrality and zero emission vehicles soon after he took office.

The dream meets the reality

Beyond getting the requisite 10 Republican votes to move an infrastructure bill through the Senate, Biden and Democratic leadership had to corral their own party to ensure both bills could pass together, including baking in support from two Senate kingmakers: Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). And, the reconciliation bill is set to shrink to half its former size and without the centerpiece of its climate initiatives, a clean electricity program that would have incentivized utilities to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The reconciliation package was supposed to be the sugar that made the infrastructure bill go down for progressives and greens, but the evisceration of its climate package makes it a more bitter pill to swallow. In particular, greens have chafed at the focus on roadbuilding in the infrastructure bill, in the absence of guardrails that would force a focus on repair rather than expansion.

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Beth Osborne, the director of transit and safe streets advocacy group Transportation for America, accused Congress of doubling down on a dinosaur of a federal transportation program that she said has produced a dangerous, inequitable and unsustainable transportation network.

But others in the transportation industry see a lot to like in the infrastructure bill, even if it won't be the watershed moment for blunting climate change many had hoped for.

It will touch every single community, said Adie Tomer, who leads the Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative at Brookings. Its going to be bigger than the New Deal.

What's in the bill

The infrastructure bill allocates $110 billion in new funding for roads and bridges, the large majority of which will run through long-established formulas that are funneled to state Departments of Transportation. That's energized states desperate for cash, but sustainability advocates see it as a net loss because states will spend those dollars according to their own goals. Some states like California have reducing carbon emissions baked into their plans, but other states could just use them to build more roads, for instance.

Also missing from the infrastructure bill is any requirement that would prioritize repairing things before building new. The House-passed surface transportation bill would have prioritized this kind of "fix it first," and also would have made states measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But the House bill got sidelined in favor of the more bipartisan Senate version over the summer.

Some of those priorities made it into the current reconciliation bill, H.R. 5376 (117), however. A community climate incentive grant program, for instance, will force states to take steps to reduce carbon emissions and encourages cities to do the same.

And a silver lining for those who wanted states to prioritize maintenance of existing infrastructure is the $37 billion bridge repair program, a safety-critical initiative to address a problem that has long been neglected, even as major bridges in Cincinnati and Memphis have been forced to close for months due to safety problems rooted in their decrepitude.

The infrastructure bill promises $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations, which will be enabled by the tax credits in the reconciliation bill and dwarfed by the $34 billion that piece has for electrification. The bill creates new programs for transit connections to affordable housing, neighborhood equity and carbon reduction and invests in low-emission aviation fuels.

Amtrak supercharged

The reconciliation bill also would allocate $10 billion each for transit and high-speed rail, topping off already large amounts for those modes included in the infrastructure bill. Amtrak would get $66 billion in new money, which could enable the rail line to build out its existing service not only along the popular Northeast Corridor but also in Colorado and the Midwest.

But Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president for the Rail Passengers Association, a passenger rail advocacy group, said while welcome, it won't be enough to create a true transformation in the country's passenger rail system.

The bill could enable Amtrak to boost its frequency and reliability across its network, but Jeans-Gail said it won't be enough to start "launching something from nothing," like new service corridors. He noted that much of the money could be eaten up with basic maintenance needs like track upgrades, upholstery of train cars and station ventilation. It will also fund studies and corridor identification exercises that will then need even more funding to carry out, he said.

I think a lot of what were going to fund [with the infrastructure package] is environmental review, route analysis, coming up with a national concrete plan and doing design work and start constructing the corridors," Jeans-Gail said. "And there needs to be that next package to bring home a lot of that planning work, a lot of that environmental work, a lot of that design work.

He noted that given "these goals that we still have to decarbonize the transportation sector and to get as many people on to mass transit as possible ... wed hoped for more.

An additional $10 billion for rail  high-speed rail, specifically  is also included in the reconciliation bill, but moving the country to high speed rail will likely take orders of magnitude more.

Lag time

Despite the large figures, it could take months or even years to start seeing shovels in the ground, as regulators eager to avoid comparisons to former President Barack Obama's stimulus program focus on good projects rather than immediate projects. The current labor shortage, compounding longtime workforce issues in the construction trades, could also slow down the pace of building and make projects more expensive, experts warn.

This is a long-term investment, said Sarah Kline, a transportation consultant who previously worked in the Senate Banking Committee, for Washington, D.C.'s transit agency and for Transportation for America. Its going to take time for these funds to hit the street.

Not just laborers and engineers, but every level of government will need to expand their ranks to oversee the massive flow of funds and implementation of projects.

There's only so many people working at state DOTs right now, and there's only so many people working at transit agencies, she said. Theyre going to have to hire more people to manage these contracts and to engineer these projects. That's where the economic benefit comes in.

But its going to take some time, she warned.

There could also be supply chain issues as demand for materials and equipment increases on a finite number of vendors  especially vendors that satisfy Buy America requirements  but Tomer, of Brookings, said that demand is just another part of the economic benefit.

This bill stimulates enough demand that we can expect to see manufacturers in the transportation space respond in durable ways, he said. And by durable ways I mean potentially expanding their production, including facility investments, as well as hiring skilled labor  with the caveat of, if they can find it.
The Iowa City Police Department and Johnson County Attorney's Office have identified the man they believe is responsible for shooting a U.S. Marine on the city's south side last month.

In a Friday news release, ICPD identified 69-year-old Phillip Olson, of Iowa City, in the investigation into who shot Lance Cpl. Gabe Heefner as he was visiting family in Iowa City the evening of Oct. 17.

The release says Olson discharged a .22-caliber air rifle at a squirrel from his home adjacent to Highway 6. The projectile missed the animal and headed south toward the highway.

On Oct. 20, Olson, who had heard about the incident, presented himself to the Iowa City Police Department and admitted to shooting from inside his house.

Around the same time that ICPD believes Olson discharged his weapon at 6:30 p.m., police responded to the corner of Highway 6 and Sycamore Street for a reported single-vehicle traffic accident. Heefner was discovered to be suffering from what appeared to be a wound consistent with a small-caliber projectile and was transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals for treatment. He is still hospitalized.

Loophole in Iowa Code prevents serious charges against suspect

Gabe Heefner, from Missouri, was visiting friends and family in his hometown of Iowa City when he was struck by what police believe to be a stray bullet on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021.

Despite identifying Olson, ICPD and Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness did not directly say whether they believe Olson is the person who accidentally shot Heefner.

The charges filed against Olson also do not link Olson directly with shooting Heefner.

Olson is accused of violating city code, which prohibits discharging "any air rifle, toy pistol, toy gun or other toy arms or slingshot" within city limits. Olson also is accused of violating four Iowa Department of Natural Resources laws relating to hunting without a license or a habitat fee, an unlawful attempt to take a squirrel and shooting a rifle over a highway.

Olson was not charged with any other serious crimes, such as reckless use of a firearm or dangerous weapon.

The projectile hasn't been removed from Heefner's head to be analyzed, making it impossible to match with the weapon that discharged it.

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More: What we know about the death of Spanish teacher Nohema Graber in Fairfield, Iowa

Lyness said she couldn't comment on any of the facts in the case, but did say what she believes should be changed in Iowa Code as a result.

She said her office would have preferred to charge Olson with reckless use of a firearm, but isn't able to do so because the air rifle isn't considered a firearm under Iowa Code.

She said it is, in her mind, a dangerous weapon, and it needs to be classified as such under Iowa Code. Her preference would be to amend the definition of firearm to include air rifles and BB guns, or for a negligent discharge of a dangerous weapon like those to be a violation.

"The big concern in this is that it's an air rifle, but it isn't just like the old BB guns that we all knew that were pretty low-powered," she said. "This is one that actually sends a projectile at a very high rate of speed and it can actually harm somebody.

"It's so that people who buy these know they are going to be having a dangerous weapon. If they use them, point them at somebody, threaten somebody, they know they are going to be charged with that."

Lyness said under Iowa Code, dangerous weapons include, but are not limited to pistols, revolvers, other firearms, daggers, razors, stilettos, switch blades, blade knives, knives with blades exceeding five inches in length, or any portable device or weapon that produces an electrical surge meant to harm, like a stun-gun.

Gabe Heefner's condition continues to improve, his mother reports

Heefner remains hospitalized surrounded by family on a daily basis, but his condition has improved, according to updates posted on a GoFundMe page by his mother, Codi.

In an update posted Wednesday evening, Heefner said her son was alert, talking to her, his nurses and his father.

"(Gabe) stood up, took some tiny (assisted) steps to be able to sit in his chair, and did well eating some breakfast. Just doing that much tires him out, but I'm so glad he is able to do it," Codi Heefner wrote.

U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Gabe Heefner poses for a photo in uniform. Heefner is in critical condition after being struck by a stray bullet in the head in Iowa City on Oct. 17, 2021.

Heefner said her son is able to perform many of the commands the hospital staff tell him to do, such as raising his eyebrows, sticking out his tongue, smiling, squeezing hands, pushing and pulling their hands. He is also able to say his name when asked.

That day, Gabe Heefner was also moved out of the ICU and into his own room.

But Heefner still has trouble regulating his body temperature and has to use a cooling blanket. This is an improvement upon a cooling machine that the hospital used for him when he was in the ICU.

Heefner's condition is an improvement from early on, when he wasn't able to respond verbally. His condition deteriorated after the first few days in the hospital and he stopped talking, only wiggling his toes, giving a thumbs-up and nodding his head in response to commands and questions.

Neither of Heefner's parents could be reached for comment Friday, but Nile Heefner, Gabe's father, said they would be releasing a statement soon.

More: Less than 24 hours after CDC approval, kids line up in Coralville for COVID-19 vaccine

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City police identify man suspected of drive-by shooting of Marine
Captain Sexton marked his milestone appearance by claiming the fifth of nine scores (PA Wire)

Johnny Sexton stylishly celebrated his 100th cap with a second-half try as Ireland launched their autumn campaign with a crushing 60-5 win over Japan

Andy Farrells men were in dominant mood in Dublin and warmed up for next weekends showdown against New Zealand by producing some scintillating, free-flowing rugby.

Captain Sexton marked his milestone appearance by claiming the fifth of nine scores at a below-capacity Aviva Stadium, in addition to slotting 11 points with his boot.

There was also a hat-trick for Andrew Conway, while James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, midfield duo Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose, and replacement prop Cian Healy were also on the scoresheet for the commanding hosts.

Japans consolation came from Siosaia Fifita but they were outclassed and powerless to prevent the Irish stretching their winning streak to six successive games.

Sexton became only the seventh Irishman to reach a century of appearances  following Brian ODriscoll, Ronan OGara, Rory Best, Paul OConnell, John Hayes and current team-mate Healy  and was afforded a standing ovation ahead of kick-off.

Any negativity regarding the swathes of empty seats and Irelands decision to ditch their traditional green jerseys in favour of a purple alternative swiftly dissipated in a spellbinding opening quarter.

New Zealand-born Lowe  recalled after being dropped for Marchs Guinness Six Nations win over England  set the ball rolling by diving over in the left corner just four minutes in.

(PA Wire)

Scrum-half Gibson-Park, another native Kiwi, played a pivotal role in the opener and he was also instrumental in the second.

The hosts gained serious ground with a series of neat offloads, before their number nine  starting ahead of Conor Murray  produced a delightful, defence-splitting kick to give Conway a straightforward finish in the corner.

Munster man Conway was one of only three non-Leinster players in the Irish line-up.

He stretched the scoreboard further with only 19 minutes on the clock, benefiting from a quick cross-field ball following a rolling maul on the left to once again charge over out wide.

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Japan, beaten narrowly on this ground by an experimental Ireland side in early July, had shocked the hosts in the pool stage of the 2019 World Cup.

Playing only a fourth fixture since that home tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jamie Josephs men never looked likely to spring another surprise and struggled to break out of their own 22 for the duration of a one-sided opening period.

After a simple Sexton penalty in front of the posts, Ireland took further control as Gibson-Park claimed his maiden Ireland try seven minutes before the break having latched on to a Ringrose pass.

A difficult first 40 minutes for the Brave Blossoms was compounded by hooker Atsushi Sakate being sin-binned in added time for repeated infringements.

Ireland continued on the front foot after the restart and 36-year-old Sexton once again brought spectators to their feet.

(PA Wire)

The influential talisman burst on to a Gibson-Park offload to find a gap in the Japan defence and touch down, before being mobbed by team-mates and then regaining his composure to slot the extras.

Things were quickly becoming embarrassing for the Brave Blossoms as Aki went over in the 55th minute.

But just two minutes later  after Ireland brought on hooker Dan Sheehan for an international debut  Fifita found space to marginally reduce the arrears.

Sexton was given a rapturous reception when he was rested in favour of understudy Joey Carbery 18 minutes from time.

The replacement 10 successfully converted after Ringrose bulldozed over, before Conway continued the rout by completing his treble six minutes from time with his 13th international try.

Substitute Healy had the final say by powering over under the posts at the death, with Carberys second conversion completing the scoring.

Head coach Farrell could not have wished for much more from his sides opening match of the month but they will face a far more serious test with the All Blacks in town next Saturday, followed by Argentina the following weekend.

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This combo of booking photos provided by the Glynn County, Ga., Detention Center, shows from left, Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. Glynn County Detention Center via AP

Opening statements in the trial over Ahmaud Arbery's killing began Friday.

After a 12-day jury selection process, just one Black man made it onto the jury.

Legal experts explained to Insider a loophole that allows lawyers to craft mostly-white juries.

A nearly all-white jury will decide the fate of three white men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man whose family says he was just out for a jog, in February 2020.

After a long selection process which lasted two-and-a-half weeks and ended Wednesday, a single Black man made it onto the jury in a Georgia county where about a quarter of the population is Black or African American.

Prosecutors complained that 11 Black potential jurors had been eliminated because of their race, and even Judge Timothy Walmsley said in court that there seemed to be evidence of "intentional discrimination." But the case went forward anyway on Friday with opening statements.

Insider spoke to legal experts who said that the defense had a significant advantage in the jury selection process, and explained why the judge proceeded with the case after expressing reservations.

How jurors are selected

Ahmaud Arbery. Marcus Arbery/Handout via REUTERS

A pool of potential jurors is whittled down to a final jury through a process called voir dire, where jurors are questioned on matters relevant to the case and either eliminated "for cause" or with a "peremptory challenge," Vanderbilt law professor Chris Slobogin and defense attorney Julius Kim explained.

A potential juror can be eliminated for cause by admitting during this process that they can't be fair or impartial during the trial, while prosecutors and defense attorneys can use a peremptory challenge to eliminate a potential juror without stating a reason, the experts said.

Each side gets a limited number of peremptory challenges, however. The rules differ from state to state, but according to Georgia law, each defendant gets nine peremptory challenges, and the prosecution gets an equal number.

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Judges have the ability to adjust the number of preemptory challenges each side gets, however, according to Slobogin.

In the Arbery case, the defense got 24 peremptory challenges and the prosecution got 12, as the Thomasville Times-Enterprise reported. Slobogin said this gave the defense a considerable advantage in eliminating people it didn't want on the jury.

The loophole allowing lawyers to shape mostly-white juries

Peremptory challenges can be reviewed, however, especially if lawyers on the opposing side see a pattern in the race of dismissed jurors.

Prosecutors in the Arbery case complained to the judge when the final jury was set, triggering a so-called "Batson" challenge. The challenge is named after the Supreme Court decision, Batson v. Kentucky, which banned the use of peremptory challenges motivated by race.

Under Batson, if a judge agrees that there appears to have been racial discrimination, then the side that is accused of discriminating needs to explain why they eliminated a potential juror, according to Kim. The explanation must be "race neutral" and "genuine," but it doesn't have to be as strong as a "for cause" strike, Slobogin said.

Later Supreme Court rulings have held that the explanation can be "silly or superstitious, implausible or fantastic," according to Slobogin.

In the Arbery case, the judge agreed that there appeared to be intentional discrimination. But after the defense gave explanations for why they dismissed the Black potential jurors, the judge said that their answers were enough to warrant a preemptory challenge.

Kim said that the judge could have brought back the dismissed jurors or started the jury selection process all over again if he didn't find the defense's explanations sufficient.

Having heard the defense's explanations for dismissing the Black potential jurors, Slobogin said one could argue that the defense was "acting in good faith" by using their peremptory challenges on those jurors, and that the judge made the right decision to accept those explanations and proceed to trial.

Slobogin gave the examples of two Black women who were dismissed from the jury, one for saying "the whole case is about racism" and the other for saying she thought Arbery's killing "was wrong."

"Neither of those explanations would probably be enough to remove those jurors for cause, but they are enough to remove them under Batson," he explained.

Still, the racial make-up of the jury "doesn't look good" from an outside perspective, Slobogin said, while Kim said it makes him "nervous" that so few minorities are on the jury.

Read the original article on Insider
A Superior Court judge this week tossed the lawsuit of a deputy who was assigned to the Compton station. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

A Superior Court judge this week threw out a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, ruling he had failed to back up his claim that he faced retaliation for reporting an assault by another deputy.

Deputy Austreberto Gonzalez sued L.A. County last year, alleging that after he anonymously reported the alleged assault by a member of what he called "a deputy gang" on another deputy, members of the alleged gang retaliated on him in several ways, including forcing him to respond to an excessive amount of calls for service. Gonzalez also claimed he was pushed out of his field training officer position.

Gonzalez "has no direct evidence of a causal link between any theoretical protected activity and his alleged loss of a trainee," Judge William Fahey wrote in an 11-page ruling, in which the judge concluded Gonzalez had not been subjected "to an adverse employment action." He also said Gonzalez had given contradicting statements about a transfer to another assignment.

The decision to toss the case came after Fahey in April scaled back its scope, allowing the deputy to claim only that he had reported a fight between two deputies and was then subjected to retaliation. The judge banned Gonzalez from introducing any evidence regarding the other deputies' alleged involvement in the Executioners, a group of deputies in the sheriff's Compton station, his attorney Alan Romero said.

Romero said Fahey's refusal "to permit discovery with respect to The Executioners gang," coupled with the lawsuit's dismissal, amounted to a "cover-up."

"We are highly confident that the Court of Appeals will reverse and allow discovery into the deputy gang that Gonzalez blew the whistle on," Romero said in a statement.

After he filed a legal claim last year, Gonzalez testified in an unrelated federal civil rights lawsuit about the alleged activities of the Executioners. In a deposition, he testified that the tattooed deputies in the group have a stronghold over the Compton station and have committed an array of abuses, including fabricating stories about seeing crime suspects carrying guns.

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Gonzalez said in the deposition that about 15 to 20 deputies are members of the Executioners, and that others are prospective members who are chasing ink"  a reference to the matching skull tattoos that members are allowed to get. Most members and prospects, he said, have been involved in high-profile shootings or beatings. Gonzalez said that after a shooting, members will have a party at a bar and call it a 998 debrief, after the radio code deputies use when reporting they've been in a shooting.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who has said claims from inside and outside the department about the prevalence and danger of gang-like deputy groups are overblown, released a statement Friday saying Gonzalez is not a credible source.

"The unproven allegations in this case alleging 'deputy gangs' by Mr. Gonzalez have been used as the primary basis for attacks on the Department by some members of the Board of Supervisors, a former member of the Board of Supervisors (who has been indicted for public corruption), the Office of the Inspector General, the Civilian Oversight Commission, other elected officials, and the media," Villanueva said.

The sheriff added that Gonzalez is on paid leave and implied he had been sidelined for being dishonest.

Saying he was "deeply concerned" that Gonzalez "may have supplied incomplete or misleading information to the legal system," Villanueva added that "appropriate measures will be taken so that we continue to assure our communities deputy sheriffs can, and must, be trusted."

Romero, however, said Gonzalez is on unpaid disability leave because of work-related stress.

Not all of the allegations Gonzalez made about the Executioners in the federal lawsuit were included in his retaliation lawsuit and, so, were not taken into account by the judge when he tossed out the case.

The Sheriff's Department has not responded to repeated inquiries from The Times about the outcome of its internal investigation into the Executioners, other than to deny that deputies hold tattoo parties after shootings. Such shootings, a department spokesperson said in a statement, "are very traumatic incidents to all parties involved."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Video was a key factor on day one in the murder trial of the trio accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year old Black man gunned down in February 2020 by a group of white men in a pickup truck as he jogged through a neighbourhood near Brunswick, Georgia.

Jurors watched police body camera that showed officers arrive as one of the men accused in the murder, Travis Michael, was sitting near by as Mr Arbery lay in a pool of blood.

The officer, Glynn County policeman William Duggan, said he went to ask the man if he was OK.

I could see he was covered in blood, Mr Duggan said. There was blood all over, and I remember at some point asking if he was OK.

No Im not OK, the man said, according to Duggan. I just effing killed somebody.

The tone in his voice was akin to someone who had just mistakenly harmed a child in a car accident, the officer said.

Mr Duggan added that he knew Mr Arbery wouldnt survive by the time he arrived, with a "gaping wound on his chest so I saw there was nothing I could do for him.

All three men  Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and William Roddie Bryan Jr  have pleaded not guilty, and their attorneys sought to keep the footage out of the trial.

Fridays proceedings also featured cell phone video of the shooting, and Judge Timothy R Walmsley warned spectators that they could leave the courtroom before the graphic footage played, prompting some of Mr Arberys family to step out.

The young mans mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, however, remained in the courtroom, later telling reporters outside the court that it was the first time she had seen the full video.

"I have avoided the video for the last 18 months ... I was glad I was able to stay strong and stay in there," she said, adding that it was time to become more familiar with what happened to Ahmaud  the last minutes of his life.

The McMichaels and their neighbour Mr Bryan have claimed they were attempting to carry out a citizens arrest of Mr Arbery when he was shot dead, because they believed he was responsible for burglaries in the area, though prosecutors argued during opening statements that the men in fact knew Mr Arbery wasnt a thief, noting that Gregory McMichael told investigators, I dont think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there.

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The court also heard that the three men were chasing him for five minutes in their pickup trucks with Gregory McMichael telling police they had him trapped like a rat.

Mr Arbery was under attack by strangers who were intent to kill him, said prosecutor Linda Dunikoski.

Mr Arbery was jogging through the Satilla Shores neighbourhood on 23 February 2020 when the McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in their pickup truck to chase him.

Their neighbour Mr Bryan also joined in the pursuit, following in his pickup truck and filming the incident on his smartphone.

The footage captured Travis McMichael shooting Mr Arbery three times with his shotgun.

Mr Arbery collapsed to the ground where he died.

The three defendants all face nine charges, including malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defence has argued that the Georgia community where Mr Arbery was killed had been on edge following a spike in crime and that the Black jogger appeared to be suspicious, saying that Travis McMichale was acting out of duty and responsibility to his local community when he shot Mr Arbery dead.

He said Travis McMichael had come face-to-face with Mr Arbery 12 days earlier on 11 February when he said the 25-year-old was breaking into a home under construction in the neighbourhood.

On that occasion, the defence claimed Mr Arbery put his hand into his pocket which Travis McMichael had taken as a sign he could have been armed.

The defence said that this led Travis McMichael to fear that Mr Arbery may be armed on the day of his shooting.

Mr Arbery, whose killing became one of a number of rallying cries during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, was unarmed at the time of his death.
The Kansas City Police Department is seeking the publics help with identifying human remains discovered near a wooded area in the Volker neighborhood earlier this year.

Human bones believed to be from an adult male were found on March 3 by a woman who called police to the 3400 block of Roanoke Road to report the discovery. A homicide investigation was opened in August after the remains were examined, revealing injuries that appeared suspicious to investigators, police have said.

On Friday, the department shared photographs and descriptions of clothing items found with the body: a pair of blue Adidas shoes, black gloves, a gray Chiefs T-shirt and a wooden cross necklace. Based on the current evidence, police believe the man had a large build.

Kansas City police shared images of clothing items worn by a person whose remains were discovered March 3 in the 3400 block of Roanoke Road. They have yet to identify the person, believed to be an adult male.

Police are asking anyone who may have information about the human remains to call KCPD Det. Nicole Anderson at 816-889-1647 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
Lathrop City Council member Minnie Diallo requested a restraining order last month against former Lathrop-Manteca Fire District Chief Gene Neely and his wife, Rozelle Neely, and City Manager Stephen Salvatore.

A Lathrop City Council member's claims of harassment by the city manager and former Fire Department chief are being investigated by San Joaquin County law enforcement officials.

"We did our initial case ... that was forwarded to the DA for review to see if they wanted to file charges or not," San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said. "Because more information is coming to light, there's going to be ongoing investigation on this."

"The issue is an open and ongoing investigation," said Elisa Bubak, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office.

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Lathrop City Council member Minnie Diallo requested a restraining order last month against former Lathrop-Manteca Fire District Chief Gene Neely and his wife, Rozelle Neely, and City Manager Stephen Salvatore.

"It was recommended (by the DA) while the investigation was ongoing for the city council member to seek out a temporary restraining order to be safe," Bubak said.

In Diallo's request to the San Joaquin County Superior Court on Oct. 22, she alleged that Neely and his wife approached her angrily after an Oct. 11 council meeting and that Neely verbally threatened her.

At the meeting, Diallo had voted against appointing Neely to a committee that oversees public safety expenditures. Neely was appointed despite Diallo's dissenting vote.

"Please grant this order to keep me and my child safe," Diallo said in the request. "That night he made it very clear ... he was and is very upset."

The Neelys could not be reached for comment.

Neely served as Lathrop's fire chief for more than a decade. He left the fire district in April as part of a settlement ending an investigation into claims against him which have not been made public.

A judge issued restraining orders against the Neelys on Oct. 25. The orders will remain in effect until the parties attend a hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

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In a separate request filed Oct. 20, Diallo alleged that Salvatore harassed her and used a racist insult in a phone conversation on Oct. 12, the morning after the council meeting. The Sheriff's Office opened its investigation later that day.

Diallo also sent a letter describing the call to Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal and the City Council, and requesting that Salvatore be removed as city manager.

"As an African American woman, this unwelcome and racially offensive conduct in the workplace of City Hall has caused much angst in my daily life," she said.

A judge denied Diallo's request for a restraining order against Salvatore until a future hearing.

Salvatore disputed Diallo's account in a response filed in court on Thursday.

"I deny that I have ever threatened or been responsible for any acts of harassment involving Ms. Diallo which would necessitate or justify the issuance of a restraining order," he said in court documents.

Salvatore said Diallo's actions were "politically motivated," and denied making "racial comments" or using an abusive tone during the phone call.

A hearing in Diallo's case against Salvatore is set for Nov. 9.

The DA's Office cannot comment on any charges being considered because the investigation is ongoing, Bubak said.

Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers business, housing, and land use. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Lathrop City Council member says fire chief, city manager harassed her
At least eight people have died after a mass casualty event at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday night.

Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena provided details regarding the incident in a press conference early Saturday morning after panic broke out when the crowd surged toward the concert stage.

"We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight. Eight confirmed fatalities and we had scores of individuals that were injured here at this event. We had an attendance of approximately 50,000 to the Travis Scott Astroworld Festival event. What we do know is that at approximately 9 o'clock, 9:15, the crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic," he said.

RELATED: Pregnant Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott Celebrate Halloween with a Mermaid-Dressed Stormi: 'Mommy Mode'

"The Houston Fire Department transported at the start of the mass casualty incident when it was triggered  at around 9:38 p.m. this evening, after that time we transported 17 patients to the hospitals. 12 of those patients were transported by Houston Fire Department ambulances, five were transported by Harris County emergency services, 11 of those that were transported were in cardiac arrest. We won't know the cause of death of the eight that are confirmed until the medical examiner has completed his investigation, but we are in the process, the Houston Police Department is sending units out to the hospitals to identify these patients, these fatalities," Chief Pena continued.

For more on the tragedy at Astroworld, listen below to our daily podcast on People Every Day.

This year's festival took place at NRG Park in Texas after skipping 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been canceled for Saturday evening.

A command post for information on missing persons at #astroworld has been set up at 8686 Kirby (Kirby at 610 Loop) - the Wyndham Hotel. If you need information on a loved one that has not been located please proceed to that address.#hounews https://t.co/vcxAhDnZIo  Houston Police (@houstonpolice) November 6, 2021

According to a source, Kendall and Kylie Jenner were both in attendance at Friday night's festival, but were not harmed.

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"Everyone is shocked and upset. Kylie and Kendall were in the audience, but they are not injured. Travis won't be performing tonight. The concert is canceled," said the source.

Travis Scott performs during 2021 Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on November 05, 2021 in Houston, Texas.

Erika Goldring/WireImage Travis Scott performs during 2021 Astroworld Festival

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Festival organizers released a statement early Saturday morning following the accident.

"Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight - especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday," they wrote.

"As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @HoustonPolice. Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support," the festival continued.

A reunification center has been set up at the Wyndham Houston Hotel.
WILDWOOD  Florida Highway Patrol troopers have arrested a man on Interstate 75 in Sumter County and charged him with smuggling undocumented immigrants into the country.

Members of the Troop C Contraband Interdiction Unit stopped a 2007 Nissan Armada traveling south near the 310 milepost at 2:26 p.m., Thursday, citing illegal window tint as the reason.

Esvil Miguel Soto Perez, 23, of Phoenix, Arizona, had a Mexican ID Card, but no drivers license.

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Also within the vehicle were four other Hispanic passengers. The Troopers found a large sum of U.S. currency on his person, according to a FHP press release as well as several receipts indicating large currency transfers to Mexico.

The release did not state how much money was discovered, but said the passengers, who did not know each other, had paid for transport to Tampa.

Soto Perez was charged with not having a valid drivers license and four counts of smuggling.

The passengers were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Authorities have described I-75 as a pipeline for human trafficking, with some turned into sex slaves and others as victimized farm workers.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: FHP: Man transporting undocumented immigrants arrested in Sumter County
The police station in Catskill, New York. (WHAM)

A man is in critical condition after he burst into flames when police used a Taser on him.

The horrible incident took place after the 29-year-old man walked into the police station in Catskill, New York, and got into an altercation with officers.

Police Chief Dave Darling said that officers deployed the weapon against the man, who had taken off some clothing and covered himself in hand sanitizer and he caught fire.

Chief Darling told The Times Union of Albany that the officers were familiar with the victim from previous encounters.

I think they were afraid he was going to hurt himself, and thats what started it, said Chief Darling.

There are still details that were trying to develop.

The man, identified by the newspaper as Jason Jones, was taken to the Westchester Medical Centers Trauma and Burn Center, where he was reportedly in grave condition.

The incident is now under investigation by the the Greene County district attorneys office.

The police department has also been told to preserve all materials related to the incident by a lawyer for the victims family.

Weve requested preservation of all recordings and written materials and have no further comment, said attorney Kevin Luibrand.

Chief Darling says that officer are not equipped with body cams and there are no video cameras in the upstate New York station.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene visited accused January 6 rioters in a Washington DC jail on Thursday night.

Greene claimed the conditions were worse than Gitmo, although an inspection on Tuesday said they were sufficient.

Greene claimed the "political prisoners" sing the national anthem every night at 9pm while crying.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that a Washington DC jail holding individuals arrested in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot "tortures people" and "wants to re-educate them."

Greene attempted to portray the men as innocent patriots-claiming that the prisoners draw pictures of the American flag and sing the national anthem every night at 9pm while crying.

The Georgia congresswoman visited what she called the "patriot wing" of the jail on Thursday night.

"Last night I finally got into the deplorable jail, the DC jail where these people are being held for months on end in conditions like I've never seen in my life," Greene told Steve Bannon on "The War Room" show on Real America's Voice on Friday.

She claimed that homeless people in Washington DC and Guantanamo Bay detainees were living in better conditions than those in this jail.

"It's beyond anything I've ever seen and every American in this country should be outraged at what's happening. I don't care how you vote," Greene said.

On Tuesday, an inspection of the DC jail found that the conditions were sufficient, despite their complaints.

"You should be outraged and disgusted that our government has turned into some kind of political weapon that tortures people in jail and wants to re-educate them and make them denounce the president that they love and denounce the country that they love," Greene said.

She claimed in a tweet that the prisoners are receiving "virtually no medical care, very poor food quality, and being put through re-education which most of them are rejecting."

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The congresswoman did not elaborate on how exactly the inmates are being re-educated.

-Marjorie Taylor Greene  (@mtgreenee) November 5, 2021

-Marjorie Taylor Greene  (@mtgreenee) November 5, 2021

"They do it every night and they cry while they sing it. And I got to be there with them and sing the national anthem last night," she said.

Holding up a photograph of one of the January 6 defendants, Greene said, "I will not stop until this man and the rest of them are free and this happy once again."

"Yes they are charged with crimes, yes they deserve their day in court, and justice should be served. But not justice that comes with a weapon of politics. Because politics is evil," she said.

She described the men as "prisoners of war" and "political prisoners."

Greene's office confirmed to The Hill that she had visited the "patriot wing" of the D.C. Jail on a three-hour tour and spoken directly with the accused January 6 rioters.

They added that the congresswoman had managed to gain access after "months of requesting access with letter after letter and call after call."

The controversial congresswoman is known for her extreme political views and promotion of baseless conspiracy theories.

At least 691 people have been charged in the Capitol insurrection so far.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Columbus Dispatch photographer Mary Circelli in 2005.

She was driving home from a routine Friday evening assignment on May 31, 1985 when a swirling tornado violently funneled down from the black sky.

Most people would have driven as fast as they could in the other direction but Mary Circelli grabbed her camera, stepped out of the car and took photos of the tornado that was roaring through Utica.

It was a moment, and an image that would define her 36-year career at the Columbus Dispatch.

I had never seen anything like that," Circelli said at the time. "My hands were shaking. I kept thinking I had to hold the camera still."

Circelli never stopped living fearlessly.

She died of natural causes at age 77 on Friday while visiting her granddaughter in Italy.

Her son Jeff Borders, who lives in Westerville, said his mother left for Italy from Columbus last Tuesday, and arrived in Rome on Wednesday. She spent two amazing days with her 19-year-old granddaughter Anna Borders, who is studying abroad.

Borders said the news of his moms death was shocking because she was in good health and had posted pictures earlier that week of her most recent trip to her favorite place in the world.

Didnt think Id be able to make this trip this year but here we are! Mary said when posting a photo from Rome on Instagram. Eating pizza and drinking Prosecco near the Pantheon.

Dispatch photographer Mary Circelli, returning to Columbus from a Friday evening assignment in Licking County, caught this picture of a tornado roaring through the Utica, Ohio, area in 1985.

My mom was very passionate about her family and friends and loved to travel, said Borders, 57. My mom was loved by so many and inspired so many. Just like her work did when she was at the Dispatch all those years.

Borders said his mom got COVID in September but her symptoms were mild and she was completely recovered and healthy by the time she left for Italy. He also said she was fully vaccinated and COVID was not a factor in her death.

Circelli, who was raised in New Lexington, began her career at the Dispatch as a secretary on the photo desk in 1970. She was eventually made a staff photographer where her pictures were featured in every section of the newspaper until she took a buyout in 2007.

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She took the buyout along with two of her closest Dispatch colleagues, long-time photographers Mike Munden and Tim Revell. The three remained close.

We had lockers next to each other all the years at the Dispatch and we shared so much, Revell said. We would talk about our families and life and all of the good things and its challenges and that didnt stop. In recent years I would be driving to dinner somewhere and would just call to talk to her because I missed her.

Munden said he will miss his friend but will always remember her eternal happiness and zest for life.

Mary was the sweetest woman, Munden said. She was always happy. I never saw her unhappy.

Borders said local funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.

When she wasnt traveling Circelli lived in Westerville with her son, his wife, Teresa, and her grandson Jake Borders, who is 17.

My mom had so many accomplishments and awards that it was hard to keep track of them all, said Borders. But I do remember that tornado photo. She was never afraid of anything. She truly lived life to the fullest.

mwagner@dispatch.com

@MikeWagner48

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Beloved Dispatch photographer Mary Circelli dies in Italy
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP)  The leader of the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. signed legislation Saturday to ban indoor smoking in many locations, including the tribe's casinos.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez called the ban a "monumental achievement and bold step in the right direction to promote healthy living among our Navajo people.

It is a fundamental right to protect our Navajo peoples right to breathe clean air," he said in a statement.

Tribal lawmakers approved the bill in October that prohibits the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes and other commercial products in public buildings and workspaces, including a 25-foot (7.6-meter) buffer outdoors.

The ban will not apply to the ceremonial use of tobacco or in people's homes unless they are being used as day care centers, adult care centers or as business offices.

Nez had until Sunday evening to act on the legislation.

Enactment of the ban followed 13 years of work by a coalition to educate the public on the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Advocates saw an opportunity to renew the push during the coronavirus pandemic while masks are required and questions remain about the long-term effects of the virus.

Comments submitted to the Navajo Nation Council on the measure overwhelmingly supported it. A few cited the potential of lost revenue for the tribal gambling enterprise that unsuccessfully sought to carve out an exemption from the ban.

Smoking had been prohibited at the tribe's four casinos  three in New Mexico and one east of Flagstaff  under COVID-19 safety measures, but it wasn't permanent until Nez signed the legislation Saturday.

The Tribal Council approved a ban on smoking and chewing tobacco in public places in 2008, but then-President Joe Shirley Jr. vetoed it, partially because he was concerned about gambling revenue. An override effort fell short of the votes it needed.

Shirley's successor, Ben Shelly, also vetoed legislation that would have banned smoking in public places but not at the tribe's casinos until their loans were paid off. He issued an order to ban smoking within executive branch offices he oversaw. The order didn't apply broadly across the 27,000 square-mile (70,000 square-kilometer) reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
A couple of weeks after an atmospheric river dumped record rainfall and prolific amounts of snow on parts of California, the Pacific storm train is set to deliver another dose of rain and snow to a large part of the drought-stricken state. However, this time it will come in more manageable amounts.

Another train of storms has been focused on the Northwest so far to start off November. However, most of the rain and snow has been directed toward Washington and Oregon, only briefly clipping far northwestern portions of California at times. AccuWeather forecasters say that will change early this week as a storm dives southward.

Before the storm, rain and mountain snow continued through the end of the weekend across the Cascades, spreading inland into the northern Rockies.

"With snow levels between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, snow could make for difficult travel at times this weekend in locations such as Snoqualmie Pass and Stampede Pass in Washington," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Nicole LoBiondo.

On Monday, a brief break in precipitation is expected across much of the region before the next storm arrives Monday night. As the next storm pushes onshore, rain and mountain snow will stretch from Central California to southern British Columbia from Monday night through Tuesday.

In contrast to the historic storm that struck California a couple of weeks ago, dumping almost 6 inches of rain in one day in Sacramento, California, and over a foot of rain in some spots in the Sierra Foothills, this storm will be much less, but still significant. Where the heaviest rain falls, likely in the coastal ranges of Northern California as well as the western slopes of the Sierra, a general 1-2 inches of rain is expected, with a few isolated amounts of 3-4 inches is also possible.

The threat for localized flash flooding and mudslides, especially in burn scar areas, will still exist, but the threat won't be nearly as widespread as the last storm.

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"This storm could bring around 0.50 of an inch of rain generally across the [San Francisco] Bay Area late Monday into Monday night and Tuesday, along with some gusty winds," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.

The west-facing slopes of the Central Coast Ranges in California could also receive up to around 0.50 of an inch of rain, however, the storm will quickly run out of steam as it slips farther south. Very little, if any, rain is likely to reach Southern California.

Los Angeles received 0.71 of an inch of rain in October, 0.49 of an inch of which came from the historic storm near the end of October, pushing the total for the month above average. However, no rain has fallen since then.

Despite the record rainfall in Northern California last month, most of the region remain in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Reservoirs across the region are also still reporting well below-normal water levels for this time of year.

AccuWeather meteorologists point out that while this storm will be another good dose of precipitation, and will continue to help move the water tables in the right direction in the region, there's still a long way to go.

In the mountains, heavy snow will also fall once again, however in California snow levels will remain relatively high.

"In the northern Sierra snow levels may fall to 6,000 or 7,000 feet for a time Monday night into Tuesday. Farther south, accumulating snow is likely to remain generally above 8,000 feet," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Randy Adkins.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"Accumulations will be around 6-12 inches for most above the snow levels, with a few spots up to 2 feet where snow is most persistent," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Nicole LoBiondo. LoBiondo added that any locations that receive up to 2 feet are likely to be well above the snow line, perhaps higher than 8,000 or 9,000 feet depending on the location.

Conditions on Interstate 80 through Donner Pass in California will likely deteriorate Monday night, with several inches of snow likely by Tuesday morning. During the day Tuesday, milder air will arrive and a mix of rain and snow or even perhaps and change to all rain will occur through the pass, a far cry from the roughly 2 feet of snow that fell in the same spot at the end of October.

Farther north in the Cascades, snow levels will be much lower. "In Washington and Oregon, snow levels will be around 3,000 or 4,000 feet," Adkins said. A few inches could fall through Snoqualmie pass, creating some slippery travel along Interstate 90 Monday night into Tuesday. Heavier snow and more difficult travel is more like through the higher Stevens Pass, just east of Seattle.

Farther south, once this storm moves on after Tuesday, forecasters say another stretch of rain-free weather may shape up for much of California once again. By Wednesday, the stormy pattern is expected to continue across the Northwest.

"By late next week, it appears that the active storm track may lift even farther to the north, largely focusing precipitation on northwestern Washington and southwestern Canada," LoBiondo said.

For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, DIRECTVstream, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
Photograph: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

The former Trump cabinet member Nikki Haley was accused of ageism, as well as a startling lack of awareness about senior figures in her own party, after questioning Joe Bidens mental health and suggesting there should be some sort of cognitive test for office holders above a certain age.

Related: Glenn Youngkin condemns report his son twice tried to vote in Virginia

Haley made the remarks in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network  a conservative outlet founded by and often featuring the televangelist Pat Robertson, who turned 91 last March.

Asked about the mental health of the president, who turns 79 later this month, the former ambassador to the United Nations first avoided directly commenting on Biden.

What Ill tell you, she said, is rather than making this about a person, we seriously need to have a conversation that if youre going to have anyone above a certain age in a position of power, whether its the House, whether its the Senate, whether its vice-president, whether its president, you should have some sort of cognitive test.

Haley, 49, is widely seen to have ambitions to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. But in a party dominated by older men, her remarks may not have done her too many favours.

The former president Donald Trump is 75  and has boasted, while in office and facing questions about his mental acuity, of passing a simple cognitive test. The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is 79. The oldest Republican in the Senate, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, is 88 and has said he will run for another six-year term.

Democratic leadership is also dominated by older politicians. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is 81. The House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, is 82. In the Senate, Dianne Feinstein of California is three months older than Grassley. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, is a relatively sprightly 70.

Haley pressed on.

Just like you have to show your tax returns, she said, you should have some sort of health screening so that people have faith in what youre doing.

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Candidates for president do not have to show their tax returns. Trump memorably upended the convention that they did so by refusing to release his.

Right now, Haley continued, lets face it, weve gotten a lot of people in leadership positions that are old. And thats not being disrespectful. Thats a fact. And when it comes to that, this shouldnt be partisan. We should seriously be looking at the ages of the people that are running our country, and understand if thats what we want.

Finally, Haley came round to the subject of the question.

You look at Biden, she said, and I think theres a concern. I think theres a concern when people say, You know, whos really making the decisions here. Thats his job to prove that hes making the decisions, but its not helping us when he says, Oh, I didnt know that France wasnt included in the idea that we were going to do this [defence] deal with the UK and Australia.

He cant act like he doesnt know something. Because every time he acts like he doesnt know something, from OK, they tell me to call on these reporters, you know, he keeps giving signals that hes not with it.

So its not people hating on Biden, its Biden really showing the country that hes not totally in charge and that makes everyone nervous.

Related: Nikki Haley has gotten where she is by embracing oppression, not fighting it | Arwa Mahdawi

Amid widespread criticism, Sarah Longwell, publisher of the Bulwark, a conservative anti-Trump outlet, said: What Im hearing is: Nikki Haley calls on Donald Trump to release his tax returns and prove mental competency ahead of 2024.

In South Carolina, where Haley was governor before she joined Trumps cabinet, a columnist for the State newspaper said her comments reeked of ageism and thats nothing to joke about.

Trudi Gilfillian added: According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, An employment policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of age, can be illegal if it has a negative impact on applicants or employees age 40 or older and is not based on a reasonable factor other than age.

Given that standard, perhaps all politicians of all ages should be taking these cognitive tests Haley supports. Id wager some of the youngest ones likely wouldnt fare too well.
Summa Health nurse Jesse Gabele gets a vaccine Dec. 23. The health system was among the first large employers in the Akron-Canton area to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.

FirstEnergy Corp. in Akron is among the larger employers in Northeast Ohio saying it will abide by the federal government's upcoming employee COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandates.

"We have a team that is reviewing the guidelines. We intend to fully comply if and when it goes into effect," spokeswoman Jennifer Young said. FirstEnergy's priority is to protect the health of its employees and customers, she said.

There's a good reason for saying "if and when"  legal efforts are underway to prevent the mandates from taking effect.

Other large Northeast Ohio employers on Friday said they also intend to follow the measures after President Joe Biden on Thursday said his administration will enforce the recently drafted vaccination and testing mandates.

As for FirstEnergy, its office workers are still working remotely for the most part, Young said. The utility had hoped office workers could return in the early fall, but the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus has pushed those plans back to at least early 2022.

Vaccination mandate rules just released

The new vaccination rules, announced in September, were officially issued Thursday by the federal Department of Labor. Private sector companies with at least 100 employees will need to have those employees vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or the employees must be tested weekly. Companies that do not comply can be fined.

A Summa nurse charges a needle with a COVID-19 vaccine. Private employers with 100 or more employees starting Jan. 4 must show their workers are vaccinated or getting tested weekly.

Companies will not be required to pay for weekly testing of unvaccinated workers unless the requirement is otherwise required by state or local laws or labor contracts.

Companies can be fined from $13,653 per employee for not meeting the Jan. 4 deadline, and as much as $136,532 for willful noncompliance, according to the guidelines.

Diebold Nixdorf evaluating

ATM maker and financial services technology company Diebold Nixdorf is reviewing the mandate, a spokesman said.

Protecting the health and safety of our employees remains our top priority as we navigate the changing COVID-19 landscape," spokesman Mike Jacobsen said in a statement. "Diebold Nixdorf continues to evaluate COVID-19 health and safety measures based on current local conditions and guidance from relevant authorities where we operate around the world. To that end, we are reviewing and evaluating the federal vaccine mandate in the U.S., and the 490+ pages of the Emergency Temporary Standard from OSHA, in order to understand what is required to be compliant."

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The company will inform its employees and others and make appropriate decisions as it moves forward through its review, he said.

Diebold Nixdorf currently is not mandating that its employees be vaccinated but is encouraging that they get vaccinated, Jacobsen said. The company offers paid time off for employees to get vaccinations and the new booster shots.

"In addition we require all employees to follow stringent health and safety protocols to help safeguard the health and well-being of our employees, customers and communities, he said.

TimkenSteel declined to comment.

Lawsuits filed to overturn mandate

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and six other attorneys general  from Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia  on Friday filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to challenge the vaccine mandate.

The Columbus-based Buckeye Institute on Friday also said it filed a motion for an emergency stay on the federal vaccine mandate, also in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The institute called the mandate "one of the most far-reaching and invasive rules ever promulgated by the federal government." It said the mandate is an attempt by the Biden administration to work around statutory and constitutional limitations.

Ohio Chamber President and CEO Steve Stivers on Thursday criticized the mandate.

Todays announcement from the Biden Administration is a significant infringement on the ability of Ohio employers to set their own workplace policies," Stivers said in a statement. "Ohio businesses know best how to protect the health and safety of their employees, customers and patients and should not be subject to the heavy hand of government dictating a one-size-fits-all approach to COVID-19 vaccines and testing.

Hospitals preparing

Unlike the rules for other large employers, the mandates for health care businesses that accept money from Medicare or Medicaid do not allow a testing option in lieu of vaccination.

Summa Health in August became the only Akron-area health system to put in place a COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a condition of employment.

So far, 91% of Summa employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a health system spokesman. Another 7% have been granted religious or medical exemptions, and the remaining 2% face disciplinary actions, up to termination.

On Monday, Akron Children's Hospital began requiring employees to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing.

About 80% of Children's employees are fully vaccinated, according to the hospital. A hospital official said this week Childrens is reviewing the new federal vaccination rules and will comply.

Cleveland Clinic and Western Reserve Hospitals in Cuyahoga Falls are not yet mandating employees receive the vaccine.

A Cleveland Clinic Akron General spokeswoman said this week that the Cleveland-based health system is reviewing the federal rules and will comply. Along with Akron General, the Cleveland Clinic owns Mercy Hospital in Canton and Medina Hospital.

"We are currently reviewing the rule, and we will comply with federal requirements that apply to our health system. We will have more to share in the coming weeks," Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital spokeswoman Cindy Hickey. "System-wide, about 80% of our staff is currently vaccinated."

Aultman Hospital in Canton said it will work to meet the federal mandates.

"Of our 7,200 colleagues, 67% are fully vaccinated and many others have received the first of two doses," said Jason Clevenger, spokesman for Aultman Hospital in Canton, in a statement. "We will continue to work with our colleagues to meet the CMS requirements released on Nov. 4, 2021."

Canton Repository reporters Edd Pritchard and Samantha Zern contributed to this report. Jim Mackinnon covers breaking news and business. He can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Northeast Ohio employers look to meet federal COVID vaccine deadline
Millcreek Township School District officials say that mold at Walnut Creek Middle School has been removed.

But the mother of a Walnut Creek student said her son is still having asthma attacks that she believes are triggered by mold.

School officials took immediate action when they learned of mold at the school this fall, Aaron O'Toole, the district's director of finance and operations, said in an email Friday. Two environmental companies were hired to assess the school twice since classes began Sept. 1 and reported only low levels of mold in the air inside the building, he said.

Walnut Creek Middle School, 5901 Sterrettania Road in Millcreek Township, is shown on Friday.

The latest assessment, by AMD Environmental Consultants of Tonawanda, New York, in mid-October, "did not detect any microbial air quality hazards" in any samples collected at the school but did find low to moderate concentrations of mold spores in the air in some areas, according to the company's report to the district obtained by the Erie Times-News.

"The reports indicated that indoor air mold levels were very low, substantially lower than that of outdoor air mold levels," O'Toole said.

Surface sampling by AMD detected low-level concentrations of spores in some walls and diffusers that distribute air in the school and elevated levels in four room diffusers and a storage room. The company recommended that those areas be professionally cleaned, disinfected, cleared and sealed with a fungicide and that water-damaged ceiling tiles be replaced.

That's been done, O'Toole said.

"All areas of the building were remediated and corrected following the guidance of the mold and air quality expert companies," he said.

School labor crunch: Erie teachers who resign must wait up to 2 months to leave

Parent Michelle Biel believes that mold is still a problem at the school and is causing severe allergic reactions in her son, a 12-year-old sixth-grader who is allergic to mold and takes daily medications and treatments for asthma.

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"My son is severely allergic to mold. Pretty much every day since school started he's been sent home early," Biel said. "I get calls saying he's having an asthma attack and I need to pick him up. He's fine at home. It's got to be something in the school triggering it."

Mold spores that are inhaled can reach the lungs and trigger asthma, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Biel said that her son has been hospitalized for breathing issues three times since school started and now is sent home at 12:20 p.m. every day for nebulizer treatments to help him breathe.

"He was able to use the nebulizer in school before COVID. But that's not allowed now because (exhalations) are released and could transmit it," Biel said.

Biel said her son has a nebulizer treatment each morning before school and uses medicinal inhalers at school.

"And every day he gets off the bus and gets on the nebulizer right away because he's struggling that much to breathe," she said.

Erie schools boost sub pay: Substitute teachers will get 110% increase

Biel said her son will be out of school until mid-week when she can refill his prescriptions.

"We ran out of medications and the insurance company won't cover any more because he's using so much," she said.

Moisture in the school that resulted in mold might have been caused by roof leaks, a leaking pipe and condensation from the building's HVAC system during the summer, according to AMD's report to the district.

District officials met with Walnut Creek teachers and staff when the mold was reported and shared initial professional testing results with school families on Oct. 7, O'Toole said.

The second round of testing, by AMD, was done Oct. 13.

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNmyers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Mold at Millcreek school was removed but mom says it's affecting her son
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban have demanded that the government of Pakistan release a number of prisoners as a condition for talks aimed at laying the ground for full ceasefire negotiations, multiple sources in the group said.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan or TTP and separate from the Afghan Taliban, have had two rounds of preliminary talks, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, a commander based in the Afghan province of Kunar said.

Sources close to the matter said Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Network and the current Afghan Taliban interior minister, was helping the talks.

The TTP, which combines a number of jihadi and militant groups that have been fighting the government of Pakistan since 2007, is included on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organisations.

Last month Prime Minister Imran Khan told Turkey's TRT television that his government was in talks with parts of the TTP as part of a "reconciliation process".

The release of the prisoners is meant to be a confidence-building measure, three TTP commanders said, adding that the outcome of the talks was still uncertain.

"We aren't too hopeful of the immediate results of the talks but our leaders had demanded the release of prisoners if they are sincere in meaningful negotiations," a TTP commander told Reuters from Afghanistan's Kunar province.

No comment was available from the Pakistani government. The interior ministry, foreign ministry and the ISPR, the armed forces communications wing, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

According to negotiators, the two sides agreed not to issue statements either supporting or opposing the peace process or against each other till the accord is signed and made public.

TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in a text message the group had "never refused meaningful talks" but that there were no developments on the ground yet.

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TTP attacks have killed and wounded thousands of civilians and Pakistani service personnel over the years but the group was badly weakened by the Pakistan military's Zarb-e-Azb operation in 2014 which drove it from its stronghold in North Waziristan.

However it has a force estimated at around 4,000-5,000 fighters, many based across the border in Afghanistan, and there has been a spate of incidents along the border since the Afghan Taliban seized Kabul in August.

Under the previous Western-backed government in Kabul, both Afghanistan and Pakistan accused each other of harbouring militant groups that mounted cross-border attacks.

Another Pakistani Taliban commander said the TTP leadership had consulted all factions in the movement, some of which had serious reservations about talking to the Pakistani government, but he said many ordinary fighters wanted to go home.

(Reporting by Jibran Ahmad, Saud Mehsud, Asif Shahzad; Editing by Giles Elgood)
On Thursday evening, 25 members of the region's nursing community were honored by the Panhandle Great 25 Nurses Review Committee for their service and commitment to their profession at the Polk Street United Methodist Church.

Hall of Fame Legacy Honoree Dr. Valerie Kiper congratulates Jessica Albracht for being one of the Panhandle's selected Great 25 nurses Thursday, Nov. 4.

The committee decides who is selected for this recognition by evaluating nominations submitted by peers, family members, patients, former teachers, physicians and administrators. The Great 25 were chosen through a blind process by the Great 25 committee panel, based upon the established criteria with each nominee's accomplishments in the following areas:

- leadership qualities;

- service to the community;

- compassionate caregiver; and

- significant contributions to the profession of nursing.

Dr. Richard Pullen and Dr. Valerie Kiper recognized 25 honorees of the Panhandle Great 25 Nurses for their continued commitment and dedication to the region's healthcare community during Thursday's event.

Nursing scholarships are provided for students enrolled in various nursing programs throughout the Texas Panhandle through proceeds received from the event. The scholarships contribute to building the nursing workforce and advancing the profession of nursing, which helps strengthen the recipients' respective communities' health.

Co-chair and founding member of the committee, Dr. Richard Pullen, talked about the importance to the region of recognizing the nurses of the Texas Panhandle.

"This is an event that celebrates and honors registered nurses in the region for their compassionate caring and serving in the Panhandle," Pullen said. Through this event, with its gracious donations from sponsors, we were able to award 10 $2,000 scholarships and one $2,500 scholarship to nursing students to help them with their tuition. They are the future of nursing in the community.

The ten $2,000 scholarship winners take the stage at the Panhandle 25 Great Nurses Event Thursday Nov. 4.

Pullen stated that the committee deciding on the nominations consisted of 25 members with various subcommittees involved.

Culminating Thursday's event was the induction of Sheryl Finley, director of nursing education and development for Northwest Texas Healthcare System, into the Texas Nurses Association Hall of Fame. Also honored as the Panhandle Great 25 Nurses Legacy Honoree was Dr. Valerie Kiper, founder of the organization and assistant professor of nursing at Texas Tech.

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"Honoring Dr. Valerie Kiper was the most important thing that I could do," Pullen said. She has been a pioneer and a leader in the Texas Panhandle for the past 40 years in the healthcare community.

Panhandle Great 25 honoree Treiva Daniels was honored by her colleagues for her long history in the health care industry during an event held Thursday, Nov. 4.

Honorees of the Great 25 Nurses Committee 2021

Jessica Albracht, Nurse Manager, BSA

Eric Bose, ICU RN, VA

Sharon Brewer, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech

Dana Brookwalter, Charge Nurse, BSA

Devin Carpenter, Director of Nursing, Parmer

Brenda Chandler, Oncology Nurse, Texas Tech

Ronda Crow, Chief Nursing Officer, Moore County Hospital District

Treiva Daniels, RN, Amarillo College

Kristen De Los Santos, Deaf County Hospital District

Elizabeth Favela, Nurse Family-Partnership Supervisor

Brenda Graham, Harrington Breast Center Recall

Glenda Harris, Director Surgical Services, BSA

Hong Hong, Night Shift Supervisor, BSA

Theresa King, Cardiac Rehab Lead, BSA

Cami Meason, Nurse Manager, BSA

Patricia Miranda, Program Director, Amarillo ISD

Jennifer Peters, Maternal Program Coordinator

Angela Philips, Associate Professor, West Texas A&M

Kiki Ralston, Chief Nursing Officer, Coon Memorial

Amanda Richardson, Charge Nurse, BSA

Sandy Richardson, NICU Shift Supervisor

John Schnatz, Family Nurse Practitioner

Shelly Seth, FNP, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech

Erika Soria, Director Adult Critical Care, Northwest Texas Healthcare

Sally Swan, School Nurse, Spearman ISD

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: The Panhandle Great 25 nurses committee celebrates its 2021 honorees
Corrections & clarifications: An original version of this story incorrectly stated that Allen was the first Black woman to publish a newspaper in Peoria. Though Allen may have been the first Black woman to found a newspaper, Hattie Evans was the first Black female publisher, according to Edward Lamoureux, a professor in the departments of communication and interactive media at Bradley University, who has researched the topic. Evans became the publisher at the Peoria Informer after her husband died in 1939, Lamoureux said.

PEORIA  What began as words of hope printed on the back of advertising flyers became a lifetime endeavor for Elise Ford Allen, founder of The Traveler Weekly newspaper.

Allen died Nov. 3 at her home. She was 100 years old.

Allen made history in 1966 by becoming the first Black woman to found a newspaper in Peoria. The effort arose from her desire to fight discrimination and to lift up others. Her first editorial appeared on advertising flyers produced by the familys printing company. Allens husband, James, ran the presses, and her 10 children distributed the flyers around the community.

Elise Ford Allen

When people got the advertisement, they would turn it over and see her work, said daughter Linda Hollis. It got to the point where they wanted the advertisement not only to see whats on sale at the local five-and-dime, they wanted to read her editorial, and that began to grow from one page to two pages, and it eventually became her newspaper.

'That was her whole goal  to give people hope'

People read Allens editorials because they were insightful and hopeful, Hollis said.

People were clamoring for her work," she said. She gave people belief that the world was a better place. She believed that all her life. She believed that the pen has power and the words that you speak have power, and if you tell the people the truth and show them how their actions can harm or help others, then maybe they can do better in life. That was her whole goal  to give people hope, because people who dont have hope have nothing. If she could give them hope, they could make a better day for themselves.

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In addition to providing hope, Allen also worked for equality. She touted efforts to end cyclical poverty, which perpetuates discrimination by keeping the poor out of mainstream society. In the 1970s, Allen wrote these words in an editorial:

We not only want to take part in solving our own problems, but also in making the true principles of democracy a living reality to all Americans without regard to race color or creed; the dignity of the individual, and their civil rights must be defended always. The real test today is the ability and desire of all of us to meet Americans as Americans and all peoples as equals.

Uplifting students: In Peoria, new higher education programs tackle institutional racism

In addition to being the first black woman in Peoria to found a newspaper, she was also the citys first Black female mayoral candidate. She ran in 1973 on a platform of bringing to light the plight of Peorias poor. She placed fifth among the eight candidates  otherwise all white men  who ran.

'I wish everyone could experience what we did'

Elise Ford was born in Peoria in 1921 into a family of high achievers. Her father was Dr. Cecil Bruce Ford, Peoria's first Black dentist, and her grandfather was Maj. George Ford, a member of the 10th Cavalry  the Buffalo Soldiers, one of the first peacetime, all-Black regiments in the Army  and the first president of the NAACP in Springfield.

The Fords are descendants of West Ford, who some believe to be the son of Americas first president, George Washington. Hollis has done extensive research and written a book on the topic, I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washingtons African American Descendants.

Elise Ford was just 18 years old when she met James Allen in 1939.

It was love at first sight, and that was it. They were bonded, from that time on. They stayed together until the day he died. I think they had been married over 65 years, said Hollis. They were such good parents. They were just awesome to be with. I wish everyone could experience what we did.

Peoria's Black trailblazers: From Civil Rights leaders to entrepreneurs: 5 of Peoria's most famous Black trailblazers

Allen was a tireless mother who helped with homework and prepared hot meals every day, said Hollis.

I dont know how in the world she did it. She raised 10 children, had a husband who had his own business, ran a newspaper and took care of a household, said Hollis. She was a mother first, but also a shrewd businesswoman.

From segregation to seeing a Black man elected president

Over the course of her 100 years, Elise Ford Allen saw many changes. She began life during segregation  she and her siblings werent allowed to swim in Peoria's public swimming pool unless it was about to be cleaned. In her later years, she saw a Black man become president.

She never thought in her lifetime that she would see it, said Hollis. "She was amazed at it, she made sure she got out to cast her vote, and she encouraged others to vote.

Allens daughter Angela Henry began taking over more duties at The Traveler after Allen had a stroke 15 years ago, but Allen never completely relinquished control of the product. In the last five years, as speech became increasingly difficult, Allen communicated with her eyes.

Her eyes spoke volumes," said Hollis. Just a lift of an eyebrow or a blink of her eye, you knew if you were on the right path or the wrong path.

'A strong black woman': 100-year-old Peorian recalls overcoming racism to start half-century teaching career

Every week Henry, who was also her moms caregiver, would discuss what was being published. Henry feels well prepared to take over the reins and keep her mothers legacy alive.

The paper continues. We've got a great, great number of writers who love my mom, and are grateful to be on her platform, Henry said. Before there was Facebook, before there was social media, there was The Traveler. I think thats why today its held in such high regard.

Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Elise Ford Allen: Peoria's first black female newspaper founder dies
More than 100 people gathered in Jeffersontown Saturday afternoon to protest impending federal guidelines that require larger employers to mandate vaccinations or regular testing for their workers.

"Don't stop fighting," Andrew Cooperrider, a Republican candidate for Kentucky Senate District 12, told the crowd at Veterans Memorial Park. "Don't just comply. Make them fire you. Don't even quit; make them fire you."

On Jan. 4, new federal guidelines by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are set to go into place, requiring employees at companies with over 100 people to either get vaccinated or tested every week.

Latest: Jockey Miguel Mena fatally struck by car driven by ex-Louisville tennis coach Rex Ecarma

However, this measure was temporarily halted by an appeals court Saturday.

Several large employers in the Louisville area  such as GE Appliances, Ford, UPS and LG&E  are currently reviewing the new rules, while Norton Healthcare has already implemented a vaccine mandate and Jefferson County Public Schools now requires regular testing if not fully vaccinated.

Rebecca Raymer, a registered nurse, started the Facebook group No Mask in Kentucky Schools in August, but said it has been "a little challenging" because the social media platform regularly flags her content.

A group at Veterans Memorial Park in Louisville take a stand against employer and school mandates in Kentucky.Nov. 6, 2021

"Tyranny comes in the form of protection," she said. "And what do they want to do to protect you from something? They have to make you scared of it, so they spread fear  nonsense. Well, you know what? More than COVID, I'm scared of me losing my rights. I don't want the government to protect me from COVID.

"I want our government to protect our liberties and our rights. That's their job and they've forgotten their place. And we as a people need to rise up and remind them what their place is."

State Rep Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge  who in September tried to get a bill passed that would prohibit schools from mandating vaccines or using intimidation tactics or negative incentives to encourage vaccination"  said she's been "castigated, chastised and alienated" for her beliefs, even by some within the Republican Party.

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"You should not have to have an extenuating circumstance," she said. "You should not have to have a sincerely held religious belief."

Also: What caused plane crash that killed LouCity founder, colleagues? NTSB shares final report

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has also joined in on the matter, as he has added his name to lawsuits attorneys general in six other states have brought forth to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The lawsuits ask that the guidelines be blocked for private companies while their constitutionality can be reviewed.

Reporter Joe Sonka contributed to this report.

Contact Ayana Archie at aarchie@courier-journal.com or follow on Twitter @AyanaArchie. Support strong local journalism by subscribing to The Courier Journal.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jeffersontown rally protests COVID vaccine requirements
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday hailed political prisoners charged with crimes related to the U.S. Capitol riot as she claimed they are being tortured in a kind of patriots wing of the District of Columbia Jail.

Greene joined Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) in a scheduled tour of the jail Thursday evening with members of the Council of the District of Columbia.

The council members were there to check out problems in the jails Central Detention Facility. But Greene and Gohmert also visited a separate section of the jail that houses dozens of people accused in the Jan. 6 riot who are being held pending trial.

Greene compared it to visiting prisoners of war. The treatment of these men is unacceptable, she tweeted.

A local council member said Greenes concern seemed focused on scoring political points.

Clearly there is an ulterior motive focused on Jan. 6, said D.C. Council member Charles Allen, who organized the tour and was surprised by the late tagalongs. I doubt they have a genuine interest in the D.C. residents at the jail, he told DCist.

One critic on Twitter said a visit from the Georgia Republican could well be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Im joining @gregkellyusa at 7PM tonight on @newsmax to tell the story of the J6 political prisoners in the DC Jail.



Last nights trip to the Patriot Wing was like visiting prisoners of war.



The treatment of these men is unacceptable.



Tune in: https://t.co/ppOetdgyep  Marjorie Taylor Greene  (@mtgreenee) November 5, 2021

Not many on Twitter were buying Greenes crocodile tears.

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Seeing as they attacked democracy I think their treatment is appropriate and we all know where you stand!  Kevin Jackson (@airpowerimages) November 5, 2021

They broke the damn law. They're not victims.  Chuck (@Chuckjson) November 6, 2021

They did the crime. They are not prisoners of war.  Mayrabella  (@mayrabella101) November 5, 2021

You lost me at Newsmax  Kermit COVID19 Scientist  & $IONS Investor (@BatScientist) November 6, 2021

Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Karina Gauvin, left, as Alcina, and Paula Murrihy, right, as Ruggiero, in Handel's opera "Alcina" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Tuesday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

We live in an era of deception. As if Facebook hadnt already offered reason to fret over the amplification of fake news, now comes the prospect of an enchanted digital island, a so-called metaverse, in which our illusions, be they benign or ill-intentioned, may run free.

These are not, in fact, new ideas. Dissimulation and enchanted islands alike were catnip to 18th century opera composers, as they have been in literature and myth through the ages. Handel's late opera "Alcina" is one irresistible example of the extravagant angst and allure they provide. On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Opera imported London-based period-instrument the English Concert  led by its artistic director, Harry Bicket, and a cast of superb singers  for the first of two concert performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (it plays again Friday). It was enough to do the trick.

"Alcina" accomplishes this with little more than a series of marvelous arias  showy, merry, sweet, angry, amusing, seductive, pastorale, heartbreaking, feverish, mystifying  patched together with a recitative that can make unpacking a gender-bending narrative such as this one a challenge. Had it been performed in its completion by the English Concert and singers, the performance would have lasted well over four hours. Lightly trimmed, it clocked in at three hours and 40 minutes at the Chandler.

This fantasy centers on the sorceress Alcina, who lures lovers to her island and then transforms them into beasts, rocks or other bits of scenery. A dashing knight, Ruggiero, who has been seduced by Alcina, is freed from her spell by his fiancee, Bradamante, who arrives in drag disguised as Alcina's brother, Ricciardo. Alcina's sister, the likable and fickle Morgana, immediately falls in love with Bradamante, who she believes is a man. All of these roles are sung by women. (The role of Oberto, a young man whose father had once turned Alcina into a tiger, also would have been performed by a woman had the role not been been cut from the show.) What emerges is a feast of vocalism from four multidimensional characters  played by women  who go through epic transformation, and two stock-character men who don't.

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The intended and unintended consequences that these revelations have on the characters lead to jealousy, disillusionment, momentary joy  and, ultimately, devastating hurt, seeming triumph, even a pause to admire nature, as aria follows aria on this dystopian isle. It ends with the defeat of Alcina and Morgana. The beasts and other bits of scenery become men once more. The lovers, Bradamante and Ruggiero, are reunited.

But it is not that easy. Alcina and Morgana get the most extravagant arias. They feel the most strongly. They have the most humanity. The banality of evil is, for Handel, too banal. Although she is portrayed as the villain, Alcina's suffering is universal. We see ourselves, our own troubled impulses, in her and, to some extent, in her helpmate Morgana. They carry us away with every memorable aria. No one who sings such engrossing, and often ravishing, music with such candor can be all that bad. Right? The real genius of Handel is that we are the deluded.

There are advantages and disadvantages to presenting Alcina as a concert performance. The opera has had greatly imaginative stagings, a particularly gripping one from Aix-en-Provence six years ago directed by Katie Mitchell, who disturbingly confronts graphic sex and aging in the performance; it's available on video. But that approach also distances an audience.

At the Chandler, there was the small, arrestingly virtuosic ensemble with Bicket conducting from the harpsichord, seated with his back to us in a way that never felt demonstrative. The singers in concert dress didnt necessarily look their parts and didnt try. Some were more expressive singers than others but almost always in conventional ways. We faced the music and the drama directly.

Soprano Karina Gauvin, who sang the part of Morgana a dozen years ago in arguably the finest recording of the opera, is now a hardened-voiced Alcina. Gauvin's power lies in her capacity for demonstrating Alcina's believably intense affection  however insincere  and stunningly sincere bitterness over rejection.

Meanwhile, the scene-stealing soprano Lucy Crowe finds in Morgana a flighty charm at every fabulously sung turn of phrase. Paula Murrihys Ruggiero is the easily swayed dunderhead who is entrapped by Alcina. Yet in her nuanced portrayal of someone able to come to his senses, the brilliantly focused Irish mezzo turned Ruggiero into the character whose transformation mattered the most.

Elizabeth DeShong slyly negotiated the gender-fluid characterization of Bradamante. Alek Shrader, as the jealous Oronte (Morgana's sometime lover), and Wojtek Gierlach, Bradamante's tutor and truth-teller, commanded their thankless roles.

However, Bicket looked to stay out of the way, making no seeming contact with the singers. Nevertheless, he discreetly empowered singers and instrumentalists, enabling the hours to pass smoothly and easily.

Even so, the stage picture was not imaginative. The massive Chandler is hardly the ideal space for Baroque opera to have the intimacy this piece demands. Almost to the day 35 years ago, in the first month of the first season of L.A. Opera (then Music Center Opera), the company moved off the Music Center campus to effectively stage Alcina in the gilded Wiltern Theatre.

A potentially enchanted world happened to lie just feet away from the Chandler, in the currently dark and perfectly proportioned Mark Taper Forum  whose origins as a chamber music hall would have been well-suited to capture the idiosyncrasies of "Alcina."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche's $20.7 billion move to buy back nearly a third of its voting stock from fellow Swiss drugmaker Novartis will give it more strategic flexibility, Chairman Christoph Franz said in an interview published on Saturday.

The deal, announced on Thursday, extricates Roche from ownership ties to a major competitor with strategic vetoing power, though it has kept a passive role in the face of powerful Roche family shareholders.

Roche can afford the deal without cutting back on research and development spending, and acquisitions, Franz told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft.

Bridge financing will be used initially to pay Novartis, and then Roche would refinance the debt through longer-term instruments such as bonds, he said.

"Our net debt is almost zero. It is very important that we can raise the substantial debt without compromising operational and strategic flexibility with regard to our core business," Franz said.

"We can continue our focus on research and development, we can continue in-licensing and acquisitions as we have done in the past years. We are not losing any freedom as a result of this transaction. Quite the opposite."

Franz said he saw the new situation, with the repurchased shares being eliminated, as helping Roche proceed without needing to get the approval of Novartis.

"A key reason for us is that decisions requiring a two-thirds majority at the Annual General Meeting can only be made with the approval of a major shareholder such as Novartis," he said.

"Although there was no specific cause for concern, this new situation is now clearer."

Still, this didn't mean that Roche would embark on a buying spree of large acquisitions, Franz added.

"We believe that smaller bolt-on acquisitions are the right thing for us to do to strengthen innovation within the company," Franz said.

"Also, in the medium and longer term, the transaction with Novartis would indeed give us more freedom to issue equity. But our policy of being very cautious with major acquisitions is not changing."

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Gareth Jones)
A supporter of President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro waves a box of ivermectin at a pro-government demonstration in Brasilia in May 2021. Andressa Anholete/Getty Images

The popularity of unproven anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment is surging.

Its use has roots in South America, where it was hyped by populist leaders citing debunked research.

"Nobody paid attention... now we see the same" in the US, a Peruvian official told Insider.

In May 2020, when the coronavirus was sweeping the South American nation of Peru, Dr. Patricia Garcia of the country's health ministry began receiving disturbing reports from the country's hospitals.

They detailed injuries not caused by COVID-19, but a drug people thought would help them: the anti-parasitic substance ivermectin.

"The kind of things they were telling was people that were coming with severe gastritis [stomach inflammation], and also pancreatitis, because they were taking the ivermectin in desperation," Garcia told Insider.

As the coronavirus continued to spread, people's faith in ivermectin as a way out of the crisis grew more fervent, said Garcia.

It would be almost a year before ivermectin would become widely discussed in the US, as a subset of Americans began to insist on receiving it.

The US demand for ivermectin surged as vaccination - the most effective COVID countermeasure - became increasingly politicized. Doctors strongly advise against taking it but, as of October 16, more than two-dozen lawsuits had been filed around the US from people demanding access to it.

"History is repeating," said Garcia. "Nobody paid attention about what was happening in Latin America and now we see the same situation."

A fake cure with real backing

A municipal worker sprays disinfectant past a street vendor at a market in Puno, Peru, near the border with Bolivia, on June 10, 2020. CARLOS MAMANI/AFP via Getty Images

In the Peru of May 2020, there were no vaccines, and ivermectin's rise was being driven by hope and desperation.

Pharmacies fast ran out of pills as thousands sought to obtain it, and a lucrative ivermectin black market emerged, as local media reported at the time.

Adherents recommended both that healthy people take ivermectin as a preventative, and that it be used to treat COVID-19 after infection.

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Many resorted to a stronger version of the drug, normally used to deworm horses. That form is taken by injection, and people who took it were left with serious skin lesions, said Garcia.

As the fervor spread, evangelical groups based in southern Peru injected 5,000 people from indigenous communities with the drug.

In some cities, including the capital, Lima, public health officials distributed the stronger, dangerous form of the drug to whole neighborhoods.

Retracted study fuels the craze

The belief that ivermectin could work against COVID-19 is almost as old as the pandemic, predating vaccines and even proper testing.

Almost two years later, there is still no conclusive evidence that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19, and it has been repeatedly debunked, including by the FDA in September.

It said that taking large doses of any kind of ivermectin is dangerous, and that humans should never take drugs intended for treating animals.

Carlos Chaccour, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, pointed to an obscure research paper in early 2020 which appeared to answer the desperate desire for a workable treatment.

A lie is born

The paper drew on data from Surgisphere Corporation, a small research group in Chicago, which published it in April 2020 seeing to establish a link between taking ivermectin and surviving COVID-19.

A pharmacist in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with doses of ivermectin. Rodrigo Urzagasti/picture alliance via Getty Images

The researchers, who also touted hydroxychloroquine, said the paper's basis was data from thousands of hospitals around the world. Their research was published by top-tier medical journals including The Lancet and The New England Medical Journal.

But doubts soon emerged the authenticity of Surgisphere's data, the credentials of its team, and the methodology they used.

The Lancet and The New England Medical Journal retracted the study after a backlash from the scientific community and an investigation by The Guardian. But by then, said Chaccour, the damage was done.

In summer 2020, government officials in Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala made ivermectin part of their COVID-19 strategies, often citing the retracted study as evidence.

Chaccour told Insider that the drug was embraced so readily because it seemed to present a simple solution, was relatively cheap, and was already widely used in the region.

He noted that a danger of the drug - perhaps worse than its adverse effects - was that people who believed it to be effective against COVID-19 were more likely to ignore actions that actually work.

"One of the risks of ivermectin is not just the safety, but the hazard of people not using masks or not getting vaccines or not doing social distancing because they think they are protected," he said.

A second surge



As a second wave of the coronavirus hit South America in the latter half of 2020, ivermectin became more popular still. The city of Cali in Colombia handed it out to all of its COVID patients in late July. Weeks later the state of Chiapas in Mexico followed suit.

In Brazil, South America's most-populous country, the drug was endorsed by the country's populist president, Jair Bolsonaro, and by his allies at a regional and national level.

But it wasn't just politicians. They were riding a wave of social-media misinformation that was still spreading. In groups on Facebook and WhatsApp, misinformation about ivermectin was being shared by millions, experts told Insider.

Among its influential promoters was COMUSAV, a group of renegade medics based in Bolivia, whose core product was a kind of industrial bleach promoted as a miracle cure for a vast array of ailments that included COVID-19.

They pushed ivermectin to their followers across the continent on their Facebook pages, which had tens of thousands of followers.

(Many of the group's pages were removed following an investigation by Insider in March 2021.)

From South America to North

A data analyst, Juan Chamie, was among those who helped to bring the enthusiasm for ivermectin from the populists of South America to their equivalents in the US, experts told Insider.

Chamie claimed to have data showing lower COVID-19 mortality in parts of South America where public health authorities approved ivermectin.

But Chaccour and data scientist Joe Brew have said his analyses are misleading, and ignore other factors that could explain the differences.

"Just because things are associated does not necessarily mean that one thing causes the other," they said.

That hasn't stopped Chamie's analyses being shared widely, until his account was suspended by Twitter.

Among those taking note was Laura Ingraham, primetime host of Fox News' show "The Ingraham Angle."

In December 2020 Ingraham posted a graph of data attributed to Chamie to her 3.8 million followers.

It purported to show a reduction in COVID-19 cases, comparing areas of Chiapas, Mexico, where officials did and did not distribute ivermectin.

Chaccour said that, as with Chamie's other claims, the decrease could be coincidental or due to other factors.

Ingraham already had a history of promoting ivermectin. As far back as March 2020, Ingraham had tweeted about the Surgisphere research that was later debunked.

Chaccour believes that Ingraham's advocacy was a tipping point for ivermectin in the US.

Progressive campaign group Media Matters noted that Ingraham's enthusiasm extended to her widely-viewed Fox News show.

In two episodes in December 2020, Ingraham claimed that medical authorities were conspiring to suppress the substance and ignoring evidence of its effectiveness. Andrew Lawrence, a Media Matters staffer, told Insider that Ingraham was "definitely the leader" among network hosts promoting the substance.

A Fox News spokesperson said in Ingraham's defense that she never explicitly told viewers to take the drug.

In comments to The Washington Post, Ingraham criticized attempts to "silence" scientists with unorthodox messages. "Just like the scientific consensus, the medical consensus is evolving. It changes," she sad.

Chamie also formed contacts with the Front Line Critical Care Alliance (FLCCA), a group of US medics who were influential in pushing ivermectin in the US, as detailed in a September investigation by Insider's Hilary Brueck.

Chamie describes himself as a senior data analyst for FLCCA on his LinkedIn page, and the group cites his research on its website.

The group has been instrumental in brokering ties between the pro-ivermectin movement and Republican lawmakers who promoted the drug.

Last December, Dr Pierre Kory, a member of the group, testified before the US Senate about ivermectin in what one critic, Brown University dean Dr. Ashish Jha, described in The New York Times as a "misinformation super-spreader event."

Dr. Pierre Kory testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

In a statement to Insider, the FLCCC defended its position on ivermectin, forwarding Insider a list of studies based on anecdotal evidence suggesting that ivermectin may be effective in reducing COVID-19 deaths. These studies are not considered conclusive by experts.

The group did not respond to questions regarding Chamie's research, and Chamie himself did not respond to requests for comment from Insider.

As proponents in the US clamored for wider use of ivermectin, in South America disillusioned officials were reversing their position.

In February Peru removed ivermectin from its COVID treatment protocol altogether because of the absence of evidence that it worked.

"It's incredible for me that we, a whole region, already went through this terrible situation in which lots of people have died," Garcia, the Peruvian official, told Insider.

"They were taking ivermectin because it was known to us, so it was easy for us. And it didn't work."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Simi Valley police officer protects Ventura County firefighters as they attack flames on the roof of a home on Mater Avenue Friday evening.

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

House fire in Simi requires police, body armor

SIMI VALLEY  A dramatic house fire in Simi Valley Friday evening required police protection for firefighters, who also had to don body armor as they tackled the intense blaze.

The call initially started at 4:47 p.m. as a law enforcement response to a reported family dispute in the 2100 block of North Marter Avenue, Simi Valley Police Department officials said Saturday. Officers saw smoke at the home when they arrived.

Ventura County Fire Department crews were dispatched shortly before 5 p.m. to the house, located east of Erringer Road and north of East Los Angeles Avenue.

Ventura County firefighters battle intense flames on the roof of a Simi Valley home Friday during an incident that also required police protection.

Fire crews encountered heavy fire throughout the single-story residence. At the same time, reports indicated a man, possibly armed, may have been barricaded inside. Initial reports from family members indicated one of the brothers was in the house and may have poured gas over the property, police officials said Friday evening.

Police officers provided "force protection" so firefighters could put water on the blaze, said police Sgt. Josh McAlister. A fire department photo from the scene shows an armed officer standing on the roof with fire crews as they trained hoses on flames erupting from the interior.

Over the next half hour or so, chaotic reports emerged from the scene: a man found down in a neighboring backyard, someone taken into custody, a possible stabbing victim. Fire crews were also warned about ammunition in the garage.

Police officials on Saturday provided an account of what happened, adding the incident remained under investigation and some details were being withheld.

#StructureFire Simi Valley : Barricaded subject located and being transported to local trauma center. @VCFD crews remaining on scene for several hours. pic.twitter.com/2NrPB6k1eJ  VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) November 6, 2021

The man who had initially been in the home was a 50-year-old who lived there with family, according to police Cmdr. Steve Shorts.

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He had been found lying on the ground in the backyard of a home on Larch Street that shared a fence with his family's house. He was taken by ambulance to the trauma center at Los Robles Regional Medical Center with lacerations on one of his arms. Investigators had not immediately determined the cause of his injuries.

Police officials said Friday evening they believed the fire was intentionally set. On Saturday, they said police and fire department arson investigators were still working on the case. The 50-year-old man was said to be a person of interest, but no arrest had been made.

Six people were displaced, according to county fire officials. No firefighters were injured.

More news: Dramatic fire displaces 12 in Ventura apartment complex, forces evacuation of nearby units

Fatal motorcycle crash in Oxnard

OXNARD  A motorcycle accident in Oxnard early Friday took the life of the 54-year-old rider, authorities said.

The single-vehicle collision was reported shortly before 12:40 a.m. on Ventura Road, south of Hemlock Street, where the rider was down in the roadway, according to the Oxnard Police Department. The intersection is north of Channel Islands Boulevard, near the boundary with the city of Port Hueneme.

The rider was taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center, officials said, where he died from his injuries.

He was identified as Anthony Taitai, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. Taitai was an Oxnard resident, police officials said.

Traffic investigators determined Taitai had been riding his 1986 Harley-Davidson southbound on Ventura Road when he hit the center divider south of Hemlock, the police department said. The impact threw him from the bike.

More local news: Roundup: Big rig pursuit winds through Ventura County, more local news

Authorities said they didn't know what caused the motorcycle to veer into the center divider or whether speed, alcohol or drugs were involved.

The accident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Ricardo Vazquez at 805-385-7847 or ricardo.vazquez@oxnardpd.org.

Detectives search for man suspected of luring child

EL RIO  Authorities on Friday released a police sketch of a possible suspect in a child luring case in El Rio this week.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office released a police sketch of a possible suspect in a child luring case in El Rio.

The incident was reported around 2:50 p.m. Wednesday on Cortez Street, near Orange Drive, in the unincorporated El Rio community, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported. The intersection is in a residential neighborhood generally east of Vineyard Avenue on the north side of Highway 101, outside Oxnard city limits.

An 11-year-old boy had been walking home from Rio Plaza Elementary School when a man he didn't know stopped his car nearby, sheriff's officials said. The man allegedly offered the boy money in exchange for a sex act, authorities said, and "quickly left" when the youth declined. The suspect was last seen driving north on Cortez Street.

The youth told his mother about the encounter when he got home and the two of them contacted law enforcement, sheriff's officials said. The youth worked with detectives to create the composite sketch of the suspect.

Detective Rosalio Cobian said as of late Friday afternoon, investigators were still canvassing the neighborhood looking for witnesses and trying to find surveillance video that might show the suspect or vehicle described by the youth.

The suspect was believed to be in his 20s with black, slicked-back hair. He was reportedly wearing a black T-shirt at the time. The car was described as a black four-door sedan with tinted windows, possibly a Toyota.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Cobian with the sheriff's major crimes unit at 805-384-4723.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Firefighters require police protection at Simi blaze, more
Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in an August deposition that he "didn't have the time" to verify election fraud claims.

Giuliani extensively peddled misinformation about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion Voting Systems sued him for defamation in January.

Rudy Giuliani told a lawyer for Dominion Voting Systems that he "didn't have the time" to verify fraud claims he's heard ahead of the 2020 presidential election, according to CNN, which cited deposition tapes from August.

Dominion is suing Giuliani and others who peddled baseless claims saying the electronic voting company rigged the election in favor of now President Joe Biden. For months after the election, Giuliani, along with former President Donald Trump, has pushed unsubstantiated ideas of widespread voter fraud, a claim that has been debunked numerous times.

Dominion in January filed a defamation suit against Giuliani, Trump's now-former personal lawyer.

The lawsuit said Giuliani was responsible for "a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion." He "cashed in by hosting a podcast where he exploited election falsehoods to market gold coins, supplements, cigars and protection from 'cyberthieves,'" the lawsuit said.

A Dominion lawyer confronted him in August about the election fraud claims, and Giuliani said he had no time to verify whether they were true.

"We had a report that the heads of Dominion and Smartmatic, somewhere in the mid-tweens, you know 2013, 2014, whatever, went down to Venezuela for a get-to-know meeting with [President Nicolas] Maduro so they could demonstrate to Maduro the kind of vote fixing they did for [former President Hugo] Chavez," Giuliani said, according to deposition footage obtained by CNN.

"You say the heads of Dominion and Smartmatic," the lawyer said, according to CNN.

"Yes, that's what I was told. ... Before the press conference I was told about it," Giuliani replied. "Sometimes I go and look myself - when stuff comes up. This time I didn't have the time to do it."

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"It's not my job, in a fast-moving case, to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that was given to me. Otherwise, you're never going to write a story. You'll never come to a conclusion," he added.

Dominion is also suing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, as well as a slew of others.

Read the original article on Business Insider
At Chimp Haven, Riley hangs on a wooden platform eating a snack. Riley is in Slim's Group.

Sen. John Kennedy sent a letter to the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, urging them to release their retired chimpanzees to Chimp Haven located outside of Shreveport, LA.

Federal law requires the NIH to transfer chimpanzees to the national sanctuary once they are retired from the New Mexico and Texas labs. At Chimp Haven, the chimpanzees would have a higher quality of life and receive better care from the veterinary and behavioral teams there. The chimpanzees at the sanctuary have large social groups and a natural environment to stimulate their minds and helps them recover from trauma experienced in the laboratories.

"Not only is Chimp Haven far better suited to meet the complex needs of chimpanzees previously used in biomedical research, but the cost of care is dramatically cheaper," Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy requested for Collins to provide information on the projected housing costs at the New Mexico and Texas facilities for the next 10 years. He also requested their housing contract with the Keeling Center of Comparative Medicine and Research, the NIH's Veterinary Panel Review Summaries and their plan to meet its own recommendations that captive chimpanzees be maintained in appropriate environments.

"I see no valid reason for the NIH to continue housing retired chimpanzees at laboratory facilities where the chimpanzees' needs are not met and the cost to taxpayers is increasing."

Visit kennedy.senate.gov to see the full letter.

Meredith G. White is an arts and culture reporter in Shreveport. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White and on Instagram and Twitter @meredithgwhite.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: NIH urged to relocate retired chimpanzees by Sen. John Kennedy
Three people were wounded in a knife attack on a high-speed train in southern Germany on Saturday, local police said, adding a suspect had been arrested.

Officers said the danger was over and a 27-year-old man was in custody, with unconfirmed media reports claiming the suspect was of Syrian origin and suffered from psychiatric issues.

The motive for the attack on the passenger train, making its way from Bavaria to the northern city of Hamburg with roughly 300 people on board, was not yet clear.

Local prosecutors are handling the case rather than the federal officials who would deal with suspected terrorism.

The three victims were being treated in hospital, said police in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, adding that none had suffered life-threatening injuries.

- 'Horrible' attack -

The ICE high-speed train was halted in the station of Seubersdorf, southeast of Nuremberg, and travel on the line was suspended.

"This knife attack is horrible," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Twitter.

"I would like to thank everyone, especially the police and the train staff, for their brave action, which prevented something even worse from happening.

"The motive for the crime is still unclear and will now be determined."

The attack took place at a tense time in Germany, which faces terror threats from jihadists and right-wing extremist groups.

Islamist suspects have committed several violent attacks in recent years, the deadliest being a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 12 people.

The Tunisian attacker, a failed asylum seeker, was a supporter of the Islamic State jihadist group.

- 'Radical Islamists' -

Seehofer said earlier this year that German authorities had foiled 23 attempted attacks since 2000.

"Germany and Western Europe are still in the sights of radical Islamists," he warned at the time.

Since 2013, the number of Islamists considered dangerous in Germany has increased fivefold to 615, according to the interior ministry.

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Several attacks or attempted attacks were carried out by asylum seekers who arrived in Germany during the 2015 migration crisis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country's doors to some 900,000 asylum seekers.

German officials believe the attackers planned their acts alone, unlike some of the attacks in France in 2015 that were ordered by the Islamic State jihadist group.

cne-mat/jxb/dl
Spains health minister signed an order on Friday making free fertility treatment available to single women, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.

State-funded fertility treatment had previously only been available to heterosexual women who had trouble conceiving children, the Associated Press reported. The change is likely to benefit roughly 8,500 people.

Health Minister Carolina Darias on Friday called the order a restitution of rights for single, lesbian and bisexual women, as well as transgender people after the conservative Peoples Party restricted state-funded fertility care to straight women with partners in 2014.

The health minister at the time said she did not consider that the lack of a man is a medical problem that required assisted reproductive procedures.

Darias said Friday that these are rights that should never have been taken away.

The new move comes under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who leads the Socialist Workers Party, has been an advocate of womens and LGBTQ rights.

Uge Sangil, the president of Spains federation of LGBTQ+ rights groups, said the new order is an example of how recognizing LGTBI rights means recognizing human rights for society as a whole, according to the Washington Post.

Let no one doubt that expanding reproductive rights is expanding human rights, Sangil said.

More from National Review
California isn't so sunny to the young girl with telekinetic powers.

A new video reveal for Stranger Things season 4, released on Netflix's designated Stranger Things Day on Saturday, shows what life is like for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Joyce (Winona Ryder) in the Golden State.

Ms. Byers moved her family (and Eleven) to Cali to escape all the awfulness of Hawkins, Ind., but there's still awfulness to be had. Now in the year 1986, Eleven isn't exactly Ms. Popular. She's clearly been tracking the days as she writes a letter to Mike (Finn Wolfhard), while bullies lodge spitballs at her face during school hours. But fortunately, spring break is upon them.

Unfortunately, there are bigger things in store for Eleven. Joyce gets a Russian doll in the mail, no doubt a nod to Hopper's (David Harbour) whereabouts. Then their house gets swarmed by a bunch of mysterious government people. And, of course, it wouldn't be a conspiracy without good ol' Murray (Brett Gelman) snooping about.

We also get a new look at Booksmart actor Eduardo Franco as Argyle, Jonathan's new best friend, a stoner delivery boy for Surfer Boy Pizza.

Later on, during Stranger Things Day, Netflix revealed the episode titles for season 4: "The Hellfire Club," "Vecna's Curse," "The Monster and the Superhero," "Dear Billy," "The Nina Project," "The Dive," "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab," "Papa," and "The Piggyback."

ST4 IS COMING pic.twitter.com/PVNWvXICBp  Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) November 6, 2021

These are the latest small teases for Stranger Things season 4 in lieu of a full-length trailer.

Fans previously saw the return of Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin "Papa" Brenner, hinting that Eleven will probably have to face her traumatic past. Another teaser revealed the creepy Creel House, the haunted manor where, years earlier, a man named Victor Creel seemingly killed his family. Might the Upside Down have something to do with it?

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Stranger Things 4

Netflix Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in 'Stranger Things 4'

"I think I have the best storyline," Harbour said of his Russia connection at this year's New York Comic Con. "And then you'll see a lot more layers about Eleven and Brenner and the institution and what she went through and is going through that relates to this narrative coming back. And then there's this new Creel House thing, which is this new element of a situation in Hawkins, which of course all relates."

"We start to really uncover these truths that we've only hinted at before," the actor added.

Stranger Things season 4 will premiere in summer 2022.

This article has been updated with a premiere window and episode titles for Stranger Things season 4.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

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Fireworks might have been banging outside our windows but whod produce oohs and aahs on our TVs? As Strictly Come Dancings 19th series reached its midway mark, the competition was heating up like a ballroom bonfire.

Whod be a Saturday sparkler? And who will fall at the halfway hurdle? Here are the top 10 talking points from Strictlys seventh live show

1. AJ Odudu gave a West End-worthy performance

Motormouthed TV presenter AJ Odudu was second on the scoreboard last week with her Medusa-themed Viennese Waltz notching her highest score of 37 points. Now she went two points and one place better with a Charleston that beggared belief for its brilliance at this stage of the contest.

Sporting a beaded mini-dress, her kicks were leggy, with lifts and lots of steps. Set to Dixieland jazz standard Dont Bring Lulu, the Roaring Twenties number was like a party in coregraphic form, complete with the requisite amount of bounce and swivel. The style suited Odudus upbeat energy and enabled her to showcase her silly side with goofy faces and bags of kooky character.

It wouldnt have looked out of place in a Broadway musical. Despite her partner Kai Widdrington doing a fine job, AJ looked like the professional at times. Craig Revel Horwood duly declared it a-may-zing, while head judge Shirley Ballas said she wanted a higher scoring paddle than 10. A near-perfect score of 39 out of 40 saw Odudu deservedly top the standings.

Having been injury-plagued in training this week, AJ was weepy with relief. She always watches the show back with her mum Florence, late each Saturday night, with champagne and pizza. Tonight might just be bigger on the former than the latter. Shell remember, remember the 6th of November for a long time to come.

2. John Whaites rumba broke new ballroom ground

Gym-buffed baker John Whaite had a Halloween off-week by his own high standards, his werewolf quickstep lacking precision and detail. He and pro partner Johannes Radebe now slowed things down to tackle the romantic rumba  a notoriously exposing dance for celebrity males. John was up to the challenge, with hips which had more rotation than a Catherine wheel.

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Set to Shape of My Heart by Sting  who sent the pair a sweet good luck message via video  the sensuous, stripped-back routine was so intense and intimate, it created a magical moment. Craig Revel Horwood said he might steal it for his wedding dance. Shirley Ballas, a former rumba world champion, was moved to tears and gave it a perfect score.

John Whaite and Johannes Radebe dance the rumba (BBC/Guy Levy)

John had admitted some trepidation ahead of this routine, saying: Im a bit nervous about how its going to be received because its a very intimate dance. Some people have already expressed their distaste for Johannes and me as a partnership, so Im expecting to get flak over it. But you know what? Were over that kind of hateful, hurtful nonsense. Were here to make the point that same-sex couples should be allowed to dance together.

Too true. This might have caused some pearl-clutching in Middle England but let them clutch. With 35 points, it was the highest scoring rumba of the series so far and left them in third place. In Craigs words, gaw-jus.

3. Over-scoring has become a habit for judges

Yes, this series is blessed with a remarkably high standard of dance. But its not just breaking all Strictly records for high scoring, its smashing them. Weve already seen the highest average overall scores at this stage in the contest and had the earliest perfect 40 in Strictly history.

If all those scores were fully deserved, it wouldnt be an issue. But time and again, weve seen the panel pick up on technical details or footwork faults in their critiques, then surprise everyone by still whipping out their eight and nine paddles. Theres being upbeat and encouraging, then theres being disingenuous.

Tonight we had six maximum 10s and eight near-perfect nines. Yet were only halfway through the series. How will the judges reward hard work and improvement over the next six weeks? Sometimes they need to take a breath and vote with their heads, not their hearts. Craig Revel Horwood has only issued one maximum this series. Sure, he plays the panto villain but hes also probably right.

4. Bullfighting Tom Fletcher notched pair of perfect 10s

If ever you need an example of Strictlys over-scoring, this was it. McFly frontman Tom Fletcher and Welsh pro Amy Dowden delivered a very decent paso doble to Amparito Roca by Jamie Texidor, a traditional piece composed in 1925. But did it deserve one perfect 10, let alone two of them? Nope.

In a red, white and blue matador costume, Fletcher was classical and balletic, with cape-swishing, pirouettes, banana body shape and Spanish line. His partnering was strong, his posture proud and it was by far his best dance yet. But was it perfect? It lacked power and passion to truly hit the heights, let alone some postural details.

Fletchers bandmate Harry Judd, who was Strictly champion a decade ago, visited him in the training room this week. Perhaps the judges got confused and were voting for the wrong McFly member. Ole!

5. Rose Ayling-Ellis nailed Latin for first time

She scored the earliest perfect 40 in Strictly history last Saturday with her shiver-inducingly dramatic, technically faultless ice queen tango. EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis has now become bookies favourite to lift the glitterball trophy. However, shes far stronger in ballroom than Latin.

Shes never scored lower than a nine in ballroom but tends to notch sixes and sevens for Latin styles. She needs to improve to become a true all-rounder but finds it trickier when she cant feel the music through pro Giovanni Pernices body out of hold.

Her 60s-style samba to Cinema Italiano was by far Roses best Latin effort yet, with lovely leg shape, rotating hips and white-booted bounce action. It scored a clean sweep of eights for 32 points, her best Latin score, but on another high-scoring night, left her halfway down the leaderboard. How she nailed the timing in this tricky routine was a wonder to behold and testament to her teamwork with excellent teacher Giovanni. Shes certainly a finalist in waiting but needs a Latin breakthrough to get one hand on the trophy.

6. Sara Davies bounced back and meant business

Crafting entrepreneur and Dragons Den star Sara Davies is having a rollercoaster contest, yo-yo-ing up and down the scoreboard. Last Saturday was a definite downswing, as her flop Couples Choice routine left her bottom of the standings and partner AljaA Skorjanec apologising for his choreography.

Sara Davies and Aljaz Skorjanec brought it back after last weeks couples choice routine (BBC/Guy Levy)

Saras a ballroom babe, having already topped the leaderboard with her foxtrot and tango. Now she was back in hold where shes most comfortable for a show-closing quickstep to Dolly Partons empowerment anthem 9 to 5 - and shed dressed as Dolly for the occasion.

She wasnt helped by her skirt (which left us unable to see her Charleston footwork) or the camerawork (which overfocused on AljaA and lost sight of her at times) but her routine was fast, frothy and demonstrated impressive stamina. She flew around the floor like a skyrocket and finished mid-table. The down-to-earth Durham mum is clearly popular with viewers, whose votes have twice lifted her clear of the dance-off. Now she needs to add consistency, rather than relying on being rescued by the public.

7. Frame could prove Rhys Stephensons downfall

CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson called it his nemesis and once again, his ballroom hold was his Achilles heel. A shock appearance in the dance-off a fortnight ago knocked his confidence. Now he channeled his irrepressible bouncy energy into a quickstep to What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers.

His timing and rhythm were impressive as always but sadly, his shoulders fell forward, his frame dropped and Rhys lost the natural elegance of the dance. Judge Anton Du Beke described his posture as improving from awful to not too bad, which was harsh  especially considering Anton proceeded to then whip out his nine paddle.

Still, the issue remains Rhyss weakness. If his top half could match his nifty footwork, hed be a potential finalist. His pro partner to Nancy Xu could do her bit by throttling back on the content, not over-cramming routines and leaving Rhys time to focus on maintaining quality, rather than pace.

8. Tilly Ramsays chess tango was a backwards move

She spent much of this week removing face paint from her ears after Halloween Weeks Frankenstein cha-cha. Perhaps this led to a lack of training time for teen chef Tilly Ramsay. A score of 31 points was Tillys lowest for four weeks and left her third from bottom of the leaderboard.

Tilly Ramsay earned her lowest score in weeks (BBC/Guy Levy)

She went from bright green to black-and-white for a chess-themed tango to Kings & Queens by Ava Max. Tilly has become adept at playing a different character each week and showed it again here, with a dramatic, passionate and intense routine. The concept and creativity from pro partner Nikita Kuzmin were excellent but the execution wasnt quite there.

It has speed, switches of direction and snapping staccato movements but dipped towards the end, lacking flow. Her head position wasnt right and footwork became heavy. Claudia Winkleman called it The Queens Gambit: The Musical but this wasnt checkmate. More bishop level than queenly.

9. Adam Peatys jive was a bum deal

Champion swimmer Adam Peatys derriere had become a talking point in recent weeks, verging on an obsession. He wiggled it around during his samba which made the judges go a bit twitchy, then was told he needed to tuck it in for ballroom dances. Happily, it wasnt mentioned this week. Even an Olympians steely buttocks need a week off sometimes.

Set in a pool hall, Peatys foot-tapping jive to Little Bitty Pretty One, familiar from the Nineties movie version of Matilda, was a solid effort but sullied by mistakes which put Peaty off his flicking, kicking stride. He became halting and hesitant which was a shame. Until those errors, hed displayed bags of personality and energy.

He and pro partner Katya Jones were consigned to the dread dance-off last week but survived comfortably against the unfortunate Judi Love, who twerked her way home to Hackney. Now Peaty was left, perhaps aptly, bottom. Will it be sink or swim on Sunday night? If he could stop visibly counting and mouthing song lyrics, he might just get a few extra votes.

10. Dan Walker in dance-off danger again

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker has been all about slow, steady improvement  making progress as a dancer and bringing out his personality more with each passing week. Now he got to showcase what hed learned with a Hollywood-themed Couples Choice routine to Classic by American funk-pop duo MKTO, his favourite song.

Will Dan Walker face the dance off? (BBC/Guy Levy)

Ukrainian pro Nadiya Bychkova cutely choreographed a sweetdance, incorporating bits of jazz, musical theatre and ballroom. It was jaunty, jolly and joyous, with Dans enthusiasm proving both endearing and infectious. Occasionally resembling a load of TikTok dances tacked together, Dan did well to keep it compact but lacked the groove and musicality to quite pull it off.

His lobster jive was played for pincer-clad laughs last week and an entertaining routine saw Walker jubilant when he scored his first eight. He scored another here but was still second bottom of the leaderboard. Hes so far evaded the dance-off, despite being the lowest-scoring celebrity left in the competition. Walker might not be so lucky now. If he ends up in the dance-off against Adam Peaty, it will be a tight call  theyre only one point apart  but both seem to have reached their Strictly ceiling.

The results show airs at 7.15pm on Sunday, when somebody will bow out of the ballroom at the contests midway mark. The remaining eight pro-celebrity couples will take to the floor again at 6.40pm next Saturday. Join me here afterwards for a full sequin-spangled debrief. In the meantime, you know what to do: keeeeeeep dancing.

Read More

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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  Sudans protest movement has rejected internationally backed initiatives to return to a power-sharing arrangement with the military after last months coup, announcing two days of nationwide strikes starting Sunday.

The movement called for the establishment of a civilian government to lead a transition to democracy.

The call came as a leader of the countrys main political party accused the military leadership of negotiating in bad faith.

The Sudanese military seized power Oct. 25, dissolving the transitional administration and arresting dozens of government officials and politicians. The coup has been met with international outcry and massive protests in the streets of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

The takeover has upended the countrys fragile planned transition to democratic rule, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government.

Since the coup, the international community has accelerated mediation efforts to find a way out of the crisis, which threatens to further destabilize the already restive Horn of Africa region.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which led the uprising against al-Bashir, said late Friday that mediation initiatives which seek a new settlement between the military and civilian leaders would reproduce and worsen the countrys crisis.

The association vowed to continue protesting until a full civilian government is established to lead the transition.

Under the slogan of: No negotiations, no compromise, no power-sharing, the association, which has a presence across the country, called for strikes and civil disobedience Sunday and Monday.

On Thursday, the top U.S. diplomat spoke separately by phone with the military leader, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and Abdalla Hamdok, the deposed prime minister who was put under house arrest during the coup.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged for an immediate return to a civilian-led government and for the release of those detained in connection with the coup. Sudans state-run SUNA news agency reported that Burhan vowed to complete the transition and preserve the countrys security  until reaching an elected civilian government.

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Al-Wathig al-Berier, the secretary general of the Umma party, urged the international community Friday to pressure the military to de-escalate. Since the coup, the generals have continued to dismantle the transitional government and arrest pro-democracy leaders. The Umma is Sudans largest political party and has ministers in the now-deposed government.

We truly need to prepare the atmosphere and de-escalate matters so that we can sit at the table, al-Berier told The Associated Press. But clearly the military faction is continuing with its plan and there are no efforts to show good will.

He was referring to Thursdays arrest of leaders from the Forces for Freedom and Change, a coalition that was born out of the 2019 protest movement. The military detained three leaders of the movement shortly after they met with U.N. officials in Khartoum. The meeting was part of U.N.-led mediation efforts.

Al-Berier said the mediation efforts have yet to produce results, blaming the military for that failure. He warned of possible bloodshed since the military and the protest movement have become increasingly entrenched in their positions.

He urged the international community to increase pressure on the military leaders to reverse the coup.

In these initial stages, we hope that they continue strong pressure. This pressure has to be more than just tweets. This pressure needs to have mechanisms that could create real pressure on the military component, he said.

In other developments, the board of deans of Khartoum University officially suspended classes indefinitely after security forces stormed the university grounds on Oct. 25, the day of the coup, and beat and insulted students and professors. The classes had already stopped since the coup.

Later Saturday, the Sudanese Professionals Association proposed a transitional government to rule the country for four years that would include a five-member Sovereign Council, with a ceremonial role, and a 20-member technocratic Cabinet, headed by an independent figure.

The proposal envisages a 150-member legislative council, to be formed within two months, and restructuring the military and dismantling all militias, including the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The association said its proposal is open for discussion among other protest movements and non-governmental organizations.

There was no immediate reaction from Sudanese political parties or the coup leaders to the proposal.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo.
The California Highway Patrol Barstow emblem.

A suspected DUI driver has been arrested after authorities said he crashed into the back of a pick-up truck on Interstate 40, causing a rollover that killed the trucks passenger and injured the driver.

William Green  a 49-year-old Bullhead City, Arizona resident  was booked into county jail on suspicion of two counts of driving under the influence causing bodily injury.

The crash occurred Thursday night on eastbound Interstate 40 near the Desert Oasis Rest Area in Newberry Springs.

Green was driving a Chevrolet Uplander at a high rate of speed on the freeway when he allowed the vehicle to collide into the rear of the Ford F-150 in front of him, the California Highway Patrol said.

The collision caused both Greens vehicle and the Ford to overturn. They ended up in the dirt center divider. A passenger in the Ford  only identified as a 69-year-old man from Hacienda Heights  was not wearing a seatbelt, officials said.

He was ejected from the truck and died at the scene.

Emergency personnel took the driver of the Ford  a 53-year-old man from Arcadia who suffered moderate injuries  to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

Officials said Green exhibited objective signs/symptoms of alcohol impairment when approached by a CHP officer who conducted a DUI test and placed him under arrest.

Booking records show he was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Suspected DUI driver arrested after fatal rollover crash near Newberry Springs
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (LON:AML) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

View our latest analysis for Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings

When Might Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Run Out Of Money?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. As at September 2021, Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings had cash of UK514m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was UK36m over the trailing twelve months. That means it had a cash runway of very many years as of September 2021. Importantly, though, analysts think that Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings will reach cashflow breakeven before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Growing?

Given our focus on Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings' cash burn, we're delighted to see that it reduced its cash burn by a nifty 90%. This reduction was no doubt supported by its strong revenue growth of 82% in the same period. Overall, we'd say its growth is rather impressive. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

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How Hard Would It Be For Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings To Raise More Cash For Growth?

We are certainly impressed with the progress Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings has made over the last year, but it is also worth considering how costly it would be if it wanted to raise more cash to fund faster growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings has a market capitalisation of UK2.0b and burnt through UK36m last year, which is 1.8% of the company's market value. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.

How Risky Is Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings' Cash Burn Situation?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash burn reduction suggests that the company is on a good path. And even its cash burn relative to its market cap was very encouraging. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. After considering a range of factors in this article, we're pretty relaxed about its cash burn, since the company seems to be in a good position to continue to fund its growth. Its important for readers to be cognizant of the risks that can affect the company's operations, and we've picked out 2 warning signs for Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings that investors should know when investing in the stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
Criminologist Laura Brand interviewed sadistic serial killer Lawrence Bittaker for five years before his 2019 death (Peacock)

When a rapist and a violent offender met in San Luis Obispo Mens Colony Prison, a deadly bond was forged.

Roy Norris was serving time for stabbing a store clerk who accused him of shoplifting in 1974. Lawrence Bittaker was imprisoned for rape. They discovered a shared interest in sadism and became friends, weaving stories of rape and torture and escalating fantasies.

Once they got out, they acted on those plans  and murdered at least five teenage girls in California with unspeakable brutality. They were nicknamed the Toolbox Killers because they employed a wide array of instruments to inflict pain and death.

If the pair hadnt been caught, however, the horrific crimes could have escalated even further, according to a criminologist who formed a relationship with Bittaker in the hopes of gleaning the locations of missing victims bodies.

Laura Brand, who specializes in the study of serial killers, conducted interviews with Bittaker which inform a new documentary, The Toolbox Killer, currently streaming on various platforms.

"He was going to buy acid to burn out the eardrums and eye sockets of his next victims," she told Fox News. "He was going to build an underground compound to hold girls and torture them. And he believed he had the brains to pull this off."

Bittaker and Norris killed their victims over a five-month period, kidnapping the teens  some of whom were walking home or hitchhiking at the time  and drove them to local mountains, where they would torture, rape and kill them, according to authorities.

The girls who ranged from 13 to 18 years old and, in addition to their horrific torture techniques, the men filmed the crimes  which began in June 1979 with the death of Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, 16. She was followed by Andrea Joy Hall, 18; Jacqueline Doris Gilliam, 15; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13, and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16.

They were only caught after Norris told another former inmate about their devious exploits. That inmate told police, which led to the pairs arrests. Norris eventually testified against Bittaker after pleading guilty to all charges in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty against him.

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A Los Angeles County jury convicted Bittaker of five counts of murder, five counts of kidnapping as well as other charges including criminal conspiracy, rape, oral copulation, sodomy and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to death on 22 March1981 but, since California avoided executions for decades, instead died in prison in 2019.

Norris was sentenced to a term of 45 years to life and died two months later.

Despite extensive searches of the San Gabriel mountains, where the other victims were located, the bodies of Ms Hall and Ms Schaefer were never found.

Thats why criminologist Ms Brand reached out to imprisoned Bittaker. She hoped he could give her more specific details of where the teenagers had been left after their brutal attacks.

"These were very sweet, young girls  just like anybodys daughter," Ms Brand told Fox. "And I was persistent. I didnt give up. I kept trying. And [Bittakers] psychopathy was very fascinating."

She said: "It was almost as if he was at war with himself. He had this tortured childhood with an antisocial personality My first in-person impression of him was that he was very awkward. He was timid. He wouldnt even look at me in the eyes for about two and a half hours.

"I think [Bittaker] went through his life alone and full of rage, especially towards his mother," Brand said. "He had a lot of anger towards women. I dont think he ever had any sense of family - ever.

That rage was evident in the indescribable torture Bittaker proceeded to inflict on his victims with Norris.

In the documentary, she says: Over five years, he once said to me: Do you understand what it feels like to actually put an icepick thru someones ear and not feel anything?

When a tape of Shirley Lynette Ledford was played in court, both jurors and lawyers cried.

Everybody who has ever heard that tape has had it affect their lives, prosecutor Stephen Kay, weeping, told reporters during recess. I just picture those girls, how alone they were when they died.

Ms Brand felt similarly.

"I only heard a 32-second clip of the Ledford tapes and it felt like somebody was reaching inside of me and squeezing my insides," she said. "It was gut-wrenching. I was sick just from those mere seconds. This was a severe case of torture even for serial killers."

Her last interview with Bittaker took place three weeks before his death  and the criminologist said he expressed remorse.

"I think it all sunk in right before his death," she said. "[But] I was really worried and scared because I still wanted to search for the missing girls. Now I didnt have him on the phone and I couldnt go back and visit him to fact-check something."

She says in the documentary: This is somebody I talked to every single day. We had a friendship.

Ms Brand told Fox News she hopes the film will show audiences "a whole different aspect into psychopathy.

"Im really grateful that I was able to bring light to the stories of the victims," she said. "With these [interviews] that I was able to provide, I really wanted to showcase that Cindy and Andrea are still missing. Theyre still out there And its heartbreaking. We just want closure for the families."
To understand the machinations of presidential politics on the Republican side, it helps to frame it with "The Sopranos," the HBO series about a New Jersey crime family.

In the fictional TV series, Mob boss Tony Soprano rules with an iron hand over his crew, often needing to whack allies who get too big for their own good.

In the real-life Republican drama, exiled former President Donald Trump plays the crime boss role much the same way, where the only thing that counts is loyalty and subservience to him.

More like this: Gov. DeSantis chooses COVID vaccine disinformation in Florida surgeon general pick | Frank Cerabino

Related: Helping DeSantis with COVID-19 plan for out-of-state police he's invited to Florida | Frank Cerabino

And: The chutzpah behind the Florida teacher bonus checks that bounced | Frank Cerabino

President Donald Trump walks with Gov. Ron DeSantis after arriving on Air Force One Nov. 26, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport.

Roger Stone delivers Trump message to DeSantis

The biggest difference is that Soprano got psychiatric treatment, while Trump's severe personality disorder remains untreated.

This week's real-life episode involved Trump's crew member, Roger "Paulie Walnuts" Stone, who put the verbal equivalent of a dead fish on Gov. Ron DeSantis' doorstep. Stone threatened to run against DeSantis for governor next year if DeSantis didnt do Trumps bidding in calling for a detailed audit of the 2020 election results in Florida.

Stone posted his demand on social media, ending it with the ominous #ByeRon. Thats about as close as you can get to putting a political hit on DeSantis. And Stone went even further during a TV interview with a Fort Myers station.

Its time for the governor to stand up and talk about the need for former President Donald Trump to be our candidate in 2024, Stone warned.

Marone. DeSantis might want to consider enrolling in the candidate protection program, because it sounds like Stone is getting ready to invite him on a one-way boat trip, like the one Sal Big Pussy Bonpensiero took at the end of Season 2.

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Its not the Florida Democrats that DeSantis has to worry about. Its his quick-to-anger political godfather, Trump. And theres no easy way out.

The cast of the HBO series, "The Sopranos," from left, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vincent Pastore.

Trump seeks to challenge results of an election he won

Calling Floridas election results into question would be crazy for DeSantis to do, especially after a solid year of bragging how Florida was a model of election integrity in 2020.

And Trump won in Florida by more than 371,000 votes. Why contest the results in a state you won?

The only logical explanation is that Trump is still emotionally crippled by losing the presidency last year, not only by a count of 74 electoral college votes, but also by getting 7 million fewer votes than Joe Biden.

So hes clawing for every vote, and that means requiring the governors he considers to be his personal possessions to assist him  even if it isnt in the interest of anybody but himself. If only Trump had a Dr. Jennifer Melfi, he might be able to process the parental issues that make him such a flawed person.

Trumps inability to process defeat, which already took its toll on America with a failed coup attempt last January, is starting to take its toll on the acquiescent DeSantis, who desperately wants to look forward to his own political future.

He has been jetting around the country, raising millions of dollars in political donations for an all-but-certain 2024 presidential run. His backers are already nationalizing their efforts with a political action committee called Make America Florida.

And DeSantis is showing up at or near the top of straw polls for 2024, such as the Western Conservative Summit of 2021, which put DeSantis at 74 percent approval and Trump at 71 percent. No other Republicans were close.

DeSantis put himself in this position

Yes, DeSantis has done well. Too well.

Trump doesnt even have to be the big-brained genius he claims to be to figure out that DeSantis would be a problematic rival in 2024. And so, Stones call for DeSantis to concede 2024 to Trump now is nothing short of a loyalty test issued by an insecure don.

That puts DeSantis in a horrible position: Whack or be whacked. Trump isnt even all that crazy in this case to demand so much from DeSantis.

After all, DeSantis is a Trump-made man. The former North Florida congressman was an unremarkable back-bencher who catapulted from nowhere to the governor's mansion by relentlessly paying tributes to Trump on Fox News during the 2016 campaign.

So much so that Trump ignored the state party's interest in promoting then-Florida's Secretary of Agriculture Adam Putnam for governor. Instead, Trump used his heavy hand to promote the fawning DeSantis in Florida.

And now Trump expects DeSantis to act like the lackey he was created to be. Thats what Tony Soprano would do.

Frank Cerabino

This week, DeSantis tried to deflect his reluctance to audit the 2020 election by creating a completely superfluous Office of Elections Crimes and Security in the state.

Its not going to solve his problem. Promising to be an eagle eye on theoretical future election fraud might mollify some Trump supporters who have made the words stolen election a definition of any outcome that doesnt go their way.

But it wont help with Trump. Hes still trying to win 2020, as evidenced by this posting he made last month:

If we dont solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in 22 or 24, Trump posted. It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do.

Not for DeSantis. Hes counting on Republicans in Florida voting for his re-election in 2022, and then counting on voters again in 2024 for the presidential election. And hes not interested in finding imaginary fraud in Floridas election results of last year.

The dramatic arc of this story is familiar. When DeSantis joined the inner circle of Ts crew, political life was a breeze. It was good to be one of Trump's wise guys. At first.

But now, like in most mob dramas, the peace doesnt last, and those who have mortgaged their souls have the bills come due.

fcerabino@gannett.com

@FranklyFlorida

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump uses Roger Stone to issue warning to grasping Gov. Ron DeSantis
NAIROBI (Reuters) -The United States has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees in Ethiopia to leave because of armed conflict and civil unrest, its embassy in Addis Ababa said on Saturday.

Denmark and Italy also asked their citizens in Ethiopia to leave while commercial flights were still available, as rebellious Tigrayan forces and their allies have advanced towards the capital Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, which has been embroiled in a year-long war against Tigrayan forces, has promised to keep fighting despite calls for a ceasefire from African nations, Western states and the U.N. Security Council.

"Incidents of civil unrest and ethnic violence are occurring without warning. The situation may escalate further and may cause supply chain shortages, communications blackouts, and travel disruptions," the U.S. Embassy said on its website.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and Abiy's spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

Municipal authorities in the capital ordered residents who own firearms to register their weapons this week, to bolster defences in case the city is attacked. Addis Ababa has registered more than 10,000 weapons, Yonas Zewde, a spokesperson for the city administration, told state broadcaster EBC on Saturday.

Abiy's government declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday, saying it was locked in an "existential war" with forces from the northern Tigray region and their allies.

Getu Argaw, police commissioner for the capital, told EBC it was "only a dream" for the TPLF to think it could capture the city. He said police had confiscated weapons and uniforms from people in the capital.

Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew Reda accused Abiy of using the state of emergency to arrest "thousands of Tigrayans and Oromos".

The government spokesperson and the federal police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Getachew's remarks but police have denied that arrests in the capital are ethnically motivated.

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"We are only arresting those who are directly or indirectly supporting the illegal terrorist group," police spokesperson Fasika Fante said on Thursday, a reference to the TPLF. "This includes moral, financial and propaganda support."

The TPLF unveiled an alliance with other factions on Friday aiming to remove Abiy from power, saying this would be done by force if needed.

The government condemned the move, saying Abiy had a mandate to rule based on a landslide election win in June. It urged international partners to help protect Ethiopia's democracy.

The conflict in the north of Ethiopia started a year ago when forces loyal to the TPLF seized military bases in the Tigray region. In response, Abiy sent troops, who initially drove the TPLF out of the regional capital but have faced a sharp reversal since June this year.

Reuters has not been able to confirm independently the extent of the TPLF advance. The TPLF and their allies told Reuters this week they were now in the town of Kemise in Amhara state, 325 km (200 miles) from the capital. The government accuses the group of exaggerating its territorial gains.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than 2 million more from their homes and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.

Social media companies Facebook and Twitter have taken action to limit what they call violations of their policies by Ethiopian accounts, including removing a post by Abiy's official Facebook account.

Twitter said on Saturday it had temporarily disabled the Trends section of its service in Ethiopia, which showcases the most tweeted subjects, because of threats of physical harm.

"Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules ... Given the imminent threat of physical harm, we've also temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia," the company said.

(Reporting by Addis Ababa NewsroomWriting by Duncan MiririEditing by Peter Graff and Edmund Blair)
Historic restrictions that limited travel into the United States are set to lift Monday for fully vaccinated international visitors with proof.

That means that Canadians  and other visitors flying from nations like China, India and Brazil  can reunite with family after many months, look for shopping deals and attend some Red Wings and Lions games.

"Everyone," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said, "is looking forward to breathing" a bit more when the border reopens.

Vehicles return enter the United States from Windsor, Ontario across the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit on Monday, August 9, 2021.

 US reopens land borders: Travelers in Mexico and Canada plan their next US visit after new land border policy announced

Be ready for Canadian tourists, just not a sudden surge of them.

Dilkens said a Canadian travel requirement  having negative polymerase chain reaction test that can cost $200  is likely to prevent many who want to drive from Ontario to Michigan from doing so.

He explained the testing provision doesnt make sense for day trippers nor does it provide the kind of health assurance the government thinks it does because someone could easily contract the virus during their visit.

He wants to see that requirement lifted.

 International tourists are (finally) com: Expect bottlenecks at airports under strict entry rules

"Twenty months of separation has been hard on a lot of people," Dilkens told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "We've always considered Detroit to be an extension of our backyard. On the business side, we're tightly integrated, but also on the family side."

From a personal perspective, Dilkens said he hasn't been able to go visit his older brother, Tom, and his family, who live on the Detroit side of the border.

When his niece got married, his parents had to take a circuitous route by air via Toronto and Montreal to get in and out of the United States, instead of just driving across the border to Detroit.

It was one of the quirks of the Homeland Security rules.

 From vaccines to testing: What travelers need to know before the new US travel system on Nov. 8

Story continues

The Canadian border reopened in August for fully vaccinated U.S. citizens.

Here are some other details of the border openings:

Requirements to enter?

For the first time since March 2020, non-citizen travelers will be permitted to enter the U.S. through land borders and ferry terminals for a non-essential reason  mainly, that means tourism.

You must have proof of an approved vaccination, verbally attest to travel intent and vaccination status, and have an acceptable ID, such as a passport, enhanced driver's license or enhanced tribal card.

What vaccines are accepted?

Accepted vaccines include those approved and authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and that have an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization.

 US vaccine requirements for travel: Travelers vaccinated with Covaxin can enter US after WHO grants emergency use listing

When are you fully vaccinated?

You are fully vaccinated 14 days after a single-dose vaccine, the second dose of a two-dose vaccine, the full series of an active vaccine in the U.S.-based AstraZeneca or Novavax trials, or a mixed combination of vaccines given 17 days apart.

What about children?

Children, who until recently had no approved vaccine, are not required to have vaccinations to travel to the United States once the ban is lifted, but they still must show proof of negative coronavirus tests before entering.

Will border wait times increase?

Yes, of course, especially at the busiest crossings.

Can you shorten wait times?

The Department of Homeland Security suggests using a digital application, also known as CBP One, to speed border crossings. The free app is designed to allow eligible travelers to submit their passport and customs declaration information.

It aims to streamline the travelers entry process into the United States by reducing passport control inspections and overall wait times. The app can be downloaded from the Apple App store and Google Play.

Detroit-Windsor Tunnel payment?

The tunnel will remain cashless on the Detroit side for vehicles headed to Canada. The Canadian side will take cash tolls through the end of the year. The cashless system relies on credit cards, debit cars and mobile payments. Or travelers can sign up for an electronic Nexpress account, which offers a toll discount.

Will tunnel traffic increase?

Since March of last year, traffic has been down by 70%, said Carolyn Brown, the tunnel's CEO. But she added the tunnel is fully staffed and ready for an increase of travelers after Monday.

She said they have "restrained optimism" that the numbers will return. In 2019, traffic through the tunnel was 160,000 vehicles a week. In 2020, it dropped to 32,000, and this year it came up somewhat to 50,000.

Brown  who declined to indicate how much revenue was lost beyond "a lot" and "millions"  said that she's calling it restrained optimism because a required virus test could keep the vehicle traffic numbers down.

What about ferry terminals?

Ferry lines can reopen, but it's unclear whether all of them will.

The Walpole Algonac Ferry Service, between Algonac and Walpole Island, Canada, for instance, shut down in 2020. Its voicemail message, as of Thursday, hasn't been changed since it closed.

Its website has no update either, saying only that: "We are NOT running!!! Please be patient as we get ready to resume operations. We will post HERE when we plan to open. We can't wait to see you!"

Closed border's human toll?

It's difficult to measure the human toll the closed border has taken, but Edward Alden  the Ross distinguished visiting professor at Western Washington University  wrote a Foreign Policy column earlier this year that made the case that the "lockdown" destroyed lives.

He used his own experience as an upstate New York native who moved to Vancouver, married a Canadian, and often crossed the border until the pandemic. He said the human costs of closing international borders have been tremendous.

He urged more government cooperation and compassion, noting that one person who was separated from a loved one said the closure killed her mental health in a way she never could have imagined.

 'He really is my person': Couple reunite, get engaged after more than a year apart during travel bans

Will things ever return to normal?

Windor's mayor believes that a big step toward that is "harmonizing" the rules so that folks can resume travel over the border without expensive tests. At the right time, he said, he hopes that the vaccination restrictions will lift, too.

Eventually, he said, we will be able to return to prepandemic travel, but "I think we're looking at years, as opposed to months, before that happens, and that's tough for small businesses to hang on and wait for that good day to come."

That, he added, is "just the reality of the situation we find ourselves."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What to know before US opens land borders to vaccinated travelers
Lorin Cooperrider was born on Feb. 16, 1884 in Bowling Green Township near Brownsville.

After high school in Brownsville, he attended the Meredith Business School in Zanesville. When he graduated, he worked in an office in Cincinnati. Cooperrider developed some health problems that were blamed on the office environment, so he resigned. In 1911, he went west to attempt to improve his health by working outdoors. He farmed then he went to work in the lumber camps of Oregon and New Mexico. He traveled to California where he set sail for Sidney, Australia. In 1914, he was on a British ship heading for London. The ship traveled through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea. Since that area was considered a war zone, the ship replaced their British flag with the Italian flag since Italy was a neutral country. Cooperrider returned to the states in February of 1915 and again went west. He returned to his home in Licking County in December of 1916.

Lorin Cooperrider, a Newark soldier during World War I, was killed in action on July 28, 1918.

On May 23, 1917, about six weeks after the United States entered World War I, Cooperrider came to Newark and enlisted in the 4th Infantry of the Ohio National Guard. Later, the 4th Infantry was combined with other National Guard units across America to make the 42nd Infantry Division of the United States Army. Major Douglas McArthur who was then acting as the War Departments' press liaison said the division represented units from across the United States, like a rainbow. The name stuck and the 42nd would forever be named the Rainbow Division.

Cooperrider with the 42nd was one of the first troops shipped overseas. They arrived in France in November of 1917. On July 27, 1918, the Newark Advocate printed a letter he had written his sister on June 13, 1918. In it, he talks about seeing a German airplane shot down, the weather, and watching the local farmers harvest by hand. He also lets them know he never has received any of the tobacco or other comfort kits they have sent him. Little did the Advocate readers realize that they were reading a letter from a soldier who would be killed the next day.

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On July 28, 1918, the Rainbow Division attacked the retreating Germans at the river Ourcq in France as part of the Chateau-Thierry Offensive. Lorin was killed in the assault. By August 7 the news reached Licking County. On Sept. 30, the family shared the last letter he had written dated the day he was killed. Well, I am well and contented. My greatest discomfort is in knowing that you have allowed the worlds calamity to take so much joy out of your life. Remember every one of us whether in civil or in military life is a unit of one to win this war and that this service can best be rendered under the stimulus of cheerfulness. We realize that those at home are making sacrifices the same as ourselves, but sacrifices made in a noble cause become a great pleasure if we apply the proper spirit of service to this cause.

Private Lorin Cooperrider was buried at Good Hope Lutheran Cemetery in Glenford, Ohio. You are invited to remember Lorin and all our veterans at the Veterans Day program on Nov. 11, 2021. The half-hour event will be held at Veterans Park on 6th Street in Newark at 11 a.m.

Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Vet column: Newark's Cooperrider joins 'Rainbow Division' for WWI
(Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed signs from the United States of a bigger engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, saying in an interview that her government has "mature" ties with China that allow for disagreement.

Ardern will host an online summit next week of leaders from the Asia-Pacific, including the United States, China and Japan, to discuss how the region can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis.

In the interview to air on Sunday on the U.S. network NBC, Ardern said that under President Joe Biden, the United States has "an incredibly important role" to play in strategic defence, economy and trade ties in the region.

"We welcome that physical presence, being part of important talks in our region," she told the "Meet the Press" programme. "And we have seen, we have seen that greater ... engagement in recent times."

Ardern reiterated https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealand-wants-mature-relationship-with-china-foreign-minister-says-2021-05-07 her government's position that New Zealand - which has major trade ties to China and has long been touted by Beijing as a model of its relations with Western countries - will pursue a policy of "integrity" with China.

"We do still believe that we have the maturity in our relationship to raise issues that we're concerned about, be it human rights issues, be it labour issues, be it environmental issues," Ardern said.

"And it's very important to us that we continue to be able to do that and do that regardless of those trading ties."

Ties between New Zealand's neighbour Australia and China have worsened markedly since 2018, when Canberra banned Huawei Technologies Co from its nascent 5G broadband network. Relations cooled further last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, first reported in central China in 2019.

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China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley, and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes - moves the United States called "economic coercion https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-will-not-leave-australia-alone-face-china-coercion-blinken-2021-05-13".

This has not affected China's ties with New Zealand, however, as both nations upgraded a free trade agreement in January, although New Zealand united https://www.reuters.com/world/china/australia-new-zealand-unite-over-china-human-rights-issues-2021-05-31 with Australia over China human rights issues.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)
As for Democrats, Richards thinks it might be time for a new leader in Virginia politics to take the mantle, as opposed to the same faces that have been in charge in recent years.

"I think they do need some sort of a fresh face ... or somebody who is currently doing well and push them forward as the next bright hope," Richards said. "I would be kind of surprised if Gov. Northam ran again, you know after the demonstration by McAuliffe that it is difficult to win that second term."

In Virginia, the sitting president's party has lost the following year's gubernatorial election 11 of the last 12 times, with the only exception being McAuliffe in 2013. Richards wouldn't go as far to say the election was a referendum on Biden's first 11 months in office, but he did observe Democratic leaders in Washington did not give much help to those running in statewide races.

"It's a fact that people view the Biden administration as having had some trouble getting those big things they promised out the door," Richards said. According to a recent Morning Consult poll of 15,000 Americans, 48% of Americans disapprove of the job Biden has done so far, as opposed to 44% that approve of his work.

"When that happens ... Democrats are less enthusiastic because they say, 'We get the presidency, we get control of Congress and we can't deliver these things'  it delivers less enthusiasm."

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Lt. Governor-elect Winsome Sears achieved historical success once before when in 2002 she became the first Black Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates, defeating a 20-year incumbent Democrat. Her victory is a slap in the face to those Democrats who are the real racists when they keep pitting us against each other. In social media posts and in campaign mailers, there was a photo of Sears carrying a rifle, apparently to demonstrate her support for the Second Amendment. This played well in rural Virginia.

It was a clean sweep for Republicans as they also took back the office of attorney general and flipped the House of Delegates from Democrat to a GOP majority. Suddenly all those claims that Virginia has turned irreversibly blue seemed to have been wishful thinking by Democrats and the media, which kept promoting it as a state lost forever to Republicans. Independents, who helped Joe Biden win the state by 10 points last year, moved in large numbers to Youngkin.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a video targeting Virginias black church members, urging them to vote for McAuliffe, predicted before the election that results in Virginia would forecast what next years congressional races will look like, as well as the 2024 presidential contest. Republicans can only wish she has the gift of prophecy.
Texas officials essentially and unconstitutionally banned abortion by way of a bizarre state law, and it sounds like the Supreme Court isnt buying into the states scheme.

On Monday, justices heard nearly three hours of oral arguments in two cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and by a group of abortion providers challenging the Texas law. The state has banned abortion at six weeks of gestation  but the law is enforced only by private citizen lawsuits. This diabolical tactic is designed to render federal courts powerless to block the law.

Of course its a bad idea  and possibly bad karma  to predict what the Supreme Court will decide in any case. But even as justices intently questioned lawyers about whether a state law enforced only through private citizens suing in Texas state courts can be stopped by a federal court or the U.S. Department of Justice, a majority of the justices seemed troubled by the chilling effect that the law has on abortion providers even going to court to defend themselves. And, in turn, that has terrified abortion providers so much that, for the most part, no abortions are taking place in Texas.
New Delhi: Several people were injured in Germany on Saturday, after a knife attack on a high-speed train in the southern town of Bavaria. According to reports, an unknown assailant attacked many train commuters, leaving them with grievous injuries.

The knife attack happened as a train was traveling between the cities of Regensburg and Nuremberg at the time of the incident.

According to Bild newspaper, 3 people were injured, among them 2 seriously wounded. None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.

Police told media persons that the attacker has been arrested.

Probe underway to find motive of attack

Till now, the German officials havent dubbed it a terror attack and are still investigation reason behind knife attack.

However, in recent years, Germany has witnessed terror attacks from jihadist and other extremist groups.

On June 25, 3 people were killed and 5 others injured in a knife attack committed by a Somali in Wuerzburg, in southern Germany.
PAPILLION/LA VISTA  The city councils of La Vista and Papillion convened on Tuesday, Nov. 2 for their separate, scheduled bi-weekly meetings, as did the Sarpy County Board of Commissioners for its weekly Tuesday afternoon meeting.

A presentation given to all area government entities by the countys economic development corporation reported Sarpy Countys record year of building valuations has reached over $2.1 billion.

Josh Charvat, business development manager from Grow Sarpy, informed the board of an additional $200 million in valuations for the third quarter of 2021. It is $30 million more than the third quarter of 2020.

Some of the biggest builders include H&H Chevrolet with $15.4 million for 63,000 square feet; Freds Heating and Air with $3.7 million for 42,000 square feet; and Fat Brain Toys with $1.8 million for 195,000 square feet.

Sarpys housing market is also seeing improvement, with 339 multi-family housing units approved this quarter, and 598 in single-family platted lots issued.

Charvat said the biggest challenge facing the county is its labor force. The county reached an all-time low of 1.3% unemployment.

There are a lot of jobs out there, and not a lot of people to fill them, Charvat said.
A pandemic love story in Council Bluffs.

Jonathan Johnson spent more than a month in the intensive care unit at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs battling COVID-19  spending more than three weeks on a ventilator.

Jenna Harvey, one of the nurses who helped care for Johnson, said that there were moments when staff questioned whether or not he would make it home.

Amy Waldstein, another nurse who cared for Johnson, said it was admirable how he fought against COVID the whole time.

He did every possible thing he needed to do to get past COVID, she said.

In mid-October the ventilator was removed  and a few days after, he knew it was time to marry his fiance, Mariah Copeland-Johnson.

I didnt want any regrets, he said. After coming off the ventilator, you view a lot of things differently in life.

With the help of hospital staff, including Waldstein and Harvey, friends and family, Johnson was able to surprise his fiance with a wedding in the ICU.

I wanted to make it a surprise, something she could remember, something the nurses from the ICU could remember, Johnson said.
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Last week, I lost a friend and shipmate, an American white hat originally from Council Bluffs, Iowa, but later on from North Platte,. But more importantly, our nation, the state of Nebraska and the city of North Platte lost someone very special.

I first met Mark Pope over 45 years ago, in September 1976, when as a young naval officer, I reported to my first ship, USS Trippe FF 1075, eager to join the fleet. I was responsible for 53 sailors of all ranks and ratings during that tour, the first of many over 23 years of service. I would go on to serve with thousands of sailors, but some would always remain in my memory.

One was that young sailor from Council Bluffs. A sailor whose character, ethics and integrity were the very hallmarks of what makes our nation great. Rocky Pope was a natural leader, possessing an inquisitive nature, enthusiasm and innate intellectual curiosity, which carried over into everything he did.

Although he might appear to be a bit gruff on the outside and tough as nails, more importantly, he was also a thoughtful, caring young man dedicated to his country, family and friends.
This article was featured in One Great Story, New Yorks reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer. Photo: Jeenah Moon/The New York Times/Redux

When Goldman Sachs sent its analysts home at the beginning of the pandemic, they figured their jobs would stay largely the same: the same 80-hour weeks, the same urgent but menial tasks, the same imagined riches a few years down the line. And they figured they could rely on the essential sustenance Goldman had always provided: Seamless. In the in-office era, analysts had been able to expense around $30 worth of dinner when working after hours, plus another $25 or so if they toiled past midnight. For analysts  the youngest employees at the bank, enrolled in whats essentially a two-year boot camp  the meal allowance was sacrosanct, less a privilege than an entitlement. Of course theyd get free dinners when work shifted to home.

And so when Goldman eliminated the Seamless stipend in the spring of 2020, the reactions came in shades of disbelief and outrage. The free-dinner thing is a very big perk out of college, a Goldman analyst who quit last year told me. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were giving free meals, and we felt that we deserved that. When we went work-from-home, they gave us nothing  literally nothing.

The banks reasoning: If it paid for dinner at peoples homes, where workers technically had access to a kitchen, Goldman would owe taxes on that compensation, whereas in-office meals were deductible. The rationale grated on first-year analysts making an $85,000 base salary plus bonus. You guys have billions of dollars, said a second Wall Street analyst. Were just trying to eat.

Goldman had long been known as the worst-paying bank on Wall Street, the theory being that aspiring financiers would accept a Goldman discount in exchange for a chance to soak up some of the companys prestige. But during the pandemic, the bank just started to seem cheap. Unlike its competitors, Goldman refused to issue a stipend to cover at-home tech and ergonomic equipment; some analysts even had to purchase their own laptops. Meanwhile, the work itself was only getting more overwhelming  nowhere more so than within the San Francisco offices technology, media, and telecom group, or TMT for short. These bankers were handling a historic onslaught of SPAC and IPO deals, and 120-hour workweeks became the norm. Theres a number of real things that made the experience of a junior banker worse, and on top of that, theyre cutting their meal stipend, said another person who left Goldmans TMT group last year. I think people just felt like they were being shit on even more.

In May 2020, a group of TMT analysts polled each other on various measures of work-related misery and presented their findings to an indifferent senior banker on a Zoom call; on another occasion, they tried to convey to a partner how hard it was to find time to buy groceries. When I was an analyst, I used to eat ramen noodles, the partner told them. Just microwave some ramen  you should be fine. By the end of 2020, at least half of the second-year TMT analysts had prematurely left the bank, forcing their rookie colleagues to shoulder an even greater load. Shit hit the fan for the first-years who had just started, one of them said. (Nobody currently working at the bank would talk to me on the record.) All these deals coming up on our asses  the expected few all-nighters a month turned into a few all-nighters a week. Its not like I went into it expecting a rosy lifestyle. I just didnt expect it to be so consistent and so constant.

Lots of peoples jobs came to suck more during the pandemic  but at Goldman, where every act and trend takes on an added symbolic charge, discontent was boiling at levels that threatened to erupt into public view. In February 2021, analysts in the TMT group secured a virtual audience with a senior executive, hoping to make some requests to moderate their workload. Worried about appearing in front of a powerful banker like a litter of mewling kittens, the analysts decided to organize their points as best they knew how: in a data-stuffed PowerPoint deck, just like the ones they produced en masse for Goldmans clients, using the banks own watermarked template.

The 11-slide presentation, titled Working Conditions Survey, represented 13, or nearly all, of the first-year TMT analysts in San Francisco. As they went through the findings  e.g., 77 percent felt like theyd been a victim of workplace abuse at Goldman  some analysts thought they saw the executive wipe away tears after seeing one analysts comment: The sleep deprivation, the treatment by senior bankers, the mental and physical stress  Ive been through foster care and this is arguably worse.

After the call, the analysts waited for a response. They knew CEO David Solomon personally got a copy of their report. For a month, they heard nothing; then, on March 17, the San Francisco group woke up to a deluge of texts. Their presentation had gotten out and was going viral, first on the Twitter and Instagram feeds of @Litquidity, a must-read industry satire, then Bloomberg and CNBC and major newspapers from New York to London. It was like, What the fuck is happening? one analyst who participated in the survey told me. The intention was not to leak it.

In the middle and higher echelons of Goldman, the analysts plight received little sympathy. Randy Habeeb was working as a trader in the banks New York office when the PowerPoint leaked. To be honest with you, I was actually really pissed, he told me. Its kind of like an unwritten code that you just dont talk about it. You kind of just man up and do it. Hes since left Goldman to start his own firm, Habeeb Capital, where he sits in front of a faux-grass wall and keeps on his desk a mug with the words Fucker in Charge of You Fucking Fucks. Even the surveys most disturbing allegations failed to resonate with longtime bankers. I havent been in foster care, said a former Goldman executive, who started as an analyst. But that struck me as somewhat dramatic. Either highly dramatic, or they had a great foster-care experience!

Goldmans leadership may have been unbothered by its greenest employees unhappiness, but elsewhere on Wall Street, an unusual phenomenon began to unfold. The day after the survey leaked, Jefferies awarded its analysts Pelotons. A week later, Credit Suisse doled out $20,000 lifestyle allowances to its junior bankers and promised additional raises to come. In early April, Bank of America bumped analysts salaries by $10,000, Wells Fargo announced a one-off financial allowance bonus of $10,000, and Houlihan Lokey gave out all-expenses-paid vacations. By early this summer, JPMorgan and Barclays had followed suit.

It was the biggest pay gain for junior bankers since 2014, when a rash of sudden deaths, including some suicides, forced the firms to reckon with their treatment and mental health. This years raises brought the starting salary for investment bankers to at least $100,000, not including annual bonuses, which often double their total compensation.

And yet its not at all clear that the extra lucre has restored equilibrium to the investment-banking bargain  a job that has always sucked and always paid well enough to convince hordes of Ivy Leaguers to apply anyway. On top of salary and bonus, analyst posts have traditionally offered a chance to see how Wall Street operates up close before providing off-ramps to sweet gigs in hedge funds and private equity. Today, all three of these major perks are less compelling than they were just a few years ago. Tech pays better; the pandemic has deprived analysts of observing much of anything; and banking experience is not remotely a prerequisite to enter the hottest sectors in finance, namely venture capital and crypto.

For many new investment bankers, the deal they struck for their first two years out of college is looking like an increasingly out-of-the-money trade. Banking used to be this golden ticket, said a former Wall Street associate. (Often possessing an M.B.A., associates are one rung up from analysts and are still considered junior bankers.) Its still a really good job, but if you can get Google, Apple, Netflix, Snap  those are better jobs. His wife, he noted, earns more money for fewer hours at a tech giant.

Theres also evidence that a new generation is less willing to stomach what has long been known as the I-banker nine-to-five: 9 a.m. to five the following morning. This is a complete change. For the top graduates, they think, Why would I do that? Im smart, Im clever  thats for the worker bee, not me, said Paul Webster, a managing partner at the recruiter Page Executive, who specializes in placing investment bankers. All of a sudden, new graduates dont want to work long hours anymore.

Goldman may have gotten all the media attention because its Goldman, but wretchedness has been building at nearly every bank. People are quitting left and right, one analyst at Wells Fargo told me. People are just so burnt out. I know someone who quit with nothing lined up just because their mental health had been hit so hard. Patrick Curtis, the founder and CEO of Wall Street Oasis, a popular forum for the banking industry, said the frequency of posts indicating mental-health breakdowns more than doubled over the past year from the usual  to the point where the site is considering setting up an automated system to direct members to crisis hotlines.

What if banks are incurable? Run too long by such avaricious people that no amount of power inversion or generational reconsiderations of work-life balance can change the culture? At Citigroup, a new CEO, Jane Fraser  the first woman to run a big U.S. bank  assumed the reins in March and within weeks announced measures aimed at alleviating worker stress. Its refreshing because you get rid of some old anachronistic cultures or ways of doing things and you unleash this energy, she told Bloomberg. But executives quickly overrode many of her initiatives. On Zoom-Free Fridays, managing directors still made analysts Zoom  but sometimes let them leave their cameras off. Fraser instructed employees to avoid scheduling calls outside traditional business hours and declared Memorial Day a four-day weekend; We get an email five minutes later saying This doesnt apply to our group, said a Citi associate who quit this summer, after working every holiday except Christmas last year. Workers knew their bosses expected them to ignore Frasers notes reminding employees that July 4 was paid time off and to observe a protected Saturday policy. All those initiatives, all of us just look at each other and are like, LOL, what? said another former Citi associate who recently quit, despite being offered a retention bonus. It just becomes like a joke among everyone.

Decades of junior-staffer abuse cant be unlearned in a year, especially when the industry self-selects for the ruthless. When one Citi analyst informed a superior by email that hed caught COVID and was heading to the hospital, the VP replied and gave him a new assignment. No time off. He was like, Oh, thanks for letting me know. I actually have a staffing for you. Another analyst griped on Citis internal messaging system: I hate this job, I hate this bank, I want to jump out the window. A monitoring system generated an alert, and he got a concerned call from HR. This is a consensus opinion, he responded dispassionately. This is how everyone feels.

The low point at Citi happened on April 19. It was during the frenzy of Pelotons and bonuses, and Fraser scheduled a virtual call with Citis junior bankers for 7 a.m. They assumed the meeting could only mean higher pay. Instead, Fraser and a lieutenant beamed onto their screens and told the workers  in a gesture apparently intended to signal respect  that they knew what they didnt want: raises. Rather, she was focused on improving their work conditions, rattling off a list of efforts from IT upgrades to hiring more analysts and associates to help ease the workload. When the video call concluded after 20 minutes, young bankers left furious. Everyone was like, What the fuck? It was just very tone deaf, said one of the former associates I spoke to. The analysts and associates turned their computers off and didnt dial into any calls for the remainder of the day. In the end, Citi caved, raising junior bankers pay in July to start at $100,000. But by then, feelings had curdled. It was sort of like, if youre the first kid on the block to get a puppy, cool. If youre the last one on the block to get a puppy, great, like, thats it? What else are you going to do? said the ex-associate, who had already given notice by the time the raises kicked in. It doesnt make it better. It only made it worse when other people got it and you didnt.

At Goldman, by midsummer, the analysts were feeling insulted that their bank was holding out on higher pay. We were still being worked like crazy, one said. Nothing changed internally. All of our friends are getting money, and were getting promises of a better work life two months down the line. One former TMT associate whod left before the PowerPoint debacle called one of its authors to check in and marveled at how much the situation had deteriorated in just a few months. It just felt amplified. The level of animosity toward the employer felt really pronounced, and very dysfunctional, he said. There was real anger, a real sense of unfairness, and a bit of an attitude like, I just dont give a fuck anymore. That was just kind of shocking to hear that tone  kind of dark, honestly.

Finally, in early August, Solomon called the analysts to an in-person meeting in a Goldman auditorium. The bank was hiking their base salaries by about 30 percent, to $110,000 for first-year analysts and $125,000 for second-years  making Goldman the highest-paying of the so-called bulge-bracket banks. (Morgan Stanley later matched the figures.) It was a sign that the calculation for working at Goldman had changed: The bank would have to compete for young talent with cash, not just its reputation  the end of the Goldman discount. If you can suppress an insurrection for small dollars, I think you just do it, even though no one loves it, said the former Goldman executive. Im sure David increased the salaries totally against his desires.

The analysts, improbably, had won. But not all of them stuck around to collect. The employee who negatively compared Goldman to foster care was already gone. Among the 13 analysts in the TMT group that conducted the survey, at least five have left the bank; four of them are women of color. One told me she quit because she couldnt conceive of moving up the ranks to a position where she might inflict the same pain on another underling and concluded that even the boosted compensation wasnt enough to keep her at Goldman. When I thought about it bigger picture  How much difference does it really make in your life?  I decided that my happiness was worth more than a few hundred thousand extra dollars, she said. She recently accepted a corporate role outside the finance industry.

I thought about the next next crop of elite graduates  the ones entering the workforce next May  and wondered what in this chain of events had made a larger impression: the junior bankers total misery or their huge new salaries. I found an answer pretty quickly. At Yale, applications to the undergraduate finance club were up 23 percent at the start of the school year, according to Yash Bhansali, the president  and a 2021 Goldman intern. And at another elite university, I spoke to a student whose offer for a full-time analyst position at Goldman Sachs, starting summer 2022, arrived the same week the bank announced its junior banker raises. The letter included the higher sum. When I heard I would be getting paid the amount I would, I didnt even blink, the student said. I was just like, Yeah. I immediately signed.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 for free, anonymous support and resources.

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A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper conducts a traffic stop along Interstate 70 in St. Louis in 2017. Photo: Whitney Curtis/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A recently published New York Times investigation offers a wide-ranging look at how routine traffic stops by police for minor violations  frequently driven by the demand for ticket revenue  often escalate into fatal encounters for U.S. motorists and passengers.

The months-long investigation found that, during traffic stops over the last five years, police killed more than 400 people who were not wielding a gun or a knife, or under pursuit for a violent crime  a rate of more than one a week. Black drivers were overrepresented in the deaths, the Times said. Officers consistently avoided criminal liability for using deadly force: In all the deaths, only five officers were ultimately convicted of wrongdoing. Over three quarters of the motorists police killed were trying to flee; policing experts say that when this happens, the correct tactic is to let them drive away.

Thanks to police culture and training, many officers have been conditioned to believe  wrongly  that traffic stops are high-risk, the report explains. (Research has indicated that the chances of a police officer being killed during a traffic stop are actually less than 1 in 3.6 million.) The high-risk mindset leads to overreaction and hyper-violence against people who are not a threat. All [officers have] heard are horror stories about what could happen, Sarah Mooney, assistant police chief in West Palm Beach, told the Times. It is very difficult to try to train that out of somebody.

Furthermore, the Times visual investigation team analyzed footage of 120 fatal traffic stops and discovered a pattern: In dozens of incidents, officers made tactical mistakes that put themselves in positions of danger  walking into the path of a car, reaching into a window, jumping onto a moving vehicle  then used lethal force to defend against that danger.

The investigation also highlights how police departments efforts to conduct traffic stops and write tickets serves the purpose of raising revenue:

A hidden scaffolding of financial incentives underpins the policing of motorists in the United States, encouraging some communities to essentially repurpose armed officers as revenue agents searching for infractions largely unrelated to public safety. As a result, driving is one of the most common daily routines during which people have been shot, Tased, beaten, or arrested after minor offenses.

The Times also notes that the federal government effectively subsidizes some of these ticket-writing efforts. Some $600 million in federal grants are awarded to states each year to improve road safety, and at least 20 states have used the number of traffic stops per hour to judge police performance and have cited those metrics when applying for the grants.

In addition to unnecessary traffic stops, research consistently shows there are racial disparities in who is stopped; a 2020 study found that Black drivers were 20 percent more likely to be pulled over than white drivers.

The Times also examined what justifications police cited in the deaths; the most common  used in about 250 of the reviewed cases  was that the driver used the vehicle as a weapon. For instance:

Minutes after sheriffs deputies near San Leandro, Calif., killed a shoplifting suspect and injured a passenger in an S.U.V. in early 2019, an officer asked what weapons they had been armed with. A vehicle, one deputy replied. And a lawyer for a sheriffs deputy who shot a driver in Wichita, Kan., in late 2019 said the motorist had used a 4,500-pound vehicle as a weapon.



Black motorists were overrepresented.

In many of these vehicle as a weapon cases, the Times found that police officers that put themselves in harms way. Often, the drivers were trying to get away from officers, edging around them, not toward them, the footage shows, and the officers werent in the path of the vehicle when they fired, according to the investigation.
A screen grab from Sean Parnells speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Committee

In sworn testimony at the beginning of a custody trial for their two children, the estranged wife of Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell claimed that he choked her and beat their kids.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Laura Snell testified that Parnell once tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him to escape from the strangling. In court in Butler, a town north of Pittsburgh, she claimed under oath that Parnell called her a whore and a piece of shit while pinning her to the ground and that he forced her to get out of their vehicle on the side of highway in 2008 after telling her to go get an abortion. (Parnells campaign site states he will always vote to protect the unborn.) Snell alleged that her husband also slapped one of their children hard enough to leave welts under the childs shirt, and that he once punched a closet door so hard it hit his childs face and left a bruise, at which point he told his child: That was your fault. She claims that the abuse started in 2010, prior to their marriage, and that it grew worse in 2018, when he started hitting the kids. They separated that year.

Parnell has denied all allegations of abuse and in a statement on Monday, his campaign stated that he looked forward to presenting the truth to the court when he makes his case in the custody trial next week. In September, Republican primary challenger Jeff Bartos called Parnell unelectable due to two temporary protection-from-abuse orders that Snell filed against Parnell in 2017 and 2018. However, details of his alleged abuse were not made public until the custody trial; Parnell twice failed to secure a gag order to stop Snell from discussing the alleged abuse.

A former Army ranger, Parnell was diagnosed with PTSD after seeing serious combat while stationed in Afghanistan. After former President Donald Trump endorsed him in September, he became the leading Republican candidate in the race for the open seat of GOP senator Pat Toomey, who is not running next year. As the Inquirer notes, Parnell is now the second Senate candidate Trump has endorsed in 2022 who has allegedly abused a spouse: In Georgia, leading Republican candidate and former Bulldog running back Herschel Walker was accused by his wife of physically abusing her and pointing a gun at her head.
Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Robin Silvester

Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Robin Silvester at the signing ceremony of a historic relationship agreement between Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority on November 5, 2021.

Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Robin Silvester at the signing ceremony of a historic relationship agreement between Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority on November 5, 2021.

MUSQUEAM TERRITORY, British Columbia, Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As neighbours and partners, Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announce the recent signing of a historic relationship agreement. The agreement creates a framework for a long-term, meaningful relationship between Musqueam and the port authorityone that will advance a strong, shared future marked by mutual respect and reconciliation.



On Friday November 5, a signing ceremony was held to witness Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Robin Silvester sign the relationship agreement, and celebrate this milestone as partners.

This relationship agreement recognizes Musqueams ongoing stewardship of our territory. It is another fundamental step towards long-term reconciliation through acknowledgement of Indigenous rights to our lands and waters, said Chief Sparrow. We are excited to work collaboratively with the port authority to advance our shared goals for a sustainable future, while also providing training and employment opportunities for our people.

Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority co-developed a multi-faceted, long-term agreement that fundamentally reframes their working relationship to better deliver on joint commitments. Through this agreement, the parties will work together to uphold the rights of Musqueam and move towards a more productive and collaborative shared future.

We look forward to working with Musqueam in the months and years to come  as neighbours and partners  to build a strong future together that will continue to include meaningful dialogue and a mutual respect that will support our shared priorities, said Silvester.

Story continues

Media Contacts

Musqueam Indian Band Communications

Odette Wilson

owilson@musqueam.bc.ca

236-885-7335

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Communications

Matti Polychronis

Matti.Polychronis@portvancouver.com

604-665-9540

About Musqueam Indian Band

Musqueam people have lived in the Fraser River estuary since time immemorial. We are a proud and culturally-resilient First Nation of over 1,300 members. About half of our members live in a small portion of our territory known as Musqueam Reserve, located south of Marine Drive in Vancouver. Many of the remaining members live throughout Musqueams territory, parts of which are now called Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and New Westminster. Our lands and waters continue to support our cultural and economic practices, while serving as a source of knowledge and memory, encoded with our teachings and laws.

About the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Port of Vancouver

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is the federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the Port of Vancouver. Like all Canada Port Authorities, we are accountable to the federal minister of transport, and operate pursuant to the Canada Marine Act with a mandate to enable Canadas trade through the Port of Vancouver, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. The port authority is structured as a non-share corporation, is financially self-sufficient and does not rely on tax dollars for operations. Our revenues come from port terminals and tenants who lease port lands, and from port users who pay various fees such as harbour dues. Profits are reinvested in port infrastructure. The port authority has control over the use of port land and water, which includes more than 16,000 hectares of water, over 1,500 hectares of land, and approximately 350 kilometres of shoreline. Located on the southwest coast of British Columbia in Canada, the Port of Vancouver extends from Roberts Bank and the Fraser River up to and including Burrard Inlet, bordering 16 municipalities and intersecting the traditional territories and treaty lands of several Coast Salish First Nations. The Port of Vancouver is Canadas largest port, and the third largest in North America by tonnes of cargo. Enabling the trade of approximately $240 billion in goods with more than 170 countries, port activities sustain 115,300 jobs, $7 billion in wages, and $11.9 billion in GDP across Canada.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/78826d09-4e3e-42ee-b6ab-91d0b73cd6b1




Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID vaccinations.

Most employers with 100 or more employees will have to require their employees to get vaccinated, or wear masks and get tested weekly. Although the ETS is effective immediately, it will not be enforced until Dec. 5, will be in effect for six months, and exempts certain employees whose exposure to others would be limited.

Here are some of the highlights.

What about state OSHA plans?

States with OSHA-approved state plans are required to adopt the ETS or a standard that is as effective as the ETS within 30 days. If not, OSHA may begin the process to withdraw its approval of the state plan and resume federal jurisdiction in the state.

What about states with bans on vaccine mandates or masking?

OSHA takes the position that the OSH Act preempts state laws addressing an issue covered by an OSHA standard, and therefore these bans are not enforceable. But look for lots of litigation on this issue.

Are any employers with 100 or more employees not covered by the ETS?
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. High 46F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Light rain early. Then remaining cloudy. Low 31F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Staff Writer

Brad Hundt came to the Observer-Reporter in 1998 after stints at newspapers in Georgia and Michigan. He serves as editorial page editor, and has covered the arts and entertainment and worked as a municipal beat reporter.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High near 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 31F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Tbh Im actually surprised hes changing the name. Usually celebs would apologize and just still move forward with the name so good on him I guess.



Edited at 2021-06-23 03:38 pm (UTC)

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skims tho

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He's corny af, so this whole fiasco is very on-brand for him

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When you said "corny," I had to go back and look to see if the liquor in question was corn whisky.

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So he was going to use and trademark this term and not give any proceeds back to the culture that he loves and respects? 

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He has a bunch of people whose sole purpose is to come up with the concept/image of the product...and none of y'all realize this was appropriation? Miss me with the apologies. And the least he can do is change the name to something else he can profit of.

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Good.



I dont understand why he wouldnt link up with actual Trinis or the tourism board or ministry of culture for this.



But I'm sure some kind of deal will made at the end of the day.

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His business partner is from Trinidad / Trini descent. He is clearly the one to blame here (I am not absovlving MBJ either, I right dragged him in the Caribbean circles)

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Fair enough.

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I mean, they should have known this before going so far as to trademark, but respect that hes actually changing the name and not pulling a Kendall and doubling down (with incorrect Spanish at that)

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And we hear you being heard by those you should have listened to. Audio loop!

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I have nothing to add but let me support my local trini restaurant and order some goat buss up shot. Also as someone else said he is corny

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It's good he's changing it, but I can't @ Nicki being one of the people to call him out. With her track record?!?!

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re-name it to Weakest Link

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I spoke to my dad and step-mom (who are both Trini and heavily involved in carnival culture down there) and while they didn't like the idea of anyone trademarking the word, overall they weren't particularly bothered since jouvay is a part of many carnival cultures in the Caribbean and South America (and other countries to a lesser extent).



They said that if the spelling of J'Ouvert had been jouvay that would have likely been more problematic as that is the preferred spelling in Trinidad.



They could see why people would be bothered by this though and they were happy that he is changing the name.

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This too shall pass. And if he had one, I'd tell Michael to keep his chin up.

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Spilled my water. You went there.

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Omg lol

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BYYYYYEEEE

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I saw this response cackled and tossed my phone down and ran and told my partner their mouth dropped open and they were like "daaaaaamn what did he do" lmao

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nooo, i never noticed and now i know that's all i shall ever (not) see

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Some of us have weak chins but are still cute OKAYY

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lmaooo

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lmao FUCK

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I'd at least Google a word of I was gunna use it for my products name.

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Allegedly he said "It's a word that doesn't mean anything"





Where is the 'respect', dude?

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its not alleged, that was written in the applicaton

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That snatch game was like everyone blindly picked a printed out picture of a meme from a hat and was told to improvise knowing only that single printed cut out.

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Suki won that lipsync!!! Ill miss her so much



Eve opening her dress/coat to reveal her big ol La Senza bra and her scrunched up tights? how did that get a positive reaction??? twasnt a reveal as much as a wardrobe malfunction. like taking off your wig to reveal your taped up bald head, not a good look, and certainly not a gag. plus no offense but shes sooo negative shes literally draining me



Kitty for the UK crown, Pythia for Canada 

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I was so sad to see Suki go. She has such a great mental attitude about the competition in contrast to Eve who just complained endlessly.

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Eve gives me very only child whose mother always tells him hes amazing at everything energy, prob always paid for him to go to theater camp



that WAILING he did a few weeks back after being told he was safe, girl, therell be no set left if you keep chewing the scenery like this



his fucking solo for the clown Rusical, I got a trick up my sleeeeeve I CANT





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I'm really enjoying this season of CDR, but not them eliminating the only two Asian girls one after the other. TF?



Pythia better win, she's so fun and talented.

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ella has been growing on me since snatch game, but it seems like kitty is getting the winner edit tho... the challenge itself was so obvious that ru wanted to film everything in a single day and it really showed. although the manic chaotic energy of the challenge itself reminds me so much of ANTM for some reason lol



i completely forgot misteeq was a british group, scandalous is iconic so glad vanity turned it out for that lipsync!!!!!!



hmmmmm @ canada...eliminating 3 POC's in a row is questionable. that snatch game itself was also quite questionable. lordE the camera kept focusing on eve the entire time, it made it so obvious they were going to save her whiny ass ugh

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I hate that POC queens are casted then eliminated so early in the competition UKs elimination pissed me off so much!!!

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Beth is also Indigenous (Metis) and two-spirit so they've literally eliminated a minority each week. Ugh.

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canada showing its racist ass, lol not surprised. it especially pisses me off cos two were from quebec and for once it wasnt some lily white person like the one from last season.

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That scandalous lip sync was so much fun to watch because of how into it the guest judge was. But then I went on twitter and saw that the caucasians hated the guest judge and how into it she was.

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I love how into the lip sync she was! If my song was being performed as the LSFYL track and I was guest judging I would have had the same energy. It was also an amazing lip sync and Vanity slayed.

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Theres a lot of hate for Alesha among white brits. She got really raked over the coals in the media years back because she became a judge on Strictly Come Dancing after winning the show a couple of years earlier. She replaced an older white lady who was extremely vocal about the fact she was pushed out and blamed it on ageism/diversity casting. None of which is either true or Aleshas fault, but since then she has always had a real time of it in British media and people just seem to hate her success/joy/talent.

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Alesha is amazing and precious and adorable and I will fight people for her. Also 'The Boy Does Nothing' is a jam.

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wtf is that look Michelle has in the gif? Is she helping to promote "Boyz"?

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I couldnt find gifs of Ru from the double elimination last week and I was too lazy to make ones for the post lol

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Worst Snatch Game in a long time. Even Down Under had one standout (Anita). This group had zero funny.

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Anyone else still sad about Victoria Scone? I know its been a couple weeks but I'm still sad. Her coming back for the next season still hasn't been confirmed.

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Yeah, I kept half-expecting her to pop back into the competition but alas no.

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as far as i know it's not even been mentioned that she'll be competing next season. i suspect (with no proof) that she'll be a guest judge.

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i was looking forward to her so yes :(

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Ive only watched U.K. so far, but it was refreshing to watch an ep of Drag Race with a new challenge! I know the reason is probably because they needed a fast 1 day shoot but it was at least interesting. I thought Charity Shop Sue was really unnecessary and awkward though lol. And once again Krystal not getting same critique as other girls despite doing the same thing. Scarlett was read for an LBD but Krystal did the same thing, but worse!



I love Vanitys final outfit. I hope she can start really pulling it out of the bag. The less queens there are the harder it is to coast.

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I quite enjoyed this ridiculous fast drag episode. Vanity FINALLY showed us why she's ehre with that excellent lip sync, Scandalous is an ICONICCCCCC song and she slayed it, love it. It's been one of my top karaoke songs lmao, loved Alesha and how much she enjoyed it all too, I hope she returns some time.



Still very much missing River AND Choriza tho, I don't think Choriza should've been in the bottm at all :| I kinda realised I don't really LIKE any of the queens any more, they don't quite connect, tho I know that they've been run ragged at this point so maybe that's why.

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That fast drag challenge was great because



1. This is the most energy the girls have given

2. One less category outfit for them to buy

3. Reflects real life baby drag queens and local queens who have to thrift to pull a look together using inexpensive stuff

4. Reflects real-life drag performers/pageant queens changing outfits in between numbers/pageant categories







Edited at 2021-11-06 03:04 pm (UTC)

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I'm so over Snatch Game 



I honestly can't figure out who is going to win DRUK but think it will feel underwhelming regardless of who wins.

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Ok the work room talk was so unnecessary for this time limit challenge. Producers shouldve just let the queens get ready instead of shoehorning the deep and meaningful talk. Having Charity Shop Sue stay for the challenge was so awkward, they shouldve let her do her bit at the beginning and then let the actress leave.



Krystals outfit didnt seem that "ugly".

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I just hate the blatant americanism of the UK franchise.



Ru's references are way too American sometimes, it just feels like i'm watching another American Season.





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Oh man, the Americanism is so frustrating. The way Ru and Michelle constantly push the queens to be more American in their references alone is obnoxious, but the way they refuse to take the less 'glam' British drag style into account drives me up the wall. Why cast Ginny Lemon or Charity Kase if you hate their drag style?

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I honestly don't know what's worse - the Americanism or when they try SO hard that it's almost offensive (which I guess is a kind of Americanism in and of itself).

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after choriza, river & victoria scone, i'm not really connection with anyone else.



anywho, Team Ella Vaday, at least she's cute trade.



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Do i have something on my face? energy!

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I've given up on DRUK this season. I think I want Ella to win the most at this point but no one compares to the talent of UK2



As for Canada, losing Stephanie and Suki back to back hurts. They were some of my favorites. Pythia is who I want to see win at this point though.

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Girls, i think its unfair to blame the UK3 girls for a mediocre season. ~Blame it on the edit~



This season has TALENT! They just keep getting lame runway categories, mediocre challenges (except for the timed-pageant)and huh?lip sync songs.( only good lip syncs were the last vanity lips sync, the white suit scarlet and the elektra fence ep1 song)



Episode 1, the season had so much potential ( personally was looking forward at a top 5 with krystal, charity, victoria, choriza and maybe kitty or vanity) . Then they kinda blew their load early.



Ultimately, I think Victoria Scones early departure threw production a curveball and we have this fucked up elimination order resulting in boring storylines with the remaining girls.



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After victoria left i think production just copy pasted their season 7 template on this season ( which is like, why? they screwed up lots of talented girls with the challenges and elimination order of that saeason)



-Krystal as violet. The cocky young one

-ella as pearl. Good lookin white boy out of drag

-kitty as ginger. Campy funny girl who is just so polished when delivering one liners

-choriza as trixie. Hilarious fan favorite who gives great funny talking head interviews

-vanity as kennedy. Lip sync assasin and token black girl.

- scarlet as fame. In her head a lot and unmeaningly stirs up drama



Not meaning to compare the girls but more shading reality tv production and story editors on why they have to resort back to a season 7 edit

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Could you add a cut for the cellphone crowd, op? Thanks!

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Wow at that asshole security guard trying to trip people >:O!!



Suffocation is one of the worst ways to die 

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Thats a short video of what happened. Theres a longer one out there. Security on horseback ended up finally coming to help block the entrance.

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I went back to watch it again because I couldn't believe they tried to trip someone panicking and running away!

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Those were idiots busting through a VIP security entrance without tickets. That wasnt what the incident was. That happened at night during Travis set. Although it probably contributed to it since they were over capacity now with a bunch of people who were acting like jerks.

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It should've been shut down as soon as they started rushing security. A ten year old died apparently. Concertgoers where seem dancing on emergency vehicles while people died inside them...

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Concertgoers where seem dancing on emergency vehicles while people died inside them..



That feels like the perfect image to encapsulate these last 18 months. Im tired

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Watching society lose its empathy and humanity in real time these past few years

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we should note that Drake and Travis kept performing while these ambulances were in plain view

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Thats so vile. I cant believe the apathy people have now.

And dont tell me it was always here. I know.

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jesus christ. how can you do that?



whenever an emergency vehicle is coming up behind me when i'm driving, i always pull over because i always think "i'd want people to pull over if that emergency vehicle was coming for me/ someone i cared about". just one minute can make such a difference.



fuck those people. fuck them to hell.

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the 10 yr old didnt die but they were injured

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What the fuck is wrong with people?!

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I know people have said this to the point of exhaustion but we are truly and undoubtedly living in a Black mirror episode.

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Oh man. Those videos of people rushing the gates make me suspect this may have all been very poorly planned for crowd control all around. What a horrifying way to die.

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For many people seeing their fave at a concert is the best day of their life and the fact that it became a nightmare by the end of the night. Concert security is no joke.

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Its Live Nation. Poorly planned crowd control seems to be their specialty in fucking right up.

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How does security prevent something like this? Ive def been in huge compressed crowds and dont think there would be a way to stop people at a festival if things got out of hand but I also dont know anything about those kinda protocols.



Edit: nvm I see this happened from the get go at the barriers. Usually theres cops at festivals so likeI guess this got messy fast.



Edited at 2021-11-06 07:51 am (UTC)

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There are some really interesting videos on YouTube about the Hillsborough disaster and lessons learned from that - from what I remember no, you cant completely control human/mob behavior but most of these incidents involve someone fucking up somewhere along the way and creating an environment that allows stupid human behavior to lead to death. Given how many festivals go off within a hitch Im pretty sure you *can* almost always prevent this but idk tbh

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Keeping the crowd calm helps but Travis loves it when people break barriers for his concerts and absolutely encourages this wild behavior. This isn't the first time people got injured at this event either.

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I bet the sure to come lawsuits against him will slow his roll in the future.

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Yup Im putting some blame on him

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No yeah Ive been to his set at music festivals before and his crowds are DIFFERENT compared to other rappers Ive seen (Kendrick as a similar example). His set was the most squished Ive ever been to and didnt feel comfortable at all

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This happened in Australia at the Big Day Out years ago. There was a massive inquest, which looked at increasing security, using more barriers to divide people in crowds, better lighting for security to see people, and also the role artists play in encouraging/discouraging this behavior. They also recommended that there be a safety role, with the authorisation to cut the performance if required.



Edited at 2021-11-06 11:40 am (UTC)

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I haven't seen what the crowd pen was like here - but I've been to festivals in recent years (Gov Ball comes to mind) that divide up the crowd with 3-4 long rectangular pens made by barriers, rather than just one big pit.



This allows security to have lanes to walk up and down from front to back (and for the artist too if they like to get in the crowd), gives more barrier for fans to lean on/see over (less crush to get to the front), and means less people in each pen should a surge like this happen.



This is purely anecdotal on my end, but this seems like a better method.

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The big things are:



- The physical layout should direct people to move and gather in safe ways. This could mean breaking the crowd up with barriers to prevent everyone from surging in the same direction at once, putting up video screens that cause sections of the audience to face slightly different directions, allowing easy outs for people in the crowd but slightly restricting the flow of people from the bathrooms/food stalls back to the stage so people won't all dash towards it at the same time.



- Most large festivals have someone watching video of the crowd from above which makes it a lot easier to see the movement of the crowd and where crushes are happening. That person communicates to the security who are on the ground so they can start pulling people out, and to the stage so they can direct attention to an area away from where the crush is happening or stop the show.

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Also I wonder if the crush has anything to do with there just being way more people in attendance than expected due to the rush at the gates? Did they do anything to mitigate that over the course of the day, like check tickets or anything? Seems wildly irresponsible to just let everything continue as normal after that.

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Holy moly, that's so scary.

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Ssssssso this is really fuxking bad

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Horrific. Kind of reminds me of the Hillsborough disaster, on a much smaller scale. How have people not learned since that horrible day 1) good security should always be used and 2) nothing is worth getting hurt over? The barricades were clearly there for a reason.



May those people RIP.

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Did NYP really post a pic of someone dying/needing CPR? Disgusting. How them of them.

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So damn disrespectful. Human pain is something for them to sensationalise the fuck out of.

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...I wondered if that's what I was looking at. :(

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There's a video of it in the twitter thread, fucking horrible.

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i hate that we now post these types of images on social media without a thought. i wish we had gone the opposite way as a society. it's so distressing.

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I hate it.

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I severely regret clicking a couple of those vids. Some should really come with trigger warnings or not have been posted at all



I thought the second vid of people breaking past security through a knocked over fence would be similar to the first one posted here.. I was NOT expecting to see a video of people being hopelessly trampled in real time like that. That and the cpr vid triggered my anxiety bad





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Came here to say this. Like, you're literally exploiting people's deaths for clicks. The bar is beyond subterranean.

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We've legit hit dystopian future. It's present time :c

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Of course they did

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theres more to it but this is astrofest 21. pic.twitter.com/RUaPN75Bs4  mamas (@madddeline_) November 6, 2021 The reports from people who were there are horrifying

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jesus. to go from disoriented and passed out to basically working in chaos... what a horrible situation + doctors and nurses are amazing.

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Criminal

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The part where she says people were begging the crew to stop the show:



There's a video in that twt thread of a young guy begging the lighting crew to stop the concert because people are literally dying and he wants to help save them, and people are yelling at him to shut up, get down and "calm down" and not to worry about it while he understandably freaks out. And the crew gives absolutely zero fucks.

I'm seriously so disturbed at the apathy and indifference to life those people had. I had to take a break from my phone after I saw it. Horrifying. I could feel his distress and frustration and his hopelessness at this crowd essentially gaslighting him so that they could prioritise some music over people's lives.



Edited at 2021-11-06 01:02 pm (UTC)

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That account is a nightmare.

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Oh my god.

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all the families of those who were injured or worse need to sue travis scott for the nightmare he created

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Oh they are for sure going after his ass



I hope they take every cent

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8 people. at a Fucking music festival.

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this is so terrifying and sad

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I personally never understood his hype... condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives.

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Over the years, many celebs, politicians, and public figures (all three could be considered the same, now) have found themselves in situations that have encouraged them to respond to the public, whether to deal with a crisis of public perception or to just "spread awareness" (ironic, since "spreading awareness" could also be considered PR-speak).A common thread to be seen in most of these statements is the fact that these individuals we look up to seemingly change for us (the general audience) in order to appease us, or rather, to better "control the narrative" when issues may arise within their respective fandoms.Some of the phrases that are most often used include such phrases as "we hear you," "we see you," "you matter," "you are valid," and "we care."It should be noted that in all of these occurrences, public figures use "the royal we," which makes it difficult to distinguish between sole authorship or co-authorship.In typical ONTD fashion, I present to you a few instances of individuals using the exact same phrases in different scenarios.When Michael B. Jordan was accused of cultural appropriation for the naming of his rum brand, he utilized "the royal we," as well as "I" in his response:Henry Cavill (the brand) recently responded to an autistic individual on Reddit with the words,Ted Cruz (the politician) used "we hear you, we see you" in a recent tweet that acknowledged the plight of Cubans.One member of The Squad, Rashida Tlaib, recently used "we hear you" in a tweet about appearing invisible in spaces.Pramila Jayapal utilized the phrases "we hear you, we see you,' in her post for #NationalComingOutDay Cori Bush used "we hear you, we see you" in a tweet acknowledging Simone Biles' statement in the Larry Nassar situation.Sources: 1
European natural gas supplies are not only waning because of lower Russian supply. Brussels, Berlin and even the Hague are keeping a keen eye on the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and market reports about reduced flows through the Yamal pipeline and Ukraine. At the same time, it seems that Fort Europe is being besieged from all sides. The market is also being confronted by the negative implications of a political crisis between Morocco and Algeria, negatively impacting the latters gas supplies to the Iberian Peninsula.

For a few weeks a full-out political, economic and possibly security crisis has been building up between Algeria and Morocco, mainly caused by the still continuing Western Sahara-Mauritania conflict. For decades, Morocco has exerted control over the Western Sahara, fighting a military conflict with rebel movement Polisario, which is backed by Algiers. Until now, Morocco has controlled most of the Western Sahara territory, considering it to be Moroccan. And since August 2021, when Algeria severed its diplomatic relations with Morocco, the conflict has spread to gas pipeline politics too.

Algeria is facing a struggling economy, which has been hit hard by COVID-19, endemic corruption, mismanagement and internal political strive. Algerias leaders are also increasingly worried about Moroccos growing political influence in the region, and even its improving relations with Israel. Internal instability, especially after the death of its former leader Bouteflika, has caused economic mayhem, and has led its oil and gas sector, the major source of income, to decline.

The last decade, both countries also have been in an arms race, which Algeria due to higher oil and gas prices has been winning, but in which Morocco is returning to take the lead. The arms race, combined with a regional power strive between Morocco and Algeria, even into the Gulf region, has caused immense friction. Until now, the strife between the two North-Afican nations, has not had a major impact on Europe. While Brussels, Madrid and other European powers, have been keeping an eye on the conflict and internal developments, the rift was regarded as an insignificant power struggle. This has, however, changed dramatically since Algeria decided to close the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline on November 1st.

Algiers decided to close down the conduit after Morocco refused to invest in its own part of the gas export pipeline, while still taking a part of the gas in the pipeline as payment for the transfer rights. Morocco used the gas to produce around 12% of the countrys electricity. Due to the closure, Spain is directly affected. In the heads of Algerian leaders, the Medgaz pipeline is seen as a replacement, which would allow Algeria to get rid of intermediaries and to cut Morocco out.

The closure was expected, after that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune issued an order to Sonatrach, Algeria's state energy firm, to stop supplying export gas to Spain through the Maghreb pipeline on October 31. Even though Spain has been known as a major renewable energy proponent, mainly wind and solar, the country still relies on natural gas for almost 50% of its energy needs, most of it is being supplied via the Maghreb pipeline.

Knowing that Algeria refuses to renew the contract with Morocco, Spain has been left scrambling for whatever gas supply it can get hold of. Increasing LNG imports is the first option that comes to mind, but buying spot cargoes on the market isnt going to be easy. Madrid will have to compete with various other European and Asian buyers, which are already paying top-dollar for extra cargoes. As the Iberian Peninsula is not strongly connected to the European gas grid, importing gas from other European nations is also going to be challenging in the short term. Algerian natural gas supplies are still the main and at present the only real option. As the Magrheb-Europe gas pipeline delivered around 6 BCM per year, the gap is immense.

The only other solution is to increase the Medgaz pipeline flows. Medgaz was inaugurated a decade ago and it is controlled jointly by the Algerian state (51%) and by the Spanish energy company Naturgy, formerly known as Gas Natural Fenosa (49%). Normally it provides around 25% of natural gas that reaches Spain. Algeria has pledged to raise its capacity from eight bcm to 10 bcm a year, but Spain would still need around four bcm more to cover its needs. Some Algerian LNG could also be heading to Spain, but the price for these spot cargoes will undoubtedly be high as other countries are also bidding for the same cargoes.

The overall impact on Spain could be significant. Natural gas is not only used for heating or industry use, but also for combined cycle power plants, which are generating around 30-33% of total electricity consumed. When looking at the available strategic gas reserves, the options are limited. Spanish minister of energy Teresa Ribera reported yesterday that the country has only natural gas reserves equivalent to 43 days of consumption. She however also reiterated that Algeria has offered to send higher volumes to Spain if needed.

Algerias strategy is very diffuse at present. The lack of transparency in its oil and gas sector is extreme, while overall production capacity is under pressure. Some are even stating that the current crisis could be a way of hiding ongoing supply constraints or outright lack of export volumes.

At the same time, Algeria stated bluntly today that it targets a 30% gas market share in Europe. On October 2nd, Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab stated that his country was seeking to increase its share of the European gas market to over the current 30%. Algerian press agency APS said that the minister reiterated the country's ambition to further strengthen its presence on this market by suggesting additional quantities". Markets are however very doubtful this will happen in the next 2-5 years. Algeria is currently producing 1.2 million oil barrels per day and 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, making it Africas largest gas exporter.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

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There are still multiple diplomatic barriers to achieving the ambitious methane emissions goals set out in the Global Methane Pledge, notably a lack of support from the Developing Countries Group

There are multiple technologies and practices already available for these emergy economies to use, especially in the methane-heavy agriculture sector

Joe Bidens final speech at COP26 focused on methane emissions and the Global Methane Pledge, a pledge which was endorsed by multiple emerging economies

With world leaders meeting this week at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, a number of emerging markets have demonstrated their willingness to work with international partners on the matter of reducing methane emissions.

US President Joe Bidens final speech in the context of the summit focused on methane emissions, and specifically the Global Methane Pledge.

Launched in September and led jointly by the US and the EU, the Global Methane Pledge represents the first coordinated international effort to address methane emissions. Its goal is to precipitate a 30% drop in global emissions  relative to 2020 baseline levels  before the end of the decade.

Methane emissions are the second-biggest cause of global warming after carbon dioxide.

According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane was responsible for approximately half of the 1C net rise in global average temperatures since the pre-industrial era.

Action to reduce emissions is thus a key element of broader decarbonisation efforts. If the pledges targets are met, it could potentially result in a reduction of 0.2C in global warming by 2050. While this may not sound like a huge difference, it would play a significant role in reducing the frequency and force of extreme weather events.

In light of this, signing up to the Global Methane Pledge has been called the most significant single action that world leaders can take in the context of COP26.

Alongside richer nations, the pledge has garnered the endorsement of a number of emerging economies, among them Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria. Brazil, which is one of the worlds top-five biggest emitters of methane, has also signed the pledge.

The complete list of supporting countries now totals more than 100, and together accounts for around half of global methane emissions, as well as 70% of the global economy.

Approaches to cutting emissions

The technology required to meet the pledges goals already exists. The UN Environmental Programmes recently released Global Methane Assessment underlines that nearly half of the methane released through human activities could be cut by the end of this decade and that affordable tools to do so are already available.

In addition, advances in satellite technology have made it easier to detect and address methane leaks, providing what the European Space Agency has called an important new tool to combat climate change.

Alongside technological solutions, there is a range of practice-based solutions available to countries seeking to reduce their emissions.

Agriculture is a major contributor to global methane emissions, with rice cultivation representing 10% of total anthropogenic emissions and livestock farming 30%.

Given that agriculture remains the backbone of many emerging market economies, innovations on this front could significantly reduce global emissions without leading to the destruction of agricultural industries.

Thankfully, there are various tried-and-tested solutions. In the case of rice cultivation, alternating irrigation considerably reduces emissions, as well as increasing yields. This method has seen notable success in West Africa, Tamil Nadu in India, and southwest Asia.

Meanwhile, the methanisation  or transformation into biogas  of animal manure and other agricultural waste products can considerably reduce emissions.

In Thailand, for example, biogas is produced from the waste streams of its cassava starch sector and pig farms.

Diplomatic hurdles

While the Global Methane Pledge is indicative of a growing political will to leverage such technologies and practices in the fight against methane emissions, there is still some way to go in terms of global diplomacy.

Notable in their absence from the pledges list of supporters are China, India, and Russia, three countries that together account for around one-third of methane emissions. Australia has similarly refrained from signing up.

In an indication of some of the difficulties facing those who are working towards a multilateral consensus on emissions, a statement released in mid-October by the Like-Minded Developing Countries group  which includes China, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam  described the goal of net-zero emissions by 2020, which has been pushed by some developed nations, as being anti-equity and against climate justice.

The group accused richer nations of refusing to address their historical responsibility for initiating climate change, and of trying to shift responsibility onto developing nations.

Indeed, the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin from the COP26 meeting was seen by many as an indication of how difficult it could be to achieve any global consensus.

By Oxford Business Group

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Livewellnebraska

Most employees in 8 health systems in Omaha and Lincoln vaccinated against COVID

More than 90% of employees of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems that require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have gotten their shots.

The health systems chief medical officers jointly announced the plan in early August, well ahead of President Joe Bidens September announcement that all government contractors  including those that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars  require employee vaccination.

All of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems have granted exemptions to a small percentage of their employees on medical or religious grounds. Most established committees to review the requests and granted them on an individual basis. Employees granted exemptions typically have agreed to wear masks and test regularly for COVID-19.

Thursday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued emergency regulations for health care workers. The regulations will apply to roughly 17 million health care workers at 76,000 providers nationwide.

Under the rules, eligible health care workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. The regulations require health care facilities to provide for exemptions for recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Unlike a separate rule requiring vaccination in most cases for businesses with 100 or more employees to require the shots, the CMS rule doesnt allow for periodic testing as an alternative to vaccination. The agency said, however, that health care facilities may voluntarily institute testing alongside other infection control measures, such as distancing and source control.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that he will fight back against the new federal rules. He also has said he will bar multiple state agencies from complying with the federal requirements. The states attorney general has joined a multistate lawsuit to block the Biden administration from mandating vaccines for employees of federal contractors.

The Omaha- and Lincoln-area medical chiefs said in August that their voluntary effort was intended to ensure the safety of patients and employees and the communities in which they operate.

The announcement came as a joint statement signed by the CEOs of Boys Town National Research Hospital, Bryan Health, CHI Health, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, Methodist Health System, Midwest Surgical Hospital and Nebraska Medicine.

At the time, more than 125 professional health associations and health care systems already had called for mandatory vaccination of health care professionals.

Now, as then, staffing remains tight across the entire health care sector. Many of the hospitals continue to run at high volumes, kept busy by regular care, treatments deferred during the earlier phase of the pandemic and, in some, COVID-19 patients. While the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had dipped, it was up above 400 again statewide this week.

A summary of where the health systems stand:

Nebraska Medicine

More than 97% of employees had been vaccinated by the health systems deadline in late October, officials said. The health system granted 304 exemptions for religious and medical reasons, representing about 3% of total employees.

Thirty employees opted not to follow the vaccination policy, or about .3% of total staff. Only 18 worked full time.

Childrens Hospital & Medical Center

Childrens and its affiliates reported that 99.7% of its approximately 3,351 employees were fully compliant as of Thursday, either vaccinated or with an accepted medical or religious exemption. Only .3% of the health systems staff had taken no action by its Nov. 1 deadline.

The safety of our people  our team members and the patients we serve, who represent a vulnerable population  is our top priority, officials said in a statement. Vaccination against COVID-19 is an important step to stop the pandemic and allow our team to work in the safest way possible.

Methodist Health System

Some 98% of Methodists nearly 8,000 employees are fully compliant, either vaccinated or with an accepted exemption.

A total of 129, or 1.6%, of employees chose not to comply with the vaccine mandate. Those people will be facing corrective action up to and including suspension and possible termination, officials said.

Bryan Health

In Lincoln, 95% of Bryan employees are vaccinated against COVID-19, officials said. Fifty-four employees were in the process of completing a second dose. In addition, 297, or 5%, of the systems 5,552 employees had approved exemptions.

Five employees resigned and five were terminated for noncompliance. Vaccination will be required for all new employees. Officials noted that the health system requires nine other vaccinations as a condition of employment.

As of November 1, Bryan Health employees, across each system and location, are 100 percent compliant with the new requirement, officials said in a statement.

CHI Health

Some 92% of CHIs approximately 12,000 employees are either fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or have applied for and received a medical or religious exemption, according to health system officials.

Each request for a medical or religious exemption was reviewed based on federal guidance and by a group of religious and medical teams from across CHI Health.

Employees who are not vaccinated and do not have an approved exemption may be able to continue working while replacements are secured, officials said. They will be subject to additional masking and testing requirements.

We know vaccination is the best way to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and are grateful to all of our employees who have chosen to get vaccinated, CHI officials said in a statement.

Midwest Surgical Hospital

As of late October, the hospital had a vaccination rate of 92%, said Dr. Stephen Doran, chief medical officer. That represents an increase of about 15% since the health systems initiated their policy.

All of those who are not vaccinated, he said, have submitted requests for exemptions. Hospital officials were awaiting federal CMS guidelines for them.

Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals

As of early this week, 93% of Madonnas employees were vaccinated and 123 exemptions had been granted for medical and religious reasons, representing 6% of all employees.

Twenty, or about 1% of staff members, had taken no action by the systems Oct. 29 deadline. As of Tuesday, about five had resigned or said they intended to resign rather than comply with the vaccine policy. This action will have no impact on our ability to care for our patients, officials said in a statement.

Boys Town National Research Hospital

The vast majority of Boys Town employees are vaccinated, officials said, noting that Boys Town is encouraging employees to get both the COVID and flu shots. Exemptions continue to be evaluated on an individual basis.
Proud.

Thats how U.S. Marine Corps veteran David Klassen felt Saturday morning as he watched Nebraskas Official Veterans Parade from the sidewalk in downtown Bellevue. Having served in the Marines from January 1975 to January 1978, Klassen, 65, saw the end of the Vietnam War era and experienced personal tragedy when six of his fellow service members perished in a helicopter training accident in 1976.

With that in mind, seeing the 80 entries composed of hundreds of people march through the city brought a tear to my eye, Klassen said, as a mix of emotions bellowed up.

This hits home real hard, he said.

For Ray Johnson, the parade  which traveled east down West Mission Avenue before looping north along Franklin Street  provided a chance for him to reminisce about his Air Force career that spanned 26 years from 1964 to 1990.

The military was the start of my life. It was the most fantastic experience Ive ever had, the 75-year-old veteran said.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Democratic leaders in Virginia conceded Friday that Republicans have won control of the House of Delegates.

The Associated Press has not called all of Virginia's House races yet. But the concession means Republicans would complete an elections sweep in which they also reclaimed the offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn issued a statement acknowledging the GOP majority shortly after Democratic Del. Martha Mugler conceded defeat in a tight race against Republican challenger A.C. Cordoza in the 91st House district, located in Virginia's Hampton Roads region. With Mugler's concession, Republicans now expect to hold at least 51 seats in the 100-member chamber.

While the results of the election were not in our favor, our work for the people of Virginia goes on, said Filler-Corn.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, said Filler-Corn called Gilbert on Friday. The House Republican caucus appreciates her pledge to a smooth transition to the incoming majority, Shipley said.
Zabuni never owns the product, but instead provides the platform for exchange and links buyer and seller.

Were kind of like eBay, Njuguna said.

For farmers, the increase in profit is huge. According to Njuguna, a 132-pound bag of coffee might sell for about $250 in Kenya, with the farmer receiving 20% of the price. Zabuni sells coffee for $500 or more a bag, and 85% of that goes to the farmer.

That can be life-changing, he said.

Njuguna knows the hardships of Kenyan coffee farmers: working tiny non-mechanized farms, usually only a handful of acres; picking, drying, and sorting the fruit of the coffee trees by hand; delivering the harvest to the mill.

Bad Seed Coffee and Supply in Omaha was already serving Kenyan coffee from an importer in California when its owner, Matt McCrary, met Njuguna. When he shared a little about his plan, I got really excited, McCrary said. He was bringing my barista dreams to my doorstep.

The company got plenty of help along the way.
In some cases, as was the case at the Old Cap in 2003, artists do the work on the ground and then the dome is wrapped and carefully lifted to the top of the building, Kramer said.

If its done correctly, you wont have to redo it for 30 to 35 years, Kramer said. If you dont do it correctly, it can fail in as few as two years.

The Conrad Schmitt Studio did not return a message left with an employee Thursday.

The Gilders Studio did the gilding on the Dubuque County Courthouse in 1994, he said, and that work is just now starting to show wear that can be seen from the ground.

The golden dome of the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines was last regilded in 2005 and was still looking sharp enough to not be included in a 2017 restoration project, the Des Moines Register reported.

Weather takes a toll on gilded surfaces, with hail and hurricanes being the worst, Kramer said. Rain and snow dont seem to erode the gold leaf as much. Over time, ultraviolet rays from the sun break down the seal between the sheets of gold leaf, he said.

The Gilders Studio repaired some of the raised corners on the New York Life building in Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Kramer said.
Two California couples gave birth to each others' babies after a mix-up at a fertility clinic and spent months raising children that weren't theirs, according to lawsuit.
Data available from NWS shows 10 inches of rainfall were recorded over five hours in parts near or southeast of Gibson City. That followed 0.5 to 1 inch of precipitation that fell overnight, raising that date's total rainfall figure to 5 to 13 inches for much of southwestern Ford County, NWS said.

Matt Holiner, Lee Enterprises chief meteorologist for the Midwest, said these rainfall amounts are what's typically seen in the Southeast with a land-falling tropical system.

But what happened in Ford County wasn't a tropical system, he continued. There was a high amount of humidity in the atmosphere, Holiner said, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"The trigger here was a very slow-moving cold front that actually became stationary, and that was the lift that was needed to create those showers and thunderstorms," he said, adding those storms stayed relatively in the same place.

"It just kept raining and kept raining because they had all this moisture," he said.

In the past, he said the humidity usually wasn't high enough to keep fueling the storms for as long, further increasing the moisture content of the atmosphere.

"Now there's more humidity in the atmosphere, which a big reason why is because the atmosphere is getting warmer," Holiner said. "A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor."

He added more evaporation occurs with warmer temperatures.

Holiner said these kinds of storms are rarer for Illinois than in other places, but "it's becoming more common." Heavy-rain events are becoming more frequent and more intense nationwide, he said.

The Northeast is seeing the greatest increase in heavy rain events, he said, and the Midwest is second to that region.

Holiner said in Champaign, where the nearest historical climate records are maintained, there were a little over eight wet days per year in 1950, meaning at least an inch of rain fell on those dates.

Now, that's climbed to a little over 10 days per year, Holiner said. He added when looking at the rainfall amounts on the wettest day per year, that figure has increased form 2.5 to 2.8 inches of rain since 1950.

Holiner said it's not a huge increase, but the jump is still there.

"There's certainly a trend not just in the Midwest, but even if you look just in Central Illinois, that trend is there," he said.

The meteorologist added that research slows that systems are slowing down as well.

"These cold fronts, for example, that used to just come sweeping in and sweeping out  they still do  but now you're seeing that in general, we get more of these stationary fronts that are very-slow moving and stall out," he said.

That's somewhat due to the warming of the atmosphere, he said, adding there's so much heat near the equator, but there's not as much cold air north. That means there's not as much energy for these cold fronts to surge through.

"It seems like almost there's a slowing in the atmosphere," he said, "the jet stream just not having as much energy as it used to."

Holiner said that contributes to heavy rain events becoming more likely, because they need to have the lift from cold fronts, along with the moisture.

"Now, that lift is staying in place for a longer amount of time," he said, "we're getting more of these stalled-out fronts."

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the region of the U.S. that's seeing the greatest increase in heavy rain events. This version has been corrected.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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A suburban Chicago businessman was charged in U.S. District Court on Friday in an alleged scheme to pay at least $15,000 in bribes to then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval to secure the purchase of state-owned property near his company in McCook.

Vahooman Mirkhaef, who goes by the nickname Shadow, was charged in a criminal information with one count of bribery conspiracy. An arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 16, but defendants charged via an information, instead of by grand jury indictment, typically intend to plead guilty.

Mirkhaef, 60 could not immediately be reached for comment. His attorney, Sergio Acosta, declined to comment.

The charges marked the latest in a wide-ranging corruption probe that went public when federal agents raided Sandovals Springfield offices in September 2019. Sandoval, who pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme involving a clout-heavy red-light camera company executive, died of complications from COVID-19 in December 2020.

The five-page information filed Friday alleged that Mirkhaef enlisted Sandovals help in 2018 to secure property owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation that was adjacent to his trucking logistics company, Cub Terminal, at 5300 Joliet Rd. in McCook.

At the time, Sandoval was the powerful head of the Senate Transportation Committee and held considerable sway over IDOT.

In June 2018, Sandoval met with officials at IDOT and sought to influence and advise them regarding the sale of McCook property to Mirkhaef, according to the charges. The sale was approved and went through four months later.

The charges stated Mirkhaef, through an unnamed co-conspirator, agreed on two separate occasions to pay Sandoval $25,000 cash for his efforts. That December, Sandoval went to Mirkhaefs office to confirm that the money was still coming, the charged alleged.

Mirkhaef gave Sandoval $15,000 in January 2019, according to the charges. The information does not state whether the rest of the promised money was ever paid.

State election records show Cub Terminal donated $23,500 directly to Sandovals campaign coffers between 2014 and 2019, including a $5,000 contribution just two months before the FBI raid on Sandovals office.

He also donated $4,000 to the failed campaign of Sandovals daughter, Angie, for a seat on the Cook County Board in 2017, records show.

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CHICAGO - Four people are dead, and at least 14 others were wounded, including a 4-year-old boy, in city shootings since late Friday afternoon, Chicago police said.

The latest homicide happened happened shortly before 3:30 a.m. on the Southwest Side in the Little Village neighborhood in the 2600 block of South Keeler Avenue.

Officers found a 31-year-old man lying unresponsive on the ground with gunshot wounds to the head and body. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Shortly before midnight Saturday, a 21-year-old man was fatally wounded in the 5200 block of West Adams Street in the South Austin neighborhood, police said.

The man was outside around 11:50 p.m. Friday when he was shot by an unidentified gunman. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Around 9:50 p.m., a 36-year-old man was fatally wounded during an altercation that spurred from someone blocking him out of his garage, police said.

A vehicle was blocking his garage in the 2600 block of North Mobile Avenue in the Belmont Central neighborhood. The 36-year-old attempted to ask that the vehicle be moved, and someone inside the vehicle exited, and began pushing the 36-year-old, police said.

A physical struggle broke out, and the assailant pulled out a weapon and shot the man before getting back in vehicle and fleeing. The unidentified man suffered one gunshot wound to the back, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he was pronounced dead.

Around 6 p.m. Friday, a 29-year-old man was fatally wounded in the West Englewood neighborhood in the 2100 block of West 71st Street, police said.

He was driving when a car pulled up behind him, and two people exited and fired shots through the rear window, striking him in the back of the head. The man was pronounced dead on the scene.

No one was in custody for any of the homicides, and detectives were investigating, police said.

In non-fatal shootings:

About 5:15 a.m., a 27-year-old woman was shot in the leg in the 2600 block of East 85th Street in the South Chicago neighborhood. Police said the woman was involved in an altercation with three females when a male fired shots, striking the woman. she was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital where her condition was stabilized.

Shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday, a 23-year-old man was outside in the 5500 block of South Sawyer Avenue in the Gage Park neighborhood when he heard shots and felt pain. He was taken with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body to Mount Sinai Hospital where he listed in critical condition, police said.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m., a 34-year-old woman was wounded in a drive-by shooting in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood in the 2600 block of West Le Moyne Street. The woman was standing outside when someone in a silver sedan fired shots, grazing her back. The woman refused to go to the hospital, and was treated on the scene.

Shortly before 11:50 p.m. Friday, a 17-year-old boy was shot while he was standing in front of a store in the 8600 block of South Cottage Grove in the Chatham neighborhood. Police said a person dressed in all black shot the teenage boy who fled into the store for cover. He was shot in the leg and back, and was taken to U of C Medical Center where his condition was stabilized.

Around 11:30 p.m., a 45-year-old man was shot in the 2800 block of West 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood. He was shot by someone traveling in a white Saturn. The man suffered a graze wound to the head, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.

Shortly before 10:45 p.m. Friday, a 37-year-old woman was shot while she was sitting inside a parked car in the 1000 block of West 87th Street in the Gresham neighborhood. She suffered two wounds to the neck, and was taken in serious condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.

Around 10:15 p.m., a 46-year-old woman shot a 42-year-old man who was inside her apartment and threatened her with a knife in the 3000 block of North Kilpatrick Avenue in the Kelvin Park neighborhood. The man reached for her weapon, and during a struggle the woman discharged the weapon, striking her to the right leg. The man was shot in the left leg. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, and she was taken to Stroger Hospital. Both were listed in good condition, police said.

Around 9:50 p.m., a 30-year-old man was shot when he exited a house in the 1200 block of East 72nd Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. The man suffered a wound to the buttocks and two wounds to the torso. He was taken to U of C Medical Center and listed in good condition, police said.

Shortly before 8:50 p.m., two men, 18 and 19, were both shot while standing outside in the 300 block of South Kilbourn Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. The older man was shot in the buttocks, and the younger man suffered a wound to the right arm They were both taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said.

Shortly after 7:45 p.m., a 27-year-old man was shot in the 7800 block of South Ashland Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood. The man was walking outside when he heard shots and felt pain. The man saw someone inside a vehicle shooting at another vehicle before fleeing the scene. He suffered a wound to the right leg and was taken to Provident of Cook County Hospital where he was listed in good condition, police said.

Around 5:45 p.m., a 4-year-old boy was shot in the 8300 block of South Saginaw Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood. Police said the boy suffered wounds to the right thigh and both hands. He was taken to South Shore Hospital and listed in good condition.

Shortly before 5:30 p.m., a 28-year-old man was shot while he was pulling into a parking spot in a residential parking lot in the 9600 block of Calhoun Avenue in the Jeffrey Manor neighborhood. Police said a Chevy pulled up, two people got out and opened fire at his vehicle, striking the man, who was taken in good condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center.

No one was in custody for any of the shootings, and detectives were investigating.

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The morning after Kyle Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, the dead mans fiancee visited the used car lot where he was shot and located the spot where he struggled to take his final breaths.

There was the mark where Joe had been laying, Kariann Swart said. I put my hand in it, and my hand was wet with his blood and thats when, again, I collapsed on the ground.

After a week of frenetic video evidence, prosecutors ended the trials first week with emotional testimony from the families of the two men Rittenhouse killed in August 2020. The defense made headlines when it announced plans to portray the men as rioters, looters and arsonists as part of Rittenhouses self-defense claim, but jurors were sent home Friday with stories from people who loved them.

Rittenhouse  a 17-year-old from north suburban Antioch  crossed state lines and volunteered to patrol downtown Kenosha amid turmoil surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer. Carrying an AR-15-style rifle that police say a friend illegally purchased for him, Rittenhouse fatally shot Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz.

Hubers great-aunt Susan Hughes recalled a close relationship with her nephew, going back in testimony Friday to his childhood when he loved art, music, computers and Star Wars. As an adult, he called her regularly and often stopped by her Kenosha home.

Hughes lent him money when he got into a pinch and helped him practice for his drivers license, which he obtained just a few days before his death.

Even when he was a child we had a special connection, she testified, telling jurors his 26th birthday was two days before he died.

After shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse tripped while trying to flee the scene and fell to the pavement. While Rittenhouse was on the ground, Huber hit him with his skateboard and touched his AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse responded by firing a fatal bullet into his chest.

The defense contends Huber was trying to take Rittenhouses gun, while the prosecution says he risked his life to stop an active shooter.

Hes a hero to the state, assistant district attorney James Kraus said.

Hubers great-aunt told jurors he loved his skateboard and dreamed of building an indoor skate park in Kenosha someday. He brought his board with him everywhere as a child, including a Christmas dinner at her house where he very mistakenly thought he would be allowed to roll around her linoleum floors.

The skateboard, I must confess, was always an annoyance to me, Hughes said, with a sad, ironic laugh.

Hughes began to tell jurors a story about a time when Huber risked his safety to put out a fire at a family gathering, but the defense thwarted the plan by threatening to introduce evidence of Hubers past arrests if the prosecution had someone vouch for his character. Kraus withdrew his question about the family party after the discussion, which took place outside the jurys presence.

Kenosha court records show Huber was twice arrested for domestic violence incidents, including one in 2012 where he threatened his brother with a knife and demanded he help clean the house. The judge has barred the defense from mentioning Hubers criminal record, which includes a felony conviction for the incident with his brother, unless the prosecution somehow opens the door to the topic.

Likewise, the judge issued a pretrial ruling preventing Rittenhouses team from telling jurors Rosenbaum was a convicted child sex offender who had been released from a psychiatric facility on the day of the shooting. Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled it would be too prejudicial for the jury to hear.

There is a lot in Joes past that wasnt great. But that wasnt him, Swart told the Tribune after her testimony. That wasnt his heart.

The defense, however, is allowed to present evidence, if it exists, of the three men engaging in violence that night. Though no witnesses have linked Huber or Grosskreutz to violent acts before the shooting, several have portrayed Rosenbaum as behaving erratically, lighting a dumpster on fire and swinging a chain at various points.

One of Rittenhouses fellow self-appointed armed security told the jury Rosenbaum was hyper-aggressive, while another said he was a babbling idiot with whom nobody at the protest wanted to be associated.

Swart, however, described him as someone who made her laugh, even in tough times. The two were both homeless at the start of their relationship and lived in a tent in southeast Wisconsin, she said.

On the day of the shooting, Rosenbaum, who took medication for bipolar disorder, stopped by the motel where Swart was staying to see her. They talked for a while, but she told him he couldnt stay. The jury wasnt given a reason for why Rosenbaum had to leave because the judge has barred evidence that Rosenbaum was under an order of protection preventing him from contacting his fiancee.

Swart said they parted amicably, with Rosenbaum happy about the possibility of a future together.

It was really good, she said. We were talking about things we were going to work on in the relationship. He was extremely excited to work on himself, work on some of the things he needed to work on. When he left, he said he would see me in the morning.

Several hours later, she received a phone call from the medical examiners office informing her of Rosenbaums death. She looked online and saw a video of him bleeding and struggling to breathe after being shot.

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SPRINGFIELD  A three-judge federal court panel on Friday set the week of Dec. 6 as the time it will hear three consolidated cases challenging the new legislative district maps that were drawn by Democrats and signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year.

During a status conference held by teleconference Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr., who presides over the panel, said that while not all of the logistics have been worked out, the hearing will most likely be held in-person in the ceremonial courtroom of the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.

State lawmakers approved the new maps during a special session in August following the delayed release of detailed 2020 U.S Census data. Pritzker signed them into law Sept. 24.

The maps establish the boundaries for all 118 districts in the Illinois House and 59 districts in the state Senate. But three groups of plaintiffs are suing in federal court arguing that the redistricting plan violates both the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Each of the lawsuits claims that the new maps break up concentrated areas of minority voters who tend to vote as a bloc, thus depriving them of their right to elect candidates of their choice.

One lawsuit, filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, focuses exclusively on largely Latino areas of Chicago and its southwest suburbs.

Another, filed by the East St. Louis Branch of the NAACP and other civil rights groups, argues that the new maps in East St. Louis and the Metro East region unfairly breaks up the Black voting population in Democratic Rep. LaToya Greenwoods district in order to protect white Democratic incumbents in neighboring districts.

The other lawsuit, filed by Republican leaders of the General Assembly, Sen. Dan McConchie and Rep. Jim Durkin, along with their respective GOP caucuses, argues many of the same points as the other two cases.

All three lawsuits name the Illinois State Board of Elections, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch as defendants.

Dow indicated that the case is being put on an expedited schedule in order to accommodate the 2022 election cycle. Under the current schedule, candidates can begin circulating nominating petitions on Jan. 13 and those petitions must be submitted to the State Board of Elections the week of March 7-14. In order to do that, though, candidates need to know what district they will be running in.

During Fridays status conference, all of the plaintiffs agreed to submit their proposed remedies to the court by Wednesday, Nov. 10. That gives the defendants until Monday, Nov. 22, to file their response.

Sean Berkowitz, an attorney representing Harmon and Welch, said he does not intend to submit a new plan but instead will defend the maps passed by the General Assembly. An attorney for the State Board of Elections said she did not plan to submit any filings and would just passively monitor the proceedings.

Attorneys for each of the plaintiffs said they do not plan to redraw all 177 House and Senate districts but will focus only on the areas of the state they are contesting.

That would be the Metro East region for the NAACP, portions of Cook County for MALDEF, and both the Metro East and Chicago areas for the Republican plaintiffs.

In addition to Dow, the other two judges hearing the case are U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio, chief judge of the Northern District of Indiana, and Judge Michael B. Brennan of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Dethroned Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan received some good news Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a long-shot appeal in a federal court case involving the question of whether Madigan put up sham candidates to help him win the 2016 Democratic primary for the Southwest Side Illinois House seat he had held for decades.

Madigan challenger Jason Gonzales sought up to $2 million in damages in a federal lawsuit contending the speaker and his Democratic organization backed two candidates with Hispanic names in the primary to dilute the opposition vote and give the Democratic leader a clearer path to victory. A U.S. District Court judge had dismissed the case.

Madigan won the primary with 65% of the vote.

INTERACTIVE: See how Illinois' congressional, state legislative districts have changed SPRINGFIELD  Utilizing their legislative supermajorities and control of the governor's mansion, Illinois Democrats this year approved state l

The high court declining to review the appeal bid ended a yearslong fight that shined a bright light on the inner workings of Madigans political organization through dozens of depositions, including the only one the speaker said he had ever given.

Were extremely disappointed, said Tony Peraica, Gonzales attorney and a former Republican member of the Cook County Board.

Peraica noted the high court often has been loathe to take up political cases, but he said he had hoped the conservative-leaning court would have made an exception this time.

A spokeswoman said Madigan had no comment on Fridays decision.

Madigan failed to hold onto the speakership in January when a faction of his own House Democrats refused to grant him another term at the helm despite his nationwide record of 36 years in charge of a state legislative body.

During his last year as speaker, Madigan had been implicated as part of the sweeping ComEd bribes-for-favors scandal in which the company paid a $200 million federal fine. He has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing.

In the lawsuit, Gonzales had argued lower courts incorrectly tossed the case on grounds that voters knew about the alleged sham candidates because he raised the issue repeatedly during the campaign, effectively giving voters a chance to evaluate the matter when filling out their ballots.

Gonzales had maintained such logic put a chilling effect on future campaign speech. He did not seek to overturn the election but argued damages should be awarded because of Madigans alleged deception on the face of the ballot.

In his deposition, Madigan denied that he directed anyone who worked for him or was associated with him to recruit candidates to run against Gonzales.

But even while initially dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly called it undisputed that some members of Madigans political organization worked to put the two alleged shams  Grasiela Rodriguez and Joe Barboza  on the ballot.

Kennelly also wrote the evidence supports a reasonable inference that Madigan authorized or at least was aware of the recruitment effort.

But Kennelly explained that Gonzales made Madigans deceptive tactics a central issue in his campaign and news outlets publicized the allegations. Such publicity placed the alleged misconduct squarely within the political realm, enabling voters to rebuke Madigan by electing his challenger, Kennelly wrote.

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WASHINGTON  The world is changing faster than our sluggish political leaders  let alone the public  can manage.

The COVID-19 virus and climate change move far more quickly than the international community, as we saw at the G-20 in Rome and the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Back home, rapid social shifts push many Americans to embrace fraudsters who promise to save them. The urgent need to upgrade our fraying democracy is blocked by GOP naysayers and Democratic Party infighting.

Above it all, science is advancing at warp speed while we humans progress at sludge speed, too oblivious to recognize that the changes from which we now recoil will be dwarfed by those of the next five or 10 years.

That reality was highlighted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington.

The general spoke of the uniqueness of the Chinese challenge, fueled by Beijings drive to surpass the United States in cyber capabilities and space. His real message was the need to recognize the urgency of this moment.

We are witnessing one of the largest shifts in geopolitical power that the world has witnessed, the general said. He was referring to China, of course, which in the last four decades has surged from a peasant economy and peasant army to the second-largest global economy with sophisticated capabilities in space and cybersecurity  on land, sea, air and underwater.

The general stressed, however, that these changes happened within a fundamental change in the character of war spurred by vast technological changes. The last big [shift, between World War I and World War II] was the introduction of the airplane, mechanization, and the radio. Today, youre seeing robotics, artificial intelligence  and a wide variety of other technologies.

If we, the United States military, dont do a fundamental change ourselves in the coming 10 to 20 years, were going to be on the wrong side of a conflict.

What the general was speaking about involves more than imprecise talk of a new Cold War between two unequal superpowers. The Soviet Union was a self-isolating country with lousy geography and a failing economy, whose power rested on a large arsenal of nuclear weapons and its energy supplies.

The new tripolar war, as the general labeled it, involves competition between the United States and a Chinese economic giant in hot pursuit of technological supremacy with America, trailed by a Russian economic midget still defined by oil, gas and nukes.

Again, rapid advances in science are the key to defining the new era we live in. Adding in all the technologies that are coming at us very quickly, the general said, were entering into a world that is potentially much more strategically unstable than the last 40 to 70 years.

Space and cyber capabilities are the big new worry. As Milley pointed out, our economy, country and military are entirely dependent on space and the satellites that provide local and global connectivity.

We are growing familiar with the mayhem cyber hackers  both governmental and criminal, or working in tandem  can wreak on our systems, from banks to energy supplies to hospitals.

And we think we know about space wars, because we have been watching them for years in the movies. But a real space war, that knocked out military and commercial satellites (which run our daily life), would be nothing like competing with Darth Vader.

Space today is a new domain of more conflict, the general said. We dont want to have conflict in space. I would say that we are the No. 1 country on Earth that has capabilities in space, but other countries are close behind. Space is becoming a very contested domain for the United States to operate in, and a lot of work remains to be done.

Yet the progress in doing that work that needs to be done  in the political, military, health and environmental spheres  doesnt remotely compute with the rapidity that is demanded.

Yet, our political system seems incapable of upping its game. GOP leaders deny science and decry immigration while focusing on the "big lie"  even though Tuesdays elections show that it isnt fatal for the GOP to distance itself from Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden and his team grasp the need for speed but are thwarted in its application.

That is a different world from cyberspace, the general pointed out. The new world, and China, wont wait around for us to speed up our response.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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100 years ago

Nov. 6, 1921: The city health department reported 41 diphtheria cases in Bloomington during October. About half were found by the departments three nurses making house calls and taking throat cultures from children. Diphtheria can be deadly but no cases were identified as serious.

75 years ago

Nov. 6, 1946: Last nights election results look like this. The Republicans regained control of Congress, ending a 15-year Democratic hold on that body. The GOP also swept all countywide offices here and in Cook County, and regained control of the Illinois General Assembly.

50 years ago

Nov, 6, 1971: With its first tenant moved in and the last of the heavy work done, the Wood Hill Housing Complex is ready for dedication. It has been scheduled for this Sunday, along with an open house. Wood Hill consists of two 13-story towers and 15 two-story apartment buildings.

25 years ago

Nov. 6, 1996: President Bill Clinton was elected to a second term by a landslide margin. He becomes the first Democrat to win a second term in 60 years. But locally, Democrats fared poorly. McLean County offices went to Republicans; many of them had no opposition.

Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Rt Rev. Prof. J.O.Y Mante, has reiterated the resolve of the church against homosexuality as it is satanic and abomination to mankind.



He, therefore, urged members of the PCG to spearhead the national crusade against same sex marriage, stressing that the practice was demonic and counter-productive.



Rt Rev. Prof. Mante made the call on the sidelines of the induction service in honour of Rev. Raymond Baah Abekah, as the sixth chairperson of the West Akyem Presbytery of the PCG at Akyem Oda last Sunday.



He stressed that the PCG would do everything possible to ensure that Parliament did not accent to the legalisation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) activities in the country.



Sermon



Delivering his sermon at the well-attended ceremony, the moderator enjoined Christians to commit their lifestyles to their creator by allowing their actions to reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ.



He urged them to mount prayer nights in all their undertakings in order not to fall prey to the devil whose stock in trade was to destroy men of God.



Rt Rev. Prof. Mante admonished the congregation to offer Rev. Abekah their maximum support to ensure the success of his administration.



No discrimination



He urged the new Presbytery Chairperson not to discriminate against members of his congregations or society at large for them to give him the support he needed in his ministerial work.



He admonished him to allow the rich experience he had gained over the years to reflect on the 126 congregations under his jurisdiction.



The Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCG, Rev. Dr. Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor, called for co-existence and mutual cooperation between Rev. Abekah and his congregations to ensure the rapid growth of the church.



Environmental cleanliness



In a brief speech, Rev. Abekah expressed his gratitude to the successive moderators, the General Assembly of the PCG and the Oda Emmanuel Presbyterian Church for his selection as the Presbytery Chairperson and promised to prove equal to the task.



He stated that he would strive to build upon the good work the previous five chairpersons had done to raise the image of the presbytery.



I wont let the church down, especially when it has launched a 10-year development plan, adding I shall do well to raise the presbyterys growth rate from the current 7.7 to 10 per cent, Rev. Abekah emphasised.



He gave the assurance that environmental cleanliness would be part of his priorities and called on the entire congregations to give him their practical support to achieve that laudable objective.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpraeso in the Eastern Region, Davis Opoku Ansah, has announced GHS25,000 motivation package for the top 50 BECE candidates in the constituency.



According to him, this is to boost the morale of the students during the examinations.



He made this known on Thursday, November 4, 2021, when he visited some of the schools within his constituency.



As the Member of Parliament for your constituency, I have prepared a GHS25,000 motivation package for the top 50 candidates from the examinations. This is to motivate you all to give off your best, he said.



Mr. Opoku Ansah also charged the students not to be afraid but apply all that their teaches have taught in class in the exams.



According to him, that is the sure way of passing the examinations.

The Ranking Member of Parliaments Public Accounts Committee also indicated to the candidates that he came to encourage to do well.



So we came just to encourage you to do well in your Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Somewhere this year, I sponsored the mock examinations where you took part which also to prepare for you this exam.



Please be confident of yourselves and apply whatever your teacher have taught and come out with flying colors.



Mr. Davis Opoku Ansah further told the candidates that he wants the constituency to top the Eastern Regions BECE rankings for the year.



Im praying that the good Lord gives you the spirit of remembrance because I want us to top the whole region in terms of ranking.



He also donated examinations materials to the students to assist them.



The 2021 BECE examination is scheduled to begin on Monday, 15 November 2021, and will end on Friday, November 19, 2021.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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At least 91 people have died after a massive explosion when a fuel tanker collided with a lorry in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.



Fuel spilled before igniting and the resulting inferno engulfed bystanders and vehicles at a busy junction.



Footage broadcast by local media outlets showed badly charred bodies in the streets surrounding the tanker.



President Julius Maada Bio said he was "deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life".



In a tweet, he said his government would do "everything to support the affected families".



Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr described seeing "harrowing" photos and said there were "rumours that more than 100 people have lost their lives".



The state-run morgue is reported to have received more than 90 bodies and some 100 people are being treated in hospitals and health centres around Freetown.



The explosion is believed to have happened at a junction outside the busy Choithram Supermarket in the densely populated Wellington suburb in the east of the city at around 22:00 GMT on Friday.



One report said a bus full of people was completely burnt, while nearby shops and market stalls were caught up in the flames.



Brima Bureh Sesay, the head of the Sierre Leone's National Disaster Management Agency, told local media he had never seen anything like it.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on the family of the late Upper East Regional Imam, Alhaji Yusif Adam, to commiserates with them, following the passing of the Imam on Thursday.



The Vice President, also commiserated with the Muslim community in Bolga, and the Upper East Region in general for the loss of the Regional Imam.



Muslim community leaders in Bolga, including tribal chiefs, joined the family of the Imam to welcome Dr. Bawumia and his entourage.



The Vice President's delegation included the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery, Upper East Regional Minister Stephen Yakubu, MCE for Bolga Rex Asanga, among others.



As part of the visit, Dr. Bawumia's delegation joined the family and Imams to pray for the departed Imam.



The Deputy Regional Imam, Mallam Tahiru Bolga, on behalf of the family and Muslim community, expressed gratitude to the Vice President for his warm gesture to the family and the Upper East Muslim community during their time of mourning.



The funeral for the Imam has been slated for the 12th of December, 2021.

Source: Atiemo Emmanuel/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Ethiopia's military has called on former soldiers to re-join the army, as it battles to hold off a rebel advance.



The appeal comes as rebel forces - spearheaded by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - make advances towards the capital, Addis Ababa.



The US embassy has told all US citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible amid a "very fluid" security situation.



Hours earlier, nine anti-government groups forged an alliance to dismantle PM Abiy Ahmed's administration.



The government has said it will continue to fight what it calls an existential war. The conflict has entered its second year, with millions displaced and more than 400,000 on the brink of famine.



This week, government officials declared a state of emergency and called on residents to register their weapons, telling them to get ready to protect their neighbourhoods.



In a rare statement on the clashes, the UN Security Council called for an end to fighting and reiterated their support for the African Union's mediation efforts.



Ethiopia's international partners have also called for an end to the hostilities.



UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss urged both sides to agree on a ceasefire in a call with Ethiopia's deputy prime minister on Friday.



"I made clear there is no military solution and that negotiations are needed to avoid bloodshed and deliver lasting peace," she said.



On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a ceasefire, saying the conflict "must come to an end". The US special envoy, Jeffrey Feltman, is visiting Addis Ababa to press for a peaceful solution.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has charged the newly constituted Governing Board of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to do all within its mandate to protect the interests of the Ghanaian utility consumer.



The PURC, according to the President, appears to be efficient when it comes to the review of utility prices but have neglected the function of protecting the interests of the ordinary Ghanaian when it comes to the kind of service delivered to them by utility providers.



In his remarks after administering the oath of office and the oath of secrecy to the board, President Akufo-Addo said the upward review of utility tariffs which is often perceived as the only function of the PURC Board must change.



The chairman and members of the PURC board taking the oaths of office and secrecy at the Jubilee House

It would appear that the other functions, primarily, to do with the protection interest of the consumer and the delivery of quality services by the utility providers have been largely overlooked by the PURC. This perception can no longer be allowed to fester. It must change, President Akufo-Addo demanded.



As the newly constituted Board and in accordance with Act 538, the Ghanaian people demand that you protect their interest. In consonance with section 13 of the Act, I urge you to ensure that where a public utility provider fails to meet any required standard of performance, it is appropriately and duly sanctioned, the President further said.



Independence of the Body



President Akufo-Addo assured the Board that in accordance with the dictates of the Act that established it, there will be no interference by government as it goes about its duties.



He however urged the Board to make endeavour to consult widely, with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that they get the necessary support in the discharge of their statutory obligations.



As members of the Board, I need not remind you that you are not subject to the direction and control of any person or authority in the performance of your function.



At the same time, the statutory composition of the Board demonstrates amply the necessity of thorough stakeholder consultation in the successful fulfilment of the commissions mandate, President Akufo-Addo said.



Pledge of the Board Chair



In his response, Chairman of the Board, Ebo B. Quagrainie, noted that during their tenure, they (Board members) want to engage in discussions on the tariffs structure for electricity and water with all stakeholders. He further noted that it was his hope that the President will support them in championing gas price reduction in order to bring down utility tariffs in the country.



We will also boost our engagement with stakeholders, keeping in mind that the tariff regime would have to have a cost recovery as the underlining theme to promote efficiency and growth in the energy sector. The commission will also ensure that our monitoring and compliance areas of the utilities are monitored closely to ensure high operational efficiency, the PURC Board Chair, Mr. Quagrainie said.



Members of the PURC Board



The Governing Board of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is chaired by Mr. Ebo B. Quagrainie, a nominee of the President.



The nine-member body also includes the Executive Secretary of PURC, Mrs. Mami Dufie Ofori; Dr. Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, representative of the Trade Union Congress; Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi, representative of the Association of Ghana Industries and Mr. Patrick Nyarko, representing the Consumer Protection Agency.



The rest are Professor Joe Amoako- Tuffour, Mr. Ishmael Edjekumhene, Dr. Nii Darko Kobina Asante, and Mrs. Dora Oppong, all of whom are nominees of the President.



President Akufo-Addo in a group picture with the governing board of the PURC after the ceremony

The PURC



The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) was established in October 1997 under the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, 1997 (Act 538) as a multi-sector regulator to regulate the provision of electricity and water utility services.



The establishment of the Commission was part of the Government of Ghanas utility sector reform process. By virtue of the Energy Commission Act, 1997 (Act 541) PURC also regulates transportation of natural gas services.



Under Section 4 of Act 538, PURC is an independent body and is not subject to the control of any authority in the performance of its functions.



The Commission however submits annual operational and financial reports to Parliament. The Office of the President also exercises some administrative oversight for the Commission.



The PURC has as its vision to be a model utility regulatory institution in Africa by building a credible and sustainable utility regulatory regime that protects stakeholders interests.



Functions of PURC



The PURCs key tasks are to provide guidelines for rates to be charged for the provision of utility services, examine and approve utility rates, protect the interests of consumers and providers of utility services.



The PURC also monitors and enforce standards of performance for provision of utility services; promote fair competition among public utilities providers; receive, investigate and settle complaints relating to utility services, and advise any person or authority in respect of any public utility.



Regulated Companies



Entities directly regulated by the PURC are the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), the Ghana National Gas Company Ltd. (GNGC), the Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd. (ECG), Northern Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. (NEDCo), Enclave Power Company Ltd. and Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL).



The PURC regulates other public utilities in generation by approving the Bulk Generation Tariffs (BGT) payable to them by distribution companies, reviewing the reasonableness of pricing under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and monitoring their quality of service.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Two death row inmates in Japan are suing the government for psychological damage over a system issuing last-minute notice to prisoners of their execution.



The two inmates argue the current system is illegal and are calling for prisoners to receive notice in advance.



The suit filed before the Osaka district court Thursday also seeks compensation of 22 million yen ($193,000) for the distress caused by living with uncertainty about their execution date, according to their lawyer.



'This tramples on human dignity,' Yutaka Ueda told AFP.



Death row inmates are usually informed just one to two hours prior to their execution and do not have time to see their lawyer or file a complaint, he explained.



He said 'They live in fear, thinking every morning "Maybe today is the day" when they hear the sound of guards' shoes.'



Documents and news archives show that Japan used to give death row inmates more notice, but stopped around 1975.



Japan, where over 100 inmates are awaiting execution, is one of the few developed nations that still have the death penalty.



Executions are usually implemented long after sentencing, always by hanging. For decades, authorities have always told death row, inmates, just hours before an execution is carried out.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values has pledged social and counselling support for people who need help to stop homosexual activities in Ghana.



The Executive Secretary of the Coalition, Moses Foh-Amoaning, disclosed this on Nhyira FM Friday.



According to him, claims by some people that Ghana could be blacklisted by the western world if the bill to criminalise homosexual activities is passed are only strategies to achieve their objectives.



Ghanaians should prefer being blacklisted by demons and devils than being blacklisted by God but I will caution the youth especially to be wary of these campaigners, he said.



The private members bill dubbed: The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 seeks to criminalise the activities of homosexuals in the country.



Ahead of its consideration in parliament, there have been widespread pronouncements on the passage.



Some faith-based organisations have warned of dire consequences, amidst threats to vote out any political party that will oppose the bill.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former Head of Monitoring at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu says the Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu should present himself to the Police.



Francis-Xavier Sosu has snubbed Police invite for interrogation after a protest at Madina escalated from peaceful to riotous.



The demonstrators burned tyres and blocked roads with the MP also speeding off his vehicle through a crowd and Police officers present during the protest.



The Police have requested the Speaker to release Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu but it has been rejected as the Speaker cited Articles 117 and 118 which gives Parliamentarians immunity.



Making his submissions on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Charles Owusu advised the MP to stop dodging the Police.



''As a leader, why are you running away? Someone leading his constituency, if the Police are searching for you, go and let them do what they want to do . . . He should be bold and go. Because where can he run to?'' he questioned.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former Manhyia North Member of Parliament, Collins Owusu Amankwa, has cautioned Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu against evading Police summon for interrogation over a violent protest at Madina.



A video has surfaced showing the MP planning how the protest would be conducted, he could be heard inciting some residents in his constituency to burn tyres and block roads when they embark on the protest which indeed the demonstrators did obey.



Before the video went viral, the MP had been invited by the Police for some unlawful incidents that took place during the protest but he declined the Police invite.



The Police has since pursued the MP to arrest him; they have secured a criminal summons to compel him to assist in their investigations.



Discussing the matter on Peace FM's flagship programme ''Kokrokoo'', Collins Owusu Amankwa advised Francis-Xavier Sosu to psyche himself up for jail.



According to him, the MP is making his case worse by avoiding the Police stressing although Parliamentarians have the privilege of immunity, their immunity isn't absolute.



He also stated that Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu's misconduct is an indictment on his constituents.



"He is abusing the immunity and privileges he has," he said.



"I have a notion that he should keep it in mind that he may be jailed" for his behaviour, Collins Owusu Amakwah told host Kwami Sefa Kayi, adding that the Madina MP has disgraced parliament.



Watch the video below.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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" " Geophagic earth collected from a rain forest on Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Both humans and animals seek out this earth to eat. Sera Lewise Young

In gas stations and flea markets all around the southeastern United States, you can find a cardboard box full of blocks of white clay. They're unmarked, but the people looking for them know what they're for. In Kenya, you can buy reddish dirt on the street, formed into little pellets that look like baby carrots. In Uganda, you can buy "Yankee Doodle" brand dirt at the grocery store. A website called Earth's Clay Store sells clays from all over the world and ships them right to your home. But what are you supposed to do with it when it gets to you?

Well, you eat it.

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Pica

You might have a vague sense that you've heard of people eating dirt before  pregnant women, maybe? Pica is the overarching term for craving and eating things that aren't food. In the 6th century, a physician named Aetius of Amida noticed people sticking non-food items in their mouths, the way magpies (pica, in Latin) pick up random objects in their beaks. He figured these people had entirely indiscriminate appetites for just any old thing and termed the behavior after the magpie.

It turns out, pica is kind of a misnomer, because pica cravings are actually very specific, but according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it includes a range of behaviors. Some people crave paperclips, batteries or coins  these cravings are considered by the DSM to be on the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, clear mental illnesses  but pica can also include cravings for raw starch (amylophagy), ice (pagophagy) and dirt (geophagy).

" " Geophagic earth is collected from the wild, sold in open-air markets and even in grocery stores throughout East Africa. Sera Lewise Young

Geophagy is one form of pica found in almost every country in the world.

"I was surprised when I first saw it," says Sera Young, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University. "I was studying pregnant women ethnography in Zanzibar, and I asked a woman what she ate when she's pregnant, and in Swahili she said, 'Every day I take earth from this wall and eat it.' I was just learning Swahili and was pretty good at it, but I really didn't think I was understanding correctly. My research assistant was like, 'Yeah, you heard right!'"

Young ended up writing her Ph.D. dissertation on geophagy, and winning the Margaret Mead Award in 2013 for her book "Craving Earth" which detailed her research about geophagy practices worldwide. In her research, Young tracked down medical literature; historical texts; research on animal behavior, soil science and parasitology, and came to the conclusion that there are four explanations as to why people eat dirt.

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1. It's Aberrant Behavior

The most common and longest-running conventional wisdom about geophagy is that there is no good reason for it  it's a pathology, it's aberrant behavior of some unknown origin.

"It's the 'women, they know not what they do' explanation," says Young. "It was basically white men writing about this for the past few hundred years, and it was dismissed as aberrant. It's true, it is often women, and most often pregnant women who especially don't know what they're doing. And it's most common around the equator, in the tropics, so of course brown people definitely don't know what they're doing. We can refute this  there are so many species of animals that go to great risk to get clay and charcoal, like the colobus monkey that steals charcoal from villagers."

But even so, we know very little about geophagy because for centuries scientists were stubbornly lacking curiosity about it.

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2. Dirt Is Mother Nature's Multivitamin

The first explanation scientists have come up with to explain why hundreds of thousands of people worldwide crave and eat dirt is that there must be something useful in the clay  micronutrients of some kind.

"The Mother Nature's multivitamin explanation is a really intuitive one," says Young.

But no dice. For starters, although the clay her study participants in Zanzibar were eating was tinged with red, indicating iron content, investigations into whether that iron could be absorbed and used by the body came up empty. Plus, according to Young, people generally prefer whiter clay: If you gave a geophagist the option of snacking on Georgia white kaolin or the reddish clay found on Zanzibar, they'll almost always pick the white kaolin, which does not contain iron.

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3. Dirt Provides Protection from Germs

The explanation that eating dirt is somehow protective doesn't make much intuitive sense  after all, we're supposed to stay away from dirt, wash our hands, clean our clothes, take off our shoes when we enter the house. If you'll recall from the last time you read the Bible, even the snake had to eat the dust as punishment for talking Eve into eating the forbidden apple.

But clay face masks suck the impurities from your skin, and they're made of dirt, right? According to Young, eating clay might coat the inside of the gut, in much the same way a mud mask coats the face. But why would somebody need an intestine mud mask? The answer is, protection from pathogens and harmful chemicals.

Most toxins enter your body in the things you eat. You digest the food and it's absorbed through the wall of your intestine and into your bloodstream  lots of pathogens and chemicals get to us in this way, too. Clays can bind to the mucin (mucus) layer inside your gut, forming a barrier.

"In rabbits, clay has been shown to stimulate the production of mucin, creating a barrier to potential harmful pathogens or chemicals getting into your bloodstream," says Young. "It can also bind with whatever harmful thing you're eating. For example, in the Andes, people eat wild potatoes which contain these toxic chemicals called glycoalkaloids. But after they dip the potatoes in clay, they become safe to eat."

But while eating clay might protect from pathogens and harmful chemicals, which is especially important for pregnant women, there's something of a Goldilocks Principle at play here: you want to shield yourself from the harmful stuff, but you also don't want to protect yourself from the nutrients you need. For example, if you eat a steak that's full of both bioavailable iron and pathogens, but you eat clay at the same time, the iron will become bound by the clay, and won't be absorbed by your gut. Although the clay might be protecting you from pathogens to some extent, it's also preventing you from absorbing the nutrients.

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4. Dirt Makes Your Tummy Feel Better

The third explanation for why people eat dirt or clay is that it might help with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea by coating the stomach. After all, a number of anti-diarrheal treatments have kaolin in them. Kaolin puts the puts the Kao- in Kaopectate!

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How Cravings Start

Though the reasons for geophagy are still rather mysterious, the question remains: How do people find out they have a craving for dirt in the first place?

"There are instances of people having these cravings de novo  without having tried it before," says Young. "But the fact is, if you grow up seeing your mom sending your dad to go get this exact dirt, or see your aunties are eating dirt, you see it in the stores for sale, you're much more likely to engage in it."

But Young also stresses that geophagy is far more common than we realize  although it's perceived as an exotic behavior that happens in far-away places, people are eating clay all the time in the U.S.

"People don't like to talk about it or admit it. When I'm doing ethnographic interviews, I always ask 'how much earth do you eat?' instead of 'do you eat earth?', because so many people have sworn they don't eat it, and later tell me they do but they lied because 'I didn't want you to think I was poor.'"

Now That's Interesting The documentary Eat White Dirt investigates geophagy in the state of Georgia.

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Originally Published: Apr 19, 2019
" " Elvis Brooks, 62, was exonerated with help from the Innocence Project New Orleans after being wrongfully incarcerated for nearly 40 years for a murder and armed robbery he didn't commit. William Widmer for The Washington Post via Getty Images

In the United States, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. This is one of the guiding legal principles of the U.S. criminal justice system. The flip side of the presumption of innocence is that once a person is found guilty by a jury, the burden of proof to overturn that conviction falls completely on them  and it is extremely difficult. It's so difficult that even if an attorney discovers overwhelming exculpatory evidence, that still might not be enough to garner their release.

That means, for a wrongfully convicted person, the uphill legal battle toward exoneration might prove impossible. Netflix series like "Making a Murderer" or podcasts like "Serial" demonstrate just how difficult it can be to even get a new trial. That's where the work and legal expertise of organizations like the Innocence Project become so important. These organizations are dedicated to providing free legal services to innocent people behind bars so they have a fighting chance of gaining their freedom.

In 1992, the Innocence Project was founded in New York City to exonerate the wrongfully convicted through DNA testing, and the nonprofit organization works to reform the criminal justice system, according to its website. By 2004, more organizations formed and began meeting at an annual conference. The association shifted to a "loosely affiliated network" with 15 initial members and an executive board the following year. Today, the Innocence Network includes 67 member organizations around the world  55 of which are located in the United States, mostly housed in law schools.

The organizations provide pro bono (free) legal services to people who have been convicted of crimes and are seeking to prove their innocence. Additionally, these organizations work to "redress the causes of wrongful convictions" and make improvements to the way the criminal justice system functions.

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DNA Evidence and Already Convicted Defendants

You might think that if new DNA evidence is found in a case, even after a person is convicted, it's automatically tested to be sure the right person is behind bars. But that's not the case at all. When someone who is already convicted of a crime wants to have new DNA tested, they must request permission from the prosecutor, explains Keith Findley, associate professor, University of Wisconsin Law School and former co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.

If the prosecutor won't agree, the defendant must file a motion to have it tested, and in that case, it must fit certain requirements of the state's statute. That means questions like "would favorable DNA results create a reasonable probability that the defendant would not have been convicted at their original trial?" must be answered.

However, because the defendant is already convicted and in prison, they no longer have the right to a court-appointed attorney. So any incarcerated person trying to prove their innocence must pay for an attorney to file that motion or get help from an organization like the Innocence Project.

If and when DNA gets tested, it doesn't always immediately exonerate the innocent even if it's in their favor. Obtaining exoneration is a lengthy two-step process, according to Vanessa Potkin, director post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project.

First, the original conviction must be vacated if DNA or other evidence comes back in favor of the defendant. That means the judge sets aside the original guilty verdict. Then the defendant returns to pre-trial status, so it's as if they had never been tried and the original accusation remains.

For the wrongfully accused to be completely exonerated, either the district attorney or the court has to dismiss that indictment altogether. Usually, that is the result when there is new evidence of their innocence.

"In rare occasions, clients are brought to another trial and officially vindicated by a jury who acquits them," Potkin says. This is what happened in the case of Anthony Wright, who was re-tried after DNA testing in 2013 excluded him and implicated someone else for the 1991 rape and murder he was convicted for in 1993. A new 11-day trial in 2016 found Wright "not guilty" on all changes; the jury deliberated for less than an hour.

It took three years between Wright's DNA results and the new trial, which seems like a long time to wait, but it is not extensive in these types of cases. An average wrongful conviction case takes about seven years, according to Potkin.

"It's relatively easy to be wrongfully convicted and extraordinarily difficult to be exonerated from a wrongful conviction," she says.

" " (From left) Anthony Wright, actor Ryan Phillippe and Innocence Project attorney Nina Morrison attend a benefit for the Innocence Project in New York City. Wright was wrongfully convicted in 1993 of rape and murder. Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images

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Making a Deal With the Devil

Other wrongfully convicted don't have time to wait for a new trial. Take the case of Elvis Brooks. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison in 1977 when he was just a teenager for murder and armed robbery of a bar in New Orleans. The conviction was based only on the eyewitness testimony of three white strangers who had been inside.

But there was other evidence: fingerprints left on two beer cans on the bar by the real perpetrators. This evidence was suppressed by the prosecutors who convicted him; it was never provided to Brooks or his attorneys.

When the Innocence Project New Orleans learned of the fingerprint evidence, they filed an application for post-conviction relief in January 2019 alleging Brady violations, which means the government failed to disclose evidence favorable to the accused. The state objected, but the Orleans Parish district attorney's office gave Brooks two choices: Plead guilty to the lesser offenses of manslaughter and three counts of armed robbery and be immediately freed, or remain in prison awaiting a new trial that could take years. Brooks, who was 62 at the time, chose the plea and was released.

Many of the exonerated accept these "deals with the devil" just to be freed, but in exchange they can never receive compensation from the state or file civil suits for wrongful convictions. Some plea deals also protect the prosecutors from disciplinary action, according to The Washington Post. And in the eyes of the law, Brooks is still guilty of crimes he adamantly denies committing.

"Elvis Brooks was wrongfully convicted and it is wonderful that he is being reunited with his family after 42 years," Charell Arnold, one of Brooks' attorneys at Innocence Project New Orleans, said in a statement. "Mr. Brooks never sought a plea agreement. It is deeply unfair that an innocent man would be forced to choose between entering a plea to secure his immediate freedom and waiting years more in prison to prove his innocence through litigation. This situation is particularly unfair given that the State has known about the new evidence presented in this case since 1977."

Both Brooks and Wright have told the lawyers at the Innocence Projects that worked with them that they are the fortunate ones. "People have been so kind and so warm toward me  so gracious toward me. I'm grateful to all those people. ... Even on the street, wherever I go, people hug me or they want to shake my hand," Wright told the Innocence Project. "It's so humbling to me because I'm no different from anybody else. When I tell people that I'm the luckiest guy in the world, they look at me like, 'Yeah, right,' and they laugh. But people don't have an idea, man. I am the luckiest man in the world, and not just for one reason, but for a whole lot of reasons."

And unlike Brooks, who can't seek compensation for his wrongful incarceration, some exonerees can receive financial reimbursement and services to help them adjust to a life of freedom. Whether they are entitled to a financial award and how much varies by state. But what none of them can ever get back are the years of missing out on their lives and those of family and friends.

Now That's Sad As of January 2020, the Innocence Project has documented more than 365 DNA exonerations in the United States alone  21 were on death row. Nearly all  97 percent  were wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and/or murder and despite being innocent of the crimes, approximately 25 percent had confessed and 11 percent had pleaded guilty. These innocent people spent an average of 14 years in prison.
" " Actress Melissa McCarthy scored an Oscar nomination in 2019 for her portrayal of forger Lee Israel in the film "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Raymond Hall/GC Images

Anyone who saw Melissa McCarthy's dramatic turn in 2019's "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" is familiar with the name Lee Israel. The film was based on Israel's memoir of the same name, which chronicled her theft and forgery of about 400 letters from figures like Dorothy Parker and Ernest Hemingway. While Israel saw some success as a biographer in the 1970s and 1980s, her career stalled after her third book flopped.

As she struggled to pay the bills, Israel came into possession of some letters from actress Fanny Brice. She sold them for $40 each and then realized how easy it would be to alter the letters to make them juicier and more valuable. She did just that, and then transitioned to flat-out forgery, using old typewriters to compose entirely fake correspondence from famous figures. "I had a whole cock-and-bull story made up about the cousin who died and left me these wonderful letters," Israel later told NPR. "I never had to explain."

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She eventually stopped selling letters, but then moved on to stealing letters from library archives, replacing them with her own carefully crafted replica, and selling the stolen original to private collectors. It wasn't until autograph dealer David H. Lowenherz learned that the Ernest Hemmingway letter he'd purchased was actually part of Columbia University's collection that Israel's scheme was uncovered. The FBI found the rest of the writer's forgeries and she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce in 1993. Israel was sentenced to six months' house arrest with five years' probation, and while she was able to work again as an author and editor, she said, "I still consider the letters to be my best work."
" " Students on the campus of Darul Uloom, the Deoband school of Islam located in a small town, Deoband, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. SAJJAD HUSSAIN/getty images

Following the Taliban's rapid taking of power in what it describes as a reestablished "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," fears of a certain kind of Islamist ideology being brought back have led a large number of Afghans to flee, or fear for their lives.

The Taliban were known for their oppressive rule. They ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, at which point they were pushed out of power by U.S. and British troops. Under the Taliban rule, religious minorities and other Muslims who did not share their fundamentalist understanding of Islam were not tolerated. The Taliban also severely restricted the rights of women and girls.

As scholars who research ethno-religious conflicts in South Asia, we have studied the origins of the Taliban's religious beliefs. The roots of this ideology  Deobandi Islam  can be traced to 19th-century colonial India.

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Colonialism and Islam

Deobandi Islam emerged in India in 1867, 10 years after a major Indian nationalist uprising against the rule of the British East India Company.

Two Muslims clerics, Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Maulana Rashid Muhammad Gangohi, were behind the setting up of the Deobandi school. Their aim was to indoctrinate Muslim youth with an austere, rigid and pristine vision of Islam. At its heart, Deobandi Islam was an anti-colonial movement designed to revitalize Islam.

This school of Islamic thought had a very particular understanding of the faith. The Deobandi brand of Islam adheres to orthodox Islamism insisting that the adherence to Sunni Islamic law, or Sharia, is the path of salvation. It insists on the revival of Islamic practices that go back to the seventh century  the time of the Prophet Muhammad. It upholds the notion of global jihad as a sacred duty to protect Muslims across the world, and is opposed to any non-Islamic ideas.

The first madrassa  or Islamic school  to educate Muslim youth in the Deobandi tradition was set up in the north Indian state of present-day Uttar Pradesh toward the end of the 19th century.

The Deobandi school system spread over the next several decades and attracted Muslim youth in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. For instance, the Deobandi tradition became the most popular school of Islamic thought among the Pashtuns, an ethnic group living in an area on either side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Pashtun leaders played an instrumental role in establishing and expanding the Deobandi curriculum and tradition in the Pashtun belt across the Durand line, the colonial border separating British India from Afghanistan.

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Funding and Enrollments

After British India was partitioned in 1947 between India and Pakistan, many prominent Deobandi scholars migrated to Pakistan, setting up a large number of madrassas.

With the independence of India and Pakistan, the school placed its full attention on training the students within this fundamentalist Islamic tradition.

In the years and decades after the independence of Pakistan, Deobandi madrassas spread across Pakistan, and one of their principal causes of political activism became India's treatment of Muslims in the Indian-controlled portion of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to one estimate, by 1967 there were as many as 8,000 Deobandi schools worldwide and thousands of Deobandi graduates mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Malaysia.

At first, the Deobandi madrassas tended to be poorly funded. One event that greatly boosted the growth of enrollment in Deobandi madrassas was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

The CIA's covert involvement in the war fueled Islamic militancy and inadvertently helped organize and orchestrate a resistance movement mostly composed of ardent religious fighters. A substantial number of these Afghan fighters were drawn from the Deobandi madrassas, especially the Pashtuns, who played a leading role in the resistance.

During that time, the Deobandi madrassas also gained financial assistance. This assistance, as scholar Thomas Hegghammer writes, came mainly through American aid dollars meant for Pakistan and money from Saudi Arabia.

Saudi leaders, in fact, used the influence of their money to push their own interpretation of Islam  Wahhabism  at the Deobandi madrassas. Wahhabism is a deeply conservative form of Islam that believes in a literal interpretation of the Quran. At this point, the Deobandi madrassas moved far away from their religious roots.

" " Afghans have fled upheaval in their country for more than 40 years, often landing in refugee camps in Pakistan. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

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Ties of Kinship

Following the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979, millions of Afghan refugees, in several waves, took shelter in Pakistan, especially in its Pashtun belt.

Keen on obtaining a strategic toehold in Afghanistan, Pakistan actively recruited young men in refugee camps, imbuing them further with religious zeal to fight the Soviets.

Driven out of their homes in Afghanistan, the dispossessed young Afghans thrived in the refugee camps, in part due to ties of ethnicity as Pashtuns. Drawn to a religiously based offensive against what they deemed to be an infidel, or foreign occupier, they became ready recruits to the anti-Soviet cause.

Many of the Taliban's key leaders and fighters, including Mullah Omar, the founder of the organization, had studied in the Deobandi seminaries in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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After the Civil War

After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the fighters continued to enjoy the support of Pakistan's security establishment and private actors for financial assistance.

When Afghanistan plunged into a civil war in 1992, various factions of the anti-Soviet resistance vied for power. Among them was the Northern Alliance, a group that India and Russia had backed and was under the leadership of an ethnic Tajik, Ahmed Shah Massoud, who resisted the Taliban and acquired an almost mythic status.

However, as scholar Larry P. Goodson writes, with the crucial and substantial assistance of Pakistan's security establishment, the Taliban emerged victorious and seized power in 1996.

Once in power, they imposed their distinctive brand of Islam on the country  far removed from its religious roots in colonial India.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.

Sumit Ganguly is the distinguished professor of political science and the Tagore chair in Indian cultures and civilizations at Indiana University.

Sohel Rana is a Ph.D. student at Indiana University.
This November 2015 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The Arctic has been warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. In some seasons, it has warmed three times faster than the rest of the globe, said University of Alaska at Fairbanks scientist John Walsh. Credit: Katharina M Miller/Polar Bears International via AP

Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice.

In the harsh and unforgiving Arctic, where frigid cold is not just a way of life but a necessity, the polar bear stands out. But where it lives, where it hunts, where it eatsit's disappearing underfoot in the crucial summertime.

"They have just always been a revered species by people, going back hundreds and hundreds of years," said longtime government polar bear researcher Steve Amstrup, now chief scientist for Polar Bear International. "There's just something special about polar bears."

Scientists and advocates point to polar bears, marked as "threatened" on the endangered species list, as the white-hot warning signal for the rest of the planet"the canary in the cryosphere." As world leaders meet in Glasgow, Scotland, to try to ramp up efforts to curb climate change, the specter of polar bears looms over them.

United Nations Environment Program head Inger Andersen used to lead the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which monitors and classifies species in trouble. She asks: "Do we really want to be the generation that saw the end of the ability of something as majestic as the polar bear to survive?"

This 2020 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows a polar bear in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada during migration. At risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice. Credit: Kieran McIver/Polar Bears International via AP

THE STATE OF SEA ICE

Arctic sea icefrozen ocean watershrinks during the summer as it gets warmer, then forms again in the long winter. How much it shrinks is where global warming kicks in, scientists say. The more the sea ice shrinks in the summer, the thinner the ice is overall, because the ice is weaker first-year ice.

Julienne Stroeve, a University of Manitoba researcher, says summers without sea ice are inevitable. Many other experts agree with her.

Former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, now a top University of Colorado environmental researcher, is one of them.

"That's something human civilization has never known," Abdalati said. "That's like taking a sledgehammer to the climate system and doing something huge about it."

The warming already in the oceans and in the air is committedlike a freight train in motion. So, no matter what, the Earth will soon see a summer with less than 1 million square kilometers of sea ice scattered in tiny bits across the Arctic.

This November 2008 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bears on the coastline outside Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Scientists and advocates point to polar bears, marked as "threatened" on the endangered species list, as the white-hot warning signal for the rest of the planet"the canary in the cryosphere." Credit: BJ Kirschhoffer/Polar Bears International via AP

The big question is when the Arctic will "look like a blue ocean," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Maybe as early as the 2030s, most likely in the 2040s and almost assuredly by the 2050s, experts say.

The Arctic has been warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. In some seasons, it has warmed three times faster than the rest of the globe, said University of Alaska at Fairbanks scientist John Walsh.

That's because of something called "Arctic amplification." Essentially, white ice in the Arctic reflects heat. When it melts, the dark sea absorbs much more heat, which warms the oceans even more quickly, scientists say.

THE POLAR BEAR CONNECTION

There are 19 different subpopulations of polar bears in the Arctic. Each is a bit different. Some are really in trouble, especially the southernmost ones, while others are pretty close to stable. But their survival from place to place is linked heavily to sea ice.

This July 2012 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bears near Svalbard, Norway. In the summertime, polar bears go out on the ice to hunt and eat, feasting and putting on weight to sustain them through the winter. They prefer areas that are more than half covered with ice because it's the most productive hunting and feeding grounds, Amstrup said. The more ice, the more they can move around and the more they can eat. Credit: Katharina M Miller/Polar Bears International via AP

"As you go to the Arctic and see what's happening with your own eyes ... it's depressing," said University of Washington marine biologist Kristin Laidre, who has studied polar bears in Baffin Bay.

Shrinking sea ice means shrinking polar bears, literally.

In the summertime, polar bears go out on the ice to hunt and eat, feasting and putting on weight to sustain them through the winter. They prefer areas that are more than half covered with ice because it's the most productive hunting and feeding grounds, Amstrup said. The more ice, the more they can move around and the more they can eat.

Just 30 or 40 years ago, the bears feasted on a buffet of seals and walrus on the ice.

In the 1980s, "the males were huge, females were reproducing regularly and cubs were surviving well," Amstrup said. "The population looked good."

This 2020 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada during migration. Arctic sea icefrozen ocean watershrinks during the summer as it gets warmer, then forms again in the long winter. How much it shrinks is where global warming kicks in, scientists say. The more the sea ice shrinks in the summer, the thinner the ice is overall, because the ice is weaker first-year ice. Credit: Kieran McIver/Polar Bears International via AP

With ice loss, the bears haven't been doing as well, Amstrup said. One sign: A higher proportion of cubs are dying before their first birthdays.

Polar bears are land mammals that have adapted to the sea. The animals they eatseals and walruses mostlyare aquatic.

The bears fare best when they can hunt in shallow water, which is typically close to land.

"When sea ice is present over those near-shore waters, polar bears can make hay," Amstrup said.

But in recent years the sea ice has retreated far offshore in most summers. That has forced the bears to drift on the ice into deep waterssometimes nearly a mile deepthat are devoid of their prey, Amstrup said.

Off Alaska, the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea polar bears provide a telling contrast.

Go 30 to 40 miles offshore from Prudhoe Bay in the Beaufort Sea "and you're in very unproductive waters," Amstrup said.

This July 2012 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bears in near Svalbard, Norway. In the summertime, polar bears go out on the ice to hunt and eat, feasting and putting on weight to sustain them through the winter. They prefer areas that are more than half covered with ice because it's the most productive hunting and feeding grounds, Amstrup said. The more ice, the more they can move around and the more they can eat. Credit: Katharina M Miller/Polar Bears International via AP

Further south in the Chukchi, it's shallower, which allows bottom-feeding walruses to thrive. That provides food for polar bears, he said.

"The bears in the Chukchi seem to be faring pretty well because of that additional productivity," Amstrup said. But the bears of the Beaufort "give us a real good early warning of where this is all coming to."

THE FUTURE

Even as world leaders meet in Scotland to try to ratchet up the effort to curb climate change, the scientists who monitor sea ice and watch the polar bears know so much warming is already set in motion.

There's a chance, if negotiators succeed and everything turns out just right, that the world will once again see an Arctic with significant sea ice in the summer late this century and in the 22nd century, experts said. But until then "that door has been closed," said Twila Moon, a National Snow and Ice Data Center scientist.

This June 2018 photo provided by Polar Bears International shows polar bear standing on sea ice north of Svalbard, Norway. Arctic sea icefrozen ocean watershrinks during the summer as it gets warmer, then forms again in the long winter. How much it shrinks is where global warming kicks in, scientists say. The more the sea ice shrinks in the summer, the thinner the ice is overall, because the ice is weaker first-year ice. Credit: BJ Kirschhoffer/Polar Bears International via AP

So hope is melting too.

"It's near impossible for us to see a place where we don't reach an essentially sea ice-free Arctic, even if we're able to do the work to create much, much lower emissions" of heat-trapping gases, Moon said. "Sea ice is one of those things that we'll see reach some pretty devastating lows along that path. And we can already see those influences for polar bears."

Explore further Study: Polar bears disappearing from key region

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Broken blocks of sea ice emerge from under the hull of the Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica as it sails through the Victoria Strait while traversing the Arctic's Northwest Passage, Friday, July 21, 2017. The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and is on such a knife's edge of survival that the 2021 U.N. climate negotiations in Scotland could make the difference between ice and water at the top of the world in the same way that a couple of tenths of a degree matter around the freezing mark, scientists say. Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman, File

While conducting research in Greenland, ice scientist Twila Moon was struck this summer by what climate change has doomed Earth to lose and what could still be saved.

The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and is on such a knife's edge of survival that the U.N. climate negotiations underway in Scotland this week could make the difference between ice and water at the top of the world in the same way that a couple of tenths of a degree matter around the freezing mark, scientists say.

Arctic ice sheets and glaciers are shrinking, with some glaciers already gone. Permafrost, the icy soil that traps the potent greenhouse gas methane, is thawing. Wildfires have broken out in the Arctic. Siberia even hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Even a region called the Last Ice Area showed unexpected melting this year.

In the next couple of decades, the Arctic is likely to see summers with no sea ice.

As she returns regularly to Greenland, Moon, a researcher with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, said she finds herself "mourning and grieving for the things we have lost already" because of past carbon dioxide emissions that trap heat.

But the decisions we make now about how much more carbon pollution Earth emits will mean "an incredibly large difference between how much ice we keep and how much we lose and how quickly," she said.

A drop of water falls off an iceberg melting in the Nuup Kangerlua Fjord in southwestern Greenland, Tuesday Aug. 1, 2017. The difference between what happens at 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees can hit the Arctic harder than the rest of the world, University of Alaska Fairbanks climate scientist John Walsh. "We can save the Arctic, or at least preserve it in many ways, but we're going to lose that if we go above 1.5." Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman, File

The fate of the Arctic looms large during the climate talks in Glasgowthe farthest north the negotiations have taken placebecause what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic. Scientists believe the warming there is already contributing to weather calamities elsewhere around the world.

"If we end up in a seasonally sea ice-free Arctic in the summertime, that's something human civilization has never known," said former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, who runs the University of Colorado's environment program. "That's like taking a sledgehammer to the climate system."

What's happening in the Arctic is a runaway effect.

"Once you start melting, that kind of enhances more melt," said University of Manitoba ice scientist Julienne Stroeve.

When covered with snow and ice, the Arctic reflects sunlight and heat. But that blanket is dwindling. And as more sea ice melts in the summer, "you're revealing really dark ocean surfaces, just like a black T-shirt," Moon said. Like dark clothing, the open patches of sea soak up heat from the sun more readily.

A woman stands next to an antenna at an NYU base camp at the Helheim glacier in Greenland on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. An increasingly large number of studies link Arctic changes to alterations of the jet streamthe river of air that moves weather from west to eastand other weather systems. And those changes, scientists say, can contribute to more extreme weather events, such as floods, drought, the February Texas freeze, or more severe wildfires. Credit: AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File

Between 1971 and 2019, the surface of the Arctic warmed three times faster than the rest of the world, according to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program.

The result?

"The Arctic isn't just changing in temperature," Abdalati said. "It's changing in state. It's becoming a different place."

The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting the warming of the Earth to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures, or, failing that, keeping it under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The world has already gotten 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer since the late 1800s.

The difference between what happens at 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees can hit the Arctic harder than the rest of the world, University of Alaska Fairbanks climate scientist John Walsh, a member of the Arctic monitoring team. "We can save the Arctic, or at least preserve it in many ways, but we're going to lose that if we go above 1.5."

In this July 19, 2011 file photo, a large melt pool forms in the Ilulissat ice fjord below the Jakobshavn Glacier, at the fringe of the vast Greenland ice sheet. The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and is on such a knife's edge of survival that the 2021 U.N. climate negotiations in Scotland could make the difference between ice and water at the top of the world in the same way that a couple of tenths of a degree matter around the freezing mark, scientists say. Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File

The Arctic itself has blown past 2 degrees Celsius of warming, Stroeve said. It's approaching 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming in November, she said.

For John Waghiyi Jr., the Arctic is not a number or an abstraction. It's been home for 67 years, and he and other native Bering Sea elders have watched the Arctic change because of warming. The sea ice, which allows humans and polar bears to hunt, is shrinking in the summer.

"The ice is very dangerous nowadays. It's very unpredictable," said Waghiyi of Savoonga, Alaska. "The ice pack affects us all, spiritually, culturally and physically, as we need to have it in order to keep harvesting."

The ice is "at the core of our identity," said Dalee Sambo Dorough, international chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, representing 165,000 people in several nations.

An iceberg delivered by members of Arctic Basecamp is placed on show near the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. The four ton block of ice, originally part of a larger glacier, was brought from Greenland to Glasgow by climate scientists from Arctic Basecamp as a statement to world leaders of the scale of the climate crisis and a visible reminder of what Arctic warming means for the planet. Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant

The midnight sun shines across sea ice along the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Sunday, July 23, 2017. When covered with snow and ice, the Arctic reflects sunlight and heat. But that blanket is dwindling. And as more sea ice melts in the summer, "you're revealing really dark ocean surfaces, just like a black T-shirt," says ice scientist Twila Moon. Like dark clothing, the open patches of sea soak up heat from the sun more readily. Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman, File

Bottles containing melted ice water on display close to where an iceberg delivered by members of Arctic Basecamp was placed on show near the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. The four ton block of ice, originally part of a larger glacier, was brought from Greenland to Glasgow by climate scientists from Arctic Basecamp as a statement to world leaders of the scale of the climate crisis and a visible reminder of what Arctic warming means for the planet. Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant

This isn't just a problem for people living in the Arctic. It spells trouble for regions much farther south.

An increasingly large number of studies link Arctic changes to alterations of the jet streamthe river of air that moves weather from west to eastand other weather systems. And those changes, scientists say, can contribute to more extreme weather events, such as floods, drought, the February Texas freeze, or more severe wildfires.

Also, the melting of ice sheets and glaciers can add considerably to rising sea levels.

"The fate of places like Miami are tied very closely to the fate of the Greenland," said David Balton, director of the U.S. Arctic Executive Steering Committee, which coordinates U.S. domestic regulations involving the Arctic and deals with other northern nations. "If you live in Topeka, Kansas, or if you live in California. If you live in Nigeria, your life is going to be affected. ... The Arctic matters on all sorts of levels."

Explore further Arctic endured one of its hottest years in 2020: study

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This photo provided by NASA, Astronauts, from left, Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, Akihiko Hoshide and Megan McArthur, pose with chile peppers grown aboard the International Space Station on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Credit: NASA via AP

The astronauts who will depart the International Space Station on Sunday will be stuck using diapers on the way home because of their capsule's broken toilet.

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation Friday as "suboptimal" but manageable. She and her three crewmates will spend 20 hours in their SpaceX capsule, from the time the hatches are closed until Monday morning's planned splashdown.

"Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges," she said during a news conference from orbit. "This is just one more that we'll encounter and take care of in our mission. So we're not too worried about it."

After a series of meetings Friday, mission managers decided to bring McArthur and the rest of her crew home before launching their replacements. That SpaceX launch already had been delayed more than a week by bad weather and an undisclosed medical issue involving one of the crew.

SpaceX is now targeting liftoff for Wednesday night at the earliest.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will return with McArthur, told reporters that the past six months have been intense up there. The astronauts conducted a series of spacewalks to upgrade the station's power grid, endured inadvertent thruster firings by docked Russian vehicles that sent the station into brief spins, and hosted a private Russian film crewa space station first.

They also had to deal with the toilet leak, pulling up panels in their SpaceX capsule and discovering pools of urine. The problem was first noted during SpaceX's private flight in September, when a tube came unglued and spilled urine beneath the floorboards. SpaceX fixed the toilet on the capsule awaiting liftoff, but deemed the one in orbit unusable.

Engineers determined that the capsule had not been structurally compromised by the urine and was safe for the ride back. The astronauts will have to rely on what NASA describes as absorbent "undergarments."

On the culinary side, the astronauts grew the first chile peppers in space"a nice moral boost," according to McArthur. They got to sample their harvest in the past week, adding pieces of the green and red peppers to tacos.

"They have a nice spiciness to them, a little bit of a lingering burn," she said. "Some found that more troublesome than others."

Also returning with McArthur and Pesquet: NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. SpaceX launched them to the space station on April 23. Their capsule is certified for a maximum 210 days in space, and with Friday marking their 196th day aloft, NASA is eager to get them back as soon as possible.

One American and two Russians will remain on the space station following their departure. While it would be better if their replacements arrived firstin order to share tips on living in spaceKimbrough said the remaining NASA astronaut will fill in the newcomers.

Explore further SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
QUEENSBURY  Brookfield Renewable U.S. is looking to relocate its national control center from Massachusetts to Queensbury and construct a new building at the Airport Industrial Park.

The energy company, which runs mostly hydroelectric power plants, currently has its operational headquarters on Big Boom Road in Queensbury.

Antonio Zarrella, senior director of operations for Brookfield Renewable, said the companys control center, which remotely monitors the operations of its plants, is currently located in Marblehead, Mass. However, he said the company needs to leave the Bay State because of the cost of doing business and would like to consolidate in Queensbury.

It seems like its a right fit to bring the control center there as well, he said to the Warren-Washington Industrial Development Agency board at its meeting on Wednesday.

The company has a large presence in New York and New England.

Zarrella said the project would bring 50 jobs to the area. About two-thirds are operations employees and the rest are in information technology and support for the control center. It is a 24-7 facility.

Zarrella said Brookfield is in discussions to construct a building adjacent to its current lot.

The company will be back before the IDA at a later time to submit a formal application for financial assistance.

IDA Chairman Dave OBrien said this type of project fits right in with the effort to support green energy initiatives.

Michael Goot covers politics, crime and courts, Warren County, education and business. Reach him at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com.

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FORT EDWARD  Three prospective businesses are interested in the former dewatering site in Fort Edward, including a manufacturer of energy-efficient products, according to an economic development official.

Hampton Supervisor Dave OBrien, chairman of the Warren-Washington Industrial Development Agency, said a consortium including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the U.S. Department of Energy and a Denver-based consulting firm and manufacturing company are working on a project to locate at the site.

OBrien did not have many details. It was a proposal that was submitted as part of the federal governments Build Back Better program for energy-efficient products.

OBrien said one criteria for the program was that the site had to be owned by a municipality or government entity, and the former dewatering site fits that bill.

The federal government will review submissions and see which ones will be selected to move on to phase two, according to OBrien. More details would be provided at that time. He anticipated hearing more about the project in about three months.

OBrien would not say anything about the other two prospective clients but indicated that they may be on a faster track than the green energy project. He only mentioned that one publicly at the IDA Executive Committee because the green energy project has been in the public domain, he said.

The IDA has been working to find new uses for the dewatering property, whose formal name is now Canalside Energy Park.

One priority is to bring water and sewer service to the site.

OBrien said the IDA has sent out a request for qualifications for engineering firms, which is due Dec. 10.

One of the companies interested in the site has agreed to become what is called as a beneficiary. This status will allow the IDA to apply for funds through Empire State Development for the water and sewer work.

Michael Goot covers politics, crime and courts, Warren County, education and business. Reach him at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The head of a European Parliament delegation on its first official visit to Taiwan said Thursday that its high time for the European Union to step up cooperation with the self-ruled island, which is also claimed by China.

Seven lawmakers from the Parliaments committee on foreign interference in democratic processes met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on the second day of their three-day visit.

We came here with a very simple, very clear message. You are not alone, said Raphael Glucksmann, the French chair of the committee. Europe is standing with you, by you, in the defense of freedom and the defense of rule of law and human dignity.

It is high time for the European Union to step up its cooperation with Taiwan, he said.

Tsai kept her welcome remarks short, calling the visit highly significant and saying Taiwan was willing to share its experience in combating disinformation and that it wants to build a democratic alliance against disinformation.

Last month, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the body to intensify EU-Taiwan political relations. The non-binding resolution also called for changing the name of the representative office in Taiwan to the European Union Office in Taiwan, and to establish a bilateral investment agreement with the island.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke out against the visit Thursday, saying it "urges the European side to correct its mistakes and not to send any wrong signals to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, so as to avoid serious impact on China-EU relations.

Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing that the fact that Taiwan is part of China cannot be changed.

The visit comes amid growing support among Western countries for the democratic island, which China claims as part of its territory to be annexed by force if necessary, and rising negative perceptions toward Beijing.

China has sent an increasing number of fighter jets toward the island in a prolonged campaign of military harassment since at least last year, when Taiwan began publicly releasing the data.



Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng contributed to this report.

This story was first published on November 4, 2021. It was updated on November 6, 2021 to correct the number of parliamentarians in the delegation. There were seven, not 13. The story also incorrectly used the pronoun she in referring to Raphael Glucksmann, the head of the delegation. Glucksmann is male.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Cape May: 11 a.m. Nov. 11, the City of Cape May, American Legion Post 193, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 386 and the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May will join together to honor and remember the men and women who served in the United States military. The public is invited to attend the ceremony at Soldiers and Sailors Park, Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street. Call 609-884-9565 or visit CapeMayCity.com.

Lower Township: 11 a.m. Nov. 6, military veterans will be honored at the communitys fourth annual Veterans Day Parade starting at the Villas Fire Department, south on Bayshore Road to end at Lower Township Hall. The community is invited to watch along Bayshore Road and show their patriotic and community spirit.

Millville: 20th annual Veterans Appreciation Day: 11 a.m. Nov. 6, museum opens 10 a.m.; honoring all veterans; featured guest speaker WWII veteran Charles Ozzie Osborne; canteen lunch served to all; Millville Army Air Field Museum, 1 Leddon St., Millville.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  Tens of thousands of climate activists marched Saturday through the Scottish city hosting the U.N. climate summit, physically close to the global negotiators inside but separated by a vast gulf in expectations, with frustrated marchers increasingly dismissive of the talks and demanding immediate action instead to slow global warming.

The mood at the protest in Glasgow was upbeat despite the anger and bursts of rain. Similar protests were also held in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Copenhagen, Zurich and Istanbul.

Many of the marchers condemned government leaders for failing to produce the fast action they say is needed, with some echoing activist Greta Thunberg's view Friday that the talks were just more blah, blah, blah.

We're having these conversations, but there's no policies to actually back them, said Daze Aghaji, a marcher from London at the Glasgow demonstration, shouting over the steady beat of the drums.

And on top of that, the real people should be in the room," Aghaji said, referring to complaints that the Glasgow summit has too sharply limited participation by the public. How are we expecting to make decent policy when the people who are the stakeholders of this aren't even present in the room?
The absence of women in these discussions would be unconscionable at any time and under all circumstances, but especially now and in dealings with a deeply misogynistic regime. More than words, the Taliban should be given constant demonstration of the norms of the international community they say they want to join.

This can be accomplished with two simple measures.

First, women should comprise at least half of every foreign delegation to Kabul. At every possible opportunity, the lead interlocutor or negotiator should be a woman. Every time a Taliban leader sits across the table from visitors, he should see and experience what most of world agrees is a womans rightful place. The standard this will set is a necessary precondition to any meaningful change in attitude.

Second, every foreign delegation calling on the Taliban to discuss international aid should insist that there be women at the other side of the table. This will force the Taliban to look beyond its own ranks for representation, another necessary prerequisite for change. It isnt enough to make the restoration of international support and investment conditional on how women are treated. Women must be actively be involved in the negotiations, so they can help set the terms for how aid will be administered.
WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: ROMAN TALKS SLOWLY AND QUIETLY, SONYA ABUSES POWER, IS BLOOD THICKER THAN PANCAKES?

Your announcers are Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns makes his way to the ring with Paul Heyman and the Usos.

Roman says last week, your tribal chief wasn't at Smackdown. When you smash someone like Brock Lesnar, you have to celebrate so I had to take a vacation. Roman says he heard the rumbling about not being here, but he is here tonight. He wants the 'tiny no name town' to acknowledge him. Roman says he had a great week. He was on a private island running around naked and his wife was loving it. Not everyone had a good week. It was a bad week for a lot of you because the Tribal Chief wasn't here. Wanna know who else had a bad week? That dumbass Brock Lesnar. He got fined a million dollars and got suspended indefinitely. Roman says he has the stroke and the juice around here.

Roman asks Paul what else happened last week.

Paul says Kayla started to bother him about Brock Lesnar.

Roman wants to know what else happened last week.

Paul says the Usos had a non-title match against the New Day.

Roman wants to know who won and who lost that match.

Paul says the New Day won the match.

Roman asks the people if they like the New Day. He says they are great and entertaining, but not better than the Bloodline. Roman says he is having trouble understanding how his cousins lost to the New Day. Roman asks which of them got pinned.

They point to each other. Roman tells Jimmy they are chanting for the New Day because you lost. Roman asks Jimmy how is he going to fix this problem.

Jimmy says he has Roman. He will make Kofi acknowledge who the Tribal Chief is and who the real king is.

The music for the New Day plays and Kofi and Xavier make their way to the ring.

Kofi introduces Xavier.

Xavier says it looks like they forgot his table. He says when you are king, you are supposed to sit at the HEAD of the table. You never stop talking about being at the head of the table. Then you get a shirt that says it if you lost enough brain cells.

Kofi says maybe the table was forgotten on the island of relevancy. Kofi says it must be so sad and lonely upon this island.

Xavier says it is time for the portion of the show people care about. Xavier mentions they are in Evansville, Indiana.

Xavier says he is here to make a challenge. If Jimmy Uso can defeat him tonight, he will acknowledge Roman. When I defeat young James Uso, he will be made to do what he should be doing know and that is bend a knee.

Jimmy says they aren't bending a knee. Jey says nobody is bending a knee. They bend a knee to nobody no matter what day it is.

Roman takes the mic when Paul takes it from Jey.

Roman says the Bloodline accepts.

We take a look at what Sonya Deville did during Shayna Baszler's match against Naomi last week.

Kayla Braxton asks Sonya Deville about her vendetta against Naomi. Sonya asks when was the last time you saw this fire in Naomi or heard this passion in her voice. Naomi has confidence because she lit a fire in her. If Naomi can win, maybe she will challenge Naomi to a match.

Match Number One: Naomi versus Shayna Baszler

Naomi with a Thesz Press and punches. Shayna with a single leg crab and Naomi kicks Shayna away and hits a drop kick. Naomi gets a near fall. Shayna with a waist lock and German suplex. Naomi moves and Shayna goes to the apron. Naomi drop kicks Shayna through the ropes. Shayna pulls Naomi off the apron but Naomi holds on to the ropes. Naomi with a round kick and she sends Shayna into the apron. Naomi with forearms. They return to the ring and Naomi goes up top and hits a cross body for a near fall. Naomi tries for a pescado but she sees Shayna move and Naomi lands on the apron. Shayna pulls Naomi off the apron and hits a gutwrench suplex.

We go to commercial.

We are back and Naomi with a round kick from the apron. Naomi with Last Train to Clarksville on the apron and Naomi follows with a sunset flip for a near fall. Shayna with a Kirifuda Clutch and Naomi drops down and gets the three count with a rollup.

Winner: Naomi

After the match, Sonya Deville comes out and she says no one leaves the ring until she makes her remarks.

Sonya says that she grabbed the rope before the pinfall so it should have been a rope break and the hold should have been released and the pin shouldn't have counted. Sonya says the rules are the rules. Sonya says she will restart the match.

Match Number One and a Half: Shayna Baszler versus Naomi

Shayna puts Naomi in the Kirifuda Clutch and Naomi passes out.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Roman Reigns is in the back. He tells Jimmy and Jey that he goes on one vacation and things fall apart. He goes away for a week and Smackdown sucks and is almost as bad as Raw. Jimmy and Jey laugh and Roman wants to know if he is funny.

Roman asks Jey what do they do? Jey says they don't lose because they are the ones.

We take a look at Shotzi Blackheart's attack on Sasha Banks.

We go to commercial.

We are back with a video package for Xia Li.

Kayla Braxton is in the back with Ridge Holland. She asks him what is he most looking forward to. Ridge says he is looking forward to meeting his idol, Sheamus. He says they would squeeze around the TV when Sheamus wrestled. They went mental when Sheamus beat John Cena. He says they had a party so legendary when Sheamus cashed in the briefcase against Roman Reigns.

We take a look back at Shotzi's match against Charlotte Flair from last week.

Shotzi is in the back and Megan asks Shotzi about last week.

Shotzi says she has finally had enough. She lost title opportunities, her tag partner, and the support of the WWE Universe. Last week, thanks to Sasha Banks, I lost the biggest match of my entire career. I am not going to smile and pretend that things are okay. That was my breaking point and Sasha is my target. I am going to run over Sasha and anyone who gets in her way. I don't need a tank to do it.

Match Number Two: Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza versus Mansoor and Cesaro

Mansoor and Garza start things off and Garza with a take down and knees to the ribs. Garza with a double wrist lock. Mansoor with a hip toss and a front face lock but Garza with a take down. Garza runs Mansoor into the turnbuckles and Carrillo tags in. They put Mansoor in the tree of woe and they hit a double drop kick. Carrillo gets a near fall. Carrillo with a chop and Garza with a forearm. Carrillo with kicks. Carrillo with a punch and Garza tags in. Carriilo with a leap frog splash to Mansoor followed by a back body drop from Garza and the pants come off. Garza with a drop kick for a near fall. Garza goes for a single leg crab. Mansoor gets to his feet and he hits an enzuigiri.

Garza keeps Mansoor from making the tag and he sends Mansoor to the mat. Mansoor with a DDT and both men are down. Cesaro tags in and he connects with a clothesline to Carrillo followed by an Irish whip and European uppercut. Cesaro continues with the Irish whip and European uppercuts. Cesaro with a discus clothesline and he goes to the floor and grabs Garza'a pants and hits a running European uppercut to Garza. Cesaro wtih a springboard corkscrew European uppercut to Carrillo. Cesaro signals for the giant swing and Garza comes in.

Cesaro with a giant swing to Garza and Carrillo hits Csearo from behind and gets a near fall. Cesaro catrches Mansoor on a suplex attempt but Carrillo with a super kick to Cesaro and a springboard spinning heel kick.Garza tags in and hits the drop kick while Carrillo has Cesaro in a Muta Lock.

Winners: Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza

Jeff Hardy and Aliyah are talking in the back and Kayla Braxton shows up and wants to get some words from Jeff.

Jeff apologizes and he sees Sami Zayn bothering Aliyah. Sami tells Aliyah it is all about appearances. You want to show people that you mean business. He has two words for Aliyah, Pants Suit.

Aliyah asks Jeff is Sami is really like that and Jeff welcomes her to Smackdown.

Drew McIntyre makes his way to the ring.

We go to commercial.

Coverage Continues on Next Page

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"We were told (the city) didn't want to discuss it because they were taking legal avenues," Moyer said. "We only heard about it again when the FOIA requests were made (Oct. 28). We were trying to figure out why (aldermen) weren't briefed on it. We have lots of questions.

"I remember there were a couple other big issues going on," Moyer said. "When we found out about (the theft), it was an email saying they were working on recovering it; they said there would be an investigation and they would let us know."

When asked why the public wasn't notified, Moyer said an email sent to city council members stated the matter "was confidential while they investigate. Our instructions were to let them do their job and they would get back to us."

Wendt said the council would need to discuss the cyber crime in public meeting eventually because either they would recover the funds (and then public information not infringe on those recovery efforts) or receive a payout for the insurance claim, which Wendt said to his understanding would require a budget amendment to replenish funds in the Capital Improvement Fund that were used to pay both the fraudulent and legitimate vendors.

Williams and Waldron could not be reached for comment.
The political interest in Kenosha didnt just center on Blakes shooting and Rittenhouses case, but also on the citys status as a swing area in a key political swing state.

Trump returned to Kenosha for a rally on the eve of the election, holding up the citys unrest as a foil for his law-and-order campaign message.

In 2016, Trump had become the first Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972 to carry Kenosha County, winning by just 255 votes out of 72,000 cast as he went on to narrowly win Wisconsin. In 2020, Trump lost the state but again won Kenosha County, this time by a larger margin of three percentage points.

The county is anchored by Kenosha, a Democrat-leaning city of 100,000 people halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee that is surrounded by more conservative small towns and rural areas. The jury pool for Rittenhouses trial randomly pulled residents from the county as a whole.

Former Kane County States Attorney Joe McMahon said its impossible to eliminate the political views and experiences jurors and witnesses bring to Rittenhouses trial. McMahon, who served as the special prosecutor in the historic murder trial of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, said it would be shortsighted for attorneys not to acknowledge those political factors as they try the case.
I recently had to take a flight to attend a friend's wedding. A week prior to the event, Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights after staffing shortages compounded initial weather problems.

Reading the news reports and social media posts about stranded travelers spiked my concerns about my upcoming trip. I decided to cancel the Southwest ticket and rebook on American Airlines, which at the time seemed to be more reliable.

I doubt I would have made such a change two years ago. But the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic may have lowered my tolerance for uncertainty. I've maxed out on the unknowns outside my control, all of which rose dramatically in the past 20 months.

At first, we weren't sure how best to protect ourselves and our loved ones from severe sickness or death. When my husband and I got COVID, I wasn't sure when, or if, we would recover. Then when we did, it wasn't clear how long the immunity from the previous exposure and vaccines would last. Even now, as I prepare to get a booster, I'm wondering what kind of reaction it might provoke and how long the protection will last.
UAW members at Deere & Co. say they are frustrated with members of the bargaining committee who don't adequately understand the demands of local union members. Some feel the one-member, one-vote referendum with the UAW may change that.

I think as it sits now the UAW leadership is probably a little nervous about this referendum, said Sean Smiddy, a local 865 member in East Moline. We are currently using that to our benefit to help our bargaining position.

If passed, the referendum would allow union members to directly elect top union leaders on the International Executive Board. Ballots were mailed Oct. 19 and are due back Nov. 29. How direct elections would function would be decided if and when it passes.

Officials are now elected using a delegate system that can foster corruption, says Scott Houldieson, chair of Unite All Workers for Democracy, an organization seeking to make changes within the UAW. Delegates of local unions attend a constitutional convention and cast votes on behalf of members. Scott, a delegate at the past three elections, said casting a vote was an intimidating and public process.
Why would he respect the laws he's supposed to follow after going to prison? she asked the court.

Her mother talked about her daughter's subsequent panic attacks and said the whole experience makes her question parental decisions she's made. She noted Perry's death threats, threats of revenge and threats of suicide and his showing up in places where her daughter was.

Is it any wonder that she was fearful? she asked.

A second victim told the court Perry had abused her for a year and a half, after which she went through one year of therapy and countless tears.

I'm starting to understand why so many women don't come forward about their abusers, she said, adding that Perry would show up in places he knew she'd be, in violation of his bond.

She said her memories of her high school years would be blocked by the trauma of her experiences with Perry including one day when he ripped the leather band of her watch, threw her into a wall and pinned her down in a bed.

She called him selfish, manipulative, self-obsessed and dangerous and said his apology at sentencing was just one last form of manipulation to get himself out of the punishment he deserves.
Their 16-year-old son was home and heard several loud banging noises, then more and then heard a single gunshot, Murphy said. The boy went upstairs and saw his dad face up and bleeding and his mom performing CPR. He called 911, said Murphy, and he went outside to wait for paramedics.

One of the paramedics told police Villasenor had said she and the victim had a bad day, according to Murphy.

Another witness, an officer with an FBI task force who was also off duty and had a police radio on, was the first officer on the scene, Murphy said. He found Villasenor leaning against a dresser and asked if she was OK.

No, but yes, she replied to the officer, Murphy said. She wasnt crying, and she allegedly smelled of alcohol. She declined a breath test, Murphy said. Villasenor and her husband tested positive for gunshot residue, he added.

At first, Ortiz set bond at $100,000 but Villasenors attorney, Tim Grace, said her family was only able to come up with $5,000, so Ortiz lowered it to $50,000, to accommodate her financial situation.

According to the city of Chicagos website, Jacqueline Villasenors annual salary as of March was $76,266.

This is a tragic case obviously, Grace said, before the judge set bond.
Moretti said Rittenhouse alternated between touching his weapon and raising his hands as he walked toward the squad car so they werent quite sure what Rittenhouse was doing. They yelled at him to get out of the road because he was blocking their way.

When Rittenhouse wouldnt move out of the way, Moretti said, he removed his own gun and his partner shot pepper spray at the teen.

My partner and I ... gave him multiple commands to get out of the roadway and step to the side so we could get to people ahead in the roadway who needed our assistance, Moretti testified.

The partners never considered the possibility Rittenhouse could be surrendering to them, the police officer said.

In my prior experience in law enforcement, when somebody surrenders to us, they will generally put their hands up but they will take the further step and drop to their knees or they will lay in a prone position, Moretti said. Theyll usually follow commands when theyre attempting to surrender. Never in my career have I had somebody put their hands up and continue to advance.
Jason Lackowski, a former Marine who said he took an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to Kenosha last year to help protect property during violent protests against racial injustice, said that Joseph Rosenbaum asked very bluntly to shoot him and took a few false steppings ... to entice someone to do something.

Lackowski got up from the witness stand and demonstrated what he called false stepping. He took a small step and slight lurch forward, then stopped.

But Lackowski, who was called as a witness by the prosecution, said he considered Rosenbaum a babbling idiot and turned his back and ignored him. But he also admitted he didnt see everything that went on between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum, including their final clash.

In other testimony, the prosecution suffered a potential blow when Rosenbaums fiancee, Kariann Swart, disclosed that he was on medication for bipolar disorder and depression but didn't fill his prescriptions because the local pharmacy was boarded up as a result of the unrest  information Rittenhouse's lawyers could use in their bid to portray Rosenbaum as the aggressor that night.

The judge allowed the defense to elicit testimony about Rosenbaum's mental illness because prosecutors brought up mention of medication. Had prosecutors not touched on the topic, it is unlikely the judge would have let the defense bring it up.

On the day he was shot, Rosenbaum had been released from a Milwaukee hospital. The jury was told that much, but not why he had been admitted  after a suicide attempt.

Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with shooting three men, two fatally, in the summer of 2020. The one-time police youth cadet was 17 when he went to Kenosha with an AR-style rifle and a medical kit in what he said was an effort to safeguard property from the demonstrations that broke out over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha police officer.

Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot. Prosecutors have portrayed Rittenhouse as the instigator of the bloodshed, while his lawyer has argued that he acted in self-defense, suggesting among other things that Rittenhouse feared his weapon would be taken away and used against him.

Rittenhouse could get life in prison if convicted in the case that has stirred furious debate over self-defense, vigilantism, the right to bear arms and the racial unrest that erupted around the U.S. after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other cases like it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republicans say President Joe Biden is to blame for this and that Trump had the situation under control. But Trump faced a similar surge in 2018 and 2019 that was only (temporarily) ended by the pandemic. There were near-record numbers of migrants then, too  like when thousands camped out for months at the ports waiting to apply for asylum, or when a 2019 episode in Tijuana on New Years Day sent adults and children running, screaming and crying after U.S. border agents fired tear gas at them.

Despite the recent influx, the tragedy of the border has been going on for decades, overseen by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Of the nearly 70,000 migrants who died worldwide between 2000 and 2018, about 10,000 perished on the U.S.-Mexico border. Hundreds of thousands more have perished from cartel violence in Mexico since the U.S.-sponsored war on drugs began there in 2006.

While these deaths are typically either ignored or sensationalized, they represent a massive failure of U.S. policy. The border may be remote and far away, but its on the front lines of many of the most difficult issues of our time, including migration, drug abuse, gun violence, police brutality and corruption and environmental devastation.
The really cool thing about this is that the city is working to keep bicyclists and pedestrians separate from vehicular traffic. In some parts of the Quad-Cities, bike and pedestrian paths run along cars and truck with little separation. We know that is unavoidable in spots, but where there can be separation, this makes it safer and adds so much more enjoyment to people and families that want more options to get out on the trails.

We were especially inspired by the words of Dean Mathias of the Quad-Cities Bicycle Club, who contemplated this new trail connecting with the path running across the new Interstate-74 bridge and beyond.

"Imagine that: People on the hill in Moline can ride down to the riverfront trail and hop on the I-74 bridge and connect with the trails in Davenport and Bettendorf," he said. "That's pretty exciting in a lot of ways."

We couldnt agree more.

Thumbs Up  to the beginning of the Salvation Armys red kettle campaign, with the theme: Hope marches on.

The effort was launched Friday in Milan.

The bell ringers who spread out across the Quad-Cities raise money for charity and are a sure sign of the holiday season, as well as a reminder to consider those who are less fortunate.
After receiving his vaccination for COVID-19 on Friday, 9-year-old Conor Hayden was taking things in stride.

It was a bit sore, but it was just a little bump, and thats it, said Conor, who'd received his vaccine at the Monument Health Spearfish Clinic.

Conor, from Rapid City, was among the first children in the area to receive the initial dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its recommendation for the vaccine this week. Earlier, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized its use for children 5 to 11.

Conors mother, Kimberly Hayden, reflected on the vaccine as both a parent and a health care provider. Hayden works as a physician assistant for Monument Health.

It was not a surprise for him, Hayden said of her son. Weve been discussing a vaccine for him for months and months.

Hayden emphasized the importance of talking to Conor and asking him what would make him more comfortable. Talking to children, she said, is key when a vaccination or other shot is imminent.

He specifically requested this morning that he wanted to see the needle, she said. You have to partner with your children and see what their expectations are.

A statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asserts that in clinical trials the vaccination was nearly 91 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 among children aged 5-11 years.

The statement describes side effects as mild, self-limiting, and similar to those seen in adults and with other vaccines recommended for children. The most common side effect was a sore arm.

The statement also points out that hospitalizations among children and adolescents (due to COVID-19) increased five-fold in the six weeks from late June to mid-August.

Though such written information is valuable, Hayden emphasized the importance of talking to local providers  trusted sources who can provide a human touch to the sometimes chillier world of internet research.

It seems to be increasingly harder to differentiate the quality of information on websites, she said.

And although she's a medical professional, Hayden still looks to others for expertise.

I'm not an expert on childhood immunizations and infectious disease, but I can rely on and appreciate my colleagues who dedicate their lives to understanding that better, she said. The idea that someone would become their own expert over a weekend or a few months is probably not realistic.

Dr. Shankar Kurra, vice president of medical affairs at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital, said studies have shown children to be just as likely to transmit COVID-19 as adults. He also noted dire consequences for some children who acquire COVID-19, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. According to the CDC's website, the deaths of 576 children in the United States from birth to age 17 involved COVID-19.

Regarding the vaccine, Kurra said, The safety profile in the age group of 5 to 11 years is excellent. The side effects were the same as in adults, but they were milder and fewer. As far as safety, this vaccine passed with flying colors.

Kurra noted the dose for children is 10 micrograms, compared with 30 micrograms for adults. Like the adults' vaccine, it requires two doses.

Dan Daly, communications specialist for Monument Health, said on Friday that the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Rushmore Mall administered seven vaccinations on 5- to 11-year-olds earlier in the day, and that 324 appointments for 5- to 11-year-olds had been scheduled so far by Monument Health.

Representatives from area pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS  along with a news release from Walmart  said their administration of the vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old was beginning as early as the weekend. Information can be found online and via telephone for the pharmacies.

To receive the vaccine through Monument Health, families can make appointments by logging into their MyChart account, visiting monument.health/covidvaccine, texting VACCINE to 844-736-4798, or by calling 605-755-1350.

As for Conor, he said he could still feel some trace of the vaccine, a few hours after hed received it. But he described the lingering effects as mild.

Its a little sore, but I feel great, he said.

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Street gang members in Rapid City are becoming less fearful of consequences.

That's according to Tony Harrison, captain of Investigations for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, who has been investigating street gang activity in Rapid City and Pennington County over the course of his 25-year career in law enforcement.

Since the beginning of his career, Harrison said street gangs in the area have become noticeably more prone to use violence than in past years.

"The fear of consequences seems to be less," he said. "Consequences can be many things, it could be getting assaulted by another person, arrested, put in jail, killed. Some of the consequences are implemented by the legal system and some of them are implemented by the gang's own justice system."

Harrison said there are several large street gangs in Rapid City, including the Boyz, North Side Gangster Disciples, and the North Side Family.

"There are also offshoots of those gangs, because they didn't like the way things were going and maybe started their own gang," he said. "That doesn't include members that come from Denver, Sioux Falls or Minneapolis and try to start their own set."

Many gang members start young, Harrison said.

"I have seen pictures of toddlers dressed in gang attire. In terms of dealing with kids who claim activity, they can start at the age of 10," he said. "If you showed me an 8-year-old throwing gang signs, I wouldn't be shocked. But for a lot of them, that's how they grew up. So that's all they know and they kind of emulate that activity. Some of it's very generational. It's very much a unique hybrid of criminal activity and a social calling where they are looking for a sense of belonging, they're looking for a desire to be wanted and needed, which often times they don't have in their personal lives."

Most of the gang violence in the area goes unreported.

"It's internal fights and assaults. We don't know the amount of crime that's committed because that's part of the gang subculture," Harrison said. "You don't snitch."

Erik Bringswhite, a former gang member, explains gang violence like this: "Hurt people hurt people" and everyone in the community is impacted.

"Many mistakenly believe that it doesn't affect them," Bringswhite said. "But it does because this trauma is strange. Nobody is immune. So how I see the trauma on the north side reflected back at us is through negative personal opinions, through biases and even prejudices. And that  if we look at how hurt people hurt people  that means their healing is our healing. And our healing is their healing."

Bringswhite was actively involved in Rapid City's gang activity for over 30 years. Now, he's the founder of I Am Legacy, a local non-profit offering resources and support to the Indigenous community.

The organization is working to help provide an outlet and services to the youth before they become wrapped up in the criminal justice system and doing away with the fallacy where that way of life is the only option.

"Gravitating towards something that ultimately is going to cause you or someone around you pain, hurt, and suffering is a poor, poor attempt at surviving," Bringswhite said. "I don't even know if you can call it surviving because you're really limiting your choices to the penitentiary or cemetery. We're seeing that here and all of it is preventable."

Bringswhite knows better than most the real fear and trauma of gang life in Rapid City.

"The level of fear, they say it's hella toxic here. If the system doesn't get you, the Indians will. It is kind of true. But the level of fear that people, especially our youth, are living with isn't sustainable," he said. "A person cannot live with that level of intense emotion and be OK. It's going to have lasting effects on their psyche, their physical state. It may even be doing damage to their hearts."

Bringswhite said a generational aspect plays a large role in why Rapid City youth are gravitating toward gang activity.

"That's embedded. I think a part of that is the system has a part to play in that," he said. "Many of these issues here are the product of colonization. None of this was an Indigenous issue. These are all products and outcomes of the strategies of us trying to assimilate and not really doing a good job of it."

To be born on a reservation is essentially to be born into captivity, Bringswhite explained.

"We don't have many resources here, we don't have corporate sponsors or anybody that's investing in the health, wellness and healing of these certain demographics in the community. But everyone has an opinion about them," he said. "Everybody wants to pass the buck to law enforcement. 'Hey, this is your job man,' but it's not. These are community issues that deserve the entire community's strategies and solutions. Because trauma is a strange, strange animal."

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Western Dakota Regional Water System is on the State Water Plan for 2022, although no funding is guaranteed.

The proposal is to build a water pipeline from the Missouri River to serve the West River region as the area continues to grow. According to documents, the current West River population is 240,000 and the projected population for 2075 is 600,000.

The estimated cost for the project, for a 6-foot diameter waterline, is $1.87 billion. Preliminary studies and reports are estimated at $4.5 million in the next few years.

The state Water and Natural Resources Board approved the projects application for the State Water Plan, which will allow West Dakota Regional Water System to apply for future funding, said Cheryl Chapman, a consultant who is working on the project.

Were very excited to have that first step taken and will continue to work with communities and water systems throughout western South Dakota in taking a look at potential projects to bring Missouri River water to the western part of the state, she said.

The project was also on the list for the 2022 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan, which the board also approved. However, the project did not make the final priority list.

The revolving fund intends to meet the objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act and includes a prioritized list, which includes a $4,129,600 request from Box Elder to help construct a new supply well.

The program, along with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, is funded by both the state and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, said Brian Walsh, public affairs director for the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The funds provide low-interest loans for drinking water, wastewater, storm water, water conservation and nonpoint source projects. The programs receive funds through federal appropriations, loan repayments and bonds, Walsh said.

Rapid City had proposed a new water treatment facility for $135 million that was not included on the priority list.

Box Elder and Rapid City both had proposals on the 2022 Clean Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan that did make the priority list, including a $5.8 million request from Box Elder to replace the sewer interceptor line along state Highway 14/16. It includes a possible principal forgiveness of $290,000, although Director Andy Bruels said principal forgiveness figures are for planning purposes. They are not guaranteed.

Box Elder previously had its hopes set on the funds coming from the Legislature, but it was ultimately killed during the session. The citys $1.8 million project to install a sewer trunk main to provide service to 870 acres in preparation for base expansion was also on the priority list.

The project proposal for Rapid City that made the priority list is a $6.65 million request for construction of a landfill collection and control system, along with improvements to the existing collection system.

Funding is not guaranteed with placement on the priority lists for both funds.

Walsh said it is unknown when communities or projects would receive dollars from the revolving funds. He said in an email to the Journal that timing of funding is based on submission of funding applications by project sponsors, availability of funds, and application completeness reviews.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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The Aspen Institute has selected Western Dakota Technical College as one of 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence in recognition of high achievement and performance among America's community colleges, according to a news release from WDTC.

According to the Aspen Institute, colleges selected for this honor stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high and improving levels of student success as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds.

The 150 eligible colleges have been invited to submit data and narratives as the next steps in an intensive data and practice review process, culminating in the announcement of the Aspen Prize winner in spring 2023.

It is an honor for Western Dakota Technical College to have been selected for this recognition, said Ann Bolman, president of WDTC. We strive for continual improvement as a college and for all students to be successful on their path to achieving their career goals. I thank our Board, faculty, and employees for their tremendous efforts to make a difference in the lives of our students which has culminated in this special designation.

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Denying a permit for a peaceful demonstration at the Capitol because it's being decorated for Christmas? It appears the First Amendment right of free speech is just another victim of the Noem administration.

Kristi Noem is not believable, changing your story to cover yourself only makes it worse. You did not like your daughter not earning her certificate, so you strong-armed someone to get your way, shame on you.

Well, of course, the only excuse Noem has is to blame the media for her meeting with the state labor secretary. For someone who claims to be such a great Christian, she sure has a hard problem telling the truth.

President Biden said, this deal will fundamentally change the lives of millions of people for the better. Except the ones being taxed to the breaking point. Nothing is free. Our money is funding free pre-K and other socialist programs on his agenda.

Republican politicians opposing vaccine mandates are using American lives as pawns in their quest for more power. Locally and nationally it's hard to call the GOP COVID response a success.

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MINOT, N.D. (AP)  Minots new airport director said she wants to use her diverse experiences in aviation management to enhance the activity at Minot International Airport.

Jennifer Eckman stepped into her new position Oct. 4.

She previously had served since January 2019 as project manager of the Northern Plains Unmanned Aviation Systems Test Site in Grand Forks. Working in the drone industry in Grand Forks exposed her to a different world of aviation.

The concepts and the technologies that enable flying a drone were all pretty new to me. Theres a whole new list of acronyms I had to learn, which in the world of aviation, thats amazing that there were more acronyms, she laughed. Im hoping with my connections with the Northern Plains that we can bring some of those technologies that I was working on here to this airport.

She said there are areas on airport property suitable for growing a UAS business, the Minot Daily News reported.

Actually, we have some of the infrastructure already, where certain types of drones we could already handle, she said.

Eckman sees potential for more robust industrial or commercial operations at the airfield. She would like to be involved in diversifying the businesses and opportunities at the airport as well as in developing the airline services and increasing passenger traffic as COVID-19 concerns ease.

Obviously, the passenger ridership has been down, but were starting to see us come back to the 2019 numbers  slowly, but were hoping to get there. With the borders opening soon, Im hoping and anticipating that we might be getting close to what we were in 2019 by the end of the year, Eckman said.

She added that airlines have been maintaining their flights and plan to add a few additional flights over the holidays.

Eckman said shes optimistic about the aviation industry, having witnessed its resiliency in the rebound from the 9-11 terrorist attacks and the Y2K transition to a new century in the year 2000.

A Bismarck native, Eckman said she grew up wanting to be an astronaut. Her career goal adjusted after enrolling in the University of North Dakotas aviation program.

I really enjoyed my airport management classes, and I switched degrees to airport management, she said.

She did get a private pilots license, although she hasnt done much flying.

My passion is more in the airport management side, she said.

It was that passion that drew her to Minot.

I loved my job at the Northern Plains, but I really missed airports. Ive been working in airports for almost 20 years, Eckman said. I have a diverse knowledge of different airports and how they run because Ive worked at quite a few of them, from interning at something as large as Minneapolis/St. Paul to a smaller airport like Jamestown, North Dakota.

She previously had been airport manager in Jamestown, the deputy airport director for finance and administration in Rapid City, South Dakota, and the airport administrative assistant and airport real estate specialist at Paine Field/Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington.

Eckman earned a bachelors degree in business administration, with a major in airport management, from UND in May 1999 and a masters of fine arts from California State University-Long Beach in May 2004. She is working toward a masters in business administration. She also has completed the Accredited Airport Executive program.

Her husband, a contractor with Boeing, and children will be moving from Grand Forks to Minot later this year when an opportune time in the school year presents itself. The family enjoys biking and hiking and looks forward to getting outdoors in Minot.

Eckman also expects to be busy on airport projects that require attention, whether it is preparing for winter snow removal or next years wetland mitigation projects.

Her initial weeks on the job have been spent getting to know the airports personnel and tenants. Eckman said the chance to work in a beautiful terminal with a great staff has made for a good start. The team is really great at what they do, and Im hoping to enhance it to the next level, she said. Theres some processes that Ive seen implemented at other airports that Im trying to implement here to get us to the next level, to be the best airport we can be.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Minot Daily News.

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The jury, Largess said, agreed that race and gender were unlawful factors in his termination and that he was fired solely to make room for more diverse leaders at Novant Health.

The evidence went undisputed that Duvall met all of his goals and had no written criticisms, and, in fact, those reporting to Duvall were surprised by his termination. The absence of any documentation of concerns and the timeline of the plan were important to our case, Largess said.

Largess wants to make clear that the lawsuit was not a statement against diversity and inclusion programs. In fact, his client was a strong advocate for these programs at Novant and sat on the executive committee that supported the initiatives.

Duvall had received praise from the health systems diversity and inclusion chief for his efforts, and had even met with the pastor from his church to discuss ways to advance diversity there.

Duvall hired a Black woman as director of marketing and then promoted her to vice president. That woman now has Duvalls former position.

That was the irony in his termination, his strong belief in and actions toward diversity and inclusion. He is not an angry white man, Largess said.
But mass vaccination centers had limited staff at local health departments in early spring, officials said, straining their ability to execute the centers recommendations sooner.

By that point, the mass vaccination clinics had really died down and thats when the messaging around Everybody who wants to be vaccinated has already been vaccinated [started], Lugo said. We were firmly in the stance of No, they havent been reached. 

Lugo and Tanya Gonzalez, Sacred Hearts executive director, kept pushing, knowing they could practically guarantee the clinics success.

They knew how to conduct the COVID outreach and education needed because theyve been doing it since March 2020, the moment when Gonzalez sat at her kitchen table recording a Facebook Live video that would also air on Spanish radio  two primary avenues where Latinos were getting information at a time when little was in their language.

Back then, Gonzalez said, translations from both state and local authorities were taking days. The health departments, like they had throughout the pandemic, promised to figure it out.

But it took six months from when the rollout began for the first Sunday clinic to launch on July 13. The last was on Oct. 30.
As she returns regularly to Greenland, Moon, a researcher with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, said she finds herself mourning and grieving for the things we have lost already" because of past carbon dioxide emissions that trap heat.

But the decisions we make now about how much more carbon pollution Earth emits will mean an incredibly large difference between how much ice we keep and how much we lose and how quickly," she said.

The fate of the Arctic looms large during the climate talks in Glasgow  the farthest north the negotiations have taken place  because what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic. Scientists believe the warming there is already contributing to weather calamities elsewhere around the world.

If we end up in a seasonally sea ice-free Arctic in the summertime, thats something human civilization has never known, said former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, a University of Colorado environmental researcher. Thats like taking a sledgehammer to the climate system."

What's happening in the Arctic is a runaway effect.

Once you start melting, that kind of enhances more melt, said University of Manitoba ice scientist Julienne Stroeve.
House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, on Friday night conceded the majority in the House of Delegates to Republicans after remaining mail-in ballots did not save Democrats whose contests remained in doubt.

In unofficial results, Republican Karen Greenhalgh leads Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, by 147 votes, and Republican A.C. Cordoza leads Del. Martha Mugler, D-Hampton, by 185 votes, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Filler-Corn, who in 2020 became the first woman to preside over the chamber in its more than 400 years of governance, will lose the speakership in January after just two years at the helm. Her brief tenure follows the two-year stint as speaker for Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, who held the post from 2018 to 2020.

While the results of the election were not in our favor, our work for the people of Virginia goes on, Filler-Corn said in a statement. I will work to provide a smooth transition for the incoming speaker, and our Democratic caucus will work with the new majority in the House of Delegates and the governors administration to serve the best interests of all Virginians.

But make no mistake  we will hold them accountable if and when they attempt to reverse the progress we have made and move our Commonwealth backward.
This year, CIS wraparound supports are available to more than 83,000 students in 123 schools in 19 school districts across Virginia. But there are thousands more students, especially in historically marginalized and underserved communities, who would benefit from the integrated student supports, expanded learning time and opportunities, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership practices our affiliates can provide.

As policymakers continue to consider allocation of state funds, CIS-VA has proposed the creation of a Community School Fund to help districts across the state invest in a community school framework that best serves their students and communities. To remove barriers for our most vulnerable students, we first must remove barriers that prevent high-need, under-resourced districts from investing in long-term, evidence-driven solutions.

A Community School Fund would catalyze transformation in our schools, helping make Virginia a leader in advancing equity and redefining successful education in a post-pandemic world. Thousands of futures hang in the balance  and when students succeed, Virginia succeeds.

Daniel A. Domenech is chair of the Communities In Schools of Virginia board of directors, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators and former superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. Contact him at: ddomenech@aasa.org

Mark E. Emblidge is president and founder of Communities In Schools of Virginia, former president of the Virginia State Board of Education and former chair of the Richmond City School Board. Contact him at: vlime@earthlink.net

The CIS of Virginia network includes six affiliates  Chesterfield, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, Petersburg, Richmond and Southwest Virginia. Last year, 4,145 of the highest-need students received more than 36,000 intensive and individualized services. To learn more, visit: www.cisofva.org
Hanover was wrong on clinging to those Confederate school names before changing them last year. And itd be wrong not to act on a transgender policy.

But fear  as in so much of the politics in Virginia these days  is driving the transgender issue.

An oft-repeated story in the outcry against transgender bathroom access was a sexual assault that occurred in a girls bathroom of a Loudoun County High School. The incident stoked fears of random attacks on school girls by skirt-wearing boys. But according to the Washington Posts coverage of the Oct. 25 trial, the teenager had previously had consensual sex twice in the same bathroom before he assaulted the victim  a crime that occurred before Loudouns school district had a transgender policy.

People that believe that this is a political issue would indeed wait until they believe that they have a friendlier administration, says Jamie Nolan of Side by Side, a support organization for Virginias LGBTQ youth.

Side by Side is compiling a list of where Virginia school boards are in adopting a transgender policy. Im aware of others that are dragging their feet, she said.
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They said, no were still counting and we probably wont have anything finalized until early next week, he said.

Woodyard, on the other hand, said he plans to sort the issue out early next week. He said Friday night that he had not been contacted by anyone from the registrars office.

It seemed like a done deal, he said, referring to congratulatory remarks he received during the week. I had to seek out answers, but at this time Ive not received any to my satisfaction on how this all played out. Im going to continue to work on Monday to get the answers that I need to feel better about this.

The incorrect results posted earlier in the week were due to errors made by officers of election in the central absentee precinct when it came to counting the early votes, said Richard Langford, chairman of the Montgomery County Electoral Board. The wrong numbers were then communicated to the registrars office, he said.

The issue, Langford said, wasnt discovered until the post-Election Day canvassing performed by the electoral boarda process that is usually a formality but is done to ensure the correct count. The errors werent found and corrected until Thursday night, he said.
Radford City Councilman Onassis Burress resigned from the governing body at the end of October, according to a city release.

The councilman, who only served 15 months of his four-year term, said he was not anticipating leaving the area, but was offered a job opportunity in north Florida that he couldnt refuse.

I was approached by an opportunity to work with Simon Property Group serving as the area manager overseeing The Avenues mall [in Jacksonville, Florida] and the St. Augustine Premium Outlets, so it was a great opportunity, he said Friday morning. I was not actively seeking a new job, but its what I did before moving to Radford, so it was too great of an opportunity to pass up.

Burress was a financial adviser at a few different companies in the New River Valley since moving to Radford in 2017.

He quickly became involved in the community, first as the president of the Radford Chamber of Commerce, before resigning from the position to run for council in the spring of 2020.

Burress said he is most proud of his work with the American Legion, where the Air Force veteran helped the group secure funding to repair the groups aging building that sits on Main Street across from the high school.
Democratic and Republican legislative leaders have nominated six candidates  three from each party  to assist the Virginia Supreme Court in redrawing the states legislative and Congressional districts using new census data.

Under the Constitutional amendment passed by voters last year, the redistricting job fell to the high court when the bipartisan Virginia Redistricting Commission ended in a partisan deadlock. Rules published by the justices called for the party leaders of the House of Delegates and the Senate to recommend three or more special masters to help the justices draw the maps and they did so Monday.

The Democrats nominated:
And despite a huge win in a heavily attended primary in June  he got 61% of roughly 500,000 votes divided among five candidates, including the states Black lieutenant governor  McAuliffe was dogged by the perception that important Democratic voters were underwhelmed by him.

Black voters came through for McAuliffe, as totals out of such heavily minority cities as Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth and Richmond suggest, but not nearly as strongly as four years ago in the first backlash to Trump. The youth vote, some of it concentrated in college towns, also faded.

Montgomery County, home to Virginia Tech and adjacent to Radford University, had been in recent years an island of blue in a sea of red in rural Southwest Virginia. It flipped to Youngkin, costing Democrats one of seven seats in the House of Delegates and returning control of the 100-member chamber to the GOP after two years.

And consider McAuliffes performance in the Big 10 localities that have been the foundation of the Democratic ascendancy.

In contrast with lame-duck Gov. Ralph Northam, who won all 10 a year after Trumps election, McAuliffe carried seven of those cities and counties and usually by lighter margins than Northam.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The astronauts who will depart the International Space Station as early as this weekend will be stuck using diapers on the way home
" " Adrenochrome has been linked to schizophrenia treatments and the LSD counterculture movement. Now QAnon conspiracy theorists say it's part of a child sex-trafficking cult. So what is the truth behind this chemical compound? HowStuffWorks

If you've ever heard of adrenochrome, chances are you've been told some pretty lofty tales about the drug. In truth, adrenochrome is a rather innocuous chemical compound produced by the oxidation of the body's stress hormone adrenaline, also called epinephrine.

To better understand adrenochrome and how it become rather infamous in recent years, it's good to know a little background about epinephrine.

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Adrenochrome and Epinephrine

When you encounter a stressful, exciting, dangerous or threatening situation, the adrenal glands and some central nervous system neurons quickly release adrenaline (epinephrine) into the blood stream. This triggers the body's "fight or flight" response, which gives you the ability to quickly escape a predator or respond to a threat.

Shortly after adrenaline was discovered in 1901, it was found to have medical uses as well. Today, it's artificially synthesized and used to treat myriad medical conditions. For example, epinephrine is the active ingredient in the EpiPen, the autoinjector used in emergencies to treat serious allergic reactions or anaphylaxis. Epinephrine is also the primary drug used to reverse cardiac arrest. And it's sometimes administered to patients during acute asthma attacks or applied to wounds to slow bleeding.

Adrenochrome, on the other hand, "doesn't have any approved indications in the United States," says Dr. Ryan Marino, a medical toxicologist, emergency physician and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. "There's no available evidence to show that adrenochrome has any of the same efficacy [as epinephrine]. It has been studied, but from what I can tell it's never been shown to work at least as well as epinephrine."

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Research on Adrenochrome

With little evidence of its medical benefit, adrenochrome has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any uses. "Obviously, epinephrine would be the preferred and recommended agent between the two," Marino says. But another oxidation product of adrenaline called carbazochrome is available in other countries as a blood clotting agent.

Synthetic adrenochrome can be purchased in the U.S. from some biotechnology companies for research purposes only. And while recent studies have been conducted, the most popularized research dates back more than 70 years.

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Weird Science

In the early 1950s, Canadian psychiatrists Humphry Osmond and Abram Hoffer began working under the assumption posed by some researchers at the time that schizophrenia may be triggered by an excess of adrenaline. This drew Osmond and Hoffer's attention to derivatives of adrenaline, specifically adrenochrome.

Hoffer then decided he'd experiment with the hormone after which he claimed to have experienced schizophrenic symptoms (i.e., hallucinations and delusions). And thus, Osmond and Hoffer's "Adrenochrome Hypothesis" linking schizophrenia to an abnormal metabolism of adrenochrome was born.

It's important to note that around this same time, Osmond and Hoffer were also beginning to embark on new research investigating the potential therapeutic benefits of drugs such as LSD and mescaline, therapies that also had the potential to cause those so-called schizophrenic symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. (Osmond would later coin the term "psychedelics" to refer to hallucinogens.)

Reflecting back on the "Adrenochrome Hypothesis" in an article published in 1990 in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, the researchers said, "All we did know [about adrenochrome] was that it was readily formed by oxidation of adrenalin [sic] to a red compound in solution ... But we did suspected [sic] it might be a hallucinogen because ... it resembled a few known hallucinogens like ... LSD and ibogaine."

Adrenochrome's psychedelic properties, however, never actually panned out. And, as intriguing as those studies were, "they have been largely discredited due to, primarily, methodological failures. And I think they were unable to ever replicate any of the initial findings that were popularized," Marino says.

But, before the research on adrenochrome was thoroughly debunked, the drug was lumped into the same category  at least in the layman's eyes  as LSD and other psychedelic therapies, which set it up for celebrity status in popular culture.

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Pop Culture's Take

Adrenochrome's association with hallucinogens earned it a glimmer of fame during the psychedelic movement. It was mentioned in Aldous Huxley's 1954 book "The Doors of Perception;" was featured under the pseudonym "drenchrom" in Anthony Burgess' dystopian satire "A Clockwork Orange;" and had a cameo in Frank Herbert's "Destination: Void."

" " A protester marches while holding a sign that says "No More Adrenochrome" at a protest in St. Paul, Minnesota, against child sex trafficking. Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Perhaps the compound's greatest claim to fame is when gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, in his psychedelic classic "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," had a character describe the effects of adrenochrome as making "pure mescaline seem like ginger beer." Thompson later admitted to inflating adrenochrome's "high."

Some of those seduced by the tales of adrenochrome's psychedelic properties reported their rude awakening after trying the drug. Spanish writer Eduardo Hidalgo Downing, in his memoir "Adrenochrome and Other Mythical Drugs," said adrenochrome had "no value in psychoactive terms," adding it would be more useful to guzzle a cup of coffee instead. A few posters on the harm-reduction nonprofit site Erowid.org have also debunked the hallucinogenic claims.

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Conspiracy Theories Abound

After shedding its rap as a psychedelic drug, adrenochrome was poised to fall somewhat into obscurity until a few years ago when the far-right wing group QAnon built some rather disturbing conspiracy theories around the compound. Supporters claim that the blood of kidnapped children is being harvested by Hollywood celebrities and the "liberal elite" for adrenochrome, which they believe has psychedelic properties and holds the promise of immortality.

Despite those theories being repeatedly batted down, they keep popping up like Whac-A-Mole. "Unfortunately," Marino says, "it's the exciting, scary news headlines that are the ones people remember and not those that turn out to be true."

Now That's Crazy Remember Monsters Inc., the adorable 2001 Pixar movie in which monsters have to scare children so that they scream in order to power their city? Some conspiracy theorists believe the movie is a nod to QAnon's adrenochrome theory.
" " The iconic Sunken Lounge at the TWA Hotel boasts a split flap departures board by Solari di Udine and a view of the hotel's restored 1958 Lockheed Constellation "Connie." TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

In the days before TSA, full-body scanners and packed airplanes, flying the friendly skies was exciting and sophisticated. Take for example the Trans World Airlines (TWA's) terminal at New York International Airport. In 1956, Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen was charged with designing this terminal at New York's International Airport  known then as Idlewild and now as John F. Kennedy International Airport.

A jet-age masterpiece, the TWA Flight Center opened in 1962 and celebrated innovative architecture and the height of modern style. With its impossible-looking winged roof and curved interior walls, it was as much a massive sculpture as it was a functional building.

Sadly, Saarinen, who also designed the St. Louis Gateway Arch, among many other notable structures, passed away in 1961 at the young age of 51, so he never saw the completed space.

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The TWA Flight Center

Despite its cutting-edge design, the TWA Flight Center had some problems moving into the 21st century. Designed in the 1950s when propeller planes were common and supersonic transports (SSTs) were expected to be the next big thing in air travel, the building was "really locked in time," and wasn't configured to handle planes like the 747, explains Richard Southwick, partner and director of historic preservation at New York's Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners. The waiting areas also were fit for roughly 100 people  about one planeload of passengers.

" " The TWA Flight Center, circa 1956. Balthazar Korab

Beyer Blinder Belle became involved in the project in 1995, just a year after the building was designated a historic landmark, and as the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey was trying to decide how to preserve it. By then, TWA had gutted the building, and it was wholly different from Saarinen's original design.

By 2001, TWA had sold the building to American Airlines, which was followed by 9/11, so the building was "mothballed," Southwick says. It sat vacant and obsolete, the glamour of the '60s packed away with demolition possibly on the horizon. "As a preservationist, the worst thing for any building is to have it vacant," Southwick says. "A building is dead unless it's active."

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How They Revived a Landmark

Instead of demolition, the building was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, and Southwick's firm assisted the Port Authority to put together a request for proposal in hopes of giving the TWA Flight Center new life.

But there were issues. Developers didn't want to touch it because it was too expensive. They wanted it fixed up first, so the Port Authority invested about $20 million, while Beyer Blinder Belle handled restoration of the major spaces.

The project still required demolition  only additions made to the structure after the final stages of Saarinen's original design were completed were torn down. That set the stage for the hotel development and made the business plans financially sound.

"It took 22 government agencies and over 180 firms working tirelessly over five years to get the project up and running," says Kaunteya Chitnis, senior vice president of acquisitions and development of MCR, the developer of the hotel project. "It's a massive public-private partnership."

" " Visitors to the Sunken Lounge and the Paris Cafe by Jean-Georges can watch planes take off as they sip cocktails. TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

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The TWA Hotel Today

Today, the original terminal is now the lobby for the TWA Hotel. It includes 521 guestrooms accessible through a tube from JFK Terminal 5, and entering is like walking right into the 1960s, except there's wifi. The hotel has two wings: Saarinen and Hughes, the second named for aviation great Howard Hughes, who at the time the Flight Center opened was the majority shareholder in the airline.

The original baggage claim is now a ballroom, but "everything else is where it had been," says Southwick, and spaces like the London Bar, Lisbon Lounge and Paris Cafe retained their original names.

"[We] did a pretty faithful restoration of the space," Southwick says. It's a who's who of mid-century modern design: The 1960s TWA Flight Center featured furniture by Eames, fabric from Knoll and a fountain by Noguchi. By the time of Beyer Blinder Belle's renovation, the famed sunken seating area had been taken out, so the architects had to consult drawings to re-create it. For the lounge, hotel rooms and event spaces, they procured furniture from Knoll, which still produces Saarinen-designed pieces like the famous Womb and Tulip chairs.

" " The Paris Cafe by Jean-Georges serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as amazing views. TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

Most of the signature red carpet was gone, and what was left had faded considerably. The team went to Yale University where some of Saarinen's drawings are held and found a drawer of samples including carpet that had never seen daylight.

"The color was very true," says Southwick of the Chili Pepper Red that once again lines the Sunken Lounge  now a Gerber Group bar  the hotel hallways and other areas. Hotel check-in takes place at the former departures desks, although it's now managed on a tablet. Restored penny tile and a split-flap departures board handcrafted by Solari di Udine complete the mid-century airport terminal vibe.

Through the expansive windows, visitors get a view of the Connie, the 1958 Constellation airplane that's now home to a cocktail lounge. The entire space feels authentically "Mad Men."

In addition to 512 rooms, the TWA Hotel includes several dining and drinking spaces: the Paris Cafe by Jean-Georges, The Sunken Lounge, The Pool Bar, the Connie Cocktail Lounge, a Food Hall and Intelligentsia Coffee. There is a library and bookstore called The Reading Room that is a partnership between Phaidon and Herman Miller, along with a handful of additional shopping options. A 10,000-square-foot fitness center is open 24 hours a day and is the world's largest airport gym.

In addition to teaching about the past through its architecture and design, the hotel features multiple exhibitions. There is a TWA Museum, a display of TWA uniforms throughout the decades, an exhibit about Hughes and, of course, information about Saarinen.

" " Hotel rooms at the TWA Hotel have the second-thickest glass in the world. TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

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Stay an Hour, Stay Overnight

Due to its position as a hotel located at a 24-hour, international airport  the fifth busiest in the U.S.  TWA offers travelers short-term respite with its Day Stay option. Available in increments of four hours or more, time slots like 7 to 11 a.m., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or noon to 6 p.m. give fliers the chance to freshen up, go to the pool, hit the gym and nap between flights.

Fliers from the area can also use the hotel as a place to stay overnight before taking an early morning flight, eliminating the need to drive to the airport super early or worrying about getting caught in traffic. In fact, MCR's Chitnis says the average length of stay at the TWA Hotel is just 1.1 nights.

Of course, the hotel itself is an attraction. "The Connie has been a huge draw; it's one of four remaining in the world," Chitnis says. "But the Flight Center itself has been the celebrity of the project. There are no amount of photographs or pictures that are going to describe the feeling of standing in that building."

During 2015 Open House New York Weekend, three days when the New York City unlocks the doors of important buildings for special tours and events, more than 10,000 people visited the building in four hours. The interest in the building has not waned, and architecture aficionados, Saarinen fans and aerophiles now have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage any day of the year.

"I hope that when a guest goes to the TWA Hotel, they have a really positive experience of flight," says Southwick. "When flying was not only comfortable and convenient, but it was also fun."

" " Restoring the new TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport was the combined effort of 22 government agencies and more than 180 firms. TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

Now That's Amazing The interior of the TWA Flight Center is a spectacular homage to the mid-century modern penchant for rethinking standard shapes and materials. But the building itself is a "structural tour de force," Southwick says. The entire Flight Center is supported on only four columns. Each column holds up two corners of each of the lobes. Southwick compares the building's structure to a bird with big wings and just two little legs, or a dinosaur with significant weight supported by two central legs.
SIOUX CITY -- A student mentored by Siouxland Tanzania Educational Medical Ministries, or STEMM, graduated from high school with the top academic score in the entire East African country.

"It is through this support my life changed. STEMM gave me an opportunity and hope for my future," Leocadia Mbukilo Kayandakamo wrote in a letter provided to The Journal.

STEMM, an interdenominational Christian ministry, offers medical, educational, spiritual and humanitarian assistance to children in need. It was founded in 1996 and organized in 1997 by Dr. Steve Meyer, Rev. Jon Gerdts, Mike Boose, Lazaro Nyalandu and Dana Meyer, who led a group of 10 Siouxland residents on the first trip to Tanzania in 1997.

For the last 25 years, Meyer said STEMM has been sponsoring Tanzanian children throughout their high school and university studies. He said STEMM provides each child up to $500 to cover the costs of transportation to and from school, school uniforms, test fees and more. He said STEMM also has mentorship and leadership clubs in 28 schools in the country. Leocadia was one of those students chosen for the STEMM scholarship program.

"She is the No. 1 student in the entire country of Tanzania and the only girl in the top 10, and also the only girl who has ever been No. 1 that anyone can remember," Meyer said. "It's just incredible."

Meyer said STEMM makes it a "demonstrable priority" to educate Tanzanian women, because they then take that education and use it to change their villages for the better. He said STEMM's goal is to develop 500 young leaders each year in Tanzania who can make an impact for generations to come.

"It's a really amazing validation and testimony to what the people of Siouxland have done supporting STEMM's educational program," Meyer said of Leocadia's achievements. "It's not like we just throw money at the problem, we actually really try to become almost like surrogate tutors and parents for these kids. A lot of them are orphan-kids or kids who are growing up in a mud hut out in the middle of the jungle somewhere. They don't have many resources."

Leocadia wrote that STEMM paid her school fees and provided her with journals. She said she was also able to attend the STEMM club, where she said STEMM members meet every week to "help each other on subjects, behaviors and personal matters."

"Today, I am so excited to tell myself and the world that I finished high school with the best performance in Tanzania. I scored division (1.3) which is the highest score. Also, I am the first student in the country (Tanzania One) in the National Examination. I am so thankful for STEMM's support, my parents, teachers and fellow Machame students," wrote Leocadia, who will attend the University of Dar es Salaam and study law. "I want to be a lawyer so I can help my community and young girls of Tanzania achieve their dream."

Meyer, a Dakota Dunes-based orthopedic surgeon and his team have made several trips to Tanzania, offering ongoing assistance to the children of the African country. In addition, the ministry has also trained Tanzanian doctors, built roads and an orphanage, and provided other opportunities over the years. STEMM feeds 5,000 Tanzanian children daily at school, according to Meyer.

In 2017, 35 people were killed in a school bus crash near Karatu, Tanzania. Three children survived the crash, were flown to Sioux City, where CNOS doctors operated on them at MercyOne Medical Center. The children, nicknamed "Miracle Kids," were able to return to their homes in three months. They have since graduated from high school, according Meyer.

STEMM is holding its annual auction, "A Night of Hope," on Nov. 11 at the South Sioux City Marriott Riverfront. Proceeds will benefit the children of Tanzania.

"I'm so excited about what's going on with STEMM. In addition to our education program, we have 51 amazing, beautiful orphan-kids, who, were they not in our orphanage would be on the streets. They would be dead. They'd be trafficked. They would have dismal lives," Meyer said. "Now, they are raised in a beautiful family environment with mommas and aunties and brothers and sisters."

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SIOUX CITY -- For more than 50 years, Jeff Hackett kept mostly quiet about his service in Vietnam.

He shared few details about his year spent in the field and carrying the radio pack with a long antenna that made him an easy enemy target.

Within the past few months, the Marine veteran has begun to open up as a hospice volunteer meeting with other veterans. He opened up a little more Friday, providing an interview with the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

"I am happy and pleased that people are beginning to pay a little bit of attention to Vietnam and the people who served there," Hackett said.

Hackett was one of 12 World War II and Vietnam veterans scheduled to come to the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard base to share their stories, which were recorded and will be sent to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The program, started in 2000, collects and preserves for public access the firsthand accounts of veterans from World War I to the present.

After U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced plans for his office to host the event, Hackett was contacted about sharing his story. He was happy to talk about his time in boot camp and his year of service in 1969, when he served with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment near Da Nang. He spent much of that year with his squad in the field, seeking and engaging enemy forces. For the latter half, he was a radio operator, calling in artillery and gunship strikes and requests for medical evacuations.

"I'm interested in them knowing what happened to us, not necessarily what happened to me," Hackett said.

Because of the adversarial treatment many U.S. servicemen received after returning from Vietnam, Hackett never brought up his service, unless he was around other veterans.

"You just buried it, kept it in and went about your business," he said.

The Veterans History Project allows veterans like Hackett to share those long-buried stories with help from volunteers and preserve them for future generations to study.

Two students from Sioux City's Western Iowa Tech Community College recorded the video interviews, which were conducted by Morningside University students. For Piper Ballantine, a Morningside criminal justice major from Vail, Iowa, and a Marine veteran herself, it was an honor to interview Hackett and hear what he endured in Vietnam.

"I have read things like that but never heard an individual tell me things like that," Ballantine said. "I just love to hear other stories and hardships they had to go through. Some was relatable. Some was unimaginable that I never had to go through.

"It makes me very thankful to those who served before me and proud to continue the legacy to serve as a Marine."

Producing the video of the veterans' interviews was a great educational and career experience for the WIT students, but it goes deeper than that, said Chris Mansfield, instructional program coordinator for mass communications.

"The technical experience is one thing," Mansfield said. "Being able to experience and listen to what these veterans tell us is a great experience."

Sen. Grassley's office began hosting the Veterans History Project events four years ago, and Friday's was the first in Sioux City. Penne Barton, Grassley's deputy chief of staff, said that by the end of the day, more than 50 Iowa veterans will have had their stories recorded for Library of Congress preservation over that four-year period.

"Sen. Grassley appreciates veterans and wanted to honor them," Barton said. "This is a great way to preserve their stories."

That preservation was one reason Hackett decided to sit down and tell his story. The roughly 45-minute interview obviously couldn't capture everything he experienced, but he hoped that those who view it might find it useful.

"In some ways it's, good is too strong a word to use, but people need to hear these stories," Hackett said.

Talking about their service can be helpful for veterans, he said, to unburden themselves of stories they've kept inside all these years.

"In some ways, it feels better," he said of his own experience sharing stories. "It has a good effect. It's not painful."

For all of us, whether we served in the military or not, hearing veterans' stories can be enlightening. Here's hoping more veterans will come forward and share their stories, bringing our history to life and preserving it for the future.

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NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  A federal jury has convicted a six-time convicted felon from Virginia on multiple charges, including sex trafficking and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

LeAnthony Winston, 34, of Norfolk, trafficked two women in early 2020 and coerced them into engaging in commercial sex, according to a news release from prosecutors announcing his Thursday conviction.

Prosecutors also said Winstons co-conspirator trained the women, created advertisements, and set up commercial sex dates with clients while Winston set the prices and kept the proceeds.

Winston was arrested in April 2020 after authorities said Norfolk police responded to a motel where he had beaten, choked, and threatened to kill one of the women over money. After Winston was arrested, he continued to coerce the second female to engage in commercial sex and threatened her over a jail call, authorities said.

Court records and evidence presented at Winston trial said that when he was released from prison in December 2019 for firearm and drug convictions, he got another firearm and began to traffic drugs, the news release said.

Winston faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison when he's sentenced in March. Tonya Hardesty, 37, of Norfolk, whom prosecutors idenfied as his co-conspirator, pleaded guilty to promotion of prostitution in May and will be sentenced in December, the news release said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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RICHMOND, Va (AP)  Republican Glenn Youngkin spent months talking to voters about his plans to roll back Democrats' left, liberal, progressive agenda." When he takes office in January as Virginia's next governor, he'll need to talk to Senate Democrats about that.

Youngkin's victory was part of a Republican sweep that saw the GOP retake Virginia's two other statewide offices and Democrats concede control of the state House. But in the Senate, where no one was up for election this year, Democrats will still have a narrow majority.

Were the Senate Democratic Alamo, said one Democratic member, Scott Surovell.

Days after Youngkin's defeat of Terry McAuliffe, a former governor and longtime Democratic Party fundraiser, conversations in Richmond pivoted from campaign rhetoric to rosy talk of bipartisanship, with elected officials in both parties expressing hope that next years legislative session will provide opportunity to find common ground. Youngkin is reaching out by phone to Democrats and Republicans and planning to meet with Senate lawmakers at a finance retreat later this month, according to Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment. He also joined outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam for lunch, and gave public remarks suggesting he might turn to the Democrat with questions.

He said during the campaign he was going to govern in a bipartisan manner. His campaign was all about unifying Virginians under a specific vision for the future, and he intends to fulfill that promise, said Devin OMalley, a Youngkin spokesman.

Youngkin did position himself during the campaign as a unifier who would transcend the nation's partisan rancor. But he also selectively engaged with the news media, sought to avoid specifics on controversial issues such as abortion and gun control and spent months refusing to acknowledge that President Joe Biden had been legitimately elected, drawing sharp criticism from Democrats.

In a statement Friday, the state's Democratic Party chairwoman, Susan Swecker, said the fight for Virginia's future has begun.

Youngkin has made a handful of appearances in the news media  including with Fox News host Tucker Carlson  but has not held a formal news conference to take a wide range of questions. In a statement after election night, he struck a conciliatory tone, thanking his supporters and saying to those who voted differently, "Thank you for fighting for what you believe in. I look forward to coming together and earning your support over the next four years.

The former private equity executive and first-time candidate campaigned on what he called a Day One game plan, most of which cannot be enacted on his first day because it will need legislative approval.

It includes a wide range of tax cuts, including the elimination of the state's grocery tax, a 12-month suspension of the gas tax and one-time rebates. His platform also calls for boosting funding for law enforcement, raising teacher pay, opening new charter schools, restoring the requirement to show a photo ID to vote, and banning critical race theory, which holds that racism is systemic in Americas institutions. It is not being taught currently in any of the U.S.'s K-12 public schools, according to the The National School Boards Association.

Youngkin, who is independently wealthy and has pledged to donate the salary he receives as governor to charity, set up a transition office in a state government building this week. He told a conservative radio host that Jeff Goettman, a top campaign staffer and former official in the Department of the Treasury under President Donald Trump, would chair his transition. Inauguration Day is Jan. 15.

OMalley said Youngkin visited a food bank and a mosque Friday and was making his way through an extensive, bipartisan call list. He declined comment on whether Youngkin had been in touch with Dominion Energy, a powerful player at the state Capitol that drew the candidate's ire after it backed a secretive anti-Youngkin political action committee.

No other details about key staffers or Cabinet members were immediately announced.

Dick Saslaw, the Senate majority leader, said he had a very nice, friendly call with Youngkin that didn't veer into policy.

There could be a common ground on education, there could be a common ground on the environment. There could be a common ground on so many things. Well just have to wait and see, Saslaw said.

With just a 21-19 majority in the Senate  where newly elected Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears will cast tie-breaking votes  Democrats can't afford a single defector if they want to block a bill.

That reality has sharpened a focus on two Democratic members, Joe Morrissey  a Catholic who personally opposes abortion  and Chap Petersen, a moderate from northern Virginia. The two not infrequently vote against their caucus on a range of issues. But the GOP also has a few members who buck party-line votes.

The field may lend itself to bipartisan cooperation," said Republican Sen. Richard Stuart, who sometimes votes with an independent streak of his own.

Morrissey and Petersen have drawn comparisons to U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have forced cutbacks to President Joe Biden's sweeping policy initiatives. But several Democrats said that comparison was overblown and the caucus would stick together. Saslaw was adamant there would be no outright party-switching.

Morrissey said he would not vote for a Texas-style abortion law and sees the Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a womans right to an abortion as part of the fabric of the country. But he also said there has to be middle ground, implying that he would consider some restrictions.

He also expressed some skepticism about how long the post-election honeymoon period would last.

At the beginning of every session, everything is kumbaya, everyone holding hands, then it often takes about one week for the bipartisan divides to be created, Morrissey said. Its important for moderates on both sides to bridge those gaps.

Todd Gilbert, the House minority leader and a contender for speaker, said in a news conference that his caucus's priority will be education. While The Associated Press has not yet called each contested House race, Democrats conceded control Friday night.

He said Republicans will be focused on tweaking, not scrapping, a recently enacted marijuana legalization bill. Asked whether the GOP will seek to reinstate restrictions on abortion that Democrats rolled back when they were in full control of state government, he suggested that issue wouldn't be a focus.

Gilbert predicted the House and Senate might actually have a smoother relationship than when the Democrats controlled his chamber. The two groups of Democrats often spoke disparagingly of one another, and the House routinely pushed through bills, only for the more moderate Senate to spike them.

I think were going to get along fine from an institutional standpoint, Gilbert said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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RICHMOND, Va (AP)  Republican Glenn Youngkin spent months talking to voters about his plans to roll back Democrats' left, liberal, progressive agenda." When he takes office in January as Virginia's next governor, he'll need to talk to Senate Democrats about that.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  A truck driver who ousted the powerful New Jersey Senate president in the election previously posted online calling Islam a false religion, comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust and defending rioters at the Capitol.

Republican Edward Durr apologized on Friday after media outlets highlighted the posts. His victory over Steve Sweeney, widely regarded as the second-most powerful Democrat in state government, in Tuesdays election shocked the states political establishment. Durr spent a paltry sum on his campaign.

On Thursday and Friday, media reports highlighted posts Durr had made on Twitter and Facebook, including some critical of immigrants, boasting of defying state COVID-19 mask mandates, and making misogynist attacks on Democratic elected officials like then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Durr issued a statement Thursday night to radio station WHYY, and Friday to the website New Jersey Globe apologizing for the posts.

Im a passionate guy and I sometimes say things in the heat of the moment, Durr said in identical comments to both outlets. If I said things in the past that hurt anybodys feelings, I sincerely apologize.

Twitter showed Friday that Durr's account had been deactivated by the user.

In a screenshot of a 2019 Twitter post captured by a WNYC reporter, Durr wrote, Mohammed was a pedophile! Islam is a false religion! Only fools follow Muslim teachings! It is a cult of hate!

I support everybodys right to worship in any manner they choose and to worship the God of their choice, Durr said in his statement to the media outlets. "I support all people and I support everybodys rights. Thats what I am here to do, work for the people and support their rights.

Durr did not respond to phone and email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday. A spokesperson for New Jersey Senate Republicans declined comment Friday, referring a reporter to Durr's statement.

Also on Friday, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations called on Durr to meet with Muslim leaders and renounce hate.

In other posts, Durr seemed to equate not opposing COVID-19 vaccination mandates to remaining silent during the Holocaust, including with the post a photo of a yellow star that the National Socialist party forced Jewish people to wear.

He also said on Facebook that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was not an insurrection but an unauthorized entry by undocumented federal employers.

Durr's Facebook posts show he closely followed and posted in support of former President Donald Trump's baseless claims about election fraud. On Jan. 7, he wrote on Facebook, I do not agree or support the entering of the Capitol! But I was not surprised after courts refuse to do their job!

He also boasted last year of defying New Jersey's indoor mask requirements while visiting stores, and appeared to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic.

Durr also used his Facebook account to highlight his campaign activities, posting photos of himself and others speaking with voters at their homes. He conveyed holiday wishes, posted about his dogs and wrote about his successes trying to eat more healthily.

Durr, a commercial truck driver, defeated Sweeney in southern New Jersey's 3rd district, spending just $2,300 on his campaign. He was largely unknown in state politics before Election Day.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who narrowly won a second term over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, called Durr's posts outrageous during a public event Friday. He said he was stunned over Sweeney's loss.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)  Twenty years after a fire destroyed the dome of the University of Iowas Old Capitol, the UI now is preparing to redo failing gilding at an estimated cost of $200,000 to $500,000.

The UI will pay OPN Architects $23,500 to study the causes and extents of gilding failure on the Old Capitol dome and develop recommendations for repair and restoration, according to a contract signed in September. The study may include drone photography, sampling of the gold leaf and consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office.

Work on any needed repairs will begin in spring 2022 pending the outcome of the study, said Wendy Moorehead, UI assistant director of facilities management. Alongside this timeline, the campus is excited to celebrate the upcoming year representing the 175th anniversary of the UI, and the Old Capitol dome, at the heart of campus, will represent that important milestone.

Another major milestone was the Nov. 20, 2001, fire that destroyed the dome, damaged much of the historic building and kept the Old Capitol shuttered for five years.

The Old Capitol Building, for which the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1840, was to be the hub of state government after Iowa City was chosen as the state capital in 1839.

Many of the Devonian limestone blocks used to build the Greek Revival edifice were quarried along the Iowa River, near North Liberty, floated on barges and then hauled by oxen to the construction site, according to the Old Capitol Museum website.

Four rooms were done by December 1842, when the Iowa Legislative Assembly met in the building for the first time. The Legislature decided in 1857 to move the states capital to Des Moines, but that year also appropriated $4,000 to finish the Iowa City building.

Old Cap housed most of the UI classes after the university was founded in 1847. The building also served as the library, chapel, armory and office space for administrators.

The original dome of the Old Capitol was copper. But the UI paid $200 in 1920 to have 6,500 3-inch gold leaf pieces applied to the surface, The Gazette reported in 2001. Periodic regilding has happened since, with the UI paying $304,000 in 1993.

Early Nov. 20, 2001, contractors using open flame torches and heat guns to remove asbestos and paint from the dome accidentally started a fire. The blaze flared through the golden dome, bringing students, faculty and Iowa City residents to the Pentacrest to watch the fire in dismay and horror.

The dome was destroyed and much of the historic building was damaged by smoke and water, causing the UI to close the building for five years. Firefighters were able to cover many artifacts and furniture, including desks used by Iowas earliest lawmakers, to protect them from water damage.

The fire ignited years of legal battles over who would pay the $1.3 million restoration cost. The UI had not issued workers permits for heat-based tools, but with many contractors on the job, there was a lot of finger pointing. In 2018, UI settled for $600,000 from six contractors.

A new dome crowned Old Capitol Building in February 2003. The 12,000-pound wooden structure was gilded on the ground and then hoisted to the top of the building. Conrad Schmitt Studios, of New Berlin, Wis., did the gilding work in 2003, the UI reported.

Gilding, the process of applying gold leaf to a surface, is a specialty craft done by a limited number of studios across the United States. Michael Kramer, president and founder of the Gilders Studio in Olney, Md, said even fewer studios focus on large-scale outdoor projects like building domes.

It was probably more prevalent in the late 1800s into the early 20th century to gild exterior ornament, Kramer told The Gazette. But we gilded a new building in Dubai a few years ago.

The Gilders Studio custom orders its gold leaf from an Italian company, which uses electric hammers to beat an alloy of mostly 23 3/4-karat gold into thin sheets that are put on rolls for application. The leaf is so thin a stack of 10,000 sheets is no thicker than a dime, Kramer said.

On exterior surfaces, like a building dome, artists often go up on scaffolds or lifts to prime the area and then carefully roll on a single layer of the gold leaf, which is metallic and reflects light.

In some cases, as was the case at the Old Cap in 2003, artists do the work on the ground and then the dome is wrapped and carefully lifted to the top of the building, Kramer said.

If its done correctly, you wont have to redo it for 30 to 35 years, Kramer said. If you dont do it correctly, it can fail in as few as two years.

The Conrad Schmitt Studio did not return a message left with an employee Thursday.

The Gilders Studio did the gilding on the Dubuque County Courthouse in 1994, he said, and that work is just now starting to show wear that can be seen from the ground.

The golden dome of the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines was last regilded in 2005 and was still looking sharp enough to not be included in a 2017 restoration project, the Des Moines Register reported.

Weather takes a toll on gilded surfaces, with hail and hurricanes being the worst, Kramer said. Rain and snow dont seem to erode the gold leaf as much. Over time, ultraviolet rays from the sun break down the seal between the sheets of gold leaf, he said.

The Gilders Studio repaired some of the raised corners on the New York Life building in Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Kramer said.

The UI hired Kramer in 2014 to inspect the gilding on the Old Capitol dome, he said.

They had me go up on a lift an inspect it, he said. It was wearing a lot. The wear was premature.

Kramer said his studio offers a five-year warranty on gilding  longer if the building owner pays for inspections  but after that he doesnt think a company could be held responsible for the condition of the gold leaf.

The money for the UI dome restoration will come from the Treasurers Temporary Investments/Building renewal funds, Moorehead said.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Gazette.

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Having endured widespread ridicule over his plan for a massive and unconventional college residence hall in California, amateur architect and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger is defending his design.

In an interview Monday with Architectural Record, Munger, 97, struck a defiant tone as he called opponents of his planned 11-story, 4,536-bedroom residence hall at the University of California, Santa Barbara idiots and predicted that similar buildings will sprout up all over America.

One of the biggest criticisms concerns the lack of exterior windows in 94% of the bedrooms, which will all be single-occupancy. The residence hall, referred to as Munger Hall, is projected to open in 2025.

Likening that design to Disney cruise ships, Munger, an Omaha native who currently resides in Los Angeles, said not incorporating windows in most bedrooms allowed his team, which includes principal architect Navy Banvard from the firm VTBS Architects, to create single-occupancy bedrooms.

Mungers desire to create single-occupancy bedrooms, he told Architectural Record, stemmed from his experiences of having to share rooms with unrelated strangers, which he called awful.

To compensate for the lack of windows, bedrooms will have virtual windows that could, if students wanted, simulate natural light.

So we will give the students knobs, and they can have whatever light they want. Real windows dont do that, Munger told the publication.

VTBS Architects noted that the bedrooms surround shared common spaces, and the residence hall will feature many amenities on the top and bottom floors to encourage socialization.

Every effort has been made to encourage student life co-living and collaboration, VTBS wrote in a statement sent via UCSB.

VTBS also sought to dispel a widely reported claim that the building will have only two entries. While there will be two main entrances, the building will have 14 additional entrances and exits.

Munger framed his design as one of necessity for a campus that, according to Santa Monica-based public radio network KCRW, sees some students living out of vans. The university is also partnering with hotels this semester to house students.

The motivations behind Mungers design are commendable, said Steven Ginn, the founding principal of Steven Ginn Architects in Omaha. He credited Munger for trying to increase housing capacity in a substantial manner. The university previously said Munger Hall would increase campus housing capacity by 50%.

Charlies looking to pragmatically solve a problem, Ginn told The World-Herald, citing Santa Barbaras high cost of living and limited land availability. They (university officials) are literally pinched into a corner in such a way that theyre kind of forced to do this.

Munger told Architectural Record that he hasnt decided how much of the buildings cost he will cover. The Santa Barbara Independent earlier reported that Munger made a $200 million donation so long as his blueprints are followed exactly.

UCSB does not currently have an estimated cost for the building, which will measure almost 1.68 million square feet, university spokeswoman Andrea Estrada told The World-Herald.

Critics have interpreted Mungers condition for funding as egotistical. Ginn doesnt agree with that opinion, although he called Mungers stipulation a very interesting thing to do.

I think that part of his thinking is to make this thing happen. Hes trying to limit the variance that can happen to this thing, Ginn said. I dont think thats so much ego-driven as it is pragmatism.

Nicole Peterson, an assistant professor of interior design at Iowa State University, said there is at least one merit to the residence halls design. She pointed to plans to prefabricate bedrooms off campus so they are ready for installation once at the construction site. Munger said that process can help save time and money.

I think that is a really smart idea, Peterson said. You dont have to wait for subcontractors to finish one part before the next discipline comes in. You can have more control over the construction schedule.

Ginn expressed some reservations about the ambitious scope of the project, particularly in an area not accustomed to high-density structures.

Theyre hitting this thing with the biggest, bluntest hammer they can throw at it, Ginn said. Theyre trying to solve the problem all in one fell swoop. And Im not sure thats the best answer.

According to architect and former UCSB architectural consultant Dennis McFadden, at the equivalent of 221,000 students per square mile, the hall would qualify as the eighth-densest neighborhood in the world, just behind an area in the Bangladesh capital city of Dhaka.

Although university officials have so far approved his proposed design, Munger told Architectural Record his design still needs to be approved by the California Coastal Commission and there are no guarantees.

Pending state environmental reviews, the new residence hall is expected to break ground next April.

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Maybe white students deserve more credit than they get. Maybe  apologies to The Who  the kids are all right.

Leo Glaze seems to think so, based on a tweet I chanced upon last week. In it, he described himself as an educator who has spent his career in predominantly white private middle schools. I think I teach . . . history about as hard & honest as any teacher in america, he wrote. And when kids learn the truth about this country, theyre shocked and pissed off theyve been lied to. Not uncomfortable.

In so saying, he provided a voice, albeit by proxy, to the one group thats been largely missing from the nations rancorous and ongoing debate over the teaching of African-American history. Weve heard ad nauseam from lawmakers who say the subject must be banned because it makes white kids, yes, uncomfortable. And from parents who say it makes them ask painful questions.

But we havent heard from the kids themselves. If this teacher is right, maybe we should. Glaze, who told me by phone that he teaches at the Waverly School in Pasadena, said that in his experience, once kids  Black, white, brown and otherwise  learn this history, they tend to ask one thing: How come they didnt know this already? How come nobody ever told them this before?

Hes convinced its not really because theyre too young. Rather, its because their elders themselves dont know how to process Americas history of genocide, land theft, enslavement, rape, oppression and assault. Down that path lie stony truths that, of necessity, lend a mournful note to ones singing of God Bless The USA.

Which is why some of us fear to walk that path. And one can make a case that fear is the great unspoken engine of American history.

As Glaze pointed out, one of the arguments against ending slavery was,  If we give them their freedom, whats going to happen to us? Theres the whole idea . . . Black people are going to go around and drag white people out of their houses and murder them. That notion repeats throughout history: If we let them hold office, if we give them the vote, if we allow them to be educated, if we stop terrorizing them on a daily basis, what will they do to us?

And the answer has always proven to be: nothing. But still that fear recurs, even now, in the debate over education. As Glaze frames it, If we admit to all these falsehoods and wrongs, if we try to actually make good on this stuff, whats going to happen to us?

To understand the hardiness of that fear is to understand why so many of us feel the need to be packing heat in order to go out and get the mail.

I grant that Im aware of no study offering empirical proof that kids are less traumatized by  and more open to  learning true American history than their elders. But Ive seen plenty anecdotal evidence matching Glazes experience. And it leaves me wondering what the kids make of all this. Have they been taught the painful truths of American history? How did it affect them? And if they havent been taught, would they like to be?

Id love to hear from them, either via email (lpitts@miamiherald.com) or Twitter (@LeonardPittsJr1). Maybe well revisit the subject in a future column. Not to idealize young people, who have a nasty habit of becoming adults, but I suspect they have no need or desire of being treated like hothouse flowers. I bet the kids are, indeed, all right.

Its the grown-ups we have to worry about.

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The indictment of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was disturbing and shocking, calling into question the congressmans veracity while again revealing the seedy underbelly of campaign financing.

The first major Nebraska public official to face criminal charges in modern times, Fortenberry is charged with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators and one of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts in conjunction with conversations related to an illegal contribution made to his 2016 campaign

The $30,200 that went to Fortenberrys campaign was part of $180,000 that Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, who as a foreign national is prohibited from making political contributions in the United States, funneled through a group of Californians to congressional campaigns.

It must be noted that Fortenberry is not charged in conjunction with his campaign taking the money. Nor was former Rep. Lee Terry of Omaha, whose campaign received $5,200 from Chagoury.

Rather, the charges are related to a June 2018 phone call made by that individual to Fortenberry in which the individual reportedly repeatedly told him that the $30,000 had been provided to him by Chagoury and distributed to others at the fundraiser to be donated under their names.

According to the indictment, Fortenberry did not file an amended 2016 campaign financing report disclosing the true contributors from the fundraisers. Nor did he attempt to return or give up the illegal contributions until July, 2019, after his second interview with FBI agents.

In those interviews with the FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office, the indictment says, Fortenberry made several false and misleading statements, leading to the indictment.

The charges brought against Fortenberry by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles are serious. The indictment is an indication that the grand jury found evidence that a crime had been committed and that there is some evidence that Fortenberry committed the crime.

Contrary to the claims of Fortenberry defenders, the investigation and charges are not a political assault on the Republican congressman by a Democratic Department of Justice under President Biden.

The L.A. based investigation began in September 2016, four months before the Obama administration left office, when the host of a February 2016 fundraiser where Fortenberry received the contributions began cooperating with FBI and IRS

The investigation continued throughout the four years of the Trump administration under William Barrs Department of Justice.

Fortenberry is scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 14, but legal maneuvering is likely to push that date months into the future.

Until then, Fortenberry will continue to represent the First Congressional District in the House, albeit in limited fashion. He was forced, by House rules, to resign from his post on the powerful Appropriations Committee while under indictment.

The charges have also shaken Nebraska politics. The nine-term congressman was expected to easily be reelected in 2022. But his legal problems have generated speculation and behind-the-scenes preparation by potential candidates in both parties, who will have to decide by March 1 to file for the primary election.

It is possible that Fortenberry could not run for reelection following the charges or that his legal proceedings could throw Nebraska politics into limbo throughout most of next year.

For those reasons, it is hoped that case against Fortenberry, who has the presumption of innocence, is resolved fairly and as quickly as possible for the congressman and the good of the state.

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Its impossible to understand the history of race and police brutality without the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and the events that led up to them. Rodney King, a Black motorist, was beaten and kicked by four LAPD officers after a traffic stop in the spring of 1991. King wasnt the first or the last Black man to endure a police beating. Unlike many similar incidents in that era, this assault was filmed by a bystander. The tape went viral, and the police were arrested and charged. But months after that videotape ignited a national debate, the officers were acquitted of all charges. Hours after the verdict, the city erupted in protests and destruction that lasted for almost a week. When the smoke cleared, more than 60 people had been killedmost of them African Americanthousands were arrested, and millions worth of property was damaged.

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Decades later, Americans are still dealing with the legacy of the L.A. riots. And theyre the centerpiece of the latest season of Slates Slow Burn podcast. Veteran journalist Joel Anderson is the host of Slow Burn, Season 6: The L.A. Riots, which premiered this week. On Fridays episode of A Word, I spoke with Anderson about the roots of the 1992 crisis, and whether its better understood as a riot or an uprising. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Jason Johnson: If you talk to people today in Los Angeles, there is a concerted effort to say the L.A. uprising instead of the L.A. riots. Its like today, were trying to push press and public discourse to say enslaved people, instead of slaves. Did you think about that when you were putting Slow Burn together? Did you think of saying the L.A .uprising? I mean, because people know it as the L.A. riots, but was that a conversation that your team had?

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Joel Anderson: Absolutely, from the very start. When I would reach out to people to talk, depending on who I thought the audience was, Id say, oh, I want to talk to you about the L.A. riots or I want to talk to you about the L.A. uprising. But because media is what it is, this is shorthand. People are familiar with the L.A. riots. And so thats the nomenclature we decided to use for this season. But yeah, theres a debate to be had about whether or not it was actually a riot, which is a loaded term. Or an uprising by marginalized people who finally were fed up with being denied justice and being told that their lives didnt matter.

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So, Im a person that leans toward uprising. If I had to use that language myself thats probably what I would settle on. But I understand the people that say, no, that was a riot. There was a lot of like senseless chaos, senseless death, senseless destruction. Among some people, not everybody. There were some opportunists among the crowd. But at the heart of it, there was a real sense of purpose for what people were doing and getting out to the streets and saying, weve had enough of this.

I remember being influenced by the press and thinking that Rodney King wasnt a great guy. And I remember feeling like, the cops are bad, but I dont know if I want Rodney King to be my neighbor. What do we know that the media got wrong at that time about what happened and about Rodney King, and what did they get right?

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Well, I mean, I think there are a couple things at play here. One, what happens when a Black person is victimized? Whether its by police or somebody else to make them have to defend their own selves. And so it was really easy to sort of caricature Rodney King because he had been to prison before. And after 1991, he did have repeated run-ins with the law. I mean, from domestic abuse to DUI, all these other things. So in some ways it was fair to say that he was a troubled person, but I think the thing that media didnt do and probably still couldnt necessarily do today was humanize him: some of the problems he was having as a result of the trauma he had growing up. He had an abusive father, an alcoholic father, so he had that to deal with.

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But after that, I mean, once you get your ass kicked on a camera like that, there are plenty of people that Ive spoken to that knew him that said, If Rodney King had been a smaller person, he probably wouldve died. He was beat up really bad. And so to try to recover from thatit was really easy to villainize him. But I think that people, one thing media didnt do was sort of contextualize this source of all these issues. They didnt say, well, Rodney King is a problem. You know, hes having all these problems, but they didnt say why. This is a guy that clearly is suffering in the wake of suffering a huge national embarrassment, and he was really embarrassed about getting beaten like that on camera.

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Can you tell our audience a little bit about the Latasha Harlins story and how that played into the L.A. riots?

A couple of weeks after the Rodney King beating, Latasha Harlinsa 15-year-old Black girl who lives around the corner in south central L.A.goes into a convenience store and was accused of stealing a bottle of orange juice by the woman behind the countera Korean immigrant named Soon Ja Du. In only a few seconds, the confrontation escalates to the point where Soon Ja Du shoots Latasha in the back of the head. It was not a huge story nationally at this point. This is not a common occurrence, but its not an infrequent occurrence that theres some sort of a fight or murder involving shopkeepers and Black people in south central LA. But when the trial came around and the surveillance tape from the community store comes out and it shows literally shows Soon Ja Du holding a gun, aiming it at the back of a 15-year-old girls head and shooting it, pulling the trigger, that really inflamed a lot of people.

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Ive told you these basic facts about the case. Well, what if I told you the jury found Soon Ja Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter? The judge does not send her to any jail time. And its such a huge miscarriage of justice in that way. Black people who have been living in this city for years and have seen so many acts of brutality and just like this remorseless violence against them. And you cant even get jail time for something like thatof course it inflamed people. And I would argue, and having talked to the people that we have, that the shooting of Latasha Harlins played as much of a role in why L.A. went up in flames as Rodney King. Its viscerally jarring, even today.

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Ive had to look at that video to write these scripts and stuff and to report, and its shocking to see a girl just get shot in the back of the head and fall to the ground like that. Its just really heartbreaking. Its as bad as any of the videos that we see today. Like the Philando Castiles the George Floyds, its pretty damn bad.

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Latasha Harlins is really, as youre saying, the catalyst to the level of anger and frustration that people felt so that, yeah, the flame was already starting with Latasha Harlins, it was Rodney King that sort of lit the match. One of the other things that I remember was the first time that I remember public discourse about BlackAsian relations. Did you have the opportunity to talk to any members of the Korean American community about how their lives or how they perceive what happened in Los Angeles?

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We talked to several, including one of the founders of the BlackKorean Alliance (BKA), Edward Chang, who is an academic at UC Riverside, which is in Southern California. For years there had been this tension between Black folks and immigrants, particularly Korean and Korean American immigrants. Because in these neighborhoods, therere these convenience stores, Black people didnt necessarily have the capital or the opportunity to avail themselves of opportunity to invest in their own communities and run these convenience stores. And so youve got people that are immigrating to this country, buying up these business opportunities. I dont want to make too broad of a statement here, but there was some cultural differences. Like people just didnt understand each other.

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For instance, if you were coming to a store and look somebody in the face, thats showing respect here, but in Korea, its disrespectful to look somebody in the face. To touch their hands when you give them money, thats something thats a normal transaction here. In Korea to touch somebodys hands and put their money directly into the hand thats not something you do, thats a sign of disrespect. So there was all of these like little conflicts and misunderstandings. When Soon Ja Du kills Latasha Harlins, thats a real inflection point in the relationship between Black folks and Koreans.

After the verdict, and or even really the shooting, the BKA fell apart essentially. Because at that point, the tensions were so bad, the anger was so bad within the communities that it was really sort of beyond repair. But yeah, it was symbolic of a diversifying city, a diversifying area, and people are fighting for these resources and they want to be heard and theyre trying to stake their claim to the American dream or whatever. And of course minorities, people from marginalized communities have very limited resources and theyre fighting against each other for it instead of against white folks.

Listen to the entire episode below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
While water resources managers are pumping water into an oxbow in eastern Slovakia, a permanent solution still remains on paper.

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The European pond turtle lives in the Tajba National Nature Reserve in the village of Streda nad Bodrogom, Kosice Region, eastern Slovakia. (Source: State Nature Conservancy)

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The Tajba National Nature Reserve, an oxbow of the River Bodrog in the Kosice Region where the European pond turtle lives, has been drying up.

The protected area is the only place in Slovakia where the endangered turtle species, and the only original species of turtle occurring in the country, lives and reproduces.

Before a long-term plan how to save the nature reserve, outlined by the Environment Ministry, is put into place, it is water resources managers that have been called on to help after conservationists failed attempts to deal with the situation, as reported by the Korzar website.

Temporary solution in place

Employees of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, a state company that looks after water courses and river basins, are pumping water from the River Bodrog into the parched area these days.

Water is pumped into Tajba via a 1,400-metre-long pipe from a hydroelectric station, the company said.

The State Nature Conservancy, an organisation falling under the Environment Ministry, demands that 102,000 cubic metres be pumped into the oxbow to save the turtles. Water resources managers say they are able to add about 5,7000 cubic metres a day to the oxbow.

Nevertheless, they add that this is just a temporary solution as they have necessary equipment.

If turtles are to survive, a permanent solution is essential. The Environment Ministry told Korzar in the past that more water could flow into the oxbow from the main canal of the River Bodrog or from the Somotor Canal.

The construction of the canal, in fact, is mentioned in the Life Integrated Project Natura 2000, which will be carried out in the years 2021-2030.

Climate change

Though the nature reserve, in which about 100-150 endangered turtles are estimated to live, is under the fourth level of protection, it has been exposed to unfavourable climatic conditions and a lack of precipitation over the past years. As a result, the groundwater level in the entire East Slovakian Lowland, where rainwater quickly seeps into the soil, has been low.

The State Nature Conservancy said that a somewhat similar situation occurred in 1994.

Read also:

Read also: Only original Slovak turtle endangered Read more

There have been several projects to save the reserve and turtles in the past years, but none of them worked out well. More recently, in 2019, a flooding similar to the ongoing one took place, but it helped temporarily.

In addition to climate change, uncontrolled forestry and agricultural activities put female turtles in danger as they may also lay eggs in places outside the reserve. Predators such as foxes, badgers and wild boars are another threat to the European pond turtle in the area.

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If you're looking at electronics or books, Santa may not be able to bring you what you want in time.

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Christmas commercials usually appear on television and online immediately after All Saints Day. This year, talk of Christmas shopping has arrived even earlier, with retailers saying Santa may not be able to make it like he usually does.

The reason is prosaic: the global microchip and materials crisis has impacted many industrial sectors and worldwide transport. In effect, some products have become scarce goods. Slovak retailers selling offline and online are reporting problems, as the producers. Books, another popular Christmas gift, require no chips but pre-Christmas releases may face problems due to a lack of paper.

This years Christmas season will not be so much about discounts but about the availability of some types of goods, Ondrej Hnat, business director for Alza online retailer, told The Slovak Spectator. The lack of semi-conductors, problems with transport from China and the disrupted supplier chain have led to a shortage of certain products, and thats why it's good not to leave Christmas shopping to the very last moment.

Market watchers and online shops agree that the offer of some products will not be as wide as in previous years, and some products may be unavailable. Price hikes should not come as a surprise. Experts mainly mention electronics, but publishers may also struggle to publish as many book titles as originally planned.

Cheap laptops may be not available

The shortage of chips and their high prices limit the offer of electronics on the consumers market, explains Jana Glasova, analyst of 365 bank. The key producers of chips and semiconductors that are especially concentrated in Asian countries still cannot fully satisfy orders around the world, resulting in a lack of electronics on the market and growing prices.
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/analyst-as-steele-dossier-source-charged-with-lying-all-roads-lead-to-hillary-clinton-campaign-1090517273.html

Analyst: As Steele Dossier Source Charged With Lying, All Roads Lead to Hillary Clinton Campaign

Analyst: As Steele Dossier Source Charged With Lying, All Roads Lead to Hillary Clinton Campaign

Igor Danchenko, a key source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele, was arrested on 4 November in Northern Virginia on an indictment by Special Counsel John... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

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investigation

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Danchenko is charged with making false statements to the FBI, just like Michael Sussmann, former counsel for Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, who was indicted by a grand jury on 16 September.While some observers suggest that Sussmann's indictment was largely triggered by an expiring statute of limitations on the crime, the timing of Danchenko's arrest  immediately after the Virginia gubernatorial elections  was apparently chosen to avoid suspicions of political interference, according to Charles Ortel, a Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist.In his recent blog post, lawyer Jonathan Turley suggested that Danchenko is "the type of defendant that prosecutors pressure to flip against those who retained him or used him in this effort". Turley believes that Danchenko can be used as "a building block to apex defendants ranging from Steele himself to Clinton general counsel Marc Elias to Clinton campaign officials".Clinton Operative Chuck DolanHowever, one of the central figures of the latest indictment is PR Executive-1, who was swiftly identified by investigative reporters as Charles H. Dolan Jr., political strategist, Bill Clinton's former vice-chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and adviser to Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in 2008, to name just a few of his roles. According to the indictment, Dolan "actively campaigned and participated in calls and events as a volunteer on behalf of Hillary Clinton" in 2016.Within hours Dolan's Kglobal profile and alleged Twitter page were removed. The New York Times' Adam Goldman later confirmed, citing Dolan lawyer Ralph D. Martin, that the longtime Clinton operative is indeed the PR executive named in the indictment and a new potential witness in John Durham's investigation.Judging from the document penned by Durham, Dolan could have played an important role in Danchenko's anti-Trump research. Apparently, Danchenko provided his colleague, Christopher Steele, with some information collected directly from the PR executive, the document alleges.To illustrate his point, Durham cites an episode when Dolan quoted his "GOP friend" while briefing Danchenko about a reshuffle within Team Trump. The special counsel draws attention to the fact that Steele's report repeats all points of Dolan's answers to Danchenko and names the source as "American political figure associated with Donald Trump".However, here's the rub: Dolan fabricated his meeting with a "GOP friend" (aka "American figure associated with Trump") as the PR executive later admitted in an interview with the FBI.As a potential source for the Steele dossier, Dolan could hardly be deemed impartial when it comes to Donald Trump. Judging from some of tweets believed to be belonging to his Twitter account Dolan had antipathy against the would-be president, which did not fade after the latter's inauguration.Yet another one of Danchenko's "sources," called in the indictment "Russian Sub-Source-1," wasn't unbiased either being a "big fan" of Hillary Clinton. What's more this "source" was expecting to be rewarded with a job in the Hillary Clinton State Department should she win.Remarkably, similar job expectations were voiced by Tech Executive-1 (identified by some observers as Rodney Joffe) in Durham's indictment of Michael Sussmann. Tech Executive-1, who orchestrated the now debunked Trump-Alfa Bank research, claimed that he had been offered a position in the Hillary Clinton administration in the event she won the presidency. There is yet another similarity between the two indictments: in both cases Durham highlights the role of Clinton campaign operatives, who were apparently aware if not involved in Christopher Steele's research and Sussmann's effort to implicate Trump.Why Durham Should Dig DeeperWhile the apparent involvement of politically biased actors casts doubt on the anti-Trump research, it also triggers suspicions of possible "conspiracy" in order to get rid of an undesired presidential candidate who then became the president, according to Charles Ortel.The Wall Street analyst believes that Durham should dig deeper to understand why Team Clinton was so busy with smearing Donald Trump. According to him, the major reason for this was a series of scandals haunting the Clintons and their entourage and involving alleged money laundering, charity fraud and pay-to-play schemes. For decades these scandals largely remained under the rug with IRS, FBI and DOJ operatives seeming unwilling to chase the influential political dynasty."Centrally involved in the later years, Perkins Coie and lawyers including Marc Elias assisted Hillary Clinton in winning the Democratic nomination for President in 2015 and 2016, then in trying to defeat candidate Donald Trump," Ortel says. "Perkins Coie, Elias and Sussmann also seem centrally involved in orchestrating the FBI and Department of Justice to paint Trump as a Russian agent."Who's Next? & Why Top Democrats Could be Interested in Ditching the ClintonsIt's hard to say who will be the next target of John Durham, since it could be virtually anyone from a vast group of people involved in peddling and fabricating the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, says Ortel. He adds that "in this regard, we must remember that Joe Biden, as vice president, was a pivotal force in decisions to target Trump".At the same time, it's unlikely that Durham could be stopped by Attorney General Merrick Garland no matter how damaging the special counsel's investigation could be for the Democratic Party ahead of the 2022 midterms, Ortel believes. It would amount to "political suicide" for Garland if he stops funding Durham or throws sand in his gears, according to the analyst.On the other hand, the Wall Street analyst does not rule out that some forces within the Biden administration are interested in getting rid of their "scandalous" party comrades and could support Durham's effort.

https://sputniknews.com/20211014/potential-indictment-of-jake-sullivan-may-bring-durham-very-close-to-hillary-clinton-analyst-says-1089928947.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211005/durhams-probe-hillary-clinton-sowed-dragons-teeth-by-peddling-trump-russia-hoax-analyst-says-1089679576.html

https://sputniknews.com/20191126/clinton-foundation-vehicle-to-transform-once-broke-family-into-mega-multi-millionaires-analyst-1077409496.html

TruePatriot Take them down and lock them up. Then, on to the rest. 6

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/biden-hails-passage-of-infrastructure-plan-as-monumental-step-forward--1090526788.html

Biden Hails Passage of Infrastructure Plan as 'Monumental Step Forward'

Biden Hails Passage of Infrastructure Plan as 'Monumental Step Forward'

The House passed the president's $1 trillion+ infrastructure bill on Friday evening, putting an end to months of deadlock and bickering inside the Democratic... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

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President Joe Biden has hailed the passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, calling it a "monumental step forward" for America."Finally, infrastructure week," Biden joked as he appeared before reporters at the White House on Saturday, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris."Folks, I don't think it's an exaggeration to suggest that we took a monumental step forward as a nation," the president said. "We did something that's long overdue, that long has been talked about in Washington, but never actually been done. The House of Representatives passed an Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act."The president suggested that the passage of the bill puts the United States on a path to "win the economic competition of the 21st century" against China and the rest of the world, through "the most significant investments" in passenger rail in 50 years, in roads and bridges in 70 years, and "more investment in public transit than we've ever, ever made, period."The spending will also modernise America's ports and airports, and freight rail, helping to relieve supply chain bottlenecks, according to Biden. He also suggested that the spending commitment to replace lead water pipes would allow "every American, every child" to drink clean water and improve their health while "putting plumbers and pipefitters to work."Biden indicated the infrastructure package's commitment to building 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles nationwide would allow the US to meet its international commitments on climate change.The president said he and Harris would formally sign the infrastructure bill "soon," but did not specify a date.Biden promised that his separate $1.75 trillion social and climate-related Build Back Better spending programme would also be passed, in both the House and Senate, in the coming weeks. He reiterated his earlier claims that BBB would not raise the deficit "by a single penny," suggesting it would actually reduce the deficit over the long term, with corporations and wealthy Americans making over $400,000 a year made to "pay their fair share." This bill too will "ease inflationary pressures," according to the president.Biden's infrastructure bill passed on Friday night by a vote of 228 to 206, with Republican support proving crucial as 13 GOP lawmakers voted in favour, and six Democrats from the progressive 'Squad' voted against it.Biden isn't the first president to attempt to pass a large scale infrastructure spending agenda. His predecessor, Donald Trump, repeatedly compared US infrastructure to that of a "third-world country," both on the campaign trail and in office. However, Trump spent the majority of his four years in power bogged down defending against (now debunked) claims that he was a 'Russian agent'. In 2018, he presented a $200 billion infrastructure plan, but Democratic lawmakers opposed it due to its emphasis on state and local funding and private investment - the source of which was deemed unclear. In 2020, talks on a separate infrastructure plan were put on hold by the Covid pandemic, with Republican leaders expressing scepticism about new infrastructure spending in light of trillions of dollars in other commitments for banks, corporations and one-time bailout cheques to ordinary Americans.The passage of Biden's infrastructure bills comes in the wake of as much as $6 trillion in spending being poured into the economy over the past year-and-a-half, which has caused a noticeable spike in inflation and led to fears that US federal debt may be reaching critical levels. Last month, Congress increased the US debt limit into December after warnings from the Treasury that a failure to do so might cause the country to default on its $28 trillion+ in obligations. Notwithstanding warnings about this mountain of debt, the White House and Congress continue to push forward trillions in new spending, including a $706 billion military budget for fiscal year 2022.

Nonyank Trillions yes Trillions more in debt and only the rich will get richer, as with the other two multi Trillion dollar bailouts....it will accomplish nothing plus...the money simply does not exist, you can't just print paper it has to be ba cked up with something and debt is not that something. 5

Tom One correct. Bidum and his cronie Dems have completely lost the plot.which is great news for 2024 when Donalds going to be President again. 3

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/bojo-facing-looming-standards-watchdog-probe-into-luxury-holiday-at-getaway-funded-by-tory-donor-1090518083.html

BoJo Facing Looming Standards Watchdog Probe Into Luxury Holiday at Getaway Funded by Tory Donor

BoJo Facing Looming Standards Watchdog Probe Into Luxury Holiday at Getaway Funded by Tory Donor

Boris Johnson, his wife, Carrie, and their son, Wilfred, flew to Marbella in southern Spain in early October after the UK Prime Minister had delivered a speech... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T05:39+0000

2021-11-06T05:39+0000

2021-11-06T05:39+0000

boris johnson

news

uk

uk conservative party

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Boris Johnson has found himself in the center of a sleaze row over his free of charge holiday in October at a luxurious Spanish villa in Marbella, southern Spain, funded by ex-MP Lord Zac Goldsmith, reported The Guardian.The UK Labour Party has demanded a formal probe from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the House of Commons over the fact that, unlike with previous holidays, Johnson had not declared it on the separate Commons register of MPs interests, which requires details including the value of such a trip.Rayner added that the Tory Prime Minister had a long history of breaching the rules in relation to parliamentary standards.Rayner also formally requested a probe into whether Johnson had breached Commons rules by failing to declare the details of the financing of the lavish refurbishment of his flat above 11 Downing Street. There had been speculation back in May regarding whether the Conservative Party broke the law on political donations regarding the funding of the flat. Boris Johnson was found to have acted "unwisely" by not being more "rigorous" in finding out who had funded the revamp, a report by Lord Geidt, the PM's adviser on standards, said. A wealthy Tory donor - former Conservative vice-chairman Lord Brownlow - had paid an invoice for some of the costs. But Johnson was at the time cleared of breaking ministerial conduct rules. Boris Johnson flew to the Spanish villa in October, after he had delivered a speech at the Conservative Party conference. The approximately week-long getaway, where the PM escaped for some down time together with his wife Carrie Johnson and their son Wilfred was funded by Lord Goldsmith, according to the latest update in the register of ministerial interests. There was no mention of how much it was worth. In October, photos had emerged of the PM painting at an easel while holidaying at the Spanish villa, where a weeks rent runs into an estimated 25,000 ($33, 744). Lord Goldsmith is a former Tory MP for Richmond Park who lost his seat at the 2019 general election. He was subsequently given a peerage in the House of Lords and retained his ministerial role as Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment. A spokesperson for Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister had met the transparency requirements as he declared this arrangement in his ministerial capacity, given this was hospitality provided by another minister. According to the MPs' rulebook, members must register any visit outside the UK where the cost is more than 300, unless they have paid the bill themselves in full. There is no requirement to register visits wholly unconnected with membership of the House or with the members parliamentary or political activities (e.g., family holidays). Earlier, a conduct probe was carried out into Boris Johnsons 15,000-worth stay on the Caribbean island of Mustique following the Conservatives' general election triumph in December 2019. In February 2020, Johnson declared that his holiday accommodation had been covered by Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross. The Committee on Standards concluded that Ross had donated the accommodation, but arrangements had been "ad hoc and informal and do not appear to have been fully explained to Mr. Johnson at the outset". The Committee had overruled the Commons standards commissioner Kathryn Stone who had concluded that Johnson broke the rules by having not "fulfilled conscientiously" the requirements to register donations. However, that probe had also found that Johnson was required to register the holiday accommodation he received in the Register of Members Interests. According to the Daily Mail, the Commissioner will decide whether to investigate the funding of the Downing Street flat refurbishment after a separate probe by the Electoral Commission has been completed.

Charlie McD After Blair, he's prob one of the most immorral and corrupt piece of cac to wander this earth.  0

1

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Svetlana Ekimenko

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boris johnson, news, uk, uk conservative party
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/cia-chief-was-reportedly-dispatched-to-russia-to-warn-against-alleged-troop-build-up-near-ukraine-1090513564.html

CIA Chief Was Reportedly Dispatched to Russia to Warn Against Alleged Troop Build-Up Near Ukraine

CIA Chief Was Reportedly Dispatched to Russia to Warn Against Alleged Troop Build-Up Near Ukraine

Newly-surfaced claims suggest that CIA Director Bill Burns was dispatched to Russia earlier this week to warn Russian military officials against carrying out... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T01:01+0000

2021-11-06T01:01+0000

2021-11-06T00:58+0000

russia

bill burns

ukraine

cia

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Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, CNN reported late Friday that the Biden administration had deployed Burns to Moscow as American officials grew increasingly concerned about the number of Russian service members and artillery being moved to Ukraine's northern border.Per a CNN account, which heavily relies on unidentified sources, Burns emphasized the Biden administration's stance "by conveying that the US is closely monitoring the troop movements."Sources further indicated that Burns' appearance and meeting with Russian officials was meant to pinpoint Russia's motives for its general footprint in the area. In fact, "some sources" relayed to the outlet that it was believed Russia "could be preparing for an invasion, while others suggest they are conducting an exercise, or simply trying to intimidate Ukraine."Moscow has rejected any suggestion that its military operations are meant to be taken as a threat, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously stating that Russia "is not threatening, and does not pose a danger to anyone."Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova referred to reports by western media outlets as not corresponding with reality.Weighing in on media reports of an alleged troop build-up, Ukrainian Armed Forces' Chief of the General Staff Serhiy Shaptala recently told reporters that there was no actual spike in the number of Russian soldiers."To say that there is a buildup of efforts at our borders  this is not the case," Shaptala said on air during a Freedom of Speech show. "When we received information from the media, we asked our intelligence, this is not one intelligence agency, but several. After the data was provided, we again assessed the situation ... and there is no increase in efforts on the state border with Ukraine."Reports of the spike were also rejected by Oleksiy Danilov, who serves as secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.Burns' meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev ultimately marked the first time that the pair has met following the CIA director's appointment. At the time, officials privy to the meeting only stated that "the parties discuss Russian-American relations."

https://sputniknews.com/20211021/putin-calls-nato-military-presence-in-ukraine-a-real-threat-to-russia-1090108239.html

Alba1970 America should mind it's own business .... the hypocrisy coming from Washington stinks this from a country that's trying to surround Russia with ever increasing numbers of Troops, naval and aircraft assets 22

4Justice Hopefully, the Russians told this arsehole to stick his warning where the sun don't shine. The Ukies have been screaming,"the Russians are coming!, the Russians are coming!" for 7 years now. The US intelligence agencies (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, etc) have been beating this drum ad nauseum until nobody listens to them anymore. 21

22

ukraine

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Gaby Arancibia

Gaby Arancibia

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Gaby Arancibia

russia, bill burns, ukraine, cia
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/clashes-with-police-reported-during-protest-against-green-pass-in-italy-1090532325.html

Clashes With Police Reported During Protest Against Green Pass in Italy

Clashes With Police Reported During Protest Against Green Pass in Italy

Italians have been protesting against the so-called green pass  an electronic COVID-19 vaccination certificate  for weeks already, with the largest... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T22:30+0000

2021-11-06T22:30+0000

2021-11-06T22:33+0000

milan

italy

police

covid-19

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Clashes were reported between law enforcement and protesters in Trieste and Milan in northern Italy on Saturday night.According to the Tgcom24 news channel, several hundred protesters against the mandatory green pass tried to break into Unity of Italy Square in Trieste, where demonstrators are not allowed until the end of the year per the decision of the city authorities. Police reportedly used batons against protesters to drive them away from the square. According to journalists at the scene, demonstrators threw chairs and tables from local bars, as well as glass bottles at the carabinieri and police officers. As protesters started to leave the city center, some of them reportedly staged a sit-in demonstration.Several people have been detained.In Milan, around 4,000 demonstrators who took to the streets unexpectedly changed the route approved by the authorities, and the police blocked the crowd near the University of Bocconi. Small groups of protesters tried to break through the chain of law enforcement officers and lit smoke bombs.From 15 October, all workers in Italy must present the electronic COVID-19 vaccination certificate to access their workplaces.

Vanessa Lewi Wonder why nobody is talking about #PfizerGate? The CEO of Pfizer was arrested, yet nobody is reporting on it. 1

rtyuio tuiop I get paid over $87 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought Id be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what Ive been doing .. 0

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milan

italy

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milan, italy, police, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/depp-granted-access-to-amber-heard-phone-records-in-bid-to-prove-photo-tampering-of-bruising-pics-1090522130.html

Depp Granted Access to Amber Heard Phone Records in Bid to Prove Photo Tampering of 'Bruising' Pics

Depp Granted Access to Amber Heard Phone Records in Bid to Prove Photo Tampering of 'Bruising' Pics

Hollywood actor Johnny Depp , who has been seeking to clear his name after losing a defamation case and subsequent appeal in March against The Sun newspaper... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T10:29+0000

2021-11-06T10:29+0000

2021-11-06T10:29+0000

johnny depp

amber heard

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/08/12/1083654272_0:170:3039:1879_1920x0_80_0_0_4d1048015f8f2e2783e0037ff93995b8.jpg

A Virginia court ruled on 3 November that Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp can access his ex-wife Amber Heards phone so that an expert assessment can establish if there is any evidence of photo tampering. The Hollywood actor has been waging a $50 million libel suit against the Aquaman actress and hopes to prove she doctored photos purporting to show her with two black eyes, which she says she suffered in 2015 at the hands of Depp. Previously, according to Chew, images given to Depps legal team failed to include any metadata, rendering expert Brian Neumeister unable to verify the details. The experts preliminary investigation purportedly revealed that some of the photographs had been run through a photo editing application, Photo 3, that can easily manipulate images such as showing bruises where none actually existed, Chew was cited as saying. Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, in Virginia over a 2019 op-ed in the Washington Post. In it, while not mentioning Depp by name, the woman lobbed accusations of domestic abuse widely interpreted as being against him. She described having suffered two black eyes, a broken nose and a broken lip during a 2015 attack in Los Angeles. Subsequently, photos of the alleged injuries Heard sustained were broadly published in the media. According to Depps lawyer, when police responded to the alleged beating, they found no injury upon Ms. Heard and no disruption to the penthouses. It is added that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) disavowed the photographs and said they did not depict what they saw. The new Virginia court filing claims that the Suns expert analysis had also concluded that Heards photographs showing alleged injuries to her face from December 2015 were manipulated three years later. Images from an iPad Pro 10.5 were ostensibly created on or after October 6, 2018.Johnny Depp has repeatedly dismissed Heard's domestic violence allegations against him as "fabricated" abuse hoaxes. Furthermore, in May 2019 the actor said that "while mixing prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol" Heard "hit, punched, and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls, and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me".In November 2020, Depp lost his libel case against the UKs Sun newspaper over the article that called him a wife beater after the judge said the outlet had proved that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence described in the article had occurred.In March 2021, after a three-week trial in the Royal Courts of Justice, Depp was refused permission to challenge the High Court libel ruling involving the story in The Sun. Depps lawyer Adam Waldman said the column in the UK outlet was an abuse of the #MeToo movement, while Amber Heard masquerades as victim rather than abuser.Depps suit claims that the actor has suffered financial losses because of the accusations, as it resulted in him being dropped from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the 14th-highest-grossing film series of all time - the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depps legal woes ultimately played a role in him bowing out as Grindelwald from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. In response to the Wednesday ruling by the Virginia court, Amber Heards attorney Elaine Bredehoft was cited by Page Six as acknowledging that the actress, welcomes the opportunity to present her evidence in a trial by jury, in a court of law next year. She accused Depps team of attempting to try the case via the media. Amber Heard will appear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which is expected to hit theatres on December 16th, 2022. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp recently appeared in reality-based crime drama, City of Lies.

vot tak The brit court obviously sided with the sun zio-media cow patty because they are zio and do not want to diminish zionist media influence in britain. A judgement against the sun propaganda media outfit would hurt their credibility among the most stupid and naive tabloid suckers. The colonials of zios always support fellow zio-assets, no matter what. The issue was the sun's credibility, the squabble between the 2 hollywooders was actually not of interest tothese zio-corruptions. 0

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Svetlana Ekimenko

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Svetlana Ekimenko

johnny depp, amber heard
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/estonian-soldiers-mistakenly-open-fire-at-uk-allies-in-mali---reports-1090531457.html

Estonian Soldiers Mistakenly Open Fire at UK Allies in Mali - Reports

Estonian Soldiers Mistakenly Open Fire at UK Allies in Mali - Reports

HELSINKI (Sputnik) - Estonian soldiers serving at the Gao military base in Mali mistakenly opened fire on British soldiers who did not follow security... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T20:15+0000

2021-11-06T20:15+0000

2021-11-06T20:15+0000

mali

military & intelligence

operation

shooting

incident

allies

estonia

uk soldiers

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The incident occurred when a minibus with British soldiers approached the military base, Postimees newspaper said. Estonian soldiers guarding the base opened fire on the vehicle because the UK allies did not inform the base personnel of their approach in advance as stipulated by the rules, the newspaper noted.The Estonian defense forces spokesman Taavi Karotamm confirmed to Postimees that the incident took place and stressed that the Estonian soldiers strictly followed all the rules and security procedures. He added that no one was injured in the shooting.Estonian forces have been part of Operation Barkhane, an anti-insurgent operation led by France in the Sahara-Sahel region, since 2018. Their duties include patrolling the area near the Gao settlement and providing security at the French military base alongside 1,500 soldiers from different countries.

vot tak It was a bus! How did they miss? 0

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mali

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mali, military & intelligence, operation, shooting, incident, allies, estonia, uk soldiers
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/federal-lawsuit-says-oklahoma-detention-officers-tortured-inmates-by-playing-baby-shark-on-repeat-1090521402.html

Federal Lawsuit Says Oklahoma Detention Officers Tortured Inmates by Playing 'Baby Shark' on Repeat

Federal Lawsuit Says Oklahoma Detention Officers Tortured Inmates by Playing 'Baby Shark' on Repeat

In 2015, a Korean childrens entertainment company recorded "Baby Shark", a nursery rhyme, and produced a music video which has gained over 9.5 billion views... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T09:58+0000

2021-11-06T09:58+0000

2021-11-06T09:58+0000

news

us

oklahoma

jail

torture

prisoners

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Four former detainees at the Oklahoma County Detention Center were subject to "torture tactics" in 2019 when they were handcuffed behind their backs and were left in an empty room, and forced to listen to the children's song "Baby Shark' on repeat for several hours, a federal lawsuit said.Earlier this week, Joseph Mitchell and three other detainees filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, the county commissioners, as well as the jail trust, and two former officers. According to the federal lawsuit, the detainees were forced to listen to the song which "was so loud that it was reverberating down the hallways".It added that the Oklahoma County district attorney's office investigated the incidents last year and charged the two former jail employees and their supervisor with conspiracy and cruelty. Officers Christian Charles Miles and Gregory Cornell Butler Jr. resigned during an internal investigation and Lt. Christopher Raymond Hendershott retired, Former Oklahoma County Sheriff P.D. Taylor told AP. "We dont tolerate it...We always did an excellent job policing ourselves, Taylor was quoted as saying. The federal lawsuit also revealed that "Baby Shark" and other kinds of music had long been used as a "device to torment". For example, also in 2019, "Baby Shark" was played on repeat by West Palm Beach officials to deter homeless people from sleeping in public places. At the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, officials used heavy metal to break down prisoners.

https://sputniknews.com/20210223/biden-admin-guantanamo-review-must-ensure-remedies-for-torture-victims-un-experts-say-1082163875.html

monti The Yanks do at home what they do abroad...they are brainless, suicidal ...sadists.... 0

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oklahoma

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Sofia Chegodaeva

Sofia Chegodaeva

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Sofia Chegodaeva

news, us, oklahoma, jail, torture, prisoners
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/in-burst-of-term-juggling-wh-rejects-calling-vaccine-requirement-a-mandate-as-misinformation-1090523693.html

In Burst of Term-Juggling, WH Rejects Calling Vaccine Requirement a 'Mandate' as 'Misinformation'

In Burst of Term-Juggling, WH Rejects Calling Vaccine Requirement a 'Mandate' as 'Misinformation'

The mandates released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on 4 November require companies with 100 or more employees to require... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T11:21+0000

2021-11-06T11:21+0000

2021-11-06T11:21+0000

joe biden

us

centers for disease control and prevention

vaccine

occupational safety and health administration

us health agencys centers for medicare and medicaid services

covid-19

ron desantis

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White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has dismissed as misinformation the use of the term vaccine mandate when applied to the new COVID-19 inoculation policies recently announced by the Joe Biden administration. Jean-Pierre referred to the policy, set to take effect on 4 January, as a vaccination requirement.Announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the rules are tailored to get millions of Americans vaccinated while preventing hospitalisation and saving lives, strengthening the economy.Weighing in on the fact that 26 Republican-led states are suing to halt the requirement, estimated to cover about 84 million of the 161 million people comprising the US labour force, the WH Deputy Press Secretary said:When asked at the press conference about the current estimate, percentage-wise, for Americans to be vaccinated, the WH Deputy Press Secretary, responded by saying it was not our focus.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, 80.4 percent of US adults have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine jab, as have 78.5 percent of people older than 12 and 67.1 percent of the total US populationNew Jab PolicyOSHA on 4 November announced the details of a requirement for employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests for COVID-19 on at least a weekly basis.The rule that is set to cover 84 million employees will also require that these employers provide paid-time for employees to get vaccinated, and ensure all unvaccinated workers wear a face mask in the workplace.Furthermore, CMS at the Department of Health and Human Services will require that health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid are fully vaccinated. This rule applies to more than 17 million workers at approximately 76,000 health care facilities, including hospitals and long-term care facilities.Heavy fines of nearly $14,000 per violation are to befall firms that fail to comply with the new policies.Earlier, President Biden signed an executive order dated 9 September requiring federal contractors to mandate vaccinations by 8 December.After contractors sought more details on how to implement the rules, the White House released the federal contractor guidance on 1 November. It stated that the contractors will have flexibility to determine how they enforce the vaccination requirements for workers who refuse to be vaccinated.White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator since 2021, Jeff Zients expected federal agencies and contractors "will follow their standard HR processes and that for any of the probably relatively small percent of employees that are not in compliance they'll go through education, counselling, accommodations and then enforcement".He added:After attorneys general of an array of US states, including Ohio, Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, announced their intention to sue the Biden administration over the new COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis also pledged to launch a legal attack against the "unconstitutional" and "illegal" mandate for private sector workers.Speaking to reporters on 4 November, DeSantis said that Florida would join Alabama, Georgia, and several other states in a preemptive legal challenge against the new mandate.

Thomas Turk SvetlanaEki.. . WHY don't you write some real investigative stuff, instead of repeating MSM fake nooz, as if it were real. NOTE. "We are heading for a crisis" uncut-news.ch, 3rd September, 2021 The Covid vaccine is not a magic bullet, contrary to media reports, says internist and cardiologist Peter McCullough. In Great Britain, for example, more than 65% of recent deaths from corona were fully vaccinated. Dr. McCullough pointed out that 50 per cent of deaths occur within 48 hours after the vaccination and 80 per cent within a week. So there seems to be a direct connection between the vaccines and the deaths, he told One America News. 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/iran-announces-large-scale-drill-in-southern-waters-sending-warning-to-enemies---report-1090532378.html

Iran Announces Large-Scale Drill in Southern Waters, Sending Warning to 'Enemies' - Report

Iran Announces Large-Scale Drill in Southern Waters, Sending Warning to 'Enemies' - Report

Iran Announces Military Exercises in Arabian Sea With Broad Range Of New Equipment, Report Says

2021-11-06T22:11+0000

2021-11-06T22:11+0000

2021-11-06T22:11+0000

middle east

iran

arabian sea

military drills

gulf of oman

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Iran announced on Saturday that its armed forces are planning a large-scale military exercise in parts of the Arabian and Red seas, soon after an Iranian oil tanker reportedly clashed with a US military vessel earlier this week.According to Deputy Chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, cited by Tasnim, all necessary preparations have been concluded and the joint military drills, called Zolfaqar-1400, are due to start on Sunday.The exercise is said to include the Army Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense, covering an area of over one million square kilometers southeast of Iran, stretching from the eastern parts of the Strait of Hormuz to the northern parts of the Indian Ocean, down to the 10-degrees latitude, and parts of the Red Sea.The upcoming games were said to facilitate Irans military readiness and defensive capacity in protecting the countrys territorial integrity.The announcement comes after Iranian media reported on 3 November that the Iranian Navy had repelled a US attack on one of its oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The US military reportedly used several helicopter gunships and warships in the attack. According to reports, they stopped the Iranian tanker and the crew of the US ship began to transfer oil to its own tanker. In Tehran, it was described as an attempt to "steal Iranian oil."On the same day, a video was released that depicts forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps preventing the US military from its purported interception of the Iranian tanker's cargo.US officials have dismissed the accusations, saying they are absolutely totally false and untrue. According to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, the allegation may have been prompted by a different incident, which happened on 24 October, when US Navy assets did monitor Iranian forces illegally boarding and seizing a merchant vessel in international waters in the Gulf of Oman."

The_Man Obviously, I believe the Iranian version to be true. We all know what lying c*nts the Yanks are.... 11

Hess It is misleading to argue that "Tensions between Iran and the West". It is between Iran and Israel. The Jewish Zionists are in control of the US which will shed Americans blood on behalf of Jews is war breaks out. 9

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/james-okeefe-speaks-out-after-fbi-searches-homes-of-former-current-project-veritas-employees--1090515671.html

James O'Keefe Speaks Out After FBI Searches Homes of Former, Current Project Veritas Employees

James O'Keefe Speaks Out After FBI Searches Homes of Former, Current Project Veritas Employees

On Thursday, federal agents reportedly searched the homes of numerous individuals with ties to conservative media group Project Veritas. The Federal Bureau of... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T03:36+0000

2021-11-06T03:36+0000

2021-11-06T03:33+0000

joe biden

federal bureau of investigation (fbi)

project veritas

biden administration

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Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe took to social media on Friday to comment on reports that the FBI had executed their Thursday searches as part of a probe into the disappearance of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, daughter of US President Joe Biden. In the video, O'Keefe confirmed New York Times reporting that FBI agents searched the homes of current and former Project Veritas employees earlier this week. He also revealed that the outlet tapped Project Veritas for comment shortly after the searches took place. He went on to claim that his organization was previously in contact with the Department of Justice and had provided what he described as "unassailable facts that demonstrate Project Veritas' lack of involvement in criminal activity and/or criminal intent." The NYT report detailed that the related probe has been active since October 2020, and is seeking to determine how Ashley Biden's stolen diary was disclosed and wound up for sale prior to the 2020 presidential election. Project Veritas, a group notorious for exposing Democratic politicians and media bias via hidden cameras and other undercover tactics, did not publish the contents of the alleged diary, as the group was unable to verify its authenticity. The tipsters alleged that the diary contained "explosive allegations" against then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. "The tipsters indicated that they were negotiating with a different media outlet for the payment of monies for the diary," he added. O'Keefe emphasized that their copy of the diary was turned over to law enforcement agents of an undisclosed agency. The probe is being handled by the FBI, as well as by federal prosecutors in Manhattan who specialize in public corruption matters, according to the NYT.

TruePatriot Correction: "....searched the homes of TWO individuals with ties..." There, fixed it for you. 3

Vanessa Lewi What's weird: #PfizerGate continues to trend on Twitter, yet nobody is reporting on it 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/john-major-rips-bojos-politically-corrupt-govt-over-shameful-handling-of-paterson-sleaze-row-1090525759.html

John Major Rips BoJo's 'Politically Corrupt' Gov't Over 'Shameful' Handling of Paterson 'Sleaze' Row

John Major Rips BoJo's 'Politically Corrupt' Gov't Over 'Shameful' Handling of Paterson 'Sleaze' Row

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had faced a Tory backlash after his U-turn on 4 November, when he abandoned plans to stop the suspension of Conservative... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T13:50+0000

2021-11-06T13:50+0000

2021-11-06T13:50+0000

boris johnson

owen paterson

sir john major

uk

andrea leadsom

uk conservative party

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Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major has criticised the government of Boris Johnson for its handling of the Owen Paterson case as shameful and un-conservative.The UK government has been facing backlash after it attempted on 4 November to prevent the 30-day suspension imposed by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone on Conservative lawmaker Paterson, who'd previously been found guilty of breaking Commons rules by lobbying for two firms that paid him 500,000. Tory MPs had narrowly won a 250 to 232 vote to annul his suspension for breaching rules against paid advocacy.Furthermore, the amendment tabled by Conservative backbencher Dame Andrea Leadsom had also mandated an overhaul of the standards system itself. Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, told breakfast radio on Wednesday that it was natural for Stone to review whether she should continue in her post. However, after backlash from opposition MPs and some Tories, the next morning Downing Street reversed its decision on the suspension. Once he had lost Boris Johnson's support, Paterson resigned as MP for North Shropshire, saying he sought a life outside the cruel world of politics. John Major expressed his belief that the way the government handled the Paterson scandal was shameful and wrong and unworthy of this or indeed any government. The former Prime Minister went on to deplore the fact that the current government had broken the law, the prorogation of Parliament They have broken treaties, I have in mind the Northern Ireland Protocol. They have broken their word on many occasions." According to Major, a relentless critic of Boris Johnson for some time, the PMs administration was "politically corrupt" over its attempt to overhaul the standards system, which was "rather a bad mistake" but "isn't a mistake on its own." John Major relived his own Conservative governments failure back in the 1990s, marred by allegations of sleaze and a cash-for-questions scandal, when MPs were offered money in exchange for asking parliamentary questions. Characterising those events as "immensely damaging and embarrassing, John Major said:

Thomas Turk No comment on Assange, eh. you ex circus performer? 1

Medvezhonok On the contrary, snouts snuffling in the trough is very conservative - no change there. But he did make some good points and listening to his interview I was struck by how very well he speaks. It quite took me back to the days when our political leaders were examples who could be looked up to in some ways. It reminded me of how much we have lost in the last 20 years or so. Now our leaders don't set any kind of example. They have no discernible principles and it is obvious to all that they are no better than anyone else. How low we have come. 0

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/over-100-may-be-dead-in-blast-in-sierra-leone-after-trucks-collide-mayor-says--1090520422.html

Over 100 May Be Dead in Blast in Sierra Leone After Trucks Collide, Mayor Says

Over 100 May Be Dead in Blast in Sierra Leone After Trucks Collide, Mayor Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - An explosion in Sierra Leone sparked by a collision of two trucks might have resulted in over 100 casualties, the mayor of the country's... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T08:04+0000

2021-11-06T08:04+0000

2021-11-06T08:04+0000

africa

sierra leone

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"I am saddened to hear about an explosion along Bai Bureh Road, Wellington, after a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck... There are rumors that more than 100 people have lost their lives. The extent of damage to property is unknown," Aki-Sawyerr said on Facebook.The mayor also extended her condolences to the relatives of those who died in the blast.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211106/protest-against-covid-19-restrictions-takes-place-in-leipzig-1090524107.html

Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions Takes Place in Leipzig

Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions Takes Place in Leipzig

The government of the German state of Saxony prompted unrest by announcing that it will tighten restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases, allowing only... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T13:55+0000

2021-11-06T13:55+0000

2021-11-06T13:52+0000

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Watch a live broadcast from Leipzig, Germany where people who oppose vaccination against coronavirus and other measures introduced to contain the spread of the infection have gathered for a protest on Saturday, 6 November.Earlier this week, the authorities of the German state of Saxony said that anti-COVID measures would be strengthened to allow only those vaccinated against coronavirus or who have recently recovered to attend big events or spend time in cafes and restaurants.Several counter-protests are also expected to take place in Leipzig later in the day, with police beefing up security across the city. *Follow Sputnik's live feed to find out more.

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Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions Takes Place in Leipzig Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions Takes Place in Leipzig 2021-11-06T13:55+0000 true PT1S

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news, protest, leipzig, covid-19, 
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/republicans-ask-biden-to-deploy-us-troops-near-ukraine-arm-kiev-to-deter-a-russian-invasion-1090525144.html

Republicans Ask Biden to Deploy US Troops Near Ukraine, Arm Kiev to Deter a Russian Invasion

Republicans Ask Biden to Deploy US Troops Near Ukraine, Arm Kiev to Deter a Russian Invasion

The Russian Embassy in Washington expressed vexation over the expression of concern among US officials regarding the movement of Russian troops inside the... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T12:26+0000

2021-11-06T12:26+0000

2021-11-06T12:41+0000

black sea

russia

ukraine

united states

arms

deployment

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A pair of Republican lawmakers has called on the White House to send additional weaponry to Ukraine, ramp up intelligence sharing with Kiev, and deploy the US military to the Black Sea area to deter Russia and stop a potential invasion of the Eastern European country by Moscow.We also urge your administration to deploy a US military presence in the Black Sea to deter a Russian invasion, the letter added. Additionally, we urge you to immediately consider an appropriate US military presence and posture in the region and to initiate appropriate intelligence sharing activities between the US and Ukraine to prevent the situation from escalating further.The Russian Embassy in Washington, DC expressed vexation late Friday over US concerns about the activity of [Russian] military forces on the national territory within Russian borders, asking the US to look in the mirror, and suggesting that it is the US military roaming recklessly around the world and leaving behind chaos.In a briefing earlier in the day, State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter warned that her department was certainly concerned with any public reports of unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine.Earlier in the week, US media published satellite images purporting to show the buildup of Russian military equipment on the border with Ukraine, while actually publishing images of an apparent concentration of Russian armoured units and support equipment in Yelnya, Smolensk, about 250 km north of Ukraine, and as about 800 km from the conflict zone in the countrys east.On Saturday, Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that Washington had appealed to the European Union collectively and several European states individually over the alleged build-up of Russian forces. Sources cited by the paper pointed to recent extremely aggressive rhetoric by Russian authorities, without elaborating, while the newspaper recalled President Bidens request to German authorities at the G20 Summit in Rome to increase pressure on Russia in connection with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.Moscow has dismissed reports about the deployment of Russian near Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that Russia is moving its troops on its own territory and at its own discretion. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the reporting fake news.On Tuesday, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council, offered a rare rebuke of Western media, accusing them of deliberately spreading misinformation, and stressing that the reports do not correspond to reality. On Monday, the Ukrainian Defence Ministrys Main Intelligence Directorate said that no additional Russian units, weapons or military equipment have been observed being transferred to the border with Ukraine.Since the February 2014 US and EU-backed coup detat in Kiev and the start of the civil war in eastern Ukraine in the spring of that year, the US and its allies have committed hundreds of millions of dollars in lethal and non-lethal military aid to Ukraine, and deployed units in country to train its military.Last month, Kiev deployed a Turkey-bought Bayraktar combat drone in the war-torn Donbass for the first time, with Moscow, one of the guarantors of the Minsk ceasefire agreement alongside Germany and France, expressing concerns about the use of such weapons  which is illegal under the terms of the ceasefire. Washington, meanwhile, has praised Turkey, and called on Americas other allies to lift restrictions on the delivery of lethal weapons to Ukraine.The conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed over 13,000 lives, with tens of thousands more injured and nearly 2.5 million residents fleeing their homes (as many as one million of them to neighbouring Russia, where they have been accepted as refugees).

https://sputniknews.com/20211103/nord-stream-2-still-months-away-from-being-put-into-operation-us-media-claims-1090441372.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211101/putin-us-missile-deployment-in-europe-poses-threat-1090391201.html

tim Fresh from their stunning military successes in Afghanistan and the South China Sea, the US is now hungry for more military adventures, egged on by Congressmen who are always happy to deploy other people's sons and daughters into harm's way.. 16

md101 americans are putting their nose where it doesn't belong, so don't cry when it will get punched! 13

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black sea, russia, ukraine, united states, arms, deployment
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/russian-embassy-says-normalizing-relations-possible-only-after-us-returns-diplomatic-property-1090517925.html

Russian Embassy Says Normalizing Relations Possible Only After US Returns Diplomatic Property

Russian Embassy Says Normalizing Relations Possible Only After US Returns Diplomatic Property

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Bilateral relations can not be normalized without the United States returning to Russia the diplomatic property it has confiscated... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T05:29+0000

2021-11-06T05:29+0000

2021-11-06T05:29+0000

world

russia

us

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"Today, there are no prospects to say that tomorrow we will be able to come up with a solution to the problem [of bilateral relations].  Our position is that any normalization of relations can occur only after the unconditional return to Russia of all of its confiscated property," Koshelev said in an interview with RTVI on Friday.Koshelev also said besides returning the six diplomatic facilities confiscated by the United States over the past several years, Russia also demands compensation for all financial losses it has suffered that can reach thousands of dollars.Over the past several years, Russian diplomats asked the US government 470 times to provide access to the confiscated facilities in order to make an inventory and determine their condition, he said.For Moscow, the issue of its taken diplomatic property is the most acute irritant in the relations with Washington that are already at a low level and can be characterized as being in "deep crisis," Koshelev said.A row between the United States and Russia over the latters diplomatic properties erupted in December 2016, when outgoing US President Barack Obama closed two Russian diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland and expelled 35 Russian diplomats.In 2017, the administration of President Donald Trump shut down the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco as well as the trade missions in New York City and Washington in response to Moscow's decision to reduce the number of US diplomatic staff in Russia.The United States also closed the Russian Consulate in Seattle the following year over allegations that Moscow was involved in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom. State Department officials entered the residence of the Russian consul by breaking all the locks there.Russia said the US actions are in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations as well as other aspects of international law.Russia and the United States have a chance to reach a compromise solution regarding the problem of issuing US visas in Russia as diplomats from both countries are meeting on a weekly basis to resolve the issue, Sergey Koshelev said.Koshelev added that diplomacy is the "art of communicating" and there is a chance to solve the visas issue as long as the diplomats from both countries are talking.Senior Russian and US diplomats will meet in the near future to discuss a normalization of consular affairs, Sergey Koshelev added."In the near future, we expect a meeting between the heads of the Russian bureau in the State Department and the US department in the Russian Foreign Ministry," Koshelev told RTVI on Friday. "We hope that the meeting, which we call a consultation on bilateral irritants, will take place and we will be able to discuss issues related to normalization of consular affairs."

Holger H. No need to wonder... Russia is not a rough State Actor unlike the US and therefore follows the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations 3

tim "...For Moscow, the issue of its taken diplomatic property....." Let's just call it what it is; THEFT by a nation that reveals itself to be a thief in its theft of Syrian oil and territory as well. The sooner the US is a disgraced footnote in the pages of history, the better. 3

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world, russia, us
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/russian-embassy-to-us-says-perplexed-by-washingtons-concern-over-russian-troops-movement-1090515533.html

Russian Embassy to US Says Perplexed by Washington's Concern Over Russian Troops' Movement

Russian Embassy to US Says Perplexed by Washington's Concern Over Russian Troops' Movement

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Russian Embassy to the United States said it is perplexed by the concern of the US Department of State and Department of Defense... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T03:20+0000

2021-11-06T03:20+0000

2021-11-06T03:16+0000

us

russia

ukraine

troops

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"We are perplexed by concern of the press offices of @StateDept and @DeptofDefense with the activity of our military forces on the national territory within [Russian] borders. Look in the mirror. It is the [US] military roaming recklessly around the world and leaving behind chaos," the embassy wrote on its Twitter page on late Friday.On October 30, The Washington Post newspaper reported, citing sources, that a number of American and European officials were concerned about the alleged resumption of the build-up of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine. The publication noted that these movements were detected in recent weeks, after Russia had completed large-scale joint military exercises with Belarus Zapad-2021. Later, US publication Politico published satellite images, allegedly showing the deployment of the Russian military "on the border with Ukraine." The images showed areas in the Smolensk Region, which does not border on Ukraine.The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced earlier that it did not record the build-up of Russian troops near its own borders and considered information about this in the media to be an element of special information and psychological actions. National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov also denied information about the activity of Russian troops near the Ukrainian borders.On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that western media reports about Russia pulling troops to the Ukrainian border do not correspond to reality. The spokeswoman also stated that it was not one fake piece of news, it was a whole fresh fake news campaign in the American media.

https://sputniknews.com/20211106/cia-chief-was-reportedly-dispatched-to-russia-to-warn-against-alleged-troop-build-up-near-ukraine-1090513564.html

TruePatriot And, it seems the US military is as good with maps as the US Navy. Complete incompetence beyond par. 4

1

ukraine

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us, russia, ukraine, troops
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/sen-cruz-believes-gops-recent-gains-foreshadow-2022-election-open-prospects-for-2024-1090530930.html

Sen. Cruz Believes GOP's Recent Gains 'Foreshadow' 2022 Election, Open Prospects for 2024

Sen. Cruz Believes GOP's Recent Gains 'Foreshadow' 2022 Election, Open Prospects for 2024

Republicans are feeling increasingly confident after Glenn Youngkin's tight victory over former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, a state that Joe... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T20:34+0000

2021-11-06T20:34+0000

2021-11-06T20:34+0000

democrat

us

virginia

ted cruz

democrats

elections

republican

biden administration

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Senator Ted Cruz of Texas expressed hopes of Republicans regaining control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. And for that mission, the senator believes this Tuesday's elections are "enormously consequential."Cruz was speaking ahead of the Republican Jewish Coalitions annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas.Moreover, this week Republicans also reclaimed the posts of Virginia's lieutenant governor and attorney general, as well as a majority in the House of Delegates. interestingly, in deep-blue New Jersey, GOP gubernatorial challenger Jack Ciattarelli came close to unseating Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy, and the Republican Party made gains in the state assembly.Cruz reportedly predicted that the election of 2022 "is going to be a wave election." The senator suggested "Its going to be an election like 2010," in which due to the strong pro-Republican sentiment across the US fuelled by the Tea Party movement, the GOP decisively reclaimed the House and made major gains in the Senate. Republicans need to gain just five seats in the 435-seat House to reclaim the majority they lost in the 2018 midterm elections. And the party needs only a one-seat net gain to reclaim the Senate majority it lost in January, when Democrats won both Senate runoff elections in Georgia.Also extremely optimistic about the party's prospects in the 2022 elections is Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who also spoke to the Republican Jewish Coalition on Friday.When asked if this week's victories make it easier to persuade GOP governors Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Doug Ducey of Arizona, and Larry Hogan of Maryland to run for the Senate next year, Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said, "Absolutely."Meanwhile, according to Fox News, Cruz told the attendees of the meeting to encourage Sununu to run for Senate. The senator also speculated about the next presidential election, scheduled for 2024. Cruz finished second to former President Donald Trump in the tumultuous 2016 Republican primary and caucus struggle, but when asked if he plans to run again, he responded emphatically, "Absolutely not."

vot tak Why hasn't this israeli quisling been hanged for war crimes and treason 2

Hess Unbelievable. This corrupt fat arse is allowed to air his opinions. He should be in jail serving time for felony and corruption. 2

4

virginia

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Kirill Kurevlev

Kirill Kurevlev

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Kirill Kurevlev

democrat, us, virginia, ted cruz, democrats, elections, republican, biden administration
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/three-injured-in-knife-attack-on-train-in-germany-reports-say-1090523053.html

Three Injured in Knife Attack on Train in Germany, Reports Say

Three Injured in Knife Attack on Train in Germany, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Three people were injured in a knife attack in a train in the southern German state of Bavaria on Saturday morning, the Bild newspaper... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T10:40+0000

2021-11-06T10:40+0000

2021-11-06T11:36+0000

news

germany

train

knife attack

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The attacker was taken into custody, the newspaper reported.Two people were seriously injured, but their lives are out of danger now, according to the Bild.The attack happened near Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, between Regensburg and Nuremberg. The train was stopped, and police are working at the scene.The 27-year old knifeman of Arab origin behaved inadequately, presumably, due to a mental illness. Police have ruled out terrorist motives.

germany

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news, germany, train, knife attack
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/twitter-suspends-trends-feature-in-ethiopia-for-fear-of-violence-escalation-1090521030.html

Twitter Suspends Trends Feature in Ethiopia for Fear of Violence Escalation

Twitter Suspends Trends Feature in Ethiopia for Fear of Violence Escalation

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Twitter temporarily disabled the Trends feature in Ethiopia to make sure that the platform cannot be used to instigate violence in the... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T08:56+0000

2021-11-06T08:56+0000

2021-11-06T08:56+0000

ethiopia

africa

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"Were monitoring the situation in Ethiopia and are focused on protecting the safety of the conversation on Twitter. Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules," Twitter said, adding that it temporarily disabled Trends in the country to "reduce the risks of coordination that could incite violence or cause harm."Northern Ethiopia has been engulfed by the internal conflict since October last year, when the central government accused the PNLF of attacking a military base and launched a counteroperation in Tigray. Neighboring Eritrea supported the Ethiopian authorities, although in the spring of 2021 it said it was withdrawing its troops from Tigray.In June, the rebels captured the administrative center of Tigray, the city of Mekelle, and the government declared an unconditional ceasefire. The insurgents, however, later said that they were launching a new offensive. They took control of a part of Tigray, and entered the Amhara Region, which took them a step closer to the country's capital of Addis Ababa.

ethiopia

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ethiopia, africa
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/uk-necrophiliac-killer-avoided-eye-contact-kept-blinds-shut-washed-car-often-claim-witnesses-1090520527.html

UK Necrophiliac Killer 'Avoided Eye Contact, Kept Blinds Shut, Washed Car Often', Claim Witnesses

UK Necrophiliac Killer 'Avoided Eye Contact, Kept Blinds Shut, Washed Car Often', Claim Witnesses

On 4 November David Fuller admitted to murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, almost 35 years ago, while also pleading guilty to 51 further... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T08:49+0000

2021-11-06T08:49+0000

2021-11-06T08:49+0000

sajid javid

uk

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As police sources believe 'Bedsit Murders' perpetrator David Fuller could have been responsible for more slaughtered victims and thousands more women defiled in morgues where he worked, his ex-wife Gill Palmer was cited by The Sun as saying she was still in shock over the horrendous revelations.Gill Palmer married the man now known to have been a die-hard necrophiliac in 1972. The couple, who divorced in the 1980s, had children Michael, 46, and Sharon, 49.Mala Fuller, the third wife of the man who managed to get away with his crimes for over three decades until a DNA breakthrough helped cold-case detectives solve the case, was cited as saying:It was at the home in Heathfield, East Sussex that Mala Fuller shared with the hospital electrician for 20 years that police found his trove of morgue photographs.According to appalled neighbours cited by the outlet, Fuller had always seemed odd and wouldnt talk. The man who they say refused to make eye contact reportedly had his blinds ushut for 20 years, even in summer, owned numerous CCTV cameras and frequently drove off in his car at odd hours. Fuller is also described as having washed his car often.I rarely said more than a few words to him but he was often out washing his car. Now it gives me a chill down my spine  why was he always washing it? Was he getting rid of evidence? Its a horrible image that I cant get out of my mind. Everyone is friendly round here but he was always the odd one out. We often heard him driving off at 2am or 3am and now we know where he was going. Hes worse than a monster, hes a devil. Pure evil, one neighbour was cited as saying.The hospital electrician was also described by a colleague as having been quiet but pleasant.Hed be given a job and hed do it. Hed fix a heater or a boiler and that was it. He didnt really mix but people got on with him. All of his colleagues were shell-shocked. Its beyond words, said the unnamed former colleague of the man who abused corpses in mortuaries.Morgue ManiacOn 4 November David Fuller, 67, admitted killing Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells in 1987. Both women, who lived in one-room bedsits, had been beaten and strangled.The former hospital electrician and maintenance engineer also pleaded guilty to 51 further charges, including the sexual assault of nearly 80 female corpses at two mortuaries in Kent and East Sussex.Fuller was able to evade arrest for over three decades until cold-case detectives carried out a review of the national DNA database.Back in the 1980s, when there was none of the extensive DNA analysis or national database of offender profiles that help identify criminals today, detectives had struggled with forensic evidence in the case.All they had to work with was a bloody fingerprint on a shopping bag and a footprint on the cuff of a white blouse from Wendy Knell's flat.After the DNA sample failed to match anyone on the newly-established database in 1999 the trail went cold.However, in 2019 forensics experts applied a relatively new technique, "familial DNA", to a new method for collecting DNA from a damaged sperm sample.Then detectives scrutinised a list of those who had lived in the area of the murders and who would have been the right age. The closest partial DNA match belonged to Fullers brother, which, in turn, led them to the murderer himself.David Fuller, who trained as an electrician and maintenance man while working in the Portsmouth shipyards, was living with his third wife and teenage son in Heathfield, West Sussex by 2020.On 3 December, police arrived to search his house and discovered videos and notes detailing the necrophiliac's crimes at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital. So far, Kent detectives have formally identified 81 of his mortuary victims.The footage had been concealed in a bedroom he had converted into an office.While both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have launched an independent probe, a group of MPs has called for a public inquiry into how he could have carried out his crimes for so long. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the NHS had written to all trusts asking for mortuary access to be reviewed.

https://sputniknews.com/20211105/uk-hospital-staff-worker-admits-to-murdering-two-women-and-raping-100-female-corpses-1090491145.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211105/families-in-turmoil-as-fears-emerge-necrophiliac-david-fuller-could-have-defiled-thousands-of-1090499064.html

Derrick Steed I think that we are about to witness an epidemic of unwashed cars. 2

Charlie McD Sounds like a politician. 1

3

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Svetlana Ekimenko

Svetlana Ekimenko

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Svetlana Ekimenko

sajid javid, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/us-media-reveals-russian-militarys-secret-weapon-1090529043.html

US Media Reveals Russian Militarys Secret Weapon

US Media Reveals Russian Militarys Secret Weapon

The Pentagon categorises countries such as Russia and China as "near-peer" adversaries or threats. However, in some emergent technologies, Moscow and Beijing... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T16:36+0000

2021-11-06T16:36+0000

2021-11-06T16:47+0000

beriev a-50u

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The Beriev A-50U, the deeply modernised version of Russias A-50 "flying radar" reconnaissance aircraft, will play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of Russias military intelligence capability on the battlefield, National Interest contributor Mark Episkopos believes.In a recent article for the magazines website, Episkopos listed off the A-50Us key features, like its ability to track ground targets at ranges up to 300 km, and aerial targets up to 650 km away thanks to the Shmel-M (literally "Bumblebee-M")  the planes onboard, rotating, mushroom dome-shaped radar tracking system. The new radar complex also has a missile launch detection range of up to 1,000 km.The A-50U is an upgrade to the A-50, a Soviet-era Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft that first entered service in the late 1980s. The planes are built on basis of the Il-76MD military transport  the workhorse multi-purpose four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau.Episkopos points out that unlike the A-50, which features analogue inputs, the A-50U boasts a fully digitized system of radar control, which makes it easier and faster to use while minimising the risk of operator error.Along with the completely replaced onboard computers, the upgraded aircraft also feature more reliable uplink to satellite communications equipment, with data volume and quality characteristics increased significantly, and the navigation system also improved. Smaller upgrades include new large onboard LCD monitors, and improved ergonomics for flight crews, including a redesigned interior and rest area and kitchen.In addition to their ability to detect, identify and track aerial, ground and sea targets, and issue information about them to command posts, the aircraft can also serve as its own command posts.Outwardly, the A-50U is similar to the USs Boeing E-3 Sentry. However, the American plane features a pulse-Doppler radar with a range of about 375 km for low-flying targets, and a pulse radar to track aircraft at medium and high altitudes at ranges up to 650 km. The planes also have lookdown capability, making them able to detect and track ground and sea-based targets at a range of 320 km. E-3s have received several rounds of upgrades, with NATO recently extending the planes lifetime until at least 2035  with things like expanded data capacity, satellite communications bandwidth, and new encryption equipment. The aircraft were originally introduced into service in 1977.Episkopos suggests it has yet to be seen how the Russian and US planes compare in real performance.The A-50Us modernisation was carried out by the Beriev Aviation Plant and the Vega Radio Engineering Concern  a company specialising in military radar, surveillance, and command and control systems.The Aerospace Forces expect to receive the seventh modernized A-50U by the end of 2021, with the sixth plane of its kind delivered in March. A total of 68 E-3 Sentries have been built, with 31 of them used by the US Air Force, and most of the rest (barring the three lost in accidents) exported to NATO, France, Britain, and Saudi Arabia.

https://sputniknews.com/20160627/russian-us-awacs-capabilities-analysis-1042020932.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211023/us-media-dubs-russias-okhotnik-drone-beast-that-could-pose-big-problem-for-nato-1090160603.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210226/pentagon-leaders-cant-decide-to-replace-falling-apart-e-3-early-warning-plane-1082200518.html

TruePatriot Well done Russia. 7

LINDADREW all my support shown for russia rising up against america to COMBAT EVIL and one day uk hopes for a rescue from american BESTIAL FORCES BUT THESE SAME BESTIALS HAVE AGREED ON 4425 E-TRA TORTURE SATELLITES TO DESTROY PPL WITH 5

8

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Ilya Tsukanov

Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

beriev a-50u
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/veteran-soviet-journalist-leonid-sigan-dies-aged-98-1090524531.html

Veteran Soviet Journalist Leonid Sigan Dies Aged 98

Veteran Soviet Journalist Leonid Sigan Dies Aged 98

He had trained many international journalists who made successful careers both in Russia and abroad. 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T12:50+0000

2021-11-06T12:50+0000

2021-11-06T12:48+0000

news

poland

rossiya segodnya

sputnik

death

journalist

veteran

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Veteran Soviet and Russian journalist and political analyst, Leonid Sigan, has died at the age of 98.A legend of Soviet and Russian radio broadcasting, Sigan specialised in Soviet-Polish relations for 70 years. He began his career in 1945 as a presenter at Moscow Radio, which was later renamed 'The Voice of Russia' and subsequently became part of the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency. Sigan also worked as a correspondent, as an international journalist and as a political analyst before he started leading the Polish department of the agency.Sigan covered the most pressing political issues. His fields of interest were NATO's eastward expansion, increasing xenophobic sentiments in Poland, Polish-Ukrainian relations, the Smolensk plane crash, as well as historical topics: the Katyn tragedy, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the massacre of Poles in Volhynia.

poland

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Sofia Chegodaeva

Sofia Chegodaeva

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Sofia Chegodaeva

news, poland, rossiya segodnya, sputnik, death, journalist, veteran
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/watch-curtis-sliwa-hit-by-taxi-in-new-york-days-before-mayoral-election-1090519055.html

WATCH Curtis Sliwa Hit by Taxi in New York Days Before Mayoral Election

WATCH Curtis Sliwa Hit by Taxi in New York Days Before Mayoral Election

Former Republican nominee for the 2021 New York City mayoral election Curtis Sliwa broke his arm after getting hit by a taxi. 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T07:19+0000

2021-11-06T07:19+0000

2021-11-06T07:19+0000

us

mayor

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A video has emerged showing the moment the now-former New York mayor hopeful, Curtis Sliwa, was hit by a cab four days before the mayoral election.As seen in the footage, Sliwa bounced off the hood of the taxi and onto the pavement.Following the accident, Sliwa appeared on WABC radio for an interview and only later went to a hospital. The event reminded some of the attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt during his 1912 presidential campaign, where the former president was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bullet was blocked by an eyeglasses case and a book on progressivism when it struck Roosevelt's pocket, and he went on to deliver a 90-minute speech before seeking medical attention. Like Roosevelt, Sliwa was nevertheless defeated by the Democratic candidate.The incident occurred on 29 October near Rockefeller Center in New York.Curtis Sliwa is an American activist and radio talk show host who was the Republican nominee for the 2021 New York City mayoral election. On 2 November 2021, he lost the election to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

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us, mayor
https://sputniknews.com/20211106/winners-are-never-determined-us-commandos-rebuff-report-uk-royal-marines-dominated-in-war-drill-1090519029.html

'Winners Are Never Determined': US Commandos Rebuff Report UK Royal Marines 'Dominated' in War Drill

'Winners Are Never Determined': US Commandos Rebuff Report UK Royal Marines 'Dominated' in War Drill

The UK Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade and Taunton-based 40 Commando, which had spent the last two months in southern California's Mojave Desert... 06.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-06T07:24+0000

2021-11-06T07:24+0000

2021-11-06T07:24+0000

us

royal marines

uk

war games

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The US Marine Corps has dismissed reports that British Royal Marines dominated their American counterparts and forced them into a humiliating surrender halfway into the Green Dagger exercise. The simulated war games took place at the US Marine Corps' Twentynine Palms base in the Mojave Desert, in southern California. The five-day multi-domain exercise across 3,500 square kilometres of mountainous and desert terrain took place from 25-30 October, involving marines from the 2nd battalion 5th and 7th alongside with British, Canadian, Dutch and United Arab Emirates forces, according to Colvin. Troops from 3 Commando Brigade and Taunton-based 40 Commando of the British Armed Forces had spent the last two months in the Mojave Desert preparing for deployments coming up next year. Colvin noted that the exercise was carried out in a free-play environment that was tailored to stress commanders, derive learning points and allow participants to improve their ability to conduct offensive and defensive operations, and adapt to changes on the battlefield. Rob Lee, a PhD candidate at the Department of War Studies at Kings College, went on Twitter to deplore garbage stories like the one published in the Telegraph that serve to mistake the purpose of these exercises. Mock Battle Earlier, the US Marine Corps was reported to have asked for a reset after British counterparts defeated them halfway through the simulated battle at Twentynine Palms, according to The Daily Telegraph. The Royal Marines 40 Commando had been described as dominating American troops by successfully targeting their headquarters, using long-range artillery to destroy US vehicles and other targets, and launching a long-range commando raid. British forces reportedly not only defeated their US counterparts, but they vastly expanded the territory they controlled from less than 20% to more than 65% of the exercise area, wrote the outlet. Accordingly, the US Marines were forced to ask for a "reset" halfway into the drills after suffering heavy simulated losses while confronting the Royal Marines' elite Littoral Response Group (LRG). The newly-established LRG structure was being trialed at the war games as a template for commandos to become more flexible and mobile under reforms directed by First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. The commandos' "kill board", known as a Relative Combat Power Assessment (RCPA) on the level of damage inflicted upon enemy forces reportedly had a tick against almost every US asset, showing it had been rendered inoperable or destroyed.On 30 October, the Royal Marines published pictures of their combatants, writing: Victorious! Royal Marines triumph in part of multinational team on Exercise Green Dagger 21.Our success has proved the new commando force concept is more lethal and sophisticated than ever before and I am immensely proud of every member of the LRG and their vital contributions, Lt. Col. Andy Dow, commanding officer of 40 Commando, was cited by The Daily Telegraph as saying.

shahid khan now lets argue about the semantics to confuse the affair. just face it and admit you got whipped. now try harder next time. 8

NthrnNYker59 might that be why the trannies and ash spelunkers haven't won a conflict since 1945 ? 4

7

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A set of $10,000 Preferred events highlighted Fridays 11-race card at The Raceway at Western Fair District, with Tymal Houdini topping his trotting rivals and Reys N A Rocket rolling over her female foes.

Tymal Houdini went to the front for driver Marc St. Louis, Jr. and didnt look back en route to a 1:57.4 triumph. The Steve Bossence pupil whacked out fractions of :27.4, :58.3 and 1:27.3 before using a :30.1 closing panel to win by three-quarters of a length over Scene A Magician. Goaltender took home third prize.

E C S Racing LLC of Rockford, MI owns the five-year-old son of Kadabra-Lexus Hall who now boasts a 4-6-3 record from 20 starts this year. The nine-time winner bumped his overall bankroll to $106,493 with the win.

Reys N A Rocket was an upset winner to the tune of 8-1 in the $10,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred 3 for pacers in a time of 1:56 for the tandem of driver Paul MacKenzie and trainer Gerard Demers.

The seven-year-old daughter of Mattarocket-Allamerican Orchid watched Buttermilk Hanover and Temagami Seelster battle to the quarter pole in :27.1, with Temagami Seelster winning that battle. She went on to post middle splits of :56.4 and 1:26.1, but she weakened late. Mach My Kiss came first over on the way to the half before fading, and Reys N A Rocket then took the role of the first over attacker on the way to the three-quarter pole. She then used a :29.3 closing quarter to win by a length over Manhattan Night. The show dough went to Temagami Seelster.

It was the 11th win of the 2021 season for Reys N A Rocket, who is owned by Michel Lagace of Terrebonne, QC. The 43-time winner lifted her lifetime earnings to $246,622 with the win.

To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results  The Raceway at Western Fair District.
A Morrill County District Court grand jury that heard evidence in the June 28 shooting death of a Bayard man had just one recommendation in its report.

Twelve members of a grand jury convened on Oct. 26-Oct. 28 to hear testimony and consider evidence in the death of Larry Hunt, 58.

In Nebraska, whenever a person who is in custody of law enforcement or being detained dies or is killed, a grand jury is impaneled to evaluate the circumstances of the death and to determine whether any criminal wrongdoing occurred.

The Nebraska State Patrol conducted the investigation into Hunts death, which officials reported to have occurred as officers with the WING task force and Morrill County Sheriffs Office were serving a warrant at a Bayard residence. Two deputies discharged their firearms, striking Hunt, who was the subject of the search warrant, and Hunt had allegedly become combative, according to information released at the time of the shooting.

After considering the evidence, the grand jury returned a No True Bill, which is a finding that the grand jury did not find probable cause that a crime had been committed.
The Nebraska Wing of the Civil Air Patrol will be holding a recruitment event Saturday at West Nebraska Regional Airport.

Every state has a Civil Air Patrol, as well as U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, Second Lt. Debra Claussen told the Star-Herald. The Civil Air Patrol is a non-profit public service organization that is authorized by the U.S. Air Force as a civilian auxiliary. Its members carry out emergency service and disaster relief missions and work to promote aerospace, aviation and STEM-related careers through its cadet programs.

We do search and rescue, radio and cybersecurity, and pretty much anything that the Air Force wants us to do and allow us to do, Claussen said.

She said the program started in 1941, prior to Pearl Harbor, when members would patrol the coast line by aircraft for suspicious activity, like submarines.

The talk is that there were even planes that were outfitted with torpedoes, she said.

On Saturday, 8 to 5 p.m., the Civil Air Patrol will host a flight clinic for local students in Jr. ROTC programs and the Civil Air Patrols Cadet Program. Students as young as 12 years old can be cadets in the Civil Air Patrol and once they turn 18, they are senior members of the Civil Air Patrol.
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Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district  Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case  but Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.

This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in a such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me thats the heart of the entire issue, he said.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States.

The administration says it is confident that the requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules preempt state laws.
Friends of library plan book sale

A book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Woodland Community Library takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 12 and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Woodland Community Center, 782 Park St. (across from the Woodland Middle School and next to the Woodland Community Library.)

Prices for childrens books range from 25 cents to $1. Mass market books are 50 cents each. Hard cover and trade paperback books are $1 each. Media items are two for $1.

Holiday-themed books (children, cooking, crafts and more) will be featured.

Money raised will be used for library activities and to support a future library.

For details, call 360-225-2294.

Free class on good choices

A free class, Guiding Good Choices takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16, 23, 30 and Dec. 7.

The class held via Zoom is designed for parents and caregivers of children 9 to 14 years old. Children will join one session.

An optional orientation/introductory session takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 9.

The topics covered in the Guiding Good Choices class include how to promote health and well-being during the teen years; how to develop healthy beliefs and clear standards; how to deal with anger in a positive way; how to say no, keep your friends and still have fun (children invited to attend this session); and how to strengthen family bonds.

The registration deadline is Nov. 9. To register, call or text 360-261-3971 or send an email to ramona.leber@cni.net.

Eagles honor vets Nov. 13

Veterans will be honored from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Longview Eagles, 1526 12th Ave., Longview.

The dinner menu includes hamburgers, hot dogs and French fries. Veterans who are Eagles members will be admitted free of charge and other Eagles members and their guests will pay by donation.

For details, call the Eagles lodge at 360-425-1444.

New coats needed for local students

Castle Rock resident Bill Ammons once again is collecting new coats for local students who need them.

People who would like to donate are encouraged to call Ammons at 360-274-7811 to make arrangements to either drop off the items or have them picked up.

SON members sell goodies

Sons of Norway lodge members are offering traditional Norwegian holiday foods for sale Nov. 13 at the lodge, 224 Catlin St., Kelso. The sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The foods include five rounds of lefse for $10, 12 assorted cookies (Krumkake, Rosettes and Sandbakkels) for $6, four frozen Norwegian waffles for $5, four frozen Swedish pancakes for $5, a 14-ounce jar of lingonberries for $6, two pounds of frozen lutefisk for $25, a 12-ounce jar of pickled herring for $10, 10 homemade meatballs for $10 and a frozen eight-ounce cup of split pea soup for $5.

Other dates the goodies will be sold are Nov. 20, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18.

Lay counseling sessions offered

New clients are being accepted at the Lay Counseling Clinic.

Ten free one-hour sessions are offered with a trained counselor. The counselors are supervised by a professional psychologist.

Appointments are available for adult individuals and couples. Masks are required and will be provided. Appointments also are available via Zoom.

To schedule an appointment, call Elizabeth Jacobsen at 360-577-1059 or call 360-423-6380.

The Lay Counseling Clinic is in the basement of Longview Community Church, 2323 Washington Way in Longview.

Child screenings for youngsters

Free developmental preschool screenings for 3- to 5-year-olds who have not yet entered kindergarten take place for residents in the Kelso School District on Nov. 17 at Wallace Elementary School, 410 Elm St., Kelso.

Children will be screened in hearing, vision, speech/language, social/emotional, life skills, concepts and motor skills. Results are confidential.

Appointments are required.

Birth to 3-year-old screenings also are available. People interested in them should call for an appointment.

For details or to make an appointment, call 360-501-1672.

 The Daily News

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The K-12 COVID-19 vaccine mandate did its job in getting more educators vaccinated and reducing school transmission, local and state officials said, even in Cowlitz County where districts gave exemptions to between 14% and 34% of staff.

Cowlitz County deputy health officer Dr. Steve Krager said the mandate did have its intended effect in staff in increasing rates and while the process was at times challenging for districts, the benefits in reduced transmission and less disruption can already be seen.

Im pleased to see the progress and I hope we start to see some results of that of diminished transmission, especially in school settings, Krager said. Vaccinating more kids will be the next big step.

The state office of the superintendent of public instruction released vaccination and exemption data that detailed percentages by classification of staff: those who work mainly in classrooms, those who work in school buildings but not full time in classrooms and those working in the district office.

Locally, classroom staff and district office staff tended to have the highest vaccination rates, with the exceptions of the Castle Rock and Toutle Lake districts.

Those district offices instead had the highest percentage of religious exemptions granted at 44% and 42%, followed by the Toutle Lake school building staff at 37%.

Overall, Toutle Lake had the most total religious exemptions, followed closely by Castle Rock.

Kelso had the highest overall vaccination rate, while Kalama lost the highest percentage of staff over the vaccine, according to state data. (See the accompanying graphic for a full breakdown.)

Statewide, 89.2% of education workers, or 138,874 people, were fully vaccinated by the Oct. 18 deadline. Another .5%, about 850 people, started vaccination before the deadline, but were not fully vaccinated.

About .7% statewide got a medical exemption, and 9.6% got a religious exemption. Thats about 16,000 with exemptions.

Locally, average exemption rates were much higher.

In Castle Rock, about 34% got exemptions. In Toutle Lake, 33%. Woodland came in third with 19%, followed by Kalama, Kelso and Longview with about 14% total exemptions. The overwhelming majority of exemptions were religious.

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said he expected school staff exemptions rates to be higher than the average for state workers, which was about 3% granted, and he expected rural districts to be higher than urban exemption rates.

We have a lot more staff in rural communities, he said. We definitely expected more school employees in those vaccine hesitant areas to mirror their communities.

He also said schools by nature have more part-time employees, like bus drivers and nutrition staff, and they make a different decision in terms of getting the vaccine or not.

Weve got some work to do on that, he said.

While the state issued frameworks to schools to make decisions about the validity of religious objections, each districts human resources team ultimately had control of decisions, Reykdal said.

The federal law is really clear. It doesnt have to be a longstanding belief. It doesnt have to be affiliated with a formal church organization. It can be a recently adopted belief, he said. We didnt get into the detail of [those decisions] because the employer of record is the school district. We gave them the framework and then they made those decisions.

Even with the high local exemption rates, Reykdal said those rates were stunning.

In every county, educators exceeded the overall county vaccine population rate, he said.

In Cowlitz County, 52.2% of the population is fully vaccinated, while about 57% has started vaccination.

Krager said in talking with superintendents, the mandate did encourage people to get vaccinated, especially those who didnt have a strong feeling for or against it.

Some people were indifferent, he said. They were fine getting vaccinated, but didnt think it was a big deal so they didnt plan to do it, but needed it for their job (with the mandate). Some people were less happy, but still wanted to continue working and didnt feel like they fit under an exemption.

Overall, Krager said hes very happy with where rates are at, especially compared to where they were several months ago among school districts.

While vaccination percentages vary, he said now theres going to be less risk of transmission among staff and transmission to students from staff.

Districts that have higher rates of vaccination may see even less transmission, but Krager said many factors go into school transmission.

A school district with say 90% immunization among staff, I cant say theyre never going to have outbreaks, he said. Delta is still very contagious and things happen. Obviously staff is big part of school, but we still have students and that is a huge part of the equation.

Pushes to vaccinate more children, including children 5 to 11 years old that recently were cleared to get the vaccine, are the next goal Krager said, though hes still hoping some staff who got exemptions may change their minds later and decide to get vaccinated.

I think its an important step that weve made this progress, he said. Im glad more staff are vaccinated ultimately is what it comes down to. I think schools are safer because of it.

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Longview Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway was named Washingtons 2021 Fire Marshal of the Year by the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals.

Dunaway has been working for the Longview Fire Department since October 2019, but has more than 30 years total experience working with Washington fire departments. Dunaway started as a volunteer firefighter in 1982, worked as a fire investigator for Kitsap County, and became the Clark County fire marshal in 2005.

Fire Chief Jim Kambeitz said Dunaway quickly became a highly respected member of the department after arriving in Longview. Dunaway was known for his leadership, his calm demeanor and his ability to work with the public and other city departments, Kambeitz said.

The fire marshal is part of the three-member leadership team for the fire department and leads many of the fire prevention programs. The marshal manages the fire code compliance for businesses and homes, the public education program and the fire investigation program.

Jon is the type of guy who will be a problem solver for those businesses, Kambeitz said. He will work with them to find a way to be code compliant in some creative way.

One recent example of Dunaways problem solving Kambeitz mentioned was the series of fire safety videos Dunaway put together for schools over the last two years. The educational videos were made in reaction to COVID restrictions preventing the fire station from hosting normal classroom visits.

Dunaway also is a former president of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals. He previously served on the board of the National Fire Protection Association, which helped shape some of the statewide fire codes in Washington.

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ATLANTA (AP)  The first major election day following a year of relentless attacks on voting rights and election officials went off largely without a hitch. Unlike the 2020 presidential election, there were no claims of widespread fraud, ballots emerging mysteriously in the dark of night or compromised voting machines changing results.

The relative calm was a relief to those who oversee elections, but will it matter to those who still believe last year's election was stolen from former President Donald Trump?

Election experts say even a smooth election cycle this year is unlikely to curb the distrust that has built up over the last year within a segment of the public. That skepticism has led to costly and time-consuming partisan ballot reviews, threats to election officials and new voting restrictions in Republican-controlled states.

Im extremely concerned that were not at the end of this, said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer who now heads the Center for Election Innovation and Research. Were not at the middle of this. Were at the beginning of this, and nobody is addressing it particularly well right now, with the exception of the professional election officials who are keeping their heads down and doing their job.

Tuesday's election featured problems typical of an election day that were quickly resolved: power outages, technical issues with equipment or too few ballots at particular polling places. In New Jersey, confusion over the reporting of election results circulated on social media. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, had yet to concede but said after the election that he did not want supporters falling victim to wild conspiracy theories or online rumors.

Ahead of Virginias high-profile gubernatorial election, Trump had said in a statement that he was not a believer in the integrity of Virginias elections, lots of bad things went on, and are going on. Yet in his statement congratulating Republican Glenn Youngkin, Trump made no mention of fraud and credited his own supporters with the win.

Matt Masterson, a former top election security official in the Trump administration, noted that little changed between 2020 and this year in how elections are run in the U.S.

These are the same systems, the same people, the same processes, Masterson said. Election officials did their job in 2020, and they did it again in 2021.

When problems arose, they were caught quickly. The Ohio secretary of state took administrative oversight of the state's most populous county, home to Columbus, after it failed to properly update its poll books and allowed three people to cast ballots twice, although that did not affect the outcome of any race.

That elections are mostly running well hasnt stopped Republican officials from making claims about election fraud to justify new voting restrictions even in places where Trump and Republicans won handily in 2020 and where election officials reported no problems.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally, earlier this week called for a new state office to investigate election crimes. He also seeks new laws adding more restrictions to ballot drop boxes and increasing penalties for those who collect ballots for others.

I am excited that with this legislation, our state will be able to enforce election violations, combat voter fraud and make sure violators are held accountable, DeSantis said in a statement.

Mail voting was hugely popular last year amid the pandemic and helped drive high turnout this year in Virginia. And it was Republicans who did well on Tuesday in Virginia, where Democrats had expanded voting access in recent years. That included no longer requiring voters to provide an excuse to cast a mail ballot.

But GOP lawmakers still say rules around mail ballots must be tightened to address public concerns about fraud, even if there is no evidence it exists.

In Ohio, Republicans have introduced two bills seeking to rewrite state election laws. One calls for prohibiting off-site ballot drop boxes, eliminating a day of early voting and tightening the state voter ID requirement. The other goes even further -- reducing early voting from 21 days to six, eliminating no-excuse absentee voting and banning drop boxes altogether. Trump won the state handily, but lawmakers behind the second bill cited the potential of fraud to justify their proposal.

State Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican sponsoring the less stringent bill, believes Biden was legitimately elected but laments that the dispute over the 2020 election results makes it difficult to discuss voting issues rationally.

This is what happens when you try to do something fair in an environment in which there is no fair, he said. The Democrats will be knee-jerk opposed to anything they see as restrictive of voting, and a contingent of Republicans will be opposed to anything they see as an added convenience on voting.

Election officials said it was important to remind the public that there were no widespread problems with the 2020 election, which was dubbed the most secure in U.S. history by a group of federal, state and local election officials.

This isnt something that went wrong that were fixing, said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat. This is something that went really right in 2020. We had the safest elections in Americas history, with record turnout among both Democrats and Republicans. And the lies are about that.

Falsehoods surrounding the 2020 presidential election also triggered death threats against election officials that continue even a year later.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson described what the nation is confronting as a five-alarm fire and called on industry and community leaders to help defend democracy.

Those trying to dismantle democracy have shown us again and again that there may be no bottom to where they will go to lie and deceive voters, said Benson, a Democrat. We must take them at their word and believe them, and get to work spending every day countering their lies with truth.



Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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A mundane problem, has arisen aboard the SpaceX. Nothing lofty, nothing even related to rocket science, just the SpaceX toilet. It is refusing to work. Actually, it has sprung a leak. The craft is supposed to depart the International Space Station on Sunday, but due to the broken capsule toilet, the crew was left with no other choice but to use diapers for the next 20-hours. This problem was found in the last flight up into space, but it will have to be faced by the current crew aboard International Space Station who are set for their trip back to Earth.

Megan McArthur, a NASA astronaut, described the situation as "suboptimal" but manageable on Friday, ABC News reported. From the time the hatches are closed until the planned splashdown on Monday morning, she and other three crew members will spend 20 hours in their SpaceX capsule with no possibility of relief.

Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges. This is just one more that well encounter and take care of in our mission. So were not too worried about it," McArthur said during a news conference from orbit.

Challenges faced by astronauts on SpaceX

Thomas Pesquet, one of the crew members, told reporters that the last six months have been intense up there. The astronauts performed a series of spacewalks to update the station's electrical grid, dealt with unintended thruster firings from docked Russian spacecrafts that sent the station into a short spin, and hosted a private Russian film crew - a first for a space station.

Crew discovered SpaceX toilet problem when they pulled up panels in their spacecraft and discovered pools of urine. Engineers evaluated that the urine had not compromised the integrity of the structure and that it was safe to go back. The astronauts will have to rely on absorbent "undergarments," as NASA defines them. Translated into common language, it means diapers.

Even in the midst of challenges, the crew grew the first chili peppers in space. They got a taste of their harvest last week when they added green and red peppers to tacos. In addition to McArthur and Pesquet, the crew includes NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide who were sent to the space station on April 23 via SpaceX flight.
Brazil is looking to leverage fifth-generation mobile technology to accelerate the development of its industrial and agribusiness sectors and bring super-fast internet to the cell phones of its 213 million people.

Brazil raised $8.4 billion in investments and license fees in an international tender to build and operate one of the world's biggest 5G data networks, Communications Minister Fabio Faria said Friday, hailing a "great success."

The final result46.8 billion reais ($8.4 billion)came in just shy of the $9 billion the government had forecast.

But Faria was upbeat at the close of the two-day auction, telling a news conference the result "beat all expectations."

Winning bids went to companies including Telecom Italia's local subsidiary, Tim; Spanish group Telefonica's Brazilian unit; and Claro, owned by Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim's America Movil.

Six newcomers to the Brazilian market also made winning bids and will now become mobile providers, which should increase competition and benefit consumers.

Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, is looking to leverage so-called fifth-generation mobile technology to accelerate the development of its industrial and agribusiness sectorsas well as bring super-fast internet to the cell phones of its 213 million people.

The tender, which drew 15 bidders in all, was for the right to build and operate different "blocks" of the frequency spectrum for 20 years.

Brazil also tendered the development of a separate network that will be reserved for government communications.

Bidding for the latter excluded all equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, the target of US espionage accusations that had put Brazil in a bind, forcing it to navigate a tumultuous tech standoff between Beijing and Washington.

The two major world powers are also Brazil's largest trading partners and the country came under pressure from both sides over the ground rules for its 5G network.

That led it to postpone the tender from early 2021 as initially scheduled.

Despite the postponement, analysts agreed with Faria that the tender came off well for Brazil.

"It was an absolute success," said Marcos Ferrari of Conexis Brasil Digital, a group representing five of the bidding firms.

"There was a lot of appetite from the market," he told AFP.

The tender was a win-win for established mobile providers and new arrivals to the Brazilian market, said Eduardo Tude, head of the consultancy Teleco.

"On the one hand, current operators got the spectrum they'll need to develop 5G with the necessary bandwidth. On the other, there was space for new players. That's a very positive development," he said.

Connected tractors, telemedicine

President Jair Bolsonaro called the tender "historic" on Thursday, as he opened the bidding in Brasilia with a symbolic bang of the auctioneer's hammer.

Brazil hopes 5G technology will open new horizons for its economy, ranging from connected tractors and crop-monitoring drones for the booming agricultural sector to self-driving cars and telemedicine to bridge the sprawling South American country's infrastructure gaps.

"Consumers won't see that much difference, aside from faster download times for movies and videos. But from the standpoint of industry, this is going to open up a whole new reality for factories, agribusiness, the productive sector," said Ferrari.

Faria, the minister, said deploying 5G would have a "major impact" on Brazil's economic growth over the next decade.

Winning companies will be required to roll out service in Brasilia and the 26 state capitals by August 2022.

Other cities of more than 30,000 people can expect service between 2025 and 2028.

The tender also featured projects to expand and upgrade internet access in remote areas, along highways and in public schools, in a country where 40 million people still lack access.

 2021 AFP
Be Local is the regions premier shop local promotion and education network. This program is dedicated to strengthening the regions economy and promoting locally-owned, independent businesses by educating residents and visitors about the importance of shopping locally. The 2020 Be Local Network will include businesses from Southwest and Central Pennsylvania, Southeast Ohio, and the Ohio Valley in West Virginia.
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Trial opens with differing views of same "horrible" death

Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News Marcus Arbery goes into the Glynn County Courthouse after the noon recess in the trial of three men accused of murder in the death of his 25-year-old son, Ahmaud Arbery. Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News Marcus Arbery, left, returns to court in the rain with an unidentified man to the trial of three men accused of murder in the death of his 25-year-old son, Ahmaud Arbery. Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News Ahmaud Arbery's aunt, Diane Jackson, from left, Titania Cook and Jane Page of the Unitarian-Universalist Church, sit under a canopy protected from the wind by a sheet of plastic.

Senior assistant district attorney Linda Dunikoski of the Cobb County DA told jurors Gregory McMichael made assumptions and driveway decisions when he saw Ahmaud Arbery running past his home on Satilla Drive on Feb. 23, 2020, in the Satilla Shores neighborhood.

McMichael, 65, and his son, 35-year-old son Travis McMichael, armed themselves with a pistol and shotgun respectively, jumped in a pickup truck and pursued Arbery. Neighbor William Roddie Bryan joined the chase in his own pickup truck after witnessing the commotion between the McMichaels and Arbery outside his home on nearby Burford Road, she said.

Arbery ultimately was caught between the two pickups that Sunday afternoon, running from Bryan in a 2018 Silverado and toward the McMichaels, who had stopped the 2020 Ford F-150 and waited with guns drawn.

And then they killed him, Dunikoski said Friday during opening statements in the trial of three White men accused in the shooting death of Arbery, who was Black.

The account presented by defense lawyers in their opening statements also ended in a horrible death. But attorney Robert Rubin portrayed Travis McMichael as a man who relied on his Coast Guard training to act in self-defense when he shot the 25-year-old Arbery dead.

Based on previous encounters with Arbery, the McMichaels had reason to believe he had committed a crime when they pursued him, Rubin said. They were acting selflessly to protect their community and within the parameters of a citizens arrest, he said.

There was no crime committed in their presence, Rubin said. Were not contending that there was. But there was probable cause to believe a felony had been committed and that this man was attempting to escape or flee.

Attorneys for the defense and the prosecution spent most of Friday laying out the two sides of a story that has gripped the nation and embroiled a tight-knit coastal community.

The McMichaels and Bryan are on trial for murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and other charges. Though Travis McMichael pulled the trigger, all three men are charged with murder because their alleged crimes resulted in Arberys death.

Felony murder is where youre committing a murder and somebody dies as a result of the felony youre committing, Dunikoski said.

The video that Bryan recorded with his cellphone of the bloody confrontation between Travis McMichael and Arbery sparked national outrage and cries of racial injustice when it was leaked online in May 2020. That video figured to play heavily in the trial, and it appeared early. Dunikoski played it for jurors during her opening comments. She also played body camera footage from Glynn County police officer William Duggan, who tried to render aid to Arbery upon arriving on scene. Duggan was the first and only witness in Fridays proceedings and most questions directed to him were limited to technical and professional questions regarding the video.

Duggans body cam footage showed Arberys body sprawled in the middle of the street, his white shirt soaked with blood.

Duggan said he noticed Travis McMichael nearby, with blood on him. He said he asked if he was OK.

No, Duggan said McMichael told him, I just f-----g killed someone.

Gregory McMichael retired in 2019 from a 20-year career as an investigator with the Brunswick District Attorneys Office and served as a county police officer for seven years before that. With their backgrounds, the McMichaels planned to speak with Arbery and hold him for police, attorneys said. They were not trying to provoke a conflict, defense attorneys told jurors. Right before the shooting, Travis McMichael had dialed 911 and handed his cellphone to his father in the back of the truck, Rubin said.

When Travis McMichael stood outside his truck and aimed his shotgun at Arbery as he approached, he was employing federal law enforcement training tactics to deescalate the situation, Rubin said. And Rubin said McMichael had no choice but to shoot when Arbery suddenly turned toward him at the front of the pickup truck, grabbing at the gun and pounding on Travis McMichael with his other hand, Rubin said.

Dunikoski said the men acted impulsively and maliciously, with no cause to assume a crime had been committed simply because they saw Arbery running down the road. Indeed, she said, no crime had been committed. She said Bryan also acted with malice when he made the decision to join the chase in his own pickup truck.

Bryan used that truck on several occasions to block Arberys path, including once when he appeared to be trying to escape the neighborhood, Dunikoski said. She described the trucks with which they pursued Arbery as 5,000-pound lethal weapons.

He ran away from these men and these pickup trucks for five minutes, Dunikoski said. At this point Mr. Arbery is under attack.

The defense attorneys said the men were simply trying to get answers about why Arbery had been going into a home under construction at 220 Satilla Drive. The home had no doors and open garage bays and Arbery had just left there and began running past the McMichaels home when the deadly pursuit began.

Arbery had been seen on the structures home security surveillance cameras on at least three occasions between October and Feb. 11, 2020. Homeowner Larry English said Arbery did not steal or commit a crime inside the home.

But defense attorneys said neighbors were worried about property crimes, a subject that had dominated talk on the Satilla Shores neighborhood Facebook page. English at one point told neighbors that several thousand dollars worth of equipment had been stolen from a boat docked on the waterway behind his 220 Satilla Shores property. He later realized the property had been stolen from the boat when he was keeping it back home in Douglas.

But the McMichaels still thought that property had been stolen from the structure, defense attorneys said. Travis McMichael had an earlier confrontation with Arbery outside the home shortly after dark. He told 911 dispatchers Arbery appeared to reach for a gun in his shorts when McMichael tried to confront him on that occasion.

And this was the man Gregory McMichael saw running past his home on Satilla Drive on the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2020, defense attorney Frank Hogue said.

Greg McMichael was absolutely sure this was the guy, the same guy he had seen on surveillance video inside a house where Greg had sound reasons to believe theft had occurred, burglary, Hogue said.

At one point in the chase, Dunikoski told jurors that Gregory McMichael told Arbery, Stop, or Ill blow your f-----g head off! He would later relate also to police officers that the three men had Arbery trapped like a rat, she said.

The defendants assumed the worst about Mr. Arbery and then they made their driveway decisions, Dunikoski said.

The trial will resume at the Glynn County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Monday.
The field of eight candidates vying to be Brunswicks next mayor was reduced to two on Nov. 2 with Cosby Johnson and Ivan Figueroa emerging from the pack to qualify for the runoff.
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TAKE IT OR LEAVE: District Council 37, along with eight other unions, reached an agreement Nov. 4 with the city detailing leave policies for municipal workers who have refused to get the coronavirus vaccine. Unvaccinated employees who do not receive an exemption will be able to extend their unpaid leave through June 30, 2022 and retain their health benefits, or can be reimbursed for sick days if they leave the job by Nov. 17.
HUNGRY FOR JUSTICE: State Attorney General Letitia James addressed taxi drivers who were in the midst of a two-week hunger strike outside City Hall shortly before it was announced that under a deal brokered by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, with some assistance from her and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, meaningful debt relief was being provided to those who owed as much as $600,000 on medallions whose value had plummeted, so that they would now have to pay off a maximum of $170,000 on their loans.
Two decades after World War II, much had begun to change. For many, the United States was a land of both peace and prosperity. Although not everyone shared equally in the American dream, there was hope that the trauma of the war years might finally fade, and that the American people would assign its own curse of racial segregation to the dustpans of history.

Jewish culture, however, was not assigned merely to books, academia and the theater. New and innovative institutions sprang forth from the Jewish soul. One such creation was the American Jewish summer camp experience. Jewish summer camps were not merely a place to have fun, they would become a foundation of Jewish post-Holocaust renaissance. Jewish summer camps not only created new post-Holocaust leadership but a whole new genre of Jewish music. These camps poetry set to music became a reflection not only of the American Jewish soul, but of hope and renewal after darkness of the crematorias ashes. It is into this world, rebuilt from the ashes of Europes crematoria and natured by American ideals of freedom, that Debbie Friedman (1951-2011) entered. Friedman represented a new form of artist. Despite the fact that Friedman had an almost rock star status within the Jewish world, her work remains until this day almost entirely unknown outside of it. Like Sholom Aleichem, she wrote and composed for the Jewish masses. Friedman married the American and Jewish poetic and musical traditions and from this artistic merger gave birth to the music of the Jewish camp. Listening to her music, we hear a melange of American 1960s folk music and classical Jewish texts.
Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 82F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Thunder is possible early. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
A 16-year-old male and a Grand Island man were arrested Thursday morning after a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 80 near Aurora and the capture of the juvenile on foot.

The passenger, who was arrested, was Alexander Esquitin, a 33-year-old Grand Island resident.

At about 9:55 a.m. Thursday, a Nebraska State trooper observed an eastbound Cadillac CTS speeding and driving with expired license plates on I-80 near Aurora. The trooper attempted a traffic stop near mile marker 332, but the driver accelerated and fled. The trooper initiated a pursuit.

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The vehicle fled eastbound with speeds reaching 130 mph. The Cadillac passed multiple vehicles on the shoulder. The car then exited I-80 at mile marker 342. The vehicle drove southbound before turning around in a field and returning to I-80. It entered I-80 eastbound, drove through the median and continued fleeing westbound on I-80.

Near mile marker 339, the vehicle slowed down and the driver jumped from the moving vehicle onto the pavement of I-80.

The driver, the 16-year-old male, fled on foot across I-80 and into a field before being apprehended quickly by another trooper. The passenger, Esquitin, remained in the vehicle and was taken into custody without further incident.
There are many jobs involved, and other businesses rely on their business, said Ravenna Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rylie Mills. Its not good. I always try to remain positive, but I dont know what will happen.

The community is looking into different options to keep a nursing home in Ravenna, but its not an easy feat with the closure date rapidly approaching.

Dethlefs said, We are looking into options, but the problem is 60 days is not much time. If we would have know about it six months ago, it would have been a different story.

"I have had several people say we need to try and save it. Im not saying no, but there is a lot of footwork to be done to get something going, and we are looking at those avenues," she said.

Fred Matejka is a Ravenna City Council member, and he is concerned that even if the city could help, Good Samaritan Society would not reverse the decision.

The Matejka family are trying to get a place for Joseph at Good Samaritan Society - St. Johns in Kearney. They considered the Central Nebraska Veterans Home, but there is a long waiting list, Fred said.
Koumjian, an American lawyer who served as an international prosecutor of serious crimes committed in Cambodia, East Timor and Bosnia, was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as its head in 2019 with instructions to prepare files that can facilitate criminal prosecutions in national, regional or international tribunals to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Koumjian said his team has been collecting evidence from a wide variety of sources including individuals, organizations, businesses and governments, and the evidence includes photographs, videos, testimonies and social media posts that could be relevant to show that crimes happened and who is responsible for those crimes.

The investigative body has received information from social media companies, which he wouldn't name except for Facebook because it had made its cooperation public.

We began engaging with Facebook as soon as we were created in 2019, and they have been meeting with us regularly, Koumjian said. We have received some, but certainly not all, that we have requested. We continue to negotiate with them and actually I am hopeful that we are going to receive more information.
OMAHA  More than 90% of employees of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems that require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have gotten their shots.

The health systems' chief medical officers jointly announced the plan in early August, well ahead of President Joe Biden's September announcement that all government contractors  including those that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars  require employee vaccination.

All of the eight Omaha and Lincoln health systems have granted exemptions to a small percentage of their employees on medical or religious grounds, including roughly 5% of Bryan Health's staff. Most established committees to review the requests and granted them on an individual basis. Employees granted exemptions typically have agreed to wear masks and test regularly for COVID-19.

Thursday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued emergency regulations that will apply to roughly 17 million health care workers at 76,000 providers nationwide.

Under the rules, eligible health care workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. The regulations require health care facilities to provide for exemptions for recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Nebraska coach Scott Frost needs to keep growing in his job. He'll get another season in Lincoln to do it. Does he deserve it? Let the debate roar on.
Theres been increasing confusing over the legality of delta-8, a cannabis derivative that can be found in vape cartridges, tinctures and candy at smoke shops and CBD stores in Texas. While the Texas health department maintains that delta-8 is a controlled substance and is on the states list of unlawful drugs, the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized the production of hemp, which naturally contains delta-8 and has less than 0.3% THC. In 2019, Texas also legalized hemp growing. Delta-8 retailers believed the substance was as legal to sell as hemp. Delta-8 is legal in Texas for now after a Travis County judge blocked the state from criminalizing it. Should delta-8 continue to be legal in Texas?

You voted:
CARBONDALE  The Police Department has hired a mental health advocate to help connect the community to resources and assist officers on calls.

Laterriea Martin, the advocate, is a Carbondale native and said she hopes to connect people to resources they need.

Martin has a master's degree in social work. She previously worked as a Youth Victims Advocate for the Stress and Trauma Treatment Center.

Martin said a lot of her work involves not only connecting clients to resources like Centerstone, but ensuring they know the next steps in the process.

A lot of situations, clients are lost after being admitted to an institution. So they'll be released, and they're not sure what to do afterwards, Martin said. And so, after that crisis situation, I'm able to help them follow up on the resources that they need.

Martin said she hopes to build more cohesiveness with all the agencies in the community. Overall, she is here to help those in crisis.

I'm here to be that person that helps them when they're in a crisis situation. Sometimes people just need that one person ... to reassure them that someone's looking out for them, Martin said.

Carbondale Police Chief Stan Reno said the department is customizing the job responsibilities of the mental health advocate, but overall the position is meant to support police officers and their responses to mental health related calls.

Hopefully, they will accomplish helping people in need in the community and recognizing that they're able to provide some wraparound services to follow up with them to make sure, for instance, that maybe they're making contact with primary physicians or getting their needed medications, if that's the case, or again, referrals to other services that may be beneficial to them, Reno said.

Reno said this is a brand new position for the city.

It's really an initiative to enhance the services we provide to the citizens of Carbondale and just recognizing where the needs are. And we know that there are a large number of people that are suffering from mental health related issues or you know, incidents, and we want to be able to respond in the best way that we can, Reno said.

Photos 'The Southern Illinois 100'  Iconic symbols of our region Local News alert top story Watch Now: 'The Southern Illinois 100'  Part 1 Over the next several weeks, reporter Les O'Dell will be taking readers through "The Southern Illinois 100"  a list of items, places, people  Quatro's Yellow Cup Quatro's Pizza in Carbondale has distributed more than 2 million yellow cups. Today, they iconic cups can be found all around the world. Candy Cane Lane Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse play volleyball in one of the displays along Candy Cane Lane in West Frankfort. Saluki The Saluki -- a ancient breed of Egyptian hunting dogs -- is the mascot for Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Appleknocker Pride Jeannie Britt holds an item showing her Appleknocker Pride. The Appleknocker is the mascot of Cobden High School. Southern Illinois Peaches Southern Illinois peaches are a prized in-season treat. Gen. John A. Logan Murphysboro native Gen. John A. Logan was a Civil War hero, a legislator and established what is now known as Memorial Day. Popeye A statue of Popeye the Sailor welcomes visitors to Chester as they cross the bridge from Missouri into Illinois. Elzie Crisler Segar, the crea River-to-River Relay Runners Members of the Has Beens cross the finish line at the River to River Relay in 2018. The annual race covers 80 miles across Southern Illinois a A view like no other A fisherman tests the waters of Crab Orchard Lake from a pier last November as the sun begins to set at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. Little Grand Canyon Little Grand Canyon is located on the east bank of the Big Muddy River south of Murphysboro.

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A seventh person has been charged in connection with the death and kidnapping of Justin T. Housewright early this week, according to a law enforcement news release.

Steven Bradley Heflin, 39, was arrested Friday afternoon at his home on a charge of kidnapping (victim death).

Housewright, 33, of Louisville, Kentucky, was found late Tuesday, Nov. 2, near West Plains Road in the Hickory area of Graves County by the Paducah Police Department and Graves County Sheriffs Office.

Suspects William E. Tabor, 28; Chelsey Doss, 20; James Kortz, 46; Tyanna R. Sims, 19; Casey E. Glunt, 42; and Lisa Tabor, 57 were also allegedly involved, according to police.

Charges were filed as follows:

William E. Tabor  murder, kidnapping (victim death), possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse

Chelsey Doss  murder, kidnapping (victim death) and tapering with physical evidence

James Kortz  complicity to murder, kidnapping (victim death) and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon

Tyanna R. Sims  complicity to kidnapping (victim death)

Casey E. Glunt  facilitation to kidnapping (victim death) and tampering with physical evidence

Lisa Tabor  tampering with physical evidence

Anyone with information about the case can call the Paducah Police Department at 270-444-8550, and information can be provided anonymously through West Kentucky Crime Stoppers by texting WKY and your information to 847411.

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BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP)  Aaron Feuerstein, who owned a textile mill in Massachusetts and famously continued to pay his workers even after a devastating fire, has died. He was 95.

Feuerstein, the former owner of Malden Mills in Lawrence, died Thursday night of complications from a fall days before at his home in Brookline, his son Daniel Feuerstein told The Boston Globe for a story Friday.

My father lived a full life, Feuerstein told the newspaper. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences from the entire Malden Mills community. The love went both ways.

Malden Mills had been a major textile factory known for its Polartec synthetic fleece fabric.

The sprawling brick mill complex burned in December 1995, but Feuerstein continued to pay his 1,400 employees for months after the blaze shuttered operations.

He also committed to rebuilding the factory, which his grandfather had opened in 1906 and his family had operated for three generations.

Im not throwing 3,000 people out of work two weeks before Christmas, Feuerstein told the Globe at the time.

Lawrence City Council President Marc Laplante told the Globe that Feuerstein exemplified good corporate citizenship and left a positive legacy in the largely immigrant mill city near the New Hampshire state line.

During an interview with 60 Minutes in 2002, Feuerstein was asked what he hoped his tombstone would read.

Hopefully itll be, He done his damnedest, he said. You know, that I didnt give up and I try to do the right thing.

Malden Mills reopened in 1997, but the company, later rebranded as Polartec, struggled in the ensuing years.

It filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and was eventually sold to a private equity firm, which closed the mill and moved its diminished operations to Tennessee. Milliken, a South Carolina-based industrial manufacturer, acquired the Polartec brand in 2019.

Funeral arrangements have not been made public. Feuerstein's survivors include two sons and a daughter, WFXT-TV reports. His wife, Louise, died in 2013.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Today

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers this afternoon. High 63F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Tonight

Rain. Low 43F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.

Tomorrow

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 52F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Well, we moved.

On Wednesday, the Star-Tribune newsroom packed up our cords and monitors and papers and other office paraphernalia from our temporary workspace and moved into our brand-spanking-new office on the corner of First and North Ash.

You might know it as the former Sandbar (before my time) or, more recently, Wyoming Bootlegger Liquor. The metal sign with the liquor stores logo is still up, right next to a vinyl one that says COMING SOON, Casper Star-Tribune. Driving by, you might also spot a reporter struggling against the wind that seems to blast down First Street along with the traffic. You cant miss it.

Itll be a little while longer before its open to the public, Im told, since the wrinkles are still being ironed out and the extension cords are still being strategically wound between our cubicles. The main room still smells a little like plastic, and increasingly like the single-serve coffee we started making as soon as we moved in.

But once its up and running, itll be much more convenient for people to stop by, at least compared with the big camera-shaped building on the other side of the river.

After almost three months without my plain gray cubicle walls, I have to admit Im strangely glad to have them back. Unpacking the box Id shoved my desks contents into when we left 170 Star Lane, I found lists of phone numbers Id been missing, a whiteboard with story ideas that have since been published and my designated work mug, which I wasnt willing to leave overnight at our temporary coworking space for fear of jealous fingers swiping it.

My commute, once a one-minute walk, is a little longer now. But, unlike our old space or the basement weve been in since August, we have windows now  you can look outside and see cars going by, hear ambulances racing outside of town or watch the sunset (which is becoming, sadly, earlier and earlier these days).

Weve also landed in the perfect neighborhood for my beat. Im a few steps away from City Hall, a couple blocks from the police department and sheriffs office and a short walk from Caspers courthouses. And, much to my editors delight, were right next to Dsasumo.

Im excited to nest in my new cubicle  Ive already moved in a plant and a small stash of office snacks. Im also glad to be closer to the community we cover, and walking distance to at least three coffee shops.

Im also hoping that maybe it will help remind people in the community that were still here (not in Cheyenne!), reporting and writing about the people, places and goings-on right here in Casper.

And if theres anything around town you feel were missing, let me know! As always, you can call me at (307) 266-0544 or email me at ellen.gerst@trib.com.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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Our elected representatives in Washington produce bad ideas like cows produce methane.

But if Congress really wants to do something to make the lives of Americans better  and remember, I said if  I have an idea.

Not only would this idea garner significant bipartisan support, it would score massive political points without sowing further discord among Americans and driving the country one more level down to oblivion. Might be a nice change of pace.

Here it is: Congress should immediately petition the court for an immediate injunction barring all TV commercials involving a doorbell.

I stand with some 78 million American dog owners, and their pooches, in calling for the drafting of emergency legislation. We can call it the American Ding-Dong Act. It works on so many levels.

Laugh if you want, cat owners and non-dog-people, but you need to understand the impact TV doorbells have on the quality of American life. Im talking to you too, DoorDash.

With every ring of a television doorbell, our Great Dane, Bosco, and his stumpy-legged Corgi sidekick, Henry, unleash a cacophony of barks and yelps that come straight from Satans Spotify. I have also found that yelling, Its a TV doorbell! Its a TV doorbell! at the dogs in an effort to get them to stop has little to no effect.

See, in the mind of a dog with no sense of context or object permanence, the doorbell triggers a little thought bubble, which contains a wee man wearing a mask and carrying a crowbar, standing at our front door. Though he doesnt exist, the dogs race to the front door making as much noise as possible in order to run him off. To date, their record is unblemished.

For this reason, Halloween is my sworn enemy. Tiny, noisy children in costumes, quickly and frantically moving about and ringing the doorbell. What could possibly be worse? Five straight hours of skull-crushing barking.

I must confess that this past Halloween I went dark. I sat in my house as if I were waiting out an air raid.

To make matters worse, my next-door neighbor had constructed an elaborate system of pulleys and cables on which skeletons and various other spooks flew around his front yard. Very impressive. A crowd gathered in front of his house to watch the show. I know this because I skulked out my front door to get rid of some trash and saw the crowd. I suddenly realized I might be spotted and quickly reversed my steps, lest I be caught out and forever branded as the guy who hates children.

Im clearly not the only concerned about the doorbell issue. I recently visited an internet forum  is there another place with more reliable information?  which featured numerous complaints.

I hate when I am on the phone and both [dogs] start barking and running to the door!

I feel you.

[My dog] not only barks at tv doorbells, he stops what he is doing and barks at dogs on tv.

Been there.

Those commercials with doorbells sound so real that one night my husband jumped up & went to the door.

I have not been able to confirm reports that the ladys husband later chased the mailman down the street.

Need I continue?

Let me pause here because I know that following the publishing of this piece, I will get an email from some know-it-all who will point out that dogs can be trained not to bark at the doorbell. So, whoever you are, I will save you the trouble and write the email for you.

Dear Moron:

If you knew anything about dogs, you would train your dog not to bark at the doorbell. Thats what I did. Rather than wasting your time writing about it, why dont you spend some time training those dogs?

I guess I should respond.

Dear Humorless:

Im well aware that dogs can be trained. In fact, we sent our Great Dane to a boarding school for two weeks. It didnt take. He once spent five minutes barking at a cooked turkey so you see what Im up against. Thanks anyway for the advice.

I often prattle on about Congress failing America by involving itself in trivial matters. But if all politics is local, my front door might be a good place to start.

Rich Manieri is a Philadelphia-born journalist and author. He is currently a professor of journalism at Asbury University in Kentucky. His book, We Burn on Friday: A Memoir of My Father and Me is available at amazon.com.

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I sometimes struggle with columns about veterans. My allegiance to them is deeply anchored and difficult to explain. The truth is, words simply fail me when it comes to my infinite regard, empathy and gratitude for veterans, regardless of classification, physical or mental condition.

America needs to recognize the value veterans bring to our countrys table. Past the uniforms and regulations, their relevance is paramount to society. Beyond the war stories, disabilities, and other challenges, their perspective and influence is the glue that emboldens, inspires, strengthens and diversifies our homeland.

What does being a veteran mean? One percent of the population living in the United States have served, earning and protecting our freedom. It means love of country and service above self. Few commitments measure up to the value of our military veterans.

Aside from the obvious, theres a lot most Americans dont consider about veterans. Things like a heart beating beyond its MHR (maximum heart rate) at the sound of a construction site nail gun or exploding fireworks, a popped balloon at a birthday party, a champagne cork blasting from its bottle at a wedding, or a slamming door.

It means swerving around a pothole in the road and flashing back to the vision of craters left by mortars on the battleground. It means recollections of Christmas Day spent sitting in a bar in Saigon, thinking about family celebrating back home without you. It means watching the news and pushing back the guilty feeling for being safe at home and not fighting beside those soldiers in the news clip. It means an aching heart and burning eyes every time a KIA update shows up in a newspaper.

Being a veteran means shaking the hand of a fellow veteran and calling him brother. It means buying a red poppy and adding it to the collection of previous years, remembering members you served with and wondering where they are or if they made it home. It means standing a bit taller and a little straighter in a military salute as the American flag passes by at the Independence Day Parade, and feeling the pride well up in your chest as the national anthem is played.

For veterans, there are days when memories embrace significant dates and fellow soldiers, and nights when they choose to sleep on the floor. There are days clouded with grief for those lost, and nights when they reach for the phone just to hear an empathetic stranger say Tell me whats going on. Im here to listen to you.

Being a veteran means to live with the longing to be among other veterans who understand the costs and were still willing to die for one another. It means to recognize another veteran simply by his disciplined walk and the way he talks. In his eyes are loyalty and courage, in his soul is honor, and drumming in his heart is a warriors courage.

Military service is a noble cause. It stands on the foundation of integrity, duty, loyalty, respect, and courage. Military service determines who an individual is and defines what they are today. For many, there remains a yearning to serve.

Veterans are a humble, unassuming group. Inside, most are proud as hell that they served in the greatest military force in the world. Would they serve again if they could? Probably, but most say that they wouldnt give a single penny to do it all over again, yet they have no regrets for doing so, nor would they trade the experience for anything.

Veterans consider their service in the military to be their highest honor. Aware that peace is a precious commodity, regardless of rationale, veterans know the cost of freedom. Its our obligation to serve our veterans as well as they have served us.

So how do we say thank you? We need to learn what our service members endure during both war and peace, support their families and set an example to others acknowledging those that were part of the strongest military in the world. We should be a voice for veterans, write to government officials calling for action in veteran issues, volunteer as advocates, man support groups, and most importantly  to be there to LISTEN to them.

Freedom and liberty are our most precious privilege. We have those privileges because of our nations heartbeat and life blood: our veterans.

Thank you, veterans, not just on November 11, Veterans Day, but EVERY day.

Shelagh Wulff Wisdom is a hardcore country soul whose life has evolved around ranching, livestock, horses and writing. She lives on a small ranch with her husband south of Douglas and is a dedicated advocate for veterans.

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Trinidad and Tobago has experienced its deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic to date, with a record 28 new deaths being recorded yesterday.

Among the deceased is a child.

The Ministry of Health reported the deaths in its daily update yesterday evening.
Given the low rate of vaccination, our population is wide open to death or hospitalisation from the Delta variant.

That was bluntly stated in my column of September 5, ten weeks ago, with the foresight that the Government would helplessly wait around, self-praise tying up its brain, while its bouffs and bullying failed miserably to motivate the population to get vaccinated in sufficient numbers. No attempt at a creative legislative intervention to support vaccination was made.
The [CS]2 course is designed for beginners with no computer programming experience and is based on Harvards Computer Science 50 (CS50), a basic-computing course taught in person at Harvard and Yale and widely used online, topping 2 million enrollments last year.

The curriculum includes the basics of programming languages starting with Scratch, a visual-based language often used by beginners, and progressing to the basics of other common coding languages.

While the course is free and open to anyone 18 and older, students can earn an optional verified certificate of course completion through the Harvard program at a cost of $150.

A certificate from the program wont qualify graduates for junior developers immediately but will help them decide if computer science work is for them and decide their next steps, said Aleshia Howell, program coordinator for Arizona FORGE (Finding Opportunities and Resources to Grow Entrepreneurs).

The mission is to demystify computer science, help participants identify their strengths and interests in software development, and then help put them on a path to whatever their goals are, said Howell, who headed a computer coding program in Savannah, Georgia, a few years ago and joined FORGE in July.

Organizers hope to sign up 12 to 18 students for the initial course and again for a second session from April through June, with a goal of at least 20 program graduates, Howell said.

Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 520-573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 520-573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz

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If that makes them want to come into our building (for future concerts), that also is great, but even if they dont they will have experienced our art, she said.

Schauer said she reached out to individuals and companies to sponsor the 10 ensembles as a school fundraiser. The goal was to have each sponsored at $100 apiece.

When she pitched the idea to Instrument Music Center on East Speedway, the store, which sells instruments to students musicians throughout the city, stepped in and offered to sponsor the whole shebang.

We thought we are a music store and these are all musical ensembles and they all have a place at our store one way or another, and we couldnt just choose one, said Jordan Robison, the educational services manager and an events coordinator for the store.

For Robison, recommending to the store owners that they sponsor Musical Murals hit close to home. Robison, who plays trombone, is finishing up his doctorate at the Fred Fox School and was a founding member in 2016 of the Fred Fox Brass Quintet.
PHOENIX  A challenge by Arizonas attorney general to the Biden administrations vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractors is legally and factually flawed, the U.S. Justice Department says.

In new legal filings, Justice attorney Joseph DeMott says there is no legal authority for Mark Brnovich to sue over what is clearly within President Bidens power to deal with the pandemic. In fact, he said the president is legally immune from some of Brnovichs claims, as are the people to whom he delegated that power.

DeMott also said Brnovichs claims the mandates will hurt the Arizona economy, calling it purely conjectural speculation that private businesses with federal contracts will lose employees who do not want to get vaccinated.

Arizona fails to submit credible evidence that the challenged vaccine mandates will hurt its economy, he wrote. Given the extraordinary disruptions that COVID-19 has caused to workplaces around the country, it is far more likely that Arizona will benefit from having a vaccinated workforce.
About a year after the University of Arizona acquired a troubled for-profit school, its accreditor still has strong concerns about whether the new entity can properly serve its students. Its sending a team of reviewers to find out.

An accreditation team plans to visit the UA Global Campus, a nonprofit online school formerly known as for-profit Ashford University, next month to see if the school continues to meet the standards of a degree-granting institution, which also allows it to keep collecting federal grants and loans.

That visit will come soon after Ashford and its former parent company, Zovio Inc. (formerly Bridgepoint Education Inc.) go to trial to face a consumer protection lawsuit in California. Opening arguments are scheduled to start Monday, Nov 8.

Meanwhile, the accreditor has strong concerns that the targets set for academic improvement are seriously inadequate to reach levels of student outcomes that should be expected at an accredited institution, Jamienne Studley, president of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission, wrote in a July 30 letter to UA Global Campus' top administrator.
The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy kicked off homecoming weekend in a big way.

On Friday morning, Rick Schnellmann, dean of the college, announced a $50 million gift the college has received from UA alumnus R. Ken Coit.

In the last 74 years, the college has grown from a small group of students with a pioneering vision to one of the premier pharmacy schools in the country. And today, we will take our next great leap, Schnellmann said from a podium during an on-campus ceremony recognizing Coits donation.

As of Friday, the College of Pharmacy has been officially renamed the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy in honor of Coits contributions.

The transformative gift, which is one of the largest in the UAs history, has established six new endowed chairs in drug discovery, neurodegenerative diseases and toxicology and four endowed professorships. The gift is also funding 42 new scholarships for pharmacy students as well as allowing for investments in research equipment and facilities upgrades. Part of it has already been used to expand a wing of the colleges museum, which will now be known as the Coit Museum of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A 22-year-old man dressed in battle gear fired at least 20 shots outside and inside a Las Vegas convenience store, killing a man sitting in a parked car but missing customers in store aisles, a prosecutor said Friday.

The suspect, Jesus Javier Uribe, refused to attend a scheduled court appearance on multiple felony charges including murder and attempted murder following his arrest Thursday at a house in southwest Las Vegas following what police characterized as a random criminal act.

A judge acknowledged Uribe's absence and ordered him held in jail without bail pending arraignment Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court on charges also including robbery, burglary and illegal discharge of a weapon.

Prosecutor Richard Scow said later that police found 13 bullet casings outside the store, where Curtis Leon Abraham, 36, was shot several times while sitting in a vehicle waiting for his girlfriend inside. Abraham was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.

Police said Uribe shot into an unoccupied vehicle outside the store before he was seen on security video striding inside wielding a handgun and wearing a tactical vest and a gun belt.
One year ago: Democrat Joe Biden overtook President Donald Trump in Georgia as the counting of votes continued in the battleground state; Biden also expanded his lead over Trump in Pennsylvania and Nevada. The federal agency that oversees U.S. election security pushed back at unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in a statement, saying that local election offices had detection measures that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said Trump was damaging the cause of freedom and inflaming destructive and dangerous passions by claiming, without foundation, that the election was rigged and stolen from him. As the nation set daily records for confirmed cases of the coronavirus, two senior administration officials confirmed that Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had tested positive.
Festival organizers stressed that Pride festivities are open to everyone, and they encouraged allies to attend. There are two main stages. One-day admission for ages 12 and older is $30, and children younger than 11 get in free.

Phoenix Pride is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for outdoor gatherings and has personal protective equipment available on request. Rapid COVID-19 tests are on-site at the health and wellness marketplace, and free COVID-19 vaccinations are available to those who are eligible.

Ernie Mendoza, volunteer and former president of Phoenix Pride, said hes excited for Phoenix Prides return and what this festival brings to the community.

Being able to be out and be with other people that identify as yourself, similar in one way or another, is important because it makes them realize not all is lost, he said.

Phoenix Pride started relatively small in the 1980s, Mendoza said, but it has grown dramatically over the years, and he hopes this years event will revitalize the atmosphere around Pride.
PHOENIX  Rep. Randall Friese of Tucson was one of two prominent Democrats who announced Thursday theyre stepping down from the Arizona House, further shaking up a Legislature that has seen a flurry of resignations ahead of the 2022 session.

Friese, formerly the assistant minority leader and a trauma surgeon, said hes leaving to refocus my time and attention on my medical career and service.

Friese in September abruptly dropped out of the campaign for an open congressional seat in Southern Arizona despite his fundraising lead among Democratic candidates. He cited his desire to focus on his medical career for that decision as well.

Friese treated then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was critically wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting in Tucson. He is a trauma surgeon who has served in the Arizona House since 2015.

I am extremely proud of my service to my community and the state during the seven years I represented Legislative District 9, Friese wrote in his resignation letter.
Arctic sea ice  frozen ocean water  shrinks during the summer as it gets warmer, then forms again in the long winter. How much it shrinks is where global warming kicks in, scientists say. The more the sea ice shrinks in the summer, the thinner the ice is overall, because the ice is weaker first-year ice.

Julienne Stroeve, a University of Manitoba researcher, says summers without sea ice are inevitable. Many other experts agree with her.

Former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, now a top University of Colorado environmental researcher, is one of them.

Thats something human civilization has never known, Abdalati said. Thats like taking a sledgehammer to the climate system and doing something huge about it.

The warming already in the oceans and in the air is committed  like a freight train in motion. So, no matter what, the Earth will soon see a summer with less than 1 million square kilometers of sea ice scattered in tiny bits across the Arctic.

The big question is when the Arctic will look like a blue ocean, said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Maybe as early as the 2030s, most likely in the 2040s and almost assuredly by the 2050s, experts say.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Haiti's fuel crisis is deepening, with the country's Professional Association of Banks announcing Friday that a shortage of petroleum is forcing institutions to cut their hours and days as dozens of gas stations across the capital remained closed.

Starting next week, banks will operate only three days a week instead of the usual six and will close in the early afternoon.

Long lines, fights and boisterous crowds formed earlier this week around a handful of gas stations that were still operating, with a gallon of gas costing roughly $15 in some places. Motorcycle drivers, business owners and even police officers have been forced to search for fuel, with many customers waiting hours for their turn.

The shortage has hit hospitals, schools, ambulances, public transportation and others in recent weeks as anger and frustration grows.

The government has blamed gangs for blocking gas distribution terminals, with local newspaper Le Nouvelliste reporting Friday that several truck drivers have been kidnapped and at least four fuel tankers seized. At least one gang has said it would lift the blockade if Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down.
The Biden administrations sweeping new COVID-19 mandate will apply to 84 million workers at mid-size and large companies.

Here is a closer look at the new COVID rules and what they mean for companies and their employees:

What do the new rules do?

Private-sector companies with 100 or more workers must require their employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. These requirements will take effect Jan. 4 under an emergency temporary standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employers must give workers paid time off to be vaccinated and to recover from any side effects. Vaccinations will be paid for by the federal government, though employees may have to pay for testing.

Why was mandate imposed?

About 70% of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated. Yet that rate of vaccination hasnt been nearly enough to stop the spread of the virus, especially the highly contagious and now dominant delta variant.

OSHA estimates that the new requirements will save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations in the six months after the rules take effect.
Also on the recording, Kelly can be heard blaming his wife for shooting Moran a second time, according to the affidavit.

However, Kelly told investigators during an interview that Moran shot herself in the head after Kelly handed her a gun and that he became so upset after she shot herself that he fired a second shot into her torso.

Kellys wife denied to investigators that she was present when Moran was killed but acknowledged that Kelly did ask her to provide an alibi for him if questioned by authorities, according to the affidavit.

Moran was found insane after the 2003 drowning death of her 17-month-old son, Alex. She reportedly told authorities when she was arrested that God told me to do it.

She was released from a mental hospital in 2011 after being deemed no longer a danger to society or herself.

Kelly, meanwhile, was released from federal prison in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.

He was 22 when he was sentenced in 1992 to a 30-year federal prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in the Ottawa County slaying of Vernon C. Moyer Jr., 31, according to Tulsa World archives.
Not to downplay the moment. Long a wildly popular but grossly under maintained natural asset, Turkey Mountain has been due some love and attention for a long time. Fridays event was an opportunity for local officials to remind the public that better days lie ahead with the implementation of the Turkey Mountain Master Plan.

The trails here are just kind of washed out, and they just sort of exist where people start walking, Jones said. But to have a maintained, sustainable trail system that actually holds up to a lot of use and doesnt erode and that kind of stuff, that is going to be dramatically life changing.

Phase 1 of the project  construction of 12 miles of multi-use trails spanning 475 acres  begins Nov. 15. Progressive Trail Design, one of the firms responsible for making Bentonville, Arkansas, a mecca of mountain biking and hiking, is doing the work.

We just want people to know that your favorite trail is probably not getting completely taken away, said Jason Stouder, planning director for Progressive. It may get improved a bit; it may get changed a little bit; but youre not going to lose the wildness of Turkey Mountain.

Turkey Mountain will stay wild, but yet it will have a trail system that is also safe and navigable for users.
Over Bob Ritz's two tours in Vietnam, a number of his fellow Marines were killed in action.

But the name on the memorial that means the most to him wasn't one of them.

"Duane Wagner was in the Army. He was from Tulsa, too. He was a good friend," said Ritz, who last saw his friend before leaving for Vietnam in 1965.

Wagner, killed in action three years later, would be one of more than 58,000 Americans to die in the Vietnam War. Today, his name is listed along with all the others on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., as well as on touring versions of the memorial wall.

One touring version, a half-size replica of the original, will wrap up a four-day visit to Tulsa this weekend. The Moving Wall arrived Thursday, and will be at Veterans Park, 1109 E. Sixth St., through noon Sunday.

The public is invited to attend a special commemoration set for 2 p.m. Saturday at the site.

Ritz said he first located Wagner's name after the D.C. memorial opened in the early 1980s. He found it again when the traveling memorial came to Tulsa in 1986.

And he will find it yet again this weekend.
The weekly new case counts in 14 states  including Oklahoma  have increased by at least 25% from the prior week and by at least 15% in 24 other states, according to federal government data.
An estimated 85% of Tulsas economy is rooted in small business. Entrepreneurs are not only key drivers of the economy, but we create unique experiences along the Mother Road. Just like in its heyday, people can connect with local artists, makers and foodies on Route 66.

Through a tight-knit business community, we work together to hold First Saturday Market Days featuring local vendors, host local art shows and even organize scavenger hunts.

I am especially proud that Route 66 has become a place for equitable and inclusive experiences. Our community is more diverse than ever, featuring traditionally underestimated entrepreneurs, namely women, people of color and immigrants. This diversity has created an influx of global cuisine, more female-owned businesses and an eclectic and diverse mix of music, artisans and makers.

When I opened my shop in a 1950s PEMCO gas station in 2018, I wanted to create a new landmark and roadside attraction for Tulsas Route 66 while celebrating the past and showing you can still create new businesses for the future on the Mother Road. Giving an old building new life not only provides me with a source of income, but its an inspiration to others.
With so many ideas being touted as to how we should handle global warming, it seems there are some simpler ways that should be considered, too.

Five years ago, we traveled by car to California. It became shockingly obvious that tree removal in West Texas for farm land is contributing to drought spreading east. Traveling along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma, I also saw many fields where trees were removed.

In housing additions, especially new ones, homeowner association codes require roof material must be black or brown, and with these new housing additions in West Texas  at times 3,000 to 5,000 new homes  it is a sea of dark roofs.

In Southern California, we experienced parking areas that were cement blocks buried at surface level so parking could be allowed, but grass grew in the holes of the blocks. We are covering too much of the earth in material that does not let water soak in.

This summer I was sitting outside at Utica Square, where so many large SUVs were left running while parked as parents picked up their children. The air around me became so warm I had to leave.

Surely we also know that complete dependence on electricity is not practical with outages due to snow storms, and the fact that electricity does not provide the warmth gas does.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is planning to reopen international air routes in four stages, with the first phase to be implemented in the last quarter of 2021 should its proposal get approved.

The CAAV proposes restarting regular international flights with combo services for Vietnamese citizens and piloting flights bringing international tourists to some localities such as Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Quang Ninh in the first phase, lasting the remaining months of this year.

The destinations for those regular international flights include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, and other markets in need for worker transport, while pilot tourist flights should not be subject to any restrictions.

The flight frequency is decided in accordance with the quarantine capacity of the localities where the flights will land -- namely Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, and Da Nang.

The tourist flights are applicable to foreigners who test negative for the coronavirus or meet the new safety guidance of the Ministry of Health, and are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

In the second phase starting January 2022, the CAAV proposes piloting regular flights that only carry passengers with a full vaccination certificate or confirming to have recovered from COVID-19, without a written request allowing them to enter Vietnam from relevant authorities.

The markets for those flights will expand to China, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia, and the UK, apart from the countries and territories in the first phase.

The initial frequency will be four flights per week per direction for each side.

Receiving airports are Noi Bai, Van Don, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Tan Son Nhat, Can Tho, and Phu Quoc.

Passengers just need to meet one of the following requirements -- proving their successful payment for the facility where they will be quarantined in Vietnam, a certificate of full vaccination, or proof of recovery from COVID-19 issued no longer than six months before their departure.

In the third phase expected to take place from April 2022, regular flights to Vietnam will be deployed with post-entry quarantine not required when the government officially applies the vaccine passport mechanism.

Permitted passengers in this period are Vietnamese and foreign citizens with a certificate of receiving two vaccine doses or confirming recovery from COVID-19.

The initial frequency will be seven flights per week per way for each airline.

The final stage of operating regular international flights on demand is expected to be carried out from July 2022 with unlimited frequency, depending on the requirements of Vietnamese health authorities at that time.

Vietnam closed its borders and canceled all international flights in March last year.

Only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts, diplomats, investors, highly-skilled workers, and students have been allowed since with stringent quarantine requirements in place.

The country has found 946,043 infections since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year and 941,159 community transmissions in 62 out of its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave broke out.

More than 26 million people of the 98 million population in the Southeast Asian country have been fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

The central government has relaxed pandemic control curbs over the past few weeks as transmissions have slowed down, due partly to larger vaccine coverage.

However, the number of infections has appeared to rebound in several locales in recent days.

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Hanois Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway line, the first of its kind in Vietnam, welcomed first passengers as it commenced commercial operation on Saturday after a decade of construction.

The first train of the China-funded urban railway project left the Cat Linh station in Dong Da District at 7:40 am this morning for the Yen Nghia station in Ha Dong District, following a handover ceremony between the Ministry of Transport and Hanoi authorities.

A full trip will take 23 minutes on the 13-kilometer elevated railway line that has 12 stations.

The line serves passengers for free for the first 15 days of operation before charging VND8,000 to VND15,000 ($0.35-0.66) for a ticket depending on trips.

The handover ceremony for the Hanoi-Cat Linh urban railway line between the Ministry of Transport and Hanoi authorities on November 6, 2021. Photo: Pham Tuan / Tuoi Tre

The opening price is set at VND7,000 and VND600 will be charged for each following kilometer.

For the first time, Vietnam applies train charge by distance, allowing passengers to be more or less depending on the length of the entire route, said Vu Hong Truong, director of Hanoi Metro Co., Ltd., the project's operator.

The above fare has been subsidized by the State.

The daily ticket price is VND30,000 ($1.3) with unlimited trip numbers and monthly tickets are at VND100,000, VND140,000 and VND200,000 ($8.8), depending on passenger groups.

Passengers on the first train leaving Cat Linh station after the handover ceremony on November 6, 2021. Photo: Pham Tuan / Tuoi Tre

People with meritorious services, the elderly, people with disabilities, children under six years old and members of poor households are exempted from metro charges.

The line will operate from 5.30 am to 8:00 pm with a train every 15 minutes every day in the first week of operation and will increase the frequency to a train per ten minutes from the second week.

The service hours will be extended until 10:30 pm every day after six months and there will be a train every six minutes during rush hour.

Before putting the Cat Linh - Ha Dong route into official operation, 63 emergency rescue circumstances had been drilled successfully, the projects operator said.

A train of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway project in Hanoi is seen ready to serve passengers. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

The line was built by China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. within 10 years at a cost of more than US$868 million after several adjustments.

Of the total amount, 77 percent came from official development assistance (ODA) loans from China.

The service, the first-ever in Vietnam, would contribute to promoting the use of public transport means among residents in the capital and thereby easing traffic congestion, said deputy chairman of the citys administration Duong Duc Tuan at the ceremony.

The city of 8.3 million people often suffers from traffic congestion during rush hour due to the circulation of a large number of motorbikes and cars.

Passengers are eligible for free rides in the first 15 days of operation of the metro route. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

This is the first public transport means of this kind in Vietnam, so I want to experience it soon, Tran Hai, an 81-year-old local man, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, adding that he had taken a bus to Cat Linh from his residence in Cau Giay District for his first elevated train trip.

46-year-old Pham Anh Minh, another resident, said: My house is on Nguyen Trai Street, next to the Cat Linh station, about three kilometers away from my office. From now on, I will try going to work using this train line.

Hanoi people stand in line at the Cat Linh station in Dong Da District, Hanoi on November 6, 2021, waiting for a trip on the first elevated railway route of the city as well as Vietnam. Photo: Pham Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Passengers are seen inside the first train of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi on November 6, 2021. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

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The Japanese government has conferred an Order of the Rising Sun on Vietnams Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh for his great contributions to promoting the security and defense relations between the two countries, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam has said.

The Japanese government on Wednesday announced the list of foreigners and Japanese citizens awarded for the years autumn, including former Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, the embassy reported.

The 64-year-old high-ranking officer was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, which is awarded by the government of Japan each year to individuals from both Japan and abroad who have made distinguished contributions to the advancement of Japan, said the Japan Foundation, a non-profit cultural organization established by the Japanese government.

Earlier on September 23, 2019, Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh was also awarded with the Order of Friendship of Russia under a decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin for his contributions to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Vinh, a native of central Thua Thien-Hue Province, held the position of general director of General Department II under the Ministry of National Defense, leading the military intelligence work for nearly eight years from 2002 to 2009, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The official held a doctoral degree in International Relations in 2003 and was granted the title of Associate Professor seven years later. He has also achieved the advanced political theory level.

He became Deputy Minister of Defense in 2009 when he was a Lieutenant General.

Two years later, Vinh was promoted to Senior Lieutenant General and continued to hold the post until June this year, in charge of diplomacy, intelligence and peacekeeping activities.

The official was a member of the 11th and 12th Party Central Committee in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

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Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will attend the 28th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The meeting will be held in virtually from November 11-12.

New Zealand will host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) through 2021.

APEC, a regional economic forum established in 1989, brings 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific together to tackle challenges, and help each other prosper.

The impact of COVID-19 on the regions people and economy, coupled with hosting an entirely virtual year, makes APEC 2021 an ambitious exercise in digital diplomacy, said Prime Minister Ardern.

This year, APEC regions response to COVID-19 and the opportunity to build a more resilient future are top of the agenda.

The summit will focus on discussing two main issues, namely the global economic outlook and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery.

APEC has already joined together in a commitment to speed up the cross-border flow of COVID-19 vaccines, rejuvenate the World Trade Organization and the world first action on services to support the movement of essential goods.

President Phuc will deliver a speech at this years event about the regional and international situation as well as the promotion of APEC cooperation in the future.

Before the country leaders meeting, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien will participate in the 32nd APEC Ministerial Meeting on November 8 and 9.

While receiving New Zealand Ambassador Tredene Dobson in Hanoi on October 26, President Phuc said Vietnam highly evaluated New Zealands leadership in APEC Year 2021 when the world faces unprecedented challenges, stressing that Vietnam supports the draft Declaration of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, and the plan to implement the APEC Vision until 2040.

Vietnam will cooperate with New Zealand to ensure the success of this years APEC events, President Phuc pledged.

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Read what is in the news today:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Friday visited and worked with the Pasteur Institute in Paris as part of his official visit to France.

-- Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will attend the 28th APEC Economic Leaders online meeting at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from November 11 to 12.

Society

-- Authorities in Hanoi recorded 133 new COVID-19 cases, 61 of which were found in the community, 33 in quarantine facilities, and 39 in zoned-off areas, from 6:00 pm on Thursday to 6:00 pm on Friday. Up to 62 of the patients had fully received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

-- A new COVID-19 centralized quarantine establishment was put into operation at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City on Friday afternoon.

-- A dump truck killed three people and injured another traveling together on a motorbike without wearing helmets after a collision in southern Dong Nai Province on Thursday afternoon.

-- High tide in Ho Chi Minh City reached 1.7 meters on Friday afternoon, surpassing the peak of the same period last year.

Education

-- The Peoples Committee of Dong Nai, the southern province hard hit by the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam, has decided to let students in certain grades return to schools in selected locales in a trial period from November 22 to December 1 after suspending in-person schooling since May 12.

World news

-- German security services believe that a man found dead in a street outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin last month was an undercover agent of Russia's FSB intelligence service, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.

-- Pfizer Inc is in discussions with 90 countries over supply contracts for its experimental COVID-19 pill, which was shown to reduce by 89% the risk of hospitalization or death in patients at high risk of severe illness, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview on Friday, according to Reuters.

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A dump truck killed three people and injured another traveling together on a motorbike without wearing helmets after a head-on collision in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai on Thursday afternoon.

Police in Dong Nais Xuan Loc District said on Friday evening that they have arrested Nguyen Dinh Cuong, a 34-year-old driver, to investigate his violations when participating in road traffic.

While steering the dump truck numbered 75C-025.61 on Soc Ba Buong Street to transport construction rocks on Thursday afternoon, Cuong made the truck trespass on the opposite lane and collide head-on with the motorbike numbered 60V9-9300.

The bike was controlled by Nguyen Van Ha, a 28-year-old man hailing from south-central Ninh Thuan Province, while Thach Hai, 22, Kim Lam Truong, 21, and Nguyen Lam Sang, 33, were riding its pillion.

The strong crash killed Ha, Hai, and Truong on the spot while Sang sustained severe injuries that required hospitalization.

Sang has overcome critical conditions later.

The Xuan Loc District police and related units examined the scene and conducted an autopsy to investigate the traffic accident shortly after.

Driver Cuong surrendered to the police later and confessed to causing the fatal accident.

Cuong was able to present all relevant documents and his drivers license upon the functional forces request.

He tested negative for drugs and alcohol.

Only the vehicle inspection certificate of the dump truck had expired.

Police officers determined that the four victims had been drunk driving, not wearing helmets, and carried more than the specified number of passengers when participating in road traffic on motorbike.

The officers also initially verified that Cuong was wrong for making the truck encroach the opposite lane.

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The United States delivered one more Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shipment of over 1.3 million jabs to Hanoi on Saturday, bringing its total vaccine donations to Vietnam to 13.4 million doses, the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City has reported.

More vaccines are here! We are excited to announce the arrival of over 1.3 million doses of Pfizer vaccine this morning in Hanoi. More are on the way! the U.S. Consulate General said on its verified Facebook page on Saturday.

The latest aid has raised the total number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the U.S. to Vietnam to around 13.4 million doses.

Earlier, two other shipments totaling over 2.63 million of Pfizer vaccine shots gifted by the U.S. arrived in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on October 24 and 25, respectively.

The U.S. has committed more than US$30.2 million in COVID-19 assistance to Vietnam since the beginning of the pandemic.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said in a recent release.

In addition to vaccine donations, the U.S. has provided Vietnam with COVID-19 test and vaccine storage equipment, and life-saving devices such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and liquid-oxygen tanks.

On October 12, the Ministry of Health received 36 ultra-low temperature freezers donated by the U.S. to assist Vietnam in COVID-19 vaccine storage.

At the Global COVID-19 Summit on September 22, U.S. President Joe Biden announced an additional 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses to 92 low- and middle-income countries around the world and the African Union, bringing its total global commitment to more than 1.1 billion doses.

"Vietnam has been a leading recipient of these doses," the embassy said in a statement on October 25.

The U.S. has so far provided more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 100 countries around the world and will continue to donate vaccine doses globally as supply becomes available, according to the embassy.

In addition to the U.S., the largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam so far, the Southeast Asian country has received vaccine donations from other countries including Japan, Australia, the UK, France, Italy, Russia, the Czech Republic, and China, among others.

The nation aims to secure 150 million COVID-19 vaccine shots to cover at least two-thirds of its 98-million population, and it has so far got around 110 million jabs from different sources, including the COVAX Facility, contractual purchases, and donations.

By Friday, the country had administered nearly 59.35 million first shots and some 26.96 million second jabs to people nationwide, the health ministry reported.

Since erupting in Vietnam in early 2020, the pandemic has caused 953,547 infection cases including 837,347 recoveries and 22,412 deaths.

Recently, the nations daily new infections and deaths have sharply fallen, to 7,504 and 70 on Friday from 13,137 and 281 two months earlier, according to the ministrys data.

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First images have been released of upcoming indigenous vampire drama, Firebite, which has been filming in South Australia.

The eight-episode series, set to premiere in the USA on AMC, stars Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black), Rob Collins (Cleverman, Extraction), Callan Mulvey (Avengers: End Game, Rush) and Shantae Barnes-Cowan.

An AMC Studios original production with See-Saw Films, Firebite follows two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson (Collins) and Shanika (Barnes-Cowan), on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert.

Created, directed and written by Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country) alongside Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards), with Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe) joining as director, Firebite is set in a remote mining town, a hive for the last vampire stronghold shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788 by the colonial superpower to eradicate the Indigenous populations.

Sheltering from the sun in the underground mines and tunnels that surround the town until the present day, the colonys numbers and hunger is growing. War is coming. Tyson and Shanika stand vanguard to the war. But what hope does an expertly reckless man full of bravado and a 17-year-old orphan possibly have to defeat these vicious blood-thirsty parasites, when legions of warriors before them have failed?

An Australian broadcaster is yet to be confirmed for the series.

Update: AMC+ launches in Australia on Apple TV app and for Prime members via Prime Video Channels at $8.99 (with Acorn TV and Shudder at no additional cost).
Tyler, TX (75702)

Today

Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 71F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 44F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Talks to resolve Sudan's political crisis after last month's coup have hit "semi-deadlock" because the military has refused to return to a path of democratic transition, two sources from the ousted government said on Saturday.

The sources told Reuters the military had tightened restrictions on ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was placed under house arrest during the Oct. 25 takeover when his government was dissolved.

The new restrictions further limited his ability to hold meetings or make political contacts, they added.

Sudan's military chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has said the army intervened because of political turmoil and the risk of civil war. He says the military remains committed to the transition and to elections to be held in 2023.

After arresting top civilians including several cabinet ministers, the military has taken steps that appear aimed at consolidating its control. Late on Saturday, Sudanese state TV said the directors of five state banks had been replaced, a day after it was announced that the boards of state companies had been dissolved.

Mediation efforts involving the United Nations have been seeking to find a way for Hamdok to be brought back as prime minister of a purely technocratic government.

Hamdok has demanded preconditions that include the release of top civilians detained during the coup and a return to a transition towards democracy that began after the overthrow of long-term autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Pro-democracy groups are trying to reverse the coup with a series of mass rallies and neighbourhood demonstrations. Some small protests took place on Saturday evening, and a new round of civil disobedience and strikes are planned across Sudan for Sunday and Monday. Many in the protest movement reject any role for the military and call for full civilian rule.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which led protests in the uprising that toppled Bashir, announced a new platform on Saturday including a demand for the formation of a purely civilian transitional authority over a four year period.

Story continues

It also called for the restructuring of the military and the dissolution of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose leader was Burhan's deputy in the military-civilian ruling council before the coup.

Critics of Burhan accuse the army of fomenting unrest before the military takeover, which they say made the risk of civil conflict more likely and derailed a transition that had offered Sudan a chance to escape decades of isolation and internal wars.

Western powers have condemned the takeover, paused economic assistance, and said that a deal for relief on tens of billions in foreign debt is at risk.

A delegation from the Arab League, which has called for Sudanese parties to stick to the democratic transition, was sending a high-level delegation to Sudan on Saturday.

(REUTERS)
Kyrgyzstan signed a deal to purchase Turkish armed drones last week, becoming the first Central Asian country to do so, two Turkish sources familiar with the issue told Middle East Eye. As Vestnik Kavkaza reported earlier in the article Kyrgyz state officials announce plans to purchase Turkish drones, Kyrgyzstans chairman of the State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, said last month that Bishkek would complete the procurement but did not give any further details.

While the volume of the drones remains unknown, some reports suggested that Bishkek has already ordered three TB2s, produced by private Turkish drone company Bayraktar. Turkey has gradually been deepening its ties with Kyrgyzstan over the last decade, becoming the fourth largest investor in the country with more than $500m in trade revenues, while the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) spent nearly $25m in 2019 alone for the countrys development. Turkey is expanding its zone of influence in Central Asia, Mehmet Ozkan, professor at National Defense University in Istanbul, told MEE, arguing that this expansion was not an attempt to create new fronts against Russia and China. Instead, he continued, a new dynamic is emerging in Turkeys relations with Central Asia, in which inter-dependency, military cooperation and win-win situation exist.

In recent years, Turkish drones have gained popularity in the international market, attracting countries like Ukraine, Poland, and reportedly even the UK. They have also spread to African shores. (See Demand for Turkish drones mounts). Turkeys interest in Central Asia, however, is not new. Following the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991, Turkey rushed into recognising the independence of Central Asian states. Ankara has built mosques, renovated historical sites, opened schools, created student exchange programmes, and encouraged Turkish investors to commit to the region.

This policy has been implemented with a strong emphasis on linguistic, ancestral, cultural and religious ties. Yet, apparently it backfired as Turkey failed to abolish visa requirements for the region's citizens, and faced several challenges from the Turkic countries in its dispute with the Turkish religious leader Fethullah Gulen and his followers who run several schools, businesses and have ties with senior officials in Central Asia. One source, close to the Turkish defence ministry, admitted that the previous approach to Central Asia, in which Ankara regarded itself as a big brother, is not sustainable. We [Ankara], of course, underline the importance of historical and religious commonalities. But what marks today as the beginning of a new era is the fact that we are expanding bilateral cooperation with these countries, the source told MEE. Ozkan mentioned Turkeys support for Azerbaijan in the war with Armenia over the Karabakh region last year as a turning point. The use of armed drones and Turkeys unconditional support for the Azeri government made other Turkic countries realise that Ankara would be helpful for a counter-balance against other international actors such as Russia and China.

The armed drone sale was an indication of a change in bilateral relations, adding that Turkmenistan was eager to buy TB2s. On its 30th anniversary of independence in September, TB2s were exhibited publicly in a military parade. The armed drone sales came at the expense of rifts with other actors in the region. A person familiar with the sale told MEE that neither Turkey nor Kyrgyzstan made an official statement due to Chinas uneasiness about this military cooperation. China has been staunchly backing Tajikistan in its territorial dispute with Kyrgyzstan. The Tajik government has recently approved the construction of a new Chinese-funded base while handing full authority of a preexisting Chinese military base to Beijing, in addition to another one in return for further military aid.

Can drones open a new era?

Now, Kyrgyzstan becomes the first Central Asian country to add Turkish drones to its military inventory. Central Asian states are aware of the fact that the West is not as powerful as before. So, theyre looking for an alternative power against Russian and Chinese tutelage. This power would be Ankara, Ozkan said. However, Andrea Schmitz, a researcher at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) told MEE that the intensification of relations between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan will not make a significant difference, due to the fact that Bishkek's government heavily depends on Russia and China for its economy and defence.

While Schmitz believes that the drone sales would not have a great impact on the regions geopolitics, she says it may contribute to increasing tension on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been in conflict for more than three decades over a disputed border region. That region, Batken, contains water resources that are scarce in the region.

Temur Umarov, a research consultant at Carnegie Moscow, believes that Bishkeks decision to procure armed drones from Turkey is also relevant to its domestic politics. He said Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov was trying to reconfigure his countrys foreign policy. Japarov feels the pressure to restore its reputation, and therefore is implementing a tougher and more aggressive foreign policy.
Irans atomic agency said Friday that its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms, the latest defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West. The figure, attributed to agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvan, was carried in a report by the semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

ABC News writes, that under the historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the World Powers, Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent. Enriched uranium above 90 percent can be used for nuclear weapons. After months of delays, the European Union, Iran and the U.S. announced Wednesday that indirect talks to resuscitate the deal would resume on Nov. 29 in Vienna.

The U.S. unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, but Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia have tried to preserve the accord. The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, and is meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its program is peaceful. Kamalvandi also said that so far his agency has also produced 25 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, a level that only countries with nuclear weapons have the physical capabilities to produce.

Tehrans strategy of deliberately violating the deal is seen as an attempt to put pressure particularly on Europe to provide it with incentives to offset crippling American sanctions re-imposed after the U.S. pullout. On Sept. 15, Irans nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said Tehran removed surveillance cameras belonging to the United Nations nuclear watchdog because of unfulfilled commitments by other signatories of the nuclear deal. U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders criticized Tehran last week for what it saw as accelerated and provocative nuclear steps as Iran continues to enrich uranium to a higher levels.
A year ago, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan's Patriotic War began. On that day, Armenia's occupying forces subjected the positions of the armed forces of Azerbaijan along the front line and the adjacent populated areas in Azerbaijan to intensive fire with the use of large-calibre weapons, artillery and mortars. Baku decided to launch a counter-offensive operation to ensure the safety of the civilian population. Vestnik Kavkaza offers its readers to follow the events of the 44 days of Azerbaijan's Patriotic War as they were covered a year ago.

On the night of the wars forty-first day, November 6, the fighting concentrated in the Gubadli region and on the eastern sector of the frontline - from there the invaders continued shelling peaceful settlements in the Terter region.

Baku drew attention to the fact that the Armenian diaspora de facto finances international terrorism. The fake news about the shelling of Khankendi was debunked.

Two regiments of Armenias occupation forces deserted from Lachin. An ammunition depot exploded near Khankendi. Armenia once again ran out of blood for transfusion to the wounded invaders.

The US Permanent Representative to the OSCE called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to observe the 3rd truce. Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov drew attention to the fact that the further development of the CIS is impossible while the Karabakh war continues. He reminded that during 40 days of hostilities, four cities, three villages and more than 200 settlements were liberated from the occupation.

Videos showing the desecration of mosques on the occupied territories were presented. One of the mosques was turned into a pigsty.

By the middle of the day, the occupants in Agdera were completely disabled - they ran out both of ammunition and food. Video footage of the invaders mortar positions and howitzers destruction near Agdere, was published. Attacks on the Terter region settlements resumed.

In the evening, videos from the liberated villages of the Fizuli region were presented. Later it became known that a detachment of mercenaries sent by Armenia to the frontline was eliminated. The organisers of the Azerbaijanis massacres in Khojaly son, Seyran Ohanyan, was wounded.

Thus, on the forty-first day of the war, the invaders desertion became ubiquitous, the troops stationed near the Armenian border fled. Soon Agdere would be liberated since the invaders were completely deprived of communication with other occupying forces of Armenia. In Shusha, fighting was ongoing.
No one should doubt the seriousness of Iran's intentions to return to the nuclear deal, Foreign Minister of the Republic Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that in no case should one doubt the seriousness of Iran's intentions during the negotiations on the need for the parties to return to their obligations [on the nuclear deal]," TASS reports.
Tajik servicemen showered with stones the Kyrgyz border guards vehicle, the press center of the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan reports.

"In the Leilek region on the section of the Arka-Borborduk transit road opposite the Boston gas station, a Kyrgyz serviceman tried to turn on his Honda Accord car. While he was passing by, five Tajik servicemen were throwing stones at the car," the statement reads.
In accordance with Head of Crimea Sergei Aksenovs decree, Crimean hotels will accept vaccinated tourists without PCR tests.

The document informs that vaccinated vacationers need only vaccination certificates or QR codes for check-in.

The changes come to force from November 8th.

Earlier, the Crimean authorities decided not to extend the non-working regime. The anti-COVID restrictions will continue to operate.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed the prospects for resuming talks on the nuclear deal in Vienna during the telephone conversation, the press service of the Russian ministry reports.

The telephone conversation took place on the initiative of the Iranian side.

"The parties discussed the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan on the Iranian nuclear program and the prospects for the resumption of the negotiation process in Vienna. The foreign ministers spoke in favor of restoring the nuclear deal in its original balanced version, approved by the UN Security, as it is the only way to ensure the rights and interests of all participants, the department statement reads.
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Ruslan Edelgeriev met with his American counterpart John Kerry at the COP 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

He noted that the negotiations were held in a productive atmosphere. The parties agreed to meet once again next week.

"Yes, there was a meeting yesterday, and another one is scheduled for next week. We discussed methane, bilateral cooperation on climate and expectations from the conference. The atmosphere was productive," TASS quotes Edelgeriev as saying.
Supporters of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili hold a rally in front of the prison in Rustavi, where the politician is held.

The protesters demand Saakashvilis hospitalisation in a city clinic, while the authorities are ready to transfer him, if necessary, only to a prison hospital.

According to the protesters, the rally will be permanent: it will continue until the demands of the protesters are met. "Several people, including journalists and a member of parliament, also went on a hunger strike in solidarity with Saakashvili," RIA Novosti reports with a reference to a local correspondent.
US State Department Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein will visit Israel and the West Bank on November 7-8 to discuss energy security issues, the press service of the US State Department informs.

"As part of the visit, Senior Advisor Hochstein will hold meetings with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss energy security," the statement of the US State Department reads.
Finally, the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway is set to begin service after a long period of planning and construction.

Preparations for the first day of service are underway at the station, including work on the stairs, elevators, and other facilities.

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The Ministry of Transportation is slated to hand over the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban rail project to Hanoi for operation on November 6, after which the urban railway system may operate immediately. Hanoi will have the last say on the schedule.

In the first phase of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway project, members of the State Inspection Council approved the conditional acceptance of the investor.

For the first 15 days, train passengers will be able to use the Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway for free. In addition, the daily entrance charge is set at 30,000 VND/person/day when the facility is operational.

VietNamNet data at various stops of the urban train revealed that the equipment has been nicely cleaned. Lift systems were tested by technicians who remedied any issues that may arise. The building components were guarded by security guards at the stations.

Elevators, including outdoor escalators and elevators for the disabled, were already in use at the new location. For the convenience of passengers, Hanoi's Department of Transportation has placed railway station location signs and moved bus stops near train stations.

The stairwells and walkways of La Thanh station (the junction with Xa Dan street, Dong Da district) are sanitized and ready to welcome visitors. Other stations in Hanoi have already been prepared for the formal transfer date, including Thai Ha and Lang.

There are still areas near some stations where parking or waste storage is taking up space, for instance, a car park at Van Quan station (Mo Lao ward, Ha Dong district).

Thirteen kilometers of track with twelve stops comprise the urban railway that connects the cities of Cat Linh and Ha Dong. Cat Linh station (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) serves as the beginning point, while Yen Nghia station serves as the final destination for this route (Yen Nghia bus station, Ha Dong district). There are 13 trains in all. Phase 1 is anticipated to run 4-6 trains, with a journey time of 10-15 minutes per train.

La Thanh station

The elevator system operates smoothly







A bus station is right at the train station.

The train runs through the ring station 3.

La Thanh station.

Thai Ha station is ready for official operation.

Lang Station.







QR Codes at train stations for medical declarations.

An Phuong - Dinh Hieu

Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line to be handed over to Hanoi on Nov 6 The Ministry of Transport will hand over the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway project to the Hanoi City government on November 6 for operation.
The route will help increase the number of public transport users and ease traffic congestion.





Leaders of the Ministry of Transport and Hanoi sign the minute to hand over Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway project to the municipal authorities. Photo: Quy Nguyen



Vietnam's first metro line, the Cat Linh - Ha Dong, in the capital city of Hanoi, officially began commercial operation on November 6 morning.

Speaking at the ceremony of handing over, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan said that the metro line would help increase the number of public transport users, and together with the nine other lines planned, form a key transport network to help ease traffic congestion.

The project is expected to be a game changer for public transportation in a crowded city with millions of personal vehicles, Tuan said, adding that it would help the citys mass transit network meet up to 45% of demand.

The metro line is connected with 55 public bus routes since last year and the number will rise to 59 in the future, the vice chairman noted.

On November 6 morning, the first train left Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District at 7:40 am for Yen Nghia Station in south-western District of Ha Dong. A full trip on the 13-kilometer elevated track will take 23 minutes after stopping at all 12 stations.

It has an elevated line of more than 13 km with 12 stations and a rolling stock of 13 trains. Each train, whose designed speed is 80 km/h, has four carriages capable of carrying over 900 passengers.

During the trial run of the line, part of a metro line system that will comprise underground sections upon completion, was completed in December 2020, the trains made 5,740 trips covering more than 70,000 kilometers.

After being free for the first 15 days, a trip will cost VND8,000-15,000 (US$0.35-0.66) for a ticket. Commuters can enjoy unlimited rides in a single day if they purchase a day pass or monthly pass.

In the first week, the service will be from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm every day with a frequency of 15 minutes which will be increased from the second week with interval between trains of 10 minutes.

After six months, the service will be extended to 10:30 pm., and there will be a train every six minutes during rush hour.

Works on the railway, built by China Railway Sixth Group, began in October 2011 and was initially scheduled for completion in 2013. However, several hurdles have stalled it for years.

Its cost increased by 57% from the original estimate to VND18 trillion (US$868 million), with 77% of it coming from official development assistance loans from China.

In January 2021, the French consultant ACT issued a test certificate along with the report, which includes 16 recommendations on risk prevention in the operation of the route, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The French consultants recommendations that have been met so far this year, include certification from the Firefighting Police Agency and the consultants step-2 safety assessment of the signal system.

The State Council for Acceptance of Construction Projects on October 29 approved the quality assessment results of the metro line, the final step for the project to begin commercial operation.

Hanoi Railway Limited Company, the operator of the project, has met all operational recommendations of the system safety assessment consultant and hired another 82 workers to increase the lines personnel to 733 workers, according to Vu Hong Truong, the companys director.

The Ministry of Transport has worked with Hanoi authorities on meeting the recommendations and the measures to evacuate passengers in emergency situations. For future super-big projects, we must have a roadmap for both investment preparation and human resource training before implementation, Truong told The Hanoi Times.

Source: hanoitimes
Baylor Police arrested a man on a stalking charge Tuesday after a foot chase on campus and a fight involving the victim's father, according to an arrest affidavit.

A student called police to report Sebastian Silea, 23, was watching her at the Baylor Science Building, 101 Bagby Ave., and had previously been issued a criminal trespass warning, the affidavit says. Silea and the student were previously in a relationship, and she told officials he had previously threatened her with a gun, according to the affidavit.

By the time officers arrived, the student's father, who had previously traveled from his residence in Colorado to escort her to class and stay with her, had confronted Silea, police reported. According to the affidavit, he told Silea to stay away from his daughter, and they started fighting when Silea continued in her direction.

An officer then arrived and told Silea to turn around so the officer could place him in custody, and Silea ran across Bagby Avenue toward Daughtrey Avenue, the affidavit says. Another officer was able to cut him off and arrest him, police reported.

The student's father was taken to a local hospital because of extreme swelling of a calf muscle and reported he heard a pop and was in extreme pain after the fight, according to the affidavit.
The Texas Attorney Generals Office is appealing a decision from a Waco state district judge that put on hold the states lawsuits against two McLennan County school districts over their mask mandates.

The AGs office alleges in a petition for mandamus filed with Wacos 10th Court of Appeals that 414th State District Judge Vicki Menard abused her discretion when she granted a defense motion to abate the lawsuits against the Waco and La Vega school districts.

Menards Oct. 25 order effectively leaves the masking mandates in place at the two school districts until the case of La Joya Independent School District v. Greg Abbott is resolved, including appeals.

The La Joya ISD case is also a mask mandate case and was filed in a Travis County state district court before the McLennan County suit. It involves large districts in Travis, Harris and Dallas counties and currently is pending in the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin. Attorneys involved on both sides of the mask mandate debate have said they expect the case to go to the Texas Supreme Court.

Attorney Generals Office attorneys said that while the suits are similar, not all of the issues are the same and that McLennan County is the proper venue to hear the suits against Waco ISD and La Vega ISD.
There was literally no way I could have predicted that the growth would happen with the speed that it happened, Albright told the Tribune-Herald last year. I would have been very pleased and felt very successful if we had been half as successful in terms of the numbers. I am unbelievably lucky, but we have worked hard.

Henry also heads the patent litigation section of Gray Reed, one of at least eight law firms that have opened offices in Waco in the past two years to take advantage of the bustling Waco patent docket. Henry said there is an entrenched mentality in Washington, D.C., that is anti-Texas.

I think these actions are largely out of resentment of the emergence of another Texas-based patent-centric court docket, Henry said of the senators letter. Some have said it is somehow unfair or inappropriate that certain courts should attract patent litigants over some others. Having been a patent litigant for 35 years, I can tell you there is a huge difference when the court and clerks and staff understand how to handle patent cases. In courts that never handle patent cases, you are trying to educate jurors and the court and staff at the same time.

Henry said parties on both sides of litigation benefit when a judge is experienced in such a specialized area of the law, like Albright, and shows interest in handling the cases.
Tatum returned to Dallas and went to work for a time, then came back to Groesbeck and started school at Texas State Technical Institute, as it was known at the time. He spent a year there, went back to Dallas and worked for Tom Thumb Groceries for seven years before he got on with the post office in 1979. He worked at the post office until 1987.

Thats when he decided to drive trucks and went to truck driving school, graduating in 1988. He drove a truck until 2001, when he was medically retired.

It was during these years that Tatum began to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, though he didnt know it at the time. I didnt really know what the problem was, he said. It kind of blew my family.

Tatum had all the classic symptoms, including frequent job changes, trouble with personal relationships, and the feeling of being better off alone.

Tatum reached out for help to a fellow Air Force veteran and friend in Groesbeck and went to the VA hospital, where he was diagnosed with PTSD. He started treatment in 2015 and continues to this day.

What hurts is the people I lost and those I hurt, he said. I think Vietnam kind of broke me. I originally went in for a career, but when I had my war duty, it changed my mind.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted the Biden administration's vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops Democrat President Joe Biden "from moving forward with his unlawful overreach."

"The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the constitution," said a statement from Landry, a Republican.

Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district  Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case  but Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.

The Biden administration had no immediate comment.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of former Republican President Donald Trump.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Friday presented dueling portraits of Ahmaud Arbery, who was either an innocent Black runner fatally shot by three white strangers or a scary mystery who had been seen prowling around a Georgia neighborhood.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said the short cellphone video that stirred national outrage over Arbery's slaying offered only a glimpse of the attack on the 25-year-old, who gave his pursuers no reason to suspect him of any wrongdoing.

They assumed that he must have committed some crime that day," Dunikoski said. He tried to run around their truck and get way from these strangers, total strangers, who had already told him that they would kill him. And then they killed him.

An attorney for Travis McMichael, the man who shot Arbery three times, put the shooting in a much different light. Attorney Robert Rubin described Arbery to the overwhelmingly white jury as an intruder who had four times been recorded on video plundering around a neighboring house under construction.

McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, gave chase, hoping to detain Arbery until police arrived, Rubin said, but Arbery refused to stop and lunged toward McMichael and his gun.
No other maps have been introduced other than the minority leaders map and its not in a fashion or a state that she wants to take action on, Kennedy said. We have one bill on which we can take action.

Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, a Stone Mountain Democrat, presented a proposal Friday that was projected to trim the GOP's majority to 31-25 from its current 34-22, but did not seek a vote on it, saying citizens deserved more time.

The Democratic caucus wants to engage the majority, but it cannot do so if the committee effectively ends debate on Senate redistricting today," Butler said.

Sen. Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican, criticized Butler's map as inferior in part because it split more counties than the 29 proposed by Kennedy.

Its hypocritical to attack the chairmans plan that only splits 29 counties with one that splits significantly more for partisan advantage," Cowsert said.

Sen Elena Parent, an Atlanta Democrat who helped draw Butler's proposal, said it was superior because it was better on partisan fairness coming closer to the 50-50 partisan split seen in recent Georgia elections.
The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians was released from a New York hospital on Friday and was expected to fly home to Turkey on Sunday after the completion of a U.S. visit that was extended for a medical procedure.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople spent two nights in Mount Sinai Medical Center after having a stent installed to open up a clogged coronary artery.

Bartholomew, 81, had originally been scheduled to return home Wednesday at the end of a 12-day U.S. itinerary, his first visit to the country in several years.

He was previously hospitalized overnight in Washington on Oct. 24 soon after his arrival, when he reported feeling unwell, according to church officials. That episode prompted him to seek follow-up treatment in New York at the end of the trip.

On Thursday the physician who performed the procedure, Dr. George Dangas, said Bartholomew was recovering well. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said the patriarch expected to return to his base in Istanbul on Sunday.
Soares said that his office still had hundreds of hours of videotaped testimony to review and that it anticipates receiving more material with deadlines for a speedy trial approaching.

Cuomo had been summoned to appear for an arraignment Nov. 17. Soares asked for that to be put off for 60 days. Cuomo's attorneys joined in the request.

The purpose of this adjournment is to give my office time to continue with our independent and unbiased review of the facts of this case, Soares wrote.

The court granted a delay until Jan. 7, 2022, a spokesperson for Soares said in an email.

A call was made to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple seeking comment. The sheriff acknowledged last week that the court paperwork had been processed more quickly than he intended, before hed gotten a chance to consult with the district attorney. But he said he was confident in the strength of the case.

There was no immediate comment from Cuomo's spokesperson.
Neary said her own advocacy reflected the position of the majority of pediatricians across the country and Nebraska.

When pediatricians say the standards are medically accurate and will help youth to be successful, those arent philosophical thoughts, those are scholarly facts, she said.

Stevens further questioned why the Education Department pushed to adopt health standards during the pandemic.

We should have been much more understanding of the situation that we were in, he said. The middle of a pandemic, very chaotic. Why did we think that this would be a great time or the right time to bring forth health standards?

Gubbels said she has a sense that we all believe that we need to formalize the process.

For example, what is the role of an advisory committee? Right? Who are subject matter experts? I think having definitions will help us in formalization of the process.
One teen drove another around a North Omaha neighborhood on Oct. 18, headlights off, looking for rival gang members, a prosecutor said Friday.

Authorities say Justyn Wagner, 19, jumped out of the car that evening and fired 10 shots at 18-year-old KorVanta Hill, killing him. Elijah Robinson, 18, drove Wagner away from the shooting and to Cabela's to get more bullets, said Lindsey Grove, a deputy Douglas County attorney.

Robinson appeared in court Friday, charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. The judge ordered that he be held without bail.

Grove said Robinson admitted that he was driving the car that night.

The teens drove up and down the neighborhood near 39th and Pratt streets, looking for rival gang members, Grove said. When they spotted someone walking down the street, Wagner got out and fired, then returned to the car. Robinson drove away.

Authorities found that Robinson had turned off his cellphone before the shooting occurred about 8:10 p.m.

Hill had been walking with his stepfather. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he died.
PEOPLE

Contractors, agencies share in the innovation culture challenge

During the pandemic, perhaps no other aspect of running a federal contractor or government agency has taken more prominence than employee engagement and maintaining team culture with most of everyone physically dispersed and digitally connected.

One aspect of that goal is keeping in place and bolstering their cultures of innovation to encourage participation and buy-in from all people, ranging from the most senior leadership levels down to the rank-and-file.

Both contractor and customer face that challenge on a roughly equal basis, a group of panelists said Wednesday at the Government Contracting Conference co-hosted by George Mason University and the Defense Acquisition University.

Speakers for that panel were ICF CEO John Wasson; Interactive Government Holdings CEO and founder Michael Sanders; and former Homeland Security Department Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa.

Freedom to think and at least start creating ideas is an obvious component of maintaining that culture of innovation, noted Wasson with an observation of what he has seen in ICFs team regarding time management.

One of the biggest challenges I find is people get so overscheduled that they cant spend the time to think, do the innovation and step back, Wasson said. You have to make time for it, you have to be visible.

Sanders, who started his company in 2005, referenced the never-ending and always-heating race for technology talent against other companies well outside of the government sector like Apple and Tesla.

Not that being an innovator is limited to that group of companies, according to Sanders.

You have to make it more about the mission, more about the impacts theyre going to have at the company, impacts theyre going to have in the community, at the agency, and the nation as a whole, he said.

The impact can become a lot greater of an X factor than the compensation for some people that are just entering the market.

Correa, who retired from DHS in July, described how that agency segmented its internal procurement innovation lab so the group could focus on coming up with new ideas. What was once a single member is now either six or seven, she said.

I didnt want them doing the procurement, I want the procurement teams doing the procurement, Correa said. I want the innovation to come from the contracting officers, the folks that are out there doing the day-to-day work, because they have really good ideas: theyre just sometimes afraid to implement them.

"They need to have a sounding board, someone they can go to and vet that idea, think it through with them, and help bring the rest of the members of the teams together.
WATERLOO  Trudy Weichers had a decision to make: Sofi or Sadie.

She wanted the perfect name for her new best friend, a golden retriever puppy she was adopting from Cedar Bend Humane Society. It was a happy occasion Friday afternoon when Sadie  yes, thats it!  became the first of 12 dogs at the shelter from the recent Seymour rescue to go to her new forever home.

Weichers of Cedar Falls loves the breed and said she adopted because she knew they all needed and deserved a good home.

CBHS Executive Director Kristy Gardner said the shelter took in the dogs a little more than a week ago after more than 500 animals were rescued by the Animal Rescue League of Iowa and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which were sent to various shelters, including CBHS.

It was a big undertaking. No one organization has the space to hold 500 animals. When somebody needs help, we step up to help, Gardner said.

Applications have been received and several of the dogs were ready to be adopted Friday, including several other golden retrievers. By the beginning of next week, most of these dogs will have a home lined up or be in their new homes, she said. The remaining dogs are posted for adoption at cedarbendhumane.org.

More than 500 mistreated, malnourished and sick dogs were rescued from five different properties belonging to Daniel Gingerich, owner of Maple Hill Puppies. His main property was in Seymour. The U.S. Department of Justice had cited the puppy mill owner with 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act since March. USDA investigators visited his facilities 18 times in six months, according to an Associated Press article.

Investigators said Gingerich failed to provide adequate nutrition, potable water and veterinary care for his dogs, which caused unnecessary suffering and death, the AP reported. Matted hair, filthy living conditions, injuries and illnesses, molded food and other issues were found, including Gingerich hiding sick or dead dogs from inspectors.

On their Facebook page, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa described the rescue as a massive operation. ARL CEO Tom Colvin said the dogs are safe now, are being brought to help and have been given a second chance at life.

On Nov. 2, a federal judge approved an agreement that settles the lawsuit filed against Gingerich in which he agreed to forfeit all of the dogs and permanently refrain from dog breeding and activities that would require an Animal Welfare Act license. His license has been revoked.

A criminal investigation is under way and Gingerich may face criminal charges, Wayne County Sheriff Keith Davis told USA Today on Friday.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division said, This case demonstrates the departments commitment to ensuring that those placing the health of their animals in serious danger are swiftly held accountable, and that these animals receive the humane care they are legally owed. We will continue to partner with USDA to vigorously enforce these animal welfare laws in the future.

Cedar Bend took in six golden retrievers, including Hazel, a senior and Billy, a young dog; two corgi-pomeranian mixes; Annie, Rosie and Frannie, all three corgis; and Bobby, a pomeranian. One golden retriever was pregnant when she arrived at the shelter and has since had her litter. Mother and puppies are being cared for in a foster home now, Gardner said. When the puppies are ready to be adopted, they will be spayed and neutered, as well as receive their vaccinations.

All of the dogs have special behavioral needs.

Some of the adults walk on leash, some do not. Some dogs are a bit shy of people, and some are very skittish. We want adopters who bring these dogs into their homes to be aware that because of their fear, they may be flight risks if they get loose. Theyll need to be in a fenced yard or kept on leash when outdoors, Gardner explained.

Its likely none of the dogs has been inside a house, and none are housebroken. Several dogs have had medical issues, such as ear infections, and a senior dog underwent surgery to remove polyps and mammary tumors. A heart murmur has been detected in one of the puppies, as well.

All of the dogs have been treated for fleas and parasites, spayed and neutered, and over half of the dogs needed dental cleanings and teeth pulled, she said.

Several thousand dollars in costs have been absorbed by the shelter for medical treatment and spaying and neutering. Any contributions from the public for their care would be appreciated, Gardner said.

To make a donation, go to cedarbendhumane.org.

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CEDAR FALLS  A trend of declining enrollment at the University of Northern Iowa has been mirrored by the states other regents institutions in recent years.

A report presented during the Board of Regents meeting Thursday at UNI shows a continuing decreases in the combined number of students at the three state universities.

This years enrollment report represents the fifth-straight year of decline for the regents universities, said Jason Pontius, associate chief academic officer in the board office. The universities enrolled 69,848 students this fall, 2.5% less than the year before. In the fall of 2016, they had 80,064 students.

UNI dropped 3.1% to 9,231 students while there were decreases of 1.3% at the University of Iowa to 29,909 students and 3.5% at Iowa State University to 30,708 students.

Pontius said the decline does not indicate that a growing number of students are leaving the state to continue their education.

We have consistently kept about 87% of our Iowa high school graduates and signs are we are actually improving in that a little bit, he explained.

Rather, he noted, it points to something else: More and more of our high school graduates are choosing not to go to college after graduation. The percentage increased annually from 2013, when 23% werent in college a year after graduation, to 2019, when the number had risen to 33%. Regents universities, by comparison, enrolled a 19% share of graduates in 2019, a percentage that hasnt changed much during the time frame.

Another concern, Pontius said, is a 4.2% drop since last year in the number of high school students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. That number went from 19,039 to 18,243 this fall. Filling out a FAFSA is probably one of the best predictors of whether a student is going to college, he said.

Declines can also be seen among international students at Iowas state universities. He noted that the number of students from China has continued to drop very precipitously.

Overall, Pontius added, what were looking at is graduating larger classes and replacing them with smaller classes. But that is starting to change.

All three universities had more new first-year undergraduates this fall. Northern Iowa saw growth of 4.9% to 1,554 new students, Iowa State saw a 6.2% increase to 5,387 and Iowa added 0.2% with 4,521. UNI started increasing those new students in 2020, when enrollment grew 1.2% to 1,482.

Again, during COVID thats remarkable, said Pontius. It also sets a really nice foundation for growth in the future.

Its going to take a little bit of time, but if we can keep the growth on these first-year classes coming in were going to start bringing those (total) numbers up again, he said.

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CEDAR FALLS  Two historic houses on the University of Northern Iowa campus, including the original presidents home, have gotten a reprieve from demolition for now.

The Board of Regents Thursday tabled a request to raze the former residences at 2401 College St. and 1012 West 23rd St. while meeting at UNI. Known as the Honors Cottage and the Alumni House, respectively, both are well over 100 years old with a combined $1.6 million in deferred maintenance needs, according to officials. The cottage, which also has a garage, served as the university presidents home after it was built in 1890.

Michael Hager, senior vice president for finance and operations, told the property and facilities committee Wednesday that the houses are underutilized and need upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. And theyre not the only historic buildings on that part of campus.

Neither of these buildings are core academic buildings, he noted. We do have a number of buildings in addition to these buildings that are more than (a) century old. But these two small ones do not make sense from a financial perspective to continue on.

Regent David Barker, a partner in a real estate development company, said he had begun examining the houses and questioned if all of the estimated maintenance costs  $970,704 at the cottage and $674,547 at the Alumni House  are absolutely necessary.

I understand that not all buildings can or should be saved, he said. However, Im not convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs of going ahead with demolition.

He was the only committee member to vote against approving the request and he asked that the item be considered separately from the consent agenda when the full board met Thursday.

Id like to learn more about what the overall space situation is here at UNI, what the larger plan is before we start on demolishing structures and particularly structures with some historic significance, said Barker. I could certainly see myself voting to demolish them if we cant find a use or if we find (that) the best path forward.

Hager said the current uses dont fully utilize the structures.

The Alumni House has a call center that is used in some evenings by about 14-15 students as part of the development foundation fundraising effort, he explained. We havent identified the exact location for that yet, but its no issue to move that space. The house was built in 1906 and originally served as the residence of the buildings and grounds superintendent.

The cottage has offices for three honors program staff, a student lounge and a classroom. A new location hasnt been finalized, although Hager said its likely going to be some place in Bartlett Hall, which he noted is also an historic building that opened in 1911.

In terms of what would be done with the lots  at opposite ends of a park-like area along College and 23rd streets  after demolition, he said theres no current plan and so green space is always the default answer. The total cost to demolish the houses and restore the land to green space is estimated at $269,000, paid for by university funds.

Hager acknowledged that the properties would become a potential building site. Just given the historic nature of the campus, we do want to be careful with that.

This is part of the original tract of land that was part of the orphans home that became Iowa State Normal School (a predecessor to UNI) back in the day, he said. So, wed want to make sure that anything we would build there would match the architecture of the other eight buildings right there that are more than 100 years old.

Regent Milt Dakovich, president of Aspro asphalt paving company in Waterloo, said its difficult to decide to raze the houses. However, they are underutilized, they are AEA non-compliant, they have asbestos and they have electrical needs.

He noted that green space is a valuable commodity on university campuses. And the fact that theres an opportunity to put a building that would serve a purpose on that space, thats valuable.

With no plans by UNI to demolish the buildings before winter, Barker said I dont think there would be a significant cost to delaying the decision until the next meeting and we could learn a good deal in the meantime.

The board approved tabling the issue in an 8-1 vote with Dakovich dissenting. The decision directs officials to provide an analysis of concerns raised by Barker when bringing it back to the board.

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CEDAR FALLS  A program at the University of Northern Iowa is looking to aid students and educators in learning about coding as school districts across the state are expanding their computer science curriculum to include the skill.

The College of Education held its second annual Hour of Code event in the lobby of the Schindler Education Center, where it invited students and faculty to get hands-on experience with both analog and digital forms of computational thinking.

Leigh Zeitz, an associate professor and coordinator of the instructional technology program at UNI, said the event is geared toward helping future teachers understand coding so they can teach it once a new Iowa law goes into effect requiring the inclusion of computer science courses in K-12 school programs.

Activities ranged from very simple, with learning how to explain the step-by-step process of stacking plastic cups, to more advanced activities, such as building a LEGO robot and using software on a tablet to control its movements.

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MISSION, Kan. (AP)  School board candidates opposing mask mandates and lessons about racism in U.S. history won in red states and some politically divided districts but often came up short in their bids to shape policy for school districts over the newest culture war issue.

The mixed results complicate the picture for Republicans who are increasingly looking to the education fight as a galvanizing issue that could help them sway voters. They point to the upset in Virginia by Republican Glenn Youngkin, who won his race for governor Tuesday in the liberal-leaning state after making education grievances a key part of his campaign. Some conservative political action groups said they racked up wins in the school board races where they funneled money.

But across the country, culture and identity fights were less decisive. The political tracking website Ballotpedia identified 96 school districts in more than a dozen states where race education and masking were part of the debate. It found that at least one anti-critical race theory or anti-mask candidate prevailed in 35 of the 86 districts in which it has determined winners, or 40%.

Where they won, they won in really high numbers, said Doug Kronaizl, a staff writer for Ballotpedia, noting that candidates who won on the issue tended to be concentrated in the same districts. But overall nationwide they didnt win that much.

In Connecticut, a slate of five candidates running in opposition to critical race theory lost the board of education race in the Guilford school system, an overwhelmingly white New Haven suburb of 22,000 where a petition calling for the superintendents removal circulated after the district ditched its Indians mascot and doubled down on efforts to address social justice and racism.

I think that there continues to be a national discussion where the term critical race theory is used inaccurately if not insincerely to attack work that is being done in schools, and that was successful in a lot of races, said Superintendent Paul Freeman, who said the district doesnt teach critical race theory.

Technically, it is an academic framework that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nations institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people. But in recent months, it has become a catch-all political buzzword for any teaching in schools about race and American history.

We do not shame or blame the white children in Guilford when we talk about the issues of race or racism in our classrooms, whether historic or contemporary, Freeman stressed.

Incumbent school board members in Mequon, Wisconsin, a wealthy, Republican-leaning suburb north of Milwaukee, won decisively after a group of parents led a recall effort based largely on their opposition to the districts hiring of a diversity consultant. All four incumbents were reelected by more than 1,000 votes after a summer-long petition drive that drew the attention of local Republicans.

In Springboro, Ohio, outside Dayton, Frank Catrine, a local Republican activist who is opposed to critical race theory, finished fifth out of eight candidates in a school board race in which all incumbents were reelected. He has argued that diversity and inclusion efforts exclude white students and parents.

If you want true diversity, youre open to everybody, Catrine said. But if they are only focused on Black people and the LGBTQ community, not everybody is welcome.

In Washington state, school board candidate Riley Smith said that while knocking on doors in his Democratic-leaning district in Spokane this fall, he encountered very few people interested in discussing race in education.

This whole critical race theory, anti-masking, that was dominating the national narrative wasnt really on peoples minds, said Riley, who beat a vocal opponent of the educational framework for the open seat.

Yael Levin, who leads the Virginia chapter of No Left Turn in Education, a group opposed to teaching critical race theory, said some losses were to be expected given the newness of the movement, which she said grew from the pandemic, when remote learning made parents more aware of what their children were being taught. The organization has ballooned to 78 chapters in more than 25 states since it was founded last year.

This is a very new movement of parents. And its a direct result of COVID. So it makes sense that we succeeded in some places and didnt in others, Levin said, but were going to keep our movement alive because the attack on our children is not stopping anytime soon.

In conservative Wichita, Kansas, Ben Blankley was among three candidates voted out of office and replaced by a slate of anti-critical race theory candidates who have promised changes in COVID-19 mitigation efforts in the district.

I kind of figured this would be the end result, said Blankley, a 38-year-old aerospace engineer with a first-grader in the district. Regardless of the decisions that we made, I figured there would be a political backlash eventually for a bunch of good people. And so it kind of steeled my resolve to make the best decisions I could with the information that we had knowing that being out of office could be an eventuality because of all of this.

Across the state, mask mandate opponents were ahead Friday in several races in Johnson County, an increasingly purple Kansas City suburb that voted for Joe Biden for president in 2020 despite historically leaning Republican. Some of the winning candidates in the Blue Valley and Olathe districts got a boost from the 1776 Project PAC.

Axios reported the political action committee  named after former President Donald Trumps now-disbanded 1776 Commission, which played down Americas role in slavery  was successful in three-fourths of 58 races in seven states. Victories across the country and this is just the beginning, the group tweeted.

Money from other conservative PACs flowed into the West Chester, Pennsylvania, race after board president Chris McCune antagonized critical race theory opponents. McCune, a Republican, initially was ahead in the vote count but has slipped behind a a PAC-backed critical race theory supporter and another candidate as mail-in ballots are counted.

These allegations from the far right are very challenging and the climate around public education has been very toxic, said McCune, 48, who works in software sales and whose five children all attend district schools.

1776 Action, which is separate from the similarly named political action committee, sent out mailers and targeted text messages in the West Chester race and another in Iowa. The group, which encourages candidates to sign a pledge calling for the restoration of honest, patriotic education, was encouraged by the results.

This movement to defeat anti-American indoctrination in our schools is only going to grow stronger in 2022," said Adam Waldeck, the groups president.



Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  More than two dozen Republican-led states filed lawsuits Friday challenging President Joe Biden's vaccine requirement for private companies, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown pitting federal authority against states' rights.

The requirement issued Thursday by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration applies to businesses with more than 100 employees. Their workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests. The lawsuits ask courts to decide whether the administration's effort to curtail the pandemic represents a federal power grab and usurps the authority of states to set health policy.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule.

This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a court filing in the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of 11 states.

The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way out of the pandemic. A White House spokeswoman said Thursday that the mandate was intended to halt the spread of a disease that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the U.S.

The administration says it is confident that its requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules pre-empt state laws.

Seema Nanda, solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor, said in a statement Friday that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act gives OSHA the authority to act quickly during an emergency if it finds workers are subject to a grave danger. The agency contends its temporary rule also preempts any state or local bans on employers' ability to require vaccines.

We are fully prepared to defend this standard in court," Nanda said.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and director of the World Health Organization's center on health law, said the half-century-old law that created OSHA gives it the power to set minimum workplace safety measures.

I think that Biden is on rock-solid legal ground, he said.

Critics have taken aim at some aspects of the requirement, including that it was adopted as an emergency measure rather than after the agency's regular rule-making process.

This is a real emergency, said Gostin, who has spoken with the Biden administration about the requirement. In fact, its a national crisis. Any delay would cause thousands of deaths.

Missouri's lawsuit was joined by the Republican attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Also joining the lawsuit was the office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, the only Democratic attorney general to take part in the legal challenges to the mandate.

In a statement, Miller said he was filing at the behest of Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican: It is my duty, under the law, to prosecute or defend any actions in court when requested by the governor."

Other coalitions of states also filed lawsuits Friday: Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Utah in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Kansas, Kentucky, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia in the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit; and Alabama, Florida and Georgia in the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit. Later Friday, Indiana filed in the Chicago-based 7th Circuit.

The states filed the lawsuits in the most conservative appeals courts in the country, courts where appointees of former President Donald Trump bolstered Republican-appointed majorities. It's unclear whether different judges will rule on the challenges separately at first, or whether the cases will be consolidated in one court early in the process.

Several businesses, associations and religious groups also joined with the states petitions, and some filed lawsuits on their own.

Among them are a conservative media company, two Wisconsin manufacturers, companies in Michigan and Ohio, the owner of 15 grocery stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a group of remote workers in Texas. All are represented by conservative law firms.

Over the past 20 months, my employees have showed up to work and served their communities in the face of COVID and hurricanes. Now Im being told by the government to insert myself into their private health decisions?" Brandon Trosclair, owner of grocery stores that employ about 500 workers, said in a statement. "Thats wrong and I wont stand for it.

The Daily Wire media company objected on several fronts, including the idea that employers will have to track which workers have been vaccinated and treat those who have received shots differently from those who have not.

What the government is asking us to do is discriminate against our own employee over their own personal health care decisions, said Jeremy Boreing, co-CEO of the company.

Shannon Royce, president of the Christian Employers Alliance, said the group wasnt challenging the rule out of opposition to vaccines, noting that some group members have provided incentives for employees to get the shot. Instead, they oppose being used as a tool of the federal government.

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the workplace rule also changes religious organizations relationship with their employees.

That, I believe, is a form of government coercion  turning a religious institution into a form of government coercion that we must resist, Mohler said.

So far, courts have allowed businesses on their own to require employees to be vaccinated. But Michael Elkins, a Florida-based employment lawyer, said those decisions do not necessarily mean judges will rule the same way when it comes to the federal government's requirement.

You may see a federal judge, or a bunch of them, say, This is just overreach,' Elkins said.

Benjamin Noren, a New York-based labor lawyer, said he thought the rule is likely to be struck down because OSHA was intended to deal with workplace hazards such as chemicals, not a virus. He said OSHA has made 10 emergency rules in the last five decades. Of the six that were challenged, only one survived intact.

Its an innovative use by the Biden administration to figure out some way to mandate vaccination in the private sector, Noren said. I hope it works. I have doubts.

Ahead of the OSHA rule, several states have passed laws or issued executive orders blocking or limiting employer mandates related to the virus.

In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowed such a bill to become law without his signature. It takes effect early next year and allows employees to opt out of vaccine requirements if they are tested weekly for the virus or can prove they have COVID-19 antibodies from a previous infection. Health officials say antibody testing should not be used to assess immunity against the virus and that people who have had it should still be vaccinated.

Hutchinson, however, noted that his states opt-out law creates a difficult scenario for businesses if both it and the federal requirement  which does not allow for antibody tests in place of vaccinations  are in effect.

Weve put our businesses in a catch-22, he said. Youre going to be violating somebodys law here.



Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and DeMillo from Little Rock, Arkansas. Also contributing were Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Alexandra Jaffe and Mark Sherman in Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
DES MOINES (AP)  Court hearings were set for next week for two southeast Iowa high school students charged with murder in the death of a high school Spanish teacher as her family deals with the shocking ordeal and urged forgiveness.

Investigators said Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old Spanish teacher at Fairfield High School, was reported missing Tuesday. Her remains were found later that day at Chautauqua Park on the east edge of Fairfield, where she was known to take daily walks.

Fairfield is located about 95 miles southeast of Des Moines.

According to court documents, Willard Noble Chaiden Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale were charged as adults with first-degree murder as well as conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. Both are 16 and were students at Fairfield High School where Graber taught.

A judge set a preliminary hearing date for Nov. 12. If prosecutors first file and a judge approves trial information  documents that contain the formal statement of charges that will lay out the evidence prosecutors have gathered to prove guilt  before Nov. 12, the preliminary hearings will not be held and the case will move forward with an arraignment on the charges.

Both teens are being held in jail on $1 million bond.

Graber was born in Xalapa, Mexico, the capital of the state of Veracruz, about 180 miles east of Mexico City. She moved to Fairfield, the hometown of her husband Paul Graber, in the 1990s. They divorced five years ago but remained close, he told The Des Moines Register.

Her son, Christian Graber, posted a Facebook message Thursday saying he forgives the people who killed his mother and that there is no point in being angry.

My mother was an angel of a woman and was one of the kindest souls, he wrote, ending his message with Te amo madre  I love you mom.

Her daughter, Nohema Marie Graber, echoed her brothers message of forgiveness.

We had the wonderful fortune of growing up in a home filled with such an abundance of warmth and love, she said.

Court filings stated that Graber suffered inflicted trauma to the head. Her body was found concealed under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties at the park.

Police received a tip that Goodale posted details about planning the killing and a possible motive on social media, according to court documents. Authorities have not yet released the motive.

The court documents indicated police investigators found clothing that appeared to contain blood at the homes of the teens.

Documents also said Miller admitted to being at the park when Graber was killed and helped to conceal her death.

Fairfield has a population of about 9,400 people and a sizable foreign-born population compared to Iowa, generally due to the presence of Maharishi International University. The private college, established by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1971, centers its educational program around the practice of Transcendental Meditation.

Census data shows 12.6% of the population is foreign-born, more than double the 5.3% of the general Iowa population. More than half the foreign-born population is from Asia, 21% from Africa and 17% from Latin America.

Assistant Jefferson County Attorney Patrick J. McAvan said Friday that many people are asking if this is a racially motivated crime. We do not have any evidence at this point that suggests that, he said.

Graber taught Spanish classes at Fairfield High School since 2012 and she previously taught in the Ottumwa Community School District.

Miller and Goodale appear to not yet have attorneys. A judge Thursday ordered a state public defender to be appointed to represent Goodale. Documents said Miller declined to request a court-appointed attorney and it wasnt immediately clear who would represent him.

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As the state Public Regulation Commission gears up for a final decision on the proposed merger between PNM Resources and Connecticut-based energy giant Avangrid, its suddenly become a much more challenging road for the merger partners.

PRC hearing examiner Ashley Schannauer recommended on Nov. 1 that the five elected PRC members reject the deal outright based on his judgment that the risks of the proposed merger outweigh the benefits for local consumers and the state in general.

He determined that Avangrid and global Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, S.A., which owns nearly 82% of shares in Avangrid, would emphasize corporate profits over the best interests of local utility customers.

His opinion took many by surprise. It followed almost a year of written and oral testimony by 24 organizations that resulted in only one organization, Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy, advocating against the merger. It also followed months of negotiations between individual organizations and Avangrid.

Schannauers recommendation to reject the merger did not take into consideration about 40 changes Avangrid made after June 4 to address concerns of some of the interested organizations. Instead, Schannauer included many of those changes in modifications he recommended should the PRC decide to approve the merger.

Here are some details of his nearly 300-page recommended decision:

Lots of red flags

The red flags Schannauer cited include:

 Alleged mismanagement and poor performance by Avangrids utilities in the nations northeast that adversely impacted consumers there.

 Concern that Iberdrola would not allow enough local control over Avangrids decisions here.

 Concern that Avangrid has emphasized profits at the expense of reliable service for consumers when managing local electric and gas utiltiies in other states.

 Reports of strong-arm tactics by both Avangrid and Iberdrola to limit opposition to its policies and competition from competitors.

Schannauer said New Mexico could experience similar problems if Avangrid is allowed to acquire PNM Resources and its two utility subsidiaries, Public Service Company of New Mexico and Texas New Mexico Power.

In contrast, merger supporters say a lengthy settlement agreement negotiated over five months with up to 16 different parties contains safeguards against the concerns raised by Schannauer. In addition, the stipulated agreement includes benefits by Avangrid that total more than $300 million in spending on rate relief for utility customers, assistance for low-income households, economic development programs and the creation of at least 150 new local jobs.

Perhaps most important, said Steve Michel, Avangrid brings financial strength and industry expertise in renewable development to PNM that can substantially help in advancing the state goal of transforming the local grid to 100% non-carbon generation. Michel is an attorney with Western Resource Advocates, which supports the merger.

If the PRC rejects the deal, PNM will struggle to meet New Mexicos renewable energy goals and the economic benefits negotiated in the merger settlement will disappear, Michel said.

The merger is at risk because of the hearing examiners recommended decision and thats unfortunate because it has significant benefits for ratepayers, local communities and the state economy, Michel told the Journal.

In the public interest?

According to Schannauer, the proposed transaction is designed to provide Iberdrola and Avangrid a beachhead in New Mexico to develop renewable energy projects throughout the Southwest, rather than primarily focusing on serving PNM customers.

Avangrid has offered to pay $4.3 billion in an all-cash transaction to acquire PNM Resources, representing about $2.3 billion more than the book value of PNMRs assets. Schannauer says that payment reflects Iberdrola and Avangrids strategic expansion plans.

The proposed transaction itself was not designed to benefit PNM customers, Schannauer wrote. Resource needs for regional expansion, he said, may take priority over PNMs need for resources to provide reliable utility service to its customers.

He suggests that, if the PRC approves the merger, that majority independent control of PNMRs board be added to the settlement.

Avangrid adamantly opposes that. But it has agreed that only New Mexico residents will sit on the seven-member board, and that three of them will be independent and disinterested members. At least two of those three independents must approve dividend-related decisions. The independents would also have exclusive control to set all executive compensation.

But Shannauer said outright independent majority on the board is the most effective way to ensure that local interests prevail in decision-making.

Schannauer contends corporate interests over local interests is a central reason for poor performance by Avangrids utilities in the Northeast, where communities have experienced lengthy electric outages in recent years.

Avangrids utilities have faced more than $60 million in regulatory penalties in northeastern states because of those problems.

Avangrid executives say most outages in the Northeast were caused by severe storms, not utility management problems. Indeed, other electric providers performed far worse during those events and faced higher penalties from regulators than Avangrid utilities, which have since worked to reinforce reliability and grid stability.

In the settlement agreement, Avangrid also made substantial commitments to combat climate change by accelerating grid decarbonization to potentially reach 100% non-carbon generation in New Mexico by 2035  10 years ahead of state mandates and five years sooner than PNMs own goals.

That will help reinforce grid reliability and stability in the long term, Michel said.

The recommended decision attaches no value to that, and thats wrong, he said.

The stipulated agreement already contains significant safeguards to enforce adequate service for PNM customers, Michel added.

Questionable culture

Schannauer also points to a criminal investigation underway in Spain that includes potential bribery, violation of privacy and falsification of commercial documents by top Iberdrola executives.

The proceedings center on Iberdrolas hiring of a Spanish security consultancy, apparently to collect information on competing companies and individuals opposed to some Iberdrola projects. The criminal investigation is relevant as it may reflect the culture of the Iberdrola, S.A./Avangrid Inc. group of companies, Schannauer said.

Iberdrola Chief Development Officer Pedro Azagra Blazquez told the Journal in an interview over the summer that the consultant simply did risk assessment and market analysis on security issues, and that Iberdrola executives were asked only to provide information about the contracts. Iberdrola itself is not being investigated and hasnt been accused of wrongdoing, Azagra Blazquez said.

But Schannauer expressed concern over both Avangrids and Iberdrolas actions throughout the PRC hearing process. He contends they:

 Provided incomplete discovery responses, followed by a failure to adequately supplement those responses.

 Made overboard confidentiality requests for documents presented by Avangrid.

 Violated an order by Schannauer in August not to introduce any new information into the record after the public hearings ended.

 Employed an attorney for Iberdrola who also represents the Attorney Generals Office in cases unrelated to the PRC, which caused a conflict of interest leading to that lawyers disqualification because the AG is participating in the merger case.

Avangrid has not been forthcoming, Schannauer said.

Azagra Blazquez previously told the Journal that Avangrid has complied with all commission orders in the discovery process and that delays in providing documents generally reflected miscommunication. The company provided all documents when more detailed requests were made, he said.

Some changes ignored

Schannauer said Avangrids five-month piecemeal negotiation over clauses in the stipulation agreement make it difficult to pinpoint a final, cohesive settlement supported by all parties.

The public hearings in August were supposed to consider the pros and cons of a June 4 settlement. But, in the weeks leading up to and during the August hearings, Avangrid continued to negotiate with various parties to gain more support, leading to significant additions and modifications.

Schannauer did not include any of the modifications made after June 4 in his decision.

Nearly two-thirds of the parties now back the agreement. But Schannauer insists that, with Avangrid agreeing to some 40 new modifications after the June 4 stipulation was signed, there is now no clear consensus among all supporters about everything being proposed.

Supporters dispute that. All signatories remain on board, Michel said.

Those issues will become clearer as parties file exceptions to Schannauers recommended decision this week. But, for now, only New Energy Economy  which has opposed the merger from the start  has publicly praised Schannauers findings and conclusions.

Schannauers recommendations are in agreement with our own legal position  that the harms of the proposed transaction outweigh the promised benefits, NEE executive director Mariel Nanasi told the Journal. That includes risks regarding future grid reliability, diminished quality of service, lack of local control over PNM, and even criminality and corruption.

Michel said Schannauers recommendation basically assumes the PRC is incapable of regulating utilities.

We have the PRC for a reason  to regulate utilities to assure good service, and our PRC is perfectly capable of doing that, Michel said. We dont have to turn away important progress and benefits in exchange. We can, and should, have both.

Avangrids local spokesperson  Joanie Griffin of Albuquerque-based public relations firm Sunny505  said the company stands behind the merger benefits.

We are hopeful that, ultimately, the PRC will approve the merger, which will bring more than $300 million in benefits to New Mexico, create hundreds of new jobs for New Mexicans and provide millions of dollars in contributions to nonprofit organizations, Griffin said in an email. Importantly, 23 out of 24 intervening parties either support or do not oppose the merger, including the PRC staff.
Public Regulation Commissioners can accept or reject the hearing examiners recommendations.

If they choose to approve the merger, Ashley Schannauer has proposed an array of new stipulations that he said would strengthen regulatory safeguards and lower the risks posed by the merger.

That includes mandating majority control of PNM Resources board of directors by local, independent members.

It also calls for:

 Reliability standards to ensure grid stability and quality of service that would be stricter than are now contained in the settlement agreement, with stringent regulatory oversight and penalties to avoid poor performance experienced in northeastern states.

 More safeguards against Avangrid affiliate companies gaining insider advantages to win energy-related contracts with PNM when competing with independent firms.

 A commitment by Avangrid not to file a new rate case at the PRC until December 2022, effectively adding six months to the current settlement agreement, which delays the next rate case until June 2022.

Parties in the case now have until Nov. 12 to file exceptions to Schannauers recommendations, which the commission can consider when it reviews the case for a final decision, likely in early December.

But Schannauers recommendations will weigh heavily on commissioners, who generally rely on the expertise of hearing examiners to help shape their positions. And Schannauers professional qualifications and expertise are well respected at the PRC.

In my opinion, he got things wrong in this case, but, the bottom line is hes a good hearing examiner and his recommendations will be taken seriously by the commission, said Steve Michel, an attorney with Western Resource Advocates, which supports the merger. That will be hard to overcome and I think the merger is in jeopardy because of it.

Both Avangrid and PNM Resources said theyre still hopeful that the PRC will ultimately approve the merger. Both companies are now reviewing Schannauers recommendations and his proposed modifications to the settlement agreement if commissioners choose to pursue that route.

PNM is evaluating these recommendations in order to find the best way to move New Mexico forward, utility spokesman Ray Sandoval told the Journal. We remain hopeful that the numerous benefits of this merger are realized in the commissions final decision.

Among the PRCs options is the outright rejection of the merger, as recommended by Schannaeur.

Or the PRC can decide to approve the merger, in which case Schannaeur recommends it add the modifications Avangrid agreed to over the summer, in addition to his other suggestions. The PRC then would decide which modifications should be included.

PNM, Avangrid and supporters would have to weigh the PRCs decision. They could regroup to work out a new stipulated agreement, including some of the modifications already negotiated and possibly some of Schannauers proposed changes. At that point, it would mean asking the commission to reopen hearings on the pros and cons of their newly modified agreement for PRC consideration.

LEARN MORE

The entire recommended decision can be found at nm-prc.org.

Click on the Case Lookup link on the home page.
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Richard Kuykendall was walking down an alleyway in Northeast Albuquerque when two friends he had known for years drove up in a car. When the 41-year-old tried to get in, bullets flew at him as a man in the backseat opened fire.

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Richard Kuykendall was walking down an alleyway in Northeast Albuquerque when two friends he had known for years drove up in a car. When the 41-year-old tried to get in, bullets flew at him as a man in the backseat opened fire.

A close-quarters gunfight ensued inside the car between the man in the backseat and Kuykendalls friends. When the smoke cleared, Kuykendall jumped into the bullet-riddled car to find the three men dead. He stashed a gun nearby then jumped into the driver seat with the men and left them and the car at Kaseman Hospital.

Authorities have not provided an update in the May 24 triple homicide, but recent court documents filed by Kuykendalls attorney provide the new perspective on the fatal shootings.

Prosecutors allege Kuykendall was part of a conspiracy to assault or kill someone in the car and may have killed the man in the backseat, 33-year-old Michael Sanchez. An emptied gun was found near Sanchezs body.

Authorities say the three dead men  Brandon Torres, 44, James Fisher, 41, and Sanchez  are members of the Aryan Brotherhood and Kuykendall is affiliated with the gang.

Kuykendall was arrested soon after and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm for stashing the gun behind a dumpster. He has not been charged in the deaths, which are being investigated by the Albuquerque Police Department.

An APD spokesman said there were no updates on the case and the U.S. Attorneys Office declined to comment.

Erlinda Johnson, Kuykendalls attorney, called the charge against her client completely unjustified. She wrote in a recent motion that momentary possession or touching of a firearm in an emergency situation does not support it.

You cannot expect someone who is going to render aid and drive these individuals to the hospital, to leave a firearm in the backseat within reach of the guy who just shot at my client, she told the Journal on Friday.  To argue that he did something criminal, frankly, its a miscarriage of justice in this case.

Johnson recently asked a federal judge to release Kuykendall pending trial, arguing that new evidence shows his DNA wasnt found on the gun because he didnt fire it and only removed it from the car for his own safety.

In response, prosecutors acknowledged the complexities of the case but wrote whether Kuykendall possessed the gun  evident by a bloody imprint of a firearm on his shirt  is simply not one of them and called the motion an attempt to muddy the waters in an already complex set of facts.

Johnson also said her client is not affiliated with the gang, verified by a nationally recognized gang expert, and his tattoos were misidentified and taken out of context by authorities.

The way hes been painted in the media is really unfair  the way that he has been maligned and associated with a gang that he has absolutely no affiliation with, she told the Journal.

In a 911 call obtained by the Journal, an out of breath Kuykendall frantically tells a dispatcher theres a car full of gunshot victims at the hospital.

Theyre in the vehicle, theyre right here, he told the dispatcher.  Just come save these people, thank you.

Johnsons motion includes letters from Kuykendalls friends, family and coworkers, many of whom acknowledge his legal troubles and drug use but adamantly deny the gang ties.

He is a victim of his addictions and resulting poor decisions, his father wrote. He may suffer from self-hate but he is not a bigot.
WASHINGTON  The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim.

The House passed the measure 228-206, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats farthest left members  including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri  opposed it.

Approval of the bill, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, whisked it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose nervous party got a cold shoulder from voters in this weeks off-year elections.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks made party leaders  and moderates and progressives alike  impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. Democrats can ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could result in Republicans regaining congressional control.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger bill until later this month.

That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the sprawling measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates later agreed to back that bill if CBOs estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, stood as a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st Century, Biden said in a written statement early Saturday.

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Biden even called her mother in India, though it was unclear why.

This was not to bribe me, this is when it was all done, Jayapal told reporters. The lawmaker said her mother told her she just kept screaming like a little girl.

In a two-sentence statement, the five moderates said that if the fiscal estimates on the social and environment bill raise problems, we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies to pass it. The five included Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., leader of a group of centrists who this summer repeatedly pressured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule earlier votes on the infrastructure bill.

In exchange, progressives agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which theyd spent months holding hostage in an effort to pressure moderates to back the larger bill.

The day marked a rare detente between Democrats moderate and progressive wings that party leaders hope will continue this fall. The rival factions have spent recent weeks accusing each other of jeopardizing Bidens and the partys success by overplaying their hands and expressed a deep distrust of each other.

But Friday night, Jayapal suggested they would work together moving forward.

Let me tell you, were going to trust each other because the Democratic Party is together on this. We are united that it is important for us to get both bills done, she said.

The agreement came together after the White House issued a statement from Biden explicitly urging Democrats to support both bills. I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act, he said.

When party leaders announced early in the day that the social and environment measure would be delayed, the scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over the party.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their top priorities. Thats been hard, in part because of Democrats slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

Welcome to my world, Pelosi told reporters, adding, We are not a lockstep party.

Progressives had long demanded that the two massive bills be voted on together to pressure moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure.

Democrats day turned tumultuous early after a half-dozen moderates demanded the CBO cost estimate of the sprawling package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives before they would vote for it.

Party leaders said that would take days or more. But with Fridays delayed vote and lawmakers leaving town for a weeks break, those budget estimates should be ready by the time a vote is held.

The infrastructure measure cleared the Senate in August with bipartisan support. The package would provide huge sums for highway, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and waste water, power grids and other projects.

But it became a pawn in the long struggle for power between progressives and moderates. Early Friday, Jayapal said the White House and Congress nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation had provided all the fiscal information lawmakers needed for the broad bill. She suggested that progressives would oppose the infrastructure bill unless the two measures were voted on together.

But that changed after the two Democratic factions reached their agreement.

House passage of the social and environment package would send it to the Senate, where it faces certain changes and more Democratic drama. Thats chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measures costs and curb or drop some of its initiatives.

Moderates have forced leaders to slash the roughly 2,100-page measure to around half its original $3.5 trillion size. Republicans oppose it as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide large numbers of Americans with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. The package would provide $555 billion in tax breaks encouraging cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added provisions in recent days restoring a new paid family leave program and work permits for millions of immigrants.

Much of the packages cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Alexandra Jaffe, Mary Clare Jalonick and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Last weekend, Grant County, New Mexico, came in second highest among all U.S. counties with the most COVID-19 average daily cases per 100,000 people.

In first place: the Nome, Alaska, census area.

That the virus had gained that much traction in the southwestern New Mexico county of some 29,000 people has befuddled many of its residents.

The county has had some of the states lowest daily case counts in the past and 70% of its adult residents were fully vaccinated as of this week  just slightly less than the statewide rate of 72.8% fully vaccinated adults, according to state Department of Health data.

The new ranking is surprising, said Dr. James Skee, an internal medicine specialist who has been practicing in Silver City for 41 years.

Its very disappointing, he added. Im a little bit flabbergasted.

Grant Countys second-place county ranking from the New York Times COVID-19 tracking system showed case counts averaged over 7 days.

New Mexico DOH county data shows Grant County had the highest per capita new daily cases in the week ending Oct. 31, with De Baca County in second place. And Friday marked a continuation of some of the highest reported new daily COVID-19 case counts in New Mexico since last January.

State health officials reported 1,463 new cases Friday, bringing the statewide total to 282,742 since the pandemic began. Twelve additional COVID-19 deaths were reported.

Grant County saw an additional 64 new cases, with 12 new cases reported in De Baca County.

The COVID Act Now website described New Mexico as very high risk on Friday, with 48.6 daily new cases per 100,000 people overall.

What is fueling the surge is still a question.

As one of the first medical providers to offer COVID-19 testing at the beginning of the pandemic, Skee said Grant County has done pretty well through all of this.

He said there have been patients who tested positive for the virus after being fully vaccinated, but most often those cases are not serious.

I have people clamoring to get their booster (shot), Skee added.

Over the last seven days, 39,115 booster doses have been administered statewide, according to DOH data. New Mexico residents can find locations nearest them online at https://vaccinenm.org/public-calendar.html.

In addition, there have been 19,265 breakthrough cases statewide since the start of February  or about 18.6% of all new cases reported during that time period.

The recent outbreak of cases has affected Grant County schools, as Silver Consolidated Schools Superintendent William Hawkins said the district made the tough choice last Sunday to temporarily close Cliff Schools, which has about 220 students attending kindergarten through 12th grade, due to a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus.

When you look at a campus that small, you lose certain staff members to either quarantine or testing positive, Hawkins said. You hit a certain number where it becomes very difficult to continue to stay functional.

The weeklong shutdown allows those individual staff members who are either positive or on quarantine to complete the cycle of 10 days and allows parents to stop for a moment and assess their students and their households to determine if over the course of this week any students or individuals become symptomatic, he added. If so, they can take necessary precautions to go get tested or keep their children at home so the virus doesnt spread.

Since the beginning of the school year this fall, 135 students out of 2,300 who attend Silver Schools in Grant County have been reported as having COVID-19, along with 28 staff members.

God willing, the principal is ready for her campus to be opened back and I know that the community, likewise, is, Hawkins said.

In De Baca County with some 1,700 residents, County Commission chairman Scot Stinnett told the Journal Friday that even one or two cases of the coronavirus has had the ability to paralyze certain government functions temporarily.

A member of the road crew tested positive, Stinnett said, and because of the required quarantine, the entire road department didnt work for 10 days.

Moreover, a vaccinated county clerk came down with COVID-19 prior to the recent election, and we shut down (early) voting for two days because we didnt have anybody to work.

With De Bacas small population, even several new cases can influence the overall case rate per 100,000 people, he added.

Most infections so far have been transmitted within families, Stinnett said. But the county detention center in Fort Sumner did receive two prisoners arrested by New Mexico State Police in Santa Rosa, which doesnt have a jail. The inmates turned out to be carrying the coronavirus.

We have a lot of people that actually travel to work because of our isolation. And that tends to expose you.

Stinnett said the county is abiding by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams public health orders, including ensuring students wear masks in school.

But elsewhere in the rural community theres not much masking up, he concedes.

Once we got out of masks, we werent going back, he said.
After several weeks of steady increases, Las Cruces Public Schools has experienced a huge spike in cases, surpassing 900 cases since classes began on Aug. 9.

The school district reported 194 new COVID-19 cases the week of Oct. 29 to Nov. 4. This is almost four times what had been consistently reported weekly in August, September and early October.

Previous weekly reports ranged between 40 and 70 new positive cases. This past week, there were 41 new cases on Monday and 43 news cases on Wednesday, both in a single day.

During the week of Oct. 22 to Oct. 28, there were 125 reported cases.

The past two weeks make up more than one-third of the overall cases in the past three months.

LCPSs COVID-19 system tracks cases by school and records the percentage of positive cases relative to the number of students and staff in the buildings.

As of Friday morning, 911 cases had been reported.

Overall, about 4.74% of students and staff at LCPS have tested positive for COVID-19 this school year.

Of the 911 positive cases in the district, 735 are students and 176 are staff members or contractors, according to the new dashboard.

Organ Mountain High had the highest number of new cases this week, at 19. Organ Mountain High now has the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any district location, with 69 reported positive cases, 64 of which are reported as student cases.

Mayfield High, which consistently had the most cases since August, has 50. Three other schools have more than 40 cases: Highland Elementary has 46; Camino Real Middle has 42; and Las Cruces High has 41. There are five schools with more than 30 cases.

The Las Cruces District Administration designation also has 41 reported cases.

According to the New Mexico Environmental Departments Rapid Response tracker, there are no current rapid responses at Hatch Valley Public Schools.

Gadsden Independent School District has 17.

In total, LCPS has 96.

Explore Academy charter school also has two rapid responses.

A rapid response means one or more people tested positive for COVID-19 and was infectious while on campus. All cases reported to a school on a single day, along with all cases with test dates through the following day, are grouped into a single rapid response.

The New Mexico Public Education Department announced Aug. 19 that it will not require schools to close on reaching four rapid responses in 14 days, which was the previous guidance.

Instead, the department will work with schools to implement enhanced COVID-safe practices that will maintain in-person learning as much as possible. It is up to a district whether or not a school is moved to remote learning, unless the Department of Health steps in.

Twenty-six schools across the state have four or more rapid responses. There has been an increase statewide of COVID-19 cases in schools.

According to the state, about a quarter of the newly reported COVID-19 cases in the past week were in children.

Acting New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said Wednesday that COVID-19 spread among children is less common in schools, and is more likely happening outside of school, where masks and social distancing might not be enforced.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Failure to comply with University of New Mexico COVID-19 mandates means 256 students are being disenrolled throughout the university system, which includes the main campus in Albuquerque, UNMs Health Sciences Center, and branches in Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos and Valencia County.

Cinnamon Blair, the universitys chief marketing and communications officer, said 164 of those students were enrolled on the Albuquerque campus. Friday was the deadline to comply with UNMs mandate.

Students were required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or to acquire an approved exemption for medical or religious reasons, or because they were taking remote-study classes off campus.

Exempted students who are on campus are required to submit weekly, medically validated COVID-19 tests to the UNM vaccine verification site. For the fall semester only, students who have not been vaccinated or exempted are permitted to remain at UNM as long as they submit weekly COVID-19 tests results.

Blair said students who are being removed from UNM classes are those who have in no way attempted to respond to UNMs COVID-19 requirements.

Students facing disenrollment have been receiving daily messages for over a month and, prior to that, biweekly messages, she said. We have also conducted phone and text campaigns from Enrollment Management and our resource centers, as well as from branches, to contact these students.

UNMs online vaccination site shows 92.2% of students on the Albuquerque campus have been vaccinated and that 91.8% of students throughout the university system are vaccinated.

In a statement released by UNM, James P. Holloway, UNM provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said the university is very pleased with the vaccination numbers and hopes to see them improve, especially as new employees and students continue to join UNM.

The UNM vaccination program has consisted of multiple elements that worked together to get us where we are, Holloway said in the statement. This wasnt just a mandate. The vaccination program included incentives, education, vaccination clinics on campus, peer-to-peer outreach by our Lobo Prevention Pack and other student groups, and a vaccination mandate.

UNM faculty and staff are also required to be vaccinated or apply for an exemption and submit weekly COVID test results. According to the university vaccination site, 99.2% of the faculty and 94.8% of the staff on the Albuquerque campus have been vaccinated. Overall, 98% of UNM faculty and 95.7% of UNM staff members are vaccinated.

Staff and faculty who do not comply also face consequences. Staff members may be given a non-disciplinary notice of separation, which means employment is ended for reasons other than misconduct.

The process for faculty members varies according to the individuals employment or contract status, but actions may range from unpaid suspension to termination.

We have had only a few faculty and staff members who have been engaged in the separation process, Blair said. She said there had been no faculty separations so far, but there have been four staff separations.

Blair said students who have been disenrolled do not have to return financial aid received during the fall term, but disenrollment may affect their chances to get aid in the future.

Thats because they will not receive credit in the fall semester, and certain forms of financial aid require that a student demonstrate good standing and regular progress toward a degree, she said.

Disenrolled students may return to UNM in the spring semester as long a they provide proof of vaccination or request and receive a qualified exemption.

UNM is advising students returning to UNM for the spring semester, or those entering the university for the first time that semester, to submit vaccination information to the universitys verification site or request an exemption as soon as possible.

UNMs goal is to protect the health of members of the community and to make it possible for students to continue their education in a COVID-safe environment, Blair said.

Meanwhile, New Mexico State University in Las Cruces is requiring that more than 7,500 employees, including student employees, be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 in order to comply with federal requirements for federal contractors. NMSU maintains millions of dollars in federal contracts that support research and development.

NMSU employees will be allowed to apply for medical or religious exemptions to the vaccine requirement. According to the university, more than 85% of its employees have provided proof of vaccination.

Students who are not NMSU employees have the option to forego vaccination if they submit weekly COVID test results.
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The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor is keen to look at his former wife's phone to see if the photos of her with two black eyes following domestic violence allegations were tampered with.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Johnny Depp has been granted access to his ex-wife Amber Heard's phone in his libel lawsuit against her.

The actor first filed his suit against the "Aquaman" star back in 2018 after she published an op-ed in the Washington Post about surviving domestic abuse.

Although Amber didn't name Johnny in the piece, she has accused him of domestic violence since their split.

While she petitioned to have the case dismissed after Johnny lost his U.K. libel suit against The Sun newspaper, a Virginia judge allowed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor to continue with his lawsuit.

As part of the legal battle, Depp requested access to Heard's phone records in a bid to prove that she faked injuries she allegedly claimed were from him.

Photographs which appeared to show Heard with two black eyes were circulated around the world in 2015, and have been used "repeatedly" by the actress' counsel during deposition, Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew claimed in his filing to the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Victoria.

Chew continued to claim that when the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to Heard's abuse claim, "they found no injury upon Ms. Heard and no disruption to the penthouses."

"Ms. Heard and her friends then fabricated photos that she used to obtain an ex parte TRO (temporary restraining order) and a $7 million (5.2 million) divorce settlement which Ms. Heard falsely testified in London she gave to the ACLU and, more scandalously, to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles; sick children with cancer," he alleged, before claiming that the LAPD "disavowed the photographs" and "said they did not depict what they saw."

While Depp's legal team had been given earlier images from Heard, Chew argued that they came without their accompanying metadata - meaning their expert Brian Neumeister couldn't verify the details.

Therefore, the Virginia court ruled on Wednesday (03Nov21) that Depp's team will be able to employ an expert to look at Heard's phone to see if they can find any evidence that the photos were tampered with.

The judge also denied Heard's team's request for Depp to hand over his phone and laptop, insisting that the lawyers had asked for "too broad" a search.

Responding to the new ruling, Heard's attorney told the New York Post's Page Six that the actress "welcomes the opportunity to present her evidence in a trial by jury, in a court of law" next year.
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Sharon Lee demands mandatory gun safety training in Hollywood after Alec Baldwin accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his new movie 'Rust'.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Sharon Lee, the sister of late actor Brandon Lee, has called for mandatory gun safety training on Hollywood film and TV sets.

The actor was killed by a prop gun on the set of the 1994 film "The Crow" and, following the fatal shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's Western movie "Rust" last month (Oct21), she's insisted the industry should reduce the amount of real firearms used during filming.

In an essay for Variety, she penned, "Twenty-eight years after losing my brother, Brandon Lee, to a very similar situation - one that allowed real bullets onto a film set and that made actors into agents of death - I'm finally in a sound enough mental and emotional space to raise my voice."

"Could we require actors to receive mandatory gun safety training before handling a gun on a film set so that they can have some sovereignty over their safety and the safety of those they are pointing a firearm at?"

"Could we consider a shift away from using real firearms on sets as much as possible? And could we think of this shift as innovation rather than punishment?"

Lee concluded, "Absolutely no one wants the remake rights to this tragedy."

The article comes after Baldwin fired a prop gun, which resulted in the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuries to director Joel Souza.

Following the tragedy, Dwayne Johnson has pledged to never use real guns in his productions, saying, "I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions - any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce - we won't use real guns at all."
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The 'Game of Thrones' actor is 'living the dream' as he is on press tour promoting his new movie 'Eternals' after spending months caring for his newborn.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Kit Harington thinks it will be "tough luck" if his son doesn't want to watch him and Rose Leslie on "Game of Thrones" when he's older.

The actor met his now-wife on the set of the HBO drama series and he joked their little boy - who is nine months old - will have to watch their characters, Jon Snow and Ygritte, getting intimate on screen and be grateful for it - when he's of an age to understand.

Asked how he'll handle showing his son "Game of Thrones", Kit joked to E!'s Daily Pop, "Look, I mean, he can just be thankful that it happened because otherwise he wouldn't be here."

"So that will be it. I'll be like, 'You don't like watching it? Well, tough luck.' "

While Kit can next be seen in "Eternals", he doesn't think it's a movie his son will be impressed by, adding, "At the moment he's nine months old so by the time he's old enough to watch this movie, it's going to be seriously retro."

The British actor admits he's "living the dream" at the moment because he's spent months caring for his baby but now he's promoting the superhero film, he's the one being very well looked after.

He laughed, "I'm going through something at the moment which is that I spend weeks prior to coming out here sort of, you know, feeding him, pampering him, looking after him. And then I go to get on a flight, come here, and now I'm looked after and being pampered. So I'm living the dream right now!"

"I'm in heaven, this is easy."

And the "Pompeii" star was thrilled to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beaming, "This is my first time in the Marvel universe, it came at a really brilliant time for me. It's a dream call for me."
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The 'Midnight Sky' actor pleads with media outlets to 'refrain' from posting his children's faces over safety concerns considering wife Amal Clooney's job as a human rights lawyer.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - George Clooney has written an open letter to media outlets asking them not to publish pictures showing his children's faces.

The actor, who is father to four-year-old twins Ella and Alexander with wife Amal Clooney, addressed his note to "The Daily Mail and other publications" as he expressed his concerns about his children's safety - particularly considering Amal's job as a human rights lawyer.

"Having just seen photos of Billie Lourd's one-year-old baby in your publication, and the fact that you subsequently took those pictures down, we would request that you refrain from putting our children's faces in your publication," he began. "I am a public figure and accept the oftentimes intrusive photos as part of the price to pay for doing my job. Our children have made no such commitment."

"The nature of my wife's work has her confronting and putting on trial terrorist groups and we take as much precaution as we can to keep our family safe. We cannot protect our children if any publication puts their faces on their cover. We have never sold a picture of our kids, we are not on social media and never post pictures because to do so would put their lives in jeopardy. Not paranoid jeopardy but real world issues, with real world consequences."

The "Midnight Sky" star concluded, "We hope that you would agree that the need to sell advertisement isn't greater than the need to keep innocent children from being targeted."
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In a letter to a royal staff member, the British monarch was filled with 'unbearable' sorrow as she struggled to cope with the death of her father King George VI.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II told of her "emptiness and loneliness" following the death of her father, King George VI, in a letter to a member of royal staff.

Private letters from the monarch and her son Prince Charles to aide Michael Farebrother, a former Grenadier Guard and the Prince of Wales' private tutor, who died in 1987 aged 67, are set to be auctioned off as part of a collection of never-seen-before photographs of the family, and the notes lay bare some of the royals' most personal thoughts.

The correspondence spans 40 years and, in one of the earliest letters, The Queen writes to Farebrother - who was posted to Windsor Castle during World War II - about her "unbearable" sorrow following the death of George VI in 1952, but despite her "emptiness and loneliness," she knew she had a "job to do" after taking the throne.

And Elizabeth told the aide she felt her father's death was "so much worse" for her mother and younger sister Margaret.

In a rare break with the protocol around the royal family expressing their political views, The Queen also confided in Farebrother about her doubts the troubles in Northern Ireland would ever be resolved after Lord Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979.

She wrote, "One can only pray that he will not have died in vain and that some good may come of this terrible act of blowing up a family on holiday and will shock people into doing something about Ireland - if only their opinions were not so entrenched."

Other letters in the collection - which was kept in a cloth-bound album and is to be sold at Gorringe's auction house in Lewes, England, on 7 December (21) - include a note from Prince Charles following the birth of Prince William, which he signed as "Charlie," while in another missive the prince signed off as "your erstwhile pupil."
Walt Disney Pictures Movie

The 'Maleficent' actress slams 'ignorant' Middle Eastern film censors for banning Marvel's latest superhero movie as the studio refused to cut out the homosexual scenes.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Angelina Jolie is disappointed "ignorant" censors have banned her new film "Eternals" in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, reportedly because it features Marvel's first gay couple.

The actress has reacted to Thursday's (04Nov21) news that the Marvel blockbuster, which was due for release in the region on 11 November, won't be shown at all in those countries, after the movie's producers reportedly refused to remove the offending scenes.

Ahead of the film's release, director Chloe Zhao urged Disney and Marvel bosses not to cut any of the homosexual scenes, which include a kiss between superhuman Phastos, who is played by Brian Tyree Henry, and his husband Ben, portrayed by Haaz Sleiman, even though it might result in the film not being shown in certain countries.

"There's a big desire from Marvel and myself - we talked about this - to not change the cut of the movie," she told IndieWire last month (Oct21), adding, "Fingers crossed," that the film would be viewed as she intended all around the globe.

The censors have not shared their reasons for shutting down the film, but homosexuality remains illegal across much of the Middle East.

Now that the film has been banned in some countries, Angelina is "sad" for audiences who will miss out on seeing Eternals.

"I'm sad... and I'm proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out," Jolie told news.com.au.

"I still don't understand how we live in a world today where there's still (people who) would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love."

"How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn't approve or appreciate it is ignorant."

Meanwhile, the film will be released in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt with all scenes of intimacy edited out.

"Eternals" also includes the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first sex scene, between Richard Madden and Gemma Chan's characters.
Celebrity

The 'That's On Me' spitter is taken into custody by Plano police officers with the department's Crimes Against Persons Unit in Collin County less than three months after another arrest.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Rapper Yella Beezy is behind the bars again. The "Keep It On Me" rapper was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, child endangerment or abandonment and unlawful carrying of a weapon in Texas.

The 30-year-old musician was taken into custody by Plano police officers with the department's Crimes Against Persons Unit in Collin County on Friday, November 5, per TMZ report. According to Plano Officer Andrae Smith, the arrest was originally for the sexual assault charge.

"They went to effect the arrest and circumstances surrounding that arrest led to the UCW and the endangering of a child," Andrae explained. However, details about what led to the charges were not disclosed.

Yella, whose real name is Markies Deandre Conway, is no stranger to getting in trouble. The Dallas rapper has been arrested three times in Texas this year alone. Back in August, he was busted on weapons and drug charges. At that time, the official police report stated that he had over 400 grams of a controlled substance as well as four handguns and a rifle.

Following his arrest, Yella insisted that he was arrested over "hand sanitizer" not "drugs." In a video he shared on his Instagram account, he said, "I went to jail and got arrested for hand sanitizer, not...no drugs, bruh." He added, "Let me tell you how desperate they are to make an arrest. The homie got a brand of hand sanitizer that look like drank. It says hand sanitizer on it. You know how girls got eye lashes in the pill jar? She got hand sanitizer in a drank bottle."

"Even tho it's hand sanitizer they still charged me until they find out lol," Yella continued. The "Bacc At It Again" rapper fumed, "All they had to do was smell it or put some on took money , jewelry and phones for what ???? Crazy !"

In February, Yella was booked for allegedly blowing a stop sign in his armor-plated bulletproof truck. However, the rapper claimed that the incident was a set-up and alleged he was the victim of police harassment.

His manager, Adrian Low Brown, also claimed the gun that the police found was registered. The "That's On Me" spitter had to spend one night in jail as he's released the next morning after posting his $1,000 bail.
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The 30-year-old 'Trap Queen' rapper was previously arrested at the Citi Field stadium in Queens ahead of his performance at the Rolling Loud Festival in New York.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Fetty Wap is a free man again, at least for now. The "Trap Queen" hitmaker, who was arrested on a drug trafficking charge last month, reportedly has been released from jail after posting a $500,000 bond.

Despite getting his freedom back, the emcee has to obey a few conditions. John Marzulli, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, revealed that the rapper must wear a GPS monitoring device, submit drug testing results, surrender his passport and ask for approval from authorities before traveling.

Fetty was taken into custody by FBI agents on October 28, ahead of his performance at the Rolling Loud Festival in New York. He was arrested on a drug trafficking conspiracy charge at the Citi Field stadium in Queens.

The 30-year-old, along with five others, reportedly trafficked more than 100 kilograms of opioids. Federal prosecutors claimed the men transported and distributed cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine from the West Coast and sold the deadly drugs in New Jersey and Long Island.

The "How We Do Things" spitter, whose real name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances. He's facing life in prison if convicted.

Fetty's last run-in with the law was back in September 2019. At that time, he was arrested for allegedly punching a Las Vegas parking valet at the Mirage Hotel and Casino. He was then detained by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on three counts of battery.

Fetty's recent arrest came after he confirmed his daughter Laura's death in August. "She's good. My baby's happy now," he said during an Instagram Live. Calling Lauren "my shorty" and "twin," he showed a picture of her and kissed it. "That's my little twin right there," he gushed.
Marvel Studios Movie

Due to the severity of her injury, the Shuri depicter is still unable to return to work, two months after she injured herself on a stunt rig incident on the 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' set in Boston.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is facing a major setback. The highly anticipated movie is temporarily shutting down production as Letitia Wright continues to recover from her injury which she sustained during a set accident two months ago.

Wright, who reprises her role as T'Challa's sister Shuri in the sequel, injured herself during the filming in Boston in late August. She reportedly suffered minor injuries on a stunt rig incident and was soon discharged from the hospital.

However, the new report indicates that her injury is quite severe as she's still unable to return to work. According to sources close to the production, the shutdown is expected to begin the week of Thanksgiving and filming is expected to resume in early 2022.

A representative for Wright said in a statement to THR, "Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of 'Black Panther 2' and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022." The rep added, "Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers."

At the time of the set incident, Marvel Studios said Wright's injury would not impact the shooting schedule to "Black Panther 2". The actress left for London as the production shot around her character.

Filming mostly took place in Atlanta for the last two months, but director Ryan Coogler has reportedly shot all scenes that his crew is able without Wright. Sources say the production is taking the hiatus to reconfigure the shoot to get things back on track for an early 2022 restart.

Marvel already pushed back the release of the "Black Panther" sequel in October, moving it from July 8, 2022 to November 11, 2022. At this time, the shutdown is not expected to impact the release date of the movie.

Following the untimely passing of its lead star Chadwick Boseman, Marvel Studios announced that they would not be recasting the role of T'Challa. Instead, Wright's character Shuri is elevated as the lead of the sequel.
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The former star of 'Sex and the City' is set to star alongside the 'A Cinderella Story' actress as the central character of the series, Sophie, for the upcoming spin-off of CBS' 'How I Met Your Mother'.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Former "Sex and the City" star Kim Cattrall will play an older version of Hilary Duff in the new spin off from popular sitcom "How I Met Your Mother".

The British-born actress chose not to return as sophisticated Samantha Jones for the upcoming "Sex and the City" limited series "And Just Like That...", but now she's found another reboot for her next job in "How I Met Your Father".

Duff herself announced via Instagram on Friday, November 5 that she and Cattrall will be starring as Sophie, the central character of the series. "When @kimcattrall said yes I screamed. Now can we please get a better pic than this one I dug up from the deep web [laughing with tears emoji] @himyfonhulu," the 34-year-old actress captioned an old photo of them together.

Like Cattrall's former hit series, the new show is all about "finding love in modern-day New York City", as its star and producer Duff described it earlier this year (2021).

Cattrall will play the pivotal role of future Sophie, who is telling her son the story of how she met his father, much like Josh Radnor and Bob Saget's character Ted Mosby did in "How I Met Your Mother", which aired on CBS in the U.S. from 2005 to 2014.

"How I Met Your Father" bosses have received a straight-to-series order with 10 episodes from Hulu officials, after CBS chiefs passed on the project.

Sophie's story will transport audiences back to the year 2021 as she and her group of friends, played by Chris Lowell, Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, and Suraj Sharma, try to navigate their love lives in the age of dating apps, according to Deadline.
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During his show at SF's Chase Center, the comedian doesn't seem to be apologetic despite recent controversy over his Netflix comedy special 'The Closer'.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Dave Chappelle talked about being canceled while kicking off his 10-city live comedy tour in San Francisco. During his show on Thursday night, November 4 at SF's Chase Center, the comedian didn't seem to be apologetic despite recent controversy over his Netflix comedy special "The Closer".

"Man, I love being canceled," so he told a sold-out crowd of 19,000, according to Rolling Stone. "It is a huge relief. It's like getting Capone on tax evasion."

Addressing the backlash over his transphobic and anti-gay in "The Closer", Dave said, "For the past three or four weeks, they've been saying in the news that I've been canceled. It doesn't matter. The point is, no matter what they say, we are together."

Dave went on to say that the last time he was at such place was when he decided to quit "Chappelle's Show", which ran two complete seasons beginning in 2003 and an abbreviated one in 2006. "I'm going through something. It might be history," he explained.

He also screened his new "Untitled" documentary, which was formerly known as "This Time This Place". The documentary centers on Dave's efforts to host a series of outdoor comedy shows during the pandemic last summer in Ohio with the help of Jon Stewart, Tiffany Haddish and Chris Rock. It also sees him providing on-set testing and hiring nursing staff in addition to featuring footage of Dave's furious response to the murder of George Floyd.

This arrived after Dave discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding his standup special. "It's been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true," Dave clarified. "If they had invited me I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about. I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I'm the only one who can't go to the office."

"I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it's me versus that community, that's not what it is. Do not blame the LGBTQ community for any of this. It's about corporate interests, and what I can say, and what I cannot say," he added. "For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supportive, so I don't know what this nonsense is about."

In the controversial special, Dave said, "Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact. Now, I am not saying that to say trans women aren't women, I am just saying that those p***ies that they got you know what I mean? I'm not saying it's not p***y, but it's Beyond P***y or Impossible P***y. It tastes like p***y, but that's not quite what it is, is it? That's not blood. That's beet juice."

The remarks angered LGBTQ community and led to a staff walkout at Netflix's Hollywood headquarters.
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Shutting down rumors suggesting that she is jealous of the newly-engaged couple, the former Miss USA insists that she is now 'very happy where I am at in life.'

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Shanna Moakler claimed she's not aware of her ex Travis Barker's engagement to Kourtney Kardashian. When asked about the matter, the former Miss USA claimed that she hasn't "heard anything about it."

"Really, they got engaged? I didn't think about it," the 46-year-old told Page Six during a recent outing with her on-again beau, Matthew Rondeau, in Woodland Hills, California. "I haven't heard anything about it."

Regardless, Shanna said she's "super happy" for Travis and Kourtney. "I think they're very deserving of one another. I hope they get good ratings," the mother of three further noted.

When asked about whether she's jealous because of her apparent shades on social media, the former winner of the Miss New York USA pageant cracked up and explained, "I'm not jealous or bitter. I honestly am very happy where I am at in life."

Travis proposed to Kourtney on October 17 at Rosewood Miramar Hotel in Montecito, California. However, Shanna seemingly found it unpleasant as she took a break from social media after the couple broke the news. A source additionally told HollywoodLife.com that the model was hurt knowing that her kids, Landon and Alabama, went to the lovebirds' engagement party. She's also caught removing all recent pictures with her children from her Instagram page.

As for Shanna, she allegedly parted ways with Matthew in April. It was not until July for Matthew to confirm their split. "I broke up with Shanna months ago, and I'm happier than I have ever been," he admitted when speaking to Life & Style Magazine. "I'm focusing truly on finding myself again as a person emotionally and mentally."

However, Shanna confirmed in late October that she had rekindled her romance with Matthew. At that time, she took to Instagram Story to post a collage picture of her and her boyfriend. In one of the images, she's seen planting a kiss on Matthew's cheek.
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The eldest daughter of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star has found her boyfriend to be 'her rock' as she battles 'certain autoimmune diseases.'

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Delilah Hamlin has found support in her boyfriend Eyal Booker amid her health scare. The eldest daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin leaned on her man amid her "scary" health journey.

The 23-year-old beauty has found Eyal to be "her rock" as she battled with "certain autoimmune diseases." A source told Us Weekly that "[Eyal]'s been super supportive all along," noting that "it's been hard on him too but he's 100 percent there for her."

"Delilah and Eyal have been together this entire time. They were apart for a bit when he was in Europe, but they always come back to each other," the insider further explained. "He can't stay here in the U.S. for long periods of time and she can't spend too long in London, mainly because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions." The couple, who started dating in 2019, has had to adjust to a long-distance relationship amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Delilah unveiled her "scary" health journey in a nearly 30-minute Instagram video she shared on Tuesday, November 2. "Basically, in the beginning of the year, I want to say February and March, is when I got my COVID-19 vaccine," she began. "And after the second vaccine, I was sick for, like, 36 hours. I felt like my bones were breaking but, like, whatever. That's when everything kind of started."

Delilah went on to clarify that she wasn't against the vaccine, but that her second dose "triggered certain autoimmune diseases." She said, "I started getting really sick, I started feeling like I had the flu. I was getting migraines, I was having panic attacks -- it was like my body was in constant 'fight or flight' mode. It was horrible. I just knew in my gut that there was something else wrong."

Eyal then helped her to find help as she had panic attacks. "It was actually getting really scary to the point where Eyal didn't know what to do. My boyfriend was taking me to the hospital, calling ambulances, crying," she recalled. "I don't know, it was a lot."

After attempting to seek treatment for her panic attacks with a psychiatrist, Delilah revealed that she was over-prescribed and told to take "three milligrams of Xanax a day." The California native shared, "My body got dependent on Xanax number one, and number two, I overdosed. I didn't mean to at all. I overdosed on this one medication called Propranolol. I took Benadryl with it and, for some reason, I ended up in the hospital."

As Delilah was getting better, Lisa thanked fans and followers for their outpouring support. "Thank you to all of the angels who have reached out, sharing their stories, sending their love and prayers," the star of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" wrote in an Instagram Story. She added, "We are so grateful to you all for your help and your guidance!!"
Instagram Celebrity

When calling out the comedian on Instagram, Kenya Duke describes him as a 'lying narcissist' because he falsely claims that he is the one who pays the mortgage.

Nov 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Gary Owen's estranged wife continued to call him out publicly amid divorce. Kenya Duke, who filed for divorce from the comedian months prior, slammed him once again for embodying his "terrible" father he used to mock onstage.

Kenya dragged her ex on Instagram on Friday, November 5. "@garyowencomedy (aka Trevor from Bumble) can you please stop lying about paying the mortgage, I paid it. Let me know, if you want the receipt. Those squatters that you talk about living here, they don't. We only got 1 problem a lying narcissist and he don't live here no more," she first argued.

"I am over here doing me. We don't bother you at all for nothing. You push too far. The daddy you so viciously talk about on stage, about how terrible he was to you, when he was in his 20's is who you are at 48 years old," she added. "We haven't had a meeting yet about this divorce and you are already starting."

Kenya went on to inform fans that she's launching a new podcast. "Podcast dropping Nov 18th and I got some stuff to talk about. 'You ain't got to lie, Craig. You ain't got to lie' #2mics1divorce #Damn," she concluded.

Kenya and Gary called it quits after nearly two decades together. Kenya, who share two adult children with her now-ex, then submitted the divorce papers in March.

In June, Kenya accused Gary of being a "deadbeat" father since he had not seen their children nor supported them financially for months. Addressing her estranged husband, Kenya pointed out, "You haven't supported us since April 1st."

"Nothing, nada, zero not electric, water, gas, not insurance (medical, dental, life, car, house, etc.), not groceries, not maintenance for the house, not the gas or maintenance of the cars, not the platinum card I got for us (because you wanted one) and you couldn't get one (on your own), not the cell phone you had for 23 years," she further fumed. "Instead you just got another phone number and didn't pay the bill. All of our bills are attached to my SSN and credit. You have paid the $4500 mortgage that is attached to your SSN and credit (for the 1st time) but that is it."
Instagram Music

Tragedy has happened at the annual music festival held by the 'Astroworld' rapper as eight concertgoers died and hundreds were treated for injuries in a stampede.

Nov 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - At least eight people have died in a tragedy just before Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival set on Friday night (05Nov21).

The rapper was preparing to close out the first night of his two-day festival at Houston's NRG Park in Texas when a crowd crush turned deadly as fans rushed the stage, according to the New York Post.

"People started to fall out, become unconscious and it created additional panic," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told reporters early on Saturday morning local time, calling the tragedy "a mass casualty incident," which overwhelmed emergency responders.

At least 23 people were taken to nearby hospitals in cardiac arrest, including one as young as 10, and over 300 were treated for injuries and health issues at a field hospital set up on-site.

Chaos caught on video and posted on social media shows first responders performing Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on people and rushing fans to ambulances on gurneys.

Police officials are looking at footage from the festival in an effort to determine what sparked the crush and who might be to blame for the chaos. Scott is co-operating with the cops.

The second night of the festival has been cancelled.

Houston Police also said the Astroworld tragedy seemed like it happened "over the course of just a few minutes."

Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said, "It happened all at once. It seemed like it just happened... over the course of just a few minutes. Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode."

According to the Houston Chronicle, Scott stopped his set multiple times when he spotted fans in distress near the front of the stage. He asked security to check on them and help them out of the crowd.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called it an "extremely tragic night."

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told reporters, "We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and scores of individuals that were injured. The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic."

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner added, "I think it's very important that none of us speculate. Nobody has all the answers tonight. If you don't have facts, if you don't have evidence, I'm not going to speak against that. We have hurting families out here."
REDDING, Calif. - On Nov. 3 at approximately 4 p.m., officers from the Neighborhood Police Unit served a search warrant at the 2600 block of Park Marina Dr.

NPU received information that Cheyne Philips, 41, and Charlotte Phillips, 36, both of Redding had been selling narcotics in the City of Redding.

Officers developed enough information to obtain a search warrant for the RV that the Phillips' were living in.

The Phillips' were contacted by NPU and a search warrant was served. Afterward, NPU recovered over 29 grams of fentanyl and 3.5 grams of methamphetamine. Also recovered was an un-serialized semi-automatic handgun, a non-functioning Glock handgun, and $8,760.

Cheyne Phillips is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to prior convictions.

RPD says Cheyne Phillips and Charlotte Phillips were booked into Shasta County Jail on multiple charges including:

Possession of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine with the intent to sell

Being prohibited persons in possession of firearms and ammunition

Conspiracy

Possession of a non-serialized firearm

Possession of a controlled substance while armed

Possession of drug paraphernalia

In Shasta County and throughout the United States, there has been an increase in fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths, according to the Redding Fire Department.
One of Indias growing bike-taxi apps Rapido announced its first celebrity campaign Smart ho, toh Rapido. Rapidos strategic objective behind the campaign is to portray itself as a customer-centric brand and educate people about its key offerings and USPs. This is the first time the company has roped in movie stars to spread awareness about its unique services, intending to strengthen its presence in the market and transform daily commute for the better.

Going live from 5th November, the six-week-long campaign will run two films each for HSM and Non-HSM markets, directed by Sizil Srivastava (HSM)&Trivikram Srinivas (Non-HSM)and produced by Dream Vault media. Featuring stars Ranveer Singh and Allu Arjun, the campaign will air on OOH, Radio, TV, and Digital platforms Pan India, focusing on 14 cities.Rapido Head of Marketing Amit Verma said: We are delighted to introduce our first celebrity campaign with Ranveer Singh and Allu Arjun. Both these brilliant actors will help us seed the idea of using Rapido as an alternative yet regular medium of travel among the masses, ushering in an era of affordable and convenient daily commute.As a part of the ad campaign, Ranveer Singh and Allu Arjun will entertain their fans by enacting the roles of Babban and Guru, both smart and clever personalities. Their unique and interesting characters will guide the daily commuters, who are fed up with the hassles of traveling by buses/autos, to opt for a smart option like Rapido. The bike taxis offered by Rapido can swiftly cut through the traffic to offer timely, convenient, and pocket-friendly rides.Ranveer Singh said: I am glad to be associated with Rapido. I enjoyed collaborating on our first campaign together. It was a delightful experience shooting for this ad film, playing a peculiar character (Babban) who has a unique and original style and persona. Rapido is all set to make waves and Im happy to contribute my bit in what Im sure will be a successful endeavor.I like to consider myself as a person who knows how to tackle a situation with the best possible solution. Thats why I was excited when Rapido approached me for the role of Guru, which resembles me. What Rapido is doing is quite exceptional and Im happy to be a part of this campaign, which will help them scale their market presence to new heights, added Allu Arjun.Rapidos utmost commitment to quick commerce and the hyperlocal delivery sector has allowed the company to recover its overall revenue by 85% compared to pre-COVID levels. Post acquiring $52 million funding in August 2021. The company is set to scale its business operations, including expanding its auto fleet to 5 lakh by the end of 2021.
DESOTO, Ill.  Its been nearly 80 years since Jack Tripp battled Germans in the mountains of northern Italy, but he remembers it like it was yesterday.

He was thrust into a hot mess virtually the minute his transport ship arrived in Europe.

The first 24 hours were as bad as anything I went through over there, said Tripp, sharp and sassy at age 97. We were always in a battle here or there.

As a member of the 88th Infantry Division, Tripp landed in Naples in 1944. He spent eight months in German-held Italy, where combat was a regular occurrence. Though death and destruction was all around him, he managed to come home without a scratch.

I never got wounded, he said. I didnt get a Purple Heart. I didnt want a Purple Heart.

His life began on the family farm in Jackson County. His father had contacted the doctor because Tripps mother was in labor. The doctor said she was not yet ready to give birth, and he headed out for another house call. But it wasnt a false alarm after all.

My dad had to help with the birth, Tripp said. He cut the umbilical cord.

His parents never registered the birth, so Tripp didnt have a birth certificate. When he became draft age, he had to report to the clerk in the county seat of Murphysboro with an affidavit signed by his mother attesting the date of his birth: Aug. 11, 1924. After 17 weeks of basic training in Texas, he took a train to Newport News, Virginia.

The next day I was on a damn ship, he said. There were 96 ships in the convoy. We zigzagged all across the Atlantic because the Germans had submarines. We had a sub chaser in our convoy.
LEONARD, Mo.  In a quiet, mostly flat area of Shelby County, Missouri, Brad Blaise prepared to resume corn harvest as soon as fields dried out after the latest October rain. A chilly wind scurried across the farm, stirring two American flags attached to the combine. Blaise glanced up at the patches of red, white and blue dancing in the autumn breeze. He had traveled great distances in service of that flag during his time in the U.S. Navy.

Im very proud of my service to my country, he says. Im proud to be an American farmer.

Blaise graduated from high school just down the road in 1987. He joined the Navy right after graduating, and those years in the service would shape who he is and support his career in farming. Blaises parents did not farm, but he worked on area farms as a hired hand in high school and helped on his uncles farm. That was his ultimate career goal.

I knew I wanted to farm, he says. I knew it was what I wanted to do. I didnt know how, but I was going to get there.

While in the military, Blaise served in the Navy Seabees, the construction battalion. One of the Seabees mottos is Can do, and he says that mindset served him well building his farming operation from the ground up.

The military kind of instilled in me never give up, Blaise says.

He reported to boot camp in July 1987, beginning his three years of active duty. Blaise says it was an eight-year commitment, with three years of active reserves and two years of inactive reserves after active duty, although his reserve time got canceled because of Operation Desert Storm.
BELLE, Mo.  Year by year, decade by decade, the Bethmann family history piles up, from long-ago trips across oceans to serve their country to yearly memories of crops and cattle and farm life.

Father and son Fred and Ted Bethmann share a love of farming as well as a history of serving in the U.S. Army. Fred, 95, served in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and Ted, 71, served in the early 1970s and was stationed in Germany for a while.

They farm in a rare part of Osage County that is fairly flat, near the small town of Belle, Missouri. Fred grew up farming in the river bottom near St. Louis, but after getting flooded out a few times he decided to relocate. He looked at a number of farms, but that swath of Osage County caught his eye.

Its the prettiest one we found, Fred says.

Ted knew from a young age he wanted to go into the family business.

I knew what I wanted to be when I was 7 years old, he says.

The family has row crops and cattle as well as a seed business. They also put up hay, and Fred remembers putting up hay for August Busch as a kid. The family farm was a key consideration for Fred when he turned 18 on June 10, 1944, as World War II raged on. He could have gotten an exemption from military service and the draft, but Fred decided he wanted to go serve.

I could have stayed out, he says. My dads operation was large enough. I was the youngest of four sons. I said, No, Dad, one of us has to go.

Fred signed up for the Army, but timed it so he could help with harvest and then be around for Christmas. The day after Christmas in 1944, he was inducted into the Army. He completed his basic training at a base near Little Rock, Arkansas, and eventually was sent to the Philippines with the U.S. Eighth Army to help liberate that country from Japanese occupation. Fred recalls what a change it was from his 18th birthday to his 19th.
Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Thats Shakespeare. (And an accurate description of the United Nations today!) Before the Great Bard of Avon was canceled for being a white Englishman, most high school graduates would have known that. Quite a few would have even remembered the line comes from Act I of The Tempest.

Now they have scant knowledge of Shakespeares works, no idea what a tempest is, and most likely think hell and devils are as cool and misunderstood as Hollywood portrays them in Lucifer. But, woo-hoo, they know all about privilege, social justice, gender pronouns, and scary global warming, so theyre all set for the lives of servile mediocrity the Democrat party molds. Whats the point of seeking out the truth when your truth is all that matters? Who needs the arts or religion when there are social media likes to be won and shares to be had? Hey, it works for Linda and Julia!

Kind of sums up the whole collapse of Western civilization in a nutshell, doesnt it? Death by haughty dimwittedness. Had the education-deprived youth of today ever read King Lear, they might understand that when socialists promise gifts for free, theyre really planning on taxing you for the rest of your life. After all, Nothing will come of nothing. Had they ever been introduced to The Merchant of Venice, not only would they remember, All that glitters is not gold, but also they might be cognitively armed to see through build back better promises as nothing more than shiny lies.

Is it any wonder why more and more government-run schools are ditching Shakespeare from curriculums entirely? The man (now thats a problem!) contributed to the English language like no other, but he also diced up history, politics, and power with an incisiveness as sharp as any satirist, psychologist, sociologist, historian, or political scientist alive today (and did so without any prestigious university degrees to certify his expertise  egads!). Whatever problem exists in the present, its a lock that the Great Bard already tackled it in some play or sonnet over four centuries ago. He prepares young minds to grasp complex problems, especially those instigated by governments. You take Shakespeare away from classrooms, you take away a lifelong window into seeing beyond the fairytales peddled by bloviating bureaucrats and understanding the world as it actually is. So Shakespeare has to go in the name of diversity or some other rubbish. In reality, hes just too damn subversive for a governing class growing increasingly hostile to criticism!

Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise. Thats the Great Resets creed. Ironically, most Westerners would never know that pearl is from a nearly three-hundred-year-old Thomas Gray poem, but who could blame them? If schools wont teach Shakespeare, they certainly arent going to mess with the less renowned yet equally white Englishmen long buried in the ground. Of course, Gray was almost certainly inspired by the Greek playwright Sophocles who died over two millennia before Grays birth, but if Shakespeare is on his way out, and Thomas Gray is not even worthy of an introduction, how on earth could an average high schooler ever hope to learn about Sophocles, one of the preeminent tragedians of Ancient Greece? (On the other hand, some of Sophocless ancient critics sniped that he was a homosexual, so maybe he still serves a purpose for curriculums bathed in identity politics.) Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle? Sorry, gents, you might have formed the foundations of Western philosophy, but the authorities consolidating power around popular ignorance have no use for twenty-five-hundred-year-old white guys.

Who cares about the intellectual giants of our past when merit is already out of fashion? So what if Leonardo da Vincis great achievements in architecture, biology, and botany demonstrate that rigorous study of the arts and sciences together produces a more vibrant mind and keener curiosity? Whats important is that hes another Renaissance polymath from Italy, and along with Dante, Petrarch, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and the rest, we have entirely too many Renaissance geniuses from Italy! Where were the concerns for multiculturalism and diversity during that multi-century creative explosion that changed the world half a millennium ago? They were entirely ignored until twenty-first-century progressives finally had a chance to remake history in their own image. So, out with you, Renaissance masters! Begone, Columbus and Vespucci, and take the Age of Discovery with you! Good riddance, Galileo, and may the Scientific Revolution be damned! Today, feelings, equity, and climate justice are the only magic incantations that matter, and frankly, their trendy meaninglessness makes the grand accomplishments of the past look downright old!

If young minds dont need Shakespeare or Aquinas or Chaucer, they certainly dont need math and science! Right now, mathematics is fighting a two-front war for its survival against charges of being both racist and sexist! You think you can trust something that throws around postulates, theorems, and laws without leaving any room for personal truths or subjectivity? Pshaw! Those dastardly integrals and derivatives might look rather sterile and nonthreatening to you but, apparently, they perpetuate masculine mathematical narratives that can no longer be tolerated. Every discovery derived from the brilliance of Pythagoras, Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, Planck, and Bohr, it turns out, has been drenched in imperialism and oppression. Those little xs and ys dont look so innocent now, do they?

Besides, making things is for third-world countries, right? In the West, our blue-collar laborers have been sent packing along with all the applied scientists and engineers. Getting our hands dirty and constantly pushing the envelope on innovation is so last century. Let China and India do the jobs requiring numbers. Geometry and calculus are beneath any society capable of producing YouTube sensations overnight. Virtue signaling is the industry of our future! The West is now so evolved that it can dedicate all its time to servicing itselferto a service economyor rather to an economy that builds absolutely nothing. In other words, weve become the Seinfeld of civilizations, a society that happily knows nothing and does nothing about it.

It doesnt take much for the whole thing to come crashing down, does it? You start with purging a little Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Twelfth Night to make room for The Handmaids Tale and privilege charts, and the next thing you know you end up with a generation of uneducated adults who couldnt build a simple bridge if their lives depended upon it. Maybe thats the whole point. Why worry about teaching the next generation how to think and create when all that messy learning can be outsourced to China, just as everything else has been outsourced to China for the last thirty years? Of course, if the day ever comes when China stops building things for our woke ruling class, Americans will rue the day they traded Western civilization for a bag of build back better beads and sparkling social justice trinkets. Nobody can survive on those, even if that truth hasnt stopped a century of failed communist experimenters from repeatedly trying.

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How people talk about political issues in America has declined in the post-WWII era. Journalist Edward R. Murrow said that Winston Churchill mobilized the English language and sent it into battle in WWII with his memorable speeches in Parliament and broadcasts to the English people when England stood alone against the Nazi onslaught.

The only comparable figure in American politics since 1945 has been Ronald Reagan. He changed how people thought of the Cold War when he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in April 1987 and said, General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

In 2021 we find ourselves in a domestic Cold War for the future of constitutional government in the United States. Our opponents espouse American Marxism, to borrow from Mark Levins new book of that name. In the past 100 years progressive (i.e. left-wing) political philosophy has marched through our political and cultural institutions. Part of that effort has been to control the language and distort it for political purposes (e.g. politically incorrect words).

The following are some examples of corruption of the English language in recent years.

1. Democracy and Republic. Too many people refer to the American system of government as a democracy. The Founders wrote our Constitution very purposely to establish a constitutional republic. They knew their history and knew that the democracy of ancient Athens often descended into a mob rule. Centuries later the Roman republic deteriorated into an oligarchy with several strongmen at the top. Finally, the Caesars turned the republic into an empire. The U.S. Constitution attempts to distribute power between (1) the sovereign states and a federal government; and (2) three branches of the federal government. The people rule indirectly through elected representatives.

2. A ballot does not always become a vote. Democrats during the fight after the 2000 presidential election over Floridas vote-counting argued that all they wanted was to count all the votes. In an honest election, the objective is to count all valid ballots and reject invalid ballots. One of the Democrat strategies in 2000 was to cherry-pick certain Democrat counties and hand count questionable paper ballots using methods to prevent improperly completed (and thus invalid) ballots from being rejected. A uniform standard must be applied to all ballots in determining when a ballot becomes a valid vote. That is the reason the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore (2000) reversed the Florida Supreme Court, which allowed two different systems for the vote-counting: a lenient system in predominantly Democrat counties and a strict system in predominantly Republican counties.

3. Entitlements is the term for a government program that takes money from some citizens (taxpayers) and gives it to other citizens. Before the expansion of the welfare state in the 1960s those payments would have been called handouts. The recipient is only entitled because politicians in Washington decided it would be nice to give them some money. Go back 100 years and Americans had a sense of self-reliance. Many would do practically anything to avoid taking money from the government. Institutions like churches, fraternal societies, and extended families were the first line of defense during hard times.

4. Social Security was the first entitlement and the phrase was part of a purposeful propaganda effort. In the second half of the last century, the government took money from taxpayers and gave it to retirees and told them it was a pension. It also announced that there was a Social Security trust fund. There was no such fund. It was just the government owing money to itself. While Social Security collected more money than it spent, the U.S. Treasury took the difference and used it to pay for other operations (e.g. the Vietnam War). Anyone running a pension like that in the private sector would have been sent to prison and it would have been correctly labeled a Ponzi Scheme.

5. When is a vaccination not a vaccination? When it doesnt meet the definition of vaccination. The CDC recently solved that dilemma by revising the definition from an injection that prevents disease to an injection that produces protection. A more honest approach would have referred to the new mRNA technology as a gene therapy. Its the injection of genetic material so as to prompt the production of certain proteins which in turn trigger an auto-immune response. Whether this is a medical experiment on a massive scale conducted without informed consent from the subjects remains to be seen.

6. The latest power grab by leftists in this country is in the name of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. The civil rights movement attempted to establish and preserve equal opportunity for all regardless of skin color. Equity focuses on equal outcomes. Diversity is taken to mean slavish adherence to the leftist wish of the moment, inclusion to be achieved by exclusion -- of points of view, skin colors, religions, and attitudes that differ from the leftist orthodoxy. If fewer black students are admitted to Yale in comparison to Asian American students, then it must be racial discrimination. Leftists want to ignore the hard work of successful students and a culture that encourages academic achievement.

7. It is a simple fact of human biology that a male has both X and Y chromosomes. A female inherits two X chromosomes: one from the mother and one from the father. Mothers only pass on X chromosomes. A male cannot become a female simply by declaring a female identity, even if he takes puberty-blocking drugs and has surgery to remove his male sex organs. To redefine the language we use to refer to men and women and to invent new pronouns are attacks on our very humanity. It denies basic biology. The suicide rate among people suffering from gender dysphoria is high. A humane society would not encourage gender dysphoria but study why many, if not most, young people who experienced it were able to outgrow it -- at least before it became a political issue.

8. The phrase War on Terror has obstructed the defense of this country from attacks by non-state actors who have state sponsors, both of whom are inspired by their Islamic religion. Terrorism is a tactic. The Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, because America blocked Japans imperial ambition to conquer East Asia. Congress declared war the next day against the Empire of Japan. We did not go to war against imperialism. We fought and defeated the people who attacked us. To quote from Sun Tzus Art of War, If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

9. I am old enough to remember when Time magazine ran a cover story on how the worlds climate was going to turn so cold as to threaten human survival. By the 1990s the threat had instead become Global Warming. Some people built computer models, plugged in centuries of temperature data derived from some tree rings to forecast a warmer world -- all caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because we use petroleum products and coal. Al Gore made a career of it. Even before he ran for president in 2000, he predicted a calamitous rise in temperatures by the year 2020. When doomsday did not arrive on schedule, Global Warming transformed into Climate Change. My point is that the computer models did not predict todays climate. Nevertheless, activists have demanded costly changes in our economy and claimed that doing so will avoid a one or two-degree increase in the average temperature  by the end of this century. The new buzz phrase makes no sense. Earths climate has always changed. In the past few centuries, weve come out of a Little Ice Age. Spending billions of dollars in order to change from a carbon fuel-based economy because of a theory based on computer models is human folly, if not a form of insanity. The abuse of language has obscured the departure from the scientific method and the adoption of a cultlike antagonism to our modern economy.

Those are only a few examples of how the English language is being abused for political purposes. If we deploy our critical thinking skills, we can push back for clear and honest language. Its essential to preserve our heritage as a free people.

Image: Ivan Radic

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If common sense prevailed...

Elected officials would work with one another for the benefit of their constituents, the citizens of the United States of America.

Congress would focus on tracking down and eliminating the billions of dollars worth of annual government waste and fraud to restore our trust in the government officials' ability to handle our tax money responsibly before scheming to fleece taxpayers so they can spend more.

The House would propose balanced budgets and govern "within our means" and not saddle us with astronomical debt by squandering our money on programs that are not self-sustaining and stop supporting pointless "research" projects. (See Sen. Rand Paul's Annual Festivus Report for examples.) Our actual needs would be taken care of before giving money to other countries  e.g., funds would be allocated to upgrade and repair our roads, bridges, power plants, airports, etc. before even considering spending $10M for proposed projects such as the Pakistani Gender Programs.

Mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves or to others would be institutionalized, stabilized, and released if possible, and if not, kept in safe conditions and not left to deteriorate on the streets. ( Personally, I think the brain is the last frontier, and allocating funds to study it relative to mental illness would be a good use of our taxpayer dollars versus spending on projects such as $36M on research about how stress makes hair turn gray.)

Our homeless and food-insecure would be given priority over illegal aliens. No more using our tax dollars for newly arriving illegal aliens to stay in hotels and have meals delivered while over a half-million of our brethren who most need our help languish as if discarded by the side of the road. Illegal aliens who were separated from their children for safekeeping would be reunited with them and sent home, not given exorbitant amounts of our tax money.

Parents would have only the number of children they can afford to feed, house, and educate and not automatically look to our tax dollars to provide free delivery, housing, food, etc. Generational dependence on the government (our tax dollars) is not a nice thing to do.

Teachers would teach, and parents would parent. Most folks don't have children to be brought up and indoctrinated by strangers. Education would be embraced by all cultures, and parents would support a learning environment in their homes.

Elections would be carried out fairly and with transparency so we can trust the results, even if we don't like the outcome. People who cheat would lose their voting rights for ten years, and non-citizens who vote would be immediately deported.

Congress would ensure that the borders are secure and support the Border Patrol so they can prevent illegal entry as well as people- and drug trafficking. The whole world can't live here, and the illegal drugs coming into the country are killing tens of thousands of people annually.

Congress members would realize that it is foolish to consider granting amnesty without knowing the actual number of illegal aliens in the country.

Non-English-speaking immigrants would learn English to integrate and participate in our society. Public TV could provide an adult version of their learning programs to facilitate this important process of helping people thrive in our environment. Many immigrants are either illiterate or not fluent in their own languages.

To become a citizen, applicants must show proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking English, obviating the need for expensive multi-lingual ballot information.

The ACLU would perform a serious gap analysis of their altruistic purpose stated on their website versus how they actually utilize their donations. Then they'd mend their ways and stay out of politics.

Our judges would realize that committing crimes is not considered normal or excusable behavior by the majority of our citizens. People would be held responsible for their behavior, and if they don't want to go back to jail, they would choose to stop committing crimes. If a jurisdiction wanted to free someone from jail without bail, make it a one-time-only option. The longer the rap sheet, the higher the bail.

Whether or not one believes in climate change, it makes sense to use our resources wisely and leave a small footprint. As Ashleigh Brilliant said, "take care of the earth. A good planet is hard to find."

People would realize that things only mean what they want them to mean. Giving power to others or inanimate objects hurts only themselves. If someone has to make another feel bad in order to feel good about himself, his success will be fleeting. The universe works in mysterious ways, and what you wish for others is what the universe interprets as what you want for yourself.

Image via Pickpik.

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Kurt Vonnegut wrote a short story in 1961 titled "Harrison Bergeron." Set in 2081, it was a satirical mockery of a government that has mandated that every person must be equal. It was an early depiction of runaway egalitarianism, a description of equity achieved, as grim as Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984.

The gist of the story is that smart people, attractive people, and talented people must be handicapped in various ridiculous ways so they have no edge over their less smart, less attractive, and less talented fellow citizens. Smart people must wear earpieces that emit horrific sounds every few minutes to interrupt thinking. They may also be required to wear, padlocked around their necks, heavy canvas bags full of lead balls.

Attractive people also wear weighted bags, and, if very beautiful, they must wear hideous masks as well. If people try to lessen their load of lead balls, they will be punished severely, with a $2,000 fine for every ball removed and two years in prison.

Reading the story today, one cannot help but be shaken by the similarities to the Marxist, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion), and CRT agenda of the Biden administration, sixty years after Vonnegut wrote the story and set sixty years beyond 2021.

The Harrison Bergeron of the title is an extraordinarily gifted and handsome boy who has been arrested despite his many, many government-imposed handicaps. He escapes prison, appears on camera at a television studio, interrupting a sad performance by appropriately handicapped ballerinas. He throws off his hindrances and is revealed to be a tall and good-looking young man who declares himself the emperor. He selects one of the ballerinas with a grotesque mask. She too sheds her handicaps and is of course extraordinarily beautiful.

This cannot be allowed, so the Handicapper General arrives and shoots and kills the two revealed, un-handicapped lovely people. Harrison's mother sees all this on television, but by the time her husband returns to the room, she has forgotten what made her sad. Such is the eventual outcome of Vonnegut's enforced equity, and it is exactly where the Biden administration and the rest of the "progressive" left want to take us.

One can, with a stretch of the imagination, see Harrison as Donald Trump and Melania as his lovely ballerina. From the moment Trump appeared on the political scene, the left did everything in its power to kill his political career. Leftists were terrified by his initial promise: to drain their swamp. They succeeded after five years with the Clinton-orchestrated Russia hoax and a rigged election. But Trump lives, and so do the millions of people who supported him.

They can't kill us all. And, as the election results on Tuesday showed, the anti-handicappers have momentum. They are waking up to the left's obsession with unachievable equity, enforced mono-mindedness, and mandated vaccines of questionable safety.

Just what is in those jabs, and what are the long-term consequences? No one knows, but the evidence is proving that the vaccines are deadly for many thousands of people who have submitted to them. They have killed or handicapped tens of thousands. That the powers that be now plan to vaccinate all children ages 511 reeks of something even more malevolent afoot. Children are at no risk of dying of COVID unless serious co-morbidities are a factor. Not a single healthy child has died of the virus.

Could it be that Vonnegut's all-powerful government that viciously mandates equality is our Marxist left's playbook? The similarities are frightening. Vonnegut's U.S. government has twisted and amended the Constitution (there are 213 amendments to it) in order to justify the use of deadly force against innocent civilians. Sound familiar? Consider all those people imprisoned in D.C. for being present at the Capitol on January 6. They are being abused more heinously than our homeless or the inmates of Guantanamo.

It is the American Marxist left that is bedeviled by the notion of imposed equity, as if that would solve all societal problems. Vonnegut preferred socialism, but in this story, whether by accident or design, he demonstrates the evil of forcing people to be homogenous, thereby denying their individual natures. This once again brings to mind the question, exactly what is in those vaccines, and why is the Biden/Fauci administration so intent upon injecting every last person not of its posh class?

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What happened to Donald Trump in 2016 and beyond dwarfed Watergate. Most of the media not only didn't care about the corruption of the Democrats, but were also major participants in seeking to destroy a candidate, and later president, they didn't like.

Special counsel John Durham has started to hit paydirt with three arrests so far, the tip of the iceberg, and the story is essentially buried because the media don't care, and they don't want the public to know the truth. If the public learns the truth, they will see how dishonest, corrupt, and dangerous the media are. They will set out to destroy anyone they don't want in elective office. The truth and evidence are never necessary when they are campaigning for Democrats.

The basic story of the 2016 election is that the corrupt, criminal, unlikable Hillary and the DNC couldn't run on their record or unpopular leftist Democrat policies, so they needed to destroy Trump. They clearly couldn't dig up enough truthful dirt, so they set out to create pure fiction. They paid a foreign national, a Trump-hater, over $10 million to create a dossier full of pure lies. They funneled the money through Democrat operatives at a private law firm. They committed fraud when they signed documents to the FEC saying these payments were for legal fees. No one at the Hillary campaign or DNC was punished for the fraud because no one cared. They were also supporting Hillary. The swamp is deep.

Then these lies were spread throughout the media and throughout the corrupt Obama-Biden administration to destroy Trump and his associates. The lies were obvious, yet no one cared. All they cared about was electing and protecting Hillary.

Dishonest people working at the FBI used these fictitious documents in lies to the FISA court as they set out to spy on and entrap anyone associated with Trump.

These same agents protected the career criminal Hillary from prosecution, no matter how many laws she violated and how many pieces of information she destroyed to obstruct justice. The media didn't care.

For years, the Democrats, including Reps. Schiff and Nadler, set out to destroy Trump with endless investigations based on fictitious documents. The media participated in targeting Trump with no evidence. They needed to destroy him because they didn't like his policies.

Schiff, Swalwell, Clapper, Brennan, and others went on compliant media outlets to spread lies about Trump being a Russian agent.

The corruption and dishonesty of the media have been clear for decades. Here are some things they haven't cared about or have lied about as they campaigned for Democrats and set out to destroy their political opponents.

Didn't care about how many women the Clintons physically and mentally abused. People who we are told respect women called them bimbos and trailer trash. The women were disposable as the media, entertainers, and other Democrats campaigned for Bill.

Didn't care about Bill committing perjury and causing a young subordinate to commit perjury and obstruct justice. Monica was disposable.

Didn't care how many trips Bill took with known pedophile Epstein. The young girls were disposable if the Clintons wanted power. How many women and young girls were sexually abused by powerful men because so many were campaigning for the Clintons?

Didn't vet Obama, or care that he associated with radical leftists such as Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers. They also didn't care about Obama's record as they sought to destroy McCain and Palin. All that mattered was electing Obama.

Didn't care about all the lies used to pass Obamacare, nor did they care that Pelosi wouldn't let members of Congress, the media, or the public see it before it was voted on. All the media cared about was the agenda.

Didn't care about the separation of powers when Obama illegally bypassed Congress to pay for shortfalls in Obamacare.

Didn't care when Obama and Holder obstructed justice for years on Fast and Furious.

Didn't care when Holder or others in the Obama administration committed perjury before Congress. They were above the law.

Didn't care when the corrupt, politicized IRS illegally targeted political opponents of Obama, destroyed computers and documents, and lied to Congress. The politicized, corrupt Justice Department decided that the swamp creatures at the IRS were above the law. Political opponents of Obama and constitutional rights were disposable.

Didn't care when the corrupt Justice Department, EPA, and CFPB shook down corporations and set up slush funds to give kickbacks to Obama-supporters. Laws and ethics were disposable.

Didn't care when Obama and Hillary didn't lift a finger to help people under attack by terrorists in Benghazi. Instead, they concocted a lie about a video causing the attack because the truth might have jeopardized their power in the coming election. They even sent Susan Rice out to five networks to intentionally lie. Now this known liar is high up in the Biden administration.

Didn't care that people continually lied through the media to get the Iran deal done. Ben Rhodes bragged about how gullible and helpful the media were in perpetuating the lies.

Didn't care that Obama sent $1.8 billion in unmarked bills to the tyrants in Iran to bribe them.

Didn't care that Obama dictatorially ordered the politicized, corrupt Justice Department to drop a multi-year, multi-department investigation into a billion-dollar drug-running operation by terrorists to appease the tyrants in Iran. They were above the law. Obama's legacy was more important.

Don't care how many people were killed by drugs and terrorism because Obama cared more about his legacy. The Americans who died were disposable.

Don't care that the corrupt, politicized, Justice Department was so busy campaigning for Hillary and seeking to destroy Trump that they didn't care how many laws Hillary and her aides broke, didn't care how many computers and documents they destroyed, didn't care how much they obstructed justice, and didn't care how much they lied. They were above the law because they wanted Hillary to defeat Trump.

Don't care that Comey, McCabe, Schiff, Brennan, Clapper, and others intentionally lied about Trump and Russia for years. They still trot them out when they want to trash Trump.

Willingly participated in spreading the "hands up, don't shoot" lie after Ferguson to gin up racial hatred against white cops. They don't care how many cops were injured or killed by these intentional lies. The cops were disposable.

Participated in the intentional lies as they sought to destroy white Christian boys for the crime of wearing MAGA hats. The young boys were disposable.

Participated as they sought to destroy Judge Kavanaugh with no evidence. It is astonishing and deplorable how many people the media are willing to destroy to push the leftist agenda.

Never cared about the Biden family corruption. Even buried the truthful story about the Hunter Biden laptop to protect Biden before the election. They still don't care about all the kickbacks to the Bidens, no matter how much evidence there is.

Instead of caring about the Biden family corruption, the media and other Democrats sought to destroy and impeach Trump for wanting to investigate the corruption  which should be his job.

Don't care about sanctuary cities and states and the Biden administration refusing to enforce immigration laws they swore to uphold.

Don't care about how much Fauci, the WHO, and others have lied or gotten wrong or about the Wuhan lab and gain of function research. The children's financial, physical, and mental health were disposable as schools were unnecessarily closed.

Don't care about natural immunity as they are willing to fire anyone who dares disagree with the dictatorial mandates to get shots. Those people who get fired are disposable.

Don't care about how well Florida is doing compared to the rest of the country without mask or vaccine mandates.

Don't care about all the states where election laws were intentionally violated in the 2020 election. Instead, they pretend there is nothing to question. They had no concerns when the 2016 election was challenged, and Trump was called an illegitimate president for four years. Instead, they participated in the big lie. They don't care about voter integrity, as they claim that requiring a photo ID to vote is racist.

They participate in continuing to call an unarmed protest on January 6 an armed insurrection to intentionally mislead the public.

They don't care about the only person killed by a weapon on January 6. An unarmed veteran woman was shot by a Capitol cop. Ashli Babbitt was disposable.

They not only don't care that CRT is taught throughout the U.S. They lie about it as they regurgitate the terms  white supremacy, white privilege, and systemic racism  to gin up racial hate and division. They do this while they pretend they are for unifying the country.

They have never cared about evidence to support the radical climate change agenda to destroy America. They don't care that all the dire predictions have been 100% wrong for decades. All they care about is the agenda.

And they certainly don't care what is in all the slush funds the Democrats are seeking to pass and how they are paid for. They don't care that Pelosi is trying to get them passed before they are read and before they are scored by the CBO. They campaign for these bills sight unseen because facts don't matter and haven't for a long time.

I am sure others can think of many other things that the media doesn't care about.

What should we call the press who cares more about whom they elect and an agenda than the truth? What should we call people who are willing to destroy anyone who gets in the way of the left's quest for power? Wouldn't enemies of the people be an appropriate term? Calling these people progressive is certainly mislabeling.

Graphic credit: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images.

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AT readers will be saddened to learn that regular contributor Peter Skurkiss passed away at the age of 75 years.

Peter died of complications of cancer, which he had been struggling against for years, on October 30.

Peter Skurkiss was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey on October 6, 1946. He studied at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, earning a B.S. in physical chemistry/mathematics in 1968, and at Hoboken's Stevens Institute of Technology, earning an M.S. in management science in 1982. He returned to Fairleigh Dickinson later that same decade, taking home an MBA in 1989.

Peter had a distinguished C.V. working for leading technology companies, including a position as senior manufacturing engineer for the avionics division of Cessna, a member of the technical staff of Bell Labs, and the V.P. of manufacturing of Merrimac. He also acted as director of quality assurance for the ASPE company and was a manager at Litton Corporation, as well as production manager with Coltene/Whaledent in New York City.

Peter began writing for AT in 2012 with "Barack Obama and the Pepsi Challenge." In the ensuing years, he applied an engineer's incisiveness mixed with simple common sense to the gamut of political topics, ranging from electoral politics to the culture wars to the Second Amendment. Rarely did a week pass without his byline appearing on AT. His final piece, "An insider's take on the Biden energy strategy," appeared on October 24. His entries in AT's archives number no fewer than 357, an impressive total by anyone's measure.

The AT staff is grateful for the opportunity to work with Peter Skurkiss. We will no longer see the quizzical tag "Emisku" in our email inbox, and will miss his sturdy, dependable presence on our corner of the ramparts. With his passing, AT is a little less than it was.

We extend our sympathies to Emilia Skurkiss and the other members of his family. The family encourages donations in Peter's memory to the Cancer Society or One of a Kind Animal Rescue in Akron, Ohio.

Image: Emilia Skurkiss.

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A reader objected to my last post in which I questioned "vaccinating" children. I'd cited Steve Kirsch in the article, linking his slide deck of facts, which is rich with documentation and live links to sources. The reader countered with a rebuttal from Jeffrey Morris, a Ph.D. from Penn specializing in biostatistics and cancer. From the expansive Kirsch deck, he picked certain statistics to refute, relying on this statistical information to discredit the whole.

Does Morris make cogent points? Who is he? Is he qualified to speak on the subject? His C.V. shows focused accomplishment within his field. Interestingly, he published a Philadelphia Inquirer article in April 2020, questioning the effects of the lockdown and testing regimen then in use, as being counterproductive and dangerous to society. He had a point; in fact, testing is currently being employed as punishment for the unvaccinated, yet it is all but ignored for the vaccinated cohort.

Here's what Morris says about Kirsch's killed vs. saved claim:

They claim to independently validate these results with another dozen or so alternative "methods", but these consist of a series of largely unscientific arguments including anecdotal reports (some unverified), opinions elicited from select clinicians who believe the vaccines are inherently dangerous and/or treatment strategies like Ivermectin are the answer, public polls on whether people "know" more people who have died of COVID-19 or vaccines, and extrapolation of select data with very small sample sizes, often blatantly imputing assumptions that seem directly motivated by their chosen hypothesis.

Hmmm...you mean like the deliberately small sample size of cherry-picked test subjects for the study determining whether the vaccine is safe for children? No, I don't think that's what Morris was referring to. He probably also wasn't referring to the fact that they vaccinated the control group in all the vaccine trials as soon as possible afterward, either. That is not the way you conduct a trial, as it obviously eliminates all meaningful follow-up.

In his dismissal of Kirsch, Morris mentions that the man donated $1 million of his own money to start an early treatmentfocused fund, "whose perspective explicitly opposes the current vaccination efforts and could be construed as a conflict." So finding a way for people to get early treatment for a treatable disease is a conflict of interest in terms of presenting to the CDC?

Have we looked at the conflicts of interest among the CDC cohort? As I've mentioned in more than a few of my articles, the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the vaccine is valid only if there is no treatment for COVID. There is treatment  in fact, there are many options, and several are extraordinarily effective. The EUA shouldn't exist in the first place, given that fact. If you don't believe me, look at India's COVID stats.

The linked site is flawed, but note the graphs at the bottom. Ivermectin protocol was started in May. Look at fluvoxamine, too. It's harder to find the research there, but what I can find is encouraging. Yet it is being disallowed as treatment in the U.S., as is ivermectin. Both interfere with the EUA's validity.

Morris says the "hypothesis" that the case fatality rate is skewed by under-reporting to VAERS "comprises the greatest and most universal medical conspiracy in history, and leads them to infer estimates of 100k to 200k vaccine caused deaths in the USA."

Okay. He very well may have unwittingly hit the truth! He goes on to mention "even more extreme" claims made in another study, this one in Toxicology Reports, and states:

Looking at excess all cause death data for the USA, I show that that these claims are completely implausible, with vaccinations occurring during the lowest excess death periods of the pandemic (really?), and the real spikes in excess deaths occurring during viral surges with high levels of confirmed cases and COVID-attributed deaths.

I found it too tedious to dive that deep into his stats, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But what about now? Look at this graph of what's happening in England, right now. Most cases and deaths are occurring among the vaccinated, not the unvaccinated.

I'm not going to get into the minutiae of how many unreported VAERS cases and deaths there are. This is the thrust of Kirsch's work and Morris's counterattack, but it's irrelevant to me whether the underreporting factor (URF) is 1 or 41. If you look at the VAERS data, there are enough verified, reported deaths and serious reactions to have stopped the use of any other vaccine in history, and then some.

As for dismissing anecdotal evidence, sometimes it's wise to listen to it. For instance, in the Kirsch deck, look at slide 31, which shows a 12-year-old named Maddie, who is permanently paralyzed. She eagerly enrolled in the Pfizer trial for her age group. Sadly, she didn't survive the trial intact  but Pfizer listed her as having only "mild abdominal problems" after the jabs. Total paralysis for life is not a "mild abdominal problem" in my opinion.

You can also look at this alarming report from Europe. Anecdotal? Yeah. But how many elite athletes collapsing, some dying, on the playing field, do you need to make a point? Historically, 58 a year. So far, 75 this year. Just in Europe, where at least somebody's paying attention.

Image: Piqsels.

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We learned that the Biden DoJ is going after Texas again. The issue now is the election integrity law signed by the governor. You may remember that it was this law that had Democrats flying to Washington, catching COVID, with some even going to Portugal to get married. Eventually, they came back, and the law is on the books.

Why is the DoJ doing this? This is what they are saying, according to CNN:

The Justice Department lawsuit said the law illegally restricts voters' rights by requiring rejection of mail ballots "for immaterial errors and omissions." The law also harms the rights of voters with limited English proficiency, military members deployed away from home and voters overseas, the Justice Department alleged.

The DoJ makes no sense because no one is being denied his right to vote. Let's look at what happened on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, John Lujan beat Frank Ramirez in South Texas. What's the big deal? Hispanics beat Hispanics in South Texas all the time. Well, this is a Republican named Lujan beating a Democrat named Ramirez in an "always blue" district. This is the story from the Texas Tribune:

Republican John Lujan has won the special election runoff for Texas House District 118, flipping the Democratic-friendly seat in San Antonio. The victory by Lujan gives Republicans an early win in their drive to make new inroads in South Texas after President Joe Biden underperformed there last year. With all vote centers reporting Tuesday night, Lujan was leading Democrat Frank Ramirez 51.2% to 48.8%, according to unofficial results. Lujan briefly held the seat in 2016, while Ramirez is a former staffer for the San Antonio City Council and at the Texas Legislature.

I should add that former rep. Beto O'Rourke campaigned for Ramirez, the Democrat. On the other hand, Governor Greg Abbott was a strong supporter of Lujan, the winner. We hear that O'Rourke may run for governor in 2022.

The DoJ is just acting political. These people want Texas Democrats to have the issue just a little bit longer. Fortunately, the voters are not buying it. The voters are voting, but they are not voting Democrat.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: Adam Gerard.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
(Image source from: Ndtv.com)

India Reports 10,929 New Cases Of Coronavirus:- India reported as low as 10,929 new cases of coronavirus in the country in the last 24 hours and the active cases saw a huge decline in the recent weeks. There are 1,46,950 active cases of coronavirus currently and the total number of recoveries reached 3,37,37,468. With 392 new deaths reported, the total death tally in the country reached 4,60,265 in total. The total vaccination doses administered in India in total are said to be 1,07,92,19,546 and the vaccine doses administered yesterday are said to be 20,75,942. Sikkim, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the top States where eligible population received the second vaccine dose told the Indian government.

As per the reports from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total samples that are tested for coronavirus in India yesterday are 8,10,783 and the samples that are tested in total are 61,39,65,751. As per the reports, every second adult residing in the national capital New Delhi is fully vaccinated and nine out of ten received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine. USA administered 428 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. Diabetes diagnosed during coronavirus has severe conditions told experts through a research. The daily positivity rate reported in the country is 1.35 percent and the weekly positivity rate is 1.27 percent. Bharat Biotech's coronavirus vaccine Covaxin requested for the approval of the vaccine for children in USA below the age of 18 years.
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Owosso, MI (48867)

Today

Steady light rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High near 45F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low near 25F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan must begin based on such principles which would define certain red lines in order for there not to be new threats for Armenia and Artsakh, security expert Sossi Tatikyan said at a seminar.

We must closely follow the developments and advance the remedial secession principle, proving that Artsakhs existence within Azerbaijan contains a real threat of ethnic cleansing, Tatikyan, an expert in Public Administration, International Relations and Security said at the Corridor or Road, What Should Armenias Stance Be discussion in Yerevan.

We must be able to reach the kind of situation for Artsakh so that with time Azerbaijan will lose legal and political right towards Artsakh, Tatikyan said.

Speaking about Azerbaijans statements on the so-called Zangezur corridor, Sossi Tatikyan noted that unblocking of roads rules out the idea of a corridor, rather being a degree of it.

In the modern world the unblocking of roads is seen positively, whereas the situation of our region, which spans for decades, is perceived unnatural. And we must be able to capitalize this for our strategic communication. We must emphasize that there is absolutely no need for a corridor and push this issue out of the agenda. We must emphasize that the corridor has become necessary for Azerbaijan only for the reason that it itself has been keeping the road blockaded for years. And if the unblocking of roads were to happen in the region, then there wont be any necessity for a corridor, she said.

I believe that yesterdays statement issued by the Russian foreign ministry contains these elements. It contains encouraging elements on Russia also being convinced in the matter that there is no necessity of a corridor, that there is a need of unblocking the roads. I think we must understand how to use these roads in order for there not to be new security problems for Armenia.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
The WHO had earlier warned of a massive COVID-19 wave in Europe and Central Asia

New Delhi: Responding to the World Health Organization's (WHO) warning of a new COVID-19 wave, AIIMS Doctor and Epidemiologist Dr Sanjay K Rai on Friday said that it is unlikely if a large population has already been already infected by the virus.

The WHO had earlier warned of a massive COVID-19 wave in Europe and Central Asia. It also said that over 5,00,000 deaths (combined) are likely in this region by February 2022.

"When large populations get infected, massive waves of the virus are unlikely. Natural infections lead to natural immunity which leads to a decline in the number of cases. Vaccinations also reduce disease severity and deaths. It will happen in Russia and Central Asia. A wave of infections is going on there, but this will reduce by February. This happened everywhere, including in India. A large amount of the population was infected, then cases started to decline rapidly. Whenever the cases rise rapidly, they decline quickly too," he said.

He, however, said it was likely that the regions could touch the mark of 5,00,000 deaths by February and even vaccinations would not bring the rising deaths to a sudden halt.

He added that WHO was losing its credibility on the global stage.

"It has been giving controversial statements. It has not been able to figure out the origins of COVID-19. It took them over 1.5 years to understand that natural infections are giving protection to the people but they are still not giving much weightage to it," he said.

Amid increasing COVID-19 cases in Europe and Central Asia, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday warned of rising cases and deaths. According to the WHO, every single country in Europe and Central Asia is facing a real threat of COVID-19 resurgence or is already fighting it.
Google has not revealed why it has decided to do away with this particular feature

Washington: Google has removed its "Your News Update" feature from its Assistants.

As per the Verge, Google has not revealed why it has decided to do away with this particular feature. However, Google Assistant is still offering its original news digest option, so the users would not be left searching for answers.

Your News Update was originally launched in 2019. It was an attempt at bringing the same kinds of algorithmic feeds that had been so successful on Facebook or other areas of Google's products to audio news.

Your News Update relied on Google's huge array of personal data to give its users more specific and relevant news updates. The updates were selected from a range of partners that Google licenses news from.
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Graveside services for Dorothy Clarice "Dottie" Cross 86, of Athens have been scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday November 22, 2021 at Oaklawn Memorial Park with Bro. Cody Craig officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Autry's Carroll-Lehr Funeral Home. Mrs. Cross passed away November 18
All it takes is an aftermarket head unit upgrade, and right now, there are so many models out there its impossible not to find one that perfectly fits your dashboard.Sony is one of the companies that have a wide range of media receivers with support for CarPlay and Android Auto , and in most cases, they come with large touchscreens that clearly bring a new-gen touch to all cars out there.On the other hand, not everybody is willing to spend a thousand bucks on an aftermarket head unit just to get Android Auto and CarPlay. And thats why Sonys XAV-AX150 is just the perfect choice.Launched earlier this year, XAV-AX150 is a pretty compelling head unit that brings the essential feature package, a large touchscreen display, and an affordable price under the same roof.Lets start by answering the question on everyones lips: will it fit my vehicle?Sony has tried to make the XAV-AX150 as easy to install as possible, so the double-DIN display is mounted on a rear chassis with a small design in the back. In other words, despite using a double-DIN display, its actual chassis design is smaller, and this means its a lot easier to install because it leaves more room for cables in the back.This head unit tips the scales at 1.1 kilos and comes with a 6.95-inch TFT display with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. While at first glance its not the best resolution you could ask for, its still pretty good for a car screen, especially given the $250 price tag. The 17:9 screen ratio makes it just perfect for navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze.If youre here for the music capabilities of this media receiver, the XAV-AX150 has the essential package. It offers 55Wx4 output with 3 pre-outs, a 10-band graphic equalizer, and extra-bass support. A wireless experience is also offered thanks to Bluetooth support, but a USB port is also included should you want to listen to the music you have on a flash drive, for example.Now lets move to the Android Auto and CarPlay part.As said, this Sony head unit comes with support for both these systems, and of course, it only allows for wired connections. This is why theres also a USB port in the front panel, so you can easily connect your smartphone to run Android Auto and CarPlay The XAV-AX150 also comes with all kinds of extras, including support for a parking camera, so you can see live images when going in reverse, as well as with FLAC compatibility to play lossless audio files.But what makes the XAV-AX150 a really good choice is the price. Available for approximately $250 (or even lower if youre lucky enough and find the right retailer), this media receiver is one of the cheapest ways to get Android Auto and CarPlay into a very convenient form factor.Of course, there are plenty of even more affordable media receivers out there, but in many cases, they come with more or less critical shortcomings that eventually dont make much sense.If youre thinking of going for a no-name device coming from China, theres a good chance you lose the update support. Sony XAV-AX150, on the other hand, is likely to receive several firmware updates, and we all know how important these are in the short term.So at the end of the day, if youre in the market looking for a cheap way to get Android Auto and CarPlay, do yourselves a favor and check out the XAV-AX150. Black Friday is coming, so who knows, maybe youll get it even cheaper than the standard price tag.
Now, heres something about Chalki that you might not know. Its part of a pioneering project meant to transform the island with a focus on sustainability. In other words, its a laboratory where green energy is being implemented in multiple fields of expertise, including the automotive sector. This is where Citroen comes in.The French carmaker has decided to invest in this small island and together with the Greek government, they are now undertaking all measure to transform Chalki into an electric island, running on green energy  something thats supposed to be available to all residents, businesses and public authorities.It all starts with electric mobility, with Citroen keen to see residents and authorities take full advantage of the electric vehicles that are being made accessible on the island.Citroen is kicking things off in Halki with a small fleet of six EVs, designated for public authorities. Two Ami city cars will go to the Police and Coast Guard, along with two new e-C4 models , while one e-Spacetourer minivan goes to the Municipality of Halki, and one e-Dispatch model being delivered to the Energy Community of Halki. These vehicles are all being supplied on a free 48 month lease, after which the carmaker will buy back the cars and donate them to the Municipality of Halki permanently.We are really glad to collaborate with the Island of Halki on this exceptional project. This collaboration is completely in keeping with the spirit of Citroen, an innovative and daring brand, closely connected with people in their daily lives and their mobility, said Citroen CEO, Vincent Cobee.He then went on to say that his company is committed to making electrification available to everyone and we believe that this is a source of progress within the society. We are very proud to contribute to the transformation of Halki island into an island which will be autonomous, smart and sustainable.Since the main goal here is to improve the quality of life for the islands residents, Citroen and partners such as Syngelidis Group have already set the wheels in motion on a plan to replace all the old vehicles there with brand new electric ones. Citroen will thus provide residents and businesses with the opportunity to acquire zero-emission vehicles through a wide range of smart mobility options  from light quadricycles to passenger and commercial vehicles.This will ultimately result in better air quality, less noise pollution, and an overall cleaner environment, which is something we can all aspire to, regardless of where we live.With Halki set to become the so-called first Greek-ECO island, we cant help but wonder when such projects could be implemented to larger islands and cities. Imagine such an initiative in Hawaii. It will surely happen, but the question is how many more decades it could take  phasing out all internal combustion engine cars is tricky, but at the same time, inevitable.If were talking about a considerably bigger project (as opposed to one small Greek island), it stands to reason that several carmakers should be getting involved with regards to electric mobility , and that government officials should be doing everything possible to facilitate this switch, from investing in infrastructure to offering subsidies.We look forward to someday visiting a place thats entirely self-sufficient and eco-friendly. Think Masdar City (a planned sustainable city project in Abu Dhabi), only bigger.
EV

In many cases, these measures came down to temporary production halts, but several companies just wanted to keep the assembly lines rolling and eventually decided to ship cars without certain systems. BMW is the latest high-profile name to do this, as the company is now selling a series of new models without touch support, all in an attempt to reduce the number of chips it uses on cars.According to a recent Bimmerfest post, the BMW 3 Series, 4 Series (except for the i4), X5, X6, X7, and Z4 all will come without touch support.If youre the kind of person who hates fingerprints on the screen, thats pretty good news, but otherwise, this is quite a shortcoming given touch is one of the most common input methods these days. BMW, too, knows this, so the company is offering a $500 credit on each cars MSRP.The affected vehicles will carry the option code 6UY, which reads deletion of touchscreen, on their window stickers. On the other hand, the rest of the functionality bundled with the head unit, including the support for Android Auto and CarPlay , will continue to be offered, only that drivers will have to interact with them using other methods, such as the control knob or with voice commands.Theres something else thats getting the ax on these BMWs due to the lack of chips. If the customer ordered the Parking Assistant Package, the aforementioned models are also losing the Backup Assistant pretty much because of the same reason.BMW cars without touch support will be manufactured at the Spartanburg plant and started shipping this week. BMW says all cars will be provided with a software update before they are delivered to customers.
After weve been given a first look at the churches that will appear in the Heart of Russia DLC, were now shown the watery part of the country. As the developer notes, Russia is a country exceptionally wealthy in water, boasting approximately 2 million lakes and about 210, 000 rivers.That being said, Euro Truck Simulator 2 players driving their trucks through Russia are bound to pass many of the countrys lakes and rivers. Sometimes, they will even get to cross some of them using local ferries.SCS Software revealed that the upcoming map expansion would feature many of important rivers such as Volga or Oka. Additionally, reservoirs like Vyshnevolotsk will appear in the upcoming DLC too.At least one ferry dedicated to transporting players trucks to the other side of the river Svir will also be included in Heart of Russia, and we even got a screenshot of that. Although the ferry is not used for trucks in real life, the folks at SCS Software decided that due to the map layout and to enhance gameplay experience, it would be best to allow trucks to be transported as well.Judging by all the screenshots released until now, the Heart of Russia DLC will feature truly beautiful landscapes. The addition of a ferry that can transport trucks is a nice change as well and will surely spice up our adventures throughout Russia. Heres is hoping well get a release date sooner rather than later.
Pleasure to fly and speak @BritishArmy People Conference 2021 today pic.twitter.com/O8gZFDcDLQ  Gravity (@takeonGravity) November 3, 2021

The military agrees, even if with the caveat that more work is needed in order to make the jet-powered suit up to par with the performance needed. Richard Browning was on hand for a live demo at the Army People Conference earlier this week, flying the Jet Suit at the Farnborough International Airport in Hampshire, England, to show a large body of military personnel what the future of armed forces could possibly hold.Browning invented the Jet Suit and hes always flying it himself. Having founded Gravity Industries several years ago, his initial goal was to make the suit commercially available . He never attained it, due to the high price of a single unit, poor autonomy, and local and international flight regulations, to name just a few. Since then, hes been working to get the Jet Suit into the army or emergency response services , showing it off during live demonstrations.You can see the latest at the bottom of the page. Browning hovered above ground, landed on two parked vehicles and took off from them, and ended the demo by landing in the balcony hosting the live audience.The Army was convinced, though non-committal. Such a Jet Suit could become standard in the future, allowing soldiers to soar over conflict zones at 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) high and speeds of up to 80 mph (129 kph).Innovation and technological advance, two of the main drivers at the Armys People Conference 21 being held at Farnborough International Conference Centre, were remarkably demonstrated as the conference opened with a capability display flight by Richard Browning wearing a gravity-defying jet suit, reads the Army statement on the flight.Earlier this year, a demo of the Jet Suit with the Royal Marines was deemed equally convincing, but ultimately not enough for military adoption.
On October 23rd, the fully outfitted G700 production test aircraft took off from Houston, Texas, and traveled 8,253 miles (13,283 km) to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The flight marked the longest-distance flown by the G700 to date. Running on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the jet traveled at a Mach 0.87 speed and completed the trip in just 13 hours and 40 minutes.And that's not the only thing that happened that day. Its sibling, the G600 , departed from Washington D.C. running on SAF blend to Riyadh. The aircraft flew 7,073 miles (11,382 km) at Mach 0.88. The whole journey lasted 11 hours and 39 minutes and set another city-pair record.The jets continued to impress as they added even more records to their list of achievements. On its way back to the U.S., the G700 flew from Riyadh to Savannah for 7,488 miles (12,051 km) in 13 hours and 55 minutes, reaching a speed of Mach 0.89 at altitudes of 51,000 feet (15,545 meters).The G700's latest accomplishment comes on the heels of September's record-breaking flights from Savannah to Doha, Qatar, Doha to Paris, and Paris to Savannah.Returning from Riyadh to New Jersey also marked another speed record for the G600. The jet traveled for 6,807 miles (10,955 km) and completed the trip in just 12 hours and 56 minutes with a Mach 0.85 average speed.The G600 also enjoys a great deal of success. It entered service in 2019, in the same year as the G700, and has since set more than 20 speed records.To date, Gulfstream has delivered more than 50 jets to clients all across the world. The company expects customer deliveries for its G700 to begin next year.
One such example is an error that users first reported in June 2020 when Android Auto suddenly started freezing on the head units in their cars.In other words, while Android Auto was working just fine until then, a change introduced by an update caused the app to switch to a black screen. And the whole thing happened when the phone entered a lock state, users explained, with OPPO devices most often affected by this problem.At first glance, this behavior seems to indicate its all caused by the Android device itself, as the Android Auto process appears to be suspended automatically when the phone is locked.And someone on Googles forums has come up with a fix, which in its turn suggests this is whats happening when running Android Auto on these devices.So first and foremost, you need to need to activate the developer mode on your Android device by tapping the build number in the About screen seven times. Next, just go to the developer settings menu and look for an option to keep the phone awake while charging.Before advancing to the next step, let me explain why this is needed.When connecting an Android device to a head unit with a cable, in addition to launching Android Auto, the smartphone also starts charging. So in practice, the aforementioned option allows your device to remain awake when charging and when running Android Auto.Once you enable this feature, make sure you dont manually lock your mobile device after connecting it to the head unit to start Android Auto. If you do this, then you bypass the aforementioned setting and then cause the app to enter the black screen phase again.There are several drawbacks that come with this workaround.First and foremost, not locking your device while charging and running Android Auto means the screen stays on during the whole thing. You can imagine this approach isnt necessarily the most convenient, especially when driving during the night, but in some cases, the display automatically dims after a while anyway.Then, if you charge your Android device, run Android Auto, and keep the screen on all the time, then the risk of overheating is much higher, especially during hot summer days. At the same time, it could also increase the likelihood of screen burn-in, especially on mobile devices with OLED panels.So yes, while this workaround might indeed restore Android Auto in your car, it comes with all these shortcomings that everybody must be aware of before implementing it.So at the end of the day, does it make any sense in the first place? It does, especially during short drives. If you dont mind having the screen of the phone turned on all the time and you just drive for 30 minutes or so, then this trick could help restore Android Auto until Google comes up with a full fix.On the other hand, its worth knowing that Google claims a fix has already been implemented in a software update released for OPPO phones earlier this year. In other words, the search giant says only this brand is affected by the freezing problem in Android Auto, and installing this update should bring things back to normal.Obviously, it doesnt, and many users who posted on Googles forums explain that another fix is absolutely needed. At this point, however, neither the phone maker nor the Mountain View-based search company confirmed another update to resolve this problem is in the works.
Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman conveyed U.S. support for a democratic transition in Sudan during talks with the head of its ruling council and the prime minister, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum wrote Saturday on Twitter.

Driving the news: "Feltman emphasized U.S. support for a civilian democratic transition in accordance with the expressed wishes of Sudans people," the embassy wrote.

Feltman also "urged all actors to recommit to working together to implement the constitutional declaration and Juba Peace Agreement."

Sudan's constitutional declaration was signed after a 2018-2019 uprising that resulted in the removal of former President Omar al-Bashir, Reuters reports.

The big picture: Feltman's visit to Sudan comes amid what Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has called the "worst and most dangerous" crisis of Sudans transition to democracy, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.

Approximately 2,000-3,000 people participated in a sit-in in Khartoum earlier this week after protesters convened to urge the military to overthrow the government.

State of play: After the uprising in 2019, a joint military-civilian council assumed power to lead a 3 -year transition toward democratic elections.

The increasing turmoil is threatening the transition and underscores the tensions between civilians and the generals, Lawler reports.

Go deeper: U.S. envoy to visit Sudan as "most dangerous" crisis intensifies
American venture capitalists are investing record sums in European startups, setting themselves up to repatriate returns.

By the numbers: European deal value with U.S. VC participation hit 50.8 billion over the first three quarters of 2021, per PitchBook.

A record 21.2% of European deals in 2021 had at least one U.S. investor on board, up from 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2019.

The big picture: Europe's venture market has matured, enticing Silicon Valley firms like Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners to open local offices.

"This is in some ways what weve been waiting for," says Moonfire Ventures' Mattias Ljungman, who co-founded famed European VC firm Atomico with Skype's Niklas Zennstrom in 2006. "This is making the ecosystem better."

European VCs I spoke with at Web Summit this week in Lisbon, Portugal, were all positive about the U.S. influx, largely because it means more follow-on capital.

"The strength of the U.S. is more specialized investors that can be helpful," Northzone Ventures general partner Michiel Kotting explains.

Yes, but: The Europeans still seem to feel like they have an edge in early-stage investing.

When everyone was investing via Zoom, "the playing field was level," said Kotting, but it's shifted back to in-person investing over the last couple of months, giving VCs who are based in Europe an advantage.

Flashback: It remains to be seen if things will be different than two decades ago, when many U.S. firms landed in Europe, only to leave after realizing they couldn't successfully compete with the locals.

The bottom line: European VCs aren't worried about Americans taking a bigger piece of the pie, so long as the pie itself is growing.
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Ministry of Justice in Kazakhstan: the Statis Admit Defeat in Washington Proceedings, Withdraw Improper Attempt to Seize Kazakhstans Diplomatic Property
Email Dan Walters of CalMatters at dan@calmatters.org. CalMatters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/dan-walters.
NEW YORK (AP)  For decades, it's been one of Hollywood's darkest rumors: A teen-age Natalie Wood was sexually assaulted by a top movie star more than twice her age when she met with him at a hotel in Los Angeles.

In a memoir coming out next week, Wood's younger sister identifies the long-suspected assailant: Kirk Douglas.

I remember that Natalie looked especially beautiful when Mom and I dropped her off that night at the Chateau Marmont entrance, Lana Wood writes in Little Sister, alleging that the incident happened in the summer of 1955, around the time Natalie Wood was filming The Searchers. The meeting had been arranged by their mother, Maria Zakharenko, who thought that many doors might be thrown open for her, with just a nod of his famous, handsome head on her behalf, according to Lana Wood.

It seemed like a long time passed before Natalie got back into the car and woke me up when she slammed the door shut," she writes. "She looked awful. She was very disheveled and very upset, and she and Mom started urgently whispering to each other. I couldn't really hear them or make out what they were saying. Something bad had apparently happened to my sister, but whatever it was, I was apparently too young to be told about it.

According to Lana Wood, Natalie Wood did not discuss with her what happened until both were adults and Natalie, after describing being brought into Douglas' suite, told her sister, And, uh ... he hurt me Lana.

It was like an out-of-body experience. I was terrified, I was confused," Lana Wood remembers her saying. Lana, now 75 and around 8 when the alleged incident occurred, remembered her sister and their mother agreeing it would ruin Natalie's career to publicly accuse him.

Suck it up" was Maria's advice, according to Little Sister, much of which focuses on Natalie Wood's death in 1981, when her body was found off Catalina Island in California. Authorities initially ruled the death an accidental drowning, but that has changed after years of scrutiny and more witnesses emerging. Wood's husband at the time, Robert Wagner, has been called a person of interest and Lana Wood is among those who hold him responsible for her death.

In her book, she recalls promising her sister not to discuss her being assaulted by Douglas, but rumors were so prevalent that when he died in 2020, at age 103, Natalie Wood's name trended along with his on Twitter. Lana Wood, whose own acting credits include The Searchers and the TV series Peyton Place, believes enough has changed since her conversation with Natalie that she can now tell the whole story.

With no one still around to protect, I'm sure she'll forgive me for finally breaking that promise, she wrote.

Douglas' son, actor Michael Douglas, said in a statement issued through his publicist: May they both rest in peace.

Kirk Douglas, in his late 30s at the time of the alleged assault, was known for such films as Spartacus, The Bad and the Beautiful and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He also was one of the first major actors to form his own production company and a prominent liberal activist who has been widely credited with helping to break the Cold War blacklist against suspected Communists when he hired Dalton Trumbo to write Spartacus and listed him by name for the 1960 release. Douglas and his second wife, Anne, donated millions of dollars through the Douglas Foundation they co-founded in 1964 with a mission to helping those who might not otherwise be able to help themselves.

Douglas received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 and the Legion of Honor from France in 1985. He was given an honorary Oscar in 1996, when the film academy praised him as a creative and moral force.

Douglas himself acknowledged that he was a womanizer and an unfaithful husband. Speaking to The Associated Press about Douglas in December 2016, less than a year before the #MeToo movement caught on, the actress and dancer Neile Adams lightheartedly said of her friend, You could not sit beside him without his hand crawling up your leg.

In his memoir The Ragman's Son, published in 1988, Douglas writes briefly about Natalie Wood. He remembers driving home one night and stopping at a red light. The door of the car in front of him opened and a pretty little girl wearing a suede jacket hopped out and ran up to him.

'Oh, Mr. Douglas, would you please sign my jacket?' he remembers her saying. As I obliged, the woman who was driving got out and introduced her. This is my daughter. Shes in movies, too. Her name is Natalie Wood.' That was the first time I met Natalie. I saw her many times afterward, before she died in that cruel accident.
The above editorial was published Nov. 5 by the Dallas Morning News. Its views are its own.
The USS Connecticut submarine is seen in an April 2011 file photo at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton in Washington state.

The U.S. Navy says it has dismissed three top commanders of the nuclear-powered submarine that ran aground on an underwater mountain in the South China Sea last month.

A brief Navy statement issued late Thursday said the Oct. 2 accident involving the USS Connecticut was preventable, and Commander of the 7th Fleet Vice Adm. Karl Thomas had relieved the three officers of their duties due to loss of confidence.

They are the subs Commanding Officer Cmdr. Cameron Aljilani, Executive Officer Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Cashin, and Master Chief Sonar Technician Cory Rodgers, the statement said.

The accident happened at an undisclosed location in the South China Sea. A month-long investigation was completed earlier this week. It concluded that the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine hit an uncharted seamount while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific. A seamount is a mountain that rises from the sea bed.

Thursdays statement said: Thomas determined sound judgment, prudent decision-making and adherence to required procedures in navigation planning, watch team execution and risk management could have prevented the incident.

Experts said the submarine might have gone too fast at depth in poorly charted waters. Eleven sailors were reportedly injured.

In most cases of avoidable incidents the commander of the vessel is relieved of duty and mostly this is the end of their naval career, Alexander Neill, a defense and security consultant based in Singapore, told RFA in an earlier interview.

China has accused the U.S. of a cover-up and lack of transparency over the accident. At a regular press briefing on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the U.S. to provide a full account of the details of the accident and stop its provocation, Reuters reported.

The USS Connecticut is one of three Sea Wolf-class submarines commissioned in the Cold War era. It is 107 meters long and can carry about 130 sailors and officers. It is believed to cost over $3 billion to build.

According to the statement from the U.S. Navy, it remains in Guam while undergoing damage assessment and will return to its home base in Bremerton, Washington state, for repairs.
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Ads raising awareness about strokes in kids are not related to vaccines
CLAIM: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has received three COVID-19 vaccine doses but still tested positive for the virus.

THE FACTS: The day after Garcetti tested positive for COVID-19 while attending a U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, social media users began falsely claiming he had not only received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, but also a third booster dose.

Social media posts on Thursday used the false claim as a premise for skepticism about vaccine effectiveness. BREAKING - Triple vaxxed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tests positive for COVID, read one post circulating widely on Instagram. Remember, trust the science.

Another post on Facebook read: "LA Mayor Eric Garcetti tested positive for COVID and hes (asterisk)TRIPLE VAXXED.(asterisk)"

However, Garcetti has not gotten a booster shot for COVID-19, Alex Comisar, his communications director, said Thursday. Garcetti received two doses of the Moderna vaccine earlier this year and will be getting his booster as soon as its recommended he do so, Comisar said.

If you got Pfizer or Moderna shots first, U.S. health authorities say youre eligible for a booster if your last dose was at least six months ago and youre 65 or older. Younger adults with health problems, or with jobs or living conditions that put them at higher risk of COVID-19, are also eligible.

Anyone who got the Johnson & Johnson shot first is eligible for a booster, as long as they got the vaccine at least two months ago. People who are fully vaccinated are still strongly protected against hospitalization and death from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the agency says public health officials have observed waning protection over time against mild and moderate disease, especially in certain populations. Booster shots can increase protection for people who were vaccinated months ago.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report.
CLAIM: Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shot makes you more likely to get AIDS or cancer.

THE FACTS: The claim is false. On October 25, Facebook and Instagram removed a live video published by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. In the video Bolsonaro falsely claimed that people in the U.K. who had received two coronavirus vaccine doses were developing AIDS faster than expected.

Days later, social media posts repeated the false information. One popular Facebook post falsely claimed, Yall The shot is giving ppl cancer & HIV. But immunologists, infectious disease specialists and cancer researchers contacted by The Associated Press said COVID-19 vaccines dont cause cancer or make individuals more likely to contract HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS.

Dr. Michael Imperiale, professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan, said there is no evidence linking the vaccines to cancer, and that none of the ingredients in the vaccines are cancer-causing.

Dr. Mark Shlomchik, chair of the department of immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said the idea that any vaccine can cause cancer is inaccurate. There is no practical way that a vaccine could cause cancer, Shlomchik said. No vaccine that we have ever studied or used to prevent infection has ever been associated with cancer.

The claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause HIV or AIDS is absolutely and categorically a false statement, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, associate chief of the division of HIV, infectious diseases and global medicine at the University of California San Francisco Medical School. There is nothing in the COVID vaccines that contain either HIV or increase a bodys susceptibility to contracting HIV.

Individuals also cant contract HIV while receiving the shot. It is not possible to transmit HIV between people during immunization, said Dr. Paul Bollyky, associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Stanford University department of medicine. The COVID-19 vaccines are not made using any human blood products and a single-use needle is used in each different person who received the vaccine.

AIDS is the most severe phase of HIV infection, associated with a high viral load and a badly damaged immune system. But in clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, no evidence emerged suggesting people living with HIV were more likely to develop AIDS after receiving the shot.

Many hundreds of thousands of people have participated in worldwide trials for the vaccines, said Shlomchik. Adverse events were studied in both vaccinated participants and non-vaccinated people who were part of the study. There was never any difference between the two groups in getting AIDS.

Real world data also doesnt show vaccinated people getting AIDS more often than unvaccinated people. 7 billion doses of COVID vaccines have been given out, said Gandhi. And there has been no evidence that vaccines make it more likely for individuals to get AIDS.

 Associated Press writer Terrence Fraser in New York contributed this report.
Attendees walk past a banner at the venue of the COP climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 29. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming a photo showed jets used by attendees to get to the conference. In fact, the photo was taken during the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans.
PITTSFIELD  Timing is everything, they say. For Julianne Boyd the time is now to announce plans to retire as artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, the theater company she has run since she co-founded it with Susan Sperber in 1995.

After 26 years at the helm, Boyd feels she has accomplished everything she wanted to accomplish. Moreover, she said, because we had such a good year and a difficult one because of COVID, I felt this was a good time to leave. I would never want to leave the theater in a bad place.

As her 77th birthday approaches late next month, Boyd wants unencumbered time to spend with her family: Her husband, Norman Boyd, who has a dental practice in New York; their three adult children  two daughters and a son; and especially their seven grandchildren who range in age from 7 months to 15 years, two who have birthdays around Independence Day.

Planning to take off to spend time with my family (around) the Fourth of July has been a Herculean task, Boyd said with a slight laugh.

Boyd will remain with Barrington Stage until sometime after the end of the 2022 season. A search firm has been hired to find her successor.

Theyll start with community members, our associate artists, the entire group that make up the important stakeholders. We want every voice heard, Boyd said during an interview in her office at the Wolfson Center on North Street. She is hoping the new artistic director will be in town by August.

Meanwhile, she said, Ill have everything in place for the 22 season. While she is giving up her office at the Wolfson Center, Boyd has no plans to sell her Pittsfield house.

Im not leaving forever, she said. She intends to remain part of the community; to help if I can.

Boyd was born Julianne Mamana and raised in Easton, Pa., one of five children  three older brothers and a younger sister. She earned her undergraduate degree at Beaver College (now Arcadia University), where she met her husband-to-be.

She was a freshman; he was a junior.

His [all-male] college choir was visiting my [all-female] college and he stood behind me in line for dinner, Boyd said.

My sister, June, who was in high school, was visiting me at the time. She thought he was cute and began a conversation with him. I joined in. He asked us to go to the concert he was performing in that evening. I wasnt planning on going but I went reluctantly. The rest is history.

Theyve been married 50 years.

She has a doctorate from The City University of New York with a specialty in the history of traditional Japanese Bunraku puppet theater and how it affected Japanese society from the period of post-World War II occupation under Gen. Douglas MacArthur on.

Boyd attributes her career in theater to her fathers passion for the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

He was a great believer in after-school activities, Boyd said. My three brothers were all into sports. My father loved Gilbert and Sullivan and thought theater would be a great after-school activity for me. I had no problem getting in front of an audience.

Her interest in theater developed through her teen and young adult years. She saw touring shows in Philadelphia. She fell in love with Theater of the Absurd when she played Lucky in a college production of Samuel Becketts Waiting For Godot and was drawn to the work of Andre Gregory and his Theater of the Living Arts.

He was redefining theater, Boyd said. I was mesmerized by the possibilities of theater.

She knew that she didnt want to act. Her first try at directing came in her junior year at college when she directed something for a student play festival. Even then she was thinking only of teaching in college. That changed when she answered an ad for a sound technician at an Off-Broadway theater. One job at a small Of-Broadway house led to another small job at an Off-Broadway house, then another, doing various jobs, all without pay. A small show she directed drew a favorable review from the influential weekly newspaper, The Village Voice.

It was while she was reading scripts at Manhattan Theatre Club that she came across some recordings by James Herbert Eubie Blake that led her to the notion of creating a revue around the music of pianist-swing-jazz songwriter. Eubie! opened on Broadway in September 1978. It earned three Tony Award nominations and won a Drama Desk Award for best musical.

It was the first time I was ever paid for directing, Boyd said.

She and Joan Micklin Silver created the revue A  My Name is Alice which opened Off-Broadway in 1983, which was followed in 1992 by A  My Name is Still Alice and My Name Will Always Be Alice (also titled Alice Revisited), which Boyd produced at BSC during its first season in 1995.

Boyd came to the Berkshires in 1993 as artistic director of Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, a position she held for two seasons.

She created Barrington Stage Company after leaving BTF because, she said, we were trying to reach the community on more of a year-round way. When I was at BTF I had so many people come up to me and ask why dont we do something in the fall.

When we started BSC the idea was to do theater that would affect the lives of people beyond the crammed summer.

The company performed in the Consolati Performing Arts Center at Mount Everett Regional High School for nearly 10 seasons but it became problematic. Because of school schedules and demands, the length of seasons got smaller  10 weeks to six or seven weeks, ending in mid-August. Equipment had to be taken down at the end of each season.

Problems notwithstanding, BSC began drawing attention beyond the Berkshires. Its production of Cabaret in BSCs third season was remounted in Boston where it replicated its Berkshires success. In 2005, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee became BSCs first show to move to New York.

In Barrington Stages eighth season, Boyd and her board began looking for a new space. Their eyes were on the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington but were outbid for the building by what was then Berkshire Opera Festival.

Eventually they found what they were looking for in a music hall on Pittsfields Union Street that was for sale.

We did our production of Hair there and doubled the audience we had when we did the show in Great Barrington, Boyd said. It was important for the board to see we had an audience in Pittsfield.

Losing the Mahaiwe was the best thing that could have happened to us. We wouldnt have had the second stage, Boyd said, referring to BSCs smaller St. Germain Stage in the Blatt Performing Arts Center on Linden Street, several blocks from the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage.

Nor, in all likelihood, would BSC have had its Wolfson Center on North Street, which houses offices and rehearsal rooms; the Octagon House on Union Street for staff housing; or the expansive production center across town on Laurel Street.

Since 1995, the BSCs budget has grown from $249,000 to a little more than $5.2 million. Audiences have grown from probably a few thousand in 1995, Boyd said, to roughly 60,000 in a normal non-COVID season. The company has produced 41 world premieres, sending three to Broadway and 10 Off-Broadway. The theater also has launched several programs in the schools and ethnic minority community and spearheaded the citys annual 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival, the centerpiece of which is BSCs 10X10 New Play Festival.

Boyd is looking forward to indulging her twin passions for family and travel. She and her husband are heading to Japan and a big trip to Italy for the entire family is in the works after Boyds final season comes to an end.

She is eager. But she also acknowledges there are things she will miss.

First, working with the artists who have become part of the BSC family  some of the most talented artists working today, many who have become close friends, she said.

Secondly, collaborating with our very dedicated staff and board, who jointly saw a way through the pandemic and never gave up trying to bring theater to our community  knowing it was important to bring people out of isolation into a common experience that offered a sense of a shared humanity.

Lastly, working with the BIPOC community, finding plays that tell stories that resonate deeply with them, and developing ways to develop a more inclusive and diverse audience to the theater 

Regarding the future, she wants to be there for my grandchildren. I want them to know about art.

I am also excited about leaving the theater in the hands of someone who will build on what we have [created].
Reporter

Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.
Julie Brown holds on to her son, Oliver, 8, as he receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Pittsfield. Brown, a nurse practitioner, said many of her patients are excited to be vaccinated, and she is happy to see them get a shot that has been proven to be effective and safe. "I think kids are worried about COVID," she told The Eagle. "They don't understand it. It's scary. And all these things they can't do ... they're ready to go be kids again."
Investigations editor

Larry Parnass joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, CommonWealth Magazine and with the Reuters news service.
Information from the CDC and The New York Times was included in this commentary. Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks Wednesday during a meeting with Defense Ministry officials and heads of defense industry at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia.
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Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Chief and Council have closed the Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services building on the nation citing concerns over service delivery from the organization.

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Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Chief and Council have closed the Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services building on the nation citing concerns over service delivery from the organization.

"We feel like we were left with no choice but to shut it down and look at other options," said Chief Viola Eastman. "Were not satisfied."

Canupawakpa Chief and Council met with the local Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services committee (DOCFS) Thursday to discuss the state of services being provided to the community. After the meetings, a decision was made to close the local DOCFS office.

Families have been unable to properly access the services offered by DOCFS and receive the support they need, Eastman said.

"Were doing this for our community," Eastman said.

The community will continue to receive services from DOCFS for now based on its current agreement, only the office has been closed.

Eastman said she hopes the closure will create a space where nation members concerns regarding the organization can be heard and addressed.

She said the chief and council are looking for DOCFS workers that will respect the culture and language of families in the nation.

"We want workers that are going to be able to help our families in that way with language and culture," Eastman said.

Its a challenging situation in Canupawakpa, she said, because in many cases the respect for Indigenous cultures and traditions was lacking from DOCFS when working with families.

Eastman said supporting Indigenous cultures, traditions, and languages is the basis of reconciliation and there is a need to have DOCFS workers in the nation who can honour this path.

A strong, locally-based DOCFS committee is in place in Canupawakpa that consists of elders and resources. The committee initially raised concerns over DOCFS service delivery in the community.

"[The committee] really cares about the community. They really want whats good," Eastman said. "They see whats happening and theyre the ones that are bringing out the concerns about not getting the delivery of services that we need from DOCFS."

Over the past several months, numerous issues have been brought to the DOCFS executive director and the local area supervisor regarding the need for improvement to services provided in the community, Eastman said. These concerns were allegedly not taken into consideration and were instead dismissed.

The nation is willing to work with DOCFS to find a resolution, she said.

Canupawakpa Chief and Council and the local DOCFS committee continue to explore different service options. Part of this work has involved facilitating discussions with the Southern First Nations Network of Care.

The ultimate goal is to ensure any services offered acknowledge, respect and practise Indigenous cultures and traditions.

"We felt we needed to look at other options right now for our families," Eastman said.

Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

 ckemp@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp
(The Center Square)  Connecticut lawmakers are renewing a call to replenish the states battered unemployment insurance trust fund. Before the pandemic-induced restoration can begin, however, a number of weighty issues that were explored at a recent meeting need to be tackled.

The state General Assemblys Appropriations Committee held an informational forum this week on the trust fund with Dante Bartolomeo, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Connecticut has paid out $9.89 billion in UI benefits to residents across the state, Bartolomeo said. A fraction of the figure  $2.78 billion  came directly out of the state trust, while the larger balance was from federal funds.

A portion of those UI funds have since been deemed overpayments, though Bartolomeo said the exact amount is still being determined as state officials go through a lengthy review process. Residents who have been notified of overpayments can seek a waiver by filling out requisite paperwork.

While a portion of the overpayments are fraudulent, Bartolomeo said she viewed most of the cases as errors that occurred for a variety of reasons. Examples include individual claimants receiving UI benefits and employers receiving loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program that also benefited the same person.

A lot [of information] came fast from the federal government, Bartolomeo said. I think it was with good intentions. We were trying to keep people above water.

State representatives and senators serving on the Appropriations Committee had varied viewpoints about the approach the state should take in addressing the overpayments.

State Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, said the financial impact from COVID-19 was widespread across Connecticut.

It affects all of our communities dramatically, Walker said.

While she expressed interest in addressing outstanding issues linked to the trust fund, state Rep. Robyn Porter, D-Hamden, said the UI system served as an important lifeline when it was needed most.

Weve helped out many, many people, Porter said. Were not post-pandemic yet.

But state Sen. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, offered a different take on the overpayments.

People got a tremendous amount of money, and thats a reason we dont have employees, Milner said. There should be an effort to try and recollect.

The fiscal health of the UI trust fund also was discussed at the forum. Some of Connecticuts share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds could go toward improving its condition.

The trusts balance hovered around $642 million pre-pandemic, and the state had to begin looking to the federal government in August 2020 after the states own resources within the fund were depleted.

Bartolomeo said the current balance on the federal loan stands at around $532 million after a payment of about $200 million was made on a portion of the bill.

Miner said he was a strong proponent of using ARPA funds to tackle the remaining debt.

Lets not fight about this, Miner said. Lets appropriate the funds. This is a tremendous amount of money for the state of Connecticut.

State Rep. Harry Arora, R-Greenwich, said he was appreciative of the effort among lawmakers to bring the UI trust fund back to solvency in the coming years.

I think its very clear we have some work to do, Arora said.
Josh Hernandez is a keen astronomer and hates the change to daylight saving time in spring. Credit:Wolter Peeters Hickie says this comes at the worst possible time because spring and autumn have the fastest changes to the length of daylight, so the human body is already working overtime trying to adjust. The second problem is that the tradeoff for lighter evenings is artificially dark mornings. Hickie says the human body is designed to sleep when its dark and morning light provides the best time to exercise - if sunrise is delayed, that opportunity is lost. If you could get up with the sun and then exercise a bit outside before work, youd be better coordinated for the rest of the day, including mood, cognitive and metabolic; youd be fitter and healthier, he says. Im intrinsically more of an evening person so my chance of getting exercise in the morning or doing anything before work with daylight savings is nil.

Loading Some people, like Straughan and Gregg, would be happy if daylight saving time was year round even if it means getting up in the dark in winter. Straughan struggles with the sudden change in autumn, especially when she worked in an office all day and found it was already dark when it was time to go home. She also does not feel safe exercising outside in the dark, a complaint echoed by many women, while Gregg says dark evenings make it hard to train for team sport. Residents of Alberta, Canada voted in a referendum last month on whether to permanently stay on daylight saving time, rather than moving the clocks twice a year. Albertans narrowly rejected the change, but several other Canadian provinces including Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are already dropping the fall back.

In 2019, the European Union voted to abolish the changing of the clocks; it was meant to end this year, with countries who wanted permanent summer time moving their clocks forward for the last time in March and those who wanted permanent winter time moving their clocks back for the last time in October. This effort has reportedly stalled because of disruptions caused by Brexit and COVID-19. Professor Shantha Rajaratnam, a psychologist and chair of the Sleep Health Foundation, says it is not as straightforward as sticking to one time zone. The alignment to the planets dark and light cycle also matters. Rajaratnam explains humans have three interacting clock processes. The first is the sun creating a cycle of light and dark, the second is the internal circadian clock of the body, and the third is the social clock that dictates when people should sleep, wake, eat, be active and socialise. When clocks are naturally set to sun time, the sun is at the highest point at midday; during daylight saving time, the sun is at its peak at 1pm. (This can already vary within a timezone depending on whether you are near the eastern or western boundary). Rajaratnam says daylight saving time effectively moves the social clock forward an hour, forcing the circadian clock to adjust.

Thats a challenge for most people because the light and dark cycle hasnt changed and the light and dark cycle is the major time cue that allows us to shift internal clocks when we travel across time zones, he says. Its a form of jet lag, similar to people working shift work. Reducing exposure to morning light and increasing exposure to evening light also affects the circadian cycle by more than just the one-hour difference on the clock. Rajaratnam explains that lighter evenings mean people dont feel sleepy until later, with the effect lasting hours beyond sunset. That prompts people to stay up later and compounds the problem of feeling tired in the mornings. Rajaratnam and Hickie note a host of health problems associated with circadian disruption - such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic problems such as diabetes and obesity, an increased risk of gastrointestinal conditions, and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress, and burnout. For this reason, many scientists in the field of circadian biology advocate for abolishing daylight saving time and retaining standard time, Rajaratnam says.

Loading Hickie says the end of daylight saving time would relieve parents who find it wreaks havoc with their childrens sleep schedules and benefit teenagers whose body clock naturally shifts to a later phase of going to bed and getting up later. It would also be a boon for many adults such as Josh Hernandez, who detests daylight saving time. While Hernandez enjoys staying up in the evenings, his hobbies dont require daylight. He is into astronomy and has a telescope set up at home, but the best stargazing happens when its dark and all his calculations require true time. The PhD student from Dural struggles to get up early in the mornings at the best of times.
We are aged 80 and 79, respectively, and together have more savings than we will ever spend. Our question relates to our estate, which is to be divided between our daughter in the US and a son in the UK. He is addicted to the card game machines found in almost every NSW pub, and into which he inserted every penny he earned or could beg, borrow or steal. About 10 years ago, he went to the UK and found that the compulsion did not arise. However, last time he returned home, he dropped about $20,000 in a few days, and we had to bail him out. I thought of boosting his superannuation, which he cannot access until retirement, but what then? We could set up a testamentary trust, but who could act as trustee? How can I make sure the money is wisely managed and not subject to excessive fees? And how would that be taxed in the UK, and here? B.Q.

You could set up a testamentary trust with a family member as trustee or, at a pinch, with the NSW Trustee and Guardian. However, you might be better off establishing, via your will, a non-commutable lifetime annuity for your son.

Credit:Virginia Star

The main source of lifetime annuities is Challenger, which offers retirement guides and other assistance (tel 13 35 66). AIA, having purchased Comminsure from the Commonwealth Bank, offers similar booklets and your financial adviser should be able to discuss both.

Income tax on the interest earned should be payable in Australia alone under the UK-Australia double-tax treaty.
The average age of Australians in ICU due to COVID-19 has plunged by more than a decade as the rolling Delta outbreak causes hundreds of younger people to fall very sick, including dozens of unvaccinated pregnant women.

Since the more infectious and deadly strain of the virus took hold in Sydney, before spreading to Melbourne and further afield, the median age of those admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 has fallen to 53 years.

It is a notable change from the first wave of infections in early 2020 when the median age was 64.

We think thats probably a reflection of Delta, said Aidan Burrell, an intensive care doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Delta is affecting the younger people who, in general, have fewer comorbidities.
It has been incredibly challenging and distressing, Western Health intensive care director Craig French said. Patients and their families have expressed the belief that they dont have COVID, its not real to them, even though they are critically ill or somebody they love is very, very sick. Director of intensive care at Western Health, Professor Craig French. Credit:Justin McManus On Thursday afternoon, Ms Roessen was the only patient in the coronavirus ICU ward who was well enough to be interviewed when The Sunday Age visited. She was also the hospitals first patient to be admitted to the intensive care ward who had been fully vaccinated, something she is certain saved her life.

She suspects it was her bad lungs weakened by a previous pulmonary embolism, which left her critically ill, when the virus invaded her body. She was taken to hospital by ambulance 10 days ago. Her husband and daughter, both infected with the virus and fully vaccinated, quickly recovered at home. If I had not been double vaccinated I would be dead. There are no two ways about it, Ms Roessen says as a nurse takes her blood pressure. It was very scary. The staff here are angels. There are no words for them. Western Health treated the most Victorians infected with COVID-19 in the state last year. But the virulent Delta variant has meant staff have treated more coronavirus patients in recent months than the whole of 2020.

And there are more to come, in the order of 1100 COVID-19 patients, who could be in hospital by late December or early January, according to modelling provided by the Burnet Institute. Maria Roessen is being tended to by ICU nurse Montana McQuade. Credit:Justin McManus On Thursday, there were nine critically ill coronavirus patients in Sunshine Hospitals ICU, most aged between 40 and 60, but the youngest in their 30s. Another eight critically ill patients were at nearby Footscray Hospital, while almost 50 others filled other coronavirus wards. A nurse is at the end of each bed in the ICU, dressed in a plastic face shield, pale blue gown and fitted face-mask, carefully observing a computer screen monitoring vitals.

Loading Some patients are ventilated and lying on their bellies as colourful tubes attached to them stretch out to machines humming softly nearby. Others are bare-chested on their backs, beneath a sea of monitors, their feet dangling out the end of the bed. There is a tiny resuscitation table for newborn babies in the corner of the ward following a surge in pregnant, unvaccinated women being admitted, putting them and their unborn babies in heightened danger of severe outcomes. The pressure is being felt in every corner of the hospital. Western Healths critical care outreach service manager, Kylie Fisher, is overseeing the complex daily logistics of managing other seriously ill people. This involves prioritising only the sickest people for urgent surgeries. Meanwhile, a team of intensive care physicians tend to the seriously ill outside the ICU - something that would have been almost unheard of pre-pandemic.

They feel like theyve got their finger in the dike and the moment they move it, the flood could start, she said. They are still providing incredible care, but they have been very, very crucial in managing the higher acuity on a general ward. Nurses who usually work in operating theatres have been trained up and re-deployed to the COVID-19 ICU. ICU nurse Louise Watson says nothing prepared her for looking after COVID-19 patients. Credit:Justin McManus Among them is critical care nurse Louise Watson, who returned to the ICU six weeks ago. While the senior nurse has cared for countless patients with pneumonia over the years, nothing prepared her for COVID-19. It is the primal and desperate hunger for air that is etched in her mind. These people are just so severely depleted of oxygen they are literally gasping for air, she said.

Loading They have such panic in their eyes. What we are having to tolerate in terms of oxygen levels that patients are experiencing is something I have never seen before. It can be any demographic, any age, if people are unvaccinated, they can get severely ill from COVID. Victorias Health Department revealed on Friday that 95 percent of those in ICU with COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated. Professor French said many had chosen not to be vaccinated due to their beliefs. These values are often shared by the patients families, making clinical conversations about life-saving treatments extremely difficult.

Some families have expressed a desire to shun conventional medicine, while other families request dangerous and unproven drug treatments they have read about online. Others find it hard to comprehend how much their loved one has deteriorated on FaceTime calls after having not seen them become increasingly sicker in the ICU. ICU physiotherapists move a coronavirus patient onto their stomach. Credit:Justin McManus Irrespective of their vaccination status or beliefs about the virus, the professor at the department of critical care at the University of Melbourne said every COVID-19 patient receives the best care possible. We do not judge, we just get on with the job, he said. I am extremely proud of how hard the staff work every day. However, he said the abuse his staff have endured from the families of those severely ill with the disease, who believe the COVID-19 is a conspiracy, has taken a heavy toll. Psychologists have been called in to the ICU weekly to support healthcare workers.

Loading The level of verbal assault our clinical staff have been exposed to in the last six to eight weeks is something I have never, ever experienced in my career, the intensive care physician said. The misinformation, the belief this isnt real, the absolute distress they are experiencing when their relatives are critically unwell makes it very, very difficult to have a conversation with them about how we can help them because what theyre requesting is often not consistent with the medical advice. But the gratitude of some families remains profound. One recently sent in dozens of kebabs to feed staff who were caring for their loved one. Despite the challenges, those on the frontline work tirelessly and with military precision. Late Thursday, nurses gently reassured patients as they tended to them, while a crowd of doctors gathered around the nurses station carefully examining chest X-rays.

Lungs that look white as bone indicate there are virtually no air-filled spaces for the patient to breathe. This influences treatment, such as proning, which involves up to eight staff turning ventilated patients onto their stomach to open up their airways. Ms Roessen is hopeful she will be discharged next week. Others will not be so lucky. There are members of Melbournes western suburbs that are not going home to their families and that is a tragedy we all struggle with, Professor French said. These are peoples mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children. Even if they do survive, theyre never going to be the same again after such a severe critical illness.
Every year except this one I will inevitably be on the phone to a friend or relative and mention the imminent HSC exam period and the impact it is having on work  practice papers up the wahzoo if Im teaching year 12, a weird calm if Im not.

We will reminisce about our own HSCs, and how good it felt when the exams finally started, and the very much pre-Marie Kondo sparking of joy with the disposal (or sale) of our study notes as each exam was completed.

The class of 2021s HSC journey has been a marathon. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Sometimes, friends even ask to see the exam papers  I mean, could they still answer a question on the extent to which detente contributed to the end of the Cold War, or whether theyve remembered any of their 3-unit maths knowledge?

Not this year. Because if I tell someone when the HSC starts (Tuesday, in two sleeps time), their response will be I know, I cant believe it! Those poor students! The 2021 year 12 cohort has been collateral damage in the battle to keep us all safe. Never before has a group of students had a five-term year.
The price of a typical house in Sydney has multiplied by 17 times in the past 40 years, almost three times faster than wages.

Analysis by social research firm McCrindle revealed that wage growth has failed to keep pace with the housing boom across all Australian capital cities.

Melbourne property prices increased the most since 1981, while Sydney has remained the most expensive housing market overall.

Alexandra Samootin saved money for a house deposit and owned a home with her then-husband, but wound up homeless in later life. Credit:Janie Barrett

Founder Mark McCrindle said the rise in two-income households had boosted relative borrowing power for some families, but this also widened the social divide.
The developer business partner of ousted mayor Antoine Doueihi is looking to buy up property in a suburb the latter has helped to merge with a wealthier neighbour.

Robert Gregory, who directs multiple entities with former Strathfield Liberal mayor Doueihi, is seeking options on property in residential Elliott Street, Belfield, where Cr Doueihi has pushed along efforts to rename as Strathfield South.

Former Strathfield mayor Antoine Doueihi. Credit:Facebook

It is also a street in which the council had confidential discussions about raising building heights, however those plans have not proceeded.

One resident of Elliott Street said the quiet street  backing onto a block already being built upon, and close to another slated for apartments  did not need greater development.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A garbage truck clunks down Janine Francis street in Victoria at 6am every Friday, waking her. She listens, wondering if thats how her niece Shaes body was picked up in a skip bin before it was dumped at a Queensland tip. Janine gets up from her bed and on some days, she sprays a Rihanna perfume around her home. It is one of the last physical things she has to feel close to Shae. Shae Francis is remembered by her family as a caring and wise soul, who would always lend a helping hand. On her knees, Janine has dug up parts of Queensland with her bare hands searching for her niece, who she took in when she was a young girl. I only have to have a cold, rainy day and the first thought in my mind is that Shaes out there somewhere in the cold, in the wet, she says, her voice breaking.

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The search is nothing less than debilitating, excruciating, and all-consuming, she tells me. And when she gets off the phone, she will cry. Shae, 35, was staying with her boyfriend, Jason Cooper, at the time she went missing. Cooper is not facing any charges relating to Shaes death, and he says Shae died in her sleep. The Crown says they are unable to exclude that Shae died in her sleep on the available evidence. Janine is haunted by reports of a blood-soaked mattress and neighbours speaking of an overpowering off-meat smell from Shaes room. Cooper is charged with interfering with a corpse and stealing for allegedly using Shaes bank cards. He denies the allegations and the trial will commence on November 26.

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As for Shaes body, police initially suspected it had been put in an industrial bin on the Esplanade at Torquay, before it was transferred to the Maryborough tip. But Shaes body has not been found, despite forensic specialists spending days sifting through a plot on the site in March 2020. When I ask Janine if she believes her nieces remains are at that tip, she pauses, choking on her words. I dont believe shes there, I believe shes somewhere else. And at times, I think, what if she is there though, and she remains in a rubbish dump? Shaes boyfriend Jason Cooper. Shae and Cooper had moved to Queenslands south-east from Shepparton, Victoria in 2018. Shae wanted to reconcile with her estranged mother, and decided to stay at The Hub backpackers accommodation in Hervey Bay, almost four hours north of Brisbane. But in late 2018, neighbours reported a bad smell coming from Shaes room.

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Staff at The Hub told a previous court hearing how they cleaned up the room. One worker, Chris Krieger, recalls how his plastic cleaning glove ripped, and he felt the mattress soaked to the bottom with what he believed could have been blood. But when questioned further, he wasnt certain and accepted it was possible the stain could have been something else, such as vomiting after drinking red wine. An until-now unpublished photo of The Hub unit Shae Francis is believed to have died in. Another worker, Leanne Douglas, who inspected the units says she saw what she believed were blood and faeces stains on the mattress and floor. The smell was so bad, management had the airconditioning unit removed. It is an ending to a life that is utterly jarring compared with Shaes younger days.

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There are memories of a bubbly girl who recited poems and joked around, often playing pranks. Shae was the kind of girl to give away her last dollar, Janine says of her best friend. She studied human biology at university and had hoped to one day work in a lab on cures for diseases. Janine says her niece would have turned 38 this week. Some days, she would come home and tell her aunty Nene she needed some money as she had given her last change to someone on the street. She was very compassionate, and compassionate towards being kind to, I guess, humanity, Janine says, adding that its hard to refer to her as was, rather than is. Shed been on the receiving end, you know, earlier years of turmoil, and I guess she knew what it felt like to just sort of feel like the underdog I guess.

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A GP in Melbournes west is the latest medical practitioner to be investigated for allegedly issuing falsified COVID-19 exemptions.

Dr Mark Hobart of North Sunshine Surgery is being investigated over claims he faked COVID-19 vaccine records either by issuing fraudulent exemptions or falsifying whether a vaccine has been administered, the Victorian Department of Health has confirmed.

Dr Mark Hobart. Credit:MCJ Report

Calls to the clinic by The Sunday Age have gone unanswered this week, but multiple signs on the door and windows of Dr Hobarts clinic on McIntyre Road state the clinic was shut down by authorities.

The Victorian government has banned patients from entering this surgery because Dr Hobart refused to surrender your private and confidential patient files, the sign states.
In the streets of Melbournes CBD on Saturday, there were two parallel universes at play.

On one, a climate justice protest rally, drew between 200 and 300 people screaming for more urgent action on climate change amid dire warnings for the planet.

Two streets over, more than 3000 people screamed for the resignation of Premier Daniel Andrews, an end to vaccine mandates and the destruction of the governments proposed pandemic legislation.

After months of heavily policed lockdown protests in contravention of Chief Health Officer orders, protesters are now free to gather and no arrests were made on Saturday.
Christmas is a time for our local traders to make up for what has been the toughest trading period for them, she said at a press conference on Sunday morning. It is important that all of these initiatives are aimed at making sure were generating economic value for our local traders. Vaccinated Melburnians eat out again as the city reopens. Credit:Getty [The voucher scheme] has been very successful, the data shows it made the foot traffic increase three times faster than in previous bounce-backs. Cr Capp encouraged Victorians to get their second vaccination dose so the state could reach its next milestone of 90 per cent fully-vaccinated

At that point masks would no longer be required in offices which Cr Capp said was a major deterrent to workers returning to the city. Tourism and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula said the return of theatre shows such as Frozen and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would turbo-charge the citys return after lockdown six, and there was great cause for optimism. Much of the states ambulance capacity hits code orange The Victorian ambulance union has warned that the heavy strain on paramedics will continue, after a code red emergency was almost called on Saturday night due to hospital ramping and high caseloads. A Department of Health warning, seen by The Age, said Ambulance Victoria was expecting a major impact on normal business delivery on Saturday, with the potential for a code red situation.

They have exhausted their ability to meet demand, the note from the State Emergency Management Centre said. While a code red was not called overnight, much of Victoria was considered code orange, with paramedics under significant strain due to additional coronavirus cases. A code red was called during the thunderstorm asthma crisis in 2016, with a similar situation occurring in December last year after a glut of acute calls for assistance. Danny Hill, the secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, said the state would see much more strain on the system, with high COVID-19 case totals and the cumulative effects of people deferring health care during the pandemic.

There will be more code orange and potentially code red occurring ... the staff are just completely burnt out, theyre tired and theyre exhausted, he said. Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill. Credit:Simon ODwyer Its a bit of a perfect storm with not enough crews available to respond to the workload thats coming in. We need to see people getting back into seeing their GP regularly. Get on top of your health and hopefully dont let yourself get into a situation where youre calling triple zero at 2am. A spokesman for Ambulance Victoria said while they expected patient demand to have an impact on their services on Saturday night, the proactive steps we took prevented the need for maximum escalation.

Our paramedics and patient transport workers are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians, the spokesman. Mr Andrews urged people not to call triple zero unless it was an emergency due to the incredible demand. There is a bit of pressure in the system at the moment, that will pass in time ... as we see COVID demand come off. 1173 new cases

The announcement came as Victoria recorded 1173 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Sunday morning, with the peak pharmacy body suggesting Australians will be receiving vaccination boosters for years to come. Victorias Department of Health said over 83 per cent of eligible Victorians were now fully vaccinated, with Australia reaching the vaccination milestone of 80 per cent of those over 16 years old double-jabbed on Saturday. There are now 568 people in hospital across the state, with 96 in intensive care and 63 on ventilators. More than 56,600 test results were returned across Saturday, with 13,913 vaccination doses administered in state-run centres.

Victoria now has 16,413 active cases of the virus. The average age of Australians in an intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19 has dropped significantly, with the median age now sitting at 53 years. During the first wave of infections in early 2020 the median age was 64. We think thats probably a reflection of Delta, said Aidan Burrell, an intensive care doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Delta is affecting the younger people who, in general, have fewer comorbidities. The intensive care data has been collated as part of an ongoing Australian study called SPRINT-SARI with COVID-19 data from 64 intensive care units.

Annual COVID-19 injections will become an integral part of the national vaccination program and COVID-19 will need to be fought like other viruses which have been around for decades, according to the Pharmacy Guild. Pharmacy Guild president Trent Twomey said there would be a need for booster shots for the foreseeable future to protect Australians against the coronavirus. The question is what booster and what interval we need to get that booster, whether its every six, nine or 12 months. Those decisions need to be based on evidence and facts and at the moment that is an evolving space, he said. Loading Mr Twomey added it will probably take until 2023 until we reach some sort of steady state vaccination program that would involve one annual booster shot for the population, much as the flu shot has become annual.
You had better stick to Sydney and make merry with the push

For the bush will never suit you and youll never suit the bush.

The great divide between the city and the country is part of Australian folklore, cemented there by poets like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson, whose literary duel about the realities of bush life in the late 1800s helped shape our national identity before we were even a nation.

A worker at the Stanmore coal mine in the Bowen Basin, Queensland. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Almost 130 years after that debate played out on the pages of The Bulletin magazine, the disconnect it captured between regional and metropolitan Australia persists; and the national argument about how to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 has put it into stark relief.

Working towards net zero emissions is a welcome but largely abstract policy for city voters, whose jobs are less likely to rely on affected industries.
Where were we before Scott Morrisons overseas trip descended into an episode of Gossip Girl, complete with petulant storm-offs and the weaponisation of personal text messages? I believe we were discussing the imminent destruction of the planet, and Morrisons lukewarm plan (which is more of a vibe than a plan) to address Australias part in it.

Morrisons office spent weeks backgrounding journalists that the Prime Minister would probably not attend the Glasgow COP conference because it would mean he would have to spend too long in quarantine on his return home. That excuse collapsed when NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet summarily announced he was scrapping quarantine.

Illustration: Reg Lynch Credit:

Morrison signed up to a 2050 target, announced Australias plan to meet it (mostly a rehash of pre-existing policies) and packed his polo-necks for Glasgow.

As with most things Morrison, in sowing doubt as to whether he would attend the conference at all, the Prime Minister was hedging his bets, carefully getting his political staff to prepare the ground for whichever way he chose to pivot. If you muddy the waters enough, no one can accuse you of deception, let alone lying about your intentions.
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Effi launches solution that can get brokers paid their commission on the day of settlement New product can reduce the time it takes for commissions to get paid from 45-60 days to just one

Who better to teach children about managing money than the people who help their clients reach their financial goals every day  brokers. Australian Broker spoke to two Perth brokers about their involvement in Global Money Week.

If theres one thing COVID-19 has taught us, its the importance of taking control of our finances.

Families had to tighten their belts during the height of the pandemic last year, with many people forced to rely on JobKeeper and JobSeeker to survive. Even those whose jobs werent affected have had more time to focus on the family budget, especially paying down debt and saving money.

But financial literacy should not just be a priority for adults; it needs to be taught to children as well.

Since 2012, Global Money Week has been raising awareness of the importance of ensuring children and young people are financially aware and are acquiring the skills they need to make sound financial decisions.

Organised by the OECD International Network on Financial Education, Global Money Week has reached more than 40 million children in 175 countries.

In Australia, it has been supported by ASIC and the MFAA, with the peak body encouraging its broker members to teach students about financial literacy.

Two Perth brokers who have done just that are Gerhard Sifkovits of Elite Finance Australia and Nicole Harvey of Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers.

Sifkovits has been a broker since 2018 and won the 2020 MFAA Newcomer of the Year award for WA after working as a chef all over the world for 23 years. He studied accounting but says he wasnt exactly inspired by it, so he completed a Diploma in Mortgage and Finance Broking and joined the MFAA.

I love the monthly catch-ups the MFAA offers, he says. Those meetings always have industry experts as guest speakers; thats just one of the ways the MFAA ensures we keep up to date with the ever-changing landscape.

Sifkovits says he came to realise there was a lack of understanding of basic finance, with lots of people failing to adhere to those basic principles and not understanding the consequences of their financial behaviour.

As a broker we can make a massive difference in peoples lives in helping them to tidy up their financials and training them to be more financially savvy. So when they get themselves into the biggest commitment they make in their life we know that they are ready.

The Global Money Week initiative is a great way to get the attention of the younger age group and teach them about good savings and spending patterns up to high-school age where it starts to get a bit more sophisticated.

This is a fantastic resource that is provided by the Global Money Week initiative and made available through the MFAA. Sifkovits has three children, and his two younger ones attend Maida Vale Primary School, where he presented Global Money Week lessons for two years running.

Unfortunately, COVID has prevented a third year happening [in 2021], but Im looking forward to presenting again in the future.

The aim of the lessons is to get children to form a healthy relationship with their finances and understand that financial wealth is created over time and requires discipline.

At school Im talking about a saving/spending pattern and how to always put some of your pocket money aside to save for the longer term.

I am also the school banking coordinator, which works hand in hand with the Global Money Week initiative as we can prove the creating-wealth-over-time component. I also emphasise the difference between debit and credit cards in the hope that our kids will adopt a save-before-you-spend habit rather than our current spend now, pay later behaviour.

Sifkovits says its very important to teach young people about the value of money and savings, and he encouraged brokers to get involved in Global Money Week.

We are living in a spending society with products ready at your fingertips even if we dont have the money for it, for example Afterpay, Zip Pay, storecards.

Looking back at my life, I never had any other loan except a home loan, and once tried a credit card with a $1,000 limit just to find out that it costs too much money and doesnt add value. So I cut it up and closed the account. I suppose this behaviour was adopted from my parents who taught me how to manage my finances.

Sifkovits says these days most children see parents swiping a card or getting a delivery made to the door without the exchange of physical money.

We need to start to teach kids from an early age to ensure that they have the fundamentals and a sound understanding [of finance] when they become adults. Global Money Week Initiative is the right pathway to introduce those fundamentals.

Sifkovits says the school curriculum should include financial literacy.

I would love to imagine a world where everyone has at least 10% savings when applying for a loan, and no or low levels of debt. Imagine what difference that would make for us brokers not needing to worry if our clients actually understood what we spoke about in the meeting as they already had sufficient enough knowledge.

Nicole Harvey has two sons, Tyson, aged 12, and Marcus, 11. She has been a broker at Smartline for five years.

I joined Smartline in 2016, says Harvey. I approached Smartline because I was looking for a family-friendly company where I could do what I love and still be there for the boys. I was so fortunate that they found me a place in one of the franchises  Victoria Park  and I became an MFAA member.

Harvey says she has had the privilege of taking part in Global Money Week, delivering financial literacy sessions to students at Perth high school Shenton College.

It was very much last-minute notice; however, as my boss said, despite the fact we were so busy, Do it  youve been banging on about it. So I managed to get it together for the next day.

A key point I took on was that schools were encouraging saving  they have opportunities for banking every week. However, to me that isnt enough. So what I presented to the Year 9 and 10 students was an extension of that.

Harvey says she started the lesson with a focus on needs versus wants.

It sounds simple, but when kids are bamboozled by the media via devices and TV, its about explaining that they have a choice and they have the resources at their fingertips to make a better-informed decision.

Harvey also talked to the students about securing their first part-time job  starting with choosing a bank for their pay to go into, the choices they can look into, getting a tax file number, and talking about superannuation when that comes into play. Letting them know that if they arent being paid correctly, or are bullied in the workplace, they have a voice with support.

Harvey also explained to the students what a credit report is, how it can affect you in the future, and ways to eliminate the chances of having a poor credit report.

I believe that financial literacy is one of the best gifts we can give to our kids. It needs to encompass so many things, the main one being that if you can give kids the tools to make their financial journey with clear boundaries, we can set them up for a healthy financial journey where they will be better equipped when it comes to getting their first job and less likely to experience financial burden in the future.

Harvey says financial literacy should be a core subject from primary school age, and if schools arent able to facilitate that it should be brokers who volunteer to provide this education.

WA School Curriculum and Standards Authority executive Allan Blagaich says Western Australias mandated maths, humanities and social sciences curriculum includes consumer and financial literacy learning for students from pre-primary to Year 10.
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NextGen.Nets new head of broker partnerships Renee Blethyn has over 20 years experience in the finance industry. She talks about her role and the valuable data the tech providers Industry Benchmark Reporting service offers aggregators and lenders.

Renee Blethyn is excited by the power of technology and the opportunity to work closely with broker networks.

She began her career as a broker at a Destiny Financial Solutions franchise before working in various roles at Suncorp, Pepper Money, BankSA, Connective and St. George Bank.

Blethyn joined NextGen.Net, a leading technology provider to the mortgage lending industry, as its new head of broker partnerships in June.

So this was a change for me, having started out as a broker and then worked for a lender as well as an aggregator in a couple of different roles some time ago, Blethyn says.

Ive got a pretty great insight across all the different parts of our industry. What I didnt have was the technology side, and thats what really excited me about the NextGen opportunity.

I just see this awesome opportunity with the way that technology is going to disrupt and change a lot of industries. Theres some exciting things that are going to happen for our industry, and I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about it.

With her broad view of the finance industry, Blethyn says she has a different insight into how NextGen.Net can meet the needs of brokers and borrowers and ensure that brokers remain the channel of choice for the consumer.

So, what has impressed Blethyn about NextGen.Net?

The biggest insight for me has been getting a full picture of the work that goes on behind the scenes, says Blethyn. The work that we do with lenders is 24/7, and the amount of time and energy we invest with our lender partners helps us find efficiencies that are going to be of benefit to both the broker and the borrower.

Blethyn is also inspired by NextGen.Nets intelligence  its data and insights  and investment in future technologies.

Open banking is fast approaching, and the investment NextGen.Net has made to make sure were at the forefront of that to help support brokers, aggregators and lenders is really exciting. Ive also been so impressed by the people at NextGen.Net and the work culture.

This includes providing wellness leave for employees to help them survive and thrive during the challenging COVID lockdowns.

The culture and the values of the organisation are outstanding.

Industry Benchmark Reporting

For the last few years NextGen.Net has been working on building market data and industry insights. More than 97% of all mortgage brokers use its ApplyOnline platform for electronic lodgement, and ApplyOnline processes seven in 10 Australian mortgages.

The ApplyOnline platform processes over a million applications each year  an enormous amount of data which allows us to see the trends of whats happening in the market, says Blethyn.

NextGen.Nets customers, both lenders and aggregators, gain valuable insights from its Industry Benchmark Reporting service into loan activity each month, including their own performance and how it compares to the market.

What our report does is establish a benchmark point of view to help the broker group understand where their network is performing to market trends, says Blethyn.

Broker groups can also have visibility on how different lenders are performing, which helps them identify where the opportunities are to work collaboratively so we can all hopefully find some shared wins that deliver a better broker and borrower experience.

Data insights

While benchmark reporting is shared with aggregators and lenders but not brokers, it does benefit them, says Blethyn. It helps aggregator groups have a really informed conversation with their lender partners when it comes to performance with turnaround times.

The service provides information on lenders investments in technology to improve the loan process for brokers.

It also gives a great insight into those lenders that have chosen to enhance their process by taking up those technologies, for example eSign or the Document Verification Service or the Combined Industry Compliance tab.

Blethyn says brokers who use lenders tech enhancements see an improved time to yes performance.

The data gives a whole view of all applications, so you can have a look at application flows across all of the different segments, different regions and LVR bands. Thats a huge amount of data, and, in terms of the insights, it depends on what the broker group or the lender would actually be looking for thats relevant to their specific business.

The information includes data on applications (owner-occupiers, investments, refinances, the self-employed, etc.) and lender performance (time to yes, time to conditional, time to unconditional), as well as key application milestones through to settlement.

For brokers, its going to help improve that experience that the broker has for their client with specific lenders, Blethyn says.

From a market perspective, the value that it adds for a broker group is it gives them a really good insight as to how theyre trending against market trends so that they can support their brokers. It helps a broker group manage the needs of their brokers in however they want to drive and grow their businesses.

The Industry Benchmark Reporting service is available to all of NextGen.Nets aggregators and broker groups.

Since I started in June, Ive been in the process of engaging with our broker group partners to make sure theyve got access to the reporting and have had the training to extract the information thats really important to them.

Weve had really positive feedback so far, because it just gives another data source for those broker groups to have a visibility of the whole industry and how theyre performing.

Enhancements to reporting

Blethyn says a recent change was the introduction of embedded reporting, providing information in a live format for broker groups.

We update the information every 24 hours, and that enables broker groups to be able to see live whats actually happening in their network.

Were always continuously looking to improve the reporting and the information that is important to broker groups, so we work collaboratively to make sure were delivering more value.

The most exciting change to the service involves open banking.

NextGen.Net acquired Frollo last year because we could see the opportunity that open banking and CDR [the consumer data right] was going to provide to enhance the loan process, Blethyn says.

NextGen.Nets intention is to use the power of open banking to inform the loan application process and empower brokers holistic relationship with their clients.

Blethyn hopes it will eventually eliminate the requirements to provide supporting documents, making life so much easier for brokers and borrowers.

We can see how open banking can be leveraged to support the broker when they guide and educate their clients to get financially fit for the finance they need.

And its not just for the loan application process. Open banking is going to really empower the broker to be able to manage and support their clients early, and ensure they stay as the channel of choice for borrowers in the long term.

So its pretty exciting. Its going to provide enormous benefits to everyone in the value chain, being the borrower, broker and lender.

Challenges facing brokers

Turnaround times are the biggest challenge for brokers to manage at the moment, including client expectations around that, Blethyn says.

A range of factors affect turnaround times, including specific lender processes, the variance across lender policies and processes, and the constant changes that brokers need to keep up with, she adds.

What we also hear is that its also the complexity of borrower situations which impact that, so it could be non-standard employment or complex investment structures.

Given how quickly credit policies and loan products can change, Blethyn says brokers need to be agile and have exceptional communication skills to manage this complex landscape and ensure their clients are matched with the right lenders.

Changing technology

There have been a number of changes to the broker process, some of which are the result of COVID-19, Blethyn says. Brokers have had to quickly adopt new digital tools and change the way they interact with clients.

We actually had some of the technology there waiting, and that was one of the positives that came out of last year: the take-up of some of these digital ways to make that loan process smoother.

The tech tools required to calculate living expenses are important to brokers, especially with the amount of information they need to collect up front to get a picture of the borrower and a feel for who might be the right lender.

Blethyn says there are wins for brokers who work with lenders that have the best technology, because they have the best time to yes.
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Now in its 20th year, aggregator nMB is a trusted partner to hundreds of mortgage brokers with a proven track record of creating and sustaining successful businesses. Australian Broker explores nMBs remarkable achievements

National Mortgage Brokers launched in September 2001, little did managing director Gerald Foley know it would lead to the thriving and respected company that today has 500 brokers on its books.

In a way, nMB came about through circumstances beyond our control, says Foley.

I had started working for the Johnson Taylor Potter stockbroking firm in 2000 to set up a mortgage arm as part of JTP building a multiservice financial group.

Kon Avramidis and Sal Cinque, who Id worked with previously, soon came across to JTP as we established this new business.

After about a year, Foley says, the trio had started to build its national broker team when JTP was acquired by then Bell Securities, forming what today is Bell Potter.

Bell Potter was not interested in continuing the broader financial strategy, so we were faced with heading off in our separate directions or putting in place a management buyout.

We chose the latter, with the support of two other backers, John Bignell and Rob Emmett, and relaunched as National Mortgage Brokers on 1 September 2001 and moved the model to wholesale aggregation.

nMB, which won the Australian Mortgage Awards Aggregator of the Year (Under 500 Brokers) award in 2020, has grown steadily over the years with a singular focus  to help brokers grow their businesses.

The company has offices in Melbourne and Sydney and has invested significantly in developing opportunities for its broker network, including lead generation, diversification and training, backed by nMBs proprietary technology platform.

Our ability to build and maintain long-term broker relationships has been a highlight, says Foley.

Im also proud that weve been able to have change at an ownership level but still maintain our own identity and independence, at the same time giving our brokers greater corporate backing.

In 2012, nMB was acquired by Aussie Home Loans, but since 2017 its been part of Liberty Financial.

Having the balance sheet strength of a company that has built its business with the broker market as a focus means that we can continue our growth and support brokers every day with a trusted and proven partner.

Foley says over time nMB has evolved its broker engagement around the 5 Ps  Planning, Partners, People, Premises and Process.

Focusing on these covers all aspects of building a great broker business. At each stage we can provide guidance and tools to work with our brokers in these areas.

Were all about the broker-to-broker business journey, Foley says. Over the years we have focused on working with our brokers as they grow their businesses, providing support and guidance as required. Its not a one-size-fits-all approach; every business is different and has its own needs.

Technology and assisting brokers to achieve faster loan turnaround times are also important aspects of nMBs value proposition.

Tech is naturally an important part of a brokers arsenal. Since we started nMB we have built and developed our tech platforms, tapping into market solutions where appropriate. Were looking forward to a new platform being rolled out during 2022.

Foley says turnaround times are a regular discussion point in nMBs supplier engagements.

I understand that at times some lenders will hit speed humps; however, these often seem to drag on too long. Any disparity between broker and bank direct also needs to be addressed where it occurs.

We made several changes when BID was implemented to make sure our brokers could manage customer expectations around loan processing times.

The first was to bring forward questions along the lines of how soon do you need an answer on this loan?

Borrowers will usually be prepared to wait for a refinance, especially when there is a cashback involved. Where a lenders current processing times dont align with the borrowers expectation, those lenders will be removed from the selection process.

Foley says nMB has also moved away from the industry norm of service level agreements, or SLAs.

We now refer to loan processing times  or LPTs  and convert to calendar days, on the basis that a contract of sale is

also based on calendar days, not business [days], so it made sense to align the expectation.

Despite the difficulties created by the coronavirus pandemic, nMB reached the milestone of 500 brokers in February.

FY21 was a challenging year on so many levels. The move to meeting online rather than in person was a big change. What we found very quickly, not dissimilar to brokers and their customers, was that meeting online often created far more opportunities and accessibility.

We introduced over 140 new brokers into our business, through a combination of new businesses and existing brokers growing their teams.

Loan settlement growth has also been impressive in FY21.

We closed settlements 35% up year-on-year. There were several factors driving this across owner-occupiers and investors, including upsizers/downsizers, tree/sea changers; rst home buyer incentives; re nance opportunities; and, it seems, many FOMO buyers.

Foley says the aggregators plans for the next 12 months are to keep building its broker numbers through new business partnerships and working with existing brokers to build their teams.

The broker experience

Alex Martin, a director of Melbourne specialist mortgage broking and  nance consultancy business Premium Lending Group (PLG), has the proud distinction of being nMBs rst broker and is still part of its broker network today.

I had worked in banking for many years, including a stint at Westpac Commercial in the 90s when I met Kon Avramidis, one of the founders of nMB, says Martin.

When Kon started out at Johnson Taylor Potter in 2000 and was looking to grow a team of mortgage brokers, it presented a great opportunity to work with him again and within a stockbroking company.

After Avramidis, Cinque and Foley set up nMB, Martin says it presented as a great time for me to move into my own broking business.

Asset Plus Finance was launched the same day as nMB, and I was very happy to be their rst appointed broker.

In 2014, after a four-year contract providing broking services to The Pharmacy Guild, Martin says he was looking at what the next stage of his business might look like.

A lot had changed since I started in 2001, and I felt the need to be part of something a little bigger than being just me.

PLG, founded in 2006 by Michael Umbers, Peter Catramados and Tim Donohue, was aggregating with nMB, and the aggregator suggested Martin have a chat with Umbers as PLG was looking at growth opportunities.

I knew Mick well through our nMB connection, so we had a discussion. It just fell into place that we could merge our businesses to provide greater capacity to help more clients and share resources and experience.

Martin says its great to have been part of the nMB story since day one.

The support has always been there, and I have met so many good people along the way. Weve shared so many important events, including weddings, new family members and, sadly, funerals.

So, what sets nMB apart in the industry?

What stands out the most is the commitment to helping us grow and develop our business, says Martin.

The support is always there, with all the team available to help out. Our partnership manager, office team.

If we have questions around loan scenarios, marketing, commission queries or compliance, the team will always take a call and assist. Having that support network is highly valued by us and allows our company to concentrate on continuing business.

nMBs communication with brokers is also rst-class, says Martin. Each day we receive a summary of the days supplier changes and updates. This makes it easier for me to have one reference point to all the changes that take place through a day or week. As key market events occur, nMB keep us up to speed with any change that impacts on us. The aggregator is a trusted advocate for brokers in the mortgage  nance industry.

nMB and Gerald Foley have been heavily involved in this industry for as long as I can remember, Martin says. With the speed of regulatory change, its hard for brokers to be across it all. Its reassuring to know that nMB is reviewing and advising us of the changes we need to consider in managing our ACL [allowance for credit losses] and changing obligations.

While PLG operates under its own brand and organises its own marketing, nMB provides the brokerage with access to its CRM, content, and third-party relationships that it can use.

Being part of the nMB Broker Benchmarking Program has been a good way to identify where we can increase our marketing activities and opportunities through analysing our activity levels, loan portfolio and lead sources and identify areas for improvement for our business.

Martin says although all the brokers within nMB run their own businesses, there is a great sense of camaraderie.

We all enjoy catching up for the PD events  and the afters  and other events on a regular basis. Many of us get together outside of nMB events as well for lunches, and we regularly check in and support each other when needed.

This support crosses over from business needs to life events where we can help a colleague through a business-related matter or just through a tough time.

Although it hasnt been a live event for the past two years due to COVID-19, nMBs annual national broker conference is a highlight.

There is an automatic connection with the other nMB brokers from all over the country and a great sense of team.

PLG has also been recognised in the nMB rst 11 for several years now. This is a great opportunity to catch up with a smaller group of high-performing business owners to learn and share best practice.

Martin encourages new-to-industry brokers to partner with nMB as their aggregator.

nMB is the right aggregator partner for new and experienced brokers. They have a great, supportive culture and are always able to assist through the various stages of building your business, he says.

At the start of your broker journey, the bene ts of long-term partnerships may not be high on your list of priorities. Trust me, if youre going to make a success in this industry, this experience and support provided by nMB is invaluable.

Ultimately its up to you to have a red hot go; its not easy, but the bene ts and rewards can be fantastic. Good partnerships and friendships are such an important part of this.
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After contemplating a move into broking for months, Nicholas Clunes nally took the leap and joined the Aussie family in May, spurred on by the Aussie Bloom incentive. He started his new broking journey at Aussie Home Loans Neutral Bay.

Q: What led to you moving to a role at Aussie?

A: I had been looking to leave my role at Greater Bank, where Id been working as an assistant relationship manager for a few years. I had been contemplating working for myself when an Aussie broker, not knowing this, reached out and asked if Id considered Aussie  its like it was fate. I was unaware of the benets of working for a brand like Aussie and the support I would receive, as compared to ying solo. After a couple of long phone calls and a meeting, I handed in my resignation and dove head rst into the Aussie training program.

Im so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Aussies Bloom program; it really accelerated my journey by allowing me to start much sooner as a broker than I had originally anticipated. The Bloom program took away a lot the worries and concerns Id had about starting out as new broker, through all the support and training I received along the way. It also meant that in my early days I was able to give my clients my full attention, without the fear of when my next pay cheque would be. If I had to make the decision again, I would pick Aussie every time, and for anyone considering a career change like me, I couldnt recommend the Aussie Bloom program more.

Q: What have you enjoyed most about mortgage broking?

A: One thing I enjoy about being a mortgage broker is being able to help people from all different backgrounds and circumstances. For a broker there is no one-size-ts-all approach; each one of our customers has different circumstances, and I find joy in seeking options to assist them in their situation. I believe a broker should provide as much value as possible and take the difficult out of home lending.

Q: What transferable s kills have you brought to Aussie from your previous work life?

A: The main skill I have taken from my previous role is the ability to think outside the box when it comes to implementing lending solutions. Also, [Im used to] being available to my customers; whether it be before or after hours or on weekends, I work around their working hours to ensure a seamless experience.

Q: How have you used social media to stay at the front of your customers mind?

A: Its important for my customers to know that, while we are locked down, now could be a great time to review their options. My main platform for reaching my customers is through LinkedIn, where I post quick tips and short pieces of valuable information around home lending. Making regular posts reminds customers that we are still available and open for business, as well as showing them the guidance we can offer them throughout their home loan journey.
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Building on its reputation for delivering quality service, Newcastle Permanent has introduced a suite of ApplyOnline digital tools to help boost application quality and enable the lender to fast-track applications.

Were implementing a broker loan processing fast lane through ApplyOnline, says Newcastle Permanent Acting Head of Digital Customer Experience and Innovation Simon Burt.

In contrast to the traditional approach of rewarding brokers who lodge the highest number of deals, Burt says, the number of loans you submit doesnt matter; if you do a good job, and submit a complete application, we will use ApplyOnline to identify that quality and process those loans ahead of those applications that are incomplete.

We have a focus on forming really strong partnerships with brokers who are wanting to send us quality business, says Burt.

Brokers using the entire suite of ApplyOnlines technology tools are absolutely at an advantage in working with us, given the assurances and efficiencies it provides. Features such as

Supporting Docs, the checklist within ApplyOnline, the Document Verification Service and eSign allow us to fast-track the processing of loans and build good, trusted relationships.

In our experience, where brokers dont use the tools, it often results in follow-up requests that can lead to days of inefficient reworking, which can then slow down the process for customers, brokers and our broker teams.

We want to encourage brokers to use all the ApplyOnline tools available to them.

Newcastle Permanents modus operandi is predicated on NextGen.Net technology enabling it to compete on a level playing field, Burt points out.

From a technology perspective, we can genuinely compete with the major banks. They might have a lot more to invest in technology, but through NextGen we are able to have a leading proposition, he says.

Recently, Newcastle Permanent signed an MOU with Greater Bank to explore uniting the two locally grown organisations through a merger to create one of Australias largest customer-owned banks, serving a combined customer base of approximately 600,000.

The merger will increase their ability to invest in new technologies and enhancements to the services offered to customers and partners, which will ultimately benefit brokers.

Our size means we are small enough to make changes quickly, and big enough to have enough money to do it, says Burt.

For example, weve been one of the first lenders, apart from the fintechs, to deliver digital signatures on home loans end to end. We use ApplyOnline eSign at the application stage, and DocuSign is implemented for the mortgage and loan agreement, as well as for variations.

Technology is important. So, too, is the human element, Burt emphasises. Our focus is on our people and relationships. Our BDMs are known as some of the best in the business.

We use technology to make it easy for the broker to take out the pain points and deliver us a quality application so the process can be streamlined and quick. Relationships are a key aspect of that equation.

Newcastle Permanent is expanding what it does with NextGen.Net, and Burt underscores the significance of this relationship.

I see NextGen as a partner versus just a software company. We align very closely with them, he says. We tell them what we want to do and how we want to change and evolve our processes. And they tell us how they think we could improve. Its all about making the process easier and faster for brokers.

Ive worked with NextGen for five years, and I really enjoy it because we are continually challenging each other to make the process better for brokers.

NextGen.Net Customer Account Executive Steven Hudson describes his role with Newcastle Permanent as a trusted adviser.

Through our partnership we can help to ensure Newcastle Permanent maximise their return on their investment. We adopt a consultative approach and make recommendations where we can make efficiencies work and where there are opportunities for improvement.

The way weve established and built on the relationship is a product of delivering on time and on budget. We do what we say were going to do and in the time frame we say well do it in. That cements and glues the relationship.

The next stage in Newcastle Permanents roadmap will be to grow further point-of-sale quality features, helping to boost straight-through processing and empowering brokers to ensure faster turnaround.

For us its about brokers using the full suite of ApplyOnline tools we are making available to them, says Burt.

For those brokers who take up these tools to help them provide all the right details up front  supporting documents, etc.,  it can really speed up processing by reducing unnecessary rework.
Aggregator AFG and neobank Volt have announced a new link up that could revolutionise the way that customers interact with banks and brokers.

AFG will launch an app, known as Handl. By AFG, that gives customers an interface to control all of their banking products, and a white label home lending product, AFG Home Loans Sparc, powered by Volts capacity.

What were seeing globally is something that is described as either integrated finance or embedded finance, said Volt CEO Steve Weston.

What that means is that customers in the future will, more often, do their banking through their trusted business partner, whether that be Apple, Google, a retailer, an airline or a mortgage broker.

That replaces what they have done for 600 years, which is go to a bank brand. Theres a whole heap of benefits for customers from that, and theres benefits for the corporation in this case, which is AFG.

Read more: Mortgage brokers react as RBA ditches cash rate target

The AFG-Volt relationship is the first of its type in the mortgage finance world. What it will entail initially is a white label banking app, branded as AFG, and also a white label digital mortgage.

In time, it will grow into a whole range of Open Banking solutions where customers will not just have the convenience of being able to see their credit cards, loans, super and balances through the AFG app, but also get help with budgeting and spending.

Theyll be more able to easily apply for home loans, and then it will move into deposit accounts branded by AFG. When Volt moves into SME and personal lending, well also look to offer white label banking products to AFG.

For Weston, the new app presents a unique opportunity for AFG to expand their lending options and control more of their process.

Effectively, AFG will put a moat around their customers and themselves, he said. Today, when 90% of AFG customers will go to lenders that arent called AFG Home Loans, that customer is then in the hands of another party.

AFG mortgage brokers to get extra volume capacity via Volt

If AFG can provide all of the banking services that the customer needs, theyre likely to retain them for a longer period and increase revenue.

To do this, AFG would have to have become a bank itself, or partnered with a bank to offer these products and services: there arent any banks in Australia that can to the same extent.

In terms of mortgage broking and offering a white label app, this is the first time that it has happened in Australia.

Weston described the new dynamic as B2B2C: business to broker to customer. The brokers will be able to take advantage of Volts capacity to access faster turnaround times and better options for their customers.

Volt is a business, and we go to the AFG brokers who are a business, he said. Ultimately, the people who open up and use the accounts are the customers.

Volt turnaround times coming to AFG mortgage brokers

What happens in terms of the real life experience is the customer going to the AFG broker and wanting to talk about some sort of finance. What the broker will say is that they have this AFG app where you can see all your accounts in the one place.

Applying for home finance using the app will make it a much easier process where we can look at expenditure, income and the like, as well as factoring in saving for a deposit and helping with budgeting.

As a broker, you have a best interest duty to put the client front and centre, and on the AFG panel there, will be a huge range of products and lenders, one of which will be AFG Sparc Home Loans, their white label funded by Volt.

That has a very quick turnaround time for the vast majority of customers, using data analytics to a much greater extent. If you look at the AFG Quarterly Report, it talks about turnaround times, and in the last quarter, it fell from 25 working days to 22 days for unconditional approval.

We are able to do that consistently in under an hour, so the customer is now getting a great banking app, a home loan experience that is competitively priced and with very quick turnarounds, and at the end of the day, the customer has an AFG Home Loan and an AFG app, so they dont have to go to XYZ to get a deposit and get marketed for a mortgage.

In this case with Volt, we absolutely know that the customer ownership lies with the AFG broker, and that is very different to what happens today.


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The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has announced its best financial result in history as well as a significant growth in membership over the 2020-21 financial year.

Peter White, managing director at FBAA, said the association recorded net assets of $1.8 million and net retained earnings of $769,000 over the financial year.

This was achieved with no government COVID stimulus, no increase in membership fees for three years, no redundancies or removal of staff, and no reduction or terminations in any supplier contracts, White said.

The association also experienced a net membership growth of 10.78%  most of whom are customer-facing brokers  as it passed the 9,400 count in October. This number is expected to rise as FBAAs financial wins would enable them to provide more benefits for its members.

Weve always been a grass roots organisation run by brokers for brokers, and I believe thats why everyone within the FBAA always works tirelessly for members, White said. We all know the challenges of the industry and are all directly affected by the highs and lows.

The FBAA said that its success was in large part due to the exceptional service of its members. Board commendations went out to:

Gus Gilkeson, former NSW president and past board member who has since retired from his positions

Glenn Mitchell of Vow YBR Group, who represents the FBAA committee

Nick Lane, FBAA finance manager who takes the associations professional reporting abilities to a higher level

Leah Renwick, long-serving FBAA staff member who prioritises member needs above all else

Judith Hocking, FBAA staff member who has constantly provides a high level of service to the members of the association

In the same statement, the association announced the appointment of new fellow members, namely John Kolenda of Finsure Group, Gerald Foley of nMB, Renee Blethyn of CoreLogic, David Hannah of McMillan Shakespeare Group and Greg Rodgers, external legal counsel of the FBAA.
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REA Group has announced a strong Q1 FY22 result, with its flagship real estate listings site up 11% for the quarter, despite lockdowns. The results hit the ASX this morning and saw REAs price hit an all-time high of $1.76.

The Mortgage Choice/Smartline section of the business contributed heavily, powering the Group to $264m in revenue, a 35% rise on the first quarter of the last financial year. REAs earnings were also up a full quarter, topping out at $158m.

The acquisition of Mortgage Choice saw costs impacted, but stands the group in good stead in the long-term. It is expected that the new mortgage broker franchise will be fully integrated into the business by Q3 of FY23.

READ MORE: Mortgage Choice branding to be maintained after REA Group acquisition

REA has delivered an impressive given the prolonged lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne. Our performance reflects the continued value our premium listing products are delivering to our customers, and realestate.com.aus clear position as the number one place to search, find and finance property, said CEO Owen Wilson.



Our teams have made excellent progress across a number of key initiatives including the integration of our Mortgage Choice and Smartline businesses, the roll out of new products such as our Connect offering and our integrated rental applications platform, all of which provide the

foundations for continued growth.
Australian Broker TV brings you closer to the industry's most influential leaders and thinkers. Click on the videos below to watch the interviews:

Finsure celebrates 10 years of success, growth Finsure managing director John Kolenda discusses aggregator's remarkable achievements and its exciting plans.
In 2011, Rebel Foods, born Faasos, wasnt the cloud kitchen startup it is today. In fact, cofounders Kallol Banerjee and Jaydeep Barman set off with the idea to incorporate a high-street quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain selling wraps.

We thought wed be the next McDonalds, Rebel Foods cofounder Kallol Banerjee told Business Standard. However, the vagaries of the restaurant industry, from the lack of high-street locations to high rents to the growing competition, meant that even before the company could fully grasp the market, it had to think about cutting costs.

We went dark around 2014 before the Zomato- disruption happened, said Banerjee. When asked about what Rebel Foods has done differently to become the first unicorn in a cluttered cloud kitchen market, Banerjee said the company problem-solved its way to a business.

We started with making food and still do that. But because today we have the advantages of growing revenue, a scalable business model and venture capital money, we are deploying technology to streamline our food-making processes and reduce the inefficiencies, he said.

The logic is simple. Banerjee explained that because of the presence of internet food courts such as and Swiggy, a single cloud kitchen with just one brand is unlikely to be a lasting bet. Instead, cloud kitchen businesses should be built at scale, with multiple brands across cuisines and taste palettes serving different cities.

Automation > Hiring more people for kitchens

However, as it expands, the business has to balance hiring more people for its kitchens and keeping costs down. That is where automation comes in. So, the companys team of product experts, engineers and industrial designers has automated repetitive processes, hitherto requiring constant supervision from chefs.

Rebel Foods is developing machines that understand recipes. For instance, the company uses a wok  like a rotating tumbler  which simulates the chefs stir-frying motion. The wok controls the temperature and the amount of oil dispensed. Rebel has taken it one step further with automation and attached a video screen and an app to the wok. Now, at different stages of cooking, the machine instructs the chef when to add the different ingredients as per the recipe. While chefs will come and go at Rebel Foods, intelligent robots are passing down recipes.

These intelligent machines allow Rebel to run multiple brands from the same kitchen. The company has over 20 brands in India, such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, Mandarin Oak, Firangi Bake, Lunch Box, The Good Bowl, Sweet Truth and The Biryani Life. According to Banerjee, the multiplicity of brands is an advantage unlike any other for cloud kitchens.

A business like ours can solve for different customer missions. So lunch on a weekday is a very different mission from ordering food on Sunday while watching the India-Pakistan match. We crave different meals, cuisines at different times of the week. At Rebel, all of those needs of a single customer are fulfilled from one kitchen, he added.

How does the kitchen manage that?

Different brands, one stove

The rice for Faasos and the rice for Mandarin Oak are cooked at the same station or stove. But as the meal moves along the assembly line, key differences in ingredients and hence taste would come about since the machines remember the recipes! The packaging adds the final layer of distinction.

Rebel has leveraged this cloud kitchen advantage to become a household name in the Biryani segment.

While Behrouz is its premium brand that sticks to its prices, Rebel fights the discount war with The Biryani Life, its other brand in the segment.

Once you know how to cook a Biryani, you can call it 10 different names and introduce slight variations in the quantity of rice, the spices, the preparation of meat, etc. The same happens with FMCG companies, said Banerjee.

Besides competition, Banerjees fellow restaurateurs are also fighting aggregators Zomato/Swiggy, flagging their commissions of around 30%-40% as a pain point. Banerjee conceded that Rebel Foods  which receives over 50% of its orders from and  would be happier if the aggregators could reduce their commissions.

As customers in any industry become mature, the personalisation trend takes hold. We have our app EatSure, which was launched recently. But we also have dedicated direct ordering apps for most of our brands. The hook for these apps cannot be variety but personalisation, Banerjee said.

Innovations such as the customer being able to see their food being cooked, through the mobile app, maybe even talk to the chef, are waiting to happen. Zomato/ would never do that because they dont make the food. Such personalisation, along with other tested features such as loyalty points leading to better prices for the customer, can help create an additional revenue stream for food businesses, he added.

While Rebel Foods entered the unicorn club this month, its financial results for the fiscal year 2020-21 arent known yet. But in FY20, the company had seen a 229% increase in losses to over Rs 431 crore due to aggressive expansion in the Middle East and Southeast Asia markets. During the same period, its revenue also increased 84% to Rs 572 crore.

Today, Rebel Foods runs 350 cloud kitchens in 45 cities across six countries. Talking about the increase in the companys losses, Banerjee asserted that Rebel Foods is profitable at the level of its cloud kitchens. However, the company invests that money in deploying more technology to make the cooking processes more efficient.

We want to end the year with 400 cloud kitchens and reach 500 by next year. In the long term, we are looking at 1,500 to 2,000 cloud kitchens. Thats a little more than the number of stores Dominos has, Banerjee said.

In many ways, a cloud kitchen is the typical Indian jugaad. With space at a premium in the big cities and growing competition among dine-in restaurants, these delivery-only ghost kitchens were the early disruptors. They are mostly running out of places with low rentals, which keeps the entry costs low. The cloud kitchen trend is even more crucial for the industry now saddled with a lasting change in consumer behaviour, with dine-in yet to recover to pre-Covid levels. A report by the National Restaurants Association of India says the industry shrank 53% in the fiscal year 2020-21.

Today, Indias food services industry is massively under-penetrated compared to the US and China, according to a report by RedSeer, a management consultancy firm. But the industry will double in size by 2025  clocking a gross merchandise value of $13 Bn. The trends that will lead to this growth will be an increased preference among consumers to order online and a consequent rise in the share of online orders as a percentage of the total revenue of a restaurant.

For Banerjees delivery only Rebel Foods, this is no time to slow down.
Realty firm Godrej Properties' sales bookings rose 18 per cent to Rs 3,072 crore during the April-September 2021 period, driven by higher demand of its residential properties in Delhi-NCR.

The sales bookings had stood at Rs 2,605 crore in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

In terms of volume, the sales bookings grew 3 per cent to 43,83,959 sq ft during the first six months of this fiscal as against 42,41,283 sq ft in the year-ago period, according to an investors' presentation.

Out of the total sales bookings in the first half of 2021-22, residential properties contributed Rs 3,051 crore while commercial properties only Rs 20 crore.

The Delhi-NCR market contributed maximum sales bookings at Rs 1,063 crore, followed by Pune Rs 607 crore, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) Rs 525 crore and Bengaluru Rs 330 crore.

Recently, reported a five-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 35.72 crore for the quarter ended September on higher revenues.

Its net profit stood at Rs 7.10 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 334.22 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal, from Rs 250.23 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Pirojsha Godrej, executive chairman of Ltd, said: "After a weak first quarter, the sector has rebounded strongly in the second quarter."



"We have a robust launch pipeline in the second half of the financial year and expect to build on the current momentum," Godrej said.

Mumbai-based is part of business conglomerate Godrej Group. It is one of the leading developers in the country with a strong presence in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Bengaluru and Pune markets.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh each for the kin of those who were killed in the fire mishap at Ahmednagar Civil hospital.

"Deputy Commissioner (DC) has ordered an enquiry into the incident and has directed to submit the report in a week's time," added Tope.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also expressed his condolences over the fire incident and ordered a probe into the incident.

Earlier in the day, Ahmednagar District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said a total of 10 people died in the fire incident at Ahmednagar Civil hospital today.

There were 17 patients admitted in COVID-19 ICU centre of Ahmednagar civil hospital when the fire broke out around 10.30 a.m. in the building due to a short circuit, said the official.

"The process to shift these 17 patients was going on but unfortunately 10 patients have lost their lives and one is still critical," said Bhosale.

"Fire audit of the hospital was done just after the Nashik hospital fire incident. But now based on several complaints from relatives a fire brigade officer has been asked to conduct the enquiry," he added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
hit its target of having 80% of people aged 16 and older fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, as the country shifts from a strict containment policy toward living with the virus as endemic.

We did it! Morrison wrote in a Facebook post. Its going to help us to continue to safely reopen and stay safely open.

Australias two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, eased their tough lockdown measures in recent weeks after hitting a 70% inoculation threshold, allowing residents to eat at restaurants and re-opening schools. Roughly half of the countrys population spent months under stay-at-home orders this year as authorities battled the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant.

Authorities have said more freedoms would be introduced after passing 80%, with a further lifting next month that will include people who arent fully vaccinated.
has again become an epicenter for the coronavirus, calling into question the regions efforts to recover from the pandemic.

Despite an abundance of Covid-19 shots, countries from Germany to Greece have reported record infections in recent days, while Romania and Bulgaria are experiencing horrific levels of fatalities and overwhelmed hospitals.

Thats putting fresh urgency into efforts to vaccinate the masses, whether that means getting first doses into the arms of tens of millions of vaccine holdouts or preparing to offer booster shots to hundreds of millions of others.

While governments are reluctant to reintroduce lockdowns, countries like Latvia have already concluded there is currently little alternative.

Heres an overview of the pandemic from across after a sobering week:

Germany

Germanys fourth Covid wave is hitting hard, with infections reaching record levels this week and hospitals in some hot spots becoming overwhelmed. The country is now calling on all adults to get booster shots six months after their second doses, with Health Minister Jens Spahn saying that should be the rule, not the exception.

With 16 million Germans who are eligible for Covid shots having thus far refused them, authorities have little recourse but to push for greater protection for those willing to roll up their sleeves. The countrys efforts to respond are further complicated by a change in power. Chancellor Angela Merkels authority is fading as Social Democrat Olaf Scholz proceeds with efforts to form a new government.





Graph

U.K.

infections in England reached a new high in October, according to large study by Imperial College London. U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that the study sends an important message about remaining vigilant heading into winter.

Last month, the country kicked off its largest-ever flu shot drive to address concerns over a spike in Covid cases coinciding with a resurgent flu. National Health Service walk-in centers in England have started offering boosters for at-risk people without an appointment. Britains regulator also became the first in the world to approve Merck & Co.s Covid-19 antiviral pill.

Italy

In Italy, some northern regions, including Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, have seen a fast increase in cases, linked in part to protests by anti-vaccine activists against the introduction of a mandatory pass. The rise has prompted authorities to make a renewed push for people to get shots.

We are working to extend the booster dose to new age groups starting next week, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Friday at a press conference in Rome. We still need to catch up on first doses and accelerate on the third ones.

France

In France, where government curbs helped keep infections at relatively low levels, cases are again beginning to rise. Officials across the country will reinstitute mask-wearing mandates in schools, while President Emmanuel Macron will take stock of the situation in an address to the nation on Tuesday.

Macrons policy of requiring proof of vaccination for restaurants, cinemas and other venues helped bolster the immunization campaign and has been widely credited with keeping case counts, hospitalizations and deaths at lower levels than some neighboring countries. The French legislature passed a bill Friday that would keep the vaccine passport system in place as long as the end of July 2022, and officials are now encouraging older people to get booster shots.

Spain

Spain is a rare bright spot in Infections have remained low since September, with hospitalizations continuing to fall markedly.

Over 88% of people 12 and older are completely vaccinated and more than 1 million people have received a booster shot since the government approved the measure in early October.

Portugal

While Portugal on Thursday reported the highest number of daily cases since Sept. 9, the latest figures are still just a fraction of the January peak, when the country faced one of the worlds worst outbreaks.

About 86% of the countrys population is now completely vaccinated, among the highest rates in the world.

Ireland

Irelands daily case numbers are at their highest since January. The country held off plans to drop most remaining restrictions last month.

Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday refused to rule out new limits on activity before the end of the year if the health system comes under renewed pressure.

Greece

In Greece, five record highs over the past six days has prompted a fresh round of restrictions, with unvaccinated individuals now needing to show a negative Covid test in order to visit some shops, beauty salons and restaurants.

The measures exempted supermarkets and drug stores, but also churches, which sparked more criticism over the governments handling of the pandemic.

Denmark

In Denmark, where more than 75% of the population is fully vaccinated, the number of daily cases has doubled in the last 10 days and hospitalizations have spiked.

Soren Brostrom, head of the countrys health authority, on Thursday urged the government to re-introduce some restrictions, including the use of Covid-19 passports at public events.

Hungary

Hungarys slow vaccine campaign and lack of Covid measures has helped fuel one of the worlds fastest growth rates in infections.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban is now trying to tighten some restrictions, including re-introducing a mask mandate on public transportation. Employers are also allowed to demand vaccine certificates from workers, who can be sent on unpaid leave if they refuse. In a state radio interview on Friday, Orban said further curbs may be introduced later, without providing specifics.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic recorded its worst week of infections since March, when it endured one of the deadliest outbreaks in the world. Hospitalizations are at a six-month high, and fatalities are also rising.

The country is tightening rules to make it harder for unvaccinated people to visit restaurants as well as sporting and cultural events. But the outgoing government is refusing to impose harsher social distancing measures or shut down parts of the economy again.

Baltics

The Baltic region is reporting some of the worlds highest rates of infections per capita. Estonia is considering more restrictions if the situation deteriorates.

Last month, Latvia became the EUs first member state to reimpose a four-week lockdown after a surge in cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals. The nations parliament passed legislation on Thursday, giving employers a green light to fire unvaccinated workers.

Lithuania is extending a school break to slow the spread of the virus among children.

Balkans

Romania recorded the worlds highest fatality rate in the past week. A lack of available beds has left people stranded in ambulances or to be treated in hospital hallways. Some patients received oxygen in their cars.

Bulgaria, the EUs least-vaccinated member, had its deadliest week of the pandemic, with more than 1,000 fatalities. Authorities are tightening measures, while looking to avoid a lockdown ahead of a general election on Nov. 14.

The western Balkans have experienced close to record levels of infections in recent days. Serbia had its deadliest month of the pandemic in October. Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are close behind.

Croatia on Friday tightened measures after reporting record infections. Public gatherings will be limited to 50 people, except in cases where every attendee has a vaccine pass. The government also mandated inoculations for all public-sector employees from Nov. 15.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 661 fresh positive cases and ten fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 66,16,762 and the toll to 1,40,372, the state health department said.

With 896 patients being discharged during the day, the number of recoveries in Maharashtra rose to 64,58,045, leaving the state with 14,714 active cases.

However, the new cases were recorded after testing only 70,179 samples as the number of tests decreased due to Maharashtra has so far examined 6,31,75,053 samples.

Maharashtra's case recovery rate now stands at 97.6 per cent. The fatality rate is 2.12 per cent, the department said.

Mumbai reported 176 new cases and four deaths, which raised the caseload to 7,58,215 and the death toll to 16,273.

Mumbai division recorded 339 fresh cases, taking the number of the cases to 17,03,506. A total of 35,604 patients have died so far due to COVID-19 in the Mumbai division.

Nashik division reported 97 cases including 64 in the Ahmednagar district. No death due to COVID-19 was reported from the Nashik region.

Pune division added 165 cases, the Kolhapur division 26, the Aurangabad division 12, the Latur division 11, the Akola division 5, and the Nagpur division 6 cases, as per the department.

Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 is as follows: Positive cases 66,16,762, deaths 1,40,372, recoveries 64,58,045, active cases 14,714, tests 6,31,75,053, tests today 70,179.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 11 patients were killed after a major fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the district civil hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar city on Saturday, officials said.

The blaze erupted around 11 am in the ICU where 20 COVID-19 patients, many of them senior citizens and some on ventilator or oxygen, were undergoing treatment.

Ahmednagar city is located 120 km from Pune.

The fire was doused around 1.30 pm, said chief fire officer of the city civic body Shankar Misal, adding that a short circuit was suspected to be the cause though it was yet to be confirmed.

After the incidents of fire at hospitals treating COVID-19 patients elsewhere, fire audits had been ordered across the state.

As per Ahmednagar district collector Rajendra Bhosale, such an audit had been carried out at this hospital too. But according to Misal, after the audit, the work of installing necessary safety systems was incomplete due to "want of funds".

As injured patients were rushed to a nearby hospital, 10 of them were declared brought dead, police said. One patient succumbed later.

As many as 15 patients were on ventilator or oxygen in the ICU. "Saving them was the priority. But due to their critical condition, to remove the oxygen support and bring them out was a tough decision," said one fire brigade official.

"After discussion, we decided to bring them out anyhow and later put them back on oxygen or other support systems," he added.

Most of those who died were aged between 65 to 83, according to hospital officials.

A probe committee headed by Misal will look into what led to the tragedy, the collector said.

According to Misal, after the recent fire audit, the hospital had been told about the measures needed to be taken. It was asked to put in place an effective fire-fighting system including a pipeline and a sprinkler system.

But the work was incomplete due to "want of funds" thought "they had fire extinguishers at the hospital," he said.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over the tragedy. He spoke to district guardian minister Hassan Mushrif and chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and asked them to ensure that other patients admitted at the hospital get proper treatment without any disturbance, a statement from the CMO said.

"The CM said an in-depth probe will be conducted by the district collector," it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the incident.

In a tweet, Modi said, "Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest."



Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "My condolences to the kin of those who lost their lives. I appeal to congress workers to assist in the relief work."



BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis described the incident as "very shocking and disturbing". Condoling the deaths, he sought "in-depth inquiry" and strict action against those responsible.

Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut ordered a detailed inquiry into the fire. The electricity department's inspection team has reached the hospital and it will start its probe after the police 'panchnama' (inspection), he said.

In April this year, 15 COVID-19 patients had died in a blaze at the ICU of a private hospital in Palghar district of Maharashtra. Another fire in March at Dreams Mall in Mumbai's Bhandup, which housed a Covid-designated hospital, had claimed the lives of nine such patients.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the (NCB) reached on Saturday, a day after the agency transferred investigation in six cases, including the controversial cruise drugs case in which Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, to it.

The team which flew in from Delhi, later left for the NCB zonal office in south Mumbai, an official said. It is headed by senior IPS officer Sanjay Kumar Singh, DDG Operations at NCB headquarters.

The team will investigate the six cases, which have and international ramifications in order to conduct deeper investigation to find out forward and backward linkages, the NCB said on Friday. NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede said he was not an investigating officer of these cases, adding he was a supervisory officer as a zonal director and his role will continue to be the same.

Meanwhile, NCP leader Nawab Malik said skeletons will tumble out in the probe. I had demanded an S.I.T probe to investigate Sameer Dawood Wankhede for kidnapping of & ransom demand from Aryan Khan. Now 2 SITs are constituted (state & centre), let us see who brings out the skeletons from the closet of Wankhede and exposes him and his nefarious private army, the senior Maharashtra minister tweeted.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after the slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday said the AAP government is looking into steps it can take to provide more relief to the people.

He, however, demanded that the central government should reduce the prices of these fuels by at least Rs 15 each, saying states have fewer resources.

Sisodia was responding to the question whether the was considering a reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel and petrol like other states.

In the last three-four years, have gone down across the globe but the central government did not let this happen in the county, he alleged.

It kept increasing excise duty on globally reduced fuel prices, Sisodia added.

"In the last few years, they have increased excise duty on from Rs 15 per litre to Rs 34 per litre even as petrol (fuel) prices were going down. After reducing a few paisa on fuel prices, they are asking state governments to reduce (VAT). States already have less resources.

"We are examining what impact it will have on Delhi and what Delhi (government) can do. But I request the central government to reduce petrol and diesel prices by at least Rs 15 each to give further relief to the public," Sisodia said.

The central government on Wednesday reduced excise duty by Rs 5 per litre on petrol and Rs 10 per litre on Diesel.

Following the reduction in excise duty by the Centre, several state governments, including Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh among others, have slashed VAT rates on fuel.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister has ordered a probe into the fire incident in Ahmednagar district hospital that left 10 people dead, said the Chief Minister's office (CMO) on Saturday.

The chief minister also expressed condolences over the incident.

Following the incident, Thackeray spoke to district Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif and Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte and asked them to ensure that the victims should not face any problems in getting treatment.

Ahmednagar District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said a total of 10 people died in a fire incident at Ahmednagar Civil hospital today.

Rs 5 lakh each has been announced to the kin of the deceased. DC had been ordered to conduct the enquiry of the incident and to submit the report in a week's time: Health Minister, Rajesh Tope on fire incident at Ahmednagar District Hospital



(File photo) pic.twitter.com/j0gAsZpTL7  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2021

There were 17 patients admitted in Covid-19 ICU centre of Ahmednagar civil hospital when the fire broke out around 10.30 a.m. in the building due to a short circuit, said the official.

"The process to shift these 17 patients was going on but unfortunately 10 patients have lost their lives and one is still critical," Bhosale said.

"Fire audit of the hospital was done just after the Nashik hospital fire incident. But now based on several complaints from relatives a fire brigade officer has been asked to conduct the enquiry," he added.

More details are awaited.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister on Friday said he will contest the forthcoming assembly polls if his party decides so.

Adityanath is currently a member of the UP Legislative Council.

Asked if he will contest the assembly polls early next year, the BJP leader told reporters here, "I have always contested elections and I will contest from wherever the party will say."



"The party has a parliamentary board and it decides who will contest from where," he said in reply to another question.

Adityanath said the BJP government has done whatever the party promised in the run-up to the last assembly polls in 2017.

On the law and order situation, he said, the state has set an example and during the past over four years there was no riot and all festivals, including Diwali, were celebrated peacefully.

"Diwali used to be celebrated earlier too and Kumbh Mela was not organised for the first time in the state. But was struggling with an image crisis and after 2017, the state got over the image crisis. The benefits of different schemes have reached the last man in society," he said.

The chief minister said the state has now become the best destination in the country for investment from abroad due to good road connectivity and guarantee of security.

"Earlier investments went out, but now investment is coming to the country from outside. Earlier people used to say that UP starts with potholes and ditches and now it is known for expressways and a network of four-lane roads, he said.

He said the Purvanchal Expressway will be inaugurated this month.

"About 4.5 lakh people got jobs in a transparent manner during this period and no one could raise a finger on the recruitment process, he added, listing his government's various achievements.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli fire during clashes in the occupied on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.

The teen, identified as Mohammad Daadas, died as a result of a gunshot wound to the stomach during clashes with Israeli forces in the northern village of Deir al-Hatab, said the health officials' statement. Daadas was taken to a nearby hospital, where medical staff pronounced him dead.

The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said the Israeli army fired live ammunition, as well as tear gas and rubber bullets, at protesters while also closing off surrounding roads, preventing their ambulances from entering the site. No other serious injuries were reported.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, Daadas was from the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern city of Nablus.

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians are common across the on Fridays. Over the past six months, there have been weekly clashes in the nearby town of Beita, where Palestinians hold demonstrations against the establishment of an unauthorised Israeli settlement outpost that they say was built on their land. At least five protesters have been killed in the violence.

Under a deal in June between the Israeli government and the settlers of Eviatar, the settlers left the outpost but the settlement's buildings remain intact and under army guard. The Palestinians have rejected the deal, saying it is a step by towards taking their land.

Last week, the Israeli authorities approved 3,000 new settler homes in the West Bank, while also agreeing on Thursday to build 1,300 housing units for Palestinians who live in areas of the West Bank that are under full Israeli control.

captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and has established dozens of settlements where more than 500,000 settlers live. Palestinians seek the territory along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as part of their future state and view the settlements as a major obstacle to resolving the conflict.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least eight people have died and scores of injured in what authorities described as a "mass casualty" incident on the opening night of a popular music festival here in attended by some 50,000 fans of American rapper Travis Scott.

The sold-out concert by Scott at the Astroworld Festival in Houston had to be cancelled immediately after people started falling after the massive crowd began "to compress toward the front of the stage" around 9:00-9:15 PM (local time) on Friday, CNN reported.

Multiple fans were trampled as hundreds rushed the event's perimeter. Once inside, some people began climbing onto portable toilets as security personnel worked to try and contain the crowd, ABC 13 news website reported.

"We had scores of individuals that were injured," Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said during a news conference early on Saturday morning.

"The crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, and people began to panic," Pena said.

Describing what unfolded as a "mass casualty" incident, the fire chief said that 17 patients were rushed to local hospitals.

More than 300 people were treated at the field hospital set up near the festival, Pena said, adding that the concert drew about 50,000 attendees.

So far, eight people have died and hundreds of injured during the opening night of the popular weekend music festival, authorities said.

Astroworld organisers did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment early Saturday morning.

Organised by rapper Scott, the third annual festival featuring multiple acts was scheduled to run from Friday through Saturday, according to the event's website.

The view from SkyEye overhead Friday night showed the heavy police and fire department activity in the area of the event as organisers ended it early.

The organisers, rapper Scott and LiveNation, stopped the show when it was apparent that multiple people were hurt, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, ABC 13 reported.

The crowd disregarded metal detectors and security guards who were checking bags.

Members of the Houston Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit were also on scene and worked to contain the chaotic scene.

The event's tickets sold out within an hour of going on sale back in May.

Scott, the popular rapper and organiser, launched the Astroworld Festival in 2018. Like most other large events, it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Chinese spy has been convicted of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets from US aviation, the Justice Department said in a statement on Friday.

"A federal jury convicted Yanjun Xu, a Chinese national and Deputy Division Director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. The defendant is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the to stand trial," read the statement.

"This conviction of a card-carrying intelligence officer for economic espionage underscores that trade secret theft is integral to the PRC government's plans to modernize its industries," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

"But this conviction also serves notice that the will not sit by as China, or any other nation-state, attempts to steal instead of researching and developing key technology. Instead, and with the support of our allies, we will continue to investigate, prosecute, and hold accountable those who try to take the fruits of American ingenuity illegally," Olsen added.

"The jury, by its guilty verdict here today, held Xu accountable for his classic spy techniques," said Acting US Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio.

According to the statement, Xu, who was arrested in Belgium in April 2018, was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison for each count and a fine of up to USD 5 million.

Xu was also convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison for each count and a USD 250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the statement added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police helicopters buzzed over Glasgow early Saturday as authorities prepared for a second day of protests by climate activists demanding faster action to curb

Despite a little drizzle and strong winds, tens of thousands of people were expected to join a rally through the Scottish city where this year's UN climate talks are being held.

Inside the conference venue, negotiators knuckled down for a seventh day of talks to finish draft agreements that can be passed to ministers for political approval next week.

Among the issues being haggled over at the talks by almost 200 countries are a fresh commitment to the goal of capping at 1.5 degrees Celsius, getting countries to review their efforts more frequently, and financial support for poor nations.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 84 people died on Friday after a fuel tanker exploded in a suburb of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, CNN reported citing authorities.

Mohamed Lamrane Bah, director of communications for Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), told CNN that several people were also in critical condition following the

"Authorities have transferred injured people to hospitals and collected the bodies, and the rescue effort at the scene has ended," Bah said. Meanwhile, Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said in a statement on Facebook that she was "saddened to hear about an along Bai Bureh Road, Wellington, after a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck."

"The video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing," Aki-Sawyerr said, adding "My sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of the victims of the May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US climate envoy says American climate negotiators are having meaningful talks with their Russian and Chinese counterparts at the UN summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

That's despite Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping world leaders' current rounds of climate talks, a decision that sparked complaints from U.S. President Joe Biden when he attended a few days ago.

Kerry told reporters he came late to a Friday press conference because Americans had been talking with Russian officials at the summit on efforts to reduce pollution from methane, a potent climate-damaging gas.

We were talking about how we might deal with methane, possibly work together, Kerry said of Russians.

And we're meeting with China here, and we've been talking for several days trying to figure out, is there common ground, as a way to try to move forward, Kerry said.

There's a sense of urgency.

Biden last weekend blamed Xi's and Putin's not showing up for lack of more progress at Group of 20 climate discussions on the eve of the summit. China is the world's largest current emitter of climate-wrecking fossil fuel emitters, the the second, and Russia in the top five.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid ongoing tensions with Beijing over Taipei, the US lawmakers on Friday introduced a resolution to support Lithuania's efforts to strengthen its ties with Taiwan.

"Two ranking US senators introduced a resolution to support Lithuania's efforts to strengthen its ties with Taiwan at a time when has stepped up pressure against the Baltic state for treating Taipei in a way that offends Beijing," Focus Taiwan reported.

US Republican Senator Jim Risch, also a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, chair of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, jointly proposed the resolution.

"On July 20, 2021, the government of Lithuania announced the opening of a Taiwan Representative Office in its capital city of Vilnius. Since that courageous decision, Lithuania has faced unacceptable economic retaliation from China," Focus Taiwan quoted Risch as saying in a statement.

"This resolution sends a message that when our friends stand up to malign Chinese influence, the will support them. I applaud the Lithuanian government for refusing to allow its foreign policy to be dictated by outside powers, and I fully support all nations in strengthening relations with Taiwan," Risch added.

In late September, Lithuania's parliament passed a legal revision that gave the green light for the country to open a representative office in countries like Taiwan with which the Baltic state does not have formal diplomatic relations, Focus Taiwan reported.

In addition, Taipei has also announced a plan to open a representative office in Vilnius which will bear the word "Taiwanese" in its name.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan and mainland as part of one country, strongly objects to Taiwan being treated as a separate nation, including in name, seeing such actions as a violation of its "one principle" and potentially jeopardizing its hopes of unifying with Taiwan one day.

Beijing has tried to impose a political cost on Baltic state for its decision to allow the use of "Taiwanese" in the name of Taiwan's office, seeing such moves as encouraging Taipei to pursue formal independence. It has blocked some exports from Lithuania from entering China and has recalled its ambassador from the country, Focus Taiwan reported.

The resolution proposed by the two US lawmakers is the latest effort by Washington to support Lithuania's ties with Taiwan.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The price of 10 gram of gold on Saturday fell by Rs 190, to Rs 47,220 for 24-carat. The price for 10 grams of 22-carat gold is Rs 46,220. Meanwhile, the price of 1 kg of silver on Saturday increased by Rs 1,800 to Rs 64,300.

In Delhi, the price of 10 gram of 24-carat gold is Rs 51,110, while the price of 22-carat gold is Rs 46,850. In Mumbai, the price of 10 grams of yellow metal, for 24-carat and 22-carat on Saturday is Rs 47,220 and Rs 46,220 respectively.

In Chennai, the price of 10 gram of 24-carat gold is Rs 49,410 while that of 22-carat is Rs 45,050. The yellow metal in Kolkata is trading at Rs 49,250 for 10 gram of 24-carat. The price of 10 gram of 22-carat gold in Kolkata is Rs 46,550.

The yellow metal is Bengaluru for gram of 24-carat is trading at Rs 48,760 on Saturday, and that for 22-carat, the price of gold in the city is Rs 44,700.

The price of gold differs across the nation owing to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

The price of 1 kg of silver in Delhi and Mumbai on Saturday is Rs 64,300. In Chennai, 1 kg of silver is trading at Rs 68,600. In Kolkata and Bengaluru, 1 kg of silver is selling at Rs 64,300 on Saturday.
Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) reported 20.9% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 327.69 crore on a 2.4% rise in net sales to Rs 588.51 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.

Revenue from Gas Transportation was Rs 575.58 crore (up 1.5% YoY) while that from Electricity Sales was Rs 12.93 crore (up 70.1% YoY) during the quarter.

Profit before tax in Q2 FY22 stood at Rs 410.60 crore, up by 16.5% from Rs 352.38 crore in Q2 FY21.

The company's Q2 transmission volume was 37.49 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metres per day), up 12.8% YoY and up 1.9% sequentially.

On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit declined 20.1% to Rs 398.40 crore on a 37.1% rise in net sales to Rs 4,085.12 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.

Total expenditure during the quarter increased by 76.1% YoY to Rs 3,279.95 crore, due to a surge in raw material costs (up 93.4% YoY).

Gujarat State Petronet's primary business objective is to connect various supply sources and users of natural gas in Gujarat through its gas pipeline network. GSPL is the leader in natural gas transmission business in Gujarat and is the second-largest natural gas transmission player in India. GSPL also sells electricity generated through its 52.50 MW windmills.

The scrip fell 2.65% to end at Rs 316.30 on the BSE on Muharat Trading session (November 4).

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The SP chief on Saturday sought to defend his widely criticised statement equating Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and saying they helped India get freedom even as an UP minister suggested a narco test for him for "glorifying" the Pakistani leader.

As the row over the Samajwadi Party(SP) leader's comments raged, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming Yadav, described the remarks as "shameful and condemnable" and warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. His ministerial colleague Anand Swaroop Shukla also said those heaping praises on Jinnah should go to Pakistan.

Yadav on his part hit out at his detractors, asking them to read history books again.

Asked by reporters in Lucknow about his response to the row over his remarks that had kicked up a controversy ahead of the Assembly elections in UP, the former chief minister shot back, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."



Yadav's counter-attack drew a sharp response from UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who in a Hindi tweet said, "The love for Jinnah still remains intact. ji please tell which history books have to be read -- the Indian or the Pakistani."



On October 31, Yadav had said, "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle."Minister Shukla told reporters in Ballia that Jinnah is responsible for the division of the country.

"Jinnah is a villain, who no Indian would like to see or listen to. must clarify as to under which pressure, greed, is he glorifying Jinnah?"



"I want Akhilesh Yadav to himself come forward, and get his narco test done," he said. A narco test involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in which the subject's imagination is neutralised, and they are expected to divulge true information.

Shukla further said that those raising 'zindabad' slogans in praise of Jinnah, having thoughts and feelings of Jinnah in their mind, have no place in India. "They themselves should go to Pakistan," the BJP leader added.

Speaking at a public event in Auraiya, Adityanath, without naming Yadav, said a leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country. The chief minister said the entire state should reject such "shameful and condemnable" remarks.

"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh').

"Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' ( hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to be alert of people who are trying to equate them," Adityanath said.

The SP also demanded the sacking of Shukla for accusing Yadav of getting economic support from Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

Shukla on Tuesday had said that Chief Minister Adityanath has become a challenge for the Islamic world. " chief Akhilesh Yadav is getting all support from them. Akhilesh is getting 'sanrakshan aur sujhav' (patronage and advice) from the ISI. It is possible that he might also be getting economic support from it."



On Friday, SP workers staged a protest at the District Collectorate building to demand the registration of a case against the minister. The opposition party has demanded that a case be registered against Shukla for making insulting remarks against the party chief, and spreading animosity in the society.

SP's Ballia district unit chief Raj Mangal Yadav, meanwhile, said there will be intense protests against the minister and that he will not be allowed to enter the district if the administration doesn't take action against him.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tech giant has fixed several Windows 11 features failing to load after an expired certificate was discovered earlier this week.

According to The Verge, some Windows 11 users have not been able to open apps like the Snipping Tool, touch keyboard, or emoji panel since a certificate expired on October 31.

The tech giant warned Windows 11 users about the problems earlier this week and has now released an out-of-band update.

The issues also affected voice typing and getting started tips sections of Windows 11.

If you are running Windows 11, you should be offered the KB5008295 update, and it will automatically install from Windows Update, the report said.

This patch does require a reboot, and notes it will address all of the issues from the expired certificate, including the accounts page in Windows 11 with S mode failing to load.

was relatively quick to address these problems after the company discovered the certificate issue early this week, the report said.

It is unusual for Microsoft to issue out-of-band patches that aren't security-related for its Windows operating systems, and this is one of the first emergency-style fixes for Windows 11, it added.

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 patch comes just two weeks after the company had to issue a fix for AMD CPU performance in the OS. A bug was slowing performance on Ryzen processors by up to 15 per cent in certain games.

--IANS

vc/sks/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FILE - Voters arrive to cast the their ballots on Election Day at City Hall, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, in Alexandria, Va. The first major election day following a year of relentless attacks on voting rights and election officials went off largely without a hitch. The relative calm was a relief to those who oversee state and local elections, but election experts say that might not matter to the millions of Americans who now believe in conspiracy theories trumpeting rampant electoral fraud. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Photo: Steve Dunsmoor

The Portland Winterhawks made the most of their first trip into Prospera Place in nearly 21 months.

The Winterhawks let a two-goal third period lead slip away, but scored when it counted in a shootout to edge the Kelowna Rockets 5-4 before an announced crowd of 3,400 Rocket faithful.

James Stefan beat Cole Tisdale in the fifth round of the shootout to give the visitors the win.

For the Rockets, Friday's tilt was the third straight home game which has required extra time.

Kelowna won the previous two over Victoria and Vancouver during three-on-three overtime.

As the case in Wednesday's 7-6 overtime win, the teams played fast and loose during a wild opening 20 minutes, in which the teams combined for six goals.

Portland got on the board on its first shot before Andrew Cristall drew the Rockets even five minutes in.

Pavel Novak's first of two on the night again brought the Rockets even at 2-2 12 minutes into the first.

But goals from Ryan McCleary and Stefan before the period ended gave the Winterhawks a 4-2 lead heading into the locker room.

McCleary's goal on the Winterhawks sixth shot of the period chased starter Colby Knight from the net in favour of Cole Tisdale.

It's the second straight game in which Knight has failed to get out of the first period.

After a scoreless second, the Rockets came out firing in the third.

Goals from Jake Poole and Novak's second on a power play two minutes apart early in the third drew the Rockets even.

The goaltenders stole the show through the rest of the third and overtime.

Kelowna outshot Portland 38-27 on the night.

The Rockets continue their five game homestand Saturday when the Prince George Cougars come to town.
Photo: James Trueman

A massive effort to clean up debris littered over Vancouver Island's remote beaches is still underway as more materials surface.

In October, more than 100 shipping containers went missing from the Zim Kingston during a storm. Some containers even caught fire while on the vessel, which was just off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Some of the containers have washed up on the remote traditional territory of the Quatsino First Nation (QFN) and near Cape Scott Provincial Park, spilling debris all over the beaches.

"For them to come all the way up the island and come ashore on our territory, it tells you just how strong that ocean is, says Cary-Lee Calder, Quatsino First Nation band manager.

Members of the Quatsino First Nation have been cleaning up the beach and are working in collaboration with the ships owner.

"Its been around the clock, says Calder. "Part of my job is to make sure the impact to the QFN is at the forefront of their mind every day.

The remote beaches are sacred to the First Nation. Every day, Calder is gathering Quatsino band members to go out and clean up.

"We do have Guardians that work within our nation and we do have our SAR team out there, our youth are very dedicated, our people are dedicated to making sure our territory remains clean and that we can access our traditional foods, she says.

On most days, a group of seven to 12 people will head out to the area. Some of the members will comb the beaches and put the debris into bags while others ride in helicopters and assist with clipping the bags to the aircraft.

"They are in a very remote area. It takes quite a long time to get there. You can get there by boat; however, you cant get on the shore from a boat, so its either helicopter in or travelling in by a logging road, she says.

Getting to the Cape Palmerston Beach parking lot takes about an hour and a half. From there, it's another 30 minutes to hike to the debris site.

"The hike is treacherous there are certain aspects that get more challenging than others, so ensuring that our folks are physically fit and able to manage the terrain and have the proper gear and that they are physically capable to do that is important, Calder tells Glacier Media.

On the beach, fridges, paddleboards, plastic blow-up unicorns, rubber boots and Styrofoam have been found.

Lots of Styrofoam, pieces of Styrofoam... the fact that it floats and never goes away is challenging to pick up and it is overwhelming because its like picking up sand, says Calder.

Thousands of books lost?

A Vancouver Island book publisher is waiting to find out the fate of 15,000 books that were onboard the Zim Kingston.

Andrew Wooldridge, the publisher of Orca Books Publishers, was notified by the printer that five books, 15,000 copies, were on the vessel.

We dont know whats happened to them. Either they may have gone overboard, they may have burned or they may still be on the boat, he says.

The vessel is expected to arrive in Vancouver "some time soon," but they wont know if the books are still onboard for weeks.

Theyre all paperback edition of books in our Orca Footprint series, says Wooldridge. "Three of them are by one author, Michelle Mulder, who is a Victoria author. The two others are by Kari Jones, who is a Victoria author as well and Nikki Tate, who lived on the island for years but now lives in Alberta.

The books are intended for middle-grade readers and focus on the environment and social justice.

Where are the other missing shipping containers?

A Vancouver Island-based environmental group that has been on standby since the fire on the Zim Kingston has now been asked to help with the cleanup.

The executive director of Living Oceans Society says a crew of volunteers were en route to Port Hardy on Friday.

"Weve been trying to be of assistance ever since the ship caught fire. It was a bit patchy there while we waited for them to reach out properly to the First Nations and make sure as many of them were employees to clean their territories as possible and I gather theyve done that now and realize that they need a great deal more human resources up there, says Karen Wristen.

She tells Glacier Media the ship's owner has retained a consultant to do the cleanup work and they are being supervised by the Coast Guard.

Wristen believes, with certainty, that more containers are below the surface.

Some of them are breaking up, it would appear, underwater and releasing their contents, she says. "Weve seen additional debris of new types show up; most recently, I hear another 86 refrigerators showed up on the beach.

As storms continue to roll in to the remote, pristine area, the containers will be rolled along the ocean bottom and on the rocky shore, she adds.

Theyre going to break open and whether its days, weeks, years from now, we are going to be seeing new debris hit the beaches, Wristen continues. "Depending on what the content was and how much they were wind-driven as opposed to current-driven, they may be on the central coast by now, some of them may be as far as Haida Gwaii.

Her crew has not been given their location for the cleanup yet, but she believes some of the containers may be over near Scott Islands, located about 10 kilometres off of Cape Scott Provincial Park.

"I think all those containers should have had locators in them, so when they go down, it can be pinpointed and we can know what we are dealing with, she says. "We should be able to know, at least, where they are, especially the ones with the hazardous chemicals in them.

What's the impact on the environment?

Since the containers spilled into the ocean and smashed onto beaches, more than 70 refrigerators, 81 bags of Styrofoam and 19 bags of garbage have been collected from the Cape Palmerston Beach.

Quatsino First Nation chief Tom Nelson says it will take about 30 years for them to know the full impact on marine life and the beaches.

It will keep coming for years, says Nelson in a written statement. We will work to ensure the territory is cleaned up and fully monitored as well.

How many shipping containers are below and near their coast is something Calder says is a mystery.

"I cant answer that. I dont know the impacts. Its a little scary to make that statement but it is the truth. We dont know, she says. "We are, right now, responding to an emergency. We are doing the best we can to make a plan for now.

Stay out of cleanup areas

Individuals wanting to help remove debris are being urged to hold off.

Quatsino First Nation is asking people to avoid the area since they're the one responsible for peoples safety on the beaches. They need to know who is out there cleaning up and communicating with the helicopters, says Calder.

Collection points have been identified and only members of the cleanup crew are allowed in the area.

Anyone who spots a shipping container is asked to call the Canadian Coast Guard at 1-800-889-8852.
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is entering a whole new phase of movie magic, with a spate of exciting new movies and shows planned. Its been a long wait, with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic delaying the release of many Marvel projects, but for fans, this new phase could be the best yet. Although Marvel has announced movies such as Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, both set for release in 2022, theres one particular concept that many fans would absolutely love to seeand one that has not yet been featured in any major Marvel project.

The Winter Soldier recently featured in a new Disney+ series

It's all led to this. The epic finale of Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is now streaming on @DisneyPlus. #FalconAndWinterSoldier pic.twitter.com/xTYHlARWxR  The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (@falconandwinter) April 23, 2021

The Winter Soldier, also known as Bucky Barnes, has been a fan-favorite character in the MCU since the 2011 movie Captain America: The First Avenger. The best friend of Steve Rogers, Bucky is kidnapped by Hydra at one point and brainwashed into a super-soldier known as the Winter Soldier. Bucky is eventually cured of his programming in Wakanda and becomes a valuable member of the Avengers inner circle.

The character of The Winter Soldier has appeared in seven Marvel movies, including the blockbuster Avengers: Endgame. As played by actor Sebastian Stan, Bucky/Winter Soldier has become a major favorite, with fans praising the characters development over time and the unique attributes that Barnes brings to the Avengers team.

Most recently, Barnes was a featured player in the hit Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a series that perfectly sets up Phase Four of the MCU while spotlighting the way that Barnes was handling a world post-Captain America.

The Black Widow starred in a standalone film

A challenge so good, you won't be able to look away. Marvel Studios' #BlackWidow now available on Digital and Blu-ray:https://t.co/00ZYsx3jvo pic.twitter.com/Ogn2cy7DoY  Black Widow (@theblackwidow) September 23, 2021

The Black Widow is another fan-favorite Marvel hero. As played by Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow was first introduced in the 2010 film Iron Man 2 and went on to appear in nine major movies in total. A key member of the Avengers team, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff is a spy and hand-to-hand combat expert, an invaluable member of the Avengers, and close personal friends with Hawkeye and Bruce Banner/Hulk.

Black Widow makes her final appearance in the 2021 film Black Widow, a film that is set after the events of the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War. For fans, the film was a chance to get a glimpse of Black Widows childhood and adolescence  while also allowing them to see a beloved character whose fate had been established in Avengers: Endgame.

Fans want Black Widow and the Winter Soldier to team up

Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes in the MCU. | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Over the years, fans have had very few chances to see Black Widow and the Winter Soldier team upand on those rare occasions that they did share the screen, their interactions were minimal. Recently, some fans on Reddit discussed a project that would see the two characters team-up.

I know Natashas story is done and Bucky has Sam, but I definitely still would have love a team up with these two assassins, the original poster wrote, adding I feel like we were rob of Black Widow and Winter Soldier doing spy/assassin things during their run.

Another fan agreed, writing I will also point out that the Bucky/Nat dynamic is especially fun given that both are assassins defecting from their authoritarian controllers, and even met in Ukraine that one time, so you could have some interesting resentment there.

For now, with the Winter Soldier set to play a prime role in future MCU projects and Black Widows storyline at an end, it seems unlikely that these fans will get their wish. But if Marvel has proven anything, its that fans should expect the unexpected.

RELATED: Scarlett Johansson Was Bummed She Didnt Originally Land Black Widow Role
In Bob Hearts Abishola, comparing season 1 Bob (Billy Gardell) to season 3, Bob seems like two different people. Both the character and actor have slimmed down. For Bob, it came from the fact that he dated Nigerian nurse Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku). As for Gardell, weight loss has been a long journey throughout his entire life. As of 2021, how much weight has Gardell lost?

Folake Olowofoyeku and Billy Gardell as Abishola and Bob on Bob Hearts Abishola | Michael Yarish/CBS via Getty Images

Billy Gardells weight loss has gone back and forth for years

Over the years, Billy Gardell has mentioned his struggle with weight loss. He even said that his weight reached as high as 350.

I grew up fat, he said in a 2011 interview with East Valley Tribune. You think Ive never heard fat jokes before? I learned a long time ago about life that, hey, sometimes some people just aint going to like your face. Thats their thing.

Billy Gardell says "of course, i'd like to lose weight. but everybody has thier tickmine just happens to be pizza." #mikeandmolly #tca  TV Insider (@TVInsider) July 28, 2010

He worked with a nutritionist and trainer on fitness goals, but some days he struggled more than others. Im learning to make the right choices, he said.

And then he made progress. Sometimes it was slower than others, but he has gotten his weight down significantly. As he plays Bob with his Bob Hearts Abishola co-stars, he started far below that 350 lbs mark.

Bob and Billy Gardell both strive to attain a healthier weight

In Chuck Lorres Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, Episode 6, the characters of Gardell and Olowofoyeku talked about where they should honeymoon. Bob (Gardell) suggested Greece, saying they had beaches. Abishola (Olowofoyeku) thought he hated beaches.

Well, I did, about 50 pounds ago, Bob said. The question remains if Gardell gave an accurate weight number.

Chuck Lorre Comedy Bob  Abishola Starring Billy Gardell Set At CBS With Pilot Production Commitment https://t.co/uSFiiqf7au pic.twitter.com/CLuDV8jVU0  Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) October 5, 2018

In October 2019, a month after Bob Hearts Abishola Season 1 kicked off, DatingCelebs listed Gardell at 230 lbs.

As of Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, WeathyPersons reported Gardell at 92 kg or 202 lbs. While Bob lost 50 lbs from the start of the show, Gardell has lost around 28 lbs.

It still serves as an impressive number. Even more impressive is that Gardell dropped almost 150 lbs.

Is he trying to lose more weight?

Gardell has made fantastic progress since his weight reached 350 lbs. However, is he still trying to lose more?

In mid-2017, Gardell went for a regular check-up. Little did he know that his full battery of blood tests would bring out his diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, Hollywood Masks said. He joined a Type 2 Transformation program by Novo Nordisk in March 2020.

Weight loss is an ongoing journey for Gardell. The show started with Bob suffering a heart attack and Christine Ebersoles Dottie having a stroke.

These two are finally planning their honeymoon  where do you think they should go? And if you missed last night's #BobHeartsAbishola, catch up here: https://t.co/iF8xogEAcz pic.twitter.com/zFjCH29zMl  BobAbishola (@BobAbisholaCBS) November 2, 2021

The CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola, from season 1 to season 3, has been about recovery and living different lifestyles as much as romance.

Hollywood Masks reported that besides using medicines, Gardell reformed his eating habits and started exercising to maintain his weight.

With help and support from his family and friends, Gardell looks fitter and healthier than ever.

RELATED: Bob Hearts Abishola: Which The Big Bang Theory Cast Members Star in the Show?
Many characters have come and gone on Greys Anatomy. But there arent many that hold groundbreaking records. Callie Torres stands out because of this, and Sara Ramirez talked about what the character means to them.

What happened to Callie Torres on Greys Anatomy?

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: People Really Hated Callie When She First Appeared on the Show

Callie Torres was an orthopedic surgeon who was introduced in the second season of the show. She was bisexual and got married to George OMalley (T.R. Knight). They divorced after he cheated on her, and he later died.

Callie eventually got married again to Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw). Their relationship was rocky at times. While they were broken up, Callie slept with Mark (Eric Dane) and got pregnant with Sofia. Mark died, and Callie and Arizona raised Sofia together.

Their marriage didnt end up working out either. Callie started dating Penny (Samantha Sloyan), and they wanted to go to New York together. But Callie lost custody of Sofia to Arizona. The parents agreed to alternate school years and Christmases. Ramirezs last appearance was in season 12.

Callie Torres holds an impressive record in TV history

Our fourth #Out100 cover star @SaraRamirez stands as a beacon of hope and representation  from making waves as bisexual doctor Callie Torres on @GreysABC to portraying the first nonbinary character in the #SexAndTheCity universe in @AndJustLikeThat. https://t.co/sNjot8fcwc pic.twitter.com/wlqaPtRA2X  Out Magazine (@outmagazine) November 2, 2021

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: How Sara Ramirez Feels About Callie and Arizonas Breakup

Ramirez has moved on from the character. But the character still holds the record for the longest-running LGBTQ character in TV history with 239 episodes, according to Out. Ramirez talked about what Callie means to them.

Prior to Callie Torres, Id never seen myself represented on television, they said. There was so much I didnt know that I didnt knowso Ive caught up with myself in a lot of ways.

The Tony winner came out as bisexual in 2016, then non-binary in 2020. They have since moved on to other shows and will be in the revival of Sex and the City.

Greys Anatomy is continuing to bring more representation

Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres on Greys Anatomy | Ron Batzdorff/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

RELATED: Some Greys Anatomy Fans Had No Sympathy for Callie During Her Custody Battle for Sophia

The show is continuing to bring more LGBTQ representation. Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) became the first gay male doctor on the show. Levi is currently in a relationship with Nico Kim (Alex Landi).

Greys Anatomy also announced E.R. Fightmaster will be the shows first non-binary doctor named Dr. Kai Bartley. The character was already introduced in season 18. Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) met Dr. Kai while visiting a hospital in Minnesota. Meredith was still considering if she wanted to take a job there finding a cure for Parkinsons disease.

Meredith took the job, and Amelia will be helping her. It seemed like Kai had a strong connection with Amelia in the first few episodes, but its too early to tell where their story will go. It looks like Callies legacy is living on, and theres always a possibility Ramirez will make an appearance again.
In Guardians of the Galaxy, what made Peter Quill (also known as Star-Lord) different from other Marvel heroes is his unapologetic love of music. Music dominated the film and its sequel. Heres why the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack was so important to Quills story.

Peter Quill actor Chris Pratt | Stuart Wilson/WireImage via Getty Images

The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack features music from the 60s and 70s

They are Groot. The Guardians of the Galaxy heroes make up a pretty unique family. Their unofficial leader is Peter Quill, a person from Earth with a love for his mother and music. When hes abducted from Earth as a boy right after his mom died, he still has his Walkman and his Awesome Mix tape  a gift from his mom. And that music features prominently in the film.

The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack includes popular songs from the 1960s and 1970s. These are Quills mothers favorite songs, passed down to him before she died. They include Come and Get Your Love by Redbone, Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede, Moonage Daydream by David Bowie, Cherry Bomb by The Runaways, and O-o-h Child by Five Stairsteps.

The Guardians of the Galaxy music helps to tell Peter Quills story

Director James Gunn chose the songs for Guardians of the Galaxy in part because they offer insight into Peter Quills past and his current music-loving personality. For instance, sometimes upbeat songs feature in dramatic scenes.

The songs are a bit more ironic in those instances, but could also be seen as the underlying positivity of Meredith Quill that gets Peter through these situations, Gunn told Vulture.

In fact, Gunn sees strong symbolism in Quills mixtape. The tape is really the character of Quills mother, Gunn told Rolling Stone. The Walkman and the compilation tape inside of it is the heart of the film.

Director James Gunn considered songs as he wrote the script

According to Vulture, Gunn wanted the Guardians of the Galaxy music to be only somewhat familiar to people. And he considered songs during his script-writing process.

I have a list of about 500 songs, which I think of as Guardians-type songs that Meredith Quill might really love, Gunn said during an interview with Honey and Lime. When Im going through, and Im writing the script, I put the songs into the script where they seem to fit. Sometimes I dont have a song that seems right on that list, and so I have to go out and search, and listen to a bunch of stuff, and see what I like, he continued. Eventually, its all basically baked into the organic story of whats happening in a movie, in the same way you put sugar in a cake.

Marvel head Kevin Feige told Rolling Stone that its rare for a director to get their song choices into a film. However, James first draft of the script had the songs that were with us at the end when we brought the film to theaters.

RELATED: Starlord and Thor: The Bromance Guardians of the Galaxy Fans Didnt Know They Needed
Hannah Ferrier from Below Deck Mediterranean is more than ready to marry Josh Roberts  but wants to do it when they can have all of their friends and family at the wedding.

Ferrier spoke to Showbiz Cheat Sheet about the upcoming nuptials, sharing that she has the same conundrum many engaged couples face in terms of having a wedding during a pandemic.

Hannah Ferrier from Below Deck Med says she set a wedding date but  |Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank

They set a date but tossed it out the window, waiting for a day when everyone can travel to Australia. But Ferrier isnt overly stressed about the delayed wedding date. Because she is living her best life as a new homeowner and celebrating daughter Avas first birthday.

Hannah Ferrier from Below Deck Mediterranean booked a wedding day but then bought a house

Ferrier said she and Roberts booked a date but then decided to buy a house. So we had March 5 booked in, she explained. And then we ended up buying this house. I just ended up saying to Josh, if I was just staying home with Ava, and wasnt working, Id be able to do the move, plan the wedding and do all that.

And then there were threeand a ring pic.twitter.com/pJBLiox76b  Hannah Ferrier  CEO Ocean Int Training Academy (@hannahferrier_) November 23, 2020

But at the end of the day something has got to give, she continued. And its not gonna be my work because we need that to pay the mortgage and its not going to be the house because thats a priority.

She then laughed because she was heading out for her bachelorette (or hens) weekend. The hens weekend was already planned, she said. So my mum was like, You cant have a hens when you dont have a wedding day! But Im like Yes I can!'

Why did Hannah Ferrier from Below Deck Mediterranean put the wedding on pause?

Ferrier also explained that Roberts is from Scotland, which would mean most of his family would pay thousands of dollars to travel to a wedding held in Australia right now. Its also difficult because our borders have been shut for two years, she said. So my fiance is from Scotland and its kind of at that stage where if we held the wedding now, its a bit of an f-you to his family. Because obviously, the flights are like $10,000 return from the UK.

So seeing as we havent planned it now, we will now wait until everything calms down, she said. The borders open. People can come from overseas. Like he lived in Singapore for six years, Vietnam for four years. So most of his friends are overseas.

Now that the restrictions are easing, so its probably better to wait until we can actually have a wedding, she added. And the other thing, theres no bigger commitment than a baby and a mortgage [laughs]!

The first Below Deck Med baby turned 1!

Speaking of her baby, Ava just turned one and the family celebrated with an intimate gathering. So we bought a house and we were moving at like at the same time, Ferrier recalled. I just went like, I dont have the capacity to do like 20 people at the house. So I invited her godparents and my dad.

Thank you!!! I have the most demanding yet best by far primary to look after these days! pic.twitter.com/xDkiILbk7m  Hannah Ferrier  CEO Ocean Int Training Academy (@hannahferrier_) August 17, 2021

I just got a cute cake and my best friends a photographer and was just like, were just literally going to have like chicken wings and then do the cake, and then everyone needs to leave, she laughed. Ferrier said she was happy to have something intimate and small for Avas first birthday instead of doing something grandiose or over the top.

Yeah there were like six of us and it was the right amount of people, she said. Any more and I would have just been overwhelmed. Ferrier shared photos of the first Below Deck Mediterranean babys party, which included photos of Ava enjoying her birthday cake.

Ferrier is busy with her podcast, Dear Reality, Youre Effed, and running Ocean International Training Academy.

RELATED: Hannah From Below Deck Used to Call Captain Lee for Support When She Was on the Show
Nov. 6 is Stranger Things Day, and Netflix has celebrated with a brand new Stranger Things 4 trailer. The video offers a glimpse at Els life in California with the Byers family following their big move at the end of season 3, and in typical Stranger Things fashion, theres plenty of action. However, some fans cant help but focus on one detail: El has developed a seriously uncanny resemblance to Joyce Byers. Why did the teen change her style? Heres what one fan theory says.

[Spoiler alert: The following story contains minor spoilers for Stranger Things Season 3.]

Millie Bobby Brown as El in Stranger Things 3 | Netflix

El looks exactly like Joyce Byers in the newest Stranger Things 4 trailer

As fans may recall, at the end of Stranger Things Season 3, El (played by Millie Bobby Brown) went into Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) care following the alleged death of Jim Hopper (David Harbour). Joyce decided to move her family, including El, Will (Noah Schnapp), and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), to California, splitting up the gang in Hawkins, Indiana.

Netflixs latest Stranger Things 4 trailer, Welcome to California, features El narrating a letter to Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard). She explains that shes adapted to life in her new city, but she cant wait to see Mike during spring break. In one scene, El sits in a classroom with her new look: long brown hair with bangs, a T-shirt, and a flannel on top.

If that sounds familiar, its because fans have already seen that look on an older character  Joyce. El might not be Joyces biological daughter, but she sure looks it in the new trailer. Check out the video below.

Els style matches her caregiver in every season

Els style has come a long way since Stranger Things Season 1. When Mike first took her in, she stuck with some basic sweats, wearing outfits Mike picked out for her. By season 2, she grew her hair into a short curly bob and rocked jeans and flannels until she met Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), who briefly gave El a goth edge. In season 3, El added more color to her ensemble and embraced 80s fashion with funky-patterned shirts, thanks to help from Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink).

Many fans have loved Els transformations, but theyve also noticed something: she dresses like her caregivers. In a Reddit discussion of the trailer, some noted that Els resemblance to Joyce is just the latest example.

El dresses like whoever takes her under their wing. She wears Mikes clothes in 1, looks like Hopper and then Kali in 2, and then Hopper and Max in 3, one fan wrote.

Some fans think Els style is symbolic

As for why El seems to follow this pattern, theres no true explanation. However, one fan pointed out that it can be common for children to take on the styles of their parents and others close to them. Another person furthered this theory by suggesting that El wants to fit into a family.

I think its meant to be symbolic  El desperately wants to be part of a family. She dressed like Hopper as she was getting to know him/bond with him. Having her now look/dress like Joyce makes me think (hope??) we will see them start bonding in a mother/daughter way this season, the comment read.

I also am curious how close she is with Joyce vs. Hopper because I think that will also tell us a lot and add to her clothing choices. Like, if she latches onto her [after] her belief that Hopper is dead, that would make sense to me, another user added.

Fans will have to wait and see how Els fashion sense develops in Stranger Things 4. Theres no release date yet, but stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet to see when the announcement finally arrives.

RELATED: Stranger Things: Who is Elevens Biological Father?
Serial killers are some of the worlds most heinous monsters. Netflixs The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea shocked viewers as they learned more about South Koreas most prolific murderer in the countrys history. Yoo Young-chul confessed to killing over 20 victims in the few short years he was active in the early 2000s. After Yoos conviction in 2004, where is the killer now?

During his murder spree, Yoo initially targeted the rich and elderly before changing his victim pool to include sex workers. Yoo had a body count that shocked the nation. Due to the gravity of his crimes and the lives he took, the Korean justice system gave him the death penalty.

Yoo Young-chul for The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea docu-series | via Netflix

Yoo Young-chul had a surprising response to his death penalty verdict

The murderer admitted to 19 murders and even bosted to authorities about dabbling in cannibalism. According to Korea Joongang Daily, the prosecutors asked Yoo to be given the death penalty for his crimes in November 2004. In response to the request, Yoo answered, I am thankful for the prosecutors request for the death penalty. I will be repenting what I have done until I die. On Dec. 13, the judicial court accepted the prosecutions request, and Yoo was sentenced to death row.

According to Newsweek, the last death penalty carried out in South Korea was in 1997. Esquire explains the presidency of Kim Dae-jung a year later put a hold on capital punishment. Yoo is currently one of the 60 prisoners sitting on death row waiting for their execution date at Seoul Detention Center.

What is South Koreas law regarding the death penalty?

The subject of new Netflix doc 'The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea' was convicted of 20 killings and sentenced to death in 2004. https://t.co/RbJaJ6fkIS  Esquire (@esquire) October 29, 2021

RELATED: The Raincoat Killer: Does Not Explain Yoo Young-Chuls Backstory and Why His Face Was Never Revealed

According to The Korea Times, South Korea is classified as abolitionist in practice, which means that the government retains the death penalty but has not actually executed a criminal in the past 10 years or longer. Executions in Korea have existed since 1895, but the presidency of Kim Dae-jung since 1998 put them on hold.

The justice system can still sentence a perpetrator to death row but wait for their execution date. Koreas form of execution involves hanging. Over the years, Korean citizens have debated on the reinstatement of death row executions due to the rise of heinous crimes.

According to Amnesty International, the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled in 2010 that capital punishment did not violate human dignity and worth in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

Yoo Young-chul is not the only killer with a death penalty

RELATED: The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea: Plus 4 Other Netflix Crime Series

Yoo is inarguably one of the worst killers Korea has seen in its history. So much so that many crime Korean dramas use his story as a basis for their characters and storylines. The docu-series killer is not the only heinous monster South Korea has on death row. Kang Ho-sun is a serial killer who confessed to murdering 10 women, including his wife and mother-in-law.

Since 2009, Kang has currently sat on death row due to the moratorium of the death sentence since 1997. On death row is also the Jijon Family, a South Korean gang that assaulted, murdered, and kidnapped multiple victims. After their arrest, the police convicted them of five murders. The Jijon Family was sentenced to death and executed in 1994.
Teresa Giudice has officially found her perfect match, a little more than a year after her divorce from Joe Giudice. The reality TV star and mother of four is engaged to Louie Ruelas after a year-long public relationship. The pairs engagement comes on the heels of her divorce from her first husband, and he has some opinions about his exs new special someone. Have you heard everything he has said about the romance?

Teresa Giudice is engaged after a year-long romance

Teresa is ready to be someones wife again. The mother of four is officially engaged to her boyfriend of one year, Louie Ruelas. The couple reportedly met in July 2020, shortly before Teresa finalized her divorce from Joe Giudice. Teresa and Ruelas kept it low-key until November 2020, when she revealed her relationship status on Instagram. Since then, Teresa and Ruelas have been far from shy about sharing their feelings on social media.

Teresa Giudice and Louie Ruelas | Manny Carabel/Getty Images for ABA

Ruelas reportedly proposed to Teresa during a romantic trip to Greece in October. According to several sources, the proposal included a fireworks display, violinists, and an illuminated Marry Me sign. Teresa said yes, but the couple has yet to announce their wedding plans.

Joe Giudice has spoken about Teresa Giudices new relationship more than once

Joe Giudice met Teresas new beau several months before he popped the question. Ruelas accompanied Teresa and the four children she shares with her ex-husband down to the Bahamas, where they reconnected with Giudice. Giudice told US Weekly that while the initial meeting was awkward, he was happy to have connected with Ruelas. He noted that he and Teresa had agreed to maintain a friendship and that he was pleased to see her happy.

Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice | Andrei Jackamets/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Joe Giudice has an opinion on his exs engagement, too. Joe Giudice offered his thoughts a few days after Ruelas asked Teresa to marry him. He told Celebuzz! that he was happy for the pair and that he gave them his blessing. He did say that he thought they moved a little quickly, though. Joe and Teresa finalized their divorce in September 2020. Teresa debuted Ruelas to the public in November 2020.

Joe Giudices relationship with his former in-laws is pretty strained

Joe Giudice might not have hard feelings toward his ex-wife, but the same cant be said about his feelings toward his former brother-in-law, Joe Gorga. In March 2021, an episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey captured Gorga accusing Giudice of killing his mother. Antonia Gorga, Joe and Teresas mom, appeared on the show intermittently until she died in 2017.

Joe Giudice and Joe Gorga | Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Both Giudices have spoken out about the episode. Teresa stated that she was hurt by Gorgas comments, noting that Joe is still the father of her four children, and it hurts them to see him disparaged. Teresa has spoken fondly of Joe in the months since their divorce. During an interview with E!, she said, Hes a great person, we were married for 15 years and I know he didnt do anything intentionally to ever hurt me in any way.

Joe Giudice spoke about Gorgas words from the Bahamas. Giudice claims that Gorgas words hurt him. He went on to say that Gorga and his wife, Melissa Gorga, did very little for Antonia before her death in an interview with Us Weekly.

RELATED: Real Housewives of New Jersey Star, Joe Giudice, Has Officially Moved On
The Umbrella Academy season 2 features a memorable moment with Vanya (Elliot Page) hiding in a cornfield. But as revealed by the series showrunner, a logistical issue during production almost sent the scene sideways.

The Umbrella Academy season 2 takes the Hargreeves back to 1960s Texas

Aidan Gallagher as Number Five and Elliot Page as Vanya in The Umbrella Academy Season 2 | CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/NETFLIX

In the second season of The Umbrella Academy, the Hargreeve siblings are transported back in time to the 1960s. After suffering memory loss, a confused Vanya ends up living with Sissy (Marin Ireland) on her Texas ranch.

In episode 3, The Swedish Job, Vanya goes out for a drive and ends up being chased down by the Swedes. She pulls the car over and runs into a cornfield to hide. But when the Swedes begin shooting at her, Vanya inadvertently uses her powers to blast them away.

When Five (Aiden Gallagher) finds her there in the morning, he explains the situation. And as they walk out, they see how Vanyas powers flattened part of the cornfield into a crater.

The Umbrella Academy director reveals he encountered a scarce cornfield three weeks before filming the scene

According to The Umbrella Academy director Stephen Surjik, the production team had to design a cornfield to accommodate the cameras and equipment needed to film. I was reading the scenes, and the scenes were a little bit different, where Vanya is being chased to buy the Swedish assassins from the future, he told Nerds and Beyond. So I was saying we have to get a field that is designed that we can drive through, wide enough rows that we can get our lighting and all that stuff.

ok theory time: vanya invented crop circles??? pic.twitter.com/EOnhFTSsie  Umbrella Academy (@UmbrellaAcad) August 10, 2020

RELATED: The Umbrella Academy Star Emmy Raver-Lampman Reveals How an Unexpected Mishap on Set Changed the Season 2 Finale

Surjik said the team spoke to a farmer and asked him to plant the corn according to their production requirements. But when the crew arrived on location three weeks before filming, the corn on the ground was only a few inches high.

I looked down at the ground at the corn, and it was, I think, a second or third visit; it was like three inches high, he recalled. And we were shooting for like three weeks. I mean, every time I tell this story, I dont believe it.

Luckily, the cornstalks grew up to nine feet tall in 17 days

With three weeks left before filming, Surjik spoke to the farmer, who assured him that the corn stalk would grow to size by the time theyd start shooting. But Surjik told Verve Times he wasnt confident that it would pan out.

I mean, we went up there, we took pictures, I was sick  I was sick! The Umbrella Academy director admitted. Because I didnt think it was going to be ready.

running toward S2 like pic.twitter.com/AWq4UVtm8X  Umbrella Academy (@UmbrellaAcad) July 27, 2020

RELATED: The Umbrella Academy: Justin H. Min Will Return as Sparrow # 2 Alongside 5 New Cast Members

But much to his surprise, when the cast and crew arrived on location to film 17 days later, they found stalks of corn as tall as nine feet. I was thinking, the corn is going to get up to three and a half, four feet  like very tall grass, Surjik said. No. We go there, and it was eight and nine feet!

It was insane, he continued. It was so high that it was dark inside when you walked through the rowsWe had to deal with that. We had to light it differently. I never really understood the meaning of genetically manipulated seeds, but I think that might be part of it right there.
In this March 13, 2017, photo, student Michelle Freeman, top left, practices her argument in a moot courtroom at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. The University of California Hastings College of the Law wants to remove the name of its founder, who sponsored massacres of Native Americans in the 1850s. On Nov. 2, 2021, the Board of Directors voted to have the college work with state lawmakers and others to remove the name.
5th Circuit temporarily blocks Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private businesses

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A federal appeals court ruled on Saturday to temporarily halt the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would have required businesses with 100 employees or more to force workers to get vaccinated or be tested weekly for the virus and wear a mask.

Under the administration's new rules, private employers that don't comply with the mandate would face steep fines, up to $14,000 for each violation, and employees risk being terminated for noncompliance.

In its ruling, the three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stated:

Before the court is the petitioners emergency motion to stay

enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations

November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (the Mandate)

pending expedited judicial review. Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory

and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court.

The Fifth Circuit ruling added that the U.S. government must respond by 5 p.m. on Monday.

Texas' Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton hailed the court ruling in response to the state's lawsuit against the administration's coronavirus vaccine mandate.

"Yesterday, I sued the Biden Admin over its unlawful OSHA vax mandate," Paxton tweeted Saturday. "WE WON. Just this morning, citing "grave statutory and constitutional issues," the 5th Circuit stayed the mandate. The fight is not over and I will never stop resisting this Admins unconstitutional overreach!"

Paxton filed the state's petition to the Fifth Circuit on Friday and released a statement decrying the vaccine mandate on private businesses as a "breathtaking abuse of federal power."

OSHA has only limited power and specific responsibilities," the attorney general added. "This latest move goes way outside those bounds. This standard is flatly unconstitutional. Bottom line: Bidens new mandate is bad policy and bad law, and Im asking the Court to strike it down.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health disagreed with the judges' ruling, describing the decision as "shameful and outrageous."

In an emailed statement to The Christian Post, Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of NCOSH, said: The Fifth Circuit ruling that blocks OSHAs new COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is wrong on the facts, wrong on the law, and absolutely wrong when it comes to protecting workers lives. While we believe this standard can be improved, there is no sound legal reason  none  to block it from taking effect at a time when COVID-19 is still a deadly threat in Americas workplaces."

She added: Its shameful and outrageous to see anyone put politics ahead of public health. The judges who wrote this decision have probably been able to work safely from home throughout this pandemic. They should go right now to a poultry plant, a nursing home, a warehouse or another workplace where COVID-19 is still spreading, to see the real-life impact of their grossly irresponsible ruling.

As CP reported Friday, the Daystar Television Network, American Family Association and Answers in Genesis petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits, asking the judges to review and set aside the mandate, noted the First Liberty which is representing the religious entities.

First Liberty asserts that the prominent national religious ministries its representing are adversely affected by the vaccine mandate because they will face workplace shortages if unvaccinated employees quit rather than receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

The legal challenges also note that petitioners could face civil penalties up to $70,000 for each willful violation of the vaccine mandate.

Also on Friday, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Asbury Theological Seminary joined other religious and secular businesses in suing the Biden administration over its mandate.

SBTS and Asbury filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to challenge the mandate, said the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the seminaries.

The lawsuit alleges that the federal government cannot coerce individuals nationwide to undergo medical treatment, and it lacks authority to conscript employers to compel that result.

Earlier this week, the Biden administrations Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, unveiled the temporary emergency standard.

It is unacceptable for the government to force religious institutions to become coercive extensions of state power, Dr. Albert Mohler, the SBTS president, said. We have no choice but to push back against this intrusion of the government into matters of conscience and religious conviction.

Mohler added: This institution exists for the purpose of educating ministers for churches. This seminary must not be forced to stand in for the government in investigating the private health decisions of our faculty and employees in a matter involving legitimate religious concerns.

He emphasized that the largest U.S. seminaries of the Baptist and Methodist traditions standing together against the mandate should send a clear and urgent message to Christians and to the nation.

ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Bangert called the decision to mandate vaccines through an OSHA emergency rule unlawful.

It compels employers like our clients to intrude on their employees personal health decisions and divert resources from their important mission of training future ministers, he said. The government has no authority to unilaterally treat unvaccinated employees like workplace hazards or to compel employers to become vaccine commissars, and we are asking the 6th Circuit to put a stop to it immediately.

On Thursday, ADF filed a lawsuit against the vaccine mandate on behalf of The Daily Wire, a conservative news outlet based in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Daily Wires co-founder and Co-CEO Jeremy Boreing said: The Daily Wire will not comply with President Bidens tyrannical vaccine mandate, and weve sued the Biden administration to put a stop to their gross overreach. ... Joe Biden, the federal government, social media and the establishment media have all conspired to rob Americans of their freedom in the name of public health. Theyve broken faith with the American people through conflicting messaging, false information, and by suppressing data and perspectives with which they disagree. And forcing us to take a vaccine at the risk of financial ruin isn't going to rebuild that lost trust.

Boreing further stressed that he is pro-vaccine but is against the mandate: "I've said before that I'm vaccinated. If I were a dictator, I'd probably force most American adults to be vaccinated. But I'm not a dictator, and neither is Joe Biden. COVID is not the greatest threat that we face as a nation, the coordination between big government, big media and big tech to erode our liberties is."
Afghan Christians facing higher risk of persecution with Taliban in power: report

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Credible reports of ongoing violence committed against Afghanistans vulnerable religious communities, including executions and disappearances, suggest that Christians are at heightened risk of persecution with the Taliban in power, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned.

The USCIRF says in a factsheet that religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan are deteriorating since the Taliban took control of the country on Aug. 15, noting that it has documented and received credible reports of violence including executions, disappearances, evictions, desecration of houses of worship, beatings, harassment, and threats of violence to members of particularly vulnerable religious communities.

Afghan Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, Bahais and nonbelievers cannot express their faiths or beliefs openly because they face dire consequences, including death, if discovered by the Taliban, the commission added.

The Taliban have gone door-to-door looking for Christian converts, U.S. allies, former government workers and human rights activists, USCIRF says, based on reports. Christians have received threatening phone calls, while one leader of a house church network received a letter on August 12 from Taliban militants threatening him and his family. Some Christians have turned their phones off and moved to undisclosed locations.

Afghanistans Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which was reinstated by the Taliban in September, uses a notoriously violent hardline Islamist policing system, the factsheet says.

The commission explains that Afghanistan has no long-established Christian denominations and traditions.

Afghan Christians converted from Islam, and, therefore, all are considered apostates, according to Afghan law, which requires the courts to rely on Islamic jurisprudence. Societal actors, the former Afghan government and the Taliban often view conversion as an attempt to flee Afghanistan by seeking refugee status as a member of a persecuted religious community.

The factsheet adds, Converts who already faced ostracization and the threat of honor killings by family and village members are now at heightened risk with the Taliban in power.

The Afghan House Church Network and the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern estimate that there are 10,000 to 12,000 Christian converts throughout the country who have practiced underground over the last two decades.

Afghanistans religious minorities and others who do not share the same religious beliefs as the Taliban are in danger of falling afoul of the Talibans hardline Islamist beliefs, USCIRF warns. While religious freedom conditions in the country were poor under the previous government, these conditions have already worsened and have become dire under the Taliban and are likely to continue to deteriorate.

When the Taliban took control of much of Afghanistan following the drawing down of U.S. troops in August, many ministries working with the countrys underground church worked tirelessly to evacuate at-risk Christians, William Stark, ICCs regional manager for South Asia, told The Christian Post earlier.

Christians are now in hiding because of active threats against their community, Stark said.

He shared stories of how Christians continue to face threats from members of the Taliban. In one situation, an Islamic extremist threatened to kidnap a Christian mans daughters and marry them off to members of the Taliban. In another, a Christian man received a letter from the Taliban saying his house belonged to them. Christians have also been warned to refrain from gathering.

USCIRF recommends in the factsheet that the State Department grant U.S. Refugee Admissions Program access also to members of Afghan religious minorities in recognition of the severe risk of persecution they face from the Taliban.

In August, the Taliban executed 11 ex-defense personnel and two civilians, including a 17-year-old girl in Daykundi province, all of whom were from the ethnic Shia minority, Amnesty International said in a report, noting that the killings appeared to be war crimes.

Amnesty Internationals Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the killings were further proof that the Taliban are committing the same horrific abuses they were notorious for during their previous rule of Afghanistan.

They repeatedly violate the rights of those they perceive as their adversaries, even killing those who have already surrendered. The Taliban say they are not targeting former employees of the previous government, but these killings contradict such claims, Callamard added.

The Taliban publicly declared in September that they would carry out executions and other brutal punishments, including amputations, under Islamic Sharia law as part of their rule in Afghanistan.

Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a member of the Talibans interim government and chief enforcer of the groups strict interpretation of Sharia law, told The Associated Press at the time.

Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments, he continued. No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.

Turabi, who is under U.N. sanctions, also said the new government was considering carrying out such punishments in public.

Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly seized control of much of the country, eventually taking the capital Kabul in August and forcing the government to flee.
Durham grand jury indicts source in Trump-Russia probe for lying to FBI

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More than five years after the FBI first began investigating then-presidential candidate Donald Trumps purported illicit ties to Russia, a key source for the report containing allegations of misconduct by his campaign has been charged with making false statements to the federal law enforcement agency.

Igor Danchenko was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Wednesday with making false statements to the FBI. The grand jury indictment, filed Wednesday, noted that Danchenko was one of the primary sources used by former British intelligence official Christopher Steele, referred to as U.K. Person-1, when constructing the information that ultimately formed the core of the allegations found in the Company Reports, also known as the Steele Dossier.

In addition to listing the occasions where Danchenko lied to the FBI, the indictment mentions that the campaign of Hillary Clinton, Trumps rival in the 2016 presidential election, played an instrumental role in the creation of the Steele Dossier: A U.S.-based international law firm (Law Firm-1), acting as counsel to the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign (the Clinton Campaign), had retained a U.S.-based investigative firm (U.S. Investigative Firm-1) to conduct research on Trump and his associates.

Steele was recruited to conduct the research on Trump and submitted information to the FBI containing derogatory information on then-candidate Donald J. Trump beginning in July 2016. That month, the FBI launched an investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane that probed whether officials within the Trump campaign were coordinating with the Russian government. The FBI repeatedly spoke to Danchenko as part of the investigation.

As part of its efforts to determine the truth or falsity of specific information in the Company Reports, the FBI conducted several interviews of Danchenko regarding, among other things, the information that Danchenko provided to U.K. Person-1, the indictment stated.

Specifically, Danchenko falsely told FBI agents that he had never communicated with a particular U.S.-based individual  who was a long-time participant in Democratic Party politics and was then an executive at a U.S. public relations firm  about any allegations contained in the Company Reports. As it turns out, the individual was identified as a source of at least one of the allegations in the Steele Dossier.

The longtime Democratic Party operative, identified by The New York Times as Charles Dolan, worked on both of former President Bill Clintons presidential campaigns as well as both of Hillary Clintons presidential campaigns. Dolan was not the only person Danchenko lied about to authorities.

According to the indictment, Danchenko stated falsely during the interviews that, in or about late July 2016, he received an anonymous phone call from an individual who Danchenko believed to be a particular U.S. citizen and who was then president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce (Chamber President-1).

Danchenko also falsely stated that, during this phone call, (i) the person he believed to be Chamber President-1 informed him, in part, about information that the Company Reports later described as demonstrating a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between the Trump Campaign and Russian officials.

The assertion that Danchenko spoke with and later met with the aforementioned individual was later determined to be false. The indictment illustrated that the false assertion served as the basis for conducting surveillance on one of the Trump campaigns advisors, Carter Page. Danchenko was also accused of lying about his friends, associates and sub-sources knowledge about his relationship with Steele.

The Steele Dossier contained salacious allegations about Trumps behavior and dealings with Russia, most notably that he rented the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Moscow where he knew President and MRS OBAMA (whom he hated) had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a golden showers (urination) show in front of him.

The charges against Danchenko stem from former U.S. Attorney John Durhams investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

Durham was appointed as a special counsel by then-Attorney General William Barr to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane.

Former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussman and former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith have also been indicted for making false statements as a result of the Durham probe. Accusations of collaboration with Russia continued throughout the Trump presidency and eventually resulted in a special counsel investigation that lasted for approximately two years.

Stephen Miller, who worked in the Trump administration, responded to the indictment in an appearance on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight Thursday. Miller restated the opinion widely held throughout the Trump administrations inner circle that the Russia probe and the special counsel investigation were used to hamstring the Trump presidency, specifically that the deep state was using the Russia probe to overthrow the elected president of the United States.

This was a theft from the American people. They elected their president. His time, his energy and that of his staffers were stolen. Thousands upon thousands of hours were stolen by rogue bureaucrats working in our intelligence services, in the FBI and across the government to impose their will over the will of the American people, he asserted.

Wall Street Journal opinion writer Kimberly A. Strassel asserted that "The Clinton dossier should go down as one of the biggest scandals in U.S. political history. Not just for the breadth of the con, but for the time it has taken to expose it."
Over 60 members of Baptist church kidnapped in Nigeria

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Armed bandits in Nigerias Kaduna State kidnapped more than 60 worshipers during a church service and shot one Christian dead, according to reports, which also say Christian workers in the area have gone into hiding.

The gunmen stormed Emmanuel Baptist Church in Kakau Daji area in southern Kaduna last Sunday, the Christian ministry Open Doors reported, adding that the telecom networks were down at the time to help combat bandit activity.

The church was unable to call for help, whilst the bandits have reportedly asked for a higher ransom because they had to travel farther for network service to contact the victims relations, the ministry said.

The government claimed that it had tightened security in that locality, but the Rev. Joseph Haya, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria and a Baptist, said he disagreed and that the threat of more attacks remains. We are seriously worried now. Gunmen are gradually approaching the township, he was quoted as saying.

Haya told The Epoch Times that the Baptist church is the worst hit church in this state.

Catholic Herald reported that the number of those kidnapped could be more than 100 and that two worshipers had been critically injured.

This kidnapping is a shocking example of the audacity of the so-called bandits and the impunity that is escalating, seemingly without bounds in Nigeria, said Jo Newhouse, spokesperson for Open Doors in sub-Saharan Africa. The government is grossly failing its citizens in this matter and the continuing lawlessness is creating ideal breeding ground for extremism.

In July, more than 140 students were abducted as they were scheduled to take their final exams at Bethel Baptist High School in the Chikun local government area in the same state.

The abductors promised the parents that their children would not starve if they provided rice, beans, palm oil, salt and stock cubes. They said a ransom demand would follow, Reuters reported at the time.

Terrorist groups with a foothold in the region, like Boko Haram, have carried out mass kidnappings in recent years, including kidnapping over 200 girls from a school in Chibok in 2014.

Dede Laugesen, the executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians, told The Christian Post in a previous interview that terrorists will often kidnap boys and brainwash them to become jihadis.

Many Nigerians have raised concerns about what they perceive as the governments inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of attacks and kidnappings.

In an earlier interview with CP, Emeka Umeagbalai of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, said kidnappings of Christians happen for various reasons.

Some terrorists, like Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province and radical Fulani militants are motivated by money, while others are motivated by Islamic radicalism.

Security analysts say kidnapping for ransom is becoming a lucrative industry in Nigeria. And weapons are becoming readily available to militants in Nigeria thanks to war-torn Libya.

Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA ranks Nigeria at No. 9 on its 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. Nigeria is also recognized as a "country of particular concern" by the U.S. State Department for tolerating or engaging in severe violations of religious freedom.
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Throughout my life, I have often found myself in positions that required me to confront people who have so much more  more power, more intelligence, more money, more authority  than I do.



At various times I have been led by God to confront elected officials in the community, business owners with considerable clout, angry members of my congregation, international ministry leaders, and even presidents from both major political parties in the White House!

My desire each time I am called to engage in holy confrontation is to advance Gods Kingdom and to uphold His truth. I never confront another person in anger or, to the best of my human ability, to advance my own agenda. When I have confronted political leaders and presidents of both parties, I have maintained my devotion to only one cause  not the donkeys or the elephants cause but the Lambs. I cannot say that I enjoyed any of those sometimes tense, often emotionally charged, conversations. But each one forced me to rely on God and the power of the Holy Spirit just a little more as I submit to His authority.

During those challenging seasons of confrontation, I prayed without ceasing for Gods guidance, wisdom, and understanding. I sought to emulate the only perfect person who has ever walked this earth  my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I relied on the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to work through me and others in order to accomplish what He had called me to do. Perhaps you have been in a similar situation: If you did not speak up about an injustice, no one else was going to.

Perhaps you have been challenged in your employment, where the voices of those who are being wronged are also being ignored. Or maybe your church family has missed the mark and slid into a stance that is clearly immoral. Maybe even in your family a biblical truth is being ignored and poisoning the sanctity of your home.

Whether we are intimidated by a cultural climate of cancellations and criticism or fear the fallout from standing firm in our faith, we must muster the courage of Elijah, who confronted King Ahab. Gods prophet had declared that rain would not fall, a way of commanding everyones attention by suffering the consequences of a life-threatening famine, a season Elijah and others survived only through the provision and protection of God.

As the famine stretched into its third year, God told Elijah that it was time for a more direct confrontation: Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land (1 Kings 18:1). Elijah set off immediately to see the king, but before reaching him, the prophet encountered Ahabs palace administrator, Obadiah, identified as a devout believer in the Lord (verse 3) who had worshiped the Lord since his youth (see verse 12). As evidence of his faithfulness, Obadiah had hidden a hundred prophets in two caves, providing them with food and water, and protecting the murderous intent of King Ahabs wife, Jezebel.

Elijah instructed Obadiah to go tell the king that the prophet would meet him face to face. The faithful Obadiah, however, was fearful of his masters wrath concerning the prophet.

No problem, Elijah basically replied. Ill tell him myself!

Ahab, upon seeing his least favorite person approaching, greeted Elijah with these words: Is that you, you troubler of Israel? (verse 17).

Elijah deflected the accusation into a true reflection of the situation: I have not made trouble for Israel ... But you and your fathers family have. You have abandoned the Lords commands and have followed the Baals (verse 18). In other words, Im not the problem  youre the problem!

The political, social, and cultural divisiveness in our nations and our world requires us to stand apart from the majority, to go against the powerful, and to confront the privileged. Now perhaps more than ever, we are called to act on behalf of the poor, the weak, the defenseless, the disenfranchised, the orphans, and the widows. To stand up for what we believe, for what we know is right, for the truth found in the living Word of God. But standing up for the truth is rarely comfortable, convenient, or convivial.

It is so much easier to go with the flow, to back away from the battle, to look the other way. Even when immorality, greed, perversion, murder, and idolatry assault our lives on a daily basis, we may be reluctant to voice opposition because there will be a price to pay, consequences to contend with, and changes to make. We risk being unfriended and unliked on social media, being criticized and chastised by opponents who do not even know for what and whom we stand.

In our divisive world of political animosity and civil unrest, we often allow the mantle of holy confrontation to fall from our shoulders. Rather than speak up for what is right in the eyes of God, we hold our tongues in order to conform to the consensus. Instead of calling out injustice, unrighteousness, immorality, and idolatry, we avoid rocking the boat.

When we exercise the mantle of holy confrontation, we may, like Elijah, be viewed as a troublemaker and instigator. Our opponents may call us names or try to influence others so that they may join forces against us. Our adversaries will silence us by any means necessary.

That is when we must dare to start holy trouble.

Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Persevere with Power by Samuel Rodriguez, 2021, Used by permission.
Dan Darling seeks to raise 'Gospel-centered leaders' as director of Land Center for Cultural Engagement

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Dan Darling, the newly-named director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has said that in his new role, he hopes to help equip the Church to engage in an increasingly complex and confusing culture.

We live in a very divided and divisive age, and yet, an age in which God is calling Christians to share the good news of the Gospel and to speak truth in love, Darling told The Christian Post. We hope to help host conversations about important cultural issues and to raise the next generation of Gospel-centered leaders."

The center, which was established in 2007, is named after Dr. Richard Land, who served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission from 1988 to 2013. He then served as president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, from July 2013 to July of this year, and is now president emeritus. Land is also the executive editor of The Christian Post.

The center focuses on the study and research of ethics, public policy, and other cultural and philosophical issues, according to the seminary.

Land, who was featured in a February 2005 Time magazine edition as one of The Twenty-five Most Influential Evangelicals in America, told CP he believes Darling is well-equipped by calling, training, and experience to provide that leadership as director of the Land Center.

Never before has America more needed for Southern Baptists and other people of faith to be challenged and equipped to be the salt and light that our Savior has commanded us to be, he said.

He added: I am delighted and grateful that Southwestern, one of our most historically preeminent seminaries and academic institutions, will be utilizing the Land Center to help meet that pressing need for present and future generations. I look forward with anticipation to watching how our Heavenly Father will bless His church through the ministry of Southwestern and the Land Center.

Darling, author of The Original Jesus, The Dignity Revolution, The Characters of Christmas, The Characters of Easter, and A Way With Words, will also serve under presidential appointment as assistant professor of faith and culture at Texas Baptist College, Southwestern Seminarys undergraduate school. His appointments are effective Nov. 1

Darling previously served as the spokesman for the National Religious Broadcasters, a group of some 1,000 members employed in Christian media. He was fired from the role in August after he shared publicly why his Christian beliefs compelled him to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The NRB says it has a policy of remaining neutral on vaccines.

Prior to his role at NRB, Darling served as vice president for communications at the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, as well as in pastoral roles.

His appointment at the seminary comes at a contentious time for the SBC, America's largest Protestant denomination, largely stemming from internal disagreements over how to best respond to sexual abuse allegations at churches, which are autonomous.

The conventions leadership recently voted to waive attorney-client privilege as part of an investigation into the SBC leadership's handling of sexual abuse claims. The decision prompted at least a dozen SBC leaders to resign, including committee head Ronnie Floyd.

The denomination has also grappled with disagreements over critical race theory and conflicting views on traditional gender roles.

Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told CP that Darlings hiring underscores the seminarys commitment to provide the very best theological education for men and women preparing to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In a day of moral upheaval and widespread rejection of Gods design for human flourishing, it is our unwavering commitment that the Land Center be a trusted partner in helping Southern Baptist churches and the broader evangelical world to understand the times and to apply effectively Gospel truth in this day, he said.

If there has ever been a time where we need Christian conviction marked by a winsome witness, it is now. I appreciate the tone by which Dan engages these issues, and I believe the future of the Land Center Southwestern Seminary is very bright under his leadership.
Ask Chuck: I may lose my job over the vax mandate

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Dear Chuck,

If I do not get the COVID-19 vaccine, I could lose my job with a federal contractor. If I get it, I go against my conscience and the liberty I have to protect my familys health, a fundamental right of Americans. I am not anti-vax, but I hate coercion. My wife and I are bracing for the financial consequences, but we want your advice.

Standing Against the Mandatory Vax

Dear Standing Against the Mandatory Vax,

I am sorry that you and your family have been placed in such a hard position. This is not a spat with a strongly opinionated believer in the hallways of the church; unlike others with an opinion on the issue, you are faced with a possible job loss.

Evaluate some of your options

Companies are required to make "reasonable accommodations" if an employee objects to receiving a vaccine for valid reasons. Such accommodations could include allowing the employee to work remotely or take a leave of absence. The employee could also show a negative COVID-19 test once a week, per the President's mandate. Ask to work remotely, or agree to get tested weekly. It would appear to me that if you are denied those options, then the law would be in your favor should you get wrongfully terminated.

Religious exemption?

Seek wise counsel before crafting this defense. My understanding is that this route is unlikely to be successful without a history of taking this position with other vaccines.

David Schrock argues this posture from a unique angle: ...we have seen an unending array of executive orders and economic decisions that have further tied the citizens to the state (think: government bailouts) and forced the state on the citizens (think: all the policies of the CDC). Topping the list of government intrusions is the vaccine mandate. And because this mandate has come with all the trappings of a religion, we now have a state that is forcing its religion on its citizens, (emphasis mine). In other words, argue for separation of religion and state.

Appeal to your superiors

One of my friends used a very strong appeal to a high-ranking superior in the company. While not claiming a religious exemption, he believes that Americans should not be coerced into making a choice about their own health. Quoting from the Nuremberg Trials of 1947, he noted:

Coercion into medical treatment violates the direct purpose of the 'Nuremberg Code' which was developed after World War 2 in order to set a series of medical principles and regulations. It states (emphasis mine):

"The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the interventionof any element of force,fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision."

He is yet to hear the outcome of this appeal.

Facing the consequences

The financial implications for your choice are potentially numerous. My understanding is that termination would be based on failure to comply with company policy and would, therefore, cause ineligibility for unemployment benefits. You will also face the stress of finding another job, the cost of regular testing, the possibility of higher healthcare costs, the chance of having to relocate, and more.

It is admirable that you and your family are willing to face the loss of your job based upon your convictions. Millions of Americans in a wide diversity of sectors are doing the same thing. Some companies are backing off of stringent compliance expectations.

Be proactive

Set aside your fear, and place your full confidence in God.

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Psalm 46:1,10 ESV)

Begin planning now for the possibility of a job change. Consider ways to supplement your income should the day come when you need to seek other employment. Possibly, your company or another can hire you on as an independent consultant. Use your network wisely by letting others know you are open to a job or career change. Networking for an inside connection is the best use of your time. Be specific on the type of opportunity you would consider. Activate your prayer partners.

Gods promises are most relevant in a time when we experience great need and come to fully and sincerely rely upon Him. Should you face termination, you will not be separated from Gods faithfulness. He will guide you through the storm and take care of you and your family. He also promises to work this all out for your good. The final outcome is yet to be determined. May God grant you peace as you trust Him with the consequences, whatever they may be.

Now is also a good time to address any problems you may have with personal debt. For more guidance, especially if your debt is related to credit cards, please consider contacting Christian Credit Counselors. They are a trusted source of help.
Nigerian pastor macheted to death, body found by search party

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Unknown assailants in Nigerias Kaduna State macheted to death a pastor from the Evangelical Church of Winning All whose body was later found by a search party, as the troubling trend of deadly attacks on Christians carry on unabated in that country, according to a report.

The slain pastor has been identified as the Rev. Silas Ali of ECWA in Kaduna States Zango Kataf Local Government Area who left his home to go to Kafanchan area on Saturday, Nigerias Punch news outlet first reported Sunday.

Ali was apparently attacked around Kibori community, near Asha-Awuce area, where a search party discovered his body that was described as having been macheted to death.

Kaduna States Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the pastors murder, saying security agencies had started an investigation.

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai described the killing as cruel and sent his condolences to the pastors family and the ECWA Church, The Guardian Nigeria reported.

While the assailants have not been identified, thousands of Christians have been killed in Nigeria  Christians are killed by radicalized Fulani herders in the farming-rich Middle Belt of Nigeria and by Islamic extremists in the countrys northeast.

In July, a civil society group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, or Intersociety, released a report estimating that at least 3,462 Christians had been killed and at least 3,000 Christians had been abducted in just 200 days. The report also estimates that no fewer than 300 churches and 10 priests had been attacked.

Many have accused the Nigerian government of inadequately responding to protect its citizens.

The Nigerian Government has continued to face sharp criticisms and strong accusations of culpability and complicity in the killings and supervision of same, Intersociety said in the report. The countrys security forces have so fumbled and compromised that they hardly intervene when the vulnerable Christians are in danger of threats or attacks, but only emerge after such attacks to arrest and frame up the same population threatened or attacked.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country, is ranked No. 9 on Open Doors 2021 World Watch List for Christian persecution worldwide due to an extreme level of Islamic oppression.

Jihadi attacks in West Africa have been on the rise since the beginning of 2021, and Nigeria is targeted more than any country in the region, the United States-based Christian persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern reports.

Islamic terrorist groups have killed thousands in the region in recent years as they seek to impose a caliphate and Islamic Sharia law.

Christians have been specifically targeted and disproportionately been affected by this violence.  The responses by the government are clearly not enough, since perpetrators of such violence are able to continue attacking Christians, and other Nigerians, with impunity, Illia Djadi, Open Doors senior analyst on freedom of religion and belief in sub-Saharan Africa, said, according to ICC.

The Global Terrorism Index ranks Nigeria as the third country most affected by terrorism in the world. It reports that from 2001 to 2019, over 22,000 were killed by acts of terror.

Mark Jacob, a Nigerian barrister, and former Attorney General of Kaduna State, said last month that selected killings of Christians, particularly in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria had been going on, and he has been part of several mass burials of Christians.
Watch out for these CRT books being taught in schools

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Parents from coast to coast are speaking out against critical race theory (CRT) being taught to their kids in schools. And yet, Marc Lamont Hill, a progressive professor, would like you to believe that CRT is only being taught in graduate-level courses and law schools.

However, that is just not true.

The fact is that CRT is being taught in the curricula of countless school districts across the country. And the numbers continue to rise.

In this article, I will present three books being taught in several elementary, middle, and high schools.

Woke Baby by Mahogany Browne

To share a glimpse into Woke Baby, the parents come into their baby's room to check on her and find that she is not asleep but awake. And not only is their baby girl wide awake but she is also "woke" as she announces from her crib that gender is a social construct.

The book almost makes it seem like you're a bad parent if you're not teaching your baby about gender identity and racial equity while changing their diaper.

So, to all the parents reading this, allow me to ask you: how essential was it for you to teach your baby to be woke?

Probably not that important. And the reason for not instilling wokeness in your baby is because it's terrible parenting. Babies don't need to be robbed of their childhood development by woke ideology. Babies need to be nurtured, fed, bathed, and loved.

Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness (Ordinary Terrible Things) by Anastasia Higginbotham

Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute, reported that 30 schools in 15 states are teaching Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness (Ordinary Terrible Things) in the classroom. Why is that alarming? Because from the outset, the book reads, "Racism is a White person's problem and we are all caught up in it."

Another disturbing phrase in the book states that white people "mess endlessly with the lives of your friends, neighbors, loved ones and all fellow humans of color for the purpose of profit."

The book's agenda promotes anti-whiteness and collective guilt by teaching kids to place themselves in categories based on their whiteness, power and privileges. The author states that white kids are raised by racists, and white kids perpetuate systemic racism because they are white.

Another dangerous ideology espoused in this book is that moral value is based on a person's skin color. Not on God.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

The premise of Mr. Kendi's book is that racism is the default setting of the world. According to Mr. Kendi, you are either a racist or an anti-racist. That's it. There are no alternatives. For Mr. Kendi, saying you are "not a racist" isn't enough. He believes you must become an "anti-racist" if you genuinely don't want to be a racist.

Here is how Mr. Kendi makes the distinction, "'Cultural Racist': one who is creating a cultural standard and imposing a cultural hierarchy among racial groups. 'Cultural-Antiracist': one who is rejecting cultural standards and equalizing cultural differences among racial groups."

In essence, Mr. Kendi is espousing that we are all racists if we do not actively participate in removing ideas and policies that advance racism.

Furthermore, Mr. Kendi's solution to rid the world of systemic racism is to advance discrimination against any person or belief not considered anti-racist. He writes, "The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination."

And as if that wasn't alarming enough, Mr. Kendi proposes the establishment of a "Department of Antiracism" of unelected "formally trained experts on racism" that would have total autonomy monitoring "racist ideas" and enforcing what they deem appropriate measures to silence or punish racist offenders. This seems all well and good if you're not a racist. But keep in mind Mr. Kendi's definition of a racist: It is anyone who does not advance antiracism. So, if the "Department of Antiracism" doesn't feel your ideas, beliefs, or actions meet the threshold of antiracism, then they are authorized to silence your speech and block you from exercising your personal convictions and sacred beliefs.

Parents must be aware of what their kids are being taught and stay informed about the training teachers are receiving about CRT. The Bible encourages us to "test everything and hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Therefore, be attentive to what your school district teaches kids about gender, race and equity. The more informed and engaged you are, the better chance the next generation will have to walk in the truth of God.
Christian group sues Nebraska university for denying funding of philosopher's lecture on God

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A Christian student group has filed a lawsuit against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accusing the school of wrongfully denying funding for a guest speaker.

The UNL chapter of the international apologetics ministry Ratio Christi filed a lawsuit against UNL last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, alleging that university officials engaged in viewpoint discrimination.

At issue is a funding request to host Christian philosopher and Notre Dame Professor Robert Audi for a lecture on whether it is rational to believe in God. The student group requested $1,500 in student activity funding for the event with Audi, who previously taught at UNL for nearly 30 years before his time at Notre Dame.

University officials denied the request, the complaint stated. The school allegedly told the students that they would need to invite a speaker to represent the opposite views of Audi to get the funding. The school reasoned that the funding could not be used to promote speakers of a political and ideological nature," the lawsuit added.

Defendants spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in student fees each year to pay for speakers and other events promoting political and ideological viewpoints on topics like sexual orientation, gender identity, reproductive justice, social justice, police reform, and political activism, the lawsuit reads.

And Defendants do not present opposing viewpoints.  Commonly, the student speech that Defendants fund on those and other topics conflict with the viewpoints held by Ratio Christi, the Student Plaintiffs, and other University Students.

Michael Ross of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal nonprofit representing Ratio Christi, said in a statement that public universities should foster an inclusive environment that showcases a variety of viewpoints, not dismiss those with whom the administration disagrees.

The University of NebraskaLincoln has failed to ensure its student organizations are treated fairly and objectively; it turned down Ratio Christis reasonable request because of a blatant bias against its particular religious and ideological viewpoint, Ross claimed.

UNL spokeswoman Deb Fiddelke said in a statement reported by The Omaha World-Herald last Friday that the university welcomes all viewpoints. She rejected claims of discrimination.

We have a variety of speakers on our campus, from across the ideological, religious and political spectrum, stated Fiddelke, adding that there are many different sources for event funding and that Ratio Christi has been previously funded for speakers and events from other funding sources.

The lawsuit drew the attention of Gov. Pete Ricketts, who called for the university to support speakers from a wide variety of viewpoints on campus, including Christian speakers.

UNL has previously brought in much more controversial speakers, and Dr. Robert Audi and Ratio Christi should be given the same respect, the Republican governor said in a statement. I urge University of Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green to step in and define policies to end this kind of discrimination and to send a message that all viewpoints, including Christian values, are welcome.

ADF has represented Ratio Christi groups in other cases, including a recent lawsuit against The University of Houston-Clear Lake that claims the school denied official recognition of the student group.

Days after the ADF filed the complaint against the University of Houston-Clear Lake, the university officially registered the Christian group as a student organization.

However, the university maintains that it never denied official status to Ratio Christi and was still processing the application when the lawsuit was filed.
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For centuries, millions of people from all over the world have traveled to the holy city of Bethlehem to worship, to reflect, and to experience the story of their faith. And the majestic, awe-inspiring, ancient Church of the Nativity  the traditional site of Jesus birth and one of the oldest active Christian churches in the world  is an anchor for the city. Its time for Christians all over the world to fall in love again with the Church of the Nativity.

First constructed in AD 339 under the direction of Emperor Constantine and rebuilt in the 6th century after a devastating fire, the Church of the Nativity remains a pilgrimage site for both Christians and Muslims. In 2002, the church was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its [direct association] with the birth of Jesus, an event of outstanding universal significance, through the buildings of which were constructed in the 4th century AD and re-constructed in the 6th century AD. These are a strong symbol for more than 2 billion Christian believers in the world, and are holy to Christians as well as to Muslims.

The Palestinian Presidential Committee for the Restoration of the Church of the Nativity began to restore the church in 2013 with permission from the three custodians: the Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and the Roman Catholic churches. The last renovation of the church was completed 500 years ago, and if we had waited another 500 years, then there would no longer be a Church of the Nativity. It was critical to intervene, as the church was in danger of collapsing.



As a result of the dedication and generosity of our staff and supporters, the Church of the Nativity was removed from UNESCOs list of World Heritage in Danger sites in 2019. Though, the work isnt done. We at the Bethlehem Development Foundation supported the restoration work early on, starting with studies in 2011, and will continue to do so until completion, which is expected in 2022.

The restoration of the Church of the Nativity is of utmost importance to Christians and Muslims. It stands as a tangible reminder that religious pluralism, which is essential to human flourishing, is strengthened by preserving cultural heritage.

As the managing director and CEO of the Bethlehem Development Foundation and as a Christian, I make time to travel to other places to try to discover our faith origins. We have holy places in the Holy Land that we have yet to uncover, and we have to go and find them and protect them, not merely for their tourism value, but because they are essential to the preservation of religious pluralism and religious freedom.

For example, we have the ruins of the Church of the Kathisma, where the Virgin Mary is said to have rested when she was leaving Bethlehem to travel to Nazareth with Joseph. Sadly, that site has been left in the open without protection, and no one seems to be worried about it, even though the church was most likely a place of worship and of refuge in the 8th century.

This site and many others are like a puzzle we have to complete to fully understand the story of our history. We know the history, but these places connect the dots. Every place is important and we have to preserve them. Our past informs our present and our future.

In the past, the majority of Bethlehems inhabitants were Christians. During the 7th century, the Christian population started to diminish into a minority of only 1-2.5% of the people living in the West Bank. To preserve our presence, we have to prove that our faith is still here.

Muslims also revere many Christian figures like the Virgin Mary and Jesus. They also have an interest in preserving the Church of the Nativity because it is part of their faith and culture too. In fact, we received two donations for the Church of the Nativity from the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, which did not come from Christian countries. The U.S. government has not supported or accepted any of our requests for funding, although the American people generously supported earlier projects. Small investments in pluralism and religious freedom often provide a much better return on a local level than trillions of dollars invested in regional wars.

The year before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the globe, the numbers of visitors to the Church of the Nativity was unlike any we had ever seen. The queue went all around the inside of the church, all the way back to Manger Square outside the church, and the wait to get inside was three hours long.

This great church must continue to be a light in the darkness for generations to come.
Right now, many companies in the United States are competing for staff, in the midst of a crisis over a labor shortage . Despite this, the Starbucks coffee chain is not afraid to face a legal lawsuit with its workers, who denounced the company for harassment, threats and intimidation, in order to prevent them from forming a union.

On November 4, the Workers United union filed a complaint against Starbucks in a Buffalo court. The documents, cited by Efe agency , represent the complaints of 128 workers from three stores of the chain in said city, located north of New York, who are trying to create what would be the first union of this large company with a global presence, which it has boycotted all such initiatives so far.

The complainants point out that in August 2021 the chain started a campaign of threats, intimidation and surveillance against the group of employees. The strategy would have been a "response to the efforts of fellow Buffalo to organize a union,"

The Buffalo group of employees created a Twitter account reaffirming the accusations against Starbucks for harassment. They also invite other colleagues to join the movement and share their experiences, post updates and even have a logo: a black fist raising one of the iconic glasses of the famous coffee shops.

Siren says: "Don't listen to Starbucks' union-busting siren song - stay strong and vote yes!" pic.twitter.com/vLtvkgNaOg - SBWorkersUnited (@SBWorkersUnited) November 2, 2021

Next week, the 128 Buffalo workers who proceeded against Starbucks will begin an online vote to decide whether or not to organize under a union.

Also read: Former employees sue Mark Zuckerberg and his wife for harassment and discrimination

How did the problem start for the Starbucks union?

Last August, employees applied to join the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB ), a body that authorizes the formation of union bodies.

In an attempt to thwart the initiative, Starbucks argued before the Board that the vote should include all employees at its twenty Buffalo locations, and not just those at the three coffee shops that launched the original proposal.

Happy Election Day Buffalo! There's only one mayoral candidate who's had our back from day one! pic.twitter.com/QLUuYXaALt - SBWorkersUnited (@SBWorkersUnited) November 2, 2021

After more than two months of debate, the NLRB finally gave its verdict on October 29: it guaranteed the right of workers to create a union in the three locations that requested it .

Despite actions taken by members of its staff, Starbucks has publicly responded that it does not approve of the creation of a union .

We work together and collaborate, this is how we solve problems, this is how we evolve, this is how we serve our customers, as partners. That is why we disagree (with the idea of a union), but we are looking for options and we are going to do what we have always done, serve our partners , "Kevin Johnson, Starbucks CEO, told CNBC on October 29. .

We recommend: These leadership mistakes by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are a warning to all entrepreneurs

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Fans screamed for help and made pleas to stop the show during a crowd surge at Travis Scotts Astroworld Fest set Friday night that left at least eight people dead and hundreds more injured.

An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance at the sold-out event at Houstons NRG Park. Witnesses described a massive wave of people surging toward the events main stage as Travis Scott began to perform, knocking people down and stepping on those who fell to the ground in the chaos. A number of witnesses said they sought help from police, security guards or others working at the festival as things started to turn more dangerous, but those pleas were met with apathy.

Everything was normal up until when Travis posted the time he was going to get onstage, Donovon Davis, 22, of Houston, told Rolling Stone. Thats when it just got wild.

The crowd was moving so violently that people fell on top of us, and when they fell, people fell on top of them. There was layers and layers and layers of people falling, Davis said. He said at one point he tried to assist someone who had fallen down next to him. I turned to pick him up, and I could hear him screaming for help. The music hadnt started yet. And then the crowd just moved me, and I saw a wave of people just walk over him.

Following the incident, accounts and video flooded onto social media about what people experienced during the stampede-like atmosphere, as well as the futile attempts to stop the concert in order to allow the injured people  trapped within the churning mass  to receive the help they required.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said on Saturday that 528 police officers were working at the festival and 755 private security officers provided by Astroworld organizers Live Nation were also in attendance.

Madeline Eskins, an attendee and an ICU nurse, told Rolling Stone on Saturday morning, It was definitely overcrowded. It was insane, honestly. I knew it was just way too crowded  it just got worse and worse as i got closer to Travis Scott performing it got more crowded, more crowded, more crowded.

Fans were recording the concert and people doing CPR, Eskins added. Fans were yelling at the stage crew around us, saying stop the concert, people are dying. No one listened.

Eskins, attending her third Astroworld fest, told Rolling Stone that, in the initial crowd surge at around 9 p.m., I looked at my boyfriend and I was about to tell my boyfriend to tell my son I loved him because I did not think I would make it out of there. And I fainted, Eskins said. I tried to jump up as much as I could to get air. I couldnt breathe. I just felt it. I knew it was coming.

Someone then crowd-surfed Eskins to a security guard while she was still unconscious; she came to in what she believed to be a VIP area that was filling up with unconscious festival-goers.

Eskins shared more of her experience on social media, saying she believed the medical staff at the show was inexperienced and overwhelmed:

Grant Tate, 20, was between the stage and a camera platform when the pandemonium started.

As soon as Travis Scott came out, people just started compacting. People were just pressing on you from every direction. You were at the will of crowd, he told Rolling Stone. I remember there was a girl next to me looking straight up trying to get a breath. I could see how scared she was. I was scared. You couldnt raise your arms or get your balance. We were scared for our lives, honestly, he said.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, who described himself as 6 feet 3 inches tall, managed to make his way back to the platform with the camera crane. He recalled helping about eight smaller people over the barricade before climbing it himself.

It was a really chaotic experience. One girl, her top came completely off, he said. The camera went low over peoples heads, and someone reached up to grab onto it. People were just panicking. They were definitely trying to get out of the area. That was them trying to get out.

Tate and other festival-goers described a shocking lack of staff communication. They said the people climbing onto the risers where cameras were filming Scotts set  which streamed live on Apple Music  pleaded with the crew to communicate to someone that the concert needed to be halted. Video from the incident appears to show the crew ignoring those efforts, with some in the crowd mocking the pleas for help.

I was telling the crane crew, There are people on the ground. They need help. They didnt have any communication with the EMTs or security. They couldnt help, Tate said. There was just no preparation for them to have an emergency scenario like that.

He said one man collapsed directly on the cameras wheel well while another was sprawled out near the camera with no shirt getting CPR.

People were yelling, Stop the show! But a lot of people were yelling lot of things. Im sure it was hard for (Scott) to understand, he said. If there was any communication between that middle camera area and (stage staff), he might have understood  and maybe stopped the show.

Baheer Kashif, 21, said he escaped the living hell of the mosh pit about 15 minutes after Scott took the stage at 9 p.m. He started sprinting toward a medic tent to sound the alarm and encountered a group of about 15 uniformed Houston Police officers, he said.

I told them, Hey, theres a group in this little section who are suffocating. Theyre gonna die. They cannot breathe. We need to go help them, get them out. They basically said, Calm down. Were aware of the situation. Were dealing with something else right now, but well take care of it.

Kashif said the officers continued standing there, doing nothing at all.

Their calm response bugged me out a little. I tried again, telling them, Im not trying to be an asshole, but theres people in there who are probably dying, he recalled. I was basically told to fuck off. Just no urgency at all.

People even rushed the camera men, and they still continued the show. #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/vIw4pMr7CG  Ethan Froneberger (@LDCMOA) November 6, 2021

As one attendee (@seannafaith) wrote on Instagram, We began to scream to help. We could see security, just a few people away, in the walkway in the middle. It got tighter. Impossible to breath, as our lungs were compressed between the bodies of those surrounding us. More people began screaming for help, but we were not heard. There was nowhere to go.

@seannafaith also claimed they were among the people who climbed the camera platform to inform the cameraperson that people needed help. I climbed the ladder and pointed at the hole, telling him people were dying, they wrote. He told me to get off the platform, and continued filming.

Amy Harris, a freelancer working for the Associated Press, told Rolling Stone that she had safety concerns in the early afternoon as hundreds of people jumped the barrier between the crowd and the stage where photographers were stationed.

I got crushed in the crowd between the barricade and the fence in the tunnel going out. I was very scared, Harris said. I got out. I texted the PR. I told them it was an unsafe situation and I wouldnt be going back out. They made an alternate plan to enter and exit the opposite side of the stage all day.

Despite the concerns, the situation worsened when Scott took the stage. Many people were streaming over the barricade wall in our photo pit. The photo pit was jam-packed with chaos, Harris said.

We saw a lot of people crying We didnt understand what was happening. But I was done. I had texted my photo editor at 9:30 and basically told her I wasnt coming back for the second day because I didnt feel there were too many safety concerns while I was there.

Harris, who has shot music festivals over the past 12 years, added of the Astroworld crowd, They were the most aggressive fans Ive ever seen at a festival.

An on-site photographer who requested not to be identified told Rolling Stone that she was pulled out of the VIP section, which was stormed by other attendees from general admission, because she couldnt breathe. I couldnt move and I was screaming for help, she says. My Apple Watch was pinging, alerting me that my heart was moving at an incredibly high rate, but she couldnt actually look at it because she couldnt physically raise her hands. When she got pulled out of the catwalk, she saw other people getting pulled from VIP.  eyes closed, mouth open, just not responsive, she says.

On her way out of the show, she says, it was sensory overload between the sounds of the stage, the sounds of the ambulance, the sounds of people screaming for the show to stop. As she headed near the medical tents, she saw absolute chaos, as well as people lying on the floor in the surrounding area unattended. No one knew what the fuck was going on, she says.

Another festivalgoer, Anne Nguyen, a 23 year-old nurse from Dallas, told Rolling Stone that the festival wasnt overcrowded for most of the day and recalls walking by a noticeable security presence, including mounted police, when entering the venue. She watched Lil Baby perform from near the front of the crowd at the festivals smaller of two stages. As Lil Babys performance ended around 7:15 p.m., Nguyen planned to move toward the side of the stage to watch SZA, who was set to perform on the smaller stage next, before she headed to the larger stage for Travis Scotts set. But as she began to move, the entire crowd morphed into a stampede toward the larger stage. Nguyen says, We were essentially carried to the other stage. If I were to stop, I would have been run over  I had no choice but to keep on pushing. It was very scary.

Video also emerged of Scott witnessing at least one unconscious fan being carried out of the area near the side of the stage; at one point during the concert, Scott looked into the crowd and stopped the music. Somebody needs help, somebody passed out right here, he said in video posted on Reddit. Can somebody help jump in real quick, cmon cmon. However, soon after, the concert continued.

Disturbing video shows Travis Scott watching & singing as he watched a passed out fan in the crowd get carried away by medical personal. #ASTROWORLDFest

pic.twitter.com/mV3PlUWN1J  TheHouseGossip (@thehousegossip) November 6, 2021

If he wouldve stopped the concert, or paused it, people would have settled down and the situation could have been assessed a lot better, Eskins said. If he could see someone was passed out, he couldve seen something shouldve been done. This started from the very beginning of the concert. So it went from about 9 pm, thats when I passed out. And went on till about 10:15, 10:30.

As for allegations, reported by TMZ, that the crowd surge was sparked by someone injecting people with drugs, Eskins said, People around me were sober. Theyre trying to say it was drugs. The only thing i saw was people around smoking weed and people around me were not doing that.

During a news conference on Saturday, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that one security officer was given Narcan and revived after being pricked by something that medical staff said was consistent with a needle. Police are still trying to identify and locate the security officer.

Theyre trying to blame drugs. And I will level with you, I dont think this was caused by drug use, Eskins said. Could it have been a contributing factor? Sure. Will they find drugs in the bodies of those passed away? Maybe. But people were getting suffocated. People were getting trampled. A lot of these trauma-based injuries. One dude had his face smashed in. He was bleeding from his nose, face, and mouth. Which I guess drugs can cause, but so can getting trampled.

This post has been updated to include additional eyewitness accounts.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified photographer Amy Harris. She is a freelancer working for the Associated Press.

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YANKTON, S.D. (AP)  As a drug addict for nine years, Keri Curtis chose to keep away from her children rather than have them see how far she had fallen.

She lived on the streets, moving from place to place. She became trapped in abusive relationships and toxic people, describing herself as being toxic, as well.

And she chose drugs over her children.

I stayed away from my kids during my addiction. I didnt want them to see me on drugs, she told the Press & Dakotan. I knew they were disappointed in me, but I didnt want them to see me and become even more disappointed.

But last month, Curtis stood before her children and others during her graduation from Yankton County Drug Court. She didnt wear a cap and gown, and there was no playing Pomp and Circumstance.

But she felt a joy that had been missing in her life, including the ability to face her children and hug them deeply. She also received support from others at the courtroom ceremony, including a judge, police officer, her counselor and the Drug Court Team that worked with her long journey, the Yankton Press and Dakotan reported.

I never thought I could be happy, she said while shedding tears. But today, I feel more than happy. I dont know what the word for it is. This day is definitely important. After being an addict for nine years, Ive been sober for 534 days. Its a huge accomplishment.

Curtis has shown tremendous perseverance already, according to Commander Todd Brandt with the Yankton Police Department and a member of the Yankton County Drug Court Team.

She has marked 500-plus days of sobriety for something where others may not go a couple of hours, he told the Press & Dakotan. I have seen the transformation, from seeing her at the worst time when I was a young officer and then seeing where she has come today, as a productive member of society and a fantastic mother. Its why I come up every Wednesday for Drug Court and see what it does for these people.

But the graduation was also a time for Curtis to share her painful story.

In 2018, I was at my worst. I had done meth for two years, and I had done K2 during the two years before that, she said. I was so lost. I was homeless and away from my kids. A lot of times, I didnt want to be alive anymore.

She was arrested in 2018, sentenced to 30 days in jail. I had never gone longer than 30 days without using (drugs), she said.

The court ordered her into drug treatment at Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Services (LCBHS) in Yankton. There, she met mental health and substance abuse counselor Abbey Peltier, herself a recovering addict.

Curtis was admitted to the Drug Court program and worked with Drug Court Defense Attorney Luci Youngberg. I wanted my kids to be proud of me again. This was my last chance to get it right, Curtis said.

Yankton County Drug Court Judge Kasey Sorensen, who presided at graduation, commended Curtis for her achievement.

Youre an inspiration to everyone in this room, the judge said. These graduations bring me to tears.

Drug Court typically represents the last option before prison, Sorensen told the Press & Dakotan. State statute excludes sex offenders and others deemed not eligible for the program.

Its a minimum 17 months long, and this is hard work. They have to put in the effort to completely change their lives, the judge said. This is not a get out of jail free card. Some offenders say, Just send me to prison. I would rather just serve my time and get out rather than go through the program.

As a police officer, Brandt said he has also seen offenders who would take prison over Drug Court.

Curtis acknowledged the long, painful process. She had been using drugs and alcohol to cover long, deep pain that she had never faced. One of the biggest steps was opening up with Peltier during counseling and then telling her story to a group.

Drug Court provides both accountability and support with new friends and sponsors, Peltier told the Press & Dakotan. In addition, they develop good relationships with judges, the courts, attorneys and law enforcement.

Curtis acknowledged the entire Yankton County Drug Court Team.

To the Drug Court Team, thank you for believing in me before I could believe in myself, Curtis said. You have seen my worst, and now Im so glad youre here now and see me at my best.

Susan Jacobs, a former associate warden at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, has worked with cases in the Yankton, Vermillion and Wagner areas. She teaches Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) for drug courts through South Dakota Lutheran Social Services.

MRT is a treatment system, often used in substance abuse programs, designed to lead to enhanced moral reasoning, better decision making and more appropriate behavior.

Yanktons Drug Court is one of the best programs I have ever witnessed, Jacobs said. The Drug Court Team and their program have helped many adult offenders not only kick their addiction and become productive law abiding citizens, it literally has saved lives, plus has kept many from going to prison.

Sorensen said she sees the transformation in the participants appearance and emotions. She supports the programs focus on rehabilitation.

They are off the substance, and they are engaged with their family and the community in so many positive ways, the judge said. The community as a whole is better off, not to mention the individuals themselves.

The commencement also recognized Chris Pokorneys phasing promotion in the program. He has completed the Drug Court program and is working with it at an additional level.

Brandt admitted he wasnt sold on the Drug Court at first when Yankton County became one of the first in South Dakota to adopt it.

To begin with, I had a lot of apprehension that drug courts would actually work. I went into the idea kicking and screaming, he said. But as I began to understand addiction, and I still dont fully understand it, I realized the struggle and the pain that these people were going through. Now, Im very impressed with the outcome, and taxpayer dollars are well spent.

The Drug Court Team meets weekly, going over the participants achievements and failures to help them stay on track, Brandt said. He sees the YPDs role as helping those struggling with addiction and not merely arresting offenders.

Peltier shared her own journey and praised Curtis for her achievements. Peltier encouraged others to take the first step and seek help.

Dont let what you did in your past dictate your future, she said. Were here for you, but you have to open up and let us in.

Curtis wants her message to serve as hope for both addicts and their loved ones.

There is a chance at life. They can get through this, she said. They can find true happiness on the other side.

The Yankton County Drug Court Team includes Sorensen; John Billings with the Yankton County States Attorneys Office; Youngberg; Aamy Drotzmann as the Drug Court services officer; Nicole Peterson as the Drug Court coordinator; Sharon Kraft as the Drug Court program specialist; Peltier and Ashley Olivier with LCBHS; Brandt and Dean Larson with the Yankton Police Department; and Jacobs.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Saturday hailed Congress' passage of his $1 trillion infrastructure package as a monumental step forward for the nation" after fractious fellow Democrats resolved a months-long standoff in their ranks to seal the deal.

Finally, infrastructure week," a beaming Biden told reporters. Im so happy to say that: infrastructure week.

The House passed the measure 228-206 late Friday, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats' farthest left members opposed it.

Approval of the bill, which promises to create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, sends it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose nervous party got a cold shoulder from voters in this past weeks off-year elections.

Democratic candidates for governor were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks made party leaders  and moderates and liberals alike  impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. Democrats can ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could give Republicans congressional control.

Voters want us to deliver, Biden said, and Friday's vote proved we can.

On one big item, we delivered, he added.

The infrastructure package is a historic investment by any measure, one that Biden compares in its breadth to the building of the interstate highway system in the last century or the transcontinental railroad the century before. He called it a blue collar blueprint to rebuilding America.

His reference to infrastructure week was a jab at his predecessor, Donald Trump, whose White House declared several times that infrastructure week had arrived, only for nothing to happen.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger bill until later this month.

That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates agreed to back that bill if the budget office's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, was a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

Elated by the bills passage, Biden held forth with reporters for over a half hour Saturday morning, joking that his chances of getting the bill done had been written off multiple times, only for him to be able to salvage it. He said he would wait to hold a signing ceremony until lawmakers  Democrats and Republicans who voted for it  return to Washington after a week's recess.

The president acknowledged uncertainty surrounding his larger social and environmental spending package, saying time will tell whether he can keep popular provisions like universal paid family leave in the final version. He wouldn't say whether he has private assurances from moderate Democrats in the House and Senate to pass the nearly $2 trillion bill, but said he was confident he would get the votes.

Biden predicted Americans would begin to feel the impact of the infrastructure bill probably starting within the next two to three months as we get shovels in the ground." But the full impact will probably take decades to be fully realized.

He added that he would visit some ports that would benefit from the legislation in the next week, as his administration tries frantically to ease supply chain disruptions that are raising prices on consumer goods before the holidays.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said there's a pent-up demand to get going on public works. He told CNN he's already got $10 billion worth of applications for a certain program thats only got $1 billion in it. This is not just a short term stimulus bill.

Biden said the investment would be viewed in 50 years as When America decided to win the competition of the 21st century with a rising China.

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Biden even called her mother in India, though it was unclear why.

This was not to bribe me  this is when it was all done," Jayapal told reporters. The lawmaker said her mother told her she just kept screaming like a little girl."

In a statement, five moderates said that if the fiscal estimates on the social and environment bill raise problems, we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies" to pass it.

In exchange, liberals agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which they'd spent months holding hostage in an effort to press moderates to back the larger bill.

The day marked a rare detente between Democrats' moderate and liberal wings that party leaders hope will continue. The rival factions had spent weeks accusing each other of jeopardizing Biden's and the party's success by overplaying their hands. But Friday night, Jayapal suggested they would work together moving forward.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their priorities. Thats been hard, in part because of Democrats slender majorities and bitter internal divisions.

Welcome to my world, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. We are not a lockstep party.

Democrats day turned tumultuous early after a half-dozen moderates demanded the budget office's cost estimate of the sprawling package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives before they would vote for it.

Party leaders said that would take days or more. But with Fridays delayed vote and lawmakers leaving for a weeks break, those budget estimates should be ready by the time a vote is held.

The infrastructure measure cleared the Senate in August with bipartisan support.

As for the social and environment package, House passage would send it to the Senate, where it faces certain changes and more Democratic drama. Thats chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measures costs.

Moderates have forced leaders to slash the roughly 2,100-page measure to about half its original $3.5 trillion size. Republicans oppose it as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide large numbers of Americans with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. It's got $555 billion in tax breaks for cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added recent provisions restoring a new paid family leave program and work permits for millions of immigrants.

Much of the packages cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

___

Associated Press writers Cal Woodward, Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Alexandra Jaffe, Mary Clare Jalonick and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
LIBBY, Mont. (AP)  After nearly losing his life to COVID-19, Ben Fisher has changed his mind about getting vaccinated against the virus.

The only protection we have is the vaccine, said Fisher from St. Lukes Boise Medical Center in Idaho on Oct. 27. This virus will kill you, especially if you catch the wrong variant of it.

Fisher, a 47-year-old deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, caught the delta variant of the coronavirus in late September. Days after going to a Libby emergency room with low oxygen levels, he was fighting to stay alive on a ventilator at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Idaho. The battle left him intubated for 17 days, bed-ridden for 40 days and stripped 80 pounds off his stout 6-foot-4 frame, The Western News reported.

Complicating his coronavirus infection, Fisher suffered from suspected bacterial pneumonia and asbestosis, according to his wife Christina Fisher. During the darkest days of Ben Fishers hospitalization, nurses had trouble proning him, or turning him on his stomach to help distribute oxygen throughout his lungs.

Community support galvanized around the Fishers with neighbors offering donations, food and firewood. Dozens turned out for a prayer vigil for the afflicted deputy at Troy Christian Fellowship on Sept. 25.

Born and raised in Troy, Ben Fisher said he had joined his neighbors in rallying around local families in need many times before.

When you live in a small community like Troy and Libby, that is what you have to do, he said. You never think about it being you.

While Ben Fisher was struggling in the intensive care unit, hospital managers allowed Christina Fisher to sit with him and give him massages. A nurse herself, Christina Fisher was surprised to have this level of access. While medical staff assured her they were allowing her to be with her husband because they thought her presence might improve his condition, Christina Fisher later learned they were being lenient because they believed Ben Fisher was on deaths doorstep.

Against incredible odds, Ben Fishers condition was improving by mid-October and managers at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center moved him out of the hospitals intensive care unit. As Ben Fisher worked to regain his basic motor skills, hospital staff made fewer exceptions to their restrictions on visitation, leaving him to spend long hours alone in the centers step down unit.

To not be able to have someone come in is tough, especially when youre hours away from home, he said.

Eventually, Christina Fisher finagled her way into the unit and managers later relaxed the hospitals policies. As Ben Fishers strength returned, staff transferred him to Saint Lukes on Oct. 22.

While in rehab, Ben Fisher learned just how close he had come to death. Doctors who took care of him in the early days of his infection told during visitations that they hadnt expected him to make it.

Christina Fisher said physicians with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center told her that patients like her husband, who were intubated at the hospital and infected by the delta variant of the virus, had only a 5% chance of survival.

Talking with doctors during rehabilitation also changed Ben Fishers stance on vaccines. Initially, he opposed the shots because he worried pharmaceutical producers had rushed the process. Physicians, however, told him that researchers had worked on similar vaccines for years.

While Ben Fisher emphasized that getting vaccinated should be a personal choice, he recognized shots as safe and effective. Before transferring to Saint Lukes, Ben Fisher received his first vaccine dose and noticed no side effects.

Reflecting on how he reacted to the virus before his hospitalization, Ben Fisher said he might have done things differently if he had known the outcome.

I wasnt doing my part. I wasnt wearing a mask. I wasnt concerned about it, he said. Its definitely changed my mind now that Im living with the result.

Christina Fisher said that her husband wore a mask at work, but they were lax in wearing masks to the grocery store, church or their children's activities.

Before he returns home, Ben Fisher will likely spend between one and three weeks regaining his strength. As of Oct. 27, he was focusing on standing for longer periods and walking. Due to the way COVID-19 affected his nervous system, Ben Fisher said the left side of his body was taking longer to heal.

While he was excited to return to his patrol vehicle after completing his recovery, Ben Fisher said the thought of coming home to his family was what kept him going.

I am super excited to get back and see my kids, he said. Thats whats making me get up and fight and take that extra step.
A proposal for a natural gas power plant in Killingly, which has drawn the ire of environmental activists for six years, was dealt a major setback after the regional electric grid operator  ISO-New England  said it doesnt want Killingly to be part of its future plans.

In a Nov. 4 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the independent system operator that runs the New England grid  known as ISO-New England  has requested permission to cut Killingly from future power considerations. ISO-NE set up a battle over the proposed Killingly plant with its decision to include it in future power plans, known as Capacity Supply Obligation (CSO). Killingly is owned by NTE Energy.

The letter to FERC says, in part, that after consultation with NTE Energy, ISO-NE is exercising its right to seek to terminate Killinglys CSO. If accepted by FERC, ISO-NE will draw down the financial assurance NTE Energy was required to provide to back up their commitment to the project, and ISO-NE would remove Killinglys qualified capacity from future plans. ISO-NE asked FERC to issue an order within 60 days from the date of the letter and set a date of Jan. 3, 2022 for the termination, in advance of the next time ISO-NE is scheduled to pick future generation facilities in February.

Without a commitment from ISO-NE to use the 650 megawatts the plant would have supplied, building the Killingly Energy Center would likely be a less economically viable project. Whether NTE would simply scuttle the project at that point is unknown. NTE did not reply Friday morning to a request for comment.

Opponents of the Killingly plant were heartened by the news Friday.

This is hugely welcome news, said Samantha Dynowski, state director of the Connecticut chapter of the Sierra Club, one of several groups that have relentlessly fought the Killingly plant for years. Without a capacity supply obligation, I dont think were going to see this get built.

Kate Donnelly, of the group No More Dirty Power, was equally optimistic.

I think that we noticed that the signs were building against the plant, she said. The financing wasnt secured and certain land areas hadnt been secured, but most of the final permits were in place, except for one for a natural gas pipeline Eversource needed to build to connect to the plant.

We think this really is the beginning of the end, Donnelly said.

FERC still needs to approve the request, which is predicated on ISO-NEs existing commitment to the power having timed out.

In a statement, an ISO-NE spokesman explained its action this way: Any new resource acquiring a capacity supply obligation is required to meet several development milestones, including, among other things, financing, permitting, major equipment orders, and commercial operation. Developers who face delays in meeting milestone deadlines have the ability to find other resources to cover their obligations for up to two years. After these two years, if a project is still unable to meet their milestone deadlines, the ISO has the right to seek to terminate of the resources obligation through a filing with the Commission. The ISO is exercising this right with regard to the Killingly Energy Center.

ISO-NE had long contended that just because it had committed to Killingly didnt mean it would necessarily be built - noting that many projects it commits to are abandoned.

But it noted that NTE would have the option to re-enter Killingly in the capacity market at a later time but would need to begin the qualification process for new resources again.

Climate change advocates werent the only ones who objected to the plant. More recently, state officials have argued that another fossil fuel plant would be contrary to the states mandate for a 100 percent zero-carbon electric sector by 2040 and its other climate change reduction goals.

In January, Gov. Ned Lamont said outright: I dont want to build Killingly.

On Friday he said: If ISO said we need Killingly in order to keep the lights on, Im going to keep the lights on. But I wanted to do everything I could as a governor over the last two and a half years and make sure we didnt need the last natural gas-fired plant in New England in order to keep the lights on.

Katie Dykes, the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, has long used the prospect of Killingly as an example of why the New England grid operation needs to change. She has repeatedly said it ignores the climate change mandates and goals of the individual states.

I believe that we have to change the system that brought us this plant in the first place. Were doing that by working with other states to reform the ISO-New England, she said in January. That is the place we can have the greatest and most lasting impact.

On Friday, she said there had been questions around the plants viability for quite a while. The latest communication from the ISO indicates that it also thinks this plant is not viable, she said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  Business operators in Kansas City, Missouri, are hopeful that the end of the city's mask mandate will mean a return of more customers.

The Kansas City Council voted Thursday to rescind the mask order, though it kept the mandate for children and adults in school. Businesses may still ask patrons to wear a mask indoors.
BALTIMORE (AP)  Maryland failed to reach a federal benchmark early this fall for distributing COVID-19 relief funds it received for rent to tenants in danger of eviction, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Gov. Larry Hogan's office dismissed any threat of losing money and said payments are moving at a good clip.

The department wrote U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., late last month that Maryland was among the states that could lose some funding because it failed to spend 30% of the money by Sept. 30, The Baltimore Sun reported. The state may be subject to reallocation because it is below the 30% expenditure ratio, the Oct. 26 email said.
RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP)  When Carla Hobson lived in Mexico City, her family would commemorate the Day of the Dead by setting up an altar filled with portraits of loved ones, their favorite foods and colorful sugar skulls.

In Mississippi, she continues the tradition and shares her Mexican heritage in the Jackson area through workshops dedicated to teaching others how to decorate her handmade candy sugar skulls.

I wanted to give something of my heritage to my daughter and share how we celebrate in Mexico, Hobson said.

Days before Halloween and Day of the Dead, which took place Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, 10 people came to at CCs Coffee House in Ridgeland to decorate sugar skulls that Hobson had made.

She boils sugar and water and places the liquid into a mold to cool. Once the skulls are hollowed out, they are ready to decorate.

Before decorating began Oct. 30, Hobson gave a presentation about Day of the Dead, its purpose and parts of the celebration, like little sugar skulls.

The skulls are a part of altars that people build in their homes and other locations. The altar is a place where departed souls can return and enjoy offerings of their favorite food and objects.

The Day of the Dead celebration also involve parades and visits to the graves of family and friends.

Some people are afraid of it, but theres nothing to be afraid of, Hobson said about the holiday. You remember the ones we love.

At the workshop, families used icing, sequins and other items to decorate the two sugar skulls Hobson provided. She brought several completed sugar skulls for the families to look at as examples.

Hobson is owner of Calaverita, the Spanish word for little sugar skull, a business she runs through Facebook. Calaverita offers sugar skull decorating kits to celebrate the Day of the Dead, and custom Wonder Pinatas.

She started the businesses in 2016 after she wanted to buy a pinata for her daughter Kristen for her birthday but couldnt find one locally.

She made her own pinata for her daughters birthday, and eventually friends and others asked if she could make ones for their celebrations, which include birthdays, weddings and baby showers.

Hobson moved to the United States in 2009. She and her husband lived in Ohio before relocating to central Mississippi in 2015.

She and her family have visited Mexico together, and Hobson said its important to share her Mexican culture with her daughter because its part of her identity.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, who served four years in the Navy before being forced out, was christened and launched in San Diego Bay on Saturday.

The replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk slid down the shipyard ways after a bottle of champagne was smashed on the bow by former Navy officer Paula M. Neira, clinical program director for the John Hopkins Center for Transgender Health.

Milks nephew, Stuart Milk, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro watched the traditional ceremony.

The secretary of the Navy needed to be here today, not just to amend the wrongs of the past, but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ community leaders who served in the Navy, in uniform today and in the civilian workforce as well too, and to tell them that were committed to them in the future, Del Toro said.

Del Toro said that, like many others, Milk had to mask that very important part of his life while he served in the Navy.

For far too long, sailors like Lt. Milk were forced into the shadows or, worse yet, forced out of our beloved Navy, Del Toro said. That injustice is part of our Navy history, but so is the perseverance of all who continue to serve in the face of injustice.

Milk was one of the first openly gay candidates elected to public office. He was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978 when a former political colleague, Dan White, assassinated him and Mayor George Moscone at City Hall.

In 2016, then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus decided that six new oilers scheduled to be built would be named after civil and human rights leaders. In addition to Milk, they include Sojourner Truth, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Robert F. Kennedy, suffragist Lucy Stone and Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.

Del Toro told Mabus, who attended the christening, that it was a courageous decision.

Ship names are important because they express what we value as a Navy and as a nation and communicate those values around the globe in every port of call, Del Toro said.

Stuart Milk, co-founder and president of the Harvey Milk Foundation, thanked Mabus for providing the family details of his uncles discharge from the Navy.

He has a less-than-honorable discharge. He was forced to resign because he was gay, Stuart Milk said, adding that we have to teach our history to prevent ourselves from going backwards and repeating it.

Although there is a process for reversing such discharges, he said it was important to not do that for his late uncle in order to keep the memory of how we did not honor everyone in this very honorable service.

The naval tradition of having ship sponsors went to Neira and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who was unable to attend.

Feinstein was in San Francisco City Hall when Milk and Moscone were shot and then made the stunning announcement of their deaths. The ship will carry a rich legacy of civic leadership, Feinstein said in a letter read at the ceremony.

When the Harvey Milk sails, she will send a very strong message both domestically and around the globe to everybody that believes in freedom and justice and liberty, that there is a place for you in this family, said co-sponsor Neira.

General Dynamics NASSCO began construction of the six oilers in San Diego in 2018 under a $3.2 billion Navy contract. The first ship in the class, the John Lewis, was christened this summer.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is holding his 12th annual State of the Union Essay Contest to get Vermont high school students more engaged in the political process.

The contest coincides with the president's State of the Union address to Congress outlining priorities for the upcoming year. Students submit 250-500 words essays on a major issue facing the country and propose what they would do to solve it, Sanders' office said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Bluegrass State bourbon industry leader and a Louisville-based spirits producer are applauding an agreement between the United States and the European Union to lift tariffs on bourbon and whiskey.

The United States and European Union have been in a trade war since 2018, when the former imposed a 25% tariff, or tax on imports, on European steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum under then-President Donald Trump. The European Union retaliated with tariffs on American products, including a 25% on American bourbon whiskey.

That tariff on a major Kentucky product was set to double on Dec. 1. But now, for bourbon producers, its time to raise a glass, according to Kentucky Distillers Association President Eric Gregory.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced an agreement Saturday in which the United States will allow some quantity of European steel and aluminum to come to the country without tariffs, and, in turn, the European Union will drop its retaliatory tariffs.

Gregory said Saturday that these unfortunate tariffs have slashed exports of Kentucky Bourbon by 50% to the E.U. and the United Kingdom, costing distillers, industry partners and farm families hundreds of millions of dollars.

Per Gregory, Kentucky bourbon exports had seen double-digit growth for a decade prior to the tariffs being imposed in 2018.

Bourbon is one of Kentuckys most historic and treasured industries, a $8.6 billion economic and tourism engine that generates more than 20,000 good-paying jobs each year with a $1 billion payroll and welcomes nearly 2 million people a year to the KDAs world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail experiences, Gregory said, adding that Kentucky currently has a record 10.3 million barrels aging.

He added: The KDA thanks the steadfast leadership of the Biden administration, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Congressman John Yarmuth and officials in Europe for their tireless efforts to resolve this ongoing trade dispute and to restore fairness in overseas markets for Kentuckys signature distilled spirits industry.

Beshear tweeted Sunday that the agreement between the United States and the European Union is great news.

Thank you to @SecRaimondo and the Biden administration and all those who helped make this win a reality for the commonwealth, Beshear wrote.

During a press conference Monday, Beshear said that the deal is going to prevent a catastrophic 50% tariff on bourbon.

These things were retaliatory, Beshear said. They were hitting bourbon harder than anywhere else because we cant move production offshore like other companies were going to be able to do with other products.

Lawson Whiting, the president and CEO of the Louisville-based Brown-Forman Corp., which produces bourbon brands like Old Forester, said Sunday that the company looks forward to the return of a level playing field on January 1, 2022, and continued international growth for American Whiskey.

The news certainly gave Brown-Forman investors more confidence. As of Monday afternoon, Brown-Formans stock (NYSE: BF.B) traded at more than $70 per share for the first time since mid-September.

While happy with the tariff drop from the European Union, both Whiting and Gregory are urging the United Kingdom to drop its 25% tariff on bourbon.

With the suspension of the E.U. tariffs, we urge leaders from both the U.S. and U.K. to resolve their own tariff dispute so our legendary distillers can return at long last to doing what they do best  crafting the finest Bourbon for all the world to enjoy, Gregory said.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Democratic leaders in Virginia conceded Friday that Republicans have won control of the House of Delegates.

The Associated Press has not called all of Virginia's House races yet. But the concession means Republicans would complete an elections sweep in which they also reclaimed the offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn issued a statement acknowledging the GOP majority shortly after Democratic Del. Martha Mugler conceded defeat in a tight race against Republican challenger A.C. Cordoza in the 91st House district, located in Virginia's Hampton Roads region. With Mugler's concession, Republicans now expect to hold at least 51 seats in the 100-member chamber.

While the results of the election were not in our favor, our work for the people of Virginia goes on, said Filler-Corn.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, said Filler-Corn called Gilbert on Friday. The House Republican caucus appreciates her pledge to a smooth transition to the incoming majority, Shipley said.

The GOP victories are being seen as a backlash against a Democratic majority that has pushed through a series of progressive reforms over the past two years, including the repeal of the death penalty, a loosening of abortion restrictions and the legalization of marijuana.

Democrats hold a slim 21-19 majority in the Senate. Senators are not up for reelection until 2023.

Tuesdays marquee race in Virginia was the governors contest, in which Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin defeated former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The GOP also captured the lieutenant governors office after Republican Winsome Sears beat Democrat Hala Ayala, and the attorney generals office with Republican Jason Miyares victory over Democratic two-term incumbent Mark Herring. Sears will become the states first female lieutenant governor and the first woman of color to win statewide office in Virginia.

Youngkins victory and the near-defeat of New Jerseys Democratic governor have sparked fears that Democrats are on course to lose control of Congress in next years midterm elections.

Democrats held a 55-45 majority heading into the election Tuesday.

Republicans had controlled the House since 2000, but Democrats won back 15 GOP-held seats in 2017, helped by voter hostility toward then-President Donald Trump. In 2019, Democrats took full control of the legislature by wiping out slim Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

Among the surprise wins this year was that by Republican Kim Taylor over three-term incumbent Democratic Del. Lashrecse Aird in the 63rd District, which gave Republicans their 50th seat on Wednesday. Aird claimed victory late Tuesday, but a late surge by Taylor gave her a 741-vote win.

Democrat Wendy Gooditis won reelection to her third term in District 10, defeating Republican challenger Nick Clemente, a political newcomer. Gooditis northern Virginia district includes parts of fast-growing Loudoun County and rural areas in Clarke and Frederick counties.

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Associated Press writer Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
MINOT, N.D. (AP)  Minots new airport director said she wants to use her diverse experiences in aviation management to enhance the activity at Minot International Airport.

Jennifer Eckman stepped into her new position Oct. 4.

She previously had served since January 2019 as project manager of the Northern Plains Unmanned Aviation Systems Test Site in Grand Forks. Working in the drone industry in Grand Forks exposed her to a different world of aviation.

The concepts and the technologies that enable flying a drone were all pretty new to me. Theres a whole new list of acronyms I had to learn, which in the world of aviation, thats amazing that there were more acronyms, she laughed. Im hoping with my connections with the Northern Plains that we can bring some of those technologies that I was working on here to this airport.

She said there are areas on airport property suitable for growing a UAS business, the Minot Daily News reported.

Actually, we have some of the infrastructure already, where certain types of drones we could already handle, she said.

Eckman sees potential for more robust industrial or commercial operations at the airfield. She would like to be involved in diversifying the businesses and opportunities at the airport as well as in developing the airline services and increasing passenger traffic as COVID-19 concerns ease.

Obviously, the passenger ridership has been down, but were starting to see us come back to the 2019 numbers  slowly, but were hoping to get there. With the borders opening soon, Im hoping and anticipating that we might be getting close to what we were in 2019 by the end of the year, Eckman said.

She added that airlines have been maintaining their flights and plan to add a few additional flights over the holidays.

Eckman said shes optimistic about the aviation industry, having witnessed its resiliency in the rebound from the 9-11 terrorist attacks and the Y2K transition to a new century in the year 2000.

A Bismarck native, Eckman said she grew up wanting to be an astronaut. Her career goal adjusted after enrolling in the University of North Dakotas aviation program.

I really enjoyed my airport management classes, and I switched degrees to airport management, she said.

She did get a private pilots license, although she hasnt done much flying.

My passion is more in the airport management side, she said.

It was that passion that drew her to Minot.

I loved my job at the Northern Plains, but I really missed airports. Ive been working in airports for almost 20 years, Eckman said. I have a diverse knowledge of different airports and how they run because Ive worked at quite a few of them, from interning at something as large as Minneapolis/St. Paul to a smaller airport like Jamestown, North Dakota.

She previously had been airport manager in Jamestown, the deputy airport director for finance and administration in Rapid City, South Dakota, and the airport administrative assistant and airport real estate specialist at Paine Field/Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington.

Eckman earned a bachelors degree in business administration, with a major in airport management, from UND in May 1999 and a masters of fine arts from California State University-Long Beach in May 2004. She is working toward a masters in business administration. She also has completed the Accredited Airport Executive program.

Her husband, a contractor with Boeing, and children will be moving from Grand Forks to Minot later this year when an opportune time in the school year presents itself. The family enjoys biking and hiking and looks forward to getting outdoors in Minot.

Eckman also expects to be busy on airport projects that require attention, whether it is preparing for winter snow removal or next years wetland mitigation projects.

Her initial weeks on the job have been spent getting to know the airports personnel and tenants. Eckman said the chance to work in a beautiful terminal with a great staff has made for a good start. The team is really great at what they do, and Im hoping to enhance it to the next level, she said. Theres some processes that Ive seen implemented at other airports that Im trying to implement here to get us to the next level, to be the best airport we can be.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico officials have been inundated with critical letters on proposed K-12 social studies standards over the inclusion of racial identity and social justice themes in a majority Latino state where Indigenous tribes have persevered through war, famine, internment camps and boarding schools aimed at stamping out their cultures.

If approved, the standards would require students starting in kindergarten to identify some of their group identities and take group or individual action to help address local, regional, and/or global problems.

By high school, students would examine factors which resulted in unequal power relations among identity groups.

Critics, including some Hispanics, say the standards promote victimhood, while supporters have praised the standards as more just and anti-racist.

The proposed New Mexico standards represent a new frontier in the clash over critical race theory  an academic concept increasingly used by conservative activists as a catchall term for the study of systemic racism, historical oppression or progressive social activism.

Political organizing centered around the term has been credited for swaying some voters to select a Republican governor, with mixed results other local elections across the country on Nov. 1.

New Mexico teachers already face a challenge explaining the regions history and its evolving social structures. The state is a patchwork of 23 federally recognized Native American nations, tribes and pueblos.

Half of the state is Latino and about 10% of New Mexico's students are Native American  with many tracing their heritage to pre-Columbian and 16th century Spanish conquistadors.

Tensions over that history erupted last year when a group of mostly white activists destroyed a historical marker memorializing Union soldiers who fought against Confederate and Indigenous armies. The stone obelisk sat on the reference point for land appropriated by Spanish settlers.

The New Mexico Public Education Department's proposed standards are aimed at making civics, history, and geography more inclusive of the states diverse population so that students feel at home in the curriculum and are prepared for a minority-majority society. They add requirements for students to learn more details about Indigenous life, including more of the distinct Native cultures.

Some studies have found that ethnic studies programs at the high school level can increase school attendance and graduation rates. And a New Mexico lawsuit seeks to pressure the state education department to embrace teaching that students find relevant to their cultures and languages.

The education department also wants to update the history portion of the social studies curriculum, which hasn't been changed in three decades. Proposed learning sections include the Sept. 11 attacks and the LGBT rights movement.

But many educators are concerned about the size and scope of the proposed updates.

They have said that updated school science standards in 2017 were based on an existing curriculum used in other states for years. Teachers and administrators also say they have been swamped with work returning to school amid the pandemic.

It feels like it's being rushed and I don't know why, said Kevin Summers, superintendent of the Aztec Municipal School District in northwestern New Mexico. Can we back off? Can we just get six more months?

State Republican officials have tried to tap into the national controversy over education. But a Republic effort last spring to to recruit school board members on a critical race platform didn't take off.

State education officials originally planned a Nov. 12 in-person public forum for supporters and opponents to share their opinions about the proposed standards. But the venue was changed to Zoom.

That will deprive Republicans of a physical space to rally around. State GOP chairman Steve Pearce called canceling the in-person forum a rash, political decision to kill the public comment period is as dangerous as the proposal itself.

The education department in response said that all the public comment on proposed rule changes has been virtual since the pandemic began and extended the length of the Zoom session by several hours.

"We are in a pandemic, so crowding in an indoor setting could be dangerous, said education department spokeswoman Judy Robinson.

The proposed changes represent the biggest curriculum controversy the education department has faced since its effort to update new science standards in 2017, during Republican Gov. Susana Martinez' administration.

What New Mexico children learn in school is often determined less by legislation and more by the administrative rulemaking process by education officials, which includes public comments, responses and possible incorporation of feedback.

It's one of the strongest powers the agency has, according to the education secretary who spearheaded the 2017 science standards.

Christopher Ruszkowski, education secretary under Martinez, said public education changes don't usually happen under legislation, but are put in place by the education department and 90% of policymaking is done at the rule level.

Public comment led to major changes in the science standards the agency proposed, he said, which had watered down scientific facts to placate anti-science constituents after early feedback sessions.

The education department removed the real age of the Earth and human evolution, which contradict some interpretations of the Bible, and struck explicit references to climate change unpopular in southeastern New Mexico's oil-producing regions.

Ruszkowski said he authorized the changes to a draft proposal even though he did not support them personally.

That generated a backlash from scientists in letters, newspapers ads, and a packed hall for the public comment forum.

In the end, the agency implemented the original science standards in full.

During the process of developing the science standards before they were drafted, sessions were held with members of the public to gather input. But the education department did not do that this time, instead inviting 64 people  mostly teachers and administrators  to draft the standards in private over the summer.

The draft was released on Sept. 28 and the education department wants students to learn using the new curriculum next school year.

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Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
Reports that U.S. officials are engaged in talks to offer "compensation" to immigrant families separated after illegally crossing the border from Mexico have drawn criticism from Republicans. Although President Joe Biden was critical when asked this week about payments of as much as $450,000 per person, a White House spokesperson said Thursday that the president is "comfortable" with smaller settlements. Here's why the government should make these settlements.

First, these aren't voluntary payments. The Justice Department is negotiating with lawyers for victims of the Trump administration's family separation policy. They are working to settle large and potentially very expensive lawsuits before a court orders the government to pay those same claims. The litigation risk here is high, and the U.S. government will almost certainly end up making payments to these plaintiffs - whether through settlements now or pursuant to court judgments later.

Already, about 940 claims have been filed by families caught in the worst excesses of the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policy between April and June 2018. Thousands of families were separated. Many of the cases involve people who were lawfully seeking asylum. Others involve infants and small children. Children were removed from their families without any finding that parents were unfit, violating due process rights. Many children were taken away while parents were in court or receiving medical treatment, so they were not even given a chance to say goodbye. In June 2018, a court ordered the government to stop separating children from their families, finding that the policy "shocks the conscience" and violated the Fifth Amendment right to family integrity. Given the law and the facts, the government's defense to liability is weak. Proceedings to date bear this out: The government has lost motions to dismiss the families' claims in four cases.

When I served as a U.S. attorney, I represented agencies sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the same statute applicable to many of these cases. My experience suggests that the facts will only get worse for the government as discovery unfolds. For instance, in one of the four cases a court declined to dismiss, a federal judge in Arizona noted: "Plaintiffs were held in hieleras - 'small, freezing concrete cells crowded with twenty to thirty other migrant families.' ... CBP officials provided Plaintiffs with limited food and water and no room to lie down." Cases of sexual abuse while children were in U.S. custody have been reported. The sensible - and right - thing to do in these cases is to negotiate settlements that provide appropriate compensation and support to the families.

If, however, the government doesn't settle and these cases go to trial, the United States faces a thousand lawsuits over a policy a federal court has already said shocks the conscience and that Biden has characterized as a "moral failing" of our country. Expert witnesses will testify to the trauma suffered when children were ripped from their parents' arms. Evidence will surely include the Justice Department inspector general's report finding that the department neglected to ensure it collected information necessary to reunite families and that the cruelty of the policy was deliberately calibrated by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to deter immigration. The plaintiffs' presentations will be devastating, and it will be expensive for the government to mount a defense.

Ultimately, the United States stands to pay large settlements, likely larger than what could be negotiated now. And the litigation process would further tarnish our national reputation if our country seeks to avoid responsibility for inflicting these horrors. So much for the shining city on a hill.

Under the "zero tolerance" policy, more than 3,000 family separations caused lasting emotional damage to children and parents. As of February, more than 500 children, many of them under the age of 5 when they were separated, had still not been reunited with their families.

Good lawyers know when it's in their client's best interests to settle a case. This is one of those times. The law and the facts are bad for the government. In our hyper-politicized environment, even an effort to protect U.S. interests will inevitably be spun as a tale of excessive payments that "encourage" more illegal immigration. The Biden administration will have to be clear that it is settling claims for a finite group of people harmed by Trump-era human rights abuses. Only families separated during that time would qualify. Any attempts at misdirection must be met with the facts - that settling the claims is the best option for the United States.

By negotiating settlements, our government can take steps toward reclaiming its moral authority to speak on human rights issues and can restore families that have been damaged by past U.S. policy. Settling these cases while the opportunity exists is both smart and the right thing to do.
In the latest travel news, last weekends big flight cancellation debacle at American is stirring fears of a potential holiday travel meltdown; the Federal Aviation Administration sends dozens of unruly flier cases to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution; the new Reno-Tahoe airline Aha! adds more routes; Alaska Airlines plans a new transcontinental route in 2022; U.S. secures Russia overflight rights for U.S. carriers; partnership news from SkyTeam/ITA, JetBlue/Icelandair and Alaska/British Airways; international route developments at Vietnam Airlines, Air France, French Bee, Hawaiian, Finnair, La Compagnie and Aer Lingus; Alaska Airlines gets the plastic off its planes; United MileagePlus replaces Hertz's partnership with Avis Budget Group; and Chicago OHares inter-terminal airport trains are running again after a three-year delay.

Those massive cancellations by American Airlines last weekend  more than 2,000 flights scrapped from Friday through Monday  were just the latest in an ongoing series of operational disasters at American, Southwest and Spirit Airlines in recent months. The heavy cancellations have been blamed mainly on weather events at key airports and a shortage of employees who could step in to get the schedules back on track. And with the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays expected to attract the highest numbers of passengers since the pandemic started, there are growing concerns that a similar debacle could disrupt the plans of thousands of travelers.

Major media outlets are issuing scary warnings to consumers about the dire possibilities. A CNN story this week was headlined, Why flying is so bad and about to get worse. The Wall Street Journals treatment carried the banner Canceled flights and crowded airports: Brace yourself for holiday travel. And the headline in the Financial Times was Spate of U.S. flight cancellations prompts fears of holiday meltdown. Part of the problem is the airlines own fault as they tried to meet rising consumer demand by expanding their schedules with more flights than they could reasonably handle, especially if something went wrong  like a major storm. When an airline doesnt have the flexibility to call up its reserves  both aircraft and crews  flight cancellations can quickly cascade through its system. Aircraft and flight crews are left out of position as the day progresses, creating even more scratched flights downstream. Some carriers are scrambling to put furloughed workers back on duty and to hire new employees, but training requirements take time.

And there are other issues straining the system. Some disgruntled airline unions  mainly pilots and flight attendants  are complaining about being overworked during the industrys rapid revival. And pilots, especially at American and Southwest, have been critical of new COVID-19 vaccination mandates. United has been sued by a group of employees challenging the companys vaccine requirement. Southwests pilots filed a similar action that was recently rejected by a federal judge in Texas. And Americans pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association, last month warned that the airline could find itself short of flight deck crews if it tries to crack down on requiring COVID-19 vaccines. The White House this week set a deadline of Jan. 4 for all government contractors and all private companies with more than 100 employees to get all their workers vaccinated.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

For passengers, a canceled flight during the holiday season could be a trip-ending event, since planes will be mostly full and getting rebooked on another departure could take days. United CEO Scott Kirby, perhaps trying to take advantage of the warnings about holiday flights, this week sent a message to customers telling them they can book with confidence on United this holiday season. He said the airline gradually added flights over time during the recovery instead of cramming new departures into a bloated schedule and made a deal with its pilots to keep them employed and ready to fly when needed. Kirby also said United successfully completed our vaccine requirements early, before there was a government directive.

For months, U.S. airlines and their employee groups have been pressuring the federal government to take stronger action against the skyrocketing number of unruly passengers who disrupt flights, attack flight crew, and sometimes cause unscheduled landings. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed fines on scores of miscreants since it imposed a zero-tolerance policy in January, but now it is cranking up the potential sanctions for bad in-flight behavior. The FAA said this week it has forwarded 37 cases of the most serious misconduct to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution in federal courts. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International, applauded the move, calling DOJ prosecution the most effective way to deter bad actors and put a stop to the spike in disruptive passengers. She also called for the creation of a centralized list of violators who will be denied the freedom of flight on all airlines. Some U.S. carriers have suggested sharing their own internal no-fly lists, but this week Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on CNN that the creation of a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers should be on the table.

Aha!, the oddly named new regional airline based at Reno-Tahoe Airport, started flying last month, and its already adding more routes. Created as a new iteration of the regional carrier ExpressJet, it operates 50-seat ERJ145s from Reno-Tahoe to Fresno, Eureka/Arcata, Ontario and Bakersfield, California; Redmond/Bend, Eugene/Springfield and Medford/Ashland, Oregon; and Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington, with three flights a week in each market. Aha!s newly revealed expansion plans include service to Spokane, Washington, beginning Dec. 15, and to Palm Springs starting Jan. 3, also with three weekly flights on each route.

Mike Siegel/TNS

In other domestic route news, Alaska Airlines announced it will introduce a new transcontinental route next year, launching daily flights between its Seattle hub and Miami on June 16. JetBlue added San Antonio, Texas, to its route map this week, starting new service from both Boston and New York JFK. United Airlines is ending its United Express service to three smaller airports  Twin Falls, Idaho, effective Nov. 31, and Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota, as of Jan. 3.

Whats the most direct air route between the West Coast and India? Its over the North Pole and then across Russia. Airlines like United  which plans to launch San Francisco-Bangalore flights in May  got a break last week when the Russian government gave a green light to overflight rights for U.S. carriers. U.S. airlines had been lobbying the State Department to press the issue with the Russians, and State said Russia had approved their applications, although it didnt say how many overflights would be allowed. The Department of State continues to engage with the relevant Russian authorities to secure expanded air service opportunities for U.S. carriers, a State Department spokesperson said.

Theres plenty of news this week about international airline partnerships. Lets start with Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), the new Italian carrier that replaced defunct Alitalia in mid-October. The Delta/Air France/KLM SkyTeam alliance announced that ITA has officially joined the group, filling the spot left open by Alitalia. It said the Italian carrier is working closely with SkyTeam and its members to roll out SkyTeam-branded benefits that customers enjoy across the alliance, including priority airport services. ITA has an initial fleet of 52 aircraft and started service with flights to 35 domestic and international destinations, mostly within Europe. It launched its first intercontinental route this week, from Rome Fiumicino to New York JFK with an Airbus A330, with plans to add service from Rome to Boston, Miami, Washington Dulles and Los Angeles next year and to San Francisco and Chicago in 2023.

Meanwhile, JetBlue announced an expansion of its code-sharing partnership with Icelandair, which currently has JetBlues code on the latters flights to Reykjavik from New York JFK, Boston and Newark. With the expansion, the JetBlue code goes onto Icelandair flights beyond Reykjavik to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Helsinki, Manchester, Oslo and Stockholm, with plans to add more European routes in the months ahead. Customers traveling on connecting flights between Icelandair and JetBlue will enjoy both combined ticketing and baggage transfers. Additionally, when customers fly Icelandair across the Atlantic, they can stop over in Iceland at no additional cost, selecting a stopover duration of one to seven days, JetBlue said. In addition, JetBlues TrueBlue loyalty program members will soon be able to redeem points for Icelandair flights.

Finally, Alaska Airlines said it is expanding its code-share relationship with British Airways, a member of American Airlines Oneworld alliance that Alaska joined earlier this year. This expansion includes 16 additional markets, connecting Alaska's network beyond Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles to British Airways' nonstop service from London Heathrow, Alaska said. The Seattle-based carrier noted that since it joined Oneworld on March 31, the number of code-share routes in its network has increased by 188, or 39%. That includes new code-share partnerships with Iberia Airlines and Qatar Airways, and expanded code shares with American, BA, Cathay Pacific and Finnair.

Which Vietnamese airline will be the first to launch U.S. service? For a while it looked like it would be Bamboo Airways, which had hoped to start flying here by this fall but was delayed by government red tape. So now Vietnam Airlines seems to have the edge. That carrier just got the go-ahead from the U.S. Transportation Department and now is awaiting an operating permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. Vietnam Airlines said it expects to begin scheduled nonstop service from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to San Francisco by the end of November, although it hasnt yet said what kind of aircraft it will use or what its initial schedule might look like.

With the reopening of the U.S. to vaccinated foreign travelers starting Nov. 8., Air France just announced a substantial expansion of trans-Atlantic capacity this winter. From now through the end of March, the carrier said, it will gradually expand its U.S. schedule to 90% of what it was in 2019; this past summer, it was just 50%. That will boost Air Frances New York-Paris schedule from three flights a day to five, Los Angeles from 12 a week to 17, and Miami from seven a week to 12. The airline also serves San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago and Houston. On Dec. 6, Air France will revive Seattle-Paris service with three flights a week. And on Nov. 11, it will give West Coasters another option to get to French Polynesia, resuming Paris-Papeete, Tahiti, service via a stop in Los Angeles with three weekly flights.

Speaking of Tahiti, the small carrier French Bee this week restarted its Paris Orly-San Francisco-Papeete routing, which had been shifted to a stop in Vancouver instead of SFO when the U.S. was shut down. The SFO-Tahiti flights depart San Francisco on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, using an Airbus A350.

In other international route news, Hawaiian Airlines said it will resume Honolulu-Sydney service twice a week starting Dec. 13 as Australia begins to open up overseas travel to its citizens. Finnair this week started flying to Los Angeles International  not from Helsinki, but from Stockholm, using an A350-900 for three flights a week. La Compagnie, the French all-business-class airline, is planning a Dec. 4 start for service from Newark to Tel Aviv, operating via a 90-minute stop at Paris Orly. But its Newark-Milan flights, which were due to start this month, have been pushed back to April 2022. Aer Lingus will supplement its Dublin routes next year with trans-Atlantic service out of Shannon Airport. The carrier is due to begin daily Shannon-Boston service March 10 and daily Shannon-New York JFK service March 27. Both routes will use single-aisle A321neo aircraft.

Plastic water bottles and cups served in-flight are the latest targets in Alaska Airlines efforts to go green. The airline this week said that in-flight water service is the most significant contributor of onboard plastic waste, so it is getting rid of plastic bottles and cups, replacing them with plant-based boxed water cartons and paper cups. According to Alaska, this change will eliminate 1.8 million pounds of single-use plastics from its aircraft in the next year  equivalent to the weight of 18 Boeing 737s. The airline started offering boxed water earlier this year in first class cabins and on Horizon Air flights, and surveys indicated that customers preferred the boxed product over plastic bottles by a two-to-one margin.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

United Airlines longstanding partnership with Hertz is over, and a new one with Avis Budget Group started this week, according to ThePointsGuy.com. The new deal means that Uniteds MileagePlus members will earn 500 miles for each Avis rental, while elite-level members and United Chase cardholders will earn bonus miles  from 750 to 1,250 total miles per rental. The airline is also offering discounted MileagePlus rates for Avis and Budget rentals through cars.united.com/avisbudget. In the future, the new partnership will be enhanced by adding the ability to pay for Avis rentals with United miles, and the chance for MileagePlus elites and United Chase cardholders to get equivalent matching status with Avis and Budget.

At Chicago OHare, the inter-terminal people-mover trains finally started running again this week, connecting Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5, along with the airports multi-modal rental car facility, Economy Parking Lot F and connections to Pace buses and Metra trains. The people-mover, officially called the Airport Transit System (ATS), had been completely shut down since January of 2019, with travelers hauled around the airport by shuttle buses instead as work on ATS system expansion and improvements continued. According to the Chicago Tribune, the project is three years behind schedule, as it started late and kept facing delays. The project was supposed to be substantially complete by December 2018, and service interruptions were supposed to be kept to an absolute minimum during construction, the Tribune reported. The project soon devolved into delays, finger-pointing and contract disputes between the city and Parsons Construction Group, the main contractor on the project.
Looking for substantive policy talk on your late night television viewing? For the second straight week, one of the guests on an episode of Real Time With Bill Maher was a sitting U.S. Senator  Delawares Chris Coons last week, Minnesotas Amy Klobuchar this week. The episode began with Maher thanking his audience for its optimism. It was a very strange week, he said regarding this weeks election  and went on to observe that Virginia governor-elect Glenn Youngkin sounds like the Scotch you buy at Costco.

From the election post-mortem, Maher moved on to the recent phenomenon of conservatives embracing the phrase Lets go Brandon and Joe Biden apparently falling asleep while attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The far left is right, Maher said. Hes not woke enough! As Maher pointed out, though, there are genuine reasons to feel good about Bidens presidency  from new treatments for COVID-19 to positive economic news. Would his approval rating eventually reflect these?

The last third or so of Mahers monologue illustrated how bizarre the state of the world currently is. Maher didnt need much in the way of punchlines here; all he did was recount some recent events. First was QAnon converging on Dealey Plaza; then came the Small Dong March in Los Angeles. Sometimes an expression of bemusement and a skewed glance can speak volumes.

Mahers first guest? Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose book Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age was published earlier this year. Maher and Klobuchar began by discussing prescription drug prices, and moved from there to the infrastructure bill. Why didnt you sell it in pieces? Maher asked  and later spoke of the Democrats need for a messaging czar.

Klobuchar made an impassioned case for different pieces of the overall bill, emphasizing the importance of childcare and the hazards facing people for whom essential prescription drugs have become significantly more expensive. And when the debate over messaging continued, Klobuchar held fast. Youve got to put people first, she said, and somehow thats gotten lost in all the archaic Senate rules and the discussion of whos up, whos down.

Klobuchar also alluded to some of the work shes been doing addressing large tech companies, which has been bipartisan in scope. And while she and Maher cordially disagreed on some matters relating to parenting and social media, they concurred when it came to the dangers of monopolies. If you can get six Republicans to vote with you on this issue, youre good, Maher said.

Joining Maher for the panel were Michael Eric Dyson, author of Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America, and Glenn Loury, economist and host of The Glenn Show. Mahers first question had to do with this weeks election results, and what Democrats could learn from them. Lourys take on things echoed Joe Manchins recent comments to the effect that this is a center-right country. Dysons argument was that it was more of a mixed message, including the idea that running an anti-Trump campaign might not suffice for Democrats going forward.

The election results in Virginia quickly came to the forefront of the debate, and with it the role that critical race theory did or did not play in said election. Dyson argued that textbooks today dont recognize the full complement of identities, conflicts and tensions that Black people participated in, along with other Americans, to make this nation.

Occasionally, Dyson and Loury seemed to be talking past each other  Loury addressed questions of ideological differences and moving beyond racial characterizations, while Dyson cited instances of racism in the distant past and the present day. All three discussed the current state of college campuses, something that let both Dyson and Loury reference their own experiences as professors and with contemporary campus life.

If youre a majority student, you dont understand the degree to which your normal experience may be alienating to somebody who doesnt feel like they belong there, Dyson said.

In the second half of the segment, discussion turned to the current state of policing, and efforts to reform or defund police departments. For a large portion of the discussion, Loury and Dyson debated one another, with Loury making a case for deracializing police abuses and Dyson offering a more critical perspective on the subject.

New Rules found Maher riffing on Pete Davidson, home printers and the time Donald Trump touched a giant glowing orb. From there, he segued back to the Glasgow summit, hailing Greta Thunberg as the conscience of her generation. That had a double meaning, though  Maher noted that Thunberg has 13 million Instagram followers, while Kylie Jenner has 279 million. And Jenner wasnt the only celebrity fond of excess atop excess that Maher critiqued in the segment.

The cognitive dissonance between planet-destroying conspicuous consumption and planet-saving rhetoric is breathtaking, Maher said  and then went on to get a few digs in at the environmental costs of Bitcoin mining. Avocado toast references aside, this was one of Mahers better critiques of younger generations  in part because he was as critical of his own. I wish your generation was better than mine, he said as the segment drew to a close. But the said truth is, were completely the same. It was a more self-aware moment than usual  and it was all the better for it.

Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.

The post Generational Divides and Election Results Fuel a New Real Time appeared first on InsideHook.
You can now apply online for a proof of citizenship, as well as citizenship records.

You can now submit proof of Canadian citizenship applications online

You can now submit proof of Canadian citizenship applications online You can now apply online for a proof of citizenship, as well as citizenship records.

You can now submit proof of Canadian citizenship applications online You can now apply online for a proof of citizenship, as well as citizenship records.

You can now submit proof of Canadian citizenship applications online You can now apply online for a proof of citizenship, as well as citizenship records. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canada is now accepting online requests for proof of citizenship.

Using the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) online portal, you can submit your application, pay the fees, and send any supporting documents.

There are three actions you can take with the new portal:

request a replacement proof-of-citizenship (also called a citizenship certificate) that does not require changes to the information on the certificate, such as name or birthdate;

submit straightforward claims for proof of citizenship by descent; or

request a search of citizenship records.

Get professional help applying for Canadian citizenship

You can apply online for a proof of citizenship if your Canadian parent was:

granted citizenship on or after April 17, 2009, or

born in Canada on or after February 15, 1977.

Otherwise, you will have to submit a paper application.

The government has an online tool that allows you to see if you are eligible to apply online. If so, you will be prompted to create an account, or login with an existing one. You will also need an account if you are requesting your own records. If you are requesting someone elses records, you have to make the request on paper.

IRCC says in a media release the applications will save time for those making requests from outside Canada and the U.S. You no longer need to go in person to an embassy or high commission to submit these applications but you can if you want to.

The Canadian government will still accept and process paper applications. If you already submitted a paper application, IRCC says not to complete an online application for the same request.

About proof of citizenship

If you were born outside Canada, but one of your parents was born in Canada, you may be eligible for citizenship status. In order to get it though, you need a Proof of Citizenship.

With this document, you can enjoy the benefits of citizenship, such as getting a Canadian passport, working in Canada, or voting in Canadian elections.

Get professional help applying for Canadian citizenship

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 53F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.




Athelstane, Wisconsin

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Population in 2010: 504.

Population change since 2000: -16.1%

504.-16.1%

Males: 262 (52.0%) Females: 242 (48.0%)

Median resident age: 55.9 years Wisconsin median age: 42.6 years

Zip codes: 54102.

Estimated median household income in 2019: $43,915 (it was $29,602 in 2000)

Athelstane: $43,915 WI: $64,168

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $30,803 (it was $18,394 in 2000)



Athelstane town income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $130,744 (it was $67,800 in 2000) Athelstane: $130,744 WI: $197,200 $43,915 ($29,602$30,803 ($18,394$130,744 ($67,800

March 2019 cost of living index in Athelstane: 91.0 (less than average, U.S. average is 100)

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491 97.4% White alone 5 1.0% Black alone 4 0.8% American Indian alone 2 0.4% Two or more races 2 0.4% Hispanic

Races in Athelstane detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Wisconsin and other state lists, there were 4 registered sex offenders living in Athelstane, Wisconsin as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Athelstane is 126 to 1.







Latest news from Athelstane, WI collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations

Ancestries: German (42.6%), Polish (14.5%), Irish (12.5%), English (6.8%), United States (6.2%), Swedish (5.8%).

Current Local Time: CST time zone

Elevation: 933 feet

Land area: 106.2 square miles. Population density: 4.7 people per square mile (very low).

12 residents are foreign born This town: 2.0% Wisconsin: 3.6%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units in 2000: Athelstane town: 1.3% ($883) Wisconsin: 2.0% ($2,245)

Latitude: 45.48 N, Longitude: 88.16 W

Area code commonly used in this area: 715

Single-family new house construction building permits: 1997: 10 buildings , average cost: $35,000

10 $35,000 1998: 6 buildings , average cost: $50,000

6 $50,000 1999: 7 buildings , average cost: $80,000

7 $80,000 2000: 9 buildings , average cost: $75,000

9 $75,000 2001: 5 buildings , average cost: $50,000

5 $50,000 2002: 6 buildings , average cost: $45,000

6 $45,000 2003: 6 buildings , average cost: $45,000

6 $45,000 2004: 10 buildings , average cost: $103,000

10 $103,000 2005: 14 buildings , average cost: $62,500

14 $62,500 2006: 6 buildings , average cost: $64,300

6 $64,300 2007: 10 buildings , average cost: $152,800

10 $152,800 2008: 4 buildings , average cost: $338,500

4 $338,500 2009: 3 buildings , average cost: $88,300

3 $88,300 2010: 6 buildings , average cost: $101,900

6 $101,900 2011: 11 buildings , average cost: $252,700

11 $252,700 2012: 7 buildings , average cost: $153,200

7 $153,200 2013: 5 buildings , average cost: $110,000

5 $110,000 2014: 3 buildings , average cost: $135,100

3 $135,100 2015: 4 buildings , average cost: $152,200

4 $152,200 2016: 3 buildings , average cost: $103,300

3 $103,300 2017: 3 buildings , average cost: $103,300

3 $103,300 2018: 6 buildings , average cost: $216,700

6 $216,700 2019: 2 buildings, average cost: $475,000

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 5.5% Wisconsin: 4.5%

Population change in the 1990s: +169 (+39.1%).

Most common industries in Athelstane, WI (%) Both Males Females

Accommodation & food services (16.7%)

Construction (9.1%)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (7.7%)

Health care (6.7%)

Food & beverage stores (5.3%)

Finance & insurance (3.8%)

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, similar organizations (3.3%)

Construction (17.3%)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (13.5%)

Accommodation & food services (10.6%)

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, similar organizations (6.7%)

Metal & metal products (4.8%)

Wood products (4.8%)

Food (3.8%)

Accommodation & food services (22.9%)

Health care (13.3%)

Food & beverage stores (10.5%)

Finance & insurance (7.6%)

Used merchandise, gift, novelty, souvenir, other miscellaneous stores (6.7%)

Educational services (4.8%)

U. S. Postal service (3.8%) Most common occupations in Athelstane, WI (%) Both Males Females

Waiters and waitresses (6.2%)

Cooks and food preparation workers (5.7%)

Fishing, hunting, and forestry occupations (5.7%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (5.3%)

Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers, including supervisors (4.8%)

Other sales and related occupations, including supervisors (4.3%)

Cashiers (4.3%)

Fishing, hunting, and forestry occupations (11.5%)

Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers, including supervisors (9.6%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (8.7%)

Metal workers and plastic workers (8.7%)

Religious workers (6.7%)

Other management occupations, except farmers and farm managers (5.8%)

Operations specialties managers, except financial managers (4.8%)

Waiters and waitresses (12.4%)

Cashiers (8.6%)

Other sales and related occupations, including supervisors (8.6%)

Cooks and food preparation workers (7.6%)

Other office and administrative support workers, including supervisors (7.6%)

Supervisors and other personal care and service workers, except child care workers (6.7%)

Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers (5.7%)

Average climate in Athelstane, Wisconsin Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Air pollution and air quality trends

(lower is better) AQI Ozone

Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2010 was 56.4. This is better than average. City: 56.4 U.S.: 74.2

Ozone [ppb] level in 2010 was 30.5. This is about average. Closest monitor was 23.5 miles away from the city center. City: 30.5 U.S.: 33.3

Tornado activity: Athelstane-area historical tornado activity is significantly below Wisconsin state average. It is 50% smaller than the overall U.S. average.

On 8/19/1968, a category F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 27.8 miles away from the Athelstane town center killed 2 people and injured 3 people and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages. On 9/28/1971, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 17.6 miles away from the town center caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Athelstane-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Wisconsin state average. It is 83% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 5/2/2015 at 16:23:07, a magnitude 4.2 (4.2 MW, Depth: 2.8 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 262.4 miles away from the city center

On 6/28/2004 at 06:10:52, a magnitude 4.2 (4.2 MW, Depth: 6.2 mi) earthquake occurred 280.4 miles away from Athelstane center

On 2/10/2010 at 09:59:35, a magnitude 3.8 (3.8 MW, Depth: 6.2 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: II - III) earthquake occurred 243.3 miles away from the city center

On 1/31/1986 at 16:46:43, a magnitude 5.0 (5.0 MB, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 441.4 miles away from Athelstane center

On 7/9/1975 at 14:54:15, a magnitude 4.6 (4.6 MB) earthquake occurred 381.6 miles away from Athelstane center

On 9/25/1998 at 19:52:52, a magnitude 5.2 (4.8 MB, 4.3 MS, 5.2 LG, 4.5 MW, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 477.0 miles away from the city center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Marinette County (6) is a lot smaller than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 3

Emergencies Declared: 2



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 3, Storms: 3, Drought: 1, Hurricane: 1, Tornado: 1, Wind: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Athelstane: Northeast Wisconsin Technical College ( about 66 miles; Green Bay, WI ; Full-time enrollment: 6,069)

66 ; 6,069) University of Wisconsin-Green Bay ( about 67 miles; Green Bay, WI ; FT enrollment: 5,415)

67 ; 5,415) Saint Norbert College ( about 72 miles; De Pere, WI ; FT enrollment: 2,324)

72 ; 2,324) Northcentral Technical College ( about 81 miles; Wausau, WI ; FT enrollment: 3,356)

81 ; 3,356) Northern Michigan University ( about 84 miles; Marquette, MI ; FT enrollment: 8,258)

84 ; 8,258) Fox Valley Technical College ( about 84 miles; Appleton, WI ; FT enrollment: 5,682)

84 ; 5,682) Lawrence University (about 85 miles; Appleton, WI; FT enrollment: 2,821)

Marinette County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level between 2 and 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Moderate Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Athelstane and their reported violations in the past: NIMROD INN SUPPER CLUB (Population served: 110, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2011 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (SEP-15-2011) , St Boil Water Order (SEP-15-2011) , St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-15-2011) , St Public Notif received (SEP-21-2011) , St Compliance achieved (OCT-27-2011)

SEP-2011 Coliform St Public Notif requested (SEP-15-2011) St Boil Water Order (SEP-15-2011) St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-15-2011) St Public Notif received (SEP-21-2011) St Compliance achieved (OCT-27-2011) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2006, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Boil Water Order (OCT-04-2006), St Violation/Reminder Notice (OCT-04-2006), St Public Notif requested (OCT-04-2006), St Public Notif received (OCT-12-2006), St Compliance achieved (OCT-18-2006) Past monitoring violations: Monitoring, Source Water (GWR) - In SEP-2011 , Contaminant: E. COLI . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (OCT-25-2011), St Public Notif requested (NOV-09-2011), St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-09-2011), St Public Notif received (NOV-11-2011)

SEP-2011 E. COLI St Compliance achieved (OCT-25-2011), St Public Notif requested (NOV-09-2011), St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-09-2011), St Public Notif received (NOV-11-2011) Monitoring, Source Water (GWR) - In AUG-2011, Contaminant: E. COLI. Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (SEP-13-2011), St Public Notif requested (SEP-21-2011), St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-21-2011) WAUSAUKEE CLUB DINING HALL (Population served: 50, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: One routine major monitoring violation

One regular monitoring violation MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD SITE 27 (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2008, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (SEP-24-2008), St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-24-2008), St Public Notif issued (SEP-24-2008), St Compliance achieved (NOV-12-2008) WOLF ROCK CMPGD (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: 2 routine major monitoring violations

2 regular monitoring violations MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD HILL (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In OCT-2008, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (OCT-23-2008), St Boil Water Order (OCT-23-2008), St Violation/Reminder Notice (OCT-23-2008), St Compliance achieved (OCT-29-2008), St Public Notif received (NOV-13-2008) THORNTONS RESRT CMPGD (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: 3 routine major monitoring violations

3 regular monitoring violations MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD TENT (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2008, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (SEP-24-2008), St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-24-2008), St Boil Water Order (SEP-24-2008), St Compliance achieved (JUN-24-2009) LAKESIDE MOTEL (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In NOV-2006 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (NOV-09-2006) , St Boil Water Order (NOV-09-2006) , St Public Notif received (NOV-09-2006) , St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-09-2006) , St Compliance achieved (DEC-21-2006)

NOV-2006 Coliform St Public Notif requested (NOV-09-2006) St Boil Water Order (NOV-09-2006) St Public Notif received (NOV-09-2006) St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-09-2006) St Compliance achieved (DEC-21-2006) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In OCT-2006 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (OCT-12-2006) , St Boil Water Order (OCT-12-2006) , St Violation/Reminder Notice (OCT-12-2006) , St Public Notif received (OCT-16-2006) , St Compliance achieved (OCT-25-2006)

OCT-2006 Coliform St Public Notif requested (OCT-12-2006) St Boil Water Order (OCT-12-2006) St Violation/Reminder Notice (OCT-12-2006) St Public Notif received (OCT-16-2006) St Compliance achieved (OCT-25-2006) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In AUG-2005, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (SEP-08-2005), St Violation/Reminder Notice (SEP-08-2005), St Boil Water Order (SEP-08-2005), St Public Notif received (SEP-08-2005), St Compliance achieved (SEP-22-2005) Drinking water stations with addresses in Athelstane that have no violations reported: LAKESIDE BAR & GRILL ( Population served: 50 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

50 Groundwater) MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD SITE 32 ( Population served: 25 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

25 Groundwater) RED PINE AMOCO ( Population served: 25 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

25 Groundwater) RAPIDS RESORT ( Population served: 25 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

25 Groundwater) THORNTONS RESRT TAVERN ( Population served: 25 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

25 Groundwater) RUSTIC INN BAR ( Population served: 25 , Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

25 Groundwater) NEWTON LAKE INN BAR (Population served: 25, Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater) NIMROD INN SUPPER CLUB (110Groundwater):WAUSAUKEE CLUB DINING HALL (50Groundwater):MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD SITE 27 (25Groundwater):WOLF ROCK CMPGD (25Groundwater):MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD HILL (25Groundwater):THORNTONS RESRT CMPGD (25Groundwater):MCCASLIN MOUNTAIN CMPGD TENT (25Groundwater):LAKESIDE MOTEL (25Groundwater):

Average household size: This town: 2.2 people Wisconsin: 2.4 people

Percentage of family households: This town: 66.5% Whole state: 64.4%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This town: 6.9% Whole state: 7.3%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.9% of all households

0.9% Gay men: 0.0% of all households Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 13.0% Whole state: 8.7% Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 0.9% Whole state: 3.7%

For population 15 years and over in Athelstane: Never married: 18.3%

18.3% Now married: 63.2%

63.2% Separated: 0.8%

0.8% Widowed: 8.3%

8.3% Divorced: 9.3%

For population 25 years and over in Athelstane: High school or higher: 75.3%

75.3% Bachelor's degree or higher: 5.6%

5.6% Graduate or professional degree: 2.2%

2.2% Unemployed: 10.7%

10.7% Mean travel time to work (commute): 42.8 minutes

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 8.0 Wisconsin average: 11.0



Religion statistics for Athelstane, WI (based on Marinette County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Catholic 10,053 10 Evangelical Protestant 6,205 33 Mainline Protestant 3,866 20 Other 1 4 None 21,624 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 12 Marinette County : 2.83 / 10,000 pop. Wisconsin : 1.86 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 1 This county : 0.24 / 10,000 pop. Wisconsin : 0.38 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 32 Marinette County : 7.54 / 10,000 pop. State : 4.12 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 50 This county : 11.78 / 10,000 pop. Wisconsin : 8.64 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: Here : 7.9% Wisconsin : 7.6% Adult obesity rate: Marinette County : 29.0% Wisconsin : 27.5% Low-income preschool obesity rate: This county : 7.1% Wisconsin : 13.0%

5.56% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($45,203 average adjusted gross income) Here: 5.56% Wisconsin average: 5.63% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved from foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Menominee County, MI 0.92% ($37,994 average AGI) from Brown County, WI 0.90% ($47,026) from Oconto County, WI 0.44% ($31,707)



5.65% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($42,687 average adjusted gross income) Here: 5.65% Wisconsin average: 5.85% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved to foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Brown County, WI 0.98% ($45,756 average AGI) to Menominee County, MI 0.71% ($39,156) to Oconto County, WI 0.52% ($37,528)

Strongest AM radio stations in Athelstane: WSPT (1010 AM; 50 kW; STEVENS POINT, WI)

WSAU (550 AM; 20 kW; WAUSAU, WI; Owner: WRIG, INC.)

WRIG, INC.) WDBC (680 AM; 10 kW; ESCANABA, MI; Owner: KMB BROADCASTING, INC.)

KMB BROADCASTING, INC.) WNAM (1280 AM; 50 kW; NEENAH-MENASHA, WI; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.) WTCM (580 AM; 35 kW; TRAVERSE CITY, MI; Owner: WTCM RADIO, INC.)

WTCM RADIO, INC.) WHBY (1150 AM; 25 kW; KIMBERLY, WI; Owner: WOODWARD COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

WOODWARD COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WLDR (1210 AM; daytime; 50 kW; KINGSLEY, MI; Owner: FORT BEND BROADCASTING COMPANY)

FORT BEND BROADCASTING COMPANY) WTMJ (620 AM; 50 kW; MILWAUKEE, WI; Owner: JOURNAL BROADCAST CORPORATION)

JOURNAL BROADCAST CORPORATION) WEBC (560 AM; 50 kW; DULUTH, MN)

WTAQ (1360 AM; 10 kW; GREEN BAY, WI; Owner: MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WISN (1130 AM; 50 kW; MILWAUKEE, WI; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WMIQ (1450 AM; 1 kW; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.)

NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.) WSCR (670 AM; 50 kW; CHICAGO, IL; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.) Strongest FM radio stations in Athelstane: WOBE (100.7 FM; CRYSTAL FALLS, MI; Owner: RESULTS BROADCASTING OF IRON MOUNTAIN, INC.)

RESULTS BROADCASTING OF IRON MOUNTAIN, INC.) WHTO (106.7 FM; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: TODD STUART NOORDYK)

TODD STUART NOORDYK) WJNR-FM (101.5 FM; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: RESULTS BROADCASTING OF IRON MOUNTAIN, INC.)

RESULTS BROADCASTING OF IRON MOUNTAIN, INC.) WZNL (94.3 FM; NORWAY, MI; Owner: NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.)

NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.) WVCM (91.5 FM; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: VCY AMERICA INC.)

VCY AMERICA INC.) WRVM (102.7 FM; SURING, WI; Owner: WRVM, INC.)

WRVM, INC.) WIMK (93.1 FM; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.)

NORTHERN STAR BROADCASTING, L.L.C.) W244AW (96.7 FM; IRON MOUNTAIN, MI; Owner: FAMILY ED BC CORP OF DOOR CNTY WI)

FAMILY ED BC CORP OF DOOR CNTY WI) WEUL (98.1 FM; KINGSFORD, MI; Owner: GOSPEL OPPORTUNITIES, INC.)

GOSPEL OPPORTUNITIES, INC.) WYKX (104.7 FM; ESCANABA, MI; Owner: KMB BROADCASTING, INC.)

KMB BROADCASTING, INC.) WMXG (106.3 FM; STEPHENSON, MI; Owner: ESCANABA LICENSE CORP.)

ESCANABA LICENSE CORP.) WSFQ (96.3 FM; PESHTIGO, WI; Owner: BADGER COMMUNICATIONS, L.L.C.) TV broadcast stations around Athelstane: KTTM ( Channel 12; HURON, SD; Owner: INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

12; HURON, SD; INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WYOW ( Channel 34; EAGLE RIVER, WI; Owner: WAOW-WYOW TELEVISION, INC.)

34; EAGLE RIVER, WI; WAOW-WYOW TELEVISION, INC.) WJFW-TV ( Channel 12; RHINELANDER, WI; Owner: NORTHLAND TELEVISION, INC.)

12; RHINELANDER, WI; NORTHLAND TELEVISION, INC.) W54AR (Channel 54; FENCE, WI; Owner: STATE OF WISCONSIN - EDUCATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS BOARD)

National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

3 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 13ft / 4.1m Total length

Total length 1,089 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 1,197 Total future (year 2035) average daily traffic



FCC Registered Cell Phone Towers: 1 Conklin Ln 1 Km Nw Of Intersect. Of Hwys. C & F Athelstane, Wi (Lat: 45.403333 Lon: -88.357500), Type: Tower, Structure height: 121.9 m, Overall height: 128 m, Call Sign: KNKN395

Assigned Frequencies: 880.020 MHz, 835.020 MHz, 891.510 MHz, 846.510 MHz, Grant Date: 08/27/2019, Expiration Date: 10/01/2029, Certifier: Mark NazeRegistrant: Hill & Welch, 1116 Heartfields Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20904, Phone: (202) 321-1448, Fax: (301) 622-2864, Email:

FCC Registered Antenna Towers: 3 TIMOTHY E WELCH, Conklin Ln 1 Km Nw Of Intersect. Of Hwys. C & F Athelstane, Wi ( Lat: 45.403333 Lon: -88.357500), Type: 128.0, Overall height: 121.9 m, Registrant: Hill & Welch, Welchlaw@clark.Net, , Washi-ngton, Phone: (202) 775-0070

45.403333 -88.357500), 128.0, 121.9 m, Hill & Welch, Welchlaw@clark.Net, , Washi-ngton, (202) 775-0070 JAMES W LIENAU, Conklin Ln 1 Km Nw Of Intersect. Of Hwys. C & F Athelstane, Wi ( Lat: 45.403333 Lon: -88.357500), Type: 128.0, Overall height: 121.9 m, Registrant: Hill & Welch, Welchlaw@clark.Net, , Washi-ngton, Phone: (202) 775-0070

45.403333 -88.357500), 128.0, 121.9 m, Hill & Welch, Welchlaw@clark.Net, , Washi-ngton, (202) 775-0070 James W Lienau, Conklin Ln 1 Km Nw Of Intersect. Of Hwys. C & F Athelstane, Wi (Lat: 45.403333 Lon: -88.357500), Type: 128.0, Overall height: 121.9 m, Registrant: Hill & Welch, Welchlaw@clark.Net, , Washi-ngton, Phone: (202) 775-0070

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 8 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 2 Aircraft: BELLANCA 7GCBC ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 4154R, N4154R, N-4154R, Serial Number: 1138-79, Year manufactured: 1979, Airworthiness Date: 11/10/1994, Certificate Issue Date: 06/05/2001

Registrant (Individual): Gary F Scheuerman, W16428 Deer Trail Ln, Athelstane, WI 54104

BELLANCA 7GCBC ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 90 mph), LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 4154R, N4154R, N-4154R, 1138-79, 1979, 11/10/1994, 06/05/2001 Gary F Scheuerman, W16428 Deer Trail Ln, Athelstane, WI 54104 Aircraft: CESSNA 150F (Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 7125F, N7125F, N-7125F, Serial Number: 15063725, Year manufactured: 1966, Airworthiness Date: 05/05/1966, Certificate Issue Date: 07/20/1999

Registrant (Individual): Kenneth L Cramer, W10207 County Road C, Athelstane, WI 54104

8 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Athelstane

Most common first names in Athelstane, WI among deceased individuals Name Count Lived (average) Robert 11 65.3 years John 10 76.8 years William 9 69.5 years George 9 71.6 years Joseph 9 72.1 years James 7 63.5 years Richard 6 68.0 years Frank 6 71.1 years Walter 6 72.2 years Harry 5 79.8 years Most common last names in Athelstane, WI among deceased individuals Last name Count Lived (average) Jensen 6 74.0 years Miller 5 79.4 years Cable 4 71.5 years Hanson 4 83.8 years Johnson 4 73.5 years Francek 3 76.0 years Seehawer 3 79.3 years Haley 3 82.7 years Schlueter 3 89.7 years Schenk 3 61.0 years

Houses and condos Apartments 72.1% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

19.2% Wood

4.6% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

2.5% Utility gas

0.8% Electricity

0.8% Other fuel 58.3% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

25.0% Wood

16.7% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.





Athelstane compared to Wisconsin state average: Median house value below state average.

below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Median age significantly above state average.

significantly above Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Renting percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Length of stay since moving in significantly above state average.

significantly above Number of rooms per house significantly below state average.

significantly below House age significantly below state average.

significantly below Number of college students significantly below state average.

significantly below Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly below state average.

no pilots and There arepilots and 1 other airmen in this city.




Conestoga, Pennsylvania

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Population in 2010: 1,258.

Males: 622 (49.4%) Females: 636 (50.6%)

Median resident age: 45.0 years Pennsylvania median age: 40.8 years

Estimated median household income in 2019: $67,376

Conestoga: $67,376 PA: $63,463

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $33,658



Conestoga CDP income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $227,600 Conestoga: $227,600 PA: $192,600

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $222,313; detached houses: $254,589; mobile homes: $28,317 $67,376$33,658$227,600$222,313;$254,589;$28,317

Median gross rent in 2019: $1,055.

March 2019 cost of living index in Conestoga: 96.8 (near average, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2019: 6.2%

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Most recent value % change since 2k Data: Median household income ($) Median household income (% change since 2000) Household income diversity Ratio of average income to average house value (%) Ratio of average income to average rent Median household income ($) - White Median household income ($) - Black or African American Median household income ($) - Asian Median household income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median household income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median household income ($) - Multirace Median household income ($) - Other Race Median household income for houses/condos with a mortgage ($) Median household income for apartments without a mortgage ($) Races - White alone (%) Races - White alone (% change since 2000) Races - Black alone (%) Races - Black alone (% change since 2000) Races - American Indian alone (%) Races - American Indian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Asian alone (%) Races - Asian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Hispanic (%) Races - Hispanic (% change since 2000) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (%) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (% change since 2000) Races - Two or more races (%) Races - Two or more races (% change since 2000) Races - Other race alone (%) Races - Other race alone (% change since 2000) Racial diversity Unemployment (%) Unemployment (% change since 2000) Unemployment (%) - White Unemployment (%) - Black or African American Unemployment (%) - Asian Unemployment (%) - Hispanic or Latino Unemployment (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Unemployment (%) - Multirace Unemployment (%) - Other Race Population density (people per square mile) Population - Males (%) Population - Females (%) Population - Males (%) - White Population - Males (%) - Black or African American Population - Males (%) - Asian Population - Males (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Males (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Males (%) - Multirace Population - Males (%) - Other Race Population - Females (%) - White Population - Females (%) - Black or African American Population - Females (%) - Asian Population - Females (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Females (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Females (%) - Multirace Population - Females (%) - Other Race Coronavirus confirmed cases (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (Nov 21, 2021) Coronavirus confirmed cases (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Daily increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Weekly increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Cases doubled (in days) (Nov 21, 2021) Hospitalized patients (Nov 21, 2021) Negative test results (Nov 21, 2021) Total test results (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (Nov 21, 2021) Likely homosexual households (%) Likely homosexual households (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (%) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (%) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (% change since 2000) Cost of living index Median gross rent ($) Median contract rent ($) Median monthly housing costs ($) Median house or condo value ($) Median house or condo value ($ change since 2000) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, detached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, attached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 2 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure by units in structure - 3 or 4 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 5 or more ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Boat, RV, van, etc. ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Mobile home ($) Median house or condo value ($) - White Median house or condo value ($) - Black or African American Median house or condo value ($) - Asian Median house or condo value ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median house or condo value ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median house or condo value ($) - Multirace Median house or condo value ($) - Other Race Median resident age Resident age diversity Median resident age - Males Median resident age - Females Median resident age - White Median resident age - Black or African American Median resident age - Asian Median resident age - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Multirace Median resident age - Other Race Median resident age - Males - White Median resident age - Males - Black or African American Median resident age - Males - Asian Median resident age - Males - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Males - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Males - Multirace Median resident age - Males - Other Race Median resident age - Females - White Median resident age - Females - Black or African American Median resident age - Females - Asian Median resident age - Females - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Females - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Females - Multirace Median resident age - Females - Other Race Commute - mean travel time to work (minutes) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (%) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (%) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (% change since 2000) Marital status - Never married (%) Marital status - Now married (%) Marital status - Separated (%) Marital status - Widowed (%) Marital status - Divorced (%) Median family income ($) Median family income (% change since 2000) Median non-family income ($) Median non-family income (% change since 2000) Median per capita income ($) Median per capita income (% change since 2000) Median family income ($) - White Median family income ($) - Black or African American Median family income ($) - Asian Median family income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median family income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median family income ($) - Multirace Median family income ($) - Other Race Median year house/condo built Median year apartment built Year house built - Built 2005 or later (%) Year house built - Built 2000 to 2004 (%) Year house built - Built 1990 to 1999 (%) Year house built - Built 1980 to 1989 (%) Year house built - Built 1970 to 1979 (%) Year house built - Built 1960 to 1969 (%) Year house built - Built 1950 to 1959 (%) Year house built - Built 1940 to 1949 (%) Year house built - Built 1939 or earlier (%) Average household size Household density (households per square mile) Average household size - White Average household size - Black or African American Average household size - Asian Average household size - Hispanic or Latino Average household size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average household size - Multirace Average household size - Other Race Occupied housing units (%) Vacant housing units (%) Owner occupied housing units (%) Renter occupied housing units (%) Vacancy status - For rent (%) Vacancy status - For sale only (%) Vacancy status - Rented or sold, not occupied (%) Vacancy status - For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use (%) Vacancy status - For migrant workers (%) Vacancy status - Other vacant (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level (%) Children below poverty level (%) Poor families by family type - Married-couple family (%) Poor families by family type - Male, no wife present (%) Poor families by family type - Female, no husband present (%) Poverty status for native-born residents (%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents (%) Poverty among high school graduates not in families (%) Poverty among people who did not graduate high school not in families (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - White Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Black or African American Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Asian Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Hispanic or Latino Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Multirace Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Other Race Air pollution - Air Quality Index (AQI) Air pollution - CO Air pollution - NO2 Air pollution - SO2 Air pollution - Ozone Air pollution - PM10 Air pollution - PM25 Air pollution - Pb Crime - Murders per 100,000 population Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Arson per 100,000 population Crime - City-data.com crime index Crime - Violent crime index Crime - Property crime index Crime - Murders per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Arson per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - City-data.com crime index (5 year average) Crime - Violent crime index (5 year average) Crime - Property crime index (5 year average) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Dole) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Gore) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Kerry) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (McCain) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Romney) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Biden) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other Ancestries Reported - Arab (%) Ancestries Reported - Czech (%) Ancestries Reported - Danish (%) Ancestries Reported - Dutch (%) Ancestries Reported - English (%) Ancestries Reported - French (%) Ancestries Reported - French Canadian (%) Ancestries Reported - German (%) Ancestries Reported - Greek (%) Ancestries Reported - Hungarian (%) Ancestries Reported - Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Italian (%) Ancestries Reported - Lithuanian (%) Ancestries Reported - Norwegian (%) Ancestries Reported - Polish (%) Ancestries Reported - Portuguese (%) Ancestries Reported - Russian (%) Ancestries Reported - Scotch-Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Scottish (%) Ancestries Reported - Slovak (%) Ancestries Reported - Subsaharan African (%) Ancestries Reported - Swedish (%) Ancestries Reported - Swiss (%) Ancestries Reported - Ukrainian (%) Ancestries Reported - United States (%) Ancestries Reported - Welsh (%) Ancestries Reported - West Indian (%) Ancestries Reported - Other (%) Educational Attainment - No schooling completed (%) Educational Attainment - Less than high school (%) Educational Attainment - High school or equivalent (%) Educational Attainment - Less than 1 year of college (%) Educational Attainment - 1 or more years of college (%) Educational Attainment - Associate degree (%) Educational Attainment - Bachelor's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Master's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Professional school degree (%) Educational Attainment - Doctorate degree (%) School Enrollment - Nursery, preschool (%) School Enrollment - Kindergarten (%) School Enrollment - Grade 1 to 4 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 5 to 8 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 9 to 12 (%) School Enrollment - College undergrad (%) School Enrollment - Graduate or professional (%) School Enrollment - Not enrolled in school (%) School enrollment - Public schools (%) School enrollment - Private schools (%) School enrollment - Not enrolled (%) Median number of rooms in houses and condos Median number of rooms in apartments Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities (%) Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities (%) Density of houses Urban houses (%) Rural houses (%) Households with people 60 years and over (%) Households with people 65 years and over (%) Households with people 75 years and over (%) Households with one or more nonrelatives (%) Households with no nonrelatives (%) Population in households (%) Family households (%) Nonfamily households (%) Population in families (%) Family households with own children (%) Median number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Median number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Median number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Median number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mortgage status - with mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with second mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - with both second mortgage and home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - without a mortgage (%) Average family size Average family size - White Average family size - Black or African American Average family size - Asian Average family size - Hispanic or Latino Average family size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average family size - Multirace Average family size - Other Race Geographical mobility - Same house 1 year ago (%) Geographical mobility - Moved within same county (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different county within same state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from abroad (%) Place of birth - Born in state of residence (%) Place of birth - Born in other state (%) Place of birth - Native, outside of US (%) Place of birth - Foreign born (%) Housing units in structures - 1, detached (%) Housing units in structures - 1, attached (%) Housing units in structures - 2 (%) Housing units in structures - 3 or 4 (%) Housing units in structures - 5 to 9 (%) Housing units in structures - 10 to 19 (%) Housing units in structures - 20 to 49 (%) Housing units in structures - 50 or more (%) Housing units in structures - Mobile home (%) Housing units in structures - Boat, RV, van, etc. (%) House/condo owner moved in on average (years ago) Renter moved in on average (years ago) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1999 to March 2000 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1995 to 1998 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1990 to 1994 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1980 to 1989 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1970 to 1979 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1969 or earlier (%) Means of transportation to work - Drove car alone (%) Means of transportation to work - Carpooled (%) Means of transportation to work - Public transportation (%) Means of transportation to work - Bus or trolley bus (%) Means of transportation to work - Streetcar or trolley car (%) Means of transportation to work - Subway or elevated (%) Means of transportation to work - Railroad (%) Means of transportation to work - Ferryboat (%) Means of transportation to work - Taxicab (%) Means of transportation to work - Motorcycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Bicycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Walked (%) Means of transportation to work - Other means (%) Working at home (%) Industry diversity Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining (%) Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (%) Most Common Industries - Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (%) Most Common Industries - Construction (%) Most Common Industries - Manufacturing (%) Most Common Industries - Wholesale trade (%) Most Common Industries - Retail trade (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing (%) Most Common Industries - Utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Information (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance (%) Most Common Industries - Real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and technical services (%) Most Common Industries - Management of companies and enterprises (%) Most Common Industries - Administrative and support and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services, and health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services (%) Most Common Industries - Health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (%) Most Common Industries - Accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Other services, except public administration (%) Most Common Industries - Public administration (%) Occupation diversity Most Common Occupations - Management, business, science, and arts occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management, business, and financial occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Business and financial operations occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer, engineering, and science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer and mathematical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Architecture and engineering occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Life, physical, and social science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Community and social service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Legal occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, training, and library occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and other technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health technologists and technicians (%) Most Common Occupations - Service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Protective service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Fire fighting and prevention, and other protective service workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Law enforcement workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Food preparation and serving related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Personal care and service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and office occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Office and administrative support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Construction and extraction occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production, transportation, and material moving occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Transportation occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Material moving occupations (%) People in Group quarters - Institutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - Correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Federal prisons and detention centers (%) People in Group quarters - Halfway houses (%) People in Group quarters - Local jails and other confinement facilities (including police lockups) (%) People in Group quarters - Military disciplinary barracks (%) People in Group quarters - State prisons (%) People in Group quarters - Other types of correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Nursing homes (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards, hospices, and schools for the handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards and hospices for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospices or homes for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Military hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Other hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals or wards for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Mental (Psychiatric) hospitals or wards (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the deaf (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the blind (%) People in Group quarters - Orthopedic wards and institutions for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in general hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in military hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Juvenile institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Long-term care (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children (%) People in Group quarters - Residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (%) People in Group quarters - Training schools for juvenile delinquents (%) People in Group quarters - Short-term care, detention or diagnostic centers for delinquent children (%) People in Group quarters - Type of juvenile institution unknown (%) People in Group quarters - Noninstitutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - College dormitories (includes college quarters off campus) (%) People in Group quarters - Military quarters (%) People in Group quarters - On base (%) People in Group quarters - Barracks, unaccompanied personnel housing (UPH), (Enlisted/Officer), ;and similar group living quarters for military personnel (%) People in Group quarters - Transient quarters for temporary residents (%) People in Group quarters - Military ships (%) People in Group quarters - Group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally ill (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Other group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Religious group quarters (%) People in Group quarters - Dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Agriculture workers' dormitories on farms (%) People in Group quarters - Job Corps and vocational training facilities (%) People in Group quarters - Other workers' dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Crews of maritime vessels (%) People in Group quarters - Other nonhousehold living situations (%) People in Group quarters - Other noninstitutional group quarters (%) Residents speaking English at home (%) Residents speaking English at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking English at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking English at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking other language at home (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Foreign born (%) Class of Workers - Employee of private company (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed in own incorporated business (%) Class of Workers - Private not-for-profit wage and salary workers (%) Class of Workers - Local government workers (%) Class of Workers - State government workers (%) Class of Workers - Federal government workers (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business and Unpaid family workers (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - No fuel used (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - No fuel used (%) Armed forces status - In Armed Forces (%) Armed forces status - Civilian (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Veteran (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Nonveteran (%) Fatal accidents locations in years 2005-2019 Fatal accidents locations in 2005 Fatal accidents locations in 2006 Fatal accidents locations in 2007 Fatal accidents locations in 2008 Fatal accidents locations in 2009 Fatal accidents locations in 2010 Fatal accidents locations in 2011 Fatal accidents locations in 2012 Fatal accidents locations in 2013 Fatal accidents locations in 2014 Fatal accidents locations in 2015 Fatal accidents locations in 2016 Fatal accidents locations in 2017 Fatal accidents locations in 2018 Fatal accidents locations in 2019 Alcohol use - People drinking some alcohol every month (%) Alcohol use - People not drinking at all (%) Alcohol use - Average days/month drinking alcohol Alcohol use - Average drinks/week Alcohol use - Average days/year people drink much Audiometry - Average condition of hearing (%) Audiometry - People that can hear a whisper from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - People that can hear normal voice from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - Ears ringing, roaring, buzzing (%) Audiometry - Had a job exposure to loud noise (%) Audiometry - Had off-work exposure to loud noise (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high blood pressure (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Checking blood pressure at home (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Frequently checking blood cholesterol (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high cholesterol level (%) Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at supermarket/grocery store Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at other stores Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on eating out Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on carryout/delivered foods Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at supermarket/grocery store (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at other stores (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on eating out (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on carryout/delivered foods (%) Current Health Status - General health condition (%) Current Health Status - Blood donors (%) Current Health Status - Has blood ever tested for HIV virus (%) Current Health Status - Left-handed people (%) Dermatology - People using sunscreen (%) Diabetes - Diabetics (%) Diabetes - Had a blood test for high blood sugar (%) Diabetes - People taking insulin (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Diet health (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Milk product consumption (# of products/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals not home prepared (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals from fast food or pizza place (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Ready-to-eat foods (#/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Frozen meals/pizza (#/month) Drug Use - People that ever used marijuana or hashish (%) Drug Use - Ever used hard drugs (%) Drug Use - Ever used any form of cocaine (%) Drug Use - Ever used heroin (%) Drug Use - Ever used methamphetamine (%) Health Insurance - People covered by health insurance (%) Kidney Conditions-Urology - Avg. # of times urinating at night Medical Conditions - People with asthma (%) Medical Conditions - People with anemia (%) Medical Conditions - People with psoriasis (%) Medical Conditions - People with overweight (%) Medical Conditions - Elderly people having difficulties in thinking or remembering (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever received blood transfusion (%) Medical Conditions - People having trouble seeing even with glass/contacts (%) Medical Conditions - People with arthritis (%) Medical Conditions - People with gout (%) Medical Conditions - People with congestive heart failure (%) Medical Conditions - People with coronary heart disease (%) Medical Conditions - People with angina pectoris (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had heart attack (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had stroke (%) Medical Conditions - People with emphysema (%) Medical Conditions - People with thyroid problem (%) Medical Conditions - People with chronic bronchitis (%) Medical Conditions - People with any liver condition (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had cancer or malignancy (%) Mental Health - People who have little interest in doing things (%) Mental Health - People feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble sleeping or sleeping too much (%) Mental Health - People feeling tired or having little energy (%) Mental Health - People with poor appetite or overeating (%) Mental Health - People feeling bad about themself (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble concentrating on things (%) Mental Health - People moving or speaking slowly or too fast (%) Mental Health - People having thoughts they would be better off dead (%) Oral Health - Average years since last visit a dentist Oral Health - People embarrassed because of mouth (%) Oral Health - People with gum disease (%) Oral Health - General health of teeth and gums (%) Oral Health - Average days a week using dental floss/device Oral Health - Average days a week using mouthwash for dental problem Oral Health - Average number of teeth Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to control insects (%) Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to kill weeds (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People walking or bicycling (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - Average hours a day doing sedentary activities Physical Activity - Average hours a day watching TV or videos Physical Activity - Average hours a day using computer Physical Functioning - People having limitations keeping them from working (%) Physical Functioning - People limited in amount of work they can do (%) Physical Functioning - People that need special equipment to walk (%) Physical Functioning - People experiencing confusion/memory problems (%) Physical Functioning - People requiring special healthcare equipment (%) Prescription Medications - Average number of prescription medicines taking Preventive Aspirin Use - Adults 40+ taking low-dose aspirin (%) Reproductive Health - Vaginal deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Cesarean deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Deliveries resulted in a live birth (%) Reproductive Health - Pregnancies resulted in a delivery (%) Reproductive Health - Women breastfeeding newborns (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had a hysterectomy (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had both ovaries removed (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever taken birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women taking birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used Depo-Provera or injectables (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used female hormones (%) Sexual Behavior - People 18+ that ever had sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had anal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had any sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had anal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had any kind of sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first had sex Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female vaginal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a woman (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of woman performed oral sex on in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male anal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a man (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male oral sex partners in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - People using protection when performing oral sex (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of times people have vaginal or anal sex a year Sexual Behavior - People having sex without condom (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male vaginal sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Circumcised males 18+ (%) Sleep Disorders - Average hours sleeping at night Sleep Disorders - People that has trouble sleeping (%) Smoking-Cigarette Use - People smoking cigarettes (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with smell (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with taste (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had wisdom teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had tonsils teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a loss of consciousness because of a head injury (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a broken nose or other serious injury to face or skull (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had two or more sinus infections (%) Weight - Average height (inches) Weight - Average weight (pounds) Weight - Average BMI Weight - People that are obese (%) Weight - People that ever were obese (%) Weight - People trying to lose weight (%) Settings Get link Loading data... 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1,102 95.1% White alone 28 2.4% Hispanic 18 1.6% Two or more races

Races in Conestoga detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Pennsylvania and other state lists, there was 1 registered sex offender living in Conestoga, Pennsylvania as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Conestoga is 1,215 to 1.

The ratio of registered sex offenders to all residents in this city is lower than the state average.





Ancestries: German (43.5%), American (29.0%), English (7.5%), Polish (3.0%), Italian (1.9%), Scotch-Irish (1.7%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2019: $3,231 (1.4%)

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with no mortgage in 2019: $2,886 (1.7%)



Latitude: 39.94 N, Longitude: 76.35 W

Area code commonly used in this area: 717

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 4.4% Pennsylvania: 6.1%

Air pollution and air quality trends

(lower is better) AQI CO NO 2 Ozone PM 10 PM 2.5 Pb

Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2018 was 82.8. This is about average. City: 82.8 U.S.: 74.2

Carbon Monoxide (CO) [ppm] level in 2017 was 0.157. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 8.1 miles away from the city center. City: 0.157 U.S.: 0.267

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 5.57. This is about average. Closest monitor was 7.3 miles away from the city center. City: 5.57 U.S.: 5.56

Ozone [ppb] level in 2018 was 26.2. This is better than average. Closest monitor was 8.1 miles away from the city center. City: 26.2 U.S.: 33.3

Particulate Matter (PM 10 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 14.0. This is better than average. Closest monitor was 8.1 miles away from the city center. City: 14.0 U.S.: 19.6

Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 8.58. This is about average. Closest monitor was 8.1 miles away from the city center. City: 8.58 U.S.: 8.46

Lead (Pb) [g/m3] level in 2016 was 0.00190. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 7.2 miles away from the city center. City: 0.00190 U.S.: 0.00984

Tornado activity: Conestoga-area historical tornado activity is above Pennsylvania state average. It is 21% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 4/5/1952, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 19.8 miles away from the Conestoga place center injured 4 people and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages. On 11/4/1950, a category F3 tornado 21.6 miles away from the place center injured one person and caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Conestoga-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Pennsylvania state average. It is 61% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 8/23/2011 at 17:51:04, a magnitude 5.8 (5.8 MW, Depth: 3.7 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 164.5 miles away from the city center

On 1/16/1994 at 01:49:16, a magnitude 4.6 (4.6 MB, 4.6 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 31.5 miles away from Conestoga center

On 1/16/1994 at 00:42:43, a magnitude 4.2 (4.2 MB, 4.0 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 32.2 miles away from Conestoga center

On 9/25/1998 at 19:52:52, a magnitude 5.2 (4.8 MB, 4.3 MS, 5.2 LG, 4.5 MW, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 237.8 miles away from the city center

On 10/7/1983 at 10:18:46, a magnitude 5.3 (5.1 MB, 5.3 LG, 5.1 ML) earthquake occurred 296.0 miles away from the city center

On 11/30/2017 at 21:47:31, a magnitude 4.1 (4.1 MW, Depth: 6.1 mi) earthquake occurred 70.8 miles away from the city center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Lancaster County (19) is greater than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 14

Emergencies Declared: 5



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 5, Storms: 5, Winter Storms: 5, Hurricanes: 3, Snowstorms: 3, Tropical Storms: 3, Blizzard: 1, Heavy Rain: 1, Mudslide: 1, Snowfall: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Conestoga: LAKESIDE AT WILLOW VALLEY (Nursing Home, about 6 miles away; WILLOW STREET, PA)

GLEN AT WILLOW VALLEY, THE (Nursing Home, about 6 miles away; LANCASTER, PA)

WILLOW VALLEY MANOR HEALTHCARE (Nursing Home, about 6 miles away; LANCASTER, PA)

COMMUJITY SERVICES GROUP, INC (Hospital, about 6 miles away; WILLOW, PA)

NEW PROVIDENCE HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES (Home Health Center, about 7 miles away; NEW PROVIDENCE, PA)

HAMILTON ARMS CENTER (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; LANCASTER, PA)

MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-LANCASTER (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; LANCASTER, PA)

Amtrak stations near Conestoga: 9 miles: LANCASTER (53 MCGOVERN AVE.) . Services: ticket office, partially wheelchair accessible, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, vending machines, ATM, paid short-term parking, paid long-term parking, call for car rental service, call for taxi service, intercity bus service, public transit connection.

LANCASTER (53 MCGOVERN AVE.) . ticket office, partially wheelchair accessible, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, vending machines, ATM, paid short-term parking, paid long-term parking, call for car rental service, call for taxi service, intercity bus service, public transit connection. 15 miles: MOUNT JOY (DELTA & HENRY STS.) . Services: public payphones, free short-term parking, call for taxi service, public transit connection.

Operable nuclear power plants near Conestoga: 15 miles: Peach Bottom 2 and 3 in Delta, PA.



Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Conestoga: Millersville University of Pennsylvania ( about 5 miles; Millersville, PA ; Full-time enrollment: 7,743)

5 ; 7,743) Franklin and Marshall College ( about 8 miles; Lancaster, PA ; FT enrollment: 2,585)

8 ; 2,585) YTI Career Institute-York ( about 18 miles; York, PA ; FT enrollment: 2,212)

18 ; 2,212) York College Pennsylvania ( about 21 miles; York, PA ; FT enrollment: 5,140)

21 ; 5,140) Lincoln University of Pennsylvania ( about 25 miles; Lincoln University, PA ; FT enrollment: 2,042)

25 ; 2,042) Harford Community College ( about 27 miles; Bel Air, MD ; FT enrollment: 4,530)

27 ; 4,530) Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg (about 28 miles; Middletown, PA; FT enrollment: 3,797) Public elementary/middle school in Conestoga: CONESTOGA EL SCH (Students: 286, Location: 100 HILL ST, Grades: KG-6) Private elementary/middle school in Conestoga: NEW DANVILLE SCHOOL (Students: 32, Location: 12 TANYARD RD, Grades: 1-8) See full list of schools located in Conestoga

Lancaster County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Highest Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Conestoga and their reported violations in the past: PROMISED LAND CPGRD (Population served: 160, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - Between APR-2007 and JUN-2007, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (JUL-19-2007) Past monitoring violations: Monitoring, Source Water (GWR) - Between OCT-14-2012 and NOV-14-2012 , Contaminant: E. COLI . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (DEC-05-2012)

OCT-14-2012 NOV-14-2012 E. COLI St Compliance achieved (DEC-05-2012) 2 routine major monitoring violations

One minor monitoring violation

2 regular monitoring violations CONESTOGA HILLS COMMUNITY (Population served: 150, Groundwater): Past health violations: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - In NOV-2013 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (JAN-06-2014) , St Formal NOV issued (JAN-06-2014) , St Compliance achieved (2 times from JAN-24-2014 to MAR-07-2014) , St Public Notif received (MAR-07-2014)

NOV-2013 GROUNDWATER RULE St Public Notif requested (JAN-06-2014) St Formal NOV issued (JAN-06-2014) St Compliance achieved (2 JAN-24-2014 to MAR-07-2014) St Public Notif received (MAR-07-2014) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - In JAN-2013 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif received (FEB-26-2013) , St Compliance achieved (FEB-26-2013) , St Formal NOV issued (FEB-26-2013)

JAN-2013 GROUNDWATER RULE St Public Notif received (FEB-26-2013) St Compliance achieved (FEB-26-2013) St Formal NOV issued (FEB-26-2013) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - In SEP-2012 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Formal NOV issued (NOV-02-2012) , St Public Notif requested (NOV-02-2012) , St Compliance achieved (NOV-16-2012)

SEP-2012 GROUNDWATER RULE St Formal NOV issued (NOV-02-2012) St Public Notif requested (NOV-02-2012) St Compliance achieved (NOV-16-2012) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - In JUL-2012 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (SEP-11-2012) , St Formal NOV issued (SEP-11-2012) , St Compliance achieved (NOV-02-2012)

JUL-2012 GROUNDWATER RULE St Public Notif requested (SEP-11-2012) St Formal NOV issued (SEP-11-2012) St Compliance achieved (NOV-02-2012) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - In JUN-2012, Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (AUG-01-2012), St Formal NOV issued (AUG-01-2012), St Compliance achieved (AUG-16-2012) Past monitoring violations: Monitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Unfilt/GWR) - In JUL-2014 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (AUG-26-2014)

JUL-2014 GROUNDWATER RULE St Compliance achieved (AUG-26-2014) Monitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Unfilt/GWR) - In JUN-2014 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (JUL-31-2014)

JUN-2014 GROUNDWATER RULE St Compliance achieved (JUL-31-2014) Monitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Unfilt/GWR) - In NOV-2013 , Contaminant: GROUNDWATER RULE . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (JAN-06-2014), St Formal NOV issued (JAN-06-2014), St Compliance achieved (2 times from JAN-24-2014 to MAR-07-2014), St Public Notif received (MAR-07-2014)

NOV-2013 GROUNDWATER RULE St Public Notif requested (JAN-06-2014), St Formal NOV issued (JAN-06-2014), St Compliance achieved (2 JAN-24-2014 MAR-07-2014), St Public Notif received (MAR-07-2014) Follow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/R - In OCT-01-2013, Contaminant: Lead and Copper Rule. Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (OCT-31-2013), St Compliance achieved (NOV-19-2013), St Public Notif received (NOV-19-2013) Drinking water stations with addresses in Conestoga that have no violations reported: LIFE MINISTRIES (Population served: 100, Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater) PROMISED LAND CPGRD (160Groundwater):CONESTOGA HILLS COMMUNITY (150Groundwater):

Average household size: This place: 2.7 people Pennsylvania: 2.5 people

Percentage of family households: This place: 79.8% Whole state: 65.0%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This place: 6.5% Whole state: 6.6%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.0% of all households

0.0% Gay men: 0.2% of all households

For population 15 years and over in Conestoga: Never married: 24.2%

24.2% Now married: 60.0%

60.0% Separated: 0.0%

0.0% Widowed: 6.1%

6.1% Divorced: 9.7%

For population 25 years and over in Conestoga: High school or higher: 91.0%

91.0% Bachelor's degree or higher: 21.1%

21.1% Graduate or professional degree: 7.3%

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 9.4 Pennsylvania average: 11.3



Religion statistics for Conestoga, PA (based on Lancaster County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Evangelical Protestant 122,957 568 Mainline Protestant 71,573 192 Catholic 51,292 20 Other 5,536 20 Black Protestant 2,163 8 Orthodox 1,600 2 None 264,324 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 106 Here : 2.13 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 2.04 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 4 Here : 0.08 / 10,000 pop. State : 0.09 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 31 Lancaster County : 0.62 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 0.88 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 131 Here : 2.63 / 10,000 pop. State : 2.52 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 296 Here : 5.94 / 10,000 pop. State : 7.12 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: This county : 8.4% Pennsylvania : 9.1% Adult obesity rate: This county : 27.4% Pennsylvania : 27.2% Low-income preschool obesity rate: Lancaster County : 13.1% Pennsylvania : 11.5%

3.64% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($51,878 average adjusted gross income) Here: 3.64% Pennsylvania average: 4.58% 0.02% of residents moved from foreign countries ($661 average AGI) Lancaster County: 0.02% Pennsylvania average: 0.03%

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Chester County, PA 0.34% ($49,118 average AGI) from York County, PA 0.31% ($45,275) from Berks County, PA 0.28% ($48,724)



3.86% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($54,303 average adjusted gross income) Here: 3.86% Pennsylvania average: 4.96% 0.03% of residents moved to foreign countries ($357 average AGI) Lancaster County: 0.03% Pennsylvania average: 0.04%

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to York County, PA 0.37% ($43,221 average AGI) to Chester County, PA 0.26% ($55,449) to Berks County, PA 0.23% ($49,157)

Strongest AM radio stations in Conestoga: WLAN (1390 AM; 5 kW; LANCASTER, PA)

WCBM (680 AM; 50 kW; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: WCBM MARYLAND, INC.)

WCBM MARYLAND, INC.) WVCH (740 AM; 50 kW; CHESTER, PA; Owner: WVCH COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

WVCH COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WBAL (1090 AM; 50 kW; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: HEARST RADIO, INC.)

HEARST RADIO, INC.) WEEU (830 AM; 20 kW; READING, PA; Owner: WEEU BROADCASTING COMPANY)

WEEU BROADCASTING COMPANY) WWLG (1370 AM; 50 kW; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: M-10 BROADCASTING, INC.)

M-10 BROADCASTING, INC.) WWJZ (640 AM; 50 kW; MOUNT HOLLY, NJ; Owner: ABC, INC.)

ABC, INC.) WPEN (950 AM; 50 kW; PHILADELPHIA, PA; Owner: GREATER PHILADELPHIA RADIO, INC.)

GREATER PHILADELPHIA RADIO, INC.) WZZD (990 AM; 50 kW; PHILADELPHIA, PA; Owner: PENNSYLVANIA MEDIA ASSOCIATES, INC.)

PENNSYLVANIA MEDIA ASSOCIATES, INC.) WGOP (700 AM; daytime; 25 kW; WALKERSVILLE, MD; Owner: BIRACH BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

BIRACH BROADCASTING CORPORATION) KYW (1060 AM; 50 kW; PHILADELPHIA, PA; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.)

INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.) WSBA (910 AM; 5 kW; YORK, PA; Owner: WSBA LICO, INC.)

WSBA LICO, INC.) WNWR (1540 AM; 50 kW; PHILADELPHIA, PA) Strongest FM radio stations in Conestoga: WDAC (94.5 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: WDAC RADIO COMPANY)

WDAC RADIO COMPANY) WARM-FM (103.3 FM; YORK, PA; Owner: WSBA LICO, INC.)

WSBA LICO, INC.) WROZ (101.3 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: HALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

HALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WSOX (96.1 FM; RED LION, PA; Owner: LANCASTER-YORK BROADCASTING, LLC)

LANCASTER-YORK BROADCASTING, LLC) WLAN-FM (96.9 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WJTL (90.3 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: CREATIVE MINISTRIES, INC.)

CREATIVE MINISTRIES, INC.) WIOV-FM (105.1 FM; EPHRATA, PA; Owner: REGENT BROADCASTING OF LANCASTER, INC.)

REGENT BROADCASTING OF LANCASTER, INC.) W220BX (91.9 FM; MARIETTA, PA; Owner: CALVARY CHAPEL OF TWIN FALLS, INC.)

CALVARY CHAPEL OF TWIN FALLS, INC.) WCAT-FM (106.7 FM; HERSHEY, PA; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY)

CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) W259AA (99.7 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: WITF, INC.)

WITF, INC.) WQXA-FM (105.7 FM; YORK, PA; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY)

CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) WHBO (92.7 FM; STARVIEW, PA; Owner: HALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

HALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WIXQ (91.7 FM; MILLERSVILLE, PA; Owner: MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY)

MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY) WFNM (89.1 FM; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE)

FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE) WRTL (90.7 FM; EPHRATA, PA; Owner: TEMPLE UNIV OF COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM)

TEMPLE UNIV OF COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM) WITF-FM (89.5 FM; HARRISBURG, PA; Owner: WITF, INC.)

WITF, INC.) WYCR (98.5 FM; YORK-HANOVER, PA; Owner: RADIO HANOVER, INC.)

RADIO HANOVER, INC.) WGTY (107.7 FM; GETTYSBURG, PA; Owner: TIMES AND NEWS PUBLISHING COMPANY)

TIMES AND NEWS PUBLISHING COMPANY) WWMX (106.5 FM; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WLIF (101.9 FM; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: INFINITY WLIF, INC.) TV broadcast stations around Conestoga: WPMT ( Channel 43; YORK, PA; Owner: TRIBUNE TELEVISION COMPANY)

43; YORK, PA; TRIBUNE TELEVISION COMPANY) WGAL ( Channel 8; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: WGAL HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION, INC.)

8; LANCASTER, PA; WGAL HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION, INC.) WLYH-TV ( Channel 15; LANCASTER, PA; Owner: TELEVISION STATION GROUP LICENSE SUBSIDIARY, LLC)

15; LANCASTER, PA; TELEVISION STATION GROUP LICENSE SUBSIDIARY, LLC) WGCB-TV ( Channel 49; RED LION, PA; Owner: RED LION BROADCASTING CO., INC.)

49; RED LION, PA; RED LION BROADCASTING CO., INC.) W23AY ( Channel 23; YORK, PA; Owner: WIRELESS CABLE TV OF PA, INC.)

23; YORK, PA; WIRELESS CABLE TV OF PA, INC.) WBFF ( Channel 45; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: CHESAPEAKE TELEVISION LICENSEE, LLC)

45; BALTIMORE, MD; CHESAPEAKE TELEVISION LICENSEE, LLC) WMPB ( Channel 67; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: MARYLAND PUBLIC BROADCASTING COMMISSION)

67; BALTIMORE, MD; MARYLAND PUBLIC BROADCASTING COMMISSION) WNUV ( Channel 54; BALTIMORE, MD; Owner: BALTIMORE (WNUV-TV) LICENSEE, INC.)

54; BALTIMORE, MD; BALTIMORE (WNUV-TV) LICENSEE, INC.) WTSD-CA ( Channel 14; WILMINGTON, DE; Owner: PRIORITY COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRIES, INC.)

14; WILMINGTON, DE; PRIORITY COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRIES, INC.) WTVE (Channel 51; READING, PA; Owner: READING BROADCASTING, INC.)

Conestoga fatal accident list: Oct 3, 2007 05:42 AM, Sand Hill Rd, Lat: 39.945247, Lon: -76.336183, Vehicles: 2, Persons: 2, Fatalities: 1



National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

16 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 141ft / 42.5m Total length

Total length $2,320,000 Total costs

Total costs 15,883 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 1,107 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 18,509 Total future (year 2031) average daily traffic

New bridges - historical statistics

2 Before 1900

1 1920-1929

1 1930-1939

1 1940-1949

1 1950-1959

1 1960-1969

3 1970-1979

3 1980-1989

1 1990-1999

1 2000-2009

1 2010-2018 See full National Bridge Inventory statistics for Conestoga, PA



FCC Registered Cell Phone Towers: 1 91 Hilltop Drive (20289) (Lat: 39.933611 Lon: -76.346028), Type: Mtower, Structure height: 46 m, Overall height: 47.9 m, Call Sign: KNKA766

Assigned Frequencies: 869.040 MHz, 869.040 MHz, 869.040 MHz, 824.040 MHz, 824.040 MHz, 824.040 MHz, 890.010 MHz, 890.010 MHz, 890.010 MHz, 845.010 MHz, 845.010 MHz, 845.010 MHz, Grant Date: 08/28/2018, Expiration Date: 10/01/2028, Certifier: Carol L TackerRegistrant: At&t Mobility LLC, 208 S Akard St., Rm 1015, Dallas, TX 75202, Phone: (855) 699-7073, Fax: (214) 746-6410, Email:

FCC Registered Antenna Towers: 5 Robert P Donovan, .54 Miles West Southwest Of Intersection Of Pequea Blvd And Coleman Church Rd ( Lat: 39.901917 Lon: -76.346472), Type: 42.7, Overall height: 36.6 m, Registrant: County Of Lancaster, 487 Lanca-ster, Phone: (717) 664-1266

39.901917 -76.346472), 42.7, 36.6 m, County Of Lancaster, 487 Lanca-ster, (717) 664-1266 Karen Stoner, Township Of Manor, County Of Lancaster, Pa ( Lat: 39.960472 Lon: -76.452139), Type: 60.6, Overall height: 59.4 m, Registrant: Minnesota Towers, Inc., Kstoner@minnesotatowers.Com, , Iron -Mountain, Phone: (906) 774-5839

39.960472 -76.452139), 60.6, 59.4 m, Minnesota Towers, Inc., Kstoner@minnesotatowers.Com, , Iron -Mountain, (906) 774-5839 Karen Stoner, Township Of Manor, County Of Lancaster, Pa ( Lat: 39.960472 Lon: -76.452139), Type: 60.6, Overall height: 59.4 m, Registrant: Minnesota Towers, Inc., Kstoner@minnesotatowers.Com, , Iron -Mountain, Phone: (906) 774-5839

39.960472 -76.452139), 60.6, 59.4 m, Minnesota Towers, Inc., Kstoner@minnesotatowers.Com, , Iron -Mountain, (906) 774-5839 Robert P Donovan, .54 Miles West Southwest Of Intersection Of Pequea Blvd And Coleman Church Rd ( Lat: 39.901917 Lon: -76.346472), Type: 42.7, Overall height: 36.6 m, Registrant: County Of Lancaster, 487 Lanca-ster, Phone: (717) 664-1266

39.901917 -76.346472), 42.7, 36.6 m, County Of Lancaster, 487 Lanca-ster, (717) 664-1266 EDWARD T MOORE, Township Of Manor, County Of Lancaster, Pa (Lat: 39.960472 Lon: -76.452139), Type: 60.6, Overall height: 59.4 m, Registrant: Minnesota Towers, Inc., Kstoner@minnesotatowers.Com, , Iron -Mountain, Phone: (906) 774-5839

FCC Registered Broadcast Land Mobile Towers: 7 6975 River Rd ( Lat: 39.961778 Lon: -76.341639), Structure height: 11 m, Call Sign: WNYB454, Licensee ID: L00195693,

Assigned Frequencies: 464.375 MHz, Grant Date: 03/09/2002, Expiration Date: 04/01/2012, Cancellation Date: 06/02/2012, Registrant: Gault Nursery Corporation, 6970 River Rd, Conestoga, PA 17516, Phone: (717) 872-2000

39.961778 -76.341639), 11 m, WNYB454, L00195693, 464.375 MHz, 03/09/2002, 04/01/2012, 06/02/2012, Gault Nursery Corporation, 6970 River Rd, Conestoga, PA 17516, (717) 872-2000 Lat: 39.950000 Lon: -76.431667, Call Sign: WQEP446,

Assigned Frequencies: 160.005 MHz, 151.520 MHz, 154.490 MHz, 159.825 MHz, 160.140 MHz, Grant Date: 01/30/2016, Expiration Date: 03/16/2026, Certifier: Abe Barley, Registrant: B Moyer Radio Communications LLC, 1800 S. Forge Road, Palmyra, PA 17078, Phone: (717) 838-0220, Fax: (717) 838-0225, Email:

39.950000 -76.431667, WQEP446, 160.005 MHz, 151.520 MHz, 154.490 MHz, 159.825 MHz, 160.140 MHz, 01/30/2016, 03/16/2026, Abe Barley, B Moyer Radio Communications LLC, 1800 S. Forge Road, Palmyra, PA 17078, (717) 838-0220, (717) 838-0225, Blue Rock 1 & 2 SAD, Blue Rock Trk1 & Trk2 Sad Near Rr Mp Ep 034.10 ( Lat: 39.981417 Lon: -76.464194), Type: Building, Structure height: 3 m, Overall height: 6.1 m, Call Sign: WQHT481,

Assigned Frequencies: 161.115 MHz, 161.070 MHz, Grant Date: 08/11/2017, Expiration Date: 10/31/2027, Certifier: Jerry R Celio, Registrant: Norfolk Southern Railway Company, 1200 Peachtree Street, Ne,, Atlanta, GA 30309, Phone: (404) 529-1233, Fax: (404) 582-6209, Email:

39.981417 -76.464194), Building, 3 m, 6.1 m, WQHT481, 161.115 MHz, 161.070 MHz, 08/11/2017, 10/31/2027, Jerry R Celio, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, 1200 Peachtree Street, Ne,, Atlanta, GA 30309, (404) 529-1233, (404) 582-6209, Lat: 40.037528 Lon: -76.507556, Call Sign: WQID201,

Assigned Frequencies: 461.537 MHz, 461.762 MHz, 463.437 MHz, Grant Date: 10/14/2017, Expiration Date: 01/08/2028, Certifier: Darell Donbach, Registrant: Triangle Communications, Inc., 940 West Main Street, New Holland, PA 17557-9391, Phone: (717) 656-2211, Fax: (717) 656-3458, Email:

40.037528 -76.507556, WQID201, 461.537 MHz, 461.762 MHz, 463.437 MHz, 10/14/2017, 01/08/2028, Darell Donbach, Triangle Communications, Inc., 940 West Main Street, New Holland, PA 17557-9391, (717) 656-2211, (717) 656-3458, Lat: 39.956444 Lon: -76.435889, Call Sign: WQIR804,

Assigned Frequencies: 151.227 MHz, 458.275 MHz, 458.325 MHz, 453.325 MHz, 458.625 MHz, Grant Date: 04/25/2008, Expiration Date: 04/25/2018, Cancellation Date: 06/30/2018, Certifier: Justin L Fisher, Registrant: Ewa/Lao 20805804, 122 Baltimore St, Gettysburg, PA 17325, Phone: (800) 886-4222, Fax: (717) 337-9157, Email:

39.956444 -76.435889, WQIR804, 151.227 MHz, 458.275 MHz, 458.325 MHz, 453.325 MHz, 458.625 MHz, 04/25/2008, 04/25/2018, 06/30/2018, Justin L Fisher, Ewa/Lao 20805804, 122 Baltimore St, Gettysburg, PA 17325, (800) 886-4222, (717) 337-9157, Lat: 39.956167 Lon: -76.452611, Call Sign: WRDD683,

Assigned Frequencies: 462.287 MHz, 467.212 MHz, 467.287 MHz, Grant Date: 04/03/2019, Expiration Date: 04/03/2029, Certifier: Wesley Michael, Registrant: Triangle Communications, Inc., 940 W. Main St., New Holland, PA 17557, Phone: (717) 656-2211, Fax: (717) 656-3458, Email:

39.956167 -76.452611, WRDD683, 462.287 MHz, 467.212 MHz, 467.287 MHz, 04/03/2019, 04/03/2029, Wesley Michael, Triangle Communications, Inc., 940 W. Main St., New Holland, PA 17557, (717) 656-2211, (717) 656-3458, Off River Road (Lat: 39.971111 Lon: -76.457944), Type: Mast, Structure height: 6.1 m, Call Sign: WRKB608,

Assigned Frequencies: 464.712 MHz, Grant Date: 12/07/2020, Expiration Date: 12/07/2030, Certifier: Randy Ream, Registrant: Triangle Communications, Inc., 940 W. Main St., New Holland, PA 17557, Phone: (717) 656-2211, Fax: (717) 656-3458, Email:

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 20 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 2 Aircraft: HELTSHE ED STS-1 ( Category: Land, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: None

N-Number: 1961G, N1961G, N-1961G, Serial Number: 1296, Airworthiness Date: 04/29/1997, Certificate Issue Date: 11/17/2014

Registrant (Individual): Ed Heltshe, 942 Stone Hill Rd, Conestoga, PA 17516

HELTSHE ED STS-1 ( Land, Up to 12,499 Pounds), None 1961G, N1961G, N-1961G, 1296, 04/29/1997, 11/17/2014 Ed Heltshe, 942 Stone Hill Rd, Conestoga, PA 17516 Aircraft: AVIONS MUDRY CIE CAP 231 (Category: Land, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: LYCOMING AEIO-540 SER (260 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 231X, N231X, N-231X, Serial Number: 12, Year manufactured: 1990, Airworthiness Date: 03/25/1991, Certificate Issue Date: 12/28/2016

Registrant (Corporation): Airblair Aerobatics LLC, 356 Sand Hill Rd, Conestoga, PA 17516

20 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Conestoga

2002 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents According to the data from the years 2002 - 2018 the average number of fire incidents per year is 22. The highest number of fire incidents - 78 took place in 2006, and the least - 1 in 2013. The data has a dropping trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Conestoga, PA



244 64.6% Structure Fires



99 26.2% Outside Fires



18 4.8% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires



17 4.5% Other When looking into fire subcategories, the most reports belonged to: Structure Fires (64.6%), and Outside Fires (26.2%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Conestoga, PA

Houses and condos Apartments 45.7% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

28.9% Electricity

11.7% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

4.6% Utility gas

4.4% Coal or coke

2.4% Other fuel

2.2% Wood 100.0% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.





Conestoga compared to Pennsylvania state average: Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Renting percentage below state average.

below Number of college students below state average.

Conestoga on our top lists: #57 on the list of "Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Pakistan (population 500+)" #10 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the lowest percentage of residents relocating to other counties in 2011"

#14 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the lowest percentage of residents relocating from other counties between 2010 and 2011 (pop. 50,000+)"

#21 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the most Evangelical Protestant congregations"

#24 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the most Mainline Protestant congregations"

#25 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) Annual air pollution readings in 2012 (g/m3)"

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Holiday Island, Arkansas

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Population in 2010: 2,373.

Males: 1,130 (47.7%) Females: 1,243 (52.3%)

Median resident age: 65.7 years Arkansas median age: 38.8 years

Estimated median household income in 2019: $47,423

Holiday Island: $47,423 AR: $48,952

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $25,958



Holiday Island CDP income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $145,898 Holiday Island: $145,898 AR: $136,200 $47,423$25,958$145,898

Median gross rent in 2019: $759.

March 2019 cost of living index in Holiday Island: 80.7 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2019: 7.9%

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Most recent value % change since 2k Data: Median household income ($) Median household income (% change since 2000) Household income diversity Ratio of average income to average house value (%) Ratio of average income to average rent Median household income ($) - White Median household income ($) - Black or African American Median household income ($) - Asian Median household income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median household income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median household income ($) - Multirace Median household income ($) - Other Race Median household income for houses/condos with a mortgage ($) Median household income for apartments without a mortgage ($) Races - White alone (%) Races - White alone (% change since 2000) Races - Black alone (%) Races - Black alone (% change since 2000) Races - American Indian alone (%) Races - American Indian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Asian alone (%) Races - Asian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Hispanic (%) Races - Hispanic (% change since 2000) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (%) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (% change since 2000) Races - Two or more races (%) Races - Two or more races (% change since 2000) Races - Other race alone (%) Races - Other race alone (% change since 2000) Racial diversity Unemployment (%) Unemployment (% change since 2000) Unemployment (%) - White Unemployment (%) - Black or African American Unemployment (%) - Asian Unemployment (%) - Hispanic or Latino Unemployment (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Unemployment (%) - Multirace Unemployment (%) - Other Race Population density (people per square mile) Population - Males (%) Population - Females (%) Population - Males (%) - White Population - Males (%) - Black or African American Population - Males (%) - Asian Population - Males (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Males (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Males (%) - Multirace Population - Males (%) - Other Race Population - Females (%) - White Population - Females (%) - Black or African American Population - Females (%) - Asian Population - Females (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Females (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Females (%) - Multirace Population - Females (%) - Other Race Coronavirus confirmed cases (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (Nov 21, 2021) Coronavirus confirmed cases (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Daily increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Weekly increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Cases doubled (in days) (Nov 21, 2021) Hospitalized patients (Nov 21, 2021) Negative test results (Nov 21, 2021) Total test results (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (Nov 21, 2021) Likely homosexual households (%) Likely homosexual households (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (%) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (%) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (% change since 2000) Cost of living index Median gross rent ($) Median contract rent ($) Median monthly housing costs ($) Median house or condo value ($) Median house or condo value ($ change since 2000) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, detached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, attached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 2 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure by units in structure - 3 or 4 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 5 or more ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Boat, RV, van, etc. ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Mobile home ($) Median house or condo value ($) - White Median house or condo value ($) - Black or African American Median house or condo value ($) - Asian Median house or condo value ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median house or condo value ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median house or condo value ($) - Multirace Median house or condo value ($) - Other Race Median resident age Resident age diversity Median resident age - Males Median resident age - Females Median resident age - White Median resident age - Black or African American Median resident age - Asian Median resident age - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Multirace Median resident age - Other Race Median resident age - Males - White Median resident age - Males - Black or African American Median resident age - Males - Asian Median resident age - Males - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Males - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Males - Multirace Median resident age - Males - Other Race Median resident age - Females - White Median resident age - Females - Black or African American Median resident age - Females - Asian Median resident age - Females - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Females - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Females - Multirace Median resident age - Females - Other Race Commute - mean travel time to work (minutes) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (%) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (%) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (% change since 2000) Marital status - Never married (%) Marital status - Now married (%) Marital status - Separated (%) Marital status - Widowed (%) Marital status - Divorced (%) Median family income ($) Median family income (% change since 2000) Median non-family income ($) Median non-family income (% change since 2000) Median per capita income ($) Median per capita income (% change since 2000) Median family income ($) - White Median family income ($) - Black or African American Median family income ($) - Asian Median family income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median family income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median family income ($) - Multirace Median family income ($) - Other Race Median year house/condo built Median year apartment built Year house built - Built 2005 or later (%) Year house built - Built 2000 to 2004 (%) Year house built - Built 1990 to 1999 (%) Year house built - Built 1980 to 1989 (%) Year house built - Built 1970 to 1979 (%) Year house built - Built 1960 to 1969 (%) Year house built - Built 1950 to 1959 (%) Year house built - Built 1940 to 1949 (%) Year house built - Built 1939 or earlier (%) Average household size Household density (households per square mile) Average household size - White Average household size - Black or African American Average household size - Asian Average household size - Hispanic or Latino Average household size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average household size - Multirace Average household size - Other Race Occupied housing units (%) Vacant housing units (%) Owner occupied housing units (%) Renter occupied housing units (%) Vacancy status - For rent (%) Vacancy status - For sale only (%) Vacancy status - Rented or sold, not occupied (%) Vacancy status - For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use (%) Vacancy status - For migrant workers (%) Vacancy status - Other vacant (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level (%) Children below poverty level (%) Poor families by family type - Married-couple family (%) Poor families by family type - Male, no wife present (%) Poor families by family type - Female, no husband present (%) Poverty status for native-born residents (%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents (%) Poverty among high school graduates not in families (%) Poverty among people who did not graduate high school not in families (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - White Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Black or African American Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Asian Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Hispanic or Latino Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Multirace Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Other Race Air pollution - Air Quality Index (AQI) Air pollution - CO Air pollution - NO2 Air pollution - SO2 Air pollution - Ozone Air pollution - PM10 Air pollution - PM25 Air pollution - Pb Crime - Murders per 100,000 population Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Arson per 100,000 population Crime - City-data.com crime index Crime - Violent crime index Crime - Property crime index Crime - Murders per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Arson per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - City-data.com crime index (5 year average) Crime - Violent crime index (5 year average) Crime - Property crime index (5 year average) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Dole) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Gore) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Kerry) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (McCain) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Romney) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Biden) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other Ancestries Reported - Arab (%) Ancestries Reported - Czech (%) Ancestries Reported - Danish (%) Ancestries Reported - Dutch (%) Ancestries Reported - English (%) Ancestries Reported - French (%) Ancestries Reported - French Canadian (%) Ancestries Reported - German (%) Ancestries Reported - Greek (%) Ancestries Reported - Hungarian (%) Ancestries Reported - Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Italian (%) Ancestries Reported - Lithuanian (%) Ancestries Reported - Norwegian (%) Ancestries Reported - Polish (%) Ancestries Reported - Portuguese (%) Ancestries Reported - Russian (%) Ancestries Reported - Scotch-Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Scottish (%) Ancestries Reported - Slovak (%) Ancestries Reported - Subsaharan African (%) Ancestries Reported - Swedish (%) Ancestries Reported - Swiss (%) Ancestries Reported - Ukrainian (%) Ancestries Reported - United States (%) Ancestries Reported - Welsh (%) Ancestries Reported - West Indian (%) Ancestries Reported - Other (%) Educational Attainment - No schooling completed (%) Educational Attainment - Less than high school (%) Educational Attainment - High school or equivalent (%) Educational Attainment - Less than 1 year of college (%) Educational Attainment - 1 or more years of college (%) Educational Attainment - Associate degree (%) Educational Attainment - Bachelor's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Master's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Professional school degree (%) Educational Attainment - Doctorate degree (%) School Enrollment - Nursery, preschool (%) School Enrollment - Kindergarten (%) School Enrollment - Grade 1 to 4 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 5 to 8 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 9 to 12 (%) School Enrollment - College undergrad (%) School Enrollment - Graduate or professional (%) School Enrollment - Not enrolled in school (%) School enrollment - Public schools (%) School enrollment - Private schools (%) School enrollment - Not enrolled (%) Median number of rooms in houses and condos Median number of rooms in apartments Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities (%) Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities (%) Density of houses Urban houses (%) Rural houses (%) Households with people 60 years and over (%) Households with people 65 years and over (%) Households with people 75 years and over (%) Households with one or more nonrelatives (%) Households with no nonrelatives (%) Population in households (%) Family households (%) Nonfamily households (%) Population in families (%) Family households with own children (%) Median number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Median number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Median number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Median number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mortgage status - with mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with second mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - with both second mortgage and home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - without a mortgage (%) Average family size Average family size - White Average family size - Black or African American Average family size - Asian Average family size - Hispanic or Latino Average family size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average family size - Multirace Average family size - Other Race Geographical mobility - Same house 1 year ago (%) Geographical mobility - Moved within same county (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different county within same state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from abroad (%) Place of birth - Born in state of residence (%) Place of birth - Born in other state (%) Place of birth - Native, outside of US (%) Place of birth - Foreign born (%) Housing units in structures - 1, detached (%) Housing units in structures - 1, attached (%) Housing units in structures - 2 (%) Housing units in structures - 3 or 4 (%) Housing units in structures - 5 to 9 (%) Housing units in structures - 10 to 19 (%) Housing units in structures - 20 to 49 (%) Housing units in structures - 50 or more (%) Housing units in structures - Mobile home (%) Housing units in structures - Boat, RV, van, etc. (%) House/condo owner moved in on average (years ago) Renter moved in on average (years ago) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1999 to March 2000 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1995 to 1998 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1990 to 1994 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1980 to 1989 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1970 to 1979 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1969 or earlier (%) Means of transportation to work - Drove car alone (%) Means of transportation to work - Carpooled (%) Means of transportation to work - Public transportation (%) Means of transportation to work - Bus or trolley bus (%) Means of transportation to work - Streetcar or trolley car (%) Means of transportation to work - Subway or elevated (%) Means of transportation to work - Railroad (%) Means of transportation to work - Ferryboat (%) Means of transportation to work - Taxicab (%) Means of transportation to work - Motorcycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Bicycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Walked (%) Means of transportation to work - Other means (%) Working at home (%) Industry diversity Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining (%) Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (%) Most Common Industries - Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (%) Most Common Industries - Construction (%) Most Common Industries - Manufacturing (%) Most Common Industries - Wholesale trade (%) Most Common Industries - Retail trade (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing (%) Most Common Industries - Utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Information (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance (%) Most Common Industries - Real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and technical services (%) Most Common Industries - Management of companies and enterprises (%) Most Common Industries - Administrative and support and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services, and health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services (%) Most Common Industries - Health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (%) Most Common Industries - Accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Other services, except public administration (%) Most Common Industries - Public administration (%) Occupation diversity Most Common Occupations - Management, business, science, and arts occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management, business, and financial occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Business and financial operations occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer, engineering, and science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer and mathematical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Architecture and engineering occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Life, physical, and social science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Community and social service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Legal occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, training, and library occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and other technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health technologists and technicians (%) Most Common Occupations - Service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Protective service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Fire fighting and prevention, and other protective service workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Law enforcement workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Food preparation and serving related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Personal care and service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and office occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Office and administrative support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Construction and extraction occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production, transportation, and material moving occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Transportation occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Material moving occupations (%) People in Group quarters - Institutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - Correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Federal prisons and detention centers (%) People in Group quarters - Halfway houses (%) People in Group quarters - Local jails and other confinement facilities (including police lockups) (%) People in Group quarters - Military disciplinary barracks (%) People in Group quarters - State prisons (%) People in Group quarters - Other types of correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Nursing homes (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards, hospices, and schools for the handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards and hospices for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospices or homes for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Military hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Other hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals or wards for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Mental (Psychiatric) hospitals or wards (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the deaf (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the blind (%) People in Group quarters - Orthopedic wards and institutions for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in general hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in military hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Juvenile institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Long-term care (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children (%) People in Group quarters - Residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (%) People in Group quarters - Training schools for juvenile delinquents (%) People in Group quarters - Short-term care, detention or diagnostic centers for delinquent children (%) People in Group quarters - Type of juvenile institution unknown (%) People in Group quarters - Noninstitutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - College dormitories (includes college quarters off campus) (%) People in Group quarters - Military quarters (%) People in Group quarters - On base (%) People in Group quarters - Barracks, unaccompanied personnel housing (UPH), (Enlisted/Officer), ;and similar group living quarters for military personnel (%) People in Group quarters - Transient quarters for temporary residents (%) People in Group quarters - Military ships (%) People in Group quarters - Group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally ill (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Other group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Religious group quarters (%) People in Group quarters - Dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Agriculture workers' dormitories on farms (%) People in Group quarters - Job Corps and vocational training facilities (%) People in Group quarters - Other workers' dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Crews of maritime vessels (%) People in Group quarters - Other nonhousehold living situations (%) People in Group quarters - Other noninstitutional group quarters (%) Residents speaking English at home (%) Residents speaking English at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking English at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking English at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking other language at home (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Foreign born (%) Class of Workers - Employee of private company (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed in own incorporated business (%) Class of Workers - Private not-for-profit wage and salary workers (%) Class of Workers - Local government workers (%) Class of Workers - State government workers (%) Class of Workers - Federal government workers (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business and Unpaid family workers (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - No fuel used (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - No fuel used (%) Armed forces status - In Armed Forces (%) Armed forces status - Civilian (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Veteran (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Nonveteran (%) Fatal accidents locations in years 2005-2019 Fatal accidents locations in 2005 Fatal accidents locations in 2006 Fatal accidents locations in 2007 Fatal accidents locations in 2008 Fatal accidents locations in 2009 Fatal accidents locations in 2010 Fatal accidents locations in 2011 Fatal accidents locations in 2012 Fatal accidents locations in 2013 Fatal accidents locations in 2014 Fatal accidents locations in 2015 Fatal accidents locations in 2016 Fatal accidents locations in 2017 Fatal accidents locations in 2018 Fatal accidents locations in 2019 Alcohol use - People drinking some alcohol every month (%) Alcohol use - People not drinking at all (%) Alcohol use - Average days/month drinking alcohol Alcohol use - Average drinks/week Alcohol use - Average days/year people drink much Audiometry - Average condition of hearing (%) Audiometry - People that can hear a whisper from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - People that can hear normal voice from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - Ears ringing, roaring, buzzing (%) Audiometry - Had a job exposure to loud noise (%) Audiometry - Had off-work exposure to loud noise (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high blood pressure (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Checking blood pressure at home (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Frequently checking blood cholesterol (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high cholesterol level (%) Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at supermarket/grocery store Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at other stores Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on eating out Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on carryout/delivered foods Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at supermarket/grocery store (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at other stores (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on eating out (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on carryout/delivered foods (%) Current Health Status - General health condition (%) Current Health Status - Blood donors (%) Current Health Status - Has blood ever tested for HIV virus (%) Current Health Status - Left-handed people (%) Dermatology - People using sunscreen (%) Diabetes - Diabetics (%) Diabetes - Had a blood test for high blood sugar (%) Diabetes - People taking insulin (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Diet health (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Milk product consumption (# of products/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals not home prepared (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals from fast food or pizza place (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Ready-to-eat foods (#/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Frozen meals/pizza (#/month) Drug Use - People that ever used marijuana or hashish (%) Drug Use - Ever used hard drugs (%) Drug Use - Ever used any form of cocaine (%) Drug Use - Ever used heroin (%) Drug Use - Ever used methamphetamine (%) Health Insurance - People covered by health insurance (%) Kidney Conditions-Urology - Avg. # of times urinating at night Medical Conditions - People with asthma (%) Medical Conditions - People with anemia (%) Medical Conditions - People with psoriasis (%) Medical Conditions - People with overweight (%) Medical Conditions - Elderly people having difficulties in thinking or remembering (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever received blood transfusion (%) Medical Conditions - People having trouble seeing even with glass/contacts (%) Medical Conditions - People with arthritis (%) Medical Conditions - People with gout (%) Medical Conditions - People with congestive heart failure (%) Medical Conditions - People with coronary heart disease (%) Medical Conditions - People with angina pectoris (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had heart attack (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had stroke (%) Medical Conditions - People with emphysema (%) Medical Conditions - People with thyroid problem (%) Medical Conditions - People with chronic bronchitis (%) Medical Conditions - People with any liver condition (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had cancer or malignancy (%) Mental Health - People who have little interest in doing things (%) Mental Health - People feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble sleeping or sleeping too much (%) Mental Health - People feeling tired or having little energy (%) Mental Health - People with poor appetite or overeating (%) Mental Health - People feeling bad about themself (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble concentrating on things (%) Mental Health - People moving or speaking slowly or too fast (%) Mental Health - People having thoughts they would be better off dead (%) Oral Health - Average years since last visit a dentist Oral Health - People embarrassed because of mouth (%) Oral Health - People with gum disease (%) Oral Health - General health of teeth and gums (%) Oral Health - Average days a week using dental floss/device Oral Health - Average days a week using mouthwash for dental problem Oral Health - Average number of teeth Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to control insects (%) Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to kill weeds (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People walking or bicycling (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - Average hours a day doing sedentary activities Physical Activity - Average hours a day watching TV or videos Physical Activity - Average hours a day using computer Physical Functioning - People having limitations keeping them from working (%) Physical Functioning - People limited in amount of work they can do (%) Physical Functioning - People that need special equipment to walk (%) Physical Functioning - People experiencing confusion/memory problems (%) Physical Functioning - People requiring special healthcare equipment (%) Prescription Medications - Average number of prescription medicines taking Preventive Aspirin Use - Adults 40+ taking low-dose aspirin (%) Reproductive Health - Vaginal deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Cesarean deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Deliveries resulted in a live birth (%) Reproductive Health - Pregnancies resulted in a delivery (%) Reproductive Health - Women breastfeeding newborns (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had a hysterectomy (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had both ovaries removed (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever taken birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women taking birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used Depo-Provera or injectables (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used female hormones (%) Sexual Behavior - People 18+ that ever had sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had anal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had any sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had anal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had any kind of sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first had sex Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female vaginal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a woman (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of woman performed oral sex on in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male anal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a man (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male oral sex partners in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - People using protection when performing oral sex (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of times people have vaginal or anal sex a year Sexual Behavior - People having sex without condom (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male vaginal sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Circumcised males 18+ (%) Sleep Disorders - Average hours sleeping at night Sleep Disorders - People that has trouble sleeping (%) Smoking-Cigarette Use - People smoking cigarettes (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with smell (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with taste (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had wisdom teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had tonsils teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a loss of consciousness because of a head injury (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a broken nose or other serious injury to face or skull (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had two or more sinus infections (%) Weight - Average height (inches) Weight - Average weight (pounds) Weight - Average BMI Weight - People that are obese (%) Weight - People that ever were obese (%) Weight - People trying to lose weight (%) Settings Get link Loading data... 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123 Hide US histogram



2,253 95.2% White alone 102 4.3% Hispanic

Races in Holiday Island detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Arkansas and other state lists, there were 4 registered sex offenders living in Holiday Island, Arkansas as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Holiday Island is 563 to 1.

The ratio of registered sex offenders to all residents in this city is near the state average.





Ancestries: American (20.9%), English (9.0%), Northern European (7.2%), German (7.0%), Ukrainian (5.3%), Irish (3.5%).

Current Local Time: CST time zone

Elevation: 1430 feet

15 residents are foreign born This place: 0.6% Arkansas: 4.8%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2019: $1,490 (0.8%)

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with no mortgage in 2019: $991 (0.6%)



Latitude: 36.49 N, Longitude: 93.73 W

Area code commonly used in this area: 417

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 4.9% Arkansas: 5.7%

Tornado activity: Holiday Island-area historical tornado activity is slightly below Arkansas state average. It is 63% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 3/24/1954, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 12.1 miles away from the Holiday Island place center injured 4 people and caused between $500 and $5000 in damages. On 6/11/1970, a category F3 tornado 13.2 miles away from the place center killed one person and injured 45 people and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Holiday Island-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Arkansas state average. It is 607% greater than the overall U.S. average.



On 9/3/2016 at 12:02:44, a magnitude 5.8 (5.8 MW, Depth: 3.5 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 177.9 miles away from Holiday Island center

On 11/6/2011 at 03:53:10, a magnitude 5.7 (5.7 MW, Depth: 3.2 mi) earthquake occurred 182.1 miles away from the city center

On 11/7/2016 at 01:44:24, a magnitude 5.0 (5.0 MW, Depth: 2.8 mi) earthquake occurred 174.7 miles away from Holiday Island center

On 2/28/2011 at 05:00:50, a magnitude 4.7 (4.7 MW, Depth: 2.0 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 114.2 miles away from the city center

On 5/4/2001 at 06:42:12, a magnitude 4.7 (4.2 MB, 4.7 LG, 4.5 LG) earthquake occurred 123.6 miles away from the city center

On 1/21/1982 at 00:33:54, a magnitude 4.7 (4.5 MB, 4.7 LG, 4.5 LG) earthquake occurred 124.8 miles away from Holiday Island center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Carroll County (16) is near the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 11

Emergencies Declared: 3



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 10, Storms: 10, Tornadoes: 5, Winds: 2, Winter Storms: 2, Drought: 1, Hurricane: 1, Landslide: 1, Tropical Storm: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers in Holiday Island: NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HOMECARE (6 FOREST PARK, SUITE D&E) Other hospitals and medical centers near Holiday Island: EUREKA SPRINGS HOSPITAL, LLC Critical Access Hospitals (about 6 miles away; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR)

Critical Access Hospitals BRIGHTON RIDGE (Nursing Home, about 8 miles away; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR)

ST JOHNS HOME HEALTH (Home Health Center, about 12 miles away; BERRYVILLE, AR)

MERCY HOSPITAL BERRYVILLE Critical Access Hospitals (about 14 miles away; BERRYVILLE, AR)

Critical Access Hospitals CARROLL COUNTY HEALTH UNIT (Home Health Center, about 14 miles away; BERRYVILLE, AR)

ST JOHNS HOSPITAL-CASSVILLE (Hospital, about 16 miles away; CASSVILLE, MO)

QUALITY HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE (Hospital, about 16 miles away; CASSVILLE, MO)

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Holiday Island: NorthWest Arkansas Community College ( about 27 miles; Bentonville, AR ; Full-time enrollment: 5,634)

27 ; 5,634) University of Arkansas ( about 39 miles; Fayetteville, AR ; FT enrollment: 22,163)

39 ; 22,163) Crowder College ( about 42 miles; Neosho, MO ; FT enrollment: 3,675)

42 ; 3,675) John Brown University ( about 51 miles; Siloam Springs, AR ; FT enrollment: 2,097)

51 ; 2,097) Missouri State University-Springfield ( about 56 miles; Springfield, MO ; FT enrollment: 16,660)

56 ; 16,660) Ozarks Technical Community College ( about 57 miles; Springfield, MO ; FT enrollment: 10,356)

57 ; 10,356) Drury University (about 57 miles; Springfield, MO; FT enrollment: 3,902)

Carroll County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level between 2 and 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Moderate Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Holiday Island that have no violations reported: HOLIDAY ISLAND WATERWORKS (Population served: 3,480, Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater)

Average household size: This place: 1.9 people Arkansas: 2.5 people

Percentage of family households: This place: 64.2% Whole state: 67.6%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This place: 4.8% Whole state: 5.7%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.9% of all households

0.9% Gay men: 0.7% of all households

Banks with branches in Holiday Island (2011 data): Cornerstone Bank: Holiday Island Branch at 1 Parkwood Drive , branch established on 1985/04/01 . Info updated 2008/11/05: Bank assets: $142.5 mil , Deposits: $119.7 mil , headquarters in Eureka Springs, AR , positive income , Commercial Lending Specialization , 4 total offices , Holding Company: Eureka Bancshares, Inc.

1 Parkwood Drive 1985/04/01 2008/11/05: $142.5 mil $119.7 mil Eureka Springs, AR , Commercial Lending Specialization 4 Eureka Bancshares, Inc. First National Bank of North Arkansas: Holiday Island Branch at 5 Forrest Park Avenue, branch established on 1996/03/05. Info updated 2012/03/26: Bank assets: $154.6 mil, Deposits: $127.4 mil, headquarters in Berryville, AR, positive income, Commercial Lending Specialization, 10 total offices, Holding Company: First National Bank Of Berryville Employee Stock Ownership Trust

For population 15 years and over in Holiday Island: Never married: 12.5%

12.5% Now married: 63.4%

63.4% Separated: 0.7%

0.7% Widowed: 13.3%

13.3% Divorced: 10.1%

For population 25 years and over in Holiday Island: High school or higher: 94.3%

94.3% Bachelor's degree or higher: 36.2%

36.2% Graduate or professional degree: 13.3%

13.3% Mean travel time to work (commute): 20.8 minutes

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 8.6 Arkansas average: 11.4



Religion statistics for Holiday Island, AR (based on Carroll County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Evangelical Protestant 7,926 56 Mainline Protestant 1,479 8 Catholic 950 2 Other 488 7 None 16,603 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 5 Here : 1.83 / 10,000 pop. State : 2.02 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 1 This county : 0.37 / 10,000 pop. Arkansas : 0.25 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 1 Here : 0.37 / 10,000 pop. Arkansas : 0.59 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 18 Carroll County : 6.60 / 10,000 pop. Arkansas : 4.94 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 47 This county : 17.23 / 10,000 pop. Arkansas : 6.66 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: This county : 9.9% Arkansas : 9.8% Adult obesity rate: Carroll County : 25.2% Arkansas : 29.1% Low-income preschool obesity rate: Here : 15.0% Arkansas : 13.6%

6.33% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($42,564 average adjusted gross income) Here: 6.33% Arkansas average: 6.87% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved from foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Washington County, AR 0.67% ($36,597 average AGI) from Boone County, AR 0.61% ($27,393) from Benton County, AR 0.44% ($49,705)



6.68% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($30,764 average adjusted gross income) Here: 6.68% Arkansas average: 6.90% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved to foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Benton County, AR 0.85% ($39,953 average AGI) to Washington County, AR 0.81% ($33,024) to Boone County, AR 0.68% ($26,116)

Businesses in Holiday Island, AR H&R Block: 1

Strongest AM radio stations in Holiday Island: KTHS (1480 AM; 5 kW; BERRYVILLE, AR; Owner: KTHS/KSCC, INC.)

KTHS/KSCC, INC.) KURM (790 AM; 5 kW; ROGERS, AR; Owner: KERM, INC)

KERM, INC) KFAY (1030 AM; 10 kW; FARMINGTON, AR; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP) KWTO (560 AM; 5 kW; SPRINGFIELD, MO; Owner: KWTO, INC.)

KWTO, INC.) KBTN (1420 AM; 10 kW; NEOSHO, MO; Owner: PETRACOM OF JOPLIN, L.L.C.)

PETRACOM OF JOPLIN, L.L.C.) KFAQ (1170 AM; 50 kW; TULSA, OK; Owner: JOURNAL BROADCAST CORPORATION)

JOURNAL BROADCAST CORPORATION) KRMG (740 AM; 50 kW; TULSA, OK; Owner: CXR HOLDINGS, INC.)

CXR HOLDINGS, INC.) KREB (1190 AM; daytime; 3 kW; BENTONVILLE/BELLA VI, AR; Owner: BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC)

BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC) KGHT (880 AM; 50 kW; SHERIDAN, AR; Owner: METROPOLITAN RADIO GROUP, INC.)

METROPOLITAN RADIO GROUP, INC.) KRMO (990 AM; 3 kW; CASSVILLE, MO; Owner: MONETT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

MONETT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) KNWA (1600 AM; 5 kW; BELLEFONTE, AR; Owner: HARRISON RADIO STATIONS, INC.)

HARRISON RADIO STATIONS, INC.) KZRA (1590 AM; 3 kW; SPRINGDALE, AR; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.) KAAY (1090 AM; 50 kW; LITTLE ROCK, AR; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) Strongest FM radio stations in Holiday Island: KTCN (100.9 FM; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; Owner: NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, INC.)

NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, INC.) KAMO-FM (94.3 FM; ROGERS, AR; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP.) KMXF (101.9 FM; LOWELL, AR; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) KIGL (93.3 FM; SELIGMAN, MO; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) KTHS-FM (107.1 FM; BERRYVILLE, AR; Owner: KTHS/KSCC, INC.)

KTHS/KSCC, INC.) KHOZ-FM (102.9 FM; HARRISON, AR; Owner: HARRISON BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

HARRISON BROADCASTING CORPORATION) KQMO (97.7 FM; SHELL KNOB, MO; Owner: MAGIC CIRCLE RADIO, INC.)

MAGIC CIRCLE RADIO, INC.) KOMC-FM (100.1 FM; KIMBERLING CITY, MO; Owner: TURTLE BROADCASTING COMPANY, L.P.)

TURTLE BROADCASTING COMPANY, L.P.) KSMS-FM (90.5 FM; POINT LOOKOUT, MO; Owner: SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UINIVERSITY)

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UINIVERSITY) KEZA (107.9 FM; FAYETTEVILLE, AR; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) KCWD (96.1 FM; HARRISON, AR; Owner: HARRISON RADIO STATIONS, INC.)

HARRISON RADIO STATIONS, INC.) KFAY-FM (98.3 FM; BENTONVILLE, AR; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP) KUAF (91.3 FM; FAYETTEVILLE, AR; Owner: BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS) KKEG (92.1 FM; FAYETTEVILLE, AR; Owner: CUMULUS LICENSING CORP)

CUMULUS LICENSING CORP) KREB-FM (99.5 FM; HUNTSVILLE, AR; Owner: BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC)

BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC) KXNA (104.9 FM; SPRINGDALE, AR; Owner: BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC)

BUTLER BROADCASTING COMPANY, LLC) K203CE (88.5 FM; SPRINGDALE, AR; Owner: BIBLE BROADCASTING NETWORK, INC.)

BIBLE BROADCASTING NETWORK, INC.) KBNV (90.1 FM; FAYETTEVILLE, AR; Owner: AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION)

AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION) K204CN (88.7 FM; BRANSON, MO; Owner: CALVARY CHAPEL OF TWIN FALLS, INC.)

CALVARY CHAPEL OF TWIN FALLS, INC.) KOZO (89.7 FM; BRANSON, MO; Owner: CREATIVE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA CORP, INC) TV broadcast stations around Holiday Island: KNJE-LP ( Channel 68; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; Owner: TV-34, INC., AN ARKANSAS CORPORATION)

68; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; TV-34, INC., AN ARKANSAS CORPORATION) K18EG ( Channel 18; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; Owner: CHRISTIANS INCORPORATED FOR CHRIST)

18; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; CHRISTIANS INCORPORATED FOR CHRIST) KWBS-TV ( Channel 34; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; Owner: TV 34, INC.)

34; EUREKA SPRINGS, AR; TV 34, INC.) KWBM ( Channel 31; HARRISON, AR; Owner: R.S. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. PARTNERSHIP)

31; HARRISON, AR; R.S. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. PARTNERSHIP) K54FH ( Channel 54; GREEN FOREST, AR; Owner: NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, INC)

54; GREEN FOREST, AR; NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, INC) KFAA ( Channel 51; ROGERS, AR; Owner: J.D.G. TELEVISION, INC.)

51; ROGERS, AR; J.D.G. TELEVISION, INC.) K17DL ( Channel 17; BRANSON, MO; Owner: KY3, INC.)

17; BRANSON, MO; KY3, INC.) K67EO (Channel 67; BENTONVILLE, AR; Owner: NEW YORK TIMES MANAGEMENT SERVICES)

Holiday Island fatal accident statistics for 1975 - 2019



Holiday Island fatal accident list: Nov 7, 2018 06:30 AM, Cr-State Line Road, Lat: 36.491400, Lon: -93.724389, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1

Mar 3, 2016 01:16 PM, Sr-23-11, Lat: 36.492372, Lon: -93.708914, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 2, Fatalities: 2

Aug 18, 2015 02:40 PM, Cr- Shields Dr., Lat: 36.491250, Lon: -93.765103, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1

Jul 3, 2013 07:00 AM, Sr-23-11, Lat: 36.453686, Lon: -93.735283, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1

Jul 22, 2013 06:20 PM, Cr-Woodsdale Dr, Lat: 36.478306, Lon: -93.759481, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1

Aug 3, 2010 02:29 PM, Woodsdale, Lat: 36.481614, Lon: -93.758322, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1, Drunk persons involved: 1

Sep 17, 2007 11:35 AM, Sr-23-11, Cr 228, Lat: 36.477131, Lon: -93.698447, Vehicles: 2, Persons: 2, Fatalities: 1



National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

5 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 89ft / 27.1m Total length

Total length $385,000 Total costs

Total costs 3,239 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 244 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 3,875 Total future (year 2007) average daily traffic

FCC Registered Antenna Towers: 8 (



FCC Registered Microwave Towers: 1 Holiday Island, 251 1/2 Holiday Island Drive (Lat: 36.476861 Lon: -93.750528), Type: Mtower, Structure height: 59.4 m, Overall height: 61 m, Call Sign: WQOR970,

Assigned Frequencies: 11305.0 MHz, 11425.0 MHz, Grant Date: 01/11/2012, Expiration Date: 01/11/2022, Certifier: John E Monday, Registrant: At&t Mobility LLC, 208 S. Akard St. Rm. 1015, Dallas, TX 75202, Phone: (855) 699-7073, Fax: (214) 746-6410, Email:

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 26 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 6 Aircraft: WESTON FREDDIE MACK BD 4 ( Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: Reciprocating

N-Number: 296MW, N296MW, N-296MW, Serial Number: 296, Certificate Issue Date: 09/17/2014

Registrant (Individual): Dale E Mitchell, Po Box 3224, Holiday Island, AR 72631

WESTON FREDDIE MACK BD 4 ( Land, 4, Up to 12,499 Pounds), Reciprocating 296MW, N296MW, N-296MW, 296, 09/17/2014 Dale E Mitchell, Po Box 3224, Holiday Island, AR 72631 Aircraft: CESSNA 150D ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (4 Cycle)

N-Number: 4335U, N4335U, N-4335U, Serial Number: 15060335, Year manufactured: 1964, Airworthiness Date: 01/20/1964, Certificate Issue Date: 12/30/1991

Registrant (Individual): Robert D Harrison, 7 Clover Ln # B, Holiday Island, AR 72631

CESSNA 150D ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 90 mph), CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (4 Cycle) 4335U, N4335U, N-4335U, 15060335, 1964, 01/20/1964, 12/30/1991 Robert D Harrison, 7 Clover Ln # B, Holiday Island, AR 72631 Aircraft: BEECH C24R ( Category: Land, Seats: 6, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 178 mph), Engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 6656A, N6656A, N-6656A, Serial Number: MC-792, Year manufactured: 1983, Airworthiness Date: 05/03/1983, Certificate Issue Date: 03/23/2019

Registrant (Co-Owned): Anthony A Pike, 140 Valley Dr, Holiday Island, AR 72631, Other Owners: Connie J Pike, John S Williams, Johnna D Williams

BEECH C24R ( Land, 6, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 178 mph), LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 6656A, N6656A, N-6656A, MC-792, 1983, 05/03/1983, 03/23/2019 Anthony A Pike, 140 Valley Dr, Holiday Island, AR 72631, Connie J Pike, John S Williams, Johnna D Williams Aircraft: CESSNA 175A ( Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 105 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR GO-300 SERIES (175 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 6900E, N6900E, N-6900E, Serial Number: 56400, Year manufactured: 1959, Airworthiness Date: 12/11/1959, Certificate Issue Date: 06/03/2011

Registrant (Individual): Jeannie Mitchell, Po Box 3224, Holiday Island, AR 72631

CESSNA 175A ( Land, 4, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 105 mph), CONT MOTOR GO-300 SERIES (175 HP) (Reciprocating) 6900E, N6900E, N-6900E, 56400, 1959, 12/11/1959, 06/03/2011 Jeannie Mitchell, Po Box 3224, Holiday Island, AR 72631 Aircraft: VARGA AIRCRAFT CORP. 2150A ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 60 mph), Engine: Reciprocating

N-Number: 8273J, N8273J, N-8273J, Serial Number: VAC-119-79, Certificate Issue Date: 01/06/2015

Registrant (Individual): Alex J Thurocy, Po Box 3203, Holiday Island, AR 72631

VARGA AIRCRAFT CORP. 2150A ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 60 mph), Reciprocating 8273J, N8273J, N-8273J, VAC-119-79, 01/06/2015 Alex J Thurocy, Po Box 3203, Holiday Island, AR 72631 Aircraft: ERCOUPE 415-C (Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES (85 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 99530, N99530, N-99530, Serial Number: 2153, Year manufactured: 1946, Airworthiness Date: 05/25/1956, Certificate Issue Date: 12/05/2020

Registrant (Individual): Charles M Pohlenz, 13 Elm Ln, Holiday Island, AR 72631

8 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Antenna Towers in Holiday Island 26 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Holiday Island

2002 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents According to the data from the years 2002 - 2018 the average number of fire incidents per year is 9. The highest number of fire incidents - 18 took place in 2007, and the least - 2 in 2015. The data has a rising trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Holiday Island, AR



78 50.6% Outside Fires



48 31.2% Structure Fires



18 11.7% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires



10 6.5% Other When looking into fire subcategories, the most incidents belonged to: Outside Fires (50.6%), and Structure Fires (31.2%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Holiday Island, AR

Houses and condos Apartments 90.4% Electricity

5.7% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

3.9% Wood 100.0% Electricity





Holiday Island compared to Arkansas state average: Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage below state average.

below Median age significantly above state average.

significantly above Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below House age below state average.

below Number of college students significantly below state average.

significantly below Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly above state average.

Holiday Island on our top lists: #15 on the list of "Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Austria (population 500+)" #75 on the list of "Top 101 counties with highest percentage of residents voting for 3rd party candidates in the 2012 Presidential Election"




Howard, Ohio

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Population in 2010: 242.

Males: 100 (41.5%) Females: 142 (58.5%)

Median resident age: 45.9 years Ohio median age: 39.6 years

Estimated median household income in 2019: $59,830

Howard: $59,830 OH: $58,642

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $27,417



Howard CDP income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $167,774 Howard: $167,774 OH: $157,200

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $107,598; detached houses: $107,180 $59,830$27,417$167,774$107,598;$107,180

Median gross rent in 2019: $777.

March 2019 cost of living index in Howard: 80.8 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2019: 0.0%

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Most recent value % change since 2k Data: Median household income ($) Median household income (% change since 2000) Household income diversity Ratio of average income to average house value (%) Ratio of average income to average rent Median household income ($) - White Median household income ($) - Black or African American Median household income ($) - Asian Median household income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median household income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median household income ($) - Multirace Median household income ($) - Other Race Median household income for houses/condos with a mortgage ($) Median household income for apartments without a mortgage ($) Races - White alone (%) Races - White alone (% change since 2000) Races - Black alone (%) Races - Black alone (% change since 2000) Races - American Indian alone (%) Races - American Indian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Asian alone (%) Races - Asian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Hispanic (%) Races - Hispanic (% change since 2000) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (%) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (% change since 2000) Races - Two or more races (%) Races - Two or more races (% change since 2000) Races - Other race alone (%) Races - Other race alone (% change since 2000) Racial diversity Unemployment (%) Unemployment (% change since 2000) Unemployment (%) - White Unemployment (%) - Black or African American Unemployment (%) - Asian Unemployment (%) - Hispanic or Latino Unemployment (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Unemployment (%) - Multirace Unemployment (%) - Other Race Population density (people per square mile) Population - Males (%) Population - Females (%) Population - Males (%) - White Population - Males (%) - Black or African American Population - Males (%) - Asian Population - Males (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Males (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Males (%) - Multirace Population - Males (%) - Other Race Population - Females (%) - White Population - Females (%) - Black or African American Population - Females (%) - Asian Population - Females (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Females (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Females (%) - Multirace Population - Females (%) - Other Race Coronavirus confirmed cases (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (Nov 21, 2021) Coronavirus confirmed cases (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Daily increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Weekly increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Cases doubled (in days) (Nov 21, 2021) Hospitalized patients (Nov 21, 2021) Negative test results (Nov 21, 2021) Total test results (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (Nov 21, 2021) Likely homosexual households (%) Likely homosexual households (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (%) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (%) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (% change since 2000) Cost of living index Median gross rent ($) Median contract rent ($) Median monthly housing costs ($) Median house or condo value ($) Median house or condo value ($ change since 2000) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, detached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, attached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 2 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure by units in structure - 3 or 4 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 5 or more ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Boat, RV, van, etc. ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Mobile home ($) Median house or condo value ($) - White Median house or condo value ($) - Black or African American Median house or condo value ($) - Asian Median house or condo value ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median house or condo value ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median house or condo value ($) - Multirace Median house or condo value ($) - Other Race Median resident age Resident age diversity Median resident age - Males Median resident age - Females Median resident age - White Median resident age - Black or African American Median resident age - Asian Median resident age - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Multirace Median resident age - Other Race Median resident age - Males - White Median resident age - Males - Black or African American Median resident age - Males - Asian Median resident age - Males - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Males - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Males - Multirace Median resident age - Males - Other Race Median resident age - Females - White Median resident age - Females - Black or African American Median resident age - Females - Asian Median resident age - Females - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Females - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Females - Multirace Median resident age - Females - Other Race Commute - mean travel time to work (minutes) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (%) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (%) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (% change since 2000) Marital status - Never married (%) Marital status - Now married (%) Marital status - Separated (%) Marital status - Widowed (%) Marital status - Divorced (%) Median family income ($) Median family income (% change since 2000) Median non-family income ($) Median non-family income (% change since 2000) Median per capita income ($) Median per capita income (% change since 2000) Median family income ($) - White Median family income ($) - Black or African American Median family income ($) - Asian Median family income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median family income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median family income ($) - Multirace Median family income ($) - Other Race Median year house/condo built Median year apartment built Year house built - Built 2005 or later (%) Year house built - Built 2000 to 2004 (%) Year house built - Built 1990 to 1999 (%) Year house built - Built 1980 to 1989 (%) Year house built - Built 1970 to 1979 (%) Year house built - Built 1960 to 1969 (%) Year house built - Built 1950 to 1959 (%) Year house built - Built 1940 to 1949 (%) Year house built - Built 1939 or earlier (%) Average household size Household density (households per square mile) Average household size - White Average household size - Black or African American Average household size - Asian Average household size - Hispanic or Latino Average household size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average household size - Multirace Average household size - Other Race Occupied housing units (%) Vacant housing units (%) Owner occupied housing units (%) Renter occupied housing units (%) Vacancy status - For rent (%) Vacancy status - For sale only (%) Vacancy status - Rented or sold, not occupied (%) Vacancy status - For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use (%) Vacancy status - For migrant workers (%) Vacancy status - Other vacant (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level (%) Children below poverty level (%) Poor families by family type - Married-couple family (%) Poor families by family type - Male, no wife present (%) Poor families by family type - Female, no husband present (%) Poverty status for native-born residents (%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents (%) Poverty among high school graduates not in families (%) Poverty among people who did not graduate high school not in families (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - White Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Black or African American Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Asian Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Hispanic or Latino Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Multirace Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Other Race Air pollution - Air Quality Index (AQI) Air pollution - CO Air pollution - NO2 Air pollution - SO2 Air pollution - Ozone Air pollution - PM10 Air pollution - PM25 Air pollution - Pb Crime - Murders per 100,000 population Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Arson per 100,000 population Crime - City-data.com crime index Crime - Violent crime index Crime - Property crime index Crime - Murders per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Arson per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - City-data.com crime index (5 year average) Crime - Violent crime index (5 year average) Crime - Property crime index (5 year average) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Dole) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Gore) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Kerry) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (McCain) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Romney) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Biden) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other Ancestries Reported - Arab (%) Ancestries Reported - Czech (%) Ancestries Reported - Danish (%) Ancestries Reported - Dutch (%) Ancestries Reported - English (%) Ancestries Reported - French (%) Ancestries Reported - French Canadian (%) Ancestries Reported - German (%) Ancestries Reported - Greek (%) Ancestries Reported - Hungarian (%) Ancestries Reported - Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Italian (%) Ancestries Reported - Lithuanian (%) Ancestries Reported - Norwegian (%) Ancestries Reported - Polish (%) Ancestries Reported - Portuguese (%) Ancestries Reported - Russian (%) Ancestries Reported - Scotch-Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Scottish (%) Ancestries Reported - Slovak (%) Ancestries Reported - Subsaharan African (%) Ancestries Reported - Swedish (%) Ancestries Reported - Swiss (%) Ancestries Reported - Ukrainian (%) Ancestries Reported - United States (%) Ancestries Reported - Welsh (%) Ancestries Reported - West Indian (%) Ancestries Reported - Other (%) Educational Attainment - No schooling completed (%) Educational Attainment - Less than high school (%) Educational Attainment - High school or equivalent (%) Educational Attainment - Less than 1 year of college (%) Educational Attainment - 1 or more years of college (%) Educational Attainment - Associate degree (%) Educational Attainment - Bachelor's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Master's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Professional school degree (%) Educational Attainment - Doctorate degree (%) School Enrollment - Nursery, preschool (%) School Enrollment - Kindergarten (%) School Enrollment - Grade 1 to 4 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 5 to 8 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 9 to 12 (%) School Enrollment - College undergrad (%) School Enrollment - Graduate or professional (%) School Enrollment - Not enrolled in school (%) School enrollment - Public schools (%) School enrollment - Private schools (%) School enrollment - Not enrolled (%) Median number of rooms in houses and condos Median number of rooms in apartments Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities (%) Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities (%) Density of houses Urban houses (%) Rural houses (%) Households with people 60 years and over (%) Households with people 65 years and over (%) Households with people 75 years and over (%) Households with one or more nonrelatives (%) Households with no nonrelatives (%) Population in households (%) Family households (%) Nonfamily households (%) Population in families (%) Family households with own children (%) Median number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Median number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Median number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Median number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mortgage status - with mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with second mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - with both second mortgage and home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - without a mortgage (%) Average family size Average family size - White Average family size - Black or African American Average family size - Asian Average family size - Hispanic or Latino Average family size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average family size - Multirace Average family size - Other Race Geographical mobility - Same house 1 year ago (%) Geographical mobility - Moved within same county (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different county within same state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from abroad (%) Place of birth - Born in state of residence (%) Place of birth - Born in other state (%) Place of birth - Native, outside of US (%) Place of birth - Foreign born (%) Housing units in structures - 1, detached (%) Housing units in structures - 1, attached (%) Housing units in structures - 2 (%) Housing units in structures - 3 or 4 (%) Housing units in structures - 5 to 9 (%) Housing units in structures - 10 to 19 (%) Housing units in structures - 20 to 49 (%) Housing units in structures - 50 or more (%) Housing units in structures - Mobile home (%) Housing units in structures - Boat, RV, van, etc. (%) House/condo owner moved in on average (years ago) Renter moved in on average (years ago) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1999 to March 2000 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1995 to 1998 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1990 to 1994 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1980 to 1989 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1970 to 1979 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1969 or earlier (%) Means of transportation to work - Drove car alone (%) Means of transportation to work - Carpooled (%) Means of transportation to work - Public transportation (%) Means of transportation to work - Bus or trolley bus (%) Means of transportation to work - Streetcar or trolley car (%) Means of transportation to work - Subway or elevated (%) Means of transportation to work - Railroad (%) Means of transportation to work - Ferryboat (%) Means of transportation to work - Taxicab (%) Means of transportation to work - Motorcycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Bicycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Walked (%) Means of transportation to work - Other means (%) Working at home (%) Industry diversity Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining (%) Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (%) Most Common Industries - Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (%) Most Common Industries - Construction (%) Most Common Industries - Manufacturing (%) Most Common Industries - Wholesale trade (%) Most Common Industries - Retail trade (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing (%) Most Common Industries - Utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Information (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance (%) Most Common Industries - Real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and technical services (%) Most Common Industries - Management of companies and enterprises (%) Most Common Industries - Administrative and support and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services, and health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services (%) Most Common Industries - Health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (%) Most Common Industries - Accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Other services, except public administration (%) Most Common Industries - Public administration (%) Occupation diversity Most Common Occupations - Management, business, science, and arts occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management, business, and financial occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Business and financial operations occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer, engineering, and science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer and mathematical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Architecture and engineering occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Life, physical, and social science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Community and social service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Legal occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, training, and library occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and other technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health technologists and technicians (%) Most Common Occupations - Service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Protective service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Fire fighting and prevention, and other protective service workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Law enforcement workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Food preparation and serving related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Personal care and service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and office occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Office and administrative support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Construction and extraction occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production, transportation, and material moving occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Transportation occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Material moving occupations (%) People in Group quarters - Institutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - Correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Federal prisons and detention centers (%) People in Group quarters - Halfway houses (%) People in Group quarters - Local jails and other confinement facilities (including police lockups) (%) People in Group quarters - Military disciplinary barracks (%) People in Group quarters - State prisons (%) People in Group quarters - Other types of correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Nursing homes (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards, hospices, and schools for the handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards and hospices for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospices or homes for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Military hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Other hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals or wards for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Mental (Psychiatric) hospitals or wards (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the deaf (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the blind (%) People in Group quarters - Orthopedic wards and institutions for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in general hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in military hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Juvenile institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Long-term care (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children (%) People in Group quarters - Residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (%) People in Group quarters - Training schools for juvenile delinquents (%) People in Group quarters - Short-term care, detention or diagnostic centers for delinquent children (%) People in Group quarters - Type of juvenile institution unknown (%) People in Group quarters - Noninstitutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - College dormitories (includes college quarters off campus) (%) People in Group quarters - Military quarters (%) People in Group quarters - On base (%) People in Group quarters - Barracks, unaccompanied personnel housing (UPH), (Enlisted/Officer), ;and similar group living quarters for military personnel (%) People in Group quarters - Transient quarters for temporary residents (%) People in Group quarters - Military ships (%) People in Group quarters - Group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally ill (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Other group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Religious group quarters (%) People in Group quarters - Dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Agriculture workers' dormitories on farms (%) People in Group quarters - Job Corps and vocational training facilities (%) People in Group quarters - Other workers' dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Crews of maritime vessels (%) People in Group quarters - Other nonhousehold living situations (%) People in Group quarters - Other noninstitutional group quarters (%) Residents speaking English at home (%) Residents speaking English at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking English at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking English at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking other language at home (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Foreign born (%) Class of Workers - Employee of private company (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed in own incorporated business (%) Class of Workers - Private not-for-profit wage and salary workers (%) Class of Workers - Local government workers (%) Class of Workers - State government workers (%) Class of Workers - Federal government workers (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business and Unpaid family workers (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - No fuel used (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - No fuel used (%) Armed forces status - In Armed Forces (%) Armed forces status - Civilian (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Veteran (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Nonveteran (%) Fatal accidents locations in years 2005-2019 Fatal accidents locations in 2005 Fatal accidents locations in 2006 Fatal accidents locations in 2007 Fatal accidents locations in 2008 Fatal accidents locations in 2009 Fatal accidents locations in 2010 Fatal accidents locations in 2011 Fatal accidents locations in 2012 Fatal accidents locations in 2013 Fatal accidents locations in 2014 Fatal accidents locations in 2015 Fatal accidents locations in 2016 Fatal accidents locations in 2017 Fatal accidents locations in 2018 Fatal accidents locations in 2019 Alcohol use - People drinking some alcohol every month (%) Alcohol use - People not drinking at all (%) Alcohol use - Average days/month drinking alcohol Alcohol use - Average drinks/week Alcohol use - Average days/year people drink much Audiometry - Average condition of hearing (%) Audiometry - People that can hear a whisper from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - People that can hear normal voice from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - Ears ringing, roaring, buzzing (%) Audiometry - Had a job exposure to loud noise (%) Audiometry - Had off-work exposure to loud noise (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high blood pressure (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Checking blood pressure at home (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Frequently checking blood cholesterol (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high cholesterol level (%) Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at supermarket/grocery store Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at other stores Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on eating out Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on carryout/delivered foods Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at supermarket/grocery store (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at other stores (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on eating out (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on carryout/delivered foods (%) Current Health Status - General health condition (%) Current Health Status - Blood donors (%) Current Health Status - Has blood ever tested for HIV virus (%) Current Health Status - Left-handed people (%) Dermatology - People using sunscreen (%) Diabetes - Diabetics (%) Diabetes - Had a blood test for high blood sugar (%) Diabetes - People taking insulin (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Diet health (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Milk product consumption (# of products/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals not home prepared (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals from fast food or pizza place (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Ready-to-eat foods (#/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Frozen meals/pizza (#/month) Drug Use - People that ever used marijuana or hashish (%) Drug Use - Ever used hard drugs (%) Drug Use - Ever used any form of cocaine (%) Drug Use - Ever used heroin (%) Drug Use - Ever used methamphetamine (%) Health Insurance - People covered by health insurance (%) Kidney Conditions-Urology - Avg. # of times urinating at night Medical Conditions - People with asthma (%) Medical Conditions - People with anemia (%) Medical Conditions - People with psoriasis (%) Medical Conditions - People with overweight (%) Medical Conditions - Elderly people having difficulties in thinking or remembering (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever received blood transfusion (%) Medical Conditions - People having trouble seeing even with glass/contacts (%) Medical Conditions - People with arthritis (%) Medical Conditions - People with gout (%) Medical Conditions - People with congestive heart failure (%) Medical Conditions - People with coronary heart disease (%) Medical Conditions - People with angina pectoris (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had heart attack (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had stroke (%) Medical Conditions - People with emphysema (%) Medical Conditions - People with thyroid problem (%) Medical Conditions - People with chronic bronchitis (%) Medical Conditions - People with any liver condition (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had cancer or malignancy (%) Mental Health - People who have little interest in doing things (%) Mental Health - People feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble sleeping or sleeping too much (%) Mental Health - People feeling tired or having little energy (%) Mental Health - People with poor appetite or overeating (%) Mental Health - People feeling bad about themself (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble concentrating on things (%) Mental Health - People moving or speaking slowly or too fast (%) Mental Health - People having thoughts they would be better off dead (%) Oral Health - Average years since last visit a dentist Oral Health - People embarrassed because of mouth (%) Oral Health - People with gum disease (%) Oral Health - General health of teeth and gums (%) Oral Health - Average days a week using dental floss/device Oral Health - Average days a week using mouthwash for dental problem Oral Health - Average number of teeth Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to control insects (%) Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to kill weeds (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People walking or bicycling (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - Average hours a day doing sedentary activities Physical Activity - Average hours a day watching TV or videos Physical Activity - Average hours a day using computer Physical Functioning - People having limitations keeping them from working (%) Physical Functioning - People limited in amount of work they can do (%) Physical Functioning - People that need special equipment to walk (%) Physical Functioning - People experiencing confusion/memory problems (%) Physical Functioning - People requiring special healthcare equipment (%) Prescription Medications - Average number of prescription medicines taking Preventive Aspirin Use - Adults 40+ taking low-dose aspirin (%) Reproductive Health - Vaginal deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Cesarean deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Deliveries resulted in a live birth (%) Reproductive Health - Pregnancies resulted in a delivery (%) Reproductive Health - Women breastfeeding newborns (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had a hysterectomy (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had both ovaries removed (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever taken birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women taking birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used Depo-Provera or injectables (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used female hormones (%) Sexual Behavior - People 18+ that ever had sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had anal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had any sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had anal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had any kind of sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first had sex Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female vaginal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a woman (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of woman performed oral sex on in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male anal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a man (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male oral sex partners in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - People using protection when performing oral sex (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of times people have vaginal or anal sex a year Sexual Behavior - People having sex without condom (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male vaginal sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Circumcised males 18+ (%) Sleep Disorders - Average hours sleeping at night Sleep Disorders - People that has trouble sleeping (%) Smoking-Cigarette Use - People smoking cigarettes (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with smell (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with taste (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had wisdom teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had tonsils teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a loss of consciousness because of a head injury (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a broken nose or other serious injury to face or skull (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had two or more sinus infections (%) Weight - Average height (inches) Weight - Average weight (pounds) Weight - Average BMI Weight - People that are obese (%) Weight - People that ever were obese (%) Weight - People trying to lose weight (%) Settings Get link Loading data... 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According to our research of Ohio and other state lists, there were 8 registered sex offenders living in Howard, Ohio as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Howard is 21 to 1.





Ancestries: American (78.8%), German (8.3%), English (6.8%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Elevation: 930 feet

Latitude: 40.41 N, Longitude: 82.33 W

Area code commonly used in this area: 740

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 3.8% Ohio: 5.2%

Tornado activity: Howard-area historical tornado activity is near Ohio state average. It is 15% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 5/31/1985, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 16.1 miles away from the Howard place center killed one person and injured 20 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages. On 6/13/1981, a category F3 tornado 29.2 miles away from the place center killed 4 people and injured 56 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Howard-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Ohio state average. It is 33% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 9/25/1998 at 19:52:52, a magnitude 5.2 (4.8 MB, 4.3 MS, 5.2 LG, 4.5 MW, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 125.7 miles away from Howard center

On 1/31/1986 at 16:46:43, a magnitude 5.0 (5.0 MB) earthquake occurred 102.6 miles away from the city center

On 8/23/2011 at 17:51:04, a magnitude 5.8 (5.8 MW, Depth: 3.7 mi) earthquake occurred 292.0 miles away from Howard center

On 7/27/1980 at 18:52:21, a magnitude 5.2 (5.1 MB, 4.7 MS, 5.0 UK, 5.2 UK) earthquake occurred 175.2 miles away from the city center

On 7/12/1986 at 08:19:37, a magnitude 4.5 (4.5 MB, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 107.9 miles away from the city center

On 4/18/2008 at 09:36:59, a magnitude 5.4 (5.1 MB, 4.8 MS, 5.4 MW, 5.2 MW) earthquake occurred 326.3 miles away from Howard center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Knox County (10) is smaller than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 5

Emergencies Declared: 4



Causes of natural disasters: Storms: 4, Floods: 3, Snowstorms: 2, Winds: 2, Blizzard: 1, Hurricane: 1, Mudslide: 1, Power Outage: 1, Tornado: 1, Tropical Depression: 1, Winter Storm: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Howard: KNOX COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT (Home Health Center, about 6 miles away; MOUNT VERNON, OH)

KNOX COMMUNITY HOSPITAL Acute Care Hospitals (about 7 miles away; MOUNT VERNON, OH)

Acute Care Hospitals MORNING VIEW CARE CTR (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; DANVILLE, OH)

MORNING VIEW CARE CTR OF DANVILLE (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; DANVILLE, OH)

COUNTRY COURT (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; MOUNT VERNON, OH)

COUNTRY CLUB CENTER (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; MOUNT VERNON, OH)

COUNTRY CLUB RETIREMENT CENTER (Nursing Home, about 7 miles away; MOUNT VERNON, OH)

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Howard: Central Ohio Technical College ( about 25 miles; Newark, OH ; Full-time enrollment: 2,995)

25 ; 2,995) Ohio State University-Newark Campus ( about 25 miles; Newark, OH ; FT enrollment: 2,028)

25 ; 2,028) Denison University ( about 26 miles; Granville, OH ; FT enrollment: 2,268)

26 ; 2,268) Ashland University ( about 32 miles; Ashland, OH ; FT enrollment: 5,151)

32 ; 5,151) Zane State College ( about 35 miles; Zanesville, OH ; FT enrollment: 2,200)

35 ; 2,200) The College of Wooster ( about 35 miles; Wooster, OH ; FT enrollment: 2,112)

35 ; 2,112) Otterbein University (about 38 miles; Westerville, OH; FT enrollment: 2,933) Public high school in Howard: EAST KNOX HIGH SCHOOL (Students: 423, Location: 23227 COSHOCTON RD, Grades: 7-12) Public elementary/middle school in Howard: EAST KNOX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Students: 468, Location: 23081 COSHOCTON RD, Grades: KG-6) See full list of schools located in Howard

Points of interest: Click to draw/clear place borders

Knox County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Highest Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Howard and their reported violations in the past: KOKOSING VALLEY CAMPGROUND PWS (Population served: 100, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: Monitoring, Source Water (GWR) - In JUL-20-2013 , Contaminant: E. COLI . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (AUG-19-2013), St Violation/Reminder Notice (AUG-19-2013), St Compliance achieved (AUG-27-2013), St Public Notif received (SEP-03-2013)

JUL-20-2013 E. COLI St Public Notif requested (AUG-19-2013), St Violation/Reminder Notice (AUG-19-2013), St Compliance achieved (AUG-27-2013), St Public Notif received (SEP-03-2013) 2 routine major monitoring violations KOKOSING VALLEY CAMPGROUND PWS (100Groundwater):

Average household size: This place: 2.6 people Ohio: 2.4 people

Percentage of family households: This place: 71.3% Whole state: 65.0%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This place: 9.6% Whole state: 6.8%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.0% of all households

0.0% Gay men: 2.1% of all households

Banks with branches in Howard (2011 data): The Killbuck Savings Bank Company: Apple Branch at 21841 Plank Road, branch established on 2001/07/03. Info updated 2006/11/03: Bank assets: $435.8 mil, Deposits: $389.3 mil, headquarters in Killbuck, OH, positive income, Commercial Lending Specialization, 10 total offices, Holding Company: Killbuck Bancshares, Inc.

For population 15 years and over in Howard: Never married: 35.2%

35.2% Now married: 30.0%

30.0% Separated: 0.0%

0.0% Widowed: 13.2%

13.2% Divorced: 21.7%

For population 25 years and over in Howard: High school or higher: 84.6%

84.6% Bachelor's degree or higher: 0.0%

0.0% Graduate or professional degree: 0.0%

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 4.5 Ohio average: 10.8



Religion statistics for Howard, OH (based on Knox County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Evangelical Protestant 13,143 76 Mainline Protestant 6,260 39 Catholic 3,250 2 Other 389 2 Black Protestant 123 1 None 37,756 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 12 This county : 2.04 / 10,000 pop. State : 1.89 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 3 Knox County : 0.51 / 10,000 pop. Ohio : 1.25 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 19 This county : 3.23 / 10,000 pop. State : 2.93 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 27 This county : 4.58 / 10,000 pop. State : 6.25 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: This county : 9.9% State : 10.3% Adult obesity rate: Knox County : 28.6% Ohio : 29.1% Low-income preschool obesity rate: Knox County : 11.7% Ohio : 11.9%

5.41% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($49,424 average adjusted gross income) Here: 5.41% Ohio average: 5.23% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved from foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Franklin County, OH 0.96% ($51,853 average AGI) from Licking County, OH 0.79% ($39,606) from Delaware County, OH 0.56% ($78,882)



5.30% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($46,663 average adjusted gross income) Here: 5.30% Ohio average: 5.51% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved to foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Franklin County, OH 0.85% ($39,974 average AGI) to Licking County, OH 0.66% ($43,053) to Richland County, OH 0.37% ($39,235)

Businesses in Howard, OH Domino's Pizza: 1

Strongest AM radio stations in Howard: WTVN (610 AM; 50 kW; COLUMBUS, OH; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WKNR (850 AM; 50 kW; CLEVELAND, OH; Owner: CARON BROADCASTING, INC.)

CARON BROADCASTING, INC.) WRFD (880 AM; daytime; 23 kW; COLUMBUS-WORTHINGTON, OH; Owner: SALEM MEDIA OF OHIO, INC.)

SALEM MEDIA OF OHIO, INC.) WTAM (1100 AM; 50 kW; CLEVELAND, OH; Owner: JACOR BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

JACOR BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WMVO (1300 AM; 0 kW; MOUNT VERNON, OH; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WHK (1220 AM; 50 kW; CLEVELAND, OH; Owner: CARON BROADCASTING, INC.)

CARON BROADCASTING, INC.) WWVA (1170 AM; 53 kW; WHEELING, WV; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WLW (700 AM; 50 kW; CINCINNATI, OH; Owner: JACOR BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

JACOR BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WJR (760 AM; 50 kW; DETROIT, MI; Owner: ABC, INC.)

ABC, INC.) WFDF (910 AM; 50 kW; FLINT, MI; Owner: ABC, INC.)

ABC, INC.) KDKA (1020 AM; 50 kW; PITTSBURGH, PA; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.)

INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.) WDFN (1130 AM; 50 kW; DETROIT, MI; Owner: AMFM RADIO LICENSES, L.L.C.)

AMFM RADIO LICENSES, L.L.C.) WOSU (820 AM; 5 kW; COLUMBUS, OH; Owner: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY) Strongest FM radio stations in Howard: WQIO (93.7 FM; MOUNT VERNON, OH; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WWBK (98.3 FM; FREDERICKTOWN, OH; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WNZR (90.9 FM; MOUNT VERNON, OH; Owner: MT. VERNON NAZARENE COLLEGE)

MT. VERNON NAZARENE COLLEGE) WSMZ (103.1 FM; JOHNSTOWN, OH; Owner: STOP 26- RIVERBEND, INC.)

STOP 26- RIVERBEND, INC.) WOSV (91.7 FM; MANSFIELD, OH; Owner: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY)

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY) WBZW (107.7 FM; LOUDONVILLE, OH; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WVNO-FM (106.1 FM; MANSFIELD, OH; Owner: JOHNNY APPLESEED BROADCASTING CO.)

JOHNNY APPLESEED BROADCASTING CO.) WOSE (91.1 FM; COSHOCTON, OH; Owner: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY)

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY) WNCO-FM (101.3 FM; ASHLAND, OH; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WTNS-FM (99.3 FM; COSHOCTON, OH; Owner: COSHOCTON BROADCASTING CO.)

COSHOCTON BROADCASTING CO.) WCLT-FM (100.3 FM; NEWARK, OH; Owner: WCLT RADIO, INC.)

WCLT RADIO, INC.) WKCO (91.9 FM; GAMBIER, OH; Owner: KENYON COLLEGE)

KENYON COLLEGE) WJIC (91.7 FM; ZANESVILLE, OH; Owner: VCY/AMERICA, INC.) TV broadcast stations around Howard: WMFD-TV ( Channel 68; MANSFIELD, OH; Owner: MID-STATE TELEVISION,INC.)

68; MANSFIELD, OH; MID-STATE TELEVISION,INC.) WOSU-TV ( Channel 34; COLUMBUS, OH; Owner: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY)

34; COLUMBUS, OH; THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY) W33BW ( Channel 33; ASHLAND, OH; Owner: CHRISTIAN FAITH BROADCAST, INC.)

33; ASHLAND, OH; CHRISTIAN FAITH BROADCAST, INC.) W32AR ( Channel 32; LEXINGTON, OH; Owner: TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK)

32; LEXINGTON, OH; TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK) WOHZ-LP (Channel 57; MANSFIELD, OH; Owner: MID-STATE TELEVISION, INC.)

Howard fatal accident list: Feb 10, 2018 03:33 PM, Cr-4 Apple Valley Dr, Lat: 40.450658, Lon: -82.328894, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1, Drunk persons involved: 1



National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

14 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 141ft / 43.4m Total length

Total length 17,236 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 1,570 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 23,924 Total future (year 2039) average daily traffic

New bridges - historical statistics

2 1900-1909

2 1910-1919

1 1950-1959

1 1960-1969

2 1970-1979

1 1980-1989

2 1990-1999

2 2000-2009

1 2010-2018 See full National Bridge Inventory statistics for Howard, OH

2002 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents Based on the data from the years 2002 - 2018 the average number of fires per year is 32. The highest number of reported fires - 58 took place in 2006, and the least - 15 in 2017. The data has a dropping trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Howard, OH



301 54.8% Outside Fires



175 31.9% Structure Fires



70 12.8% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires



3 0.5% Other When looking into fire subcategories, the most incidents belonged to: Outside Fires (54.8%), and Structure Fires (31.9%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Howard, OH

Houses and condos Apartments 81.0% Utility gas

19.0% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. 100.0% Utility gas





Howard compared to Ohio state average: Median house value below state average.

below Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Number of rooms per house above state average.

above House age above state average.

above Number of college students significantly below state average.

significantly below Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly below state average.

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Lealman, Florida

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Population in 2010: 19,879.

Males: 9,691 (48.8%) Females: 10,188 (51.2%)

Median resident age: 41.4 years Florida median age: 42.4 years

Estimated median household income in 2019: $56,737

Lealman: $56,737 FL: $59,227

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $36,469



Lealman CDP income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $231,400 Lealman: $231,400 FL: $245,100

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $119,766; detached houses: $148,681; townhouses or other attached units: $178,346; in 2-unit structures: $139,422; in 3-to-4-unit structures: $184,440; in 5-or-more-unit structures: $77,031; mobile homes: $34,357 $56,737$36,469$231,400$119,766;$148,681;$178,346;$139,422;$184,440;$77,031;$34,357

Median gross rent in 2019: $1,004.

March 2019 cost of living index in Lealman: 94.0 (less than average, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2019: 21.5%

(19.7% for White Non-Hispanic residents, 29.9% for Black residents, 20.0% for Hispanic or Latino residents, 0.7% for other race residents, 28.0% for two or more races residents)

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Most recent value % change since 2k Data: Median household income ($) Median household income (% change since 2000) Household income diversity Ratio of average income to average house value (%) Ratio of average income to average rent Median household income ($) - White Median household income ($) - Black or African American Median household income ($) - Asian Median household income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median household income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median household income ($) - Multirace Median household income ($) - Other Race Median household income for houses/condos with a mortgage ($) Median household income for apartments without a mortgage ($) Races - White alone (%) Races - White alone (% change since 2000) Races - Black alone (%) Races - Black alone (% change since 2000) Races - American Indian alone (%) Races - American Indian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Asian alone (%) Races - Asian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Hispanic (%) Races - Hispanic (% change since 2000) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (%) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (% change since 2000) Races - Two or more races (%) Races - Two or more races (% change since 2000) Races - Other race alone (%) Races - Other race alone (% change since 2000) Racial diversity Unemployment (%) Unemployment (% change since 2000) Unemployment (%) - White Unemployment (%) - Black or African American Unemployment (%) - Asian Unemployment (%) - Hispanic or Latino Unemployment (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Unemployment (%) - Multirace Unemployment (%) - Other Race Population density (people per square mile) Population - Males (%) Population - Females (%) Population - Males (%) - White Population - Males (%) - Black or African American Population - Males (%) - Asian Population - Males (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Males (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Males (%) - Multirace Population - Males (%) - Other Race Population - Females (%) - White Population - Females (%) - Black or African American Population - Females (%) - Asian Population - Females (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Females (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Females (%) - Multirace Population - Females (%) - Other Race Coronavirus confirmed cases (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (Nov 21, 2021) Coronavirus confirmed cases (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Daily increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Weekly increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Cases doubled (in days) (Nov 21, 2021) Hospitalized patients (Nov 21, 2021) Negative test results (Nov 21, 2021) Total test results (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (Nov 21, 2021) Likely homosexual households (%) Likely homosexual households (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (%) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (%) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (% change since 2000) Cost of living index Median gross rent ($) Median contract rent ($) Median monthly housing costs ($) Median house or condo value ($) Median house or condo value ($ change since 2000) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, detached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, attached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 2 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure by units in structure - 3 or 4 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 5 or more ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Boat, RV, van, etc. ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Mobile home ($) Median house or condo value ($) - White Median house or condo value ($) - Black or African American Median house or condo value ($) - Asian Median house or condo value ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median house or condo value ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median house or condo value ($) - Multirace Median house or condo value ($) - Other Race Median resident age Resident age diversity Median resident age - Males Median resident age - Females Median resident age - White Median resident age - Black or African American Median resident age - Asian Median resident age - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Multirace Median resident age - Other Race Median resident age - Males - White Median resident age - Males - Black or African American Median resident age - Males - Asian Median resident age - Males - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Males - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Males - Multirace Median resident age - Males - Other Race Median resident age - Females - White Median resident age - Females - Black or African American Median resident age - Females - Asian Median resident age - Females - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Females - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Females - Multirace Median resident age - Females - Other Race Commute - mean travel time to work (minutes) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (%) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (%) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (% change since 2000) Marital status - Never married (%) Marital status - Now married (%) Marital status - Separated (%) Marital status - Widowed (%) Marital status - Divorced (%) Median family income ($) Median family income (% change since 2000) Median non-family income ($) Median non-family income (% change since 2000) Median per capita income ($) Median per capita income (% change since 2000) Median family income ($) - White Median family income ($) - Black or African American Median family income ($) - Asian Median family income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median family income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median family income ($) - Multirace Median family income ($) - Other Race Median year house/condo built Median year apartment built Year house built - Built 2005 or later (%) Year house built - Built 2000 to 2004 (%) Year house built - Built 1990 to 1999 (%) Year house built - Built 1980 to 1989 (%) Year house built - Built 1970 to 1979 (%) Year house built - Built 1960 to 1969 (%) Year house built - Built 1950 to 1959 (%) Year house built - Built 1940 to 1949 (%) Year house built - Built 1939 or earlier (%) Average household size Household density (households per square mile) Average household size - White Average household size - Black or African American Average household size - Asian Average household size - Hispanic or Latino Average household size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average household size - Multirace Average household size - Other Race Occupied housing units (%) Vacant housing units (%) Owner occupied housing units (%) Renter occupied housing units (%) Vacancy status - For rent (%) Vacancy status - For sale only (%) Vacancy status - Rented or sold, not occupied (%) Vacancy status - For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use (%) Vacancy status - For migrant workers (%) Vacancy status - Other vacant (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level (%) Children below poverty level (%) Poor families by family type - Married-couple family (%) Poor families by family type - Male, no wife present (%) Poor families by family type - Female, no husband present (%) Poverty status for native-born residents (%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents (%) Poverty among high school graduates not in families (%) Poverty among people who did not graduate high school not in families (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - White Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Black or African American Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Asian Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Hispanic or Latino Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Multirace Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Other Race Air pollution - Air Quality Index (AQI) Air pollution - CO Air pollution - NO2 Air pollution - SO2 Air pollution - Ozone Air pollution - PM10 Air pollution - PM25 Air pollution - Pb Crime - Murders per 100,000 population Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Arson per 100,000 population Crime - City-data.com crime index Crime - Violent crime index Crime - Property crime index Crime - Murders per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Arson per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - City-data.com crime index (5 year average) Crime - Violent crime index (5 year average) Crime - Property crime index (5 year average) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Dole) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Gore) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Kerry) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (McCain) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Romney) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Biden) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other Ancestries Reported - Arab (%) Ancestries Reported - Czech (%) Ancestries Reported - Danish (%) Ancestries Reported - Dutch (%) Ancestries Reported - English (%) Ancestries Reported - French (%) Ancestries Reported - French Canadian (%) Ancestries Reported - German (%) Ancestries Reported - Greek (%) Ancestries Reported - Hungarian (%) Ancestries Reported - Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Italian (%) Ancestries Reported - Lithuanian (%) Ancestries Reported - Norwegian (%) Ancestries Reported - Polish (%) Ancestries Reported - Portuguese (%) Ancestries Reported - Russian (%) Ancestries Reported - Scotch-Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Scottish (%) Ancestries Reported - Slovak (%) Ancestries Reported - Subsaharan African (%) Ancestries Reported - Swedish (%) Ancestries Reported - Swiss (%) Ancestries Reported - Ukrainian (%) Ancestries Reported - United States (%) Ancestries Reported - Welsh (%) Ancestries Reported - West Indian (%) Ancestries Reported - Other (%) Educational Attainment - No schooling completed (%) Educational Attainment - Less than high school (%) Educational Attainment - High school or equivalent (%) Educational Attainment - Less than 1 year of college (%) Educational Attainment - 1 or more years of college (%) Educational Attainment - Associate degree (%) Educational Attainment - Bachelor's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Master's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Professional school degree (%) Educational Attainment - Doctorate degree (%) School Enrollment - Nursery, preschool (%) School Enrollment - Kindergarten (%) School Enrollment - Grade 1 to 4 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 5 to 8 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 9 to 12 (%) School Enrollment - College undergrad (%) School Enrollment - Graduate or professional (%) School Enrollment - Not enrolled in school (%) School enrollment - Public schools (%) School enrollment - Private schools (%) School enrollment - Not enrolled (%) Median number of rooms in houses and condos Median number of rooms in apartments Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities (%) Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities (%) Density of houses Urban houses (%) Rural houses (%) Households with people 60 years and over (%) Households with people 65 years and over (%) Households with people 75 years and over (%) Households with one or more nonrelatives (%) Households with no nonrelatives (%) Population in households (%) Family households (%) Nonfamily households (%) Population in families (%) Family households with own children (%) Median number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Median number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Median number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Median number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mortgage status - with mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with second mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - with both second mortgage and home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - without a mortgage (%) Average family size Average family size - White Average family size - Black or African American Average family size - Asian Average family size - Hispanic or Latino Average family size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average family size - Multirace Average family size - Other Race Geographical mobility - Same house 1 year ago (%) Geographical mobility - Moved within same county (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different county within same state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from abroad (%) Place of birth - Born in state of residence (%) Place of birth - Born in other state (%) Place of birth - Native, outside of US (%) Place of birth - Foreign born (%) Housing units in structures - 1, detached (%) Housing units in structures - 1, attached (%) Housing units in structures - 2 (%) Housing units in structures - 3 or 4 (%) Housing units in structures - 5 to 9 (%) Housing units in structures - 10 to 19 (%) Housing units in structures - 20 to 49 (%) Housing units in structures - 50 or more (%) Housing units in structures - Mobile home (%) Housing units in structures - Boat, RV, van, etc. (%) House/condo owner moved in on average (years ago) Renter moved in on average (years ago) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1999 to March 2000 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1995 to 1998 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1990 to 1994 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1980 to 1989 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1970 to 1979 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1969 or earlier (%) Means of transportation to work - Drove car alone (%) Means of transportation to work - Carpooled (%) Means of transportation to work - Public transportation (%) Means of transportation to work - Bus or trolley bus (%) Means of transportation to work - Streetcar or trolley car (%) Means of transportation to work - Subway or elevated (%) Means of transportation to work - Railroad (%) Means of transportation to work - Ferryboat (%) Means of transportation to work - Taxicab (%) Means of transportation to work - Motorcycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Bicycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Walked (%) Means of transportation to work - Other means (%) Working at home (%) Industry diversity Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining (%) Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (%) Most Common Industries - Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (%) Most Common Industries - Construction (%) Most Common Industries - Manufacturing (%) Most Common Industries - Wholesale trade (%) Most Common Industries - Retail trade (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing (%) Most Common Industries - Utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Information (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance (%) Most Common Industries - Real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and technical services (%) Most Common Industries - Management of companies and enterprises (%) Most Common Industries - Administrative and support and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services, and health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services (%) Most Common Industries - Health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (%) Most Common Industries - Accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Other services, except public administration (%) Most Common Industries - Public administration (%) Occupation diversity Most Common Occupations - Management, business, science, and arts occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management, business, and financial occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Business and financial operations occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer, engineering, and science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer and mathematical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Architecture and engineering occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Life, physical, and social science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Community and social service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Legal occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, training, and library occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and other technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health technologists and technicians (%) Most Common Occupations - Service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Protective service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Fire fighting and prevention, and other protective service workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Law enforcement workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Food preparation and serving related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Personal care and service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and office occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Office and administrative support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Construction and extraction occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production, transportation, and material moving occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Transportation occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Material moving occupations (%) People in Group quarters - Institutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - Correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Federal prisons and detention centers (%) People in Group quarters - Halfway houses (%) People in Group quarters - Local jails and other confinement facilities (including police lockups) (%) People in Group quarters - Military disciplinary barracks (%) People in Group quarters - State prisons (%) People in Group quarters - Other types of correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Nursing homes (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards, hospices, and schools for the handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards and hospices for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospices or homes for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Military hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Other hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals or wards for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Mental (Psychiatric) hospitals or wards (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the deaf (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the blind (%) People in Group quarters - Orthopedic wards and institutions for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in general hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in military hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Juvenile institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Long-term care (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children (%) People in Group quarters - Residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (%) People in Group quarters - Training schools for juvenile delinquents (%) People in Group quarters - Short-term care, detention or diagnostic centers for delinquent children (%) People in Group quarters - Type of juvenile institution unknown (%) People in Group quarters - Noninstitutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - College dormitories (includes college quarters off campus) (%) People in Group quarters - Military quarters (%) People in Group quarters - On base (%) People in Group quarters - Barracks, unaccompanied personnel housing (UPH), (Enlisted/Officer), ;and similar group living quarters for military personnel (%) People in Group quarters - Transient quarters for temporary residents (%) People in Group quarters - Military ships (%) People in Group quarters - Group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally ill (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Other group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Religious group quarters (%) People in Group quarters - Dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Agriculture workers' dormitories on farms (%) People in Group quarters - Job Corps and vocational training facilities (%) People in Group quarters - Other workers' dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Crews of maritime vessels (%) People in Group quarters - Other nonhousehold living situations (%) People in Group quarters - Other noninstitutional group quarters (%) Residents speaking English at home (%) Residents speaking English at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking English at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking English at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking other language at home (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Foreign born (%) Class of Workers - Employee of private company (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed in own incorporated business (%) Class of Workers - Private not-for-profit wage and salary workers (%) Class of Workers - Local government workers (%) Class of Workers - State government workers (%) Class of Workers - Federal government workers (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business and Unpaid family workers (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - No fuel used (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - No fuel used (%) Armed forces status - In Armed Forces (%) Armed forces status - Civilian (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Veteran (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Nonveteran (%) Fatal accidents locations in years 2005-2019 Fatal accidents locations in 2005 Fatal accidents locations in 2006 Fatal accidents locations in 2007 Fatal accidents locations in 2008 Fatal accidents locations in 2009 Fatal accidents locations in 2010 Fatal accidents locations in 2011 Fatal accidents locations in 2012 Fatal accidents locations in 2013 Fatal accidents locations in 2014 Fatal accidents locations in 2015 Fatal accidents locations in 2016 Fatal accidents locations in 2017 Fatal accidents locations in 2018 Fatal accidents locations in 2019 Alcohol use - People drinking some alcohol every month (%) Alcohol use - People not drinking at all (%) Alcohol use - Average days/month drinking alcohol Alcohol use - Average drinks/week Alcohol use - Average days/year people drink much Audiometry - Average condition of hearing (%) Audiometry - People that can hear a whisper from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - People that can hear normal voice from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - Ears ringing, roaring, buzzing (%) Audiometry - Had a job exposure to loud noise (%) Audiometry - Had off-work exposure to loud noise (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high blood pressure (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Checking blood pressure at home (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Frequently checking blood cholesterol (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high cholesterol level (%) Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at supermarket/grocery store Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at other stores Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on eating out Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on carryout/delivered foods Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at supermarket/grocery store (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at other stores (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on eating out (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on carryout/delivered foods (%) Current Health Status - General health condition (%) Current Health Status - Blood donors (%) Current Health Status - Has blood ever tested for HIV virus (%) Current Health Status - Left-handed people (%) Dermatology - People using sunscreen (%) Diabetes - Diabetics (%) Diabetes - Had a blood test for high blood sugar (%) Diabetes - People taking insulin (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Diet health (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Milk product consumption (# of products/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals not home prepared (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals from fast food or pizza place (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Ready-to-eat foods (#/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Frozen meals/pizza (#/month) Drug Use - People that ever used marijuana or hashish (%) Drug Use - Ever used hard drugs (%) Drug Use - Ever used any form of cocaine (%) Drug Use - Ever used heroin (%) Drug Use - Ever used methamphetamine (%) Health Insurance - People covered by health insurance (%) Kidney Conditions-Urology - Avg. # of times urinating at night Medical Conditions - People with asthma (%) Medical Conditions - People with anemia (%) Medical Conditions - People with psoriasis (%) Medical Conditions - People with overweight (%) Medical Conditions - Elderly people having difficulties in thinking or remembering (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever received blood transfusion (%) Medical Conditions - People having trouble seeing even with glass/contacts (%) Medical Conditions - People with arthritis (%) Medical Conditions - People with gout (%) Medical Conditions - People with congestive heart failure (%) Medical Conditions - People with coronary heart disease (%) Medical Conditions - People with angina pectoris (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had heart attack (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had stroke (%) Medical Conditions - People with emphysema (%) Medical Conditions - People with thyroid problem (%) Medical Conditions - People with chronic bronchitis (%) Medical Conditions - People with any liver condition (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had cancer or malignancy (%) Mental Health - People who have little interest in doing things (%) Mental Health - People feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble sleeping or sleeping too much (%) Mental Health - People feeling tired or having little energy (%) Mental Health - People with poor appetite or overeating (%) Mental Health - People feeling bad about themself (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble concentrating on things (%) Mental Health - People moving or speaking slowly or too fast (%) Mental Health - People having thoughts they would be better off dead (%) Oral Health - Average years since last visit a dentist Oral Health - People embarrassed because of mouth (%) Oral Health - People with gum disease (%) Oral Health - General health of teeth and gums (%) Oral Health - Average days a week using dental floss/device Oral Health - Average days a week using mouthwash for dental problem Oral Health - Average number of teeth Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to control insects (%) Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to kill weeds (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People walking or bicycling (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - Average hours a day doing sedentary activities Physical Activity - Average hours a day watching TV or videos Physical Activity - Average hours a day using computer Physical Functioning - People having limitations keeping them from working (%) Physical Functioning - People limited in amount of work they can do (%) Physical Functioning - People that need special equipment to walk (%) Physical Functioning - People experiencing confusion/memory problems (%) Physical Functioning - People requiring special healthcare equipment (%) Prescription Medications - Average number of prescription medicines taking Preventive Aspirin Use - Adults 40+ taking low-dose aspirin (%) Reproductive Health - Vaginal deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Cesarean deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Deliveries resulted in a live birth (%) Reproductive Health - Pregnancies resulted in a delivery (%) Reproductive Health - Women breastfeeding newborns (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had a hysterectomy (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had both ovaries removed (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever taken birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women taking birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used Depo-Provera or injectables (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used female hormones (%) Sexual Behavior - People 18+ that ever had sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had anal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had any sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had anal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had any kind of sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first had sex Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female vaginal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a woman (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of woman performed oral sex on in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male anal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a man (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male oral sex partners in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - People using protection when performing oral sex (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of times people have vaginal or anal sex a year Sexual Behavior - People having sex without condom (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male vaginal sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Circumcised males 18+ (%) Sleep Disorders - Average hours sleeping at night Sleep Disorders - People that has trouble sleeping (%) Smoking-Cigarette Use - People smoking cigarettes (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with smell (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with taste (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had wisdom teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had tonsils teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a loss of consciousness because of a head injury (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a broken nose or other serious injury to face or skull (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had two or more sinus infections (%) Weight - Average height (inches) Weight - Average weight (pounds) Weight - Average BMI Weight - People that are obese (%) Weight - People that ever were obese (%) Weight - People trying to lose weight (%) Settings Get link Loading data... Based on 2000-2020 data Loading data...

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14,477 63.9% White alone 2,529 11.2% Hispanic 2,062 9.1% Black alone 1,737 7.7% Asian alone 1,463 6.5% Two or more races 274 1.2% Other race alone 38 0.2% American Indian alone 14 0.06% Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander alone

Races in Lealman detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Florida and other state lists, there was 1 registered sex offender living in Lealman, Florida as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Lealman is 21,170 to 1.

The ratio of registered sex offenders to all residents in this city is much lower than the state average.





Ancestries: American (13.6%), German (9.6%), Irish (5.0%), African (4.2%), Italian (3.5%), English (3.3%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Elevation: 49 feet

4,161 residents are foreign born (5.8% Latin America, 3.5% Europe, 2.8% Africa). This place: 18.7% Florida: 20.7%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2019: $1,421 (0.9%)

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with no mortgage in 2019: $880 (1.3%)



Latitude: 27.82 N, Longitude: 82.68 W

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 5.4% Florida: 6.3%

Air pollution and air quality trends

(lower is better) AQI CO NO 2 SO 2 Ozone PM 10 PM 2.5 Pb

Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2018 was 69.6. This is about average. City: 69.6 U.S.: 74.2

Carbon Monoxide (CO) [ppm] level in 2007 was 0.302. This is about average. Closest monitor was 2.0 miles away from the city center. City: 0.302 U.S.: 0.267

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2007 was 4.15. This is better than average. Closest monitor was 2.0 miles away from the city center. City: 4.15 U.S.: 5.56

Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 1.44. This is better than average. Closest monitor was 2.0 miles away from the city center. City: 1.44 U.S.: 1.79

Ozone [ppb] level in 2018 was 28.2. This is about average. Closest monitor was 2.8 miles away from the city center. City: 28.2 U.S.: 33.3

Particulate Matter (PM 10 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 16.7. This is about average. Closest monitor was 2.8 miles away from the city center. City: 16.7 U.S.: 19.6

Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 7.50. This is about average. Closest monitor was 4.4 miles away from the city center. City: 7.50 U.S.: 8.46

Lead (Pb) [g/m3] level in 2004 was 0.00408. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 2.8 miles away from the city center. City: 0.00408 U.S.: 0.00984

Tornado activity: Lealman-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Florida state average. It is 35% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 4/4/1966, a category F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 10.1 miles away from the Lealman place center killed 11 people and injured 530 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages. On 10/3/1992, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 1.4 miles away from the place center killed 3 people and injured 75 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Lealman-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Florida state average. It is 89% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 9/10/2006 at 14:56:08, a magnitude 5.9 (5.9 MB, 5.5 MS, 5.8 MW, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 266.5 miles away from Lealman center

On 10/24/1997 at 08:35:17, a magnitude 4.9 (4.8 MB, 4.2 MS, 4.9 LG, Depth: 6.2 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 358.6 miles away from the city center

On 3/31/1992 at 14:59:39, a magnitude 3.8 (3.8 MB, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: II - III) earthquake occurred 225.7 miles away from the city center

On 11/22/1974 at 05:25:55, a magnitude 4.7 (4.7 MB) earthquake occurred 382.5 miles away from the city center

On 5/6/2018 at 16:47:09, a magnitude 4.6 (4.6 MB, Depth: 6.2 mi) earthquake occurred 366.8 miles away from Lealman center

On 8/2/1974 at 08:52:09, a magnitude 4.9 (4.3 MB, 4.9 LG) earthquake occurred 418.7 miles away from the city center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Pinellas County (24) is greater than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 14

Emergencies Declared: 5



Causes of natural disasters: Hurricanes: 10, Fires: 5, Floods: 4, Tornadoes: 4, Tropical Storms: 4, Storms: 3, Freeze: 1, Wind: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Lealman: LONG TERM CARE OF ST PETERSBURG (Nursing Home, about 1 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

LAURELLWOOD NURSING CENTER (Nursing Home, about 1 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL Acute Care Hospitals (about 2 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

Acute Care Hospitals COLUMBIA NORTHSIDE MEDICAL CENTER (Nursing Home, about 2 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

GENESIS ELDERCARE HOME CARE SERVICES (Home Health Center, about 2 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

ABBEY NURSING CENTER,THE (Nursing Home, about 3 miles away; SAINT PETERSBURG, FL)

PINELLAS PARK CARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER (Nursing Home, about 3 miles away; PINELLAS PARK, FL)

Amtrak stations near Lealman: 2 miles: PINELLAS PARK (PARK BLVD. AT U.S. 19) - Bus Station . Services: ticket office, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, full-service food facilities, free short-term parking, call for car rental service, call for taxi service, public transit connection.

PINELLAS PARK (PARK BLVD. AT U.S. 19) - Bus Station . ticket office, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, full-service food facilities, free short-term parking, call for car rental service, call for taxi service, public transit connection. 12 miles: CLEARWATER (20967 U.S. 19) - Bus Station

CLEARWATER (20967 U.S. 19) - Bus Station 17 miles: TAMPA (601 NEBRASKA AVE.) . Services: ticket office, fully wheelchair accessible, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, vending machines, free short-term parking, paid long-term parking, call for car rental service, call for taxi service, public transit connection.

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Lealman: University of South Florida-St Petersburg ( about 5 miles; St. Petersburg, FL ; Full-time enrollment: 4,459)

5 ; 4,459) St Petersburg College ( about 7 miles; Clearwater, FL ; FT enrollment: 21,467)

7 ; 21,467) Eckerd College ( about 8 miles; Saint Petersburg, FL ; FT enrollment: 2,437)

8 ; 2,437) Strayer University-Florida ( about 15 miles; Tampa, FL ; FT enrollment: 2,723)

15 ; 2,723) Hillsborough Community College ( about 16 miles; Tampa, FL ; FT enrollment: 19,838)

16 ; 19,838) The University of Tampa ( about 16 miles; Tampa, FL ; FT enrollment: 7,216)

16 ; 7,216) Ultimate Medical Academy-Tampa (about 21 miles; Tampa, FL; FT enrollment: 16,672)

Pinellas County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level less than 2 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Low Potential

Average household size: This place: 2.2 people Florida: 2.5 people

Percentage of family households: This place: 51.8% Whole state: 65.2%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This place: 10.7% Whole state: 7.3%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.6% of all households

0.6% Gay men: 0.5% of all households

People in group quarters in Lealman in 2010: 121 people in group homes intended for adults

41 people in nursing facilities/skilled-nursing facilities

13 people in residential treatment centers for adults

2 people in other noninstitutional facilities

For population 15 years and over in Lealman: Never married: 38.3%

38.3% Now married: 32.1%

32.1% Separated: 2.7%

2.7% Widowed: 6.7%

6.7% Divorced: 20.3%

For population 25 years and over in Lealman: High school or higher: 81.8%

81.8% Bachelor's degree or higher: 14.3%

14.3% Graduate or professional degree: 3.5%

3.5% Mean travel time to work (commute): 19.9 minutes

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 13.4 Florida average: 12.1



Religion statistics for Lealman, FL (based on Pinellas County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Catholic 112,948 33 Evangelical Protestant 93,022 324 Mainline Protestant 65,326 122 Other 30,563 85 Orthodox 18,285 14 Black Protestant 9,955 40 None 586,443 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 200 Pinellas County : 2.19 / 10,000 pop. Florida : 2.04 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 6 Pinellas County : 0.07 / 10,000 pop. Florida : 0.11 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 166 Pinellas County : 1.82 / 10,000 pop. Florida : 1.28 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 243 Here : 2.66 / 10,000 pop. Florida : 3.04 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 818 Here : 8.95 / 10,000 pop. Florida : 7.45 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: Here : 9.0% Florida : 9.2% Adult obesity rate: This county : 26.3% Florida : 23.7% Low-income preschool obesity rate: This county : 14.0% Florida : 14.0%

7.61% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($73,297 average adjusted gross income) Here: 7.61% Florida average: 7.69% 0.06% of residents moved from foreign countries ($501 average AGI) Pinellas County: 0.06% Florida average: 0.08%

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Hillsborough County, FL 1.24% ($88,399 average AGI) from Pasco County, FL 0.52% ($50,068) from Orange County, FL 0.15% ($51,175)



6.02% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($55,318 average adjusted gross income) Here: 6.02% Florida average: 6.59% 0.06% of residents moved to foreign countries ($482 average AGI) Pinellas County: 0.06% Florida average: 0.10%

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Hillsborough County, FL 1.10% ($62,988 average AGI) to Pasco County, FL 0.78% ($42,907) to Manatee County, FL 0.17% ($61,837)

Strongest AM radio stations in Lealman: WMGG (820 AM; 50 kW; LARGO, FL; Owner: MEGA COMMUNICATIONS OF ST. PETERSBURG LICENSEE)

MEGA COMMUNICATIONS OF ST. PETERSBURG LICENSEE) WTIS (1110 AM; daytime; 10 kW; TAMPA, FL; Owner: WTIS-AM, INC.)

WTIS-AM, INC.) WDAE (620 AM; 5 kW; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WWMI (1380 AM; 5 kW; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: ABC, INC.)

ABC, INC.) WFLA (970 AM; 25 kW; TAMPA, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WHNZ (1250 AM; 25 kW; TAMPA, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WWBA (1040 AM; 4 kW; PINELLAS PARK, FL; Owner: GENESIS COMMUNICATIONS OF TAMPA BAY, INC.)

GENESIS COMMUNICATIONS OF TAMPA BAY, INC.) WRXB (1590 AM; 5 kW; ST. PETERSBURG BEACH, FL; Owner: METROPOLITAN RADIO GROUP OF FLORIDA, INC.)

METROPOLITAN RADIO GROUP OF FLORIDA, INC.) WQYK (1010 AM; 50 kW; SEFFNER, FL; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF TAMPA)

INFINITY BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF TAMPA) WRMD (680 AM; 1 kW; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: ZGS BROADCASTING OF TAMPA, INC.)

ZGS BROADCASTING OF TAMPA, INC.) WGUL (860 AM; 5 kW; DUNEDIN, FL; Owner: WGUL-FM, INC.)

WGUL-FM, INC.) WTMP (1150 AM; 10 kW; EGYPT LAKE, FL; Owner: TAMPA BROADCASTING, LTD.)

TAMPA BROADCASTING, LTD.) WFLF (540 AM; 50 kW; PINE HILLS, FL; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) Strongest FM radio stations in Lealman: WSSR (95.7 FM; CLEARWATER, FL; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WFTI-FM (91.7 FM; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: FAMILY STATIONS, INC.)

FAMILY STATIONS, INC.) WLLD (98.7 FM; HOLMES BEACH, FL; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WRBQ-FM (104.7 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WYUU (92.5 FM; SAFETY HARBOR, FL; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WBBY (107.3 FM; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: COX RADIO, INC.)

COX RADIO, INC.) WPOI (101.5 FM; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: CXR HOLDINGS, INC.)

CXR HOLDINGS, INC.) WWRM (94.9 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: COX RADIO, INC.)

COX RADIO, INC.) WFLZ-FM (93.3 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WMTX (100.7 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WQYK-FM (99.5 FM; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF FLORIDA)

INFINITY BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF FLORIDA) WTBT (103.5 FM; BRADENTON, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WXTB (97.9 FM; CLEARWATER, FL; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WDUV (105.5 FM; NEW PORT RICHEY, FL; Owner: CXR HOLDINGS, INC.)

CXR HOLDINGS, INC.) WHPT (102.5 FM; SARASOTA, FL; Owner: CXR HOLDINGS, INC.)

CXR HOLDINGS, INC.) WUSF (89.7 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: UNIVERSITY OF S. FLORIDA)

UNIVERSITY OF S. FLORIDA) WBVM (90.5 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE/ST. PETERSBURG)

BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE/ST. PETERSBURG) WSJT (94.1 FM; LAKELAND, FL; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WSUN-FM (97.1 FM; HOLIDAY, FL; Owner: COX RADIO, INC)

COX RADIO, INC) WMNF (88.5 FM; TAMPA, FL; Owner: NATHAN B. STUBBLEFIELD FOUNDATION) TV broadcast stations around Lealman: W61AI ( Channel 61; ROCK HARBOR, FL; Owner: MAKO COMMUNICATIONS, LLC)

61; ROCK HARBOR, FL; MAKO COMMUNICATIONS, LLC) W33CC ( Channel 33; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: VENTANA TELEVISION, INC.)

33; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; VENTANA TELEVISION, INC.) WARP-CA ( Channel 20; TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: SUNSHINE BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.)

20; TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG, FL; SUNSHINE BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.) WXAX-LP ( Channel 26; CLEARWATER, FL; Owner: TIGER EYE BROADCASTING CORP.)

26; CLEARWATER, FL; TIGER EYE BROADCASTING CORP.) WSPF-CA ( Channel 35; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG)

35; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG) WMOR-LP ( Channel 63; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: WMOR-TV COMPANY)

63; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; WMOR-TV COMPANY) WEDU ( Channel 3; TAMPA, FL; Owner: FLORIDA WEST COAST PUBLIC BROADCASTING, INC.)

3; TAMPA, FL; FLORIDA WEST COAST PUBLIC BROADCASTING, INC.) WTOG ( Channel 44; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.)

44; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.) WXPX ( Channel 66; BRADENTON, FL; Owner: PAXSON COMMUNICATION LICENSE COMPANY, LLC)

66; BRADENTON, FL; PAXSON COMMUNICATION LICENSE COMPANY, LLC) WFLA-TV ( Channel 8; TAMPA, FL; Owner: MEDIA GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

8; TAMPA, FL; MEDIA GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WFTS-TV ( Channel 28; TAMPA, FL; Owner: TAMPA BAY TELEVISION, INC.)

28; TAMPA, FL; TAMPA BAY TELEVISION, INC.) WTSP ( Channel 10; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: PACIFIC AND SOUTHERN COMPANY, INC.)

10; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; PACIFIC AND SOUTHERN COMPANY, INC.) WUSF-TV ( Channel 16; TAMPA, FL; Owner: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA)

16; TAMPA, FL; UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA) WTTA ( Channel 38; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: BAY TELEVISION, INC.)

38; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; BAY TELEVISION, INC.) WFTT ( Channel 50; TAMPA, FL; Owner: TELEFUTURA TAMPA LLC)

50; TAMPA, FL; TELEFUTURA TAMPA LLC) WCLF ( Channel 22; CLEARWATER, FL; Owner: CHRISTIAN TELEVISION CORPORATION, INC.)

22; CLEARWATER, FL; CHRISTIAN TELEVISION CORPORATION, INC.) WTVT ( Channel 13; TAMPA, FL; Owner: TVT LICENSE, INC.)

13; TAMPA, FL; TVT LICENSE, INC.) W36CO ( Channel 36; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; Owner: TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK)

36; ST. PETERSBURG, FL; TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK) WTAM-LP ( Channel 6; TAMPA, FL; Owner: U.S. INTERACTIVE, L.L.C.)

6; TAMPA, FL; U.S. INTERACTIVE, L.L.C.) WRMD-LP ( Channel 57; TAMPA, FL; Owner: ZGS TELEVISION OF TAMPA, INC.)

57; TAMPA, FL; ZGS TELEVISION OF TAMPA, INC.) WSVT-LP ( Channel 18; BRADENTON, FL; Owner: WORD OF GOD FELLOWSHIP, INC.)

18; BRADENTON, FL; WORD OF GOD FELLOWSHIP, INC.) WVEA-LP ( Channel 61; TAMPA, FL; Owner: ENTRAVISION HOLDINGS, LLC)

61; TAMPA, FL; ENTRAVISION HOLDINGS, LLC) W48AY ( Channel 48; OLDSMAR, FL; Owner: AMKA BROADCAST NETWORK, INC.)

48; OLDSMAR, FL; AMKA BROADCAST NETWORK, INC.) WWSB ( Channel 40; SARASOTA, FL; Owner: SOUTHERN BROADCAST CORPORATION OF SARASOTA)

40; SARASOTA, FL; SOUTHERN BROADCAST CORPORATION OF SARASOTA) WMOR-TV (Channel 32; LAKELAND, FL; Owner: WMOR-TV COMPANY)

National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

2 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 13ft / 3.6m Total length

Total length 23,000 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 990 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 39,905 Total future (year 2037) average daily traffic

2005 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents According to the data from the years 2005 - 2018 the average number of fires per year is 60. The highest number of reported fires - 209 took place in 2006, and the least - 21 in 2016. The data has a declining trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Lealman, FL



444 52.5% Structure Fires



200 23.7% Outside Fires



107 12.7% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires



94 11.1% Other When looking into fire subcategories, the most incidents belonged to: Structure Fires (52.5%), and Outside Fires (23.7%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Lealman, FL

Houses and condos Apartments 88.2% Electricity

8.6% Utility gas

2.0% No fuel used

1.0% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

0.1% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. 95.9% Electricity

2.4% No fuel used

0.9% Utility gas

0.8% Bottled, tank, or LP gas





Lealman compared to Florida state average: Median house value below state average.

below Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage below state average.

below House age above state average.

above Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher below state average.

Lealman on our top lists: #32 on the list of "Top 100 cities with lowest ratio of median house value to median household income (pop. 5,000+)"

#70 on the list of "Top 101 cities with the largest percentage of divorced people (15+ years)(population 5,000+)" #3 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest percentage of residents that smoked 100+ cigarettes in their lives"

#6 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the most Orthodox adherents"

#26 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the lowest number of births per 1000 residents 2007-2013"

#31 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the lowest Sulfur Oxides Annual air pollution readings in 2012 (g/m 3 )"

#31 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the most Orthodox congregations"




Leicester, Massachusetts

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Population in 2010: 10,970.

Population change since 2000: +4.8%

10,970.+4.8%

Males: 5,355 (48.8%) Females: 5,615 (51.2%)

Median resident age: 40.4 years Massachusetts median age: 39.2 years

Zip codes: 01524.

Estimated median household income in 2019: $90,070 (it was $55,039 in 2000)

Leicester: $90,070 MA: $85,843

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $35,422 (it was $20,822 in 2000)



Leicester town income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $274,090 (it was $126,000 in 2000) Leicester: $274,090 MA: $418,600

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $345,896; detached houses: $359,605; townhouses or other attached units: $293,904; in 2-unit structures: $294,624; in 3-to-4-unit structures: $296,728; in 5-or-more-unit structures: $198,605; mobile homes: $74,819; occupied boats, rvs, vans, etc.: $20,048 $90,070 ($55,039$35,422 ($20,822$274,090 ($126,000$345,896;$359,605;$293,904;$294,624;$296,728;$198,605;$74,819;$20,048

March 2019 cost of living index in Leicester: 133.5 (high, U.S. average is 100)

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9,961 90.8% White alone 414 3.8% Hispanic 213 1.9% Black alone 181 1.6% Asian alone 141 1.3% Two or more races 31 0.3% American Indian alone 23 0.2% Other race alone 6 0.05% Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander alone

Races in Leicester detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Massachusetts and other state lists, there were 4 registered sex offenders living in Leicester, Massachusetts as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Leicester is 2,743 to 1.

The ratio of registered sex offenders to all residents in this city is lower than the state average.





Crime rates in Leicester by year Type 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Murders

(per 100,000) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) Rapes

(per 100,000) 2

(18.1) 4

(36.1) 2

(18.1) 4

(36.0) 5

(45.2) 2

(18.1) 4

(36.0) 1

(8.9) 2

(17.6) 6

(52.9) 4

(35.2) 2

(17.6) 8

(70.0) 2

(17.6) Robberies

(per 100,000) 2

(18.1) 1

(9.0) 2

(18.1) 3

(27.0) 0

(0.0) 2

(18.1) 1

(9.0) 0

(0.0) 4

(35.3) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 2

(17.6) 2

(17.5) 1

(8.8) Assaults

(per 100,000) 17

(154.1) 22

(198.6) 20

(181.1) 21

(188.8) 22

(198.7) 10

(90.6) 13

(117.1) 12

(107.3) 21

(185.2) 14

(123.4) 19

(167.3) 23

(202.3) 25

(218.6) 20

(175.9) Burglaries

(per 100,000) 28

(253.8) 35

(316.0) 34

(307.9) 37

(332.6) 26

(234.8) 43

(389.6) 42

(378.2) 17

(152.0) 38

(335.0) 23

(202.7) 21

(184.9) 13

(114.3) 11

(96.2) 9

(79.2) Thefts

(per 100,000) 105

(951.7) 128

(1,156) 122

(1,105) 194

(1,744) 168

(1,517) 121

(1,096) 119

(1,071) 223

(1,994) 193

(1,702) 131

(1,154) 119

(1,048) 152

(1,337) 124

(1,084) 222

(1,953) Auto thefts

(per 100,000) 14

(126.9) 15

(135.4) 14

(126.8) 7

(62.9) 11

(99.3) 17

(154.0) 10

(90.0) 10

(89.4) 2

(17.6) 11

(96.9) 9

(79.3) 5

(44.0) 7

(61.2) 1

(8.8) Arson

(per 100,000) 1

(9.1) 1

(9.0) 3

(27.2) 2

(18.0) 2

(18.1) 1

(9.1) 1

(9.0) 1

(8.9) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 1

(8.8) City-Data.com crime index 116.7 150.5 132.0 172.7 160.9 121.5 131.5 126.2 154.6 135.1 122.9 124.8 159.9 136.3 The City-Data.com crime index weighs serious crimes and violent crimes more heavily. Higher means more crime, U.S. average is 270.6. It adjusts for the number of visitors and daily workers commuting into cities. Click on a table row to update graph

Crime rate in Leicester detailed stats: murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, arson



Full-time law enforcement employees in 2019, including police officers: 21 (20 officers).

Officers per 1,000 residents here: 1.76 Massachusetts average: 2.37



Latest news from Leicester, MA collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations

Ancestries: Irish (24.6%), French (20.7%), English (12.9%), Italian (11.2%), French Canadian (7.3%), Swedish (6.3%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Elevation: 1009 feet

Land area: 23.4 square miles. Population density: 470 people per square mile (low).

467 residents are foreign born (1.9% Europe, 1.3% Africa, 0.6% Asia, 0.5% North America). This town: 4.5% Massachusetts: 12.2%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units in 2000: Leicester town: 1.3% ($1,695) Massachusetts: 1.3% ($2,336)

Latitude: 42.23 N, Longitude: 71.91 W

Area codes: 774, 508

Single-family new house construction building permits: 1997: 32 buildings , average cost: $105,700

32 $105,700 1998: 49 buildings , average cost: $112,700

49 $112,700 1999: 41 buildings , average cost: $109,200

41 $109,200 2000: 44 buildings , average cost: $125,500

44 $125,500 2001: 41 buildings , average cost: $135,000

41 $135,000 2002: 37 buildings , average cost: $152,600

37 $152,600 2003: 55 buildings , average cost: $160,900

55 $160,900 2004: 53 buildings , average cost: $159,800

53 $159,800 2005: 52 buildings , average cost: $159,800

52 $159,800 2006: 47 buildings , average cost: $159,800

47 $159,800 2007: 22 buildings , average cost: $200,400

22 $200,400 2008: 16 buildings , average cost: $200,400

16 $200,400 2009: 24 buildings , average cost: $200,400

24 $200,400 2010: 24 buildings , average cost: $200,400

24 $200,400 2011: 17 buildings , average cost: $200,400

17 $200,400 2012: 14 buildings , average cost: $164,600

14 $164,600 2013: 15 buildings , average cost: $180,400

15 $180,400 2014: 21 buildings , average cost: $180,400

21 $180,400 2015: 19 buildings , average cost: $180,400

19 $180,400 2016: 20 buildings , average cost: $180,400

20 $180,400 2017: 19 buildings , average cost: $180,400

19 $180,400 2018: 3 buildings , average cost: $223,300

3 $223,300 2019: 3 buildings, average cost: $223,300

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 5.7% Massachusetts: 6.2%

Most common industries in Leicester, MA (%) Both Males Females

Educational services (13.1%)

Health care (11.8%)

Construction (6.2%)

Finance & insurance (5.1%)

Professional, scientific, technical services (4.4%)

Accommodation & food services (4.0%)

Metal & metal products (3.9%)

Construction (11.5%)

Educational services (6.4%)

Metal & metal products (6.0%)

Public administration (4.4%)

Health care (4.4%)

Professional, scientific, technical services (4.3%)

Administrative & support & waste management services (3.7%)

Educational services (20.1%)

Health care (19.6%)

Finance & insurance (8.5%)

Accommodation & food services (5.6%)

Professional, scientific, technical services (4.6%)

Social assistance (4.4%)

Public administration (3.2%) Most common occupations in Leicester, MA (%) Both Males Females

Preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers (4.4%)

Other management occupations, except farmers and farm managers (4.4%)

Other sales and related occupations, including supervisors (4.0%)

Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers (3.7%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (3.7%)

Secretaries and administrative assistants (3.6%)

Other office and administrative support workers, including supervisors (3.5%)

Other management occupations, except farmers and farm managers (6.9%)

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers (6.5%)

Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers, including supervisors (6.2%)

Other sales and related occupations, including supervisors (5.3%)

Metal workers and plastic workers (5.2%)

Other production occupations, including supervisors (5.2%)

Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers (4.4%)

Preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers (7.9%)

Secretaries and administrative assistants (7.4%)

Other office and administrative support workers, including supervisors (6.0%)

Health technologists and technicians (5.7%)

Computer specialists (3.6%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (3.4%)

Information and record clerks, except customer service representatives (3.1%)

Average climate in Leicester, Massachusetts Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Air pollution and air quality trends

(lower is better) AQI CO NO 2 SO 2 Ozone PM 2.5

Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2018 was 73.3. This is about average. City: 73.3 U.S.: 74.2

Carbon Monoxide (CO) [ppm] level in 2018 was 0.280. This is about average. Closest monitor was 5.9 miles away from the city center. City: 0.280 U.S.: 0.267

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 11.2. This is significantly worse than average. Closest monitor was 4.5 miles away from the city center. City: 11.2 U.S.: 5.6

Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 0.544. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 4.5 miles away from the city center. City: 0.544 U.S.: 1.789

Ozone [ppb] level in 2018 was 31.4. This is about average. Closest monitor was 3.6 miles away from the city center. City: 31.4 U.S.: 33.3

Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 6.74. This is better than average. Closest monitor was 6.0 miles away from the city center. City: 6.74 U.S.: 8.46

Tornado activity: Leicester-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Massachusetts state average. It is 18% smaller than the overall U.S. average.

On 6/9/1953, a category F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 20.4 miles away from the Leicester town center killed 90 people and injured 1228 people and caused between $50,000,000 and $500,000,000 in damages. On 6/9/1953, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 8.1 miles away from the town center injured 17 people and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Leicester-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Massachusetts state average. It is 71% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 10/7/1983 at 10:18:46, a magnitude 5.3 (5.1 MB, 5.3 LG, 5.1 ML, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 171.3 miles away from the city center

On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.3 (5.3 ML, Depth: 3.0 mi) earthquake occurred 181.8 miles away from Leicester center

On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.2 (5.2 MB, 4.2 MS, 5.2 MW, 5.0 MW) earthquake occurred 180.8 miles away from Leicester center

On 1/19/1982 at 00:14:42, a magnitude 4.7 (4.5 MB, 4.7 MD, 4.5 LG, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 89.3 miles away from Leicester center

On 10/16/2012 at 23:12:25, a magnitude 4.7 (4.7 ML, Depth: 10.0 mi) earthquake occurred 113.9 miles away from the city center

On 8/22/1992 at 12:20:32, a magnitude 4.8 (4.8 MB, 3.8 MS, 4.7 LG, Depth: 6.2 mi) earthquake occurred 231.5 miles away from Leicester center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), duration magnitude (MD), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Worcester County (27) is a lot greater than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 15

Emergencies Declared: 12



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 9, Storms: 8, Hurricanes: 6, Snowstorms: 5, Winter Storms: 4, Blizzards: 2, Snows: 2, Fire: 1, Heavy Rain: 1, Snowfall: 1, Tornado: 1, Wind: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Leicester: EDEN HEALTHCARE SERVICES, INC (Home Health Center, about 2 miles away; CHERRY VALLEY, MA)

KINDRED TRANSITIONAL CARE AND REHAB-THE MEADOWS (Nursing Home, about 2 miles away; ROCHDALE, MA)

INTERIM HEALTH CARE OF WORCESTER (Home Health Center, about 3 miles away; WORCESTER, MA)

ACCLAIM HOME HEALTH CARE, INC (Home Health Center, about 4 miles away; WORCESTER, MA)

MILL HILL NURSING HOME (Nursing Home, about 4 miles away; WORCESTER, MA)

MILL HILL SENIOR CARE, LLC (Nursing Home, about 4 miles away; WORCESTER, MA)

GOLDEN LIVING CENTER-THE HERMITAGE (Nursing Home, about 4 miles away; WORCESTER, MA)

Amtrak station near Leicester: 7 miles: WORCESTER (WORCHESTER, 45 SHREWSBURY ST.) . Services: ticket office, fully wheelchair accessible, enclosed waiting area, public restrooms, public payphones, vending machines, free short-term parking, free long-term parking, call for taxi service, public transit connection.

Library in Leicester: LEICESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY (Operating income: $171,481; Location: 1136 MAIN ST.; 33,722 books; 907 audio materials; 2,898 video materials; 34 state licensed databases; 84 print serial subscriptions)

User-submitted facts and corrections: Becker College traces its history to 1784 and has over 19,000 alumni. With campuses in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts, the college serves 1,600 students with a full-time enrollment of 1,200 from 18 states and 12 countries. Becker offers over 30 academic programs, including a choice among 22 bachelor degree level and extensive adult learning programs. The College's unique class offerings and hands-on professional practitioner orientation to higher education, have earned Becker a national reputation for career focused academics, particularly in the fields of business, education, veterinary sciences, health care and the arts.



Birthplace of: Joseph John Rice - Catholic bishop, David Henshaw - Politician, Emory Washburn - Politician, Klimaszewski Twins - Dancer, Pliny Earle I - Inventor, William Upham - Senator.

Worcester County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Highest Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Leicester and their reported violations in the past: LEICESTER WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT (Population served: 3,200, Groundwater under infl of surface water): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JUN-2012 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2012) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-10-2012)

JUN-2012 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2012) St Compliance achieved (SEP-10-2012) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JUL-2010 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-08-2010) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-08-2010)

JUL-2010 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-08-2010) St Compliance achieved (SEP-08-2010) MCL, Average - Between JAN-2010 and MAR-2010 , Contaminant: Arsenic . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUN-04-2010) , St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010)

JAN-2010 MAR-2010 Arsenic St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUN-04-2010) St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010) MCL, Average - Between OCT-2009 and DEC-2009 , Contaminant: Arsenic . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (FEB-01-2010) , St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010)

OCT-2009 DEC-2009 Arsenic St AO (w/o penalty) issued (FEB-01-2010) St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010) MCL, Average - Between JUL-2009 and SEP-2009 , Contaminant: Arsenic . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-30-2009) , St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010)

JUL-2009 SEP-2009 Arsenic St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-30-2009) St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010) MCL, Average - Between APR-2009 and JUN-2009 , Contaminant: Arsenic . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUL-23-2009) , St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010)

APR-2009 JUN-2009 Arsenic St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUL-23-2009) St Compliance achieved (JUN-04-2010) 18 other older health violations Past monitoring violations: Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between APR-2014 and JUN-2014 , Contaminant: TTHM . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014)

APR-2014 JUN-2014 TTHM St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014) Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between APR-2014 and JUN-2014 , Contaminant: Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014)

APR-2014 JUN-2014 Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014) Follow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/R - In JUL-01-2013 , Contaminant: Lead and Copper Rule . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (NOV-26-2013)

JUL-01-2013 Lead and Copper Rule St AO (w/o penalty) issued (NOV-26-2013) Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between JUL-2012 and SEP-2012 , Contaminant: Chlorine . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUN-12-2013), St Compliance achieved (AUG-05-2013)

JUL-2012 SEP-2012 Chlorine St AO (w/o penalty) issued (JUN-12-2013), St Compliance achieved (AUG-05-2013) Monitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Filter) - In NOV-2007 . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-12-2007), St Compliance achieved (JAN-07-2008)

NOV-2007 St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-12-2007), St Compliance achieved (JAN-07-2008) 6 minor monitoring violations

26 regular monitoring violations

5 other older monitoring violations HILLCREST WATER DISTRICT (Population served: 1,500, Purch groundwater under infl of surface water): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JUL-2014 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-05-2014) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-05-2014)

JUL-2014 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-05-2014) St Compliance achieved (SEP-05-2014) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2012 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-26-2012) , St Compliance achieved (OCT-26-2012)

SEP-2012 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-26-2012) St Compliance achieved (OCT-26-2012) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In SEP-2010 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-13-2010) , St Compliance achieved (OCT-13-2010)

SEP-2010 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (OCT-13-2010) St Compliance achieved (OCT-13-2010) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In DEC-2009 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (FEB-05-2010) , St Compliance achieved (FEB-05-2010)

DEC-2009 Coliform St AO (w/o penalty) issued (FEB-05-2010) St Compliance achieved (FEB-05-2010) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - Between SEP-2009 and OCT-2009 . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (DEC-10-2009) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAR-08-2010)

SEP-2009 OCT-2009 St Compliance achieved (DEC-10-2009) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAR-08-2010) Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) - Between AUG-2009 and SEP-2009 . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (DEC-10-2009) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAR-08-2010)

AUG-2009 SEP-2009 St Compliance achieved (DEC-10-2009) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAR-08-2010) 30 other older health violations Past monitoring violations: Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between APR-2014 and JUN-2014 , Contaminant: TTHM . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014)

APR-2014 JUN-2014 TTHM St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014) Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between APR-2014 and JUN-2014 , Contaminant: Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) . Follow-up actions: St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014)

APR-2014 JUN-2014 Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (SEP-10-2014) 7 minor monitoring violations

23 regular monitoring violations LEICESTER WATER SUPPLY DISTRICT (3,200Groundwater under infl of surface water):HILLCREST WATER DISTRICT (1,500Purch groundwater under infl of surface water):

Average household size: This town: 2.6 people Massachusetts: 2.5 people

Percentage of family households: This town: 71.8% Whole state: 63.0%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This town: 7.2% Whole state: 7.0%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.5% of all households

0.5% Gay men: 0.4% of all households Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 4.3% Whole state: 9.3% Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 1.7% Whole state: 4.4%

People in group quarters in Leicester in 2010: 224 people in college/university student housing

54 people in nursing facilities/skilled-nursing facilities

31 people in residential treatment centers for juveniles (non-correctional)

16 people in group homes intended for adults

16 people in residential treatment centers for adults People in group quarters in Leicester in 2000: 191 people in college dormitories (includes college quarters off campus)

155 people in nursing homes

24 people in residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children

15 people in homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse

12 people in schools, hospitals, or wards for the intellectually disabled

Banks with branches in Leicester (2011 data): Country Bank for Savings: 1084 Main Street Branch at 1084 Main Street, branch established on 1869/04/17; Walmart Leicester Branch at 20 Soojian Drive, Suite #2, branch established on 2007/03/14. Info updated 2006/09/29: Bank assets: $1,431.1 mil, Deposits: $953.8 mil, headquarters in Ware, MA, positive income, Mortgage Lending Specialization, 15 total offices

For population 15 years and over in Leicester: Never married: 23.7%

23.7% Now married: 58.0%

58.0% Separated: 2.0%

2.0% Widowed: 8.0%

8.0% Divorced: 8.3%

For population 25 years and over in Leicester: High school or higher: 84.5%

84.5% Bachelor's degree or higher: 20.3%

20.3% Graduate or professional degree: 5.7%

5.7% Unemployed: 2.8%

2.8% Mean travel time to work (commute): 27.1 minutes

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 10.6 Massachusetts average: 13.1



Religion statistics for Leicester, MA (based on Worcester County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Catholic 306,925 118 Mainline Protestant 43,326 171 Evangelical Protestant 37,511 203 Other 18,931 69 Orthodox 7,935 15 Black Protestant 497 6 None 383,427 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 135 Worcester County : 1.73 / 10,000 pop. Massachusetts : 1.98 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 4 Worcester County : 0.05 / 10,000 pop. State : 0.05 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 140 This county : 1.79 / 10,000 pop. Massachusetts : 2.22 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 174 Worcester County : 2.22 / 10,000 pop. Massachusetts : 1.77 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 569 Worcester County : 7.27 / 10,000 pop. Massachusetts : 8.76 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: Worcester County : 8.0% Massachusetts : 8.1% Adult obesity rate: Here : 24.0% State : 22.5% Low-income preschool obesity rate: Worcester County : 16.6% Massachusetts : 16.5%

4.16% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($64,114 average adjusted gross income) Here: 4.16% Massachusetts average: 5.79% 0.03% of residents moved from foreign countries ($598 average AGI) Worcester County: 0.03% Massachusetts average: 0.05%

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Middlesex County, MA 1.22% ($72,434 average AGI) from Norfolk County, MA 0.28% ($80,228) from Suffolk County, MA 0.20% ($65,864)



4.47% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($70,534 average adjusted gross income) Here: 4.47% Massachusetts average: 6.31% 0.03% of residents moved to foreign countries ($414 average AGI) Worcester County: 0.03% Massachusetts average: 0.08%

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Middlesex County, MA 0.92% ($71,780 average AGI) to Norfolk County, MA 0.26% ($69,053) to Suffolk County, MA 0.23% ($82,087)

Businesses in Leicester, MA Name Count Name Count Dunkin Donuts 1 Subway 2 MasterBrand Cabinets 3 Walmart 1

Strongest AM radio stations in Leicester: WCRN (830 AM; 50 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: CARTER BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

CARTER BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WVNE (760 AM; daytime; 25 kW; LEICESTER, MA; Owner: BLOUNT MASSCOM, INC.)

BLOUNT MASSCOM, INC.) WORC (1310 AM; 5 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: CHOWDER BROADCAST GROUP LLC)

CHOWDER BROADCAST GROUP LLC) WVEI (1440 AM; 5 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WTAG (580 AM; 5 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WALE (990 AM; 50 kW; GREENVILLE, RI; Owner: NORTH AMERICAN BROADCASTING CO., INC.)

NORTH AMERICAN BROADCASTING CO., INC.) WKOX (1200 AM; 50 kW; FRAMINGHAM, MA; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WBIX (1060 AM; 40 kW; NATICK, MA; Owner: LANGER BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

LANGER BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WEEI (850 AM; 50 kW; BOSTON, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WAMG (890 AM; 25 kW; DEDHAM, MA; Owner: MEGA COMMUNICATIONS OF DEDHAM LICENSEE, LLC)

MEGA COMMUNICATIONS OF DEDHAM LICENSEE, LLC) WRKO (680 AM; 50 kW; BOSTON, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WNNZ (640 AM; 50 kW; WESTFIELD, MA; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WNEB (1230 AM; 1 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: GRACE BROADCASTING CORPORATION) Strongest FM radio stations in Leicester: WAAF (107.3 FM; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WSRS (96.1 FM; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP)

CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) WBPR (91.9 FM; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS)

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS) WYCM (90.1 FM; CHARLTON, MA; Owner: BAY PATH VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL)

BAY PATH VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL) WICN (90.5 FM; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: WICN PUBLIC RADIO, INC)

WICN PUBLIC RADIO, INC) WWFX (100.1 FM; SOUTHBRIDGE, MA; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY)

CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) WCUW (91.3 FM; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: WUW, INC.)

WUW, INC.) WXLO (104.5 FM; FITCHBURG, MA; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY)

CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) WORC-FM (98.9 FM; WEBSTER, MA; Owner: CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY)

CITADEL BROADCASTING COMPANY) WFCR (88.5 FM; AMHERST, MA; Owner: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS)

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS) WBMX (98.5 FM; BOSTON, MA; Owner: INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.)

INFINITY RADIO OPERATIONS INC.) WJMN (94.5 FM; BOSTON, MA; Owner: AMFM RADIO LICENSES, L.L.C.)

AMFM RADIO LICENSES, L.L.C.) WCRB (102.5 FM; WALTHAM, MA; Owner: CHARLES RIVER BROADCASTING WCRB LICE)

CHARLES RIVER BROADCASTING WCRB LICE) WTKK (96.9 FM; BOSTON, MA; Owner: GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.)

GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.) WROR-FM (105.7 FM; FRAMINGHAM, MA; Owner: GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.)

GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.) WBOS (92.9 FM; BROOKLINE, MA; Owner: GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.)

GREATER BOSTON RADIO, INC.) WGBH (89.7 FM; BOSTON, MA; Owner: WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION)

WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION) WFEX (92.1 FM; PETERBOROUGH, NH; Owner: FNX BROADCASTING OF NEW HAMPSHIRE LLC)

FNX BROADCASTING OF NEW HAMPSHIRE LLC) WBUR-FM (90.9 FM; BOSTON, MA; Owner: TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY)

TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY) WAMH (89.3 FM; AMHERST, MA; Owner: TRUSTEES OF AMHERST COLLEGE) TV broadcast stations around Leicester: WCRN-LP ( Channel 34; LEICESTER, MA; Owner: CARTER BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

34; LEICESTER, MA; CARTER BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WUNI ( Channel 27; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: ENTRAVISION HOLDINGS, LLC)

27; WORCESTER, MA; ENTRAVISION HOLDINGS, LLC) WYDN ( Channel 48; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC TV CORPORATION)

48; WORCESTER, MA; EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC TV CORPORATION) WUTF ( Channel 66; MARLBOROUGH, MA; Owner: TELEFUTURA BOSTON LLC)

66; MARLBOROUGH, MA; TELEFUTURA BOSTON LLC) WCVB-TV ( Channel 5; BOSTON, MA; Owner: WCVB HEARST-ARGYLE TV, INC.)

5; BOSTON, MA; WCVB HEARST-ARGYLE TV, INC.) WGBH-TV ( Channel 2; BOSTON, MA; Owner: WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION)

2; BOSTON, MA; WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION) WHDH-TV ( Channel 7; BOSTON, MA; Owner: WHDH-TV)

7; BOSTON, MA; WHDH-TV) WMFP ( Channel 62; LAWRENCE, MA; Owner: WSAH LICENSE, INC.)

62; LAWRENCE, MA; WSAH LICENSE, INC.) WBZ-TV ( Channel 4; BOSTON, MA; Owner: VIACOM INC.)

4; BOSTON, MA; VIACOM INC.) WGBX-TV ( Channel 44; BOSTON, MA; Owner: WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION)

44; BOSTON, MA; WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION) WSBK-TV ( Channel 38; BOSTON, MA; Owner: VIACOM INC.)

38; BOSTON, MA; VIACOM INC.) WLVI-TV ( Channel 56; CAMBRIDGE, MA; Owner: WLVI, INC.)

56; CAMBRIDGE, MA; WLVI, INC.) WFXT ( Channel 25; BOSTON, MA; Owner: FOX TELEVISION STATIONS INC.)

25; BOSTON, MA; FOX TELEVISION STATIONS INC.) WPXQ ( Channel 69; BLOCK ISLAND, RI; Owner: OCEAN STATE TELEVISION, L.L.C.)

69; BLOCK ISLAND, RI; OCEAN STATE TELEVISION, L.L.C.) W40BO ( Channel 40; BOSTON, MA; Owner: PAXSON COMMUNICATIONS LPTV, INC.)

40; BOSTON, MA; PAXSON COMMUNICATIONS LPTV, INC.) WNAC-TV ( Channel 64; PROVIDENCE, RI; Owner: WNAC, LLC)

64; PROVIDENCE, RI; WNAC, LLC) WPRI-TV ( Channel 12; PROVIDENCE, RI; Owner: TVL BROADCASTING OF RHODE ISLAND, LLC)

12; PROVIDENCE, RI; TVL BROADCASTING OF RHODE ISLAND, LLC) WBPX ( Channel 68; BOSTON, MA; Owner: PAXSON BOSTON-68 LICENSE, INC.)

68; BOSTON, MA; PAXSON BOSTON-68 LICENSE, INC.) WLNE-TV ( Channel 6; NEW BEDFORD, MA; Owner: FREEDOM BROADCASTING OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND, INC.)

6; NEW BEDFORD, MA; FREEDOM BROADCASTING OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND, INC.) WJAR (Channel 10; PROVIDENCE, RI; Owner: OUTLET BROADCASTING, INC.)

National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

6 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 26ft / 7.7m Total length

Total length $5,175,000 Total costs

Total costs 10,979 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 450 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 22,742 Total future (year 2031) average daily traffic

FCC Registered Antenna Towers: 61 (

FCC Registered Broadcast Land Mobile Towers: 12 (



FCC Registered Microwave Towers: 3 BOS1115, 1666 Main St. ( Lat: 42.255194 Lon: -71.936972), Type: Pole, Structure height: 36.6 m, Overall height: 39 m, Call Sign: WQFL224, Licensee ID: L01728370,

Assigned Frequencies: 11325.0 MHz, 11405.0 MHz, 21875.0 MHz, 19380.0 MHz, Grant Date: 08/08/2006, Expiration Date: 08/08/2016, Cancellation Date: 09/09/2013, Certifier: Joseph M Sandri Jr., Registrant: Fibertower Network Services, Corp., Debtor-In-Possession, 1875 Eye Street, Nw, 5th Floor, Room 505, Washington, DC 20006, Phone: (202) 223-1028, Email:

42.255194 -71.936972), Pole, 36.6 m, 39 m, WQFL224, L01728370, 11325.0 MHz, 11405.0 MHz, 21875.0 MHz, 19380.0 MHz, 08/08/2006, 08/08/2016, 09/09/2013, Joseph M Sandri Jr., Fibertower Network Services, Corp., Debtor-In-Possession, 1875 Eye Street, Nw, 5th Floor, Room 505, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 223-1028, BS33XC010, 1666 Main St. ( Lat: 42.255194 Lon: -71.936972), Type: Pole, Structure height: 36.6 m, Overall height: 39 m, Call Sign: WQPU706,

Assigned Frequencies: 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, Grant Date: 08/20/2012, Expiration Date: 08/20/2022, Certifier: David Werblow, Registrant: Dla Piper LLP, 500 8th Street, Nw, Washington, DC 20004, Phone: (202) 799-4216, Fax: (202) 799-5616, Email:

42.255194 -71.936972), Pole, 36.6 m, 39 m, WQPU706, 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, 22025.0 MHz, 08/20/2012, 08/20/2022, David Werblow, Dla Piper LLP, 500 8th Street, Nw, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 799-4216, (202) 799-5616, 4WL0776F, 490 Stafford St. (274893) (Lat: 42.224694 Lon: -71.872444), Type: Tower, Structure height: 45.7 m, Overall height: 46 m, Call Sign: WQPW623, Licensee ID: L00127664,

Assigned Frequencies: 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, 23075.0 MHz, Grant Date: 08/31/2012, Expiration Date: 08/31/2022, Certifier: Dan Menser, Registrant: T-Mobile License LLC, 12920 Se 38th Street, Bellevue, WA 98006, Phone: (425) 383-8401, Fax: (425) 383-4040, Email:

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 35 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 5 Aircraft: CESSNA 172M ( Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 108 mph), Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (4 Cycle)

N-Number: 12694, N12694, N-12694, Serial Number: 17262183, Year manufactured: 1973, Airworthiness Date: 08/31/1973, Certificate Issue Date: 10/06/1988

Registrant (Individual): James P Dicentes, 1 Golden Rd, Leicester, MA 01524

CESSNA 172M ( Land, 4, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 108 mph), LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (4 Cycle) 12694, N12694, N-12694, 17262183, 1973, 08/31/1973, 10/06/1988 James P Dicentes, 1 Golden Rd, Leicester, MA 01524 Aircraft: BEECH V35B ( Category: Land, Seats: 6, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 150 mph), Engine: Reciprocating

N-Number: 18470, N18470, N-18470, Serial Number: D-10065, Year manufactured: 1977, Airworthiness Date: 09/19/1977, Certificate Issue Date: 05/24/2002

Registrant (Individual): Charles W Entwistle, 790 Main St, Leicester, MA 01524

BEECH V35B ( Land, 6, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 150 mph), Reciprocating 18470, N18470, N-18470, D-10065, 1977, 09/19/1977, 05/24/2002 Charles W Entwistle, 790 Main St, Leicester, MA 01524 Aircraft: BEECH C23 ( Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 116 mph), Engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 2252L, N2252L, N-2252L, Serial Number: M-1897, Year manufactured: 1977, Airworthiness Date: 02/28/1977, Certificate Issue Date: 03/09/2017

Registrant (Individual): David B Jr Eaton, 369 Pleasant St, Leicester, MA 01524

BEECH C23 ( Land, 4, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 116 mph), LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 2252L, N2252L, N-2252L, M-1897, 1977, 02/28/1977, 03/09/2017 David B Jr Eaton, 369 Pleasant St, Leicester, MA 01524 Aircraft: HPH LTD GLASFLUGEL 304CZ ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG (None)

N-Number: 304CZ, N304CZ, N-304CZ, Serial Number: 3, Year manufactured: 1998, Airworthiness Date: 07/30/1998, Certificate Issue Date: 10/14/2020

Registrant (Co-Owned): Fred J Looft, 12 Baldwin St, Leicester, MA 01524, Other Owners: Peter March

HPH LTD GLASFLUGEL 304CZ ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds), AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG (None) 304CZ, N304CZ, N-304CZ, 3, 1998, 07/30/1998, 10/14/2020 Fred J Looft, 12 Baldwin St, Leicester, MA 01524, Peter March Aircraft: BEECH 35-C33 (Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 138 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR I0-470 SERIES (260 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 3721Q, N3721Q, N-3721Q, Serial Number: CD-1067, Airworthiness Date: 12/21/1966, Certificate Issue Date: 07/11/2019

Registrant (Individual): Peter J Cotter, 51 Hemlock St, Leicester, MA 01524

Deregistered: Cancel Date: 08/13/2018

61 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Antenna Towers in Leicester 12 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Broadcast Land Mobile Towers in Leicester, MA 35 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Leicester

2002 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents Based on the data from the years 2002 - 2018 the average number of fires per year is 35. The highest number of fire incidents - 48 took place in 2006, and the least - 19 in 2011. The data has a declining trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Leicester, MA



312 53.0% Structure Fires



173 29.4% Outside Fires



62 10.5% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires



42 7.1% Other When looking into fire subcategories, the most reports belonged to: Structure Fires (53.0%), and Outside Fires (29.4%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Leicester, MA

Houses and condos Apartments 84.9% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

9.6% Electricity

2.4% Wood

2.3% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

0.9% Utility gas 44.8% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

40.2% Electricity

8.2% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

5.9% Utility gas

0.9% Coal or coke





Leicester compared to Massachusetts state average: Median house value below state average.

below Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Renting percentage below state average.

below Length of stay since moving in significantly above state average.

significantly above Number of rooms per house significantly below state average.

significantly below House age significantly below state average.

significantly below Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher below state average.

Leicester on our top lists: #26 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: occupational and physical therapist assistants and aides (population 5,000+)"

#30 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: book stores and news dealers (population 5,000+)"

#38 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in industries: personal and laundry services (population 5,000+)"

#40 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in industries: drugs, sundries, and chemical and allied products merchant wholesalers (population 5,000+)"

#43 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in industries: miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers (population 5,000+)"

#51 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: motor vehicle operators except bus and truck drivers (population 5,000+)"

#59 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers (population 5,000+)"

#65 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in industries: paper and paper products merchant wholesalers (population 5,000+)"

#68 on the list of "Top 101 cities with the largest percentage of people in residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (population 1,000+)"

#69 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: computer specialists (population 5,000+)"

#71 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: therapists (population 5,000+)"

#73 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: metal workers and plastic workers (population 5,000+)"

#78 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: pharmacies and drug stores (population 5,000+)"

#85 on the list of "Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: electricians (population 5,000+)" #26 (01524) on the list of "Top 101 zip codes with the largest percentage of Lithuanian first ancestries (pop 5,000+)" #4 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest carbon monoxide air pollution readings in 2012 (ppm)"

#5 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the most Catholic congregations"

#12 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest surface withdrawal of fresh water for public supply"

#16 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest total withdrawal of fresh water for public supply"

#23 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest Sulfur Oxides Annual air pollution readings in 2012 (g/m3)"

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Medway, Maine

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Population in 2010: 1,349.

Population change since 2000: -9.4%

1,349.-9.4%

Males: 670 (49.7%) Females: 679 (50.3%)

Median resident age: 47.8 years Maine median age: 43.0 years

Zip codes: 04460.

Estimated median household income in 2019: $49,525 (it was $33,646 in 2000)

Medway: $49,525 ME: $58,924

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $25,934 (it was $15,264 in 2000)



Medway town income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $98,680 (it was $49,500 in 2000) Medway: $98,680 ME: $200,500

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $170,506; detached houses: $186,641; townhouses or other attached units: $165,470; in 2-unit structures: $188,869; in 3-to-4-unit structures: $447,223; in 5-or-more-unit structures: $287,906; mobile homes: $67,592; occupied boats, rvs, vans, etc.: $26,279 $49,525 ($33,646$25,934 ($15,264$98,680 ($49,500$170,506;$186,641;$165,470;$188,869;$447,223;$287,906;$67,592;$26,279

March 2019 cost of living index in Medway: 87.9 (less than average, U.S. average is 100)

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1,331 98.7% White alone 5 0.4% American Indian alone 5 0.4% Two or more races 4 0.3% Asian alone 3 0.2% Hispanic 1 0.07% Black alone

Races in Medway detailed stats: ancestries, foreign born residents, place of birth





According to our research of Maine and other state lists, there were 3 registered sex offenders living in Medway, Maine as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Medway is 450 to 1.

The ratio of registered sex offenders to all residents in this city is near the state average.







Latest news from Medway, ME collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations

Ancestries: United States (23.3%), French (18.0%), English (16.1%), Irish (13.6%), French Canadian (4.3%), Scotch-Irish (2.9%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Elevation: 296 feet

Land area: 41.0 square miles. Population density: 33 people per square mile (very low).

22 residents are foreign born This town: 1.5% Maine: 2.9%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units in 2000: Medway town: 2.1% ($1,022) Maine: 1.5% ($1,417)

Latitude: 45.60 N, Longitude: 68.52 W

Area code commonly used in this area: 207

Single-family new house construction building permits: 1999: 1 building , cost: $48,000

1 $48,000 2000: 1 building , cost: $48,000

1 $48,000 2001: 1 building , cost: $48,000

1 $48,000 2002: 1 building , cost: $48,000

1 $48,000 2003: 1 building , cost: $48,000

1 $48,000 2004: 3 buildings , average cost: $50,000

3 $50,000 2005: 3 buildings , average cost: $50,000

3 $50,000 2006: 7 buildings , average cost: $52,900

7 $52,900 2007: 6 buildings , average cost: $52,900

6 $52,900 2009: 3 buildings , average cost: $86,700

3 $86,700 2010: 1 building , cost: $75,000

1 $75,000 2013: 5 buildings , average cost: $59,000

5 $59,000 2014: 7 buildings , average cost: $59,000

7 $59,000 2015: 1 building , cost: $142,000

1 $142,000 2017: 2 buildings , average cost: $142,500

2 $142,500 2018: 3 buildings , average cost: $142,500

3 $142,500 2019: 3 buildings, average cost: $142,500

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 5.5% Maine: 4.7%

Most common industries in Medway, ME (%) Both Males Females

Paper (29.4%)

Health care (8.4%)

Construction (7.9%)

Educational services (6.9%)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (6.1%)

Accommodation & food services (5.3%)

Food & beverage stores (4.4%)

Paper (46.6%)

Construction (11.7%)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (7.6%)

Truck transportation (4.1%)

Repair & maintenance (3.5%)

Wood products (2.7%)

Administrative & support & waste management services (2.2%)

Health care (20.5%)

Educational services (15.1%)

Accommodation & food services (11.3%)

Food & beverage stores (9.6%)

Social assistance (6.3%)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (3.8%)

Department & other general merchandise stores (3.3%) Most common occupations in Medway, ME (%) Both Males Females

Other production occupations, including supervisors (11.8%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (4.9%)

Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers, including supervisors (4.3%)

Supervisors and other personal care and service workers, except child care workers (3.9%)

Cooks and food preparation workers (3.8%)

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides (3.6%)

Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers (3.6%)

Other production occupations, including supervisors (19.0%)

Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers, including supervisors (7.0%)

Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers (6.0%)

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers (5.7%)

Fishing, hunting, and forestry occupations (5.1%)

Other material moving workers, except laborers (4.6%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (4.1%)

Supervisors and other personal care and service workers, except child care workers (8.8%)

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides (8.4%)

Cooks and food preparation workers (7.5%)

Cashiers (7.1%)

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (6.7%)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (6.3%)

Preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers (5.4%)

Average climate in Medway, Maine Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Earthquake activity: Medway-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Maine state average. It is 83% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.3 (5.3 ML, Depth: 3.0 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 263.8 miles away from Medway center

On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.2 (5.2 MB, 4.2 MS, 5.2 MW, 5.0 MW) earthquake occurred 265.3 miles away from the city center

On 10/16/2012 at 23:12:25, a magnitude 4.7 (4.7 ML, Depth: 10.0 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 174.0 miles away from Medway center

On 10/7/1983 at 10:18:46, a magnitude 5.3 (5.1 MB, 5.3 LG, 5.1 ML) earthquake occurred 307.6 miles away from Medway center

On 1/19/1982 at 00:14:42, a magnitude 4.7 (4.5 MB, 4.7 MD, 4.5 LG) earthquake occurred 210.1 miles away from the city center

On 9/16/1994 at 04:22:42, a magnitude 3.6 (3.6 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: II - III) earthquake occurred 25.2 miles away from Medway center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), duration magnitude (MD), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Penobscot County (19) is greater than the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 11

Emergencies Declared: 7



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 9, Storms: 8, Snows: 5, Heavy Rains: 2, Blizzard: 1, Hurricane: 1, Ice Storm: 1, Snowfall: 1, Wind: 1, Winter Storm: 1, Other: 2 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Medway: KATAHDIN NURSING HOME (Nursing Home, about 9 miles away; MILLINOCKET, ME)

MILLINOCKET REGIONAL HOSPITAL Critical Access Hospitals (about 10 miles away; MILLINOCKET, ME)

Local government website: MEDWAY.ORG

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Medway: University of Maine ( about 50 miles; Orono, ME ; Full-time enrollment: 8,931)

50 ; 8,931) Husson University ( about 56 miles; Bangor, ME ; FT enrollment: 2,421)

56 ; 2,421) University of Maine at Farmington ( about 103 miles; Farmington, ME ; FT enrollment: 2,036)

103 ; 2,036) University of Maine at Augusta ( about 108 miles; Augusta, ME ; FT enrollment: 3,204)

108 ; 3,204) Saint Joseph's College of Maine ( about 157 miles; Standish, ME ; FT enrollment: 2,010)

157 ; 2,010) Southern Maine Community College ( about 160 miles; South Portland, ME ; FT enrollment: 4,666)

160 ; 4,666) University of Southern Maine (about 160 miles; Portland, ME; FT enrollment: 6,647) Public elementary/middle school in Medway: MEDWAY MIDDLE SCHOOL (Location: 25 MIDDLE SCHOOL DRIVE, Grades: 5-8) See full list of schools located in Medway

Penobscot County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Highest Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Medway and their reported violations in the past: COUNTRY DINER (Population served: 270, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In MAY-2010, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (MAY-27-2010), St Formal NOV issued (MAY-27-2010), St Compliance achieved (AUG-26-2011), St Public Notif received (MAR-26-2012) Past monitoring violations: 4 routine major monitoring violations

One regular monitoring violation PEGGYS BAR & GRILL (Population served: 96, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JUL-2010 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (AUG-10-2010) , St Formal NOV issued (AUG-10-2010) , St Compliance achieved (AUG-31-2010) , St Public Notif received (JUN-05-2014) , St Site Visit (enforcement) (JUN-05-2014)

JUL-2010 Coliform St Public Notif requested (AUG-10-2010) St Formal NOV issued (AUG-10-2010) St Compliance achieved (AUG-31-2010) St Public Notif received (JUN-05-2014) St Site Visit (enforcement) (JUN-05-2014) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In OCT-2007 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Formal NOV issued (OCT-09-2007) , St Public Notif requested (OCT-09-2007) , St Public Notif received (NOV-01-2007) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-08-2011) , St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011)

OCT-2007 Coliform St Formal NOV issued (OCT-09-2007) St Public Notif requested (OCT-09-2007) St Public Notif received (NOV-01-2007) St Compliance achieved (SEP-08-2011) St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JAN-2007, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (JAN-25-2007), St Public Notif requested (JAN-25-2007), St Compliance achieved (DEC-28-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-05-2014), St Site Visit (enforcement) (JUN-05-2014) Past monitoring violations: 13 routine major monitoring violations

One regular monitoring violation GATEWAY INN (Population served: 76, Groundwater): Past health violations: MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In FEB-2007 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (FEB-16-2007) , St Public Notif requested (FEB-16-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) , St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) , St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-09-2011)

FEB-2007 Coliform St Violation/Reminder Notice (FEB-16-2007) St Public Notif requested (FEB-16-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011) St Compliance achieved (SEP-09-2011) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In JAN-2007 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (FEB-07-2007) , St Public Notif requested (FEB-07-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) , St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-07-2011) , St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011)

JAN-2007 Coliform St Violation/Reminder Notice (FEB-07-2007) St Public Notif requested (FEB-07-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) St Compliance achieved (SEP-07-2011) St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In NOV-2006 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-16-2006) , St Public Notif requested (NOV-16-2006) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) , St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) , St Compliance achieved (SEP-07-2011) , St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011)

NOV-2006 Coliform St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-16-2006) St Public Notif requested (NOV-16-2006) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) St Compliance achieved (SEP-07-2011) St Intentional no-action (SEP-09-2011) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In NOV-2005 , Contaminant: Coliform . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (DEC-08-2005) , St Violation/Reminder Notice (DEC-08-2005) , St Compliance achieved (JUN-20-2006) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) , St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) , St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008)

NOV-2005 Coliform St Public Notif requested (DEC-08-2005) St Violation/Reminder Notice (DEC-08-2005) St Compliance achieved (JUN-20-2006) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007) St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007) St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) MCL, Monthly (TCR) - In OCT-2005, Contaminant: Coliform. Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (NOV-04-2005), St Public Notif requested (NOV-04-2005), St Compliance achieved (JUN-20-2006), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008) Past monitoring violations: Monitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) - In APR-2007 , Contaminant: Coliform (TCR) . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (MAY-02-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (MAY-02-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011)

APR-2007 Coliform (TCR) St Public Notif requested (MAY-02-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (MAY-02-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011) Monitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) - In MAR-2007 , Contaminant: Coliform (TCR) . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (APR-11-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (APR-11-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011)

MAR-2007 Coliform (TCR) St Public Notif requested (APR-11-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (APR-11-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011) Monitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) - In DEC-2006 , Contaminant: Coliform (TCR) . Follow-up actions: St Public Notif requested (JAN-11-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (JAN-11-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011)

DEC-2006 Coliform (TCR) St Public Notif requested (JAN-11-2007), St Violation/Reminder Notice (JAN-11-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (MAY-31-2007), St Public Notif received (JUN-13-2007), St AO (w/o penalty) issued (DEC-19-2008), St Compliance achieved (AUG-17-2011) 4 routine major monitoring violations

One minor monitoring violation THE SCOTTS COMPANY (Population served: 31, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: 4 routine major monitoring violations Drinking water stations with addresses in Medway that have no violations reported: KATAHDIN SHADOWS CMPGRD (Population served: 250, Primary Water Source Type: Groundwater) COUNTRY DINER (270Groundwater):PEGGYS BAR & GRILL (96Groundwater):GATEWAY INN (76Groundwater):THE SCOTTS COMPANY (31Groundwater):

Average household size: This town: 2.3 people Maine: 2.3 people

Percentage of family households: This town: 69.4% Whole state: 62.9%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This town: 8.7% Whole state: 9.4%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 0.2% of all households

0.2% Gay men: 0.5% of all households Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 11.5% Whole state: 10.9% Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:

This town: 5.9% Whole state: 4.1%

For population 15 years and over in Medway: Never married: 19.3%

19.3% Now married: 63.6%

63.6% Separated: 1.3%

1.3% Widowed: 4.8%

4.8% Divorced: 11.1%

For population 25 years and over in Medway: High school or higher: 78.6%

78.6% Bachelor's degree or higher: 6.8%

6.8% Graduate or professional degree: 1.4%

1.4% Unemployed: 5.6%

5.6% Mean travel time to work (commute): 19.1 minutes

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 8.7 Maine average: 11.2



Religion statistics for Medway, ME (based on Penobscot County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Catholic 16,581 15 Mainline Protestant 9,715 59 Evangelical Protestant 7,523 80 Other 2,936 22 Orthodox 300 1 None 116,868 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 34 Here : 2.29 / 10,000 pop. Maine : 2.80 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 2 Penobscot County : 0.13 / 10,000 pop. State : 0.14 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 38 Here : 2.56 / 10,000 pop. State : 2.20 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 85 This county : 5.72 / 10,000 pop. State : 5.75 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 110 This county : 7.41 / 10,000 pop. State : 11.02 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: Here : 9.0% Maine : 8.2% Adult obesity rate: Penobscot County : 28.0% State : 25.0%

4.70% of this county's 2016 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2015 ($42,368 average adjusted gross income) Here: 4.70% Maine average: 5.91% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved from foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties from which taxpayers relocated into this county between 2015 and 2016:

from Hancock County, ME 0.46% ($39,233 average AGI) from Somerset County, ME 0.31% ($32,551) from Waldo County, ME 0.30% ($35,315)



5.36% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($47,844 average adjusted gross income) Here: 5.36% Maine average: 5.73% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved to foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Cumberland County, ME 0.52% ($78,156 average AGI) to Hancock County, ME 0.43% ($64,636) to Waldo County, ME 0.35% ($39,428)

Businesses in Medway, ME Circle K: 1

1 U-Haul: 1

Strongest AM radio stations in Medway: WSYY (1240 AM; 1 kW; MILLINOCKET, ME; Owner: KATAHDIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

KATAHDIN BROADCASTING, INC.) WZON (620 AM; 5 kW; BANGOR, ME; Owner: THE ZONE CORPORATION)

THE ZONE CORPORATION) WREM (710 AM; daytime; 5 kW; MONTICELLO, ME; Owner: ALLAN H WEINER)

ALLAN H WEINER) WABI (910 AM; 5 kW; BANGOR, ME; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WSKW (1160 AM; 10 kW; SKOWHEGAN, ME; Owner: MOUNTAIN WIRELESS, INCORPORATED)

MOUNTAIN WIRELESS, INCORPORATED) WRKO (680 AM; 50 kW; BOSTON, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WFST (600 AM; 5 kW; CARIBOU, ME; Owner: NORTHERN BROADCAST MINISTRIES, INC.)

NORTHERN BROADCAST MINISTRIES, INC.) WTME (780 AM; 10 kW; RUMFORD, ME; Owner: MOUNTAIN VALLEY BROADCASTING, INC.)

MOUNTAIN VALLEY BROADCASTING, INC.) WEEI (850 AM; 50 kW; BOSTON, MA; Owner: ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC)

ENTERCOM BOSTON LICENSE, LLC) WCHP (760 AM; 35 kW; CHAMPLAIN, NY; Owner: CHAMPLAIN RADIO, INC.)

CHAMPLAIN RADIO, INC.) WNNZ (640 AM; 50 kW; WESTFIELD, MA; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WBZ (1030 AM; 50 kW; BOSTON, MA; Owner: INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.)

INFINITY BROADCASTING OPERATIONS, INC.) WCRN (830 AM; 50 kW; WORCESTER, MA; Owner: CARTER BROADCASTING CORPORATION) Strongest FM radio stations in Medway: WSYY-FM (94.9 FM; MILLINOCKET, ME; Owner: KATAHDIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

KATAHDIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WVOM (103.9 FM; HOWLAND, ME; Owner: CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.)

CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC.) WHCF (88.5 FM; BANGOR, ME; Owner: BANGOR BAPTIST CHURCH)

BANGOR BAPTIST CHURCH) WHMX (105.7 FM; LINCOLN, ME; Owner: BANGOR BAPTIST CHURCH) TV broadcast stations around Medway: W34CN (Channel 34; MEDWAY, ME; Owner: TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK)

Medway, Maine

Fatal accident count 10

Vehicles involved in fatal accidents 14

Fatal accidents involving drunk persons: 3

Fatalities 10

Persons involved in fatal accidents 21

Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents 1 Maine average

Fatal accident count 1543

Vehicles involved in fatal accidents 2223

Fatal accidents involving drunk persons 553

Fatalities 1683

Persons involved in fatal accidents 3501

Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents 196 See more detailed statistics of Medway fatal car crashes and road traffic accidents for 1975 - 2019 here

National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

12 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 400ft / 122m Total length

Total length 30,086 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 1,501 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 42,662 Total future (year 2036) average daily traffic

New bridges - historical statistics

1 1930-1939

6 1960-1969

1 1970-1979

2 1990-1999

2 2000-2009 See full National Bridge Inventory statistics for Medway, ME

FCC Registered Cell Phone Towers: 1 (

FCC Registered Antenna Towers: 16 (



FCC Registered Broadcast Land Mobile Towers: 2 2.5 Miles South ( Lat: 45.574028 Lon: -68.519889), Type: Gtower, Structure height: 54.9 m, Overall height: 60.4 m, Call Sign: WNYQ783,

Assigned Frequencies: 464.850 MHz, Grant Date: 11/15/2017, Expiration Date: 02/11/2028, Registrant: Atlantic Communications, Inc., 40 Freedom Parkway, Hermon, Maine 04401, Bangor, ME 04402-0596, Phone: (207) 848-7590, Fax: (207) 974-3151, Email:

45.574028 -68.519889), Gtower, 54.9 m, 60.4 m, WNYQ783, 464.850 MHz, 11/15/2017, 02/11/2028, Atlantic Communications, Inc., 40 Freedom Parkway, Hermon, Maine 04401, Bangor, ME 04402-0596, (207) 848-7590, (207) 974-3151, 2.5 Mi S (Lat: 45.573667 Lon: -68.518917), Call Sign: KNDR342, Licensee ID: L00057935,

Assigned Frequencies: 154.625 MHz, Grant Date: 06/13/1997, Expiration Date: 09/01/2002, Cancellation Date: 01/12/2003, Registrant: Thompsons Forestry Products Inc, Lincoln, ME 04457, Phone: (207) 794-6101

FCC Registered Microwave Towers: 4 STATION, 3.5 Mi From Jct Of Rt 116 And 157 ( Lat: 45.573639 Lon: -68.518917), Overall height: 96 m, Call Sign: WNTB388,

Assigned Frequencies: 2189.60 MHz, 6182.40 MHz, 6241.70 MHz, Grant Date: 06/13/1995, Expiration Date: 06/13/2000, Cancellation Date: 09/24/2000, Phone: (207) 848-4242

45.573639 -68.518917), 96 m, WNTB388, 2189.60 MHz, 6182.40 MHz, 6241.70 MHz, 06/13/1995, 06/13/2000, 09/24/2000, (207) 848-4242 MEDWAY, 2.5 Mi S ( Lat: 45.573611 Lon: -68.518889), Type: Tower, Structure height: 96 m, Call Sign: WQKH687,

Assigned Frequencies: 942.775 MHz, Grant Date: 04/24/2019, Expiration Date: 05/22/2029, Certifier: Tom Robertson, Registrant: Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., 11921 Rockville Pike, 3rd Floor, Rockville, MD 20852, Phone: (301) 255-0553, Fax: (301) 230-2891

45.573611 -68.518889), Tower, 96 m, WQKH687, 942.775 MHz, 04/24/2019, 05/22/2029, Tom Robertson, Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., 11921 Rockville Pike, 3rd Floor, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 255-0553, (301) 230-2891 Medway, 2.5 Mi S ( Lat: 45.573611 Lon: -68.518889), Type: Gtower, Structure height: 96 m, Call Sign: WQTU420,

Assigned Frequencies: 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz... (+26 more), Grant Date: 04/15/2014, Expiration Date: 04/15/2024, Cancellation Date: 03/13/2019, Certifier: Jessica B Lyons, Registrant: At&t Mobility LLC, 1120 20th Street, Nw, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, Phone: (202) 457-2055, Email:

45.573611 -68.518889), Gtower, 96 m, WQTU420, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz, 10775.0 MHz... (+26 more), 04/15/2014, 04/15/2024, 03/13/2019, Jessica B Lyons, At&t Mobility LLC, 1120 20th Street, Nw, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 457-2055, Medway, Turnpike Rd (Lat: 45.573556 Lon: -68.521528), Type: Ltower, Structure height: 58.2 m, Overall height: 58.4 m, Call Sign: WQXT470,

Assigned Frequencies: 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10735.0 MHz, 10815.0 MHz... (+8 more), Grant Date: 06/03/2016, Expiration Date: 06/03/2026, Cancellation Date: 10/22/2020, Certifier: Jessica B Lyons, Registrant: At&t Services, Inc., 208 S. Akard St., Room 2100, Dallas, TX 75202, Phone: (855) 699-7073, Email:

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 10 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 4 Aircraft: BELLANCA 7GCBC ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 11689, N11689, N-11689, Serial Number: 354-72, Airworthiness Date: 05/19/1972, Certificate Issue Date: 09/20/2018

Registrant (Individual): Jay Mclaughlin, Po Box 637, Medway, ME 04460

BELLANCA 7GCBC ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 90 mph), LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 11689, N11689, N-11689, 354-72, 05/19/1972, 09/20/2018 Jay Mclaughlin, Po Box 637, Medway, ME 04460 Aircraft: PALMER WADE CUB ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 121WP, N121WP, N-121WP, Serial Number: 1382, Airworthiness Date: 06/09/2005, Certificate Issue Date: 09/03/2019

Registrant (Individual): Robert W Finlay, 24 Sunrise Ct, Medway, ME 04460

PALMER WADE CUB ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds), LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 121WP, N121WP, N-121WP, 1382, 06/09/2005, 09/03/2019 Robert W Finlay, 24 Sunrise Ct, Medway, ME 04460 Aircraft: TAYLORCRAFT BF ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 78 mph), Engine: FRANKLIN 4AC150-50 (50 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 21222, N21222, N-21222, Serial Number: 1012, Year manufactured: 1938, Airworthiness Date: 03/26/1956, Certificate Issue Date: 01/17/2020

Registrant (Individual): Timothy J Cole, 304 Turnpike Rd, Medway, ME 04460

TAYLORCRAFT BF ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 78 mph), FRANKLIN 4AC150-50 (50 HP) (Reciprocating) 21222, N21222, N-21222, 1012, 1938, 03/26/1956, 01/17/2020 Timothy J Cole, 304 Turnpike Rd, Medway, ME 04460 Aircraft: CESSNA 172E (Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 105 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR 0-300 SER (145 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 7789U, N7789U, N-7789U, Serial Number: 17251789, Year manufactured: 1964, Airworthiness Date: 06/30/1964, Certificate Issue Date: 08/26/2016

Registrant (Individual): David A Violette, Po Box 606, Medway, ME 04460

1 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Cell Phone Towers in Medway 16 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Antenna Towers 10 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Medway

2003 - 2018 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) incidents According to the data from the years 2003 - 2018 the average number of fire incidents per year is 9. The highest number of reported fires - 21 took place in 2007, and the least - 0 in 2004. The data has a decreasing trend.



Fire incident types reported to NFIRS in Medway, ME



57 39.0% Structure Fires



39 26.7% Outside Fires



29 19.9% Other



21 14.4% Mobile Property/Vehicle Fires When looking into fire subcategories, the most reports belonged to: Structure Fires (39.0%), and Outside Fires (26.7%). See full National Fire Incident Reporting System statistics for Medway, ME

Houses and condos Apartments 85.7% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

12.8% Wood

0.8% Bottled, tank, or LP gas

0.8% Electricity 88.5% Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.

11.5% Electricity





Medway compared to Maine state average: Median house value below state average.

below Unemployed percentage below state average.

below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Median age above state average.

above Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Renting percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Length of stay since moving in significantly above state average.

significantly above Number of rooms per house significantly below state average.

significantly below House age significantly below state average.

significantly below Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly below state average.




Millerton, Pennsylvania

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Population in 2010: 316.

Males: 153 (48.7%) Females: 163 (51.3%)

Median resident age: 51.6 years Pennsylvania median age: 40.8 years

Zip codes: 16936.

Estimated median household income in 2019: $52,753

Millerton: $52,753 PA: $63,463

Estimated per capita income in 2019: $27,413



Millerton CDP income, earnings, and wages data



Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $151,878 Millerton: $151,878 PA: $192,600

Mean prices in 2019: all housing units: $119,713; detached houses: $116,616 $52,753$27,413$151,878$119,713;$116,616

Median gross rent in 2019: $557.

March 2019 cost of living index in Millerton: 92.8 (less than average, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2019: 7.7%

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Most recent value % change since 2k Data: Median household income ($) Median household income (% change since 2000) Household income diversity Ratio of average income to average house value (%) Ratio of average income to average rent Median household income ($) - White Median household income ($) - Black or African American Median household income ($) - Asian Median household income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median household income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median household income ($) - Multirace Median household income ($) - Other Race Median household income for houses/condos with a mortgage ($) Median household income for apartments without a mortgage ($) Races - White alone (%) Races - White alone (% change since 2000) Races - Black alone (%) Races - Black alone (% change since 2000) Races - American Indian alone (%) Races - American Indian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Asian alone (%) Races - Asian alone (% change since 2000) Races - Hispanic (%) Races - Hispanic (% change since 2000) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (%) Races - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (% change since 2000) Races - Two or more races (%) Races - Two or more races (% change since 2000) Races - Other race alone (%) Races - Other race alone (% change since 2000) Racial diversity Unemployment (%) Unemployment (% change since 2000) Unemployment (%) - White Unemployment (%) - Black or African American Unemployment (%) - Asian Unemployment (%) - Hispanic or Latino Unemployment (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Unemployment (%) - Multirace Unemployment (%) - Other Race Population density (people per square mile) Population - Males (%) Population - Females (%) Population - Males (%) - White Population - Males (%) - Black or African American Population - Males (%) - Asian Population - Males (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Males (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Males (%) - Multirace Population - Males (%) - Other Race Population - Females (%) - White Population - Females (%) - Black or African American Population - Females (%) - Asian Population - Females (%) - Hispanic or Latino Population - Females (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Population - Females (%) - Multirace Population - Females (%) - Other Race Coronavirus confirmed cases (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (Nov 21, 2021) Coronavirus confirmed cases (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Deaths caused by coronavirus (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) Daily increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Weekly increase in number of cases (Nov 21, 2021) Cases doubled (in days) (Nov 21, 2021) Hospitalized patients (Nov 21, 2021) Negative test results (Nov 21, 2021) Total test results (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (per 100k population) (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses distributed (Nov 21, 2021) COVID Vaccine doses administered (Nov 21, 2021) Likely homosexual households (%) Likely homosexual households (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (%) Likely homosexual households - Lesbian couples (% change since 2000) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (%) Likely homosexual households - Gay men (% change since 2000) Cost of living index Median gross rent ($) Median contract rent ($) Median monthly housing costs ($) Median house or condo value ($) Median house or condo value ($ change since 2000) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, detached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 1, attached ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 2 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure by units in structure - 3 or 4 ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - 5 or more ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Boat, RV, van, etc. ($) Mean house or condo value by units in structure - Mobile home ($) Median house or condo value ($) - White Median house or condo value ($) - Black or African American Median house or condo value ($) - Asian Median house or condo value ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median house or condo value ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median house or condo value ($) - Multirace Median house or condo value ($) - Other Race Median resident age Resident age diversity Median resident age - Males Median resident age - Females Median resident age - White Median resident age - Black or African American Median resident age - Asian Median resident age - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Multirace Median resident age - Other Race Median resident age - Males - White Median resident age - Males - Black or African American Median resident age - Males - Asian Median resident age - Males - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Males - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Males - Multirace Median resident age - Males - Other Race Median resident age - Females - White Median resident age - Females - Black or African American Median resident age - Females - Asian Median resident age - Females - Hispanic or Latino Median resident age - Females - American Indian and Alaska Native Median resident age - Females - Multirace Median resident age - Females - Other Race Commute - mean travel time to work (minutes) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (%) Travel time to work - Less than 5 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 5 to 9 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 10 to 19 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 20 to 29 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 30 to 39 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 40 to 59 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (%) Travel time to work - 60 to 89 minutes (% change since 2000) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (%) Travel time to work - 90 or more minutes (% change since 2000) Marital status - Never married (%) Marital status - Now married (%) Marital status - Separated (%) Marital status - Widowed (%) Marital status - Divorced (%) Median family income ($) Median family income (% change since 2000) Median non-family income ($) Median non-family income (% change since 2000) Median per capita income ($) Median per capita income (% change since 2000) Median family income ($) - White Median family income ($) - Black or African American Median family income ($) - Asian Median family income ($) - Hispanic or Latino Median family income ($) - American Indian and Alaska Native Median family income ($) - Multirace Median family income ($) - Other Race Median year house/condo built Median year apartment built Year house built - Built 2005 or later (%) Year house built - Built 2000 to 2004 (%) Year house built - Built 1990 to 1999 (%) Year house built - Built 1980 to 1989 (%) Year house built - Built 1970 to 1979 (%) Year house built - Built 1960 to 1969 (%) Year house built - Built 1950 to 1959 (%) Year house built - Built 1940 to 1949 (%) Year house built - Built 1939 or earlier (%) Average household size Household density (households per square mile) Average household size - White Average household size - Black or African American Average household size - Asian Average household size - Hispanic or Latino Average household size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average household size - Multirace Average household size - Other Race Occupied housing units (%) Vacant housing units (%) Owner occupied housing units (%) Renter occupied housing units (%) Vacancy status - For rent (%) Vacancy status - For sale only (%) Vacancy status - Rented or sold, not occupied (%) Vacancy status - For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use (%) Vacancy status - For migrant workers (%) Vacancy status - Other vacant (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level (%) Children below poverty level (%) Poor families by family type - Married-couple family (%) Poor families by family type - Male, no wife present (%) Poor families by family type - Female, no husband present (%) Poverty status for native-born residents (%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents (%) Poverty among high school graduates not in families (%) Poverty among people who did not graduate high school not in families (%) Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - White Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Black or African American Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Asian Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Hispanic or Latino Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - American Indian and Alaska Native Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Multirace Residents with income below the poverty level (%) - Other Race Air pollution - Air Quality Index (AQI) Air pollution - CO Air pollution - NO2 Air pollution - SO2 Air pollution - Ozone Air pollution - PM10 Air pollution - PM25 Air pollution - Pb Crime - Murders per 100,000 population Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population Crime - Arson per 100,000 population Crime - City-data.com crime index Crime - Violent crime index Crime - Property crime index Crime - Murders per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Rapes per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Robberies per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Assaults per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Burglaries per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Auto thefts per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - Arson per 100,000 population (5 year average) Crime - City-data.com crime index (5 year average) Crime - Violent crime index (5 year average) Crime - Property crime index (5 year average) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Dole) 1996 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Gore) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2000 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Kerry) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Bush) 2004 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (McCain) 2008 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Obama) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Romney) 2012 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Clinton) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2016 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Democratic Party (Biden) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Republican Party (Trump) 2020 Presidential Elections Results (%) - Other Ancestries Reported - Arab (%) Ancestries Reported - Czech (%) Ancestries Reported - Danish (%) Ancestries Reported - Dutch (%) Ancestries Reported - English (%) Ancestries Reported - French (%) Ancestries Reported - French Canadian (%) Ancestries Reported - German (%) Ancestries Reported - Greek (%) Ancestries Reported - Hungarian (%) Ancestries Reported - Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Italian (%) Ancestries Reported - Lithuanian (%) Ancestries Reported - Norwegian (%) Ancestries Reported - Polish (%) Ancestries Reported - Portuguese (%) Ancestries Reported - Russian (%) Ancestries Reported - Scotch-Irish (%) Ancestries Reported - Scottish (%) Ancestries Reported - Slovak (%) Ancestries Reported - Subsaharan African (%) Ancestries Reported - Swedish (%) Ancestries Reported - Swiss (%) Ancestries Reported - Ukrainian (%) Ancestries Reported - United States (%) Ancestries Reported - Welsh (%) Ancestries Reported - West Indian (%) Ancestries Reported - Other (%) Educational Attainment - No schooling completed (%) Educational Attainment - Less than high school (%) Educational Attainment - High school or equivalent (%) Educational Attainment - Less than 1 year of college (%) Educational Attainment - 1 or more years of college (%) Educational Attainment - Associate degree (%) Educational Attainment - Bachelor's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Master's degree (%) Educational Attainment - Professional school degree (%) Educational Attainment - Doctorate degree (%) School Enrollment - Nursery, preschool (%) School Enrollment - Kindergarten (%) School Enrollment - Grade 1 to 4 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 5 to 8 (%) School Enrollment - Grade 9 to 12 (%) School Enrollment - College undergrad (%) School Enrollment - Graduate or professional (%) School Enrollment - Not enrolled in school (%) School enrollment - Public schools (%) School enrollment - Private schools (%) School enrollment - Not enrolled (%) Median number of rooms in houses and condos Median number of rooms in apartments Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities (%) Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities (%) Density of houses Urban houses (%) Rural houses (%) Households with people 60 years and over (%) Households with people 65 years and over (%) Households with people 75 years and over (%) Households with one or more nonrelatives (%) Households with no nonrelatives (%) Population in households (%) Family households (%) Nonfamily households (%) Population in families (%) Family households with own children (%) Median number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in owner occupied houses Median number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Mean number of bedrooms in renter occupied houses Median number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in owner occupied houses Median number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mean number of vehichles in renter occupied houses Mortgage status - with mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with second mortgage (%) Mortgage status - with home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - with both second mortgage and home equity loan (%) Mortgage status - without a mortgage (%) Average family size Average family size - White Average family size - Black or African American Average family size - Asian Average family size - Hispanic or Latino Average family size - American Indian and Alaska Native Average family size - Multirace Average family size - Other Race Geographical mobility - Same house 1 year ago (%) Geographical mobility - Moved within same county (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different county within same state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from different state (%) Geographical mobility - Moved from abroad (%) Place of birth - Born in state of residence (%) Place of birth - Born in other state (%) Place of birth - Native, outside of US (%) Place of birth - Foreign born (%) Housing units in structures - 1, detached (%) Housing units in structures - 1, attached (%) Housing units in structures - 2 (%) Housing units in structures - 3 or 4 (%) Housing units in structures - 5 to 9 (%) Housing units in structures - 10 to 19 (%) Housing units in structures - 20 to 49 (%) Housing units in structures - 50 or more (%) Housing units in structures - Mobile home (%) Housing units in structures - Boat, RV, van, etc. (%) House/condo owner moved in on average (years ago) Renter moved in on average (years ago) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1999 to March 2000 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1995 to 1998 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1990 to 1994 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1980 to 1989 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1970 to 1979 (%) Year householder moved into unit - Moved in 1969 or earlier (%) Means of transportation to work - Drove car alone (%) Means of transportation to work - Carpooled (%) Means of transportation to work - Public transportation (%) Means of transportation to work - Bus or trolley bus (%) Means of transportation to work - Streetcar or trolley car (%) Means of transportation to work - Subway or elevated (%) Means of transportation to work - Railroad (%) Means of transportation to work - Ferryboat (%) Means of transportation to work - Taxicab (%) Means of transportation to work - Motorcycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Bicycle (%) Means of transportation to work - Walked (%) Means of transportation to work - Other means (%) Working at home (%) Industry diversity Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining (%) Most Common Industries - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (%) Most Common Industries - Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (%) Most Common Industries - Construction (%) Most Common Industries - Manufacturing (%) Most Common Industries - Wholesale trade (%) Most Common Industries - Retail trade (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Transportation and warehousing (%) Most Common Industries - Utilities (%) Most Common Industries - Information (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Finance and insurance (%) Most Common Industries - Real estate and rental and leasing (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Professional, scientific, and technical services (%) Most Common Industries - Management of companies and enterprises (%) Most Common Industries - Administrative and support and waste management services (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services, and health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Educational services (%) Most Common Industries - Health care and social assistance (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (%) Most Common Industries - Accommodation and food services (%) Most Common Industries - Other services, except public administration (%) Most Common Industries - Public administration (%) Occupation diversity Most Common Occupations - Management, business, science, and arts occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management, business, and financial occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Management occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Business and financial operations occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer, engineering, and science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Computer and mathematical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Architecture and engineering occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Life, physical, and social science occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Community and social service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Legal occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Education, training, and library occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and other technical occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Health technologists and technicians (%) Most Common Occupations - Service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Healthcare support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Protective service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Fire fighting and prevention, and other protective service workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Law enforcement workers including supervisors (%) Most Common Occupations - Food preparation and serving related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Personal care and service occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and office occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Sales and related occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Office and administrative support occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Construction and extraction occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production, transportation, and material moving occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Production occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Transportation occupations (%) Most Common Occupations - Material moving occupations (%) People in Group quarters - Institutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - Correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Federal prisons and detention centers (%) People in Group quarters - Halfway houses (%) People in Group quarters - Local jails and other confinement facilities (including police lockups) (%) People in Group quarters - Military disciplinary barracks (%) People in Group quarters - State prisons (%) People in Group quarters - Other types of correctional institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Nursing homes (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards, hospices, and schools for the handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals/wards and hospices for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospices or homes for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Military hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Other hospitals or wards for chronically ill (%) People in Group quarters - Hospitals or wards for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Mental (Psychiatric) hospitals or wards (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Schools, hospitals, or wards for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the deaf (%) People in Group quarters - Institutions for the blind (%) People in Group quarters - Orthopedic wards and institutions for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in general hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Wards in military hospitals for patients who have no usual home elsewhere (%) People in Group quarters - Juvenile institutions (%) People in Group quarters - Long-term care (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children (%) People in Group quarters - Residential treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children (%) People in Group quarters - Training schools for juvenile delinquents (%) People in Group quarters - Short-term care, detention or diagnostic centers for delinquent children (%) People in Group quarters - Type of juvenile institution unknown (%) People in Group quarters - Noninstitutionalized population (%) People in Group quarters - College dormitories (includes college quarters off campus) (%) People in Group quarters - Military quarters (%) People in Group quarters - On base (%) People in Group quarters - Barracks, unaccompanied personnel housing (UPH), (Enlisted/Officer), ;and similar group living quarters for military personnel (%) People in Group quarters - Transient quarters for temporary residents (%) People in Group quarters - Military ships (%) People in Group quarters - Group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally ill (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the mentally retarded (%) People in Group quarters - Homes for the physically handicapped (%) People in Group quarters - Other group homes (%) People in Group quarters - Religious group quarters (%) People in Group quarters - Dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Agriculture workers' dormitories on farms (%) People in Group quarters - Job Corps and vocational training facilities (%) People in Group quarters - Other workers' dormitories (%) People in Group quarters - Crews of maritime vessels (%) People in Group quarters - Other nonhousehold living situations (%) People in Group quarters - Other noninstitutional group quarters (%) Residents speaking English at home (%) Residents speaking English at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking English at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking English at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking Spanish at home - Foreign born (%) Residents speaking other language at home (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Born in the United States (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Native, born elsewhere (%) Residents speaking other language at home - Foreign born (%) Class of Workers - Employee of private company (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed in own incorporated business (%) Class of Workers - Private not-for-profit wage and salary workers (%) Class of Workers - Local government workers (%) Class of Workers - State government workers (%) Class of Workers - Federal government workers (%) Class of Workers - Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business and Unpaid family workers (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in houses and condos - No fuel used (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Utility gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Bottled, tank, or LP gas (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Electricity (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Fuel oil, kerosene, etc. (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Coal or coke (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Wood (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Solar energy (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - Other fuel (%) House heating fuel used in apartments - No fuel used (%) Armed forces status - In Armed Forces (%) Armed forces status - Civilian (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Veteran (%) Armed forces status - Civilian - Nonveteran (%) Fatal accidents locations in years 2005-2019 Fatal accidents locations in 2005 Fatal accidents locations in 2006 Fatal accidents locations in 2007 Fatal accidents locations in 2008 Fatal accidents locations in 2009 Fatal accidents locations in 2010 Fatal accidents locations in 2011 Fatal accidents locations in 2012 Fatal accidents locations in 2013 Fatal accidents locations in 2014 Fatal accidents locations in 2015 Fatal accidents locations in 2016 Fatal accidents locations in 2017 Fatal accidents locations in 2018 Fatal accidents locations in 2019 Alcohol use - People drinking some alcohol every month (%) Alcohol use - People not drinking at all (%) Alcohol use - Average days/month drinking alcohol Alcohol use - Average drinks/week Alcohol use - Average days/year people drink much Audiometry - Average condition of hearing (%) Audiometry - People that can hear a whisper from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - People that can hear normal voice from across a quiet room (%) Audiometry - Ears ringing, roaring, buzzing (%) Audiometry - Had a job exposure to loud noise (%) Audiometry - Had off-work exposure to loud noise (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high blood pressure (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Checking blood pressure at home (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Frequently checking blood cholesterol (%) Blood Pressure & Cholesterol - Has high cholesterol level (%) Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at supermarket/grocery store Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on food at other stores Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on eating out Consumer Behavior - Money monthly spent on carryout/delivered foods Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at supermarket/grocery store (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on food at other stores (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on eating out (%) Consumer Behavior - Income spent on carryout/delivered foods (%) Current Health Status - General health condition (%) Current Health Status - Blood donors (%) Current Health Status - Has blood ever tested for HIV virus (%) Current Health Status - Left-handed people (%) Dermatology - People using sunscreen (%) Diabetes - Diabetics (%) Diabetes - Had a blood test for high blood sugar (%) Diabetes - People taking insulin (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Diet health (%) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Milk product consumption (# of products/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals not home prepared (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Meals from fast food or pizza place (#/week) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Ready-to-eat foods (#/month) Diet Behavior & Nutrition - Frozen meals/pizza (#/month) Drug Use - People that ever used marijuana or hashish (%) Drug Use - Ever used hard drugs (%) Drug Use - Ever used any form of cocaine (%) Drug Use - Ever used heroin (%) Drug Use - Ever used methamphetamine (%) Health Insurance - People covered by health insurance (%) Kidney Conditions-Urology - Avg. # of times urinating at night Medical Conditions - People with asthma (%) Medical Conditions - People with anemia (%) Medical Conditions - People with psoriasis (%) Medical Conditions - People with overweight (%) Medical Conditions - Elderly people having difficulties in thinking or remembering (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever received blood transfusion (%) Medical Conditions - People having trouble seeing even with glass/contacts (%) Medical Conditions - People with arthritis (%) Medical Conditions - People with gout (%) Medical Conditions - People with congestive heart failure (%) Medical Conditions - People with coronary heart disease (%) Medical Conditions - People with angina pectoris (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had heart attack (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had stroke (%) Medical Conditions - People with emphysema (%) Medical Conditions - People with thyroid problem (%) Medical Conditions - People with chronic bronchitis (%) Medical Conditions - People with any liver condition (%) Medical Conditions - People who ever had cancer or malignancy (%) Mental Health - People who have little interest in doing things (%) Mental Health - People feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble sleeping or sleeping too much (%) Mental Health - People feeling tired or having little energy (%) Mental Health - People with poor appetite or overeating (%) Mental Health - People feeling bad about themself (%) Mental Health - People who have trouble concentrating on things (%) Mental Health - People moving or speaking slowly or too fast (%) Mental Health - People having thoughts they would be better off dead (%) Oral Health - Average years since last visit a dentist Oral Health - People embarrassed because of mouth (%) Oral Health - People with gum disease (%) Oral Health - General health of teeth and gums (%) Oral Health - Average days a week using dental floss/device Oral Health - Average days a week using mouthwash for dental problem Oral Health - Average number of teeth Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to control insects (%) Pesticide Use - Households using pesticides to kill weeds (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity work activities (%) Physical Activity - People walking or bicycling (%) Physical Activity - People doing vigorous-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - People doing moderate-intensity recreational activities (%) Physical Activity - Average hours a day doing sedentary activities Physical Activity - Average hours a day watching TV or videos Physical Activity - Average hours a day using computer Physical Functioning - People having limitations keeping them from working (%) Physical Functioning - People limited in amount of work they can do (%) Physical Functioning - People that need special equipment to walk (%) Physical Functioning - People experiencing confusion/memory problems (%) Physical Functioning - People requiring special healthcare equipment (%) Prescription Medications - Average number of prescription medicines taking Preventive Aspirin Use - Adults 40+ taking low-dose aspirin (%) Reproductive Health - Vaginal deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Cesarean deliveries (%) Reproductive Health - Deliveries resulted in a live birth (%) Reproductive Health - Pregnancies resulted in a delivery (%) Reproductive Health - Women breastfeeding newborns (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had a hysterectomy (%) Reproductive Health - Women that had both ovaries removed (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever taken birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women taking birth control pills (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used Depo-Provera or injectables (%) Reproductive Health - Women that have ever used female hormones (%) Sexual Behavior - People 18+ that ever had sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had anal sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Males 18+ that ever had any sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had vaginal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever performed oral sex on a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had anal sex with a man (%) Sexual Behavior - Females 18+ that ever had any kind of sex with a woman (%) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first had sex Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female vaginal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a woman (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of woman performed oral sex on in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male anal sex partners in lifetime (males 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average age people first performed oral sex on a man (18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male oral sex partners in lifetime (18+) Sexual Behavior - People using protection when performing oral sex (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of times people have vaginal or anal sex a year Sexual Behavior - People having sex without condom (%) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of male vaginal sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Average number of female sex partners in lifetime (females 18+) Sexual Behavior - Circumcised males 18+ (%) Sleep Disorders - Average hours sleeping at night Sleep Disorders - People that has trouble sleeping (%) Smoking-Cigarette Use - People smoking cigarettes (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with smell (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ having problems with taste (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had wisdom teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had tonsils teeth removed (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a loss of consciousness because of a head injury (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had a broken nose or other serious injury to face or skull (%) Taste & Smell - People 40+ that ever had two or more sinus infections (%) Weight - Average height (inches) Weight - Average weight (pounds) Weight - Average BMI Weight - People that are obese (%) Weight - People that ever were obese (%) Weight - People trying to lose weight (%) Settings Get link Loading data... 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According to our research of Pennsylvania and other state lists, there were 5 registered sex offenders living in Millerton, Pennsylvania as of November 21, 2021.

The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Millerton is 67 to 1.





Ancestries: American (32.7%), English (16.0%), Irish (10.9%), Scotch-Irish (10.9%), German (9.6%), Polish (6.4%).

Current Local Time: EST time zone

Elevation: 1176 feet

3 residents are foreign born This place: 1.0% Pennsylvania: 6.9%

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2019: $2,034 (1.2%)



Latitude: 41.98 N, Longitude: 76.94 W

Area code: 570

Unemployment in November 2020:

Here: 6.0% Pennsylvania: 6.1%

Air pollution and air quality trends

(lower is better) AQI CO NO 2 SO 2 Ozone PM 2.5

Air Quality Index (AQI) level in 2018 was 60.2. This is better than average. City: 60.2 U.S.: 74.2

Carbon Monoxide (CO) [ppm] level in 2018 was 0.182. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 11.3 miles away from the city center. City: 0.182 U.S.: 0.267

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 0.612. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 11.3 miles away from the city center. City: 0.612 U.S.: 5.558

Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ) [ppb] level in 2018 was 0.137. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 11.3 miles away from the city center. City: 0.137 U.S.: 1.789

Ozone [ppb] level in 2018 was 31.8. This is about average. Closest monitor was 11.3 miles away from the city center. City: 31.8 U.S.: 33.3

Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) [g/m3] level in 2018 was 4.90. This is significantly better than average. Closest monitor was 15.8 miles away from the city center. City: 4.90 U.S.: 8.46

Tornado activity: Millerton-area historical tornado activity is significantly below Pennsylvania state average. It is 59% smaller than the overall U.S. average.

On 5/2/1983, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 13.7 miles away from the Millerton place center injured 6 people and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages. On 5/2/1983, a category F3 tornado 21.1 miles away from the place center injured one person and caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages.

Earthquake activity: Millerton-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Pennsylvania state average. It is 65% smaller than the overall U.S. average.



On 8/23/2011 at 17:51:04, a magnitude 5.8 (5.8 MW, Depth: 3.7 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 286.7 miles away from the city center

On 10/7/1983 at 10:18:46, a magnitude 5.3 (5.1 MB, 5.3 LG, 5.1 ML) earthquake occurred 189.3 miles away from Millerton center

On 9/25/1998 at 19:52:52, a magnitude 5.2 (4.8 MB, 4.3 MS, 5.2 LG, 4.5 MW, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 181.6 miles away from the city center

On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.3 (5.3 ML, Depth: 3.0 mi) earthquake occurred 239.3 miles away from the city center

On 4/20/2002 at 10:50:47, a magnitude 5.2 (5.2 MB, 4.2 MS, 5.2 MW, 5.0 MW) earthquake occurred 237.3 miles away from the city center

On 1/16/1994 at 01:49:16, a magnitude 4.6 (4.6 MB, 4.6 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 123.6 miles away from Millerton center

Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Natural disasters: The number of natural disasters in Tioga County (17) is near the US average (15).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 12

Emergencies Declared: 4



Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 7, Storms: 6, Tropical Storms: 3, Hurricanes: 2, Flash Flood: 1, Heavy Rain: 1, Mudslide: 1, Snowfall: 1, Snowstorm: 1, Tornado: 1, Tropical Depression: 1, Wind: 1, Winter Storm: 1, Other: 1 (Note: some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Hospitals and medical centers near Millerton: ARNOT ODGEN MEDICAL CENTER 2C UNIT (Dialysis Facility, about 10 miles away; ELMIRA, NY)

ARNOT OGDEN MEDICAL CENTER Acute Care Hospitals (about 10 miles away; ELMIRA, NY)

Acute Care Hospitals GENTIVA HEALTH SVS CORNING (Home Health Center, about 11 miles away; CORNING, NY)

SOUTHERN TIER HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE (Hospital, about 11 miles away; CORNING, NY)

UCPA OF CHEMUNG COUNTY (Hospital, about 11 miles away; ELMIRA HEIGHTS, NY)

CHEMUNG COUNTY CHAPTER NYS ARC, INC (Hospital, about 11 miles away; ELMIRA, NY)

CHEMUNG CO DEPT HEALTH CHHA (Home Health Center, about 11 miles away; ELMIRA, NY)

Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Millerton: Corning Community College ( about 12 miles; Corning, NY ; Full-time enrollment: 3,036)

12 ; 3,036) Mansfield University of Pennsylvania ( about 15 miles; Mansfield, PA ; FT enrollment: 2,826)

15 ; 2,826) Ithaca College ( about 38 miles; Ithaca, NY ; FT enrollment: 6,781)

38 ; 6,781) Cornell University ( about 40 miles; Ithaca, NY ; FT enrollment: 20,360)

40 ; 20,360) Alfred University ( about 48 miles; Alfred, NY ; FT enrollment: 2,411)

48 ; 2,411) SUNY College of Technology at Alfred ( about 48 miles; Alfred, NY ; FT enrollment: 3,483)

48 ; 3,483) Tompkins Cortland Community College (about 49 miles; Dryden, NY; FT enrollment: 3,884)

Tioga County has a predicted average indoor radon screening level greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) - Highest Potential

Drinking water stations with addresses in Millerton and their reported violations in the past: BAKERCREST PCH (Population served: 36, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between APR-2011 and JUN-2011 , Contaminant: Chlorine . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (FEB-28-2012)

APR-2011 JUN-2011 Chlorine St Compliance achieved (FEB-28-2012) Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between OCT-2009 and DEC-2009 , Contaminant: Chlorine . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (APR-13-2010)

OCT-2009 DEC-2009 Chlorine St Compliance achieved (APR-13-2010) Follow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/R - In JAN-01-2005 , Contaminant: Lead and Copper Rule . Follow-up actions: St Formal NOV issued (2 times from JUN-08-2005 to JUN-08-2005), St Compliance achieved (DEC-16-2005), St Consent Decree/Judgement (DEC-16-2005)

JAN-01-2005 Lead and Copper Rule St Formal NOV issued (2 JUN-08-2005 JUN-08-2005), St Compliance achieved (DEC-16-2005), St Consent Decree/Judgement (DEC-16-2005) Monitoring and Reporting (DBP) - Between JAN-2005 and MAR-2005 , Contaminant: Chlorine . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (JUN-03-2005)

JAN-2005 MAR-2005 Chlorine St Compliance achieved (JUN-03-2005) Follow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/R - In JAN-01-2004 , Contaminant: Lead and Copper Rule . Follow-up actions: St Compliance achieved (DEC-23-2005)

JAN-01-2004 Lead and Copper Rule St Compliance achieved (DEC-23-2005) 2 routine major monitoring violations

One minor monitoring violation

35 regular monitoring violations JACKSON TWP MUNICIPAL BUILDING (Population served: 25, Groundwater): Past monitoring violations: 2 routine major monitoring violations BAKERCREST PCH (36Groundwater):JACKSON TWP MUNICIPAL BUILDING (25Groundwater):

Average household size: This place: 2.4 people Pennsylvania: 2.5 people

Percentage of family households: This place: 68.2% Whole state: 65.0%

Percentage of households with unmarried partners: This place: 10.6% Whole state: 6.6%



Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) Lesbian couples: 1.5% of all households

1.5% Gay men: 0.8% of all households

Banks with branches in Millerton (2011 data): First Citizens National Bank: State Line Branch at 7352 Route 328, branch established on 1970/11/02. Info updated 2008/12/23: Bank assets: $877.2 mil, Deposits: $737.6 mil, headquarters in Mansfield, PA, positive income, 17 total offices, Holding Company: Citizens Financial Services, Inc.

For population 15 years and over in Millerton: Never married: 30.9%

30.9% Now married: 57.5%

57.5% Separated: 3.6%

3.6% Widowed: 4.4%

4.4% Divorced: 3.6%

For population 25 years and over in Millerton: High school or higher: 92.0%

92.0% Bachelor's degree or higher: 5.9%

5.9% Graduate or professional degree: 1.3%

Education Gini index (Inequality in education) Here: 5.8 Pennsylvania average: 11.3



Religion statistics for Millerton, PA (based on Tioga County data) Religion Adherents Congregations Mainline Protestant 6,563 60 Evangelical Protestant 3,402 42 Catholic 3,000 5 Other 265 4 None 28,751 - Source: Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E.Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H.Taylor. 2012. 2010 U.S.Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. Graphs represent county-level data

Food Environment Statistics: Number of grocery stores: 10 Tioga County : 2.46 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 2.04 / 10,000 pop. Number of supercenters and club stores: 1 This county : 0.25 / 10,000 pop. State : 0.09 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (no gas): 3 Here : 0.74 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 0.88 / 10,000 pop. Number of convenience stores (with gas): 21 Here : 5.17 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 2.52 / 10,000 pop. Number of full-service restaurants: 42 This county : 10.34 / 10,000 pop. Pennsylvania : 7.12 / 10,000 pop. Adult diabetes rate: Tioga County : 9.9% State : 9.1% Adult obesity rate: Here : 30.8% Pennsylvania : 27.2% Low-income preschool obesity rate: This county : 11.0% Pennsylvania : 11.5%

4.63% of this county's 2015 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2016 ($43,544 average adjusted gross income) Here: 4.63% Pennsylvania average: 4.96% 10 or fewer of this county's residents moved to foreign countries between 2015 and 2016.

Top counties to which taxpayers relocated from this county between 2015 and 2016:

to Bradford County, PA 0.34% ($43,127 average AGI) to Steuben County, NY 0.34% ($34,556) to Lycoming County, PA 0.31% ($54,796)

Businesses in Millerton, PA True Value: 1

Strongest AM radio stations in Millerton: WLNL (1000 AM; daytime; 5 kW; HORSEHEADS, NY; Owner: LIGHTHOUSE MEDIA, INC.)

LIGHTHOUSE MEDIA, INC.) WWLZ (820 AM; 4 kW; HORSEHEADS, NY; Owner: CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.)

CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.) WELM (1410 AM; 5 kW; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LIMITED)

PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LIMITED) WEHH (1590 AM; 5 kW; ELMIRA HTS/HORSEHEAD, NY; Owner: PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.)

PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.) WATS (960 AM; 5 kW; SAYRE, PA; Owner: WATS BROADCASTING, INC.)

WATS BROADCASTING, INC.) WABH (1380 AM; 10 kW; BATH, NY)

WENY (1230 AM; 1 kW; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.) WCBA (1350 AM; 1 kW; CORNING, NY)

WCLI (1450 AM; 1 kW; CORNING, NY; Owner: EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.) WHAM (1180 AM; 50 kW; ROCHESTER, NY; Owner: CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.)

CITICASTERS LICENSES, L.P.) WWJZ (640 AM; 50 kW; MOUNT HOLLY, NJ; Owner: ABC, INC.)

ABC, INC.) WTZN (1310 AM; 1 kW; TROY, PA; Owner: CANTROAIR COMMUNICATIONS INC)

CANTROAIR COMMUNICATIONS INC) WEBO (1330 AM; 5 kW; OWEGO, NY; Owner: TIOGA MEDIA, INC.) Strongest FM radio stations in Millerton: WMTT (94.7 FM; TIOGA, PA; Owner: EUROPA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

EUROPA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WENY-FM (92.7 FM; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.) WCIH (90.3 FM; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES, INC.)

FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES, INC.) WSQE (91.1 FM; CORNING, NY; Owner: WSKG PUB. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL)

WSKG PUB. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL) WNBQ (92.3 FM; MANSFIELD, PA; Owner: FARM & HOME BROADCASTING COMPANY)

FARM & HOME BROADCASTING COMPANY) WLVY (94.3 FM; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.)

PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.) WOKN (99.5 FM; SOUTHPORT, NY; Owner: PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.)

PEMBROOK PINES ELMIRA, LTD.) W201CO (88.1 FM; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES, INC.)

FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES, INC.) WGMM (97.7 FM; BIG FLATS, NY; Owner: EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.) WREQ (96.9 FM; RIDGEBURY, PA; Owner: CSN INTERNATIONAL)

CSN INTERNATIONAL) WCBA-FM (98.7 FM; CORNING, NY; Owner: EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.)

EOLIN BROADCASTING, INC.) W205BR (88.9 FM; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: PENSACOLA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, INC.)

PENSACOLA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, INC.) WHGL-FM (100.3 FM; CANTON, PA; Owner: CANTROAIR COMMUNICATIONS INC.)

CANTROAIR COMMUNICATIONS INC.) WNKI (106.1 FM; CORNING, NY; Owner: CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.)

CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.) WDKC (101.5 FM; COVINGTON, PA; Owner: MID-ATLANTIC BROADCASTING, INC)

MID-ATLANTIC BROADCASTING, INC) WNGZ (104.9 FM; MONTOUR FALLS, NY; Owner: CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.)

CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.) W236AK (95.1 FM; CORNING, NY; Owner: EUROPA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.)

EUROPA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) WQNY (103.7 FM; ITHACA, NY; Owner: EAGLE II BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

EAGLE II BROADCASTING CORPORATION) WAVR (102.3 FM; WAVERLY, NY; Owner: WATS BROADCASTING, INC.)

WATS BROADCASTING, INC.) WPGI (100.9 FM; HORSEHEADS, NY; Owner: CHEMUNG COUNTY RADIO, INC.) TV broadcast stations around Millerton: WETM-TV ( Channel 18; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: SMITH TELEVISION OF NEW YORK LICENSE HOLDINGS, INC.)

18; ELMIRA, NY; SMITH TELEVISION OF NEW YORK LICENSE HOLDINGS, INC.) WENY-TV ( Channel 36; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: LILLY BROADCASTING, L.L.C.)

36; ELMIRA, NY; LILLY BROADCASTING, L.L.C.) W59DG ( Channel 59; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK)

59; ELMIRA, NY; TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK) W21BW ( Channel 21; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK INC.)

21; ELMIRA, NY; THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK INC.) WYDC ( Channel 48; CORNING, NY; Owner: WYDC, INC.)

48; CORNING, NY; WYDC, INC.) W26BF ( Channel 26; ELMIRA, NY; Owner: WYDC, INC.)

26; ELMIRA, NY; WYDC, INC.) W52CE ( Channel 52; SAYRE, PA; Owner: WOLF LICENSE CORP.)

52; SAYRE, PA; WOLF LICENSE CORP.) W60AD ( Channel 60; SAVONA, NY; Owner: WSKG PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL)

60; SAVONA, NY; WSKG PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL) W63AB ( Channel 63; MANSFIELD, PA; Owner: NORTHEASTERN PA EDUC'L. TV ASSN.)

63; MANSFIELD, PA; NORTHEASTERN PA EDUC'L. TV ASSN.) W54AV (Channel 54; MANSFIELD, PA; Owner: MISSION BROADCASTING, INC.)

Millerton fatal accident list: Jul 20, 2003 04:30 AM, Sr-328, Lat: 41.975154, Lon: -76.947784, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1, Drunk persons involved: 1

Jul 13, 2003 11:00 PM, Sr-328, Lat: 41.975154, Lon: -76.947784, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 2, Fatalities: 1

Nov 20, 2000 07:00 PM, Sr-328, Lat: 41.975154, Lon: -76.947784, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 4, Pedestrians: 1, Fatalities: 1

Aug 6, 1999 06:40 AM, Sr-328, Lat: 41.975154, Lon: -76.947784, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 3, Fatalities: 1

May 9, 1998 01:30 AM, Sr-328, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 2, Pedestrians: 1, Fatalities: 1, Drunk persons involved: 1



National Bridge Inventory (NBI) Statistics

35 Number of bridges

Number of bridges 174ft / 52.8m Total length

Total length $3,378,000 Total costs

Total costs 68,201 Total average daily traffic

Total average daily traffic 8,514 Total average daily truck traffic

Total average daily truck traffic 93,458 Total future (year 2030) average daily traffic

New bridges - historical statistics

1 1900-1909

1 1920-1929

3 1930-1939

7 1950-1959

6 1960-1969

3 1970-1979

5 1980-1989

3 1990-1999

2 2000-2009

4 2010-2018 See full National Bridge Inventory statistics for Millerton, PA

FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses: 10 (



FAA Registered Aircraft: 4 Aircraft: CESSNA 150J ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 90 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 51126, N51126, N-51126, Serial Number: 15069782, Year manufactured: 1968, Airworthiness Date: 11/27/1968, Certificate Issue Date: 11/17/2004

Registrant (Individual): William P Ostrander, 376 Switchback Rd, Millerton, PA 16936

CESSNA 150J ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 90 mph), CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (Reciprocating) 51126, N51126, N-51126, 15069782, 1968, 11/27/1968, 11/17/2004 William P Ostrander, 376 Switchback Rd, Millerton, PA 16936 Aircraft: PIPER PA-28-180 ( Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 107 mph), Engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 8295W, N8295W, N-8295W, Serial Number: 28-2459, Year manufactured: 1965, Airworthiness Date: 05/06/1965, Certificate Issue Date: 02/10/2017

Registrant (Co-Owned): Stephen L Hess, 4716 Route 328, Millerton, PA 16936, Other Owners: Bonna L Hess

PIPER PA-28-180 ( Land, 4, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 107 mph), LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 HP) (Reciprocating) 8295W, N8295W, N-8295W, 28-2459, 1965, 05/06/1965, 02/10/2017 Stephen L Hess, 4716 Route 328, Millerton, PA 16936, Bonna L Hess Aircraft: CESSNA 150M ( Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 81 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (4 Cycle)

N-Number: 9112U, N9112U, N-9112U, Serial Number: 15078063, Year manufactured: 1976, Airworthiness Date: 03/10/1976, Certificate Issue Date: 11/17/2004

Registrant (Individual): William P Ostrander, 376 Switchback Rd, Millerton, PA 16936

CESSNA 150M ( Land, 2, Up to 12,499 Pounds, 81 mph), CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 HP) (4 Cycle) 9112U, N9112U, N-9112U, 15078063, 1976, 03/10/1976, 11/17/2004 William P Ostrander, 376 Switchback Rd, Millerton, PA 16936 Aircraft: TAYLORCRAFT BC12-D (Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 78 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR A&C65 SERIES (65 HP) (Reciprocating)

N-Number: 96131, N96131, N-96131, Serial Number: 8431, Year manufactured: 1946, Airworthiness Date: 06/08/1956, Certificate Issue Date: 04/09/2001

Registrant (Individual): William P Ostrander, 376 Switchback Rd, Millerton, PA 16936

10 ( See the full list of FCC Registered Amateur Radio Licenses in Millerton

Houses and condos Apartments 69.4% Utility gas

21.2% Wood

9.4% Electricity 100.0% Utility gas





Millerton compared to Pennsylvania state average: Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Hispanic race population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Median age above state average.

above Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

significantly below Length of stay since moving in above state average.

above Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly below state average.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed the dismissal of another lawsuit seeking coverage for COVID-19 business-interruption losses, this one filed jointly by 16 private pre-schools in Ohio.

It was the third ruling by the 6th Circuit in the past two months that found government shut-down orders did not cause a direct physical damage or loss, and the eighth decision on that point by federal appellate courts. Federal judges have overwhelmingly ruled against similar claims, as well as state court judges to a lesser extent.

Attorneys for the preschools conceded that they could not prevail on three of their four arguments for coverage after the 6th Circuit ruled against similar points in the two previous cases. But they hoped a provision in the insurance policies issued by a unit of the Tokio Marine Group that provided coverage for communicable diseases and waterborne pathogens would prompt a different result.

The 6th Circuits opinion notes that the plaintiffs did not allege that any of their customers had actually contracted COVID-19. The court said the policy unambiguously stated that coverage under the communicable disease provision was triggered only if a shutdown order stems from an actual illness.

A contracts failure to define every term does not make it ambiguous,' the opinion says. Nor is a term ambiguous just because there are multiple readings.'

The 16 preschools, which do business as The Goddard School, filed suit after Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. denied their claims for income lost because of state orders that forced them to close down on March 25, 2020. They argued coverage was owed under the building-and-personal-property, business income, civil authority and communicable disease provisions of the policies.

U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Daggett Morrison in Columbus granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer. Without a material change in the propertys condition, there could not have been damage,' the opinion says, summarizing Morrisons ruling. Without dispossession or the propertys destruction, there could not have been loss.'

The preschools appealed. The plaintiffs attorneys acknowledged that the 6th Circuits ruling on Sept. 22 that affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Santos Italian Cafe made it impossible to prevail on three of the policy provisions, but they held out for the communicable disease provision in the policy.

While they did not say in the pleadings that anyone at the contracted COVID-19, they alleged that people who had been on the properties had exhibited symptoms of the disease. The attorneys interpreted the wording of the policy to require coverage for income lost because of a shutdown order issued for any communicable disease, not necessarily a disease that had been detected on its property.

The appellate panel didnt read the policy the same way. Even though the Ohio Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue, the 6th Circuit said it can predict how the states high court will interpret Ohio law.

Like the Santos court, we appreciate the singular challenges that COVID-19 has caused for businesses like Dakota Girls, the opinion concludes. But those challenges do not give us license to rewrite the plain terms of an insurance policy to confer upon the appellants a form of coverage for which they never contracted.

Photo of a teacher working with pre-school students courtesy of Goddard Schools.
Avis "Darlene" Searan, age 75, formerly of California, passed away at Restwell Home Plus in Oskaloosa, KS, on Tuesday, November 16, 2021. She was born the daughter of Leo Abraham and Avis Amelia (Gabbert) Searan in Claremore, OK, on June 25, 1946. Darlene loved watching baseball, especially,
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  Over 9,000 people were caught violating protocols during the first day of implementation of Alert Level 2 in Metro Manila on Friday, the Philippine National Police has reported.

"Kahapon, sa buong maghapon, nakapagtala tayo ng 9,461 na violators," PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar said in a government briefing on Saturday.

[Translation: Yesterday, we recorded 9,461 violators.]

Eleazar said "10%" of them violated curfew imposed on minors. The general curfew hours in Metro Manila from midnight to 4 a.m. were lifted on Nov. 4. But the curfew for minors in a number of localities in the capital region was still in effect, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority earlier said.

Eleazar said the average number of violators recorded per day when Metro Manila was under Alert Level 3 from Oct. 16 to Nov. 4 was 9,746.

Metro Manila was supposed to stay under Alert Level 3 until Nov. 14. But the Department of Health decided to downgrade the alert level classification of the capital region. The pandemic task force earlier approved the move to place Metro Manila under Alert Level 2 from November 5 to 21.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the decision to place Metro Manila under Alert Level 2 was not "sudden." She explained that NCR's shift was based on its "low risk" classification as reflected in the continuous drop in cases and COVID-19-related hospitalizations. She said less than 50% of the COVID-19 beds in the NCR currently are occupied.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6) The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is gunning for a stronger, credible defense posture as it continues to ramp up its modernization program, its chief of staff says.

In an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines which aired on Saturday, Gen. Jose Faustino, Jr. said this goal of the military will also help in asserting the countrys rights in the contested waters.

For us [the goal] is to have a credible defense, Faustino told The Generals, a CNN Philippines special presentation hosted by chief correspondent and anchor Pia Hontiveros.

Inasmuch as we wanted to settle things peacefully what we wanted really is a rules-based international order in this contested areas to the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, ang sa atin lang naman eh is we have a credible defense na sabi nga sa pambansang awit natin eh 'sa manlulupig di ka pasisiil' (for us, we have a credible defense, like what they say in the national anthem, 'neer shall invaders trample thy sacred shores'), he added.

Sa manlulupig di ka pasisiil, so we have to do that.

The 15-year modernization program aims to beef up all the branches of the AFP  the Air Force, Navy, and Army.

The program  which has a multi-billion funding from the government is divided into three horizons and is now in the second phase, which runs from 2018 to 2022.

Faustino and the three major service commanders, Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Andres Centino, Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Adm. Adeluis Bordado, and Air Force Acting Commanding General Maj. Gen. Arthur Cordura, gave CNN Philippines a preview of some of the militarys newly-acquired assets.

Roadblocks in the program

Faustino for his part, admitted that the modernization program has encountered hurdles amid the COVID-19 pandemic, since some of the AFPs resources had to be diverted to help in the crisis response.

Modernization is dependent on budget, especially now that we are transitioning to external defense and the Air Force and the Navy are acquiring big ticket items like ships, and multirow fighters, and that requires a lot of money, said Faustino, who still expressed optimism that their targets will still be reached.

Meanwhile, the Air Force also vowed that authorities would look into and correct possible gaps in the system following the string of incidents involving military aircraft this 2021.

RELATED: 'Nakakabahala': AFP chief concerned over string of accidents, says assets' airworthiness, pilot competencies under review

It is but unfortunate crashes happened especially now that we are modernizing, said Cordura. But we take it from there and we tried to identify the gaps where we can move forward and correct them so that similar accidents in the future will not happen again.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) welcomes the government's decision to place Metro Manila under a more relaxed COVID-19 alert level, calling it "a truly positive news" for the pandemic-battered economy.

FINEX president Francisco Ed Lim said implementing Alert Level 2 in the capital region  which increases public mobility  will help restore jobs and incomes to Filipino households.

"This is a truly positive news for our struggling economy considering that the region contributes more than 30% of the gross domestic product," Lim said in a statement Saturday.

The Inter-Agency Task Force approved the shift to a lower alert status, starting Nov. 5 until 21.

Under Alert Level 2, business establishments can cater to more customers as operational capacities have been expanded to up to 70%, depending on whether their operations will be indoors or outdoors.

Bars, karaoke places, clubs, concert halls and theaters, and other venues with live voice or wind-instrument performers may operate up to 50% capacity indoors for fully vaccinated individuals, and up to 70% outdoors regardless of vaccination status. However, all staff must be fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

The same conditions apply to funfairs or peryas and kid amusement industries including playgrounds, playrooms, and kiddie rides.

"We note that the guidelines mostly limit the benefit of the declaration to the fully vaccinated. In this light, we are hopeful that the government continues its efforts to vaccinate as many of our people at the soonest possible time," Lim said.

Earlier this week, Health undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said over 60.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have already been administered in Metro Manila.

More than 8.61 million Filipinos or 88.13% of Metro Manila's target population are now fully vaccinated, the health official added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6)  The country has received a fresh shipment of nearly 900,000 more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by US firm Pfizer.

State media reported that a plane carrying 866,970 Pfizer shots landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City Saturday evening.

The delivery comes a few days after the country marked a milestone in its vaccination drive, having reached a record-high of more than 1.1 million people inoculated in a day.

As of Nov. 5, over 109 million coronavirus shots have been delivered to the country. Of this number, 16.5 million were Pfizer doses procured by the national government, according to the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
Penn State was awarded up to $39 million to establish the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Current and Emerging Threats to Crops at Penn State over the next five years, Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced Saturday.

According to the release, the grant was awarded at COP26  the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Feed the Future is the U.S. Governments global hunger and food security initiative, according to its website.

The new lab intends to be a venue for world experts "to collaborate on novel approaches to monitor, predict and combat current and emerging threats to crops," according to the release, and its efforts will be focused in West Africa, East/Southern Africa, South/Southeast Asia and Central America.

The Feed the Future program brings together partners from across various sectors and the U.S. government to assist countries that are ripe for transforming the way their food systems work, Lora Weiss, Penn State senior vice president for research, said in the release. The new Innovation Lab, in combination with Penn State's wealth of experience in the development of technologies and practices to manage crop pests, will enable the University to help advance this goal.

The release said the lab plans to test strategies of integrated pest management to improve crop health, such as using bio-herbicides to manage weeds, cleaning seeds to resist viral disease, intercropping and implementing climate-smart agriculture.

The lab will also develop tools to monitor viral and fungal diseases of specific food crops, including wheat and tubers, and research the surveillance and prediction of biological threats to potato crops in Honduras, vegetable crops in Burkina Faso and different crops in Nepal," the release said.

David Hughes, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Global Food Security and professor of entomology and biology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Eberly College of Science at Penn State, will serve as the program director for the lab.

Another focus will be expanding upon work done by Hughes' team at Penn States PlantVillage.

Some of the technologies  including the smartphone applications created by David and his team as part of PlantVillage  are already serving millions of people worldwide, Andrew Read, director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State, said in the release. The USAID award will enable these technologies to be fine tuned and expanded to help even more people.

MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE
You wont see the millions upon millions of dollars being spent in favor of candidates in the 2021 election, but big money donors, many of them hidden by committees that are able to shield their funders from disclosure, are busily investing in ballot measures that Colorado voters will decide on Nov. 2.
In this May 19, 2020, file photo, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., participates in a ceremonial swearing-in on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two years earlier, California Republican leaders conceded that the party had all but collapsed after Democrats swept seven GOP-held House seats, but in 2020 Garcia and other GOP nominees reclaimed four of those districts for the GOP, even as President Donald Trump lost the state in a landslide.
Danville, IL (61832)

Today

Chance of a shower or two during the morning, followed by partly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 53F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 22F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
100%

Website indianbureaucracy.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 476920 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 81198 bytes (79.29 kb uncompressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-06, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
Inhaltsangabe.eu scored 58 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3/5.0 Stars by Social Team

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PAGE TITLE Inhaltsangabe schreiben &ndash Aufbau, Beispiel und Tipps DESCRIPTION Wie schreibe ich eine Inhaltsangabe? &rarr Gute Inhaltsangabe schreiben Einleitung Hauptteil Schluss Jeder Schu ler und jede Schu lerin wird im Deutschunterricht KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS inhaltsangabe, schreiben, zusammenfassung, beispiel, inhaltsangabe schreiben, beispiel und tipps, beispiel und



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Funeral service for Otis C. Harrison, Jr., 47, formerly of Oakwood, passed away November 6, 2021 in Cypress, CA. Viewing will be on, Monday, November 22 at Emanuel Funeral Home of Palestine from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Funeral will be held on Tuesday, November 23, at True Vine DOXA Center, Fairfie
Welcome to ComedyNerd, Cracked's daily comedy Superstation. For more ComedyNerd content, and ongoing coverage of that venerable, 25-cast-member comedy institution, The Iran/Contra Affair, please sign up for the ComedyNerd newsletter below.

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For decades (47 years!), Saturday Night Live has charmed and delighted viewers with its ability to skewer the news, pop culture, and life itself. However, its humble seven-person cast from the 1970s has morphed into a gargantuan comedy monster with 21 cast members! I cant even think of 21 people in real life I want to see every week, let alone watch on television!

NBC When you can't even get everybody in frame that's a problem.

Aidy Bryant! Cecily Strong! Kate McKinnon (shes too famous and will not be here tonight)! Punkie Johnson? Did you know theres someone named Punkie Johnson on SNL now? And its her SECOND SEASON? And for some reason Pete Davidson, even though his entire vibe screams I dont want to be here!

What was once an ensemble cast working together tightly with a host has become a clown car, and 21 clowns is a lot, even for a clown car. Seriously, can anyone tell me one sketch Andrew Dismukes has been in?

To address all this, let's walk in the shoes of a comedian who wants to be on the show. It's time to dash through what (I imagine) it currently feels like to be a featured player on SNL.
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It's also true that Bowie had his own message board (one of the perks of BowieNet service, along with your very own e-mail address), and he did post and chat there under the name "sailor," which is probably a reference to that photo of him standing on a boat with an America-themed thong that all of us have had as our phone lock screen at some point.

The only problem is that the website in the viral screenshot is not BowieNet but Teenage Wildlife, which was the Bowie message board you went to when you got banned from other Bowie message boards. The TW website itself was an invaluable repository of Bowie-related data, but the message board also contained large doses of trolling, flaming, barely intelligible hypersexual Italians thirsting for "The Area," and some of the worst poetry ever conceived by human minds. (Or, in my case, the worst 32-page Major Tom musical ever written by a Bowie-obsessed 18-year-old who'd just entered film school.)

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Most people in the forum were aware that "SaiIor" (with an upper case "i") was not actually Bowie but a poster also sometimes known as Muhammed Shibaz Moqito, most famous for continually fooling newcomers into clicking on links to Tubgirl. If you don't know what Tubgirl is, don't look it up. And if you already did, well, guess that technically makes you the 14,324th or so person to be Tubgirl'd by Mr. Moqito, if only indirectly.

Eidos File photo.

Besides, by this point, the real Bowie wasn't even posting much on his official forum, let alone on third-party sites that weren't making him money. And when he did post at BowieNet in the mid-'00s, it was mostly to squash rumors or rave about his latest musical discovery in as few words as possible.

davidbowie.com

davidbowie.com The classic "Battles good" post is widely considered his finest work since Scary Monsters.

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While we're at it, note that BowieNet's bland white background looks nothing like TW's stylish light-blue-on-purple color scheme. A couple of minutes of research would have been enough to debunk the famous screenshot before it went viral, but I guess we want to live in a world where one of the most legendary rock stars and sex symbols in history was secretly a shitposter like the rest of us.

As for Mr. Moqito, I reached out to him to ask if he wanted to add anything to this article, and he only offered the following cryptic message: "Just add my condolences to the Widow Mike Garson."

Maxwell Yezpitelok lives in Chile and also on Twitter. Suck it Bowie WonderWorld, TW 4 LYFE.

Top image: Adam Bielawski/Wikimedia Commons
Wauseon honored with 2021 Best Maintained Dam in the State of Ohio
Crossville, TN (38555)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High near 55F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly this evening. Low 38F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Yes, I have been a victim.

No, but not for lack of trying.

I don't think so.

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Change isn't comingit's rapidly underway for many government agencies and public sector organizations. Driving that change is the ever-present threat of ransomware and recent cybersecurity initiatives that have bubbled up in response. The result is a long list of organizations taking stock of their incident response capabilities as they work to implement fresh zero trust mandates.

Cybersecurity modernization efforts ramped up this summer when the Biden Administration issued Executive Order 14028, Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, which among other things, mandates the adoption of zero trust policies and establishes rules and systems for reporting cyber incidents and sharing relevant data. To provide further guidance, the White House also addressed a memorandum (M-21-31) to the heads of executive departments and agencies which outlines requirements and benchmarks for the executive order's data sharing mandates.

It all goes back to zero trust

Executive Order 14028 couples the adoption of zero trust frameworks with more advanced investigation, incident response, and information sharing requirements to help shut down emboldened cyber gangs and reduce overall risk. For many organizations, the assessment of their data retention capabilities and renewed efforts to close visibility gaps are crucial steps to threat detection and data collection initiatives associated with zero trust architectures. To achieve these goals, the newly outlined data retention requirements are a logical starting point.

The new government mandates mark a major shift away from prevention-based security postures, toward a more proactive, detection-based stance. Their benchmarks can and should be met in tandem as part of a broader effort to implement a modern security strategy capable of detecting today's advanced threats.

New data retention requirements

In response to M-21-31, government agencies are assessing their data retention maturity to meet the first benchmark on October 26, after which they will begin working toward meeting the basic retention requirements for high-value assets by August 27, 2022, with additional maturity benchmarks mapped out for February and August 2023. Web log data is central to the memorandum's outlined retention requirements, but in addition, agencies are being directed to provide packet capture information and network data.

The data collection standards outlined in M-21-31 are extensive and government agencies will need to react swiftly and deliberately in order to successfully implement them.

Logging requirements include:

HTTP URLs and corresponding status codes

DNS queries and responses

SSL connection types (ciphers, versions)

DHCP requests (lease information)

End user response time(s)

File access (opens/reads/writes)

Adding to log data requirements, packet capture data for network infrastructures and cloud environments is deemed highly critical, with website application and network traffic data required in later benchmarks. Packet capture data is required to be held for seventy-two hours.

To meet the growing network visibility, agencies will need the ability to inspect encrypted data. The M-21-31 suggests the use of proxy servers to help identify malicious activity with and log data from incoming and outgoing traffic. Proxies are meant to decrypt and analyze incoming and outgoing traffic, which can help identify intrusions or exfiltrationsthat is, the start and endpoints of an attack.

The memo directly links the inspection of encrypted data to zero trust architecture by adding that "agencies are expected to follow zero trust principles concerning least privilege and reduced attack surface, and relevant guidance from OMB and CISA relating to zero trust architecture."

There's a Better Way

Assessing data collection and analysis gaps

Log data has long been seen as the gold standard for data collection and retention. As M-21-31 says, "Information from logs on Federal information systems (for both on-premises systems and connections hosted by third parties, such as cloud services providers (CSPs)) is invaluable in the detection, investigation, and remediation of cyber threats."

Unfortunately, logs have a few setbacks that are hard to ignore. At their best, logs are extremely comprehensivewhich can amount to finding a needle in a haystack in the aftermath of a stealthy breach. In some instances, the volume of data produced by logs is downright cumbersome to store and sift through (as with DNS traffic) or nearly impossible to scale (in the case of cloud workloads). At their worst, logs state the obvious: A log disabled or erased by an attacker tells you what you already knewyou've been breachedand nothing more.

Additionally, collecting logs in the traditional manner is difficult (often painful) to implement in practice. Typically, log collection involves installing additional agent software, which can add extensive overhead to server and network infrastructures. How many organizations can claim to have traditional logging deployed across 100% of their environments? Speaking from experience the vast majority of enterprises have visibility gaps in their SIEM/logging implementation.

For encrypted data, proxy servers are common tools for inspecting encrypted traffic, but they also leave critical visibility gaps by missing laterally moving network traffic. Zero trust concepts hinge upon an organization's ability to analyze and view encrypted network traffic to ensure that compromised credentials don't have free reign to escalate privileges. This calls for organizations to move beyond proxies and firewalls to look deeper into the network.

Contextual data with network detection and response

As organizations are wrapping up their initial assessment and implementing new data retention policies, it's worth considering how a good portion of the data outlined in M-21-31 can be easily extracted using a network detection and response (NDR) solution.

NDR offers behavior-based analytics with out-of-band decryption capabilities that can analyze all network traffic, right down to the packet level. ExtraHop Reveal(x) NDR includes lookback capabilities and out-of-band decryption, which can offer another option to capture the necessary metadata in a way that scales to meet the visibility and storage needs. Reveal(x) can easily monitor and store data for difficult-to-log sources such as DNS traffic and cloud environments. It can also do what proxies can't: Decrypt, inspect, and store laterally moving network traffic, right down to the packet level.

Reveal(x) can also help agencies simplify their data collection, storage, and management processes by offering one tool that can seamlessly pull information from across the IT infrastructure, including physical, virtual and cloud environments. A more unified security solution that supports zero trust and data collection mandates allows agencies to cut streamline toolsets and create more efficient, effective workflows.

Learn more: Accelerate zero trust adoption with end-to-end visibility

Accelerate the pace of change

M-21-31 is just part of a larger cybersecurity modernization campaign aimed at preventing infrastructure-threatening ransomware attacks across public and private sectors. Led by efforts by White House, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and CISA, government organizations are being held to high standards for both their own sake and to serve as a model for private sector organizations who can also benefit from zero trust frameworks.

New mandates for government agencies are just the start of a steady cybersecurity evolution that will likely affect every sector of our government and economy. Change isn't expected to be fast or swift, but incremental and deliberate. As CISA states in their zero trust security model guidance, "zero trust may require a change in an organization's philosophy and culture around cybersecurity. The path to zero trust is a journey that will take years to implement."

As organizations lay the groundwork, it's important to remember that a change in philosophy is something that no one technology solution can provide. Instead, it demands the careful development and implementation of forward-thinking policiesbut NDR technology that meets new visibility, threat detection, and forensic needs across an entire IT infrastructure can no doubt support and accelerate the pace of change.

To further explore these and other ExtraHop security solutions, visit us here.
MIDDLETOWN  Newly released body cam footage provides more insight into the July confrontation between a Connecticut state police sergeant and a New York YouTuber.

The YouTuber, SeanPaul Reyes, of Long Island Audit, captured part of the incident on his cellphone, including the moment the officer, Sgt. Bryan Fahey, appeared to grab Reyes by the shirt.

Reyes claims in the video he went to the Middletown state police headquarters on July 23 to file a complaint after he was detained and handcuffed earlier in the day inside Bradley International Airport, where footage showed he refused to show police his ID when they asked why he was filming.

Reyes, who has had other run-ins with police and officials in Waterbury and Danbury, is part of a national trend of activists and so-called auditors who attempt to film in public and government buildings. Auditors then film the reaction of police or officials who attempt to stop them. Other videos on Reyes channel include him confronting officials in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York over his right to film inside government buildings.

The body camera footage released by state police as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by Hearst Connecticut Media follows much of what is shown in an edited video of the encounter Reyes posted to his channel on July 25. The video posted by Reyes cuts out after Fahey steps forward and tells him, were gonna have a problem. Reyes claims his phone was broken during the confrontation, but he was able to retrieve the video from it.

State police have launched an internal affairs investigation into Fahey and Trooper Mathew Costello, who also met with Reyes outside the state police headquarters.

The video from Costellos body cam released by state police begins inside the state police headquarters. Audio cuts in as Costello and Fahey meet with Reyes, who is filming on his phone, outside the entrance to the building.

Reyes can be heard explaining to Fahey that he is an independent journalist working on a story as Costello assists other people waiting to enter the police headquarters. Fahey directs Reyes to the state police office in Meriden where he can lodge an in-person internal affairs complaint against officers in the Bradley incident. But Reyes continued to stand outside the entrance filming on his cellphone.

So youre going to stand here with your cellphone? Fahey asks.

I thought you were busy, Reyes responds.

I am  I am busy, Fahey says.

So you should get to work, Reyes says.

I should get to work? Is that what youre telling me? Fahey replies, stepping forward as Costello says sarge  sarge.

Reyes steps backward as Costello and Fahey advance toward him, his phone disappearing from view. His hand reappears empty, and its unclear from the video whether it was knocked or dropped from his hand.

Costello takes out a pair of handcuffs and can be heard telling Reyes he is interfering.

This is private property, youre not going to videotape me and have an attitude with me, Fahey tells Reyes, gripping him by the front of his shirt as the New York man tells him to get off of him and that hes trying to make a complaint.

Im not the one, I gave you your outlet, Fahey tells him, pointing at a complaint form still clutched in Reyes hand. You wanted to stand there and hold your cellphone in my face is what you wanted to do. Take your cellphone and go and make your complaint, he says before turning and walking away.

Reyes asks to retrieve his phone, but is directed to stay where he is while another officer gets it.

Whats wrong with you guys, man? Reyes asks Costello as Fahey walks away. Costello asks him where his car is parked.

Im going, Im going, Reyes says

... Why do you need to know where my cars at? You were about to arrest me man, for real?

In the video, Costello says police were going to detain him while giving Reyes his name and badge number.

The video ends with the officers following Reyes across the lawn to his car.

State police have also released body camera footage from when Reyes was detained at Bradley, and said an internal affairs investigation into the officer involved in that incident has been closed.

Hearst Connecticut Media has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for both internal affairs reports.

Records show Reyes has cases pending for arrests by Waterbury and Danbury police on May 19 and July 17, respectively. He was charged with first-degree criminal trespass in both cities, along with additional offenses in Danbury. He is due in court Dec. 8 in the Waterbury case, while the Danbury case is on the trial list waiting to be scheduled, according to the online court system. In a video on his channel, Reyes said he asked to be placed on a jury trial waiting list, rather than a list for a bench trial.

The trespassing charges in Danbury stem from a July 15 incident at city hall. Later that month, Reyes led a protest at city hall where he and supporters  some of whom said they were from out of state  entered and began filming.

Reyes has also filed a lawsuit against the city and four police officers who responded after he began filming in the library in a video that has been widely shared online.

One of the officers who responded was heard saying on body cam footage Reyes would be dead had the incident occurred years ago. That officer was later suspended for eight days while the other officers received reprimands ranging from a lesser suspension to training and counseling.
State Rep. Kurt Vail says he plans to reintroduce a bill that would move Connecticut and neighboring northeast states into Atlantic Standard Time.

In practical terms, the bill would see the region stick with Daylight Saving Time year-round, so residents just wouldnt set their clocks back an hour in the fall  as they will at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Vail, a Republican whose district includes Somers and Stafford, first proposed changing the states time zone in 2017. He noted the idea has support from both sides of the aisle.

Ill keep moving forward with this until we get something done, he said in a phone interview.

The change would only go into effect if lawmakers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York passed similar laws in their states.

Thats the same way its being introduced in those states, Vail said Were all working together.

Legislators are able to submit ideas for bills to committee, which can then decide whether to take them up. The plan would be identical to one proposed in the legislative session earlier this year that called for Gov. Ned Lamont to request the United States Secretary of Transportation to change Connecticuts time from Eastern Standard Time to Atlantic Standard Time, moving clocks ahead one hour permanently. Lawmakers could then eliminate Daylight Saving Time.

The state, he reasoned, is on the eastern end of the eastern time zone, so when the sun goes down in Connecticut, Detroit still has an hour of daylight.

Wed rather be on the western end of the other time zone, Vail said.

The idea of ending Daylight Saving Time has gained traction in recent years, sometimes resulting in odd political alliances. The Daily Show last year profiled Arizona, which eliminated Daylight Saving Time in the late 60s, putting it an hour behind the rest of the nation for most of the year. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, reintroduced a bill with bipartisan support earlier this year that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide.

The overwhelming majority of members of Congress approve and support it. Let's get it done. Lets get it passed, so that we never have to do this stupid change again, the Republican senator said in a video released this week.

Vail said the idea came from talks with his constituents. They just said, whats the point anymore? he recalled. I went and talked to local farmers and they were like, yeah, we have no purpose for it. They prefer not going back and forth.

He cited a 2017 special commission study for the Massachusetts legislature that found the spring transition to Daylight Saving Time corresponds with an increase in traffic fatalities, workplace injuries, and heart attacks. He also cited energy savings and economic activity as reasons to make the switch.

The arguments against setting clocks an hour ahead permanently include children having to wait for the school bus in darkness. Vail said the Massachusetts study suggested moving school start times later  something he favors, but said should be left up to local school boards to decide.

He said the proposal is also opposed by broadcasters.

Chances are tough when you have the broadcast industry going up against you, but they find a way to broadcast games in Arizona, which they dont change their clocks, he said.

Vail claimed that if someone were to propose Daylight Saving Time now, had it never existed, the idea would be taken as utterly ridiculous.

Its just that we got used to this and sometimes people are reluctant to change, he said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A former assistant attorney general who aligned himself with former President Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election has declined to be fully interviewed by a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, ending a deposition after around 90 minutes Friday.

Jeffrey Clark, who championed Trumps efforts to overturn the election, presented the committee with a letter saying he would not answer questions based on Trumps assertions of executive privilege, including in an ongoing court case, according to a person familiar with the closed-door meeting who was granted anonymity to discuss it. Clark left the interview with his lawyer, who told reporters that they were heading "home.

Clark, who was subpoenaed by the committee to appear, would not answer any questions from reporters as he departed.

In a statement Friday evening, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committees chairman, confirmed that Clark refused to answer questions and said it was unacceptable. He said he had rejected the claims of privilege and said Clark has a very short time to reconsider and cooperate.

Its astounding that someone who so recently held a position of public trust to uphold the Constitution would now hide behind vague claims of privilege by a former President, refuse to answer questions about an attack on our democracy, and continue an assault on the rule of law, Thompson said.

Clark's refusal is just the latest fallout from Trump's attempt to assert executive privilege in a lawsuit he filed against the committee and the National Archives. The suit aims to block the government from releasing a tranche of internal White House documents, including call logs, drafts of remarks, speeches and handwritten staff notes from before and during the insurrection. President Joe Biden has so far waived executive privilege on nearly all the documents that the committee has asked for, citing the panels need to investigate the violent attack.

Amid the legal wrangling, the House panel has struggled to gain cooperation from some of Trumps other top allies  including his longtime associate Steve Bannon and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows  as it conducts a sweeping investigation outside of public view. The committee has so far interviewed more than 150 witnesses so far, according to two people familiar with the interviews who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them.

The interviews have included a broad swath of former and current executive branch officials, Trump campaign aides, law enforcement officials and others. The panel has also talked to several people who helped organize a rally the morning of Jan. 6 where Trump told his supporters to fight like hell.

The committee has also interviewed Justice Department officials who were in office after the election. Thompson said Clarks refusal to answer questions about the former Presidents attempt to use the Department of Justice to overturn the election is in direct contrast to his supervisors at the Department, who have come in and answered the committees questions on these important topics.

Clark is one of almost 20 people the committee has subpoenaed so far. A report issued by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee last month detailed how he championed Trumps efforts to undo the election results and clashed as a result with Justice Department superiors who resisted the pressure, culminating in a dramatic White House meeting at which Trump ruminated about elevating Clark to attorney general. He did not do so after several aides threatened to resign.

Thompson wrote in Clarks subpoena that the committees probe has revealed credible evidence that you attempted to involve the Department of Justice in efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power and his efforts risked involving the Department of Justice in actions that lacked evidentiary foundation and threatened to subvert the rule of law.

It is unclear whether the panel will move to hold Clark in contempt of Congress, as they did with Bannon. Thompson said the committee needs the information Clark is withholding and is willing to take strong measures to hold him accountable.

The House voted last month to recommend the charges against Bannon, and it is now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to prosecute.

As they voted to hold Bannon in contempt, lawmakers on the panel  including two Republicans  made clear they would fight any assertions of executive privilege, which was developed over the years to protect a president's private conversations and communications. Thompson said then that the panel won't be deterred by any such claims.

A federal judge hearing the case also appeared to question Trumps assertions this week, expressing skepticism when Trumps lawyers argued the House panel did not have a legislative purpose for obtaining the documents.

The Jan. 6 riot happened in the Capitol, said U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. That is literally Congress house.

The House committee could pursue similar contempt charges against Meadows and former Trump administration aides Dan Scavino and Kashyap Patel, who have all been in extended discussions with the committee about testifying after they were subpoenaed.

Despite Trumps false claims about a stolen election  the primary motivation for the violent mob that broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of Bidens victory  the results were confirmed by state officials and upheld by the courts. Trumps own attorney general, William Barr, had said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed the results.

___

Associated Press journalists Rick Gentilo and Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.
HOUSTON (AP)  The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms and killing eight people in the chaos.

The pandemonium unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. As a timer clicked down to the start of the performance, the crowd pushed forward.

As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire," concertgoer Niaara Goods said. "All of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someones arm in your neck. Youre trying to breathe, but you cant.

Goods said she was so desperate to get out that she bit a man on the shoulder to get him to move.

AP

The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized Saturday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. He called the disaster a tragedy on many different levels and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong.

It may well be that this tragedy is the result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldnt possibly have been avoided," said Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris Countys top elected official. "But until we determine that, I will ask the tough questions.

Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density  too many people packed into a small space. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.

G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the United Kingdom's University of Suffolk, has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds. He said he usually does not look at eyewitness reports in the early stages of analyzing an incident because emotions can cloud the picture, and witnesses can see only whats immediately around them.

Amy Harris/Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Based on fire codes, the venue could have held 200,000 people, but city officials limited the attendance to 50,000, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said.

It was the crowd control at the point of the stage that was the issue, especially as the crowd began to surge toward the stage, Pena said.

The deaths called to mind a 1979 concert by the Who where 11 people died as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnatis Riverfront Coliseum. Other past crowd catastrophes include the deaths of 97 people in an overcrowded Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 in Sheffield, England, and numerous disasters connected with the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.

People in the Houston crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scotts set.

Then when Scott took the stage, the crowd seemed to rush to the front, trying to get closer to the stage, said Nick Johnson, a high school senior from the Houston suburb of Friendswood who was at the concert.

Everyone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldnt move. You couldnt do anything. You cant even pick your arms up, Johnson said. It just got worse and worse."

Johnson said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd.

Scott seemed to be aware that something was going on in the crowd, but he might not have understood the severity of the situation, Johnson said.

On video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert at one point and asking for aid for someone in the audience: Security, somebody help real quick.

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was absolutely devastated by what took place last night." He pledged to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.

Amy Harris, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press, described an aggressive crowd atmosphere throughout the day because of the way fans were behaving  pushing and rushing the stage barricades and prohibited VIP and admission areas.

It was definitely the most chaotic festival environment that Ive been in, Harris said. I felt uneasy all day.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said his department noticed attendees going down at 9:30 p.m. and immediately notified concert organizers. The event was called off 40 minutes later after discussions that included the fire department and officials with NRG Park.

Finner defended the amount of time it took for the event to be canceled.

You cannot just close when youve got 50,000  over 50,000  individuals, OK? Finner said. We have to worry about rioting  riots  when you have a group thats that young.

At one point, Gerardo Abad-Garcia was pressed so tightly into the crowd that he could not move his arms off his chest. During the performance that came before Scotts, he started getting concerned for his safety.

I just couldnt breathe. I was being compressed, he said. A security guard helped him and others climb a fence and get out.

Michael Wyke/AP

He described the crowd during Scott's set as a wave that was going forward and backward." He said some people tried to help those who were passed out on the ground, while other concertgoers seemed to ignore them and continued watching the show.

Some audience members said barricades erected near the stage and to separate different sections of ticket holders prevented fans from escaping.

Billy Nasser described an area created by a stage barricade as a closet that people were thrown into and the door was shut. Joshua Robinson said the barricades created an area that was just way too small and compact for the number of people there.

Part of the investigation will include reviewing how the area around the stage was designed, the fire chief said.

Authorities did not disclose the causes of death, and the dead were not immediately identified.

The police chief said authorities were investigating reports of suspicious activity in the crowd, including a security officer who told police that he felt a prick in his neck during the chaos and lost consciousness while being examined by first responders. He was revived by the opioid antidote Narcan.

Scott, one of musics biggest young stars, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018. The 30-year-old Houston native has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. He has a 3-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that shes pregnant with their second child.

Drake joined Scott on-stage at the concert, which was livestreamed by Apple Music.

___

Associated Press writers Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Stan Choe in New York, David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Desiree Seals in Atlanta contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Travis Scott is 30 years old, not 29.
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BRIDGEPORT  As the 20th anniversary of Bianca Elaine Lebrons disappearance approaches, investigators say there is no new information in the case to share.

Lebron was waiting in line to enter the former Elias Howe School on Clinton Avenue on Nov. 7, 2001, when she told classmates she was leaving to go with an uncle on a shopping trip. The then-10-year-old was last seen getting into a brown and tan van driven by a man. She hasnt been seen since.

Officials previously said Lebron did not have an uncle. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System entry for Lebron indicates that the van was an older model with several sanded areas, tinted windows and chrome trim on its sides.

Sunday marks 20 years since her disappearance, which back in 2001 launched a nationwide search. Since then, her case has become the subject of many television specials.

And as of Friday, authorities continue to probe her disappearance.

This case is still open and the Bridgeport Police Department investigates any leads as they come in, said Scott Appleby, the citys director of emergency communications and emergency management.

He said police did not have any new information on the case to share.

Back in 2011, police got a tip from New Mexico, where someone in an online chat room claimed they saw a picture that looked like the missing girl. It wasnt her.

In July 2009, police dug up a section of the west end of Seaside Park for two days after getting a tip she was buried there. Authorities found nothing.

In 2003, police questioned an individual they believed might have had a relationship with the girl. He was later released after denying knowing anything about Lebrons whereabouts. In an interview with Connecticut Post after his release, the man and his mother denied knowing anything about her disappearance.

Carmelita Torres, Lebrons mother, described her daughter as a happy child who loved school in a 2011 interview with the Connecticut Post. She could not be reached for comment Friday.

Lebron would be 30 now. Authorities have generated age-progression photos of what they believe resembles what Lebron would look like more recently. She has a birthmark on her forehead. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police tips line at 203-576-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
FAIRFIELD  A town high school student has found the intersection of her two favorite topics after she created a podcast aimed at demystifying STEM.

Lauren Ji, a senior at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, said her podcast STEMpowering Conversations blends her love of STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with journalism. Jis podcast, which can be found on Spotify and Podbean, has thousands of downloads across 23 countries.

Ji said she comes from a STEM-oriented family. With a financial analyst father, a patent attorney mother who specializes in chemistry and a software pro sister, she said she has always been in advanced math and science classes.

But journalism is an interest that sparked on its own, Ji said, without influence from her family. Through interviews with people working in STEM fields, she said she gets to learn about both her interests.

The reason Im so passionate about my podcast is because its a very cool intersection of what I found on my own and what I want to do, but also my familys interest, she said. This was a perfect opportunity to combine two of my interests and to learn about them both through a different lens.

Ji, who already worked on a podcast with a friend, said she started the show in the spring when she recorded an interview with Laurie Chipperfield. A recipient of the Connecticut Women of Innovation Award, at Pfizer, Chipperfield oversees the manufacturing of lipids that are essential to the COVID-19 vaccine.

I worked on it over the summer  gathering people to interview, learning how to edit  I got podcast material, she said. That helped me launch at the beginning of August.

Ji noted that, when she first started recording episodes, she always had a hard time finding a good place to do so. Living in a noisy house, she would find herself in the garage, the bathroom and even her parents car.

Now, I mostly just film in my room and tell everyone in my family to be quiet, she said.

STEMpowering Conversations, which has 11 episodes as on Friday afternoon, features guests such as Nobel Laureate physician-scientist William G. Kaelin Jr. and founder and CEO of the Plastic Bank, David Katz. Each episode runs for approximately a half hour.

Ji said her parents have been helpful in suggesting topics to cover, adding she searches for people to interview based on the topic. She said she also interviewed several different Columbia University engineering students that she met while in a program there in the summer.

These undergraduate or graduate students, they werent the main professors but they were helping us on the side, she said. I got to know them pretty well and theyre all super nice and super supportive. So, when I reached out to them after the program, they were all willing to help me.

Jis interviews dont just focus on the work the guest is doing, but also on their life and how they got to where they are. She said she comes up with questions before chatting with them by doing a deep search of their Linkedin page, plus searching for any available articles or videos about them.

With an initial goal of inspiring high school students, Ji said she always ends an interview by asking the guest for their advice to high schoolers interested in STEM.

I made this because at my high school there are definitely a lot of great STEM opportunities, but I wanted to have more of a direct connect with role models, with people who are in to the field working, she said.

Through her chats with guests, Ji said she has developed her communication and interviewing skills. One major takeaway she has had during the process of creating her podcast and talking to experts is how to use setbacks as learning experiences.

Ji said she wants listeners to understand that anyone can be the person she interviews. While people may look at winning the Nobel Prize as unobtainable, she said, Kaelin was a Ludlowe graduate who noted in his interview that he did not do well in high school.

I think that is the thing Ive discovered while Ive been conducting these interviews, she said. Everyone has a starting point. I want people to be inspired by the doctors and the engineers and the researchers that I interview, but I also want them to know that it is possible to become them one day.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  A Topeka man has been sentenced to life in prison after a police chase that led to the death of another driver.

Brandon Keith Jordan was sentenced Friday for the death of 69-year-old Dennis Affolter of Topeka.
Incumbents sailed to victories in most greater Bridgeport and Naugatuck Valley towns this week, while those in some down ticket races won by such tight margins that six towns planned recounts of election results.

Monroe, Fairfield, Trumbull, Stratford and Derby all required recounts of election results, with some planning to take on the task this week.

Gary Rose, chairman of the department of government at Sacred Heart University, said he has seen more recounts in local elections recently.

I think it has to do largely with the growing polarization in the country, he said. The polarization is working its way into lower level races.

Its hard not to have an opinion about so much of the stuff thats happening out there, he added.

He said local candidates arent as well-known by voters so its often party affiliation that guides voting.

I think we could see in the future more competitive races because of that, he said.

An exception would be Bridgeport, he noted, where the Democrats have such a dominance over local politics that Republicans rarely win seats on the City Council.

Close races and recounts, however, dont necessarily mean a change in party control. Monroe and Shelton had recounts this week that led to no changes in the Republican dominance on those towns boards.

Having recounts in as many towns as we are seeing in Connecticut could be a result of the campaign issues, partisanship, mobilization or a combination of these things, said Gayle Alberda, assistant professor of politics at Fairfield University. The political climate going into the 2021 election, particularly at the national level, easily could have trickled down to local races.

Take, for instance, social justice issues surrounding race at the national level include the voting rights bill, at the state level criminal justice reform, and the local level its about police reform or stances on K-12 schools and critical race theory, Alberda said. Voters tend to be divided on many of these policies. If these issues were part of a local race, then voters from both parties would likely be mobilized, creating a close race.

In Stratford, the recount will start Monday at 10 a.m. for the Town Councils District 2, the Planning Commissions District 3 and the Zoning Board of Appeals District 3, which all had vote tallies so close that they fall under the states guidelines to call for a recount.

Three towns are also planning recounts on Tuesday.

Trumbull has its recount planned for 3 p.m. for three Town Council races, while Derby will host its recount at noon for races for Ward 1 alderman and the Board of Education. And Fairfield, where some candidates were only separated by one vote, will recount its ballots at 9 a.m. for Representative Town Meeting districts 2, 6 and 9.

While aldermen races were close in many towns, many top-of-the-ticket races were not.

In Stratford, incumbent Laura Hoydick, a Republican, won nearly 63 percent of the vote, with 8,007 votes to challenger Immacula Canns 4,708. Milford Mayor Ben Blake won by an even larger percentage, with more than 69 percent of the roughly 15,000 votes cast.

Incumbents won across the board, with mayors and first selectmen in Trumbull, Shelton, Derby and Easton all keeping their seats, while some chief executives ran unopposed, including Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and Monroe First Selectman Ken Kellogg.

Party didnt seem to matter much at the top of the ticket, as Trumbull First Selectman Vicki Tesoro, a Democrat, kept her seat even as the Town Council flipped several seats, taking the Democrats from a 16-5 majority to an 11-10 split, pending the District 4 recount, where Republican Olga Leiva leads Democrat Patricia Borghesan 777-773.

The races were the first under the new 7-district plan in Trumbull, up from four previously. Under the new district plan, no party can have more than a 14-7 majority.

Incumbent winners were not from one particular party in the region, with Blake and First Selectman David Bindelglass also Democrats, but Hoydick and Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan are members of the GOP.

Rose said incumbents always have the advantage over their opponents  not only because they have the name recognition, but also because they have the power to take action to help their constituents and solve their problems.

They also usually have a larger war chest, said Alberda.

One reason for this is because they have a track record of winning, she said. Donors want to give to a candidate that is viable.

Incumbency is a major factor, not only in local elections, Rose said. Thats why people call for term limits, because incumbents win time after time.

That is true in Shelton, where Mayor Mark Lauretti was reelected for his 16th term on Tuesday, a role Rose said will be difficult to take away from the popular incumbent.

There are some people who have really owned the seat, said Rose. He is one. It will be very hard to dislodge him.

But, he noted, there are exceptions to the rule, like in Stamford.

That was very interesting and somewhat unusual, he said, of the Stamford primary this summer, where incumbent Mayor David Martin lost to state Rep. Caroline Simmons, who went on to win the general election Tuesday against Bobby Valentine for that citys top seat.

Rose said Simmons likely benefited from several factors, including the fact that she has name recognition of her own as a state representative representing Stamford for several years.

She did very well against an icon, Rose said. She did exceptionally well really.

Correction The number towns planning recounts has been updated.
Cullman, AL (35055)

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Partly cloudy skies during the morning will give way to cloudy skies and light rain late. High around 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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Kankakee, IL (60901)

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Elizabeth City, NC (27909)

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Mostly sunny skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable..

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Reva Mae Love, age 75, of Dalton, Georgia passed away on Thursday, November 18, 2021. She was born on September 10, 1946. She is preceded in death by parents, Herbert and Lela "Grant" Lawson; brother, Charles Lawson. She is survived by her husband, Bubba (Harold) Love of Dalton; son, Brian F
Corinth, MS (38834)

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Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 63F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

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Rain ending early. Clearing overnight. Thunder is possible early. Low 37F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Ashland, KY (41101)

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Cloudy with rain developing this afternoon. High 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

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Sunbury, PA (17801)

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Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional showers during the afternoon. High 49F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

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Why did it happen? What made Boris Johnson force his MPs through the lobbies in a brazen attempt to overturn the investigation of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, whitewash her findings on Owen Paterson  then backtrack and perpetrate perhaps the biggest crisis of his premiership?

One explanation can be swiftly dispensed with. It wasn't because Paterson was the victim of a grave injustice.

The investigation into his lucrative  and prohibited  lobbying of Ministers was imperfect. The lack of an appeals process was flawed. And the backdrop  the suicide of his wife Rose  was tragic.

But he was guilty as charged. As one Tory MP told me: 'I like Owen. I think we need to look at how the Standards Commissioner operates. But he was bang to rights. He did it.'

What made Boris Johnson force his MPs through the lobbies in a brazen attempt to overturn the investigation of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, whitewash her findings on Owen Paterson  then backtrack and perpetrate perhaps the biggest crisis of his premiership?

Boris knows full well he did it. So the shambolic mismanagement of the past few days was not part of a noble process to save a colleague from an egregious wrong.

Nor, to look at the other side of the scales, was it the product of a great conspiracy, as alleged by some of the Prime Minister's critics.

They charge that the whole affair was a pre-emptive strike by No 10 to prevent Parliament's watchdog from digging into who paid for the Prime Minister's Downing Street flat refurbishment.

Yes, there is little love lost between Boris and Stone, especially after she found him in breach of Commons rules over a holiday to Mustique, a verdict that was overturned by a cross-party panel of MPs.

But the Downing Street flat issue has been examined by the ministerial standards adviser and the Electoral Commission, and no serious wrongdoing has been found. Nor does it appear to be an issue that would fall within Stone's remit.

And there is further compelling evidence this saga was not the product of a cunning masterplan. That would have required some actual thought. Clever people would have needed to sit down to make a considered, rational judgment and come up with an actual strategy.

And this humiliating, omni-shambolic, multi-lane political pile-up had no such oversight.

To understand what did happen, you have to realise several things. The first is that there is a political black hole at the heart of No 10. Last year, in the space of just a few weeks, the Cabinet Secretary, Chief of Staff, Communications Director and the senior Prime Ministerial adviser all left. As one Minister said: 'There's no one in there who does real politics, who can tap Boris on the shoulder and say, 'Don't be daft. You're not doing that.' '

The investigation into his lucrative  and prohibited  lobbying of Ministers was imperfect. The lack of an appeals process was flawed. And the backdrop  the suicide of his wife Rose  was tragic

Neither Dan Rosenfield, the new Chief of Staff, nor Simon Case, the new Cabinet Secretary, has sufficient stature or authority.

So the only approximation of serious political architecture at the heart of Whitehall has been built by the Prime Minister's wife Carrie and the loose team of friends she has inserted as advisers. But as the past week has shown, even their grip on events is tenuous.

Though not as tenuous as the grip of the Prime Minister himself. Boris has many political gifts, as his unparalleled string of successes have demonstrated. But those successes are working against him.

He's become complacent. Shorn of any serious external political opposition, consistently defying gravity in the opinion polls and bolstered by an unassailable 80-seat majority, he feels can do  and get away with  whatever he likes.

It's only four months since he was forced into another humiliating U-turn after trying to dodge Covid isolation when he was pinged. On that occasion the retreat came in hours. This time it came too late.

'He basically thinks he's Henry VIII,' one Minister explained. 'He rules via his courtiers. He doesn't have to worry about any opposition from Labour. So he just carries on governing by whim and decree.'

Some of those courtiers are now firmly in the firing line. Sarah Dines and Andrew Griffith are the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretaries. They are supposed to act as his 'eyes and ears', reporting back to No 10 on the mood of the parliamentary party, and providing advice on how to manage it.

But last week they were doing the opposite. 'They were just going up to people being arrogant and offensive,' one MP told me.

'They were saying, 'This is what you're going to do.' That's not their job. They're supposed to be telling the PM what we're thinking, not telling us what we have to think.'

Others  including allies of the Prime Minister  have tried to lay the blame for the fiasco on Chief Whip Mark Spencer. But I'm told he was against the move, and in the words of one Minister, was 'egged on' by Boris.

Another Minister said: 'People are saying this was a failure of whipping. But Mark managed to get the party to march through the lobbies behind something they knew was mad. He did his job fine. He's not the problem.'

A lot of Tory MPs think they know who is. Though they believe Boris has blundered and his authority has been damaged, their anger is directed at Owen Paterson's allies, in particular that group of influential senior backbenchers who christened themselves 'the Spartans'.

'They're at the heart of it,' one younger Tory backbencher told me. 'They've been swaggering around with this 'I'm a Spartan. I run the Tory Party' arrogance. And they've finally been found out. This is on them. It's their disaster.'

It may well be. But there's a reason the Spartans have been bombastically bragging about running the party. Which is that over the past few years, they've been doing precisely that.

It was the Spartans who pushed David Cameron towards a Brexit referendum. It was the Spartans who ousted Theresa May, opening the door for Boris. And it was the Spartans who led the charge into the valley of death on behalf of Paterson  with the Prime Minister trailing forlornly in their wake.

As one Minister said: 'Boris knows Starmer can't touch him. He knows the public still like him. So he calculated the only real danger to him was upsetting the Spartans. And this was his way of trying to keep them on board.'

That's no longer a viable strategy. As one Cabinet Minister said: 'It's over for the Spartans. They're done. What you're going to see over the next few months is the rest of the parliamentary party starting to reassert itself. The centrist MPs. The younger MPs. They're going to say, 'You had a good run. But it's our time now.' '

That may be wishful thinking. Although they are chastened by the events of the past few days, the Spartans are not likely to slink away into the shadows. And worryingly for No 10, they harbour resentment towards a Prime Minister they think abandoned them, and one of their own, in their hour of need.

But it's not really about them. Or their colleagues. Or even Owen Paterson. The blame for the shambles of the past week rests squarely on the shoulders of the Prime Minister. His complacency. His willingness to tolerate  indeed preside over  dysfunctionality in Downing Street. His ceding of control of his party to factions and cliques.

Why did this happen? It happened because Boris let it happen. He can't afford to let it happen again.
It took a pap smear and a 27cm-long tumour that weighed 700g for doctors to diagnose young Gabriella Haddad with a rare stage two ovarian cancer at just 17.

The Sydney childcare worker was diagnosed on October 22, 2016 after suffering from awful abdominal pain and bloating - but she recalled experiencing bad migraines and nausea since the age of 12.

It wasn't until she was 16 she noticed the migraines, which often made her bedridden, had became progressively worse to the point where she was missing out on school.

Gabriella Haddad (pictured left) worker was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on October 22, 2016 after suffering from awful abdominal pain and bloating - but she recalled experiencing bad migraines and nausea since the age of 12

It was a pap smear that detected the 27cm long tumour growing on one of her ovaries. Doctors caught the tumour at the perfect time as if it had been left undetected Gabriella would've lost her life

Gabriella, now 22, told FEMAIL doctors dismissed her symptoms throughout her teenage years, but she 'knew something was wrong' and she was rushed to hospital prior to the prognosis.

'The tumour was a "teratoma", which is often a benign cyst found in women over 40, but in my case it had turned cancerous and was growing on my ovary,' she said.

Doctors caught the tumour at the perfect time as if it had been left undetected Gabriella would've lost her life.

Prior to the prognosis Gabriella felt 'emotional' and 'alone' because doctors didn't know what was wrong.

She also has no family history of cancer and doctors aren't sure what caused it to occur.

In September she noticed her stomach 'started to grow', felt more bloated than normal and had more abdominal pain.

Another fatal sign was that Gabriella didn't get her period throughout the time leading up to her diagnosis and surgery to remove the tumour.

'I'm a big believer in God, so I asked him to help me figure this out or show a sign to make doctors figure out what's wrong,' she said.

A few days later she was rushed to hospital where a doctor conducted the pap smear that detected the tumour.

Prior to the prognosis Gabriella felt 'emotional' and 'alone' because doctors didn't know what was wrong

While pap smears are often an uncomfortable process, Gabriella said the pain was horrific.

'I usually have a high pain tolerance, but the pain was so bad it was almost unbearable,' she said.

Doctors then conducted an MRI, CT scan and ultrasound to confirm the tumour was there.

Soon after the prognosis the tumour was initially considered to be benign, but the tests determined it to be cancerous.

Despite the rare diagnosis, it was Gabriella's faith that allowed her to remain calm and positive.

'It was an emotional time but I had to be strong, and I had faith in God that everything was going to be okay,' she said.

The following day the tumour was removed through surgery, and two weeks later her affected ovary was removed.

What is ovarian cancer? Ovarian cancer is a malignant tumour in one or both ovaries. The ovaries are made up of three main kinds of cells  epithelial cells, stromal cells and germ cells. Each of these cells can develop into a different type of tumour. The average age of women when they are diagnosed with ovarian cancer is age 64. It is mainly diagnosed in women over the age of 50; however, there are cases diagnosed in younger women. Advertisement

The following day the tumour was removed through surgery, and two weeks later her affected ovary was removed

After speaking to physicians, Gabriella chose not to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy post-surgery as it would've only been used as a 'precaution'.

'I went through three different doctors and my oncologist suggested waiting - and if the cancer returned she assured me we can 'monitor it',' she said.

'At the time it was such a difficult decision because I didn't want to put my body through the treatment if it wasn't completely necessary.

Following the surgeries she continued to have regular monthly check-up appointments and MRI scans.

For the first two years there was a 40 per cent chance the cancer would return, but thankfully Gabriella has been cancer-free for five years.

'I feel so blessed and very lucky that I didn't need chemo because I know this often isn't the cause for everyone who has cancer,' she said.

For the first two years there was a 40 per cent chance the cancer would return, but thankfully Gabriella has been cancer-free for five years

Gabriella is now an activist for raising awareness about the awful cancer that impacts so many women worldwide.

'I encourage you to go get checked - have an ultrasound if you think something is wrong and speak to your doctor,' she said.

'I still think there's not enough said about this awful disease that affects so many women.'

According to Cancer Australia, it's estimated that 1,720 women have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year.

The estimated number of deaths in 2021 from the disease tips at 1,042.

While it's not as common as breast cancer, ovarian cancer is more difficult to catch as there are often no obvious symptoms.
A mumpreneur who could drink 20 litres of water and still feel thirsty due to a tiny brain tumour is being kept alive with carefully administered doses of medication when she starts to dehydrate or sweat.

Sophie Doyle, from Perth, Australia has opened up on her rare life-threatening health condition and how she overcame it to start a family and successful business.

Ms Doyle was just 20 and living in Thailand when she became incredibly ill overnight.

The now 36-year-old told Daily Mail Australia how she woke in the middle of the night feeling unbelievably dehydrated, but no amount of water could quench her thirst.

Ms Doyle returned to Australia but doctors could not determine what was wrong with her for five long weeks.

Sophie Doyle (pictured) from Perth, Australia was diagnosed with diabetes insipidus which causes an imbalance of fluid in the body and doesn't allow it to retain water.

'I often feel dehydrated, I don't absorb nutrients properly and struggle to hold water in my body, but doctors have no idea what caused the auto immune condition,' she said

Her world was turned upside down when tests eventually detected a fatal tumour on her pituitary gland, leading doctors to diagnose her with diabetes insipidus on December 28, 2005.

The uncommon disorder causes an imbalance of fluid in the body and doesn't allow it to retain water.

'I often feel dehydrated, I don't absorb nutrients properly and struggle to hold water in my body, but doctors have no idea what caused the auto immune condition,' she said.

'When I was in Thailand, one minute I felt fine and the next I was drinking 20L of water that flushed straight through my body.'

Ms Doyle had to face the heartbreaking reality of her condition after being told she may not be able to have children and would be reliant on hormone replacement medication.

Her tumour was only 1cm long but was impacting the functionality of the pea-size pituitary gland in the brain responsible for the secretion of the body's hormones.

'I was given this prognosis at a time of my life where I was just learning to figure it all out, which fuelled my desire to always go after what I want,' she said.

'I didn't let it stress me out and only started thinking of the implications after I got married.'

Ms Doyle first realised something was wrong when she was 20 and living in Thailand and woke up one night feeling dehydrated and no amount of water could quench her thirst

She now needs to take medication two to three times a day every time she feels thirsty, sweats without exercising or has a runny nose

Sophie's business tips for success: Consider what your product is and supply chain Create a product that's small, light and easy to send to customers Start small Don't outsource people to do jobs right away, do as much as you can yourself Have a point of difference Invest time and money into the idea Advertisement

Ms Doyle and her partner managed to fall pregnant naturally and quickly despite their initial fears they might not be able to conceive.

She still has to closely monitor her body to determine when she needs medication, which could be up to three times a day.

'I've always been self-aware enough to know what's going on with my body and understand when my body needs the medication - but I need to be extremely careful if I take too much I'll end up in hospital,' she said.

Ms Doyle takes the medication when she starts to feel an insatiable thirst, or sweaty without exercising, or if she has a runny nose.

She has learned to 'deal with it' over the years despite the medication being extremely complicated to manage.

The shock health diagnosis made her realise 'life is too short' so in 2016 she started her own baby goods brand Alf the Label.

'I had always worked in corporate for the government and never aspired to become a business owner,' she said.

Ms Doyle said the shock health diagnosis made her realise 'life is too short' so she launched her own business Alf The Label specialising in stylish but practical baby bags

While in hospital she was told she may not be able to have children and would be reliant on hormone replacement medication but despite initial fears she and her partner have given birth to two beautiful children

'Since being diagnosed I have tapped into a positive mindset of life-guiding moments and realised life is too short.'

Ms Doyle said she struggled finding a stylish but practical baby bag after having her first child Ari .

She saw an opportunity to help other parents by designing a luxe baby bag that looked beautiful from the outside with a fully-functional interior.

Five years after launching her first bag - the Stella Tote - Alf the Label is now one of Australia's most loved accessories brands for parents, with a loyal community of more than 50,000 people worldwide.

She initially thought the brand was going to be a small 'side hustle' but is now overwhelmed by its success.

Alf the Label is now one of Australia's most loved accessories brands for parents, with a loyal community of more than 50,000 people worldwide.

Ms Doyle invested $7,000 to get the business off the ground and worked on growing the brand by herself.

'If you have an idea, you can think big you just have to be creative with the money and be willing to do everything yourself for a while rather than outsource,' she said.

'If you are willing to put in the hard yards, you never know what you can achieve.

'More importantly, don't let something that's impacting your life get in the way of your passions.'
She was warrior queen Hippolyta in the Wonder Woman movies and Lucilla, Maximuss lover, in Gladiator, but now Connie Nielsen has swapped Hollywood for Hastings to make Channel 4s new psychological thriller Close To Me.

Danish actress Connie plays Jo Harding, a woman trying to piece together the details of her life after a fall has left her with a brain injury and erased her memory of the past 13 months. And as she does so, she finds herself on a fraught voyage of discovery involving her husband Rob (Christopher Eccleston), her best friend Cathy (Susan Lynch), her two grown-up children and her parents.

Close To Me is a psychological detective story and theres a lot for Jo to uncover, explains Connie, 56.

Connie Nielsen, 56, is returning to screens in Channel 4's new thriller Close To Me. Pictured: Connie as Jo Harding and Christopher Eccleston as husband Rob

At first glance she seems to have this almost boringly perfect life  handsome husband, great kids, great house, great job as a translator  but once she awakens from her induced coma, she starts to get this gnawing feeling in her head that theres something she needs to know, something those closest to her are keeping from her.

'And that may be a very big secret. Will she be revealed to be a horrific person who needs to make amends  or a victim?

What becomes clear is that Jos life wasnt as harmonious as she thought it was prior to her fall. Estate agent husband Rob seems unwaveringly supportive but also a little twitchy around his wife.

And when shes reacquainted with Cathy, her best friend reveals that a major falling out just prior to Jos fall meant the two women werent talking to one another.

Based on the novel by Amanda Reynolds, the six-part thriller makes for edgy viewing as Jo suffers nightmares that become disturbingly dark. There are steamy scenes too as Jos condition sees her engage in some uncharacteristic behaviour.

Jos lack of inhibition not only manifests itself in the way she talks to people  she screams at her son in one scene  but also in the way she conducts herself, explains Connie.

I had intimate scenes with some young male actors playing Jos lovers, but we benefited from having an intimacy co-ordinator.

Connie said TV is the place to be because actors can dive deep into characters. Pictured: Jo with her best friend Cathy

Theres little intimacy between Jo and her husband though. Theres a tension between them and perhaps a realisation on his part that the marriage is in trouble, says Christopher Eccleston.

Ive seen marriages where the kids have left home and theres been an infusion of energy and romance, which I think Rob is pushing for. But hes possibly more in love with her than she is with him.

For Connie, the project reminded her of struggles she had with her mother Laila, who had mental health issues. It was tough, she admits.

I was always trying and failing to get her love. When I realised I was going to have to become the parent and let her be the child, I stopped feeling hurt, she says.

Its the potential for exploring complex themes like these that has drawn Connie to TV after a 30-year career spent mainly in film.

You can tell well-crafted stories over six to eight hours in a TV series. Before, even when I was the lead in films I was getting edited down. TV is now the place to be. We can dive deep into characters. And thats what we do in Close To Me.

Close To Me, tomorrow, 9pm, Ch4.
Glamorous young sisters are raking in $40,000 a month with sustainable handmade swimwear - but they couldn't have done it without a little help from mum.

When Lucy, 21, and Molly Cochrane, 23, asked their mother Anne to sew them some bikinis in November 2017, they could never have predicted the designs would become some of Australia's most sought-after ethical swimwear just four years later.

Eager to start a side hustle together, the siblings from Croydon Hills, Victoria, posted photos of their creations to Instagram and were pleasantly surprised when requests for more flooded their inbox.

Savvy use of TikTok and influencer marketing has seen Leni Swims grow from a modest $3,000 in sales during its first year of business to a staggering $40,000 a month - an extraordinary achievement the Cochranes are still getting used to.

Glamorous sisters Lucy (left) and Molly Cochrane (right) are raking in $40,000 a month with sustainable handmade swimwear - all thanks to a little help from mum

The Melbourne duo are the founders of Leni Swims, an ethical bikini label specialising in affordable sets and custom two-pieces

Molly and Lucy Cochrane with their mother Anne, who handmakes their Leni Swims designs

'When we launched we had absolutely no idea what we were doing,' Molly told Daily Mail Australia.

'We've done about $484,000 this year so far, which was a huge shock, but we also know how hard we've worked and that we really deserve it.'

Made from recycled nylon which is soft, breathable and infused with fibres that protect against harmful UV rays, the bikinis come in a range of eye-catching prints with something to suit every shape and skin tone.

Ready made two-pieces start from $119 while custom sets will set you back $145 - a refreshingly affordable price point for a sustainable brand.

Sales of the bikinis (one pictured) have grown from a modest $3,000 in their first year of business to a staggering $40,000 a month in 2021

Co-founder Molly (pictured in a Leni Swims set) said she and her sister Lucy had 'absolutely no idea' what they were doing when they launched their brand back in 2017

Made from recycled nylon which is infused with fibres that protect against UV rays, the bikinis come in a range of eye-catching prints with something to suit every shape and skin tone

Single tops from similar labels such as Bydee and Zazi Swim cost at least $90 while bottoms are about the same.

Creating affordable pieces that still put the planet first was the driving force for the Cochranes, who felt there was something missing in the Australian market.

'Before we started we had a look and found a lot of either super expensive, or incredibly cheap options,' Molly recalled.

'Then after we realised people liked our designs and fabrics, we just kept creating them.'

Social media has been the biggest source of sales for the brand, according to Molly, who says a series of viral TikTok videos have sparked a significant uptick since late 2020

The prices are refreshingly affordable for a sustainable brand

Social media has been the biggest source of sales for the brand, according to Molly, who says a series of viral TikTok videos have sparked a significant uptick since late 2020.

Collaborations with popular influencers have also paid dividends.

A collection designed with Michigan fitness blogger Cristina Capron flew out of stock, while traffic spikes each time TIkToker Ana Stowell spruiks the label online.

With business continuing to boom, the sisters are preparing to expand into a small manufacturing space in Bali, Indonesia in early 2022.

Molly (pictured) says her best advice is simple: block out the haters and go for it

'We have had girls waiting months on preorder for some of our bestselling prints, so we need to keep up with demand,' Molly explained.

Her best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: pay no heed to haters and go for it.

'Make the most of the digital world that is constantly evolving,' she said.

'Block out everyone's opinions, and make as many mistakes as you can. It's going to help you in the long run!'
It was nearly midnight at a paediatric A&E department in a busy Midlands hospital.

The consultant had been on duty without a break for nine hours when a sick baby was brought in by its concerned parents.

The child had not been feeding for 24 hours and had a rash.

Exhausted after making a succession of life-or-death decisions, including one resuscitation shortly beforehand, the doctor swiftly weighed up the options for his tiny patient.

The child's symptoms, most of the time, would not indicate anything serious. But they could be a sign of sepsis, the body's life-threatening reaction to an infection.

Margaret Simson (above), 73, from Corstorphine, Edinburgh, ended up in intensive care and spent two years with a stoma bag after an 'unnecessary' colonoscopy procedure to investigate chronic bowel symptoms

Medics admit that defensive medicine is rife, thanks to the ever-rising tide of complaints and clinical negligence claims against the NHS. Defensive medicine is when doctors carry out a test or procedure or offer treatment that may not be warranted, simply in order to avoid the remote possibility of a complaint or legal action should the patient be unhappy. (File image)

'It was midnight, I hadn't eaten or drunk anything or had a break  I worried about whether I could make the right decision,' the doctor says.

'I had in my mind recent high-profile cases where doctors had been prosecuted for getting it wrong. Speaking to a colleague, we realised no one would thank us for doing nothing.'

The consultant, who asked not to be named, admitted the child for blood tests and a lumbar puncture  an invasive procedure which involves using a needle to extract fluid from the spine to look for signs of infection.

It often needs to be performed more than once; complications, although rare, include nerve damage, headaches and bleeding.

The parents, though, were happy that everything was being done to rule out their worst fears.

The baby was fine and will recover. But this well-respected senior doctor has been left with doubts over whether their decision  this happened just last week  was truly necessary.

'In the cold light of day, the next morning, you think, 'Why did I do that?' If it had been at the very beginning of the shift, I'd have made a different decision.'

ON MEDICAL MINEFIELD THIS WEEK Do doctors give patients treatments they don't need because they're scared of being sued if they don't? One woman tells how defensive medicine left her health in ruins - on the Medical Minefield podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here. Advertisement

It's an astonishing confession: a healthcare professional candidly revealing that a patient was subjected to needless tests and investigations, driven, at least in part, by fear  not just the fear of missing something vital for the sake of the patient but the fear of being sued for it.

It is not a unique, or even unusual situation. Medics admit that the practice, known as defensive medicine, is rife, thanks to the ever-rising tide of complaints and clinical negligence claims against the NHS.

Defensive medicine is a broad term, encompassing a range of situations.

But in a nutshell it's when doctors carry out a test or procedure or offer treatment that may not be warranted, simply in order to avoid the remote possibility of a complaint or legal action should the patient be unhappy.

It could be that the patient demands something which isn't needed and the doctor relents. Or it could be, as in the case just described, over-zealous investigations or treatment done 'just in case'.

In one study, 87.5 per cent of doctors admitted that they'd practised defensive medicine of some kind.

Invasive biopsies carried out on harmless lumps and growths. Patients with mild heart disease undergoing stent operations that may not benefit them at all.

X-rays and CT scans being carried out for common headaches and bad backs. Antibiotics over-prescribed and blood tests over-ordered.

Neurologist Dr Jenny Vaughan, chairman of the Doctors' Association UK, told The Mail on Sunday's Medical Minefield podcast that it had become 'a massive problem'.

'There is no part of the NHS that the long tentacles of defensive medicine don't reach,' she said.

This comes with huge financial costs.

But what's the real harm in a few extra tests, or pills, just to be on the safe side?

Well, there is also a major downside for patients, as tests and procedures carry risks.

Just ask Margaret Simson. The 73-year-old, from Corstorphine, Edinburgh, ended up in intensive care and spent two years with a stoma bag after an 'unnecessary' colonoscopy procedure to investigate chronic bowel symptoms.

In one study, 87.5% of doctors admitted that they'd practised defensive medicine of some kind. Invasive biopsies carried out on harmless lumps and growths. Patients with mild heart disease undergoing stent operations that may not benefit them at all. X-rays and CT scans (file image) being carried out for common headaches and bad backs. Antibiotics over-prescribed and blood tests over-ordered

Margaret, who runs a holiday park, had been referred twice previously for the same procedure after experiencing bowel urgency  and both times she had been told that there were no signs of anything sinister.

A colonoscopy  a camera on a thin tube used to check inside the bowel  is the main tool used to diagnose bowel cancer, and about 650,000 are carried out in the UK every year.

But demand for them is growing, despite the fact there is a small risk that the instruments used can puncture the delicate tissue of the bowel. This is a life-threatening complication, and a third who suffer it will die.

For that reason, patients are first generally offered a blood or stool test. In 2018, ahead of her referral, Margaret was not.

The procedure was, she says, among the biggest regrets of her life. She spent three weeks in intensive care and developed sepsis.

Today, life remains difficult. 'I regret being in that operating chair,' she says.

'I've had lots of problems. They were trying to find out what was happening to me but now I see it was unnecessary. They didn't even find anything worrying.'

The figures which underpin the defensive medicine trend are stark. A report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in 2014 found that 2.3 billion a year was wasted by the NHS on unnecessary tests and procedures.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, in a report for NHS England in 2015, highlighted how dramatic the impact can be for patients  for example, one woman in seven has a 'needless' hysterectomy.

Surgical removal of the womb is offered for everything from cancer to the abnormal tissue growth condition fibroids, but in the case of the latter the operation may be given as a quick fix over exploring more complex surgical and drug options that would leave the womb in place.

Recent high-profile criminal cases 'make doctors paranoid', according to Prof Roger Kirby, president of the Royal College of Medicine. He points to the case of trainee paediatrician Hadiza Bawa-Garba (above), who was convicted of manslaughter after six-year-old Jack Adcock died of sepsis that she had mistakenly diagnosed as gastroenteritis. Bawa-Garba has had her licence to practise restored  but the case proves doctors today risk being criminalised for their mistakes

In other cases, routine health checks can flag up tiny lumps or lesions inside the body that may never have caused any problem. But once discovered they cause patients worry and doctors will feel they must operate.

Undoubtedly influencing doctors' decision-making are the rising clinical negligence claims against the NHS, which cost about 8billion a year  half in legal fees alone.

Recent high-profile criminal cases 'make doctors paranoid', according to Professor Roger Kirby, president of the Royal College of Medicine.

He points to the case of trainee paediatrician Hadiza Bawa-Garba, who was convicted of manslaughter after six-year-old Jack Adcock died of sepsis that she had mistakenly diagnosed as gastroenteritis.

Written complaints to the NHS dipped during the pandemic, from 113,000 in 2019 to 84,000 in 2020.

Clinical negligence claims against maternity services make up two-thirds of all legal cases brought against the NHS. Advertisement

Surgeon David Sellu was jailed after a patient with a perforated bowel died following delays to their surgery.

Sellu later had his conviction quashed, and Bawa-Garba has had her licence to practise restored  but these cases prove doctors today risk being criminalised for their mistakes.

Prof Kirby said: 'Doctors are playing safe to avoid referral to the General Medical Council or prosecution. You just want to get to retirement without being referred to the GMC.'

It's not just fear of sanctions. The 'guilt and shame' doctors feel after a mistake, or a missed diagnosis, stays with them for ever, he adds.

But the reality is also that, unless things go wrong, patients are usually happy to be referred for tests and investigations because it alleviates their own uncertainty and anxiety.

Patients' wants  as opposed to needs  are partly responsible for driving the trend, doctors say.

'It's the society we live in  people are not so deferential to doctors and there's a lot of false information on the internet, as well as information which is educating people about their health but which also becomes difficult to digest,' Prof Kirby adds.

'The net result is that you get complaints when patients don't get what they expect. Take the example of someone with a breast lump. Almost certainly it's benign, and in the past you'd reassure the patient and tell them lumpy breasts can be normal.

'But patients might not like this, as they can feel you're not taking their concerns seriously. Today you'd say, "Just to be on the safe side we'll get a mammogram."

'But mammograms use X-rays, and these can actually raise the risk of cancer  it's a tiny risk, but a reason not to give the scan without good medical justification.

Minna Johansson, a GP in Sweden and director for Cochrane Sustainable Healthcare, wrote about defensive medicine last year.

'Doctors failing to diagnose are resented and sometimes punished, while doctors who cause suffering through overdiagnosis and overtreatment are not,' she said.

The figures which underpin the defensive medicine trend are stark. A report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in 2014 found that 2.3 billion a year was wasted by the NHS on unnecessary tests and procedures

'Much too seldom do we consider the potential harm for our patients of those investigations we do 'just in case'.'

She added: 'We think there's no harm in knowing more by doing an investigation.

'But radiation causes harm. Biopsies can cause a bleed. Finding a benign abnormality in your brain when having a scan to needlessly investigate something else can cause massive harm  people have died from surgery to remove it, when it may never have caused a problem.

'As a society, we're not good at dealing with uncertainty.'

A common practice in cardiology is a case in point.

When scans revealed blocked blood vessels in the heart, research shows medication such as statins, beta blockers and aspirin are often the best way, in these cases, to stop a heart attack.

Despite this, a surgical procedure to insert a stent  a metal cylinder which holds open the artery walls  is often given.

One cardiologist, speaking anonymously, says: 'You find a blockage, you worry, and the patient worries.

'Even though the best evidence shows inserting a stent could do more harm than good, it feels like 'doing something'.'

One person in 50 with a stent will experience serious complications, including heart attacks, strokes or bleeding.

Keyhole surgery in the knee to treat painful and damaged joints, a procedure known as knee arthroscopy, has been found to be 'overused, ineffective and potentially harmful', with no benefit over placebo surgery. Yet 150,000 are still performed every year in the UK.

The pandemic may have made the situation worse.

GPs have seen fewer patients in person and the temptation for some has been to err on the side of caution and offer a referral for detailed investigation.

This has 'undoubtedly' added to the record six million people currently on hospital waiting lists, and the 'swamped' urgent cancer pathway, according to Prof Kirby.

One 18-year-old reported that her GP referred her for an urgent cancer investigation after finding a breast lump.

The GP refused to see her in person and made the referral despite the chances of a malignancy being vanishingly rare.

The mother, also a GP, said: 'It's ridiculous. The doctor is wasting a precious appointment.'

Dr Johansson says that the pandemic had also offered a crucial opportunity to move away from defensive medicine.

'We went from referring too much to weighing up the risks and benefits again,' she says. 'Hospitals were suddenly dangerous places for some patients and not a resource to use lightly.'

There are lessons to be learned from that, she says.

As another doctor wrote on Twitter: 'We need to do the right things for the right people, not everything for everyone.'
Louise Akester, 36, had her contract with NHS care home Alderson House, Hull, terminated because of the Government's requirement for all care workers to get double jabbed from November 11. All care workers in adult care homes who do not have medical exemptions must have two doses of a Coronavirus vaccine. But in the wider NHS, staff must have their second jab by April next year. Louise has worked in the care sector for 14 years, but refused to be vaccinated regardless of the new government rule, and sobbed as she was forced to leave her job. Speaking within minutes of finishing her last shift, Ms Akester sobs as she says in the video: That's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, saying goodbye to everybody, all the people that I've cared for, for so long, the people I've worked with. 'It's been so emotional, this is so unfair. I just can't believe what the bloody government is doing to us, I just don't get it, I don't understand.' She previously said she was refusing to get the vaccine until 'we know more about the potential long-term side effects'. Figures suggest some 60,000 care home employees in England - roughly a tenth of the entire workforce - are still yet to turn up for two jabs, and half of these have not even had their first dose. They all face the axe by Thursday.
The Young H. G. Wells

Claire Tomalin Viking 20

Rating:

Nobody predicted the 21st Century better than H. G. Wells. Born when Queen Victoria was still youngish, Wells wrote novels about men on the Moon, environmental disaster, class war, racial oppression and Martians invading Earth.

The fact that he did this in the form of bestselling page-turners (The War Of The Worlds, The Time Machine) is astonishing.

What makes this achievement all the more extraordinary is that Wells was from a working-class family of limited means. His education was patchy, and he effectively taught himself by reading books in bed while recovering from life-threatening lung infections.

Wells wrote bestselling page-turners including The War Of The Worlds and The Time Machine (Yvette Mimieux, above, is attacked by a Morlock in the 1960 film of The Time Machine)

In this brilliantly engaging story of the first 40 years of Wellss life, Claire Tomalin cannot hide her admiration for a man who never forgot what it felt like to be hungry.

Despite amassing great wealth from his books and tours, he remained a passionate socialist, convinced that no country could call itself civilised while even one of its citizens was living in poverty.

Wells wasnt an angel, though, and Tomalin makes no excuse for the careless way with women. He was a virgin until his 20s, but that was only because he was engaged to his cousin, who refused to go beyond a chaste kiss.

After a disastrous wedding night, Wells was soon conducting an affair with another woman. He divorced Isabel, quite the scandal in those days, married again and from there launched himself on a series of erotic adventures.

Today he would probably be called a sex addict, although Tomalin makes the point that his attitude to free love anticipated the permissive 1960s.

His later conquests would include Rebecca West, the feminist novelist, by whom he fathered an illegitimate son.

But Tomalin is far more interested in showing how Wellss early life shaped him to become the great prophet of the modern age. She is particularly good at imagining how frustrated he must have been as an apprentice draper, an experience he put to use in Kipps, his 1905 novel.

Shes excellent, too, on the rough and tumble of newspaper journalism in the early 1900s.

Plenty of literary superstars make appearances  Conrad, Lawrence, Joyce, Hardy, Shaw and James were all friends  but Tomalins loyalty remains with Herbert George Wells.

Above all, she admires, as the subtitle of this compulsively readable book suggests, the fact that his ambition was nothing less than to change the world.

The Coppolas: A Movie Dynasty

Ian Nathan Palazzo 20

Rating:

To some extent, Francis Ford Coppola once said, I have become Michael Corleone. To pretty much the whole extent, the reader of Ian Nathans The Coppolas might conclude.

The books subtitle calls the Coppola family a dynasty, though Nathan seems oblivious to the negative connotations of that word. The producer Robert Evans once called Coppola an evil person a direct descendant of Machiavellis Prince.

Yet the suspicion that Coppolas name has opened Tinseltown doors for a whole bunch of his children and grandchildren no better at movie management than The Godfathers fictional producer, Jack Woltz, never crosses Nathans mind in this history of the movie-making family.

It's a relief when Ian Nathan turns to the movies made by Francis Ford Coppola's (above, left) daughter, Sofia (above, right)

If it says Coppola on the tin, then the tin is gold.

To be fair, The Godfather and its sequel are masterpieces. Mario Puzos novel is a sprawling mess. Coppola, who has always written as well as directed, twisted and tightened it into a story that had the appalling logic of nightmare.

Watched back to back, the first two Godfathers take up more than six hours of your time  but they move at a real clip.

Needless to say, The Godfather was a smash. It netted Coppola $7 million. Wealth and success gave him freedom, but as Orson Welles could have told him, freedom isnt always a blessing in Hollywood.

I thought I couldnt do anything wrong, Coppola said. What he really thought, Nathan makes clear, is that he could do anything wrong  and get away with it.

Still, the first fruits of Coppolas freedom were tasty enough. The Conversation (1974) stars Gene Hackman as the best bugger on the West Coast.

Not so much a private eye as a private ear, hes a sound expert who records the antics of cheating husbands for worried wives. Then he listens in on a murder plot and is driven crazy by paranoid fantasy.

Its a great story, even though, as Nathan acknowledges, it owes a lot to Antonionis 1960s art-house thriller Blow-Up. And therein lay the problem. Ever since hitting pay dirt with an old-fashioned, well-told gangster flick, Coppola has been drawn to projects that begin life as ideas rather than dramas.

Take 1979s Apocalypse Now. This Vietnam movie certainly conjures up the horror and high jinks of war. The sound of those choppers! The sight of those explosions! The smell, as everyone remembers Robert Duvall saying, of that napalm!

But who could deny that after an hour or so, Coppola gets bogged down in his attempt to retell Conrads Heart Of Darkness via the poetry of T. S. Eliot?

Such pretentiousness has dogged the whole of his subsequent career. So its a relief when Nathan turns to the movies made by Coppolas daughter, Sofia.

No, Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette arent a patch on her dads early work (nor is her remake of Don Siegels southern gothic western The Beguiled very beguiling).

But though Sofias need to tell tales about young girls and older guys is getting worrying, at least shes trying to tell those tales. Meanwhile, like Michael Corleone at the end of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola sits alone in the darkness.

Christopher Bray
Britain has one of the oldest housing stocks in Europe. Many homeowners up and down the country have made a virtue out of this, particularly in the last three decades or so, retaining and lovingly restoring period features.

Nowhere perhaps is this more evident than in the question of windows. Replacing rotting timber-framed single-glazed windows with uPVC double-glazing seemed a no-brainer in the 1970s and 1980s, period property or not.

But as higher-earning families returned to Britain's often neglected urban streets in the 1990s a slightly fussier approach became fashionable. The new owners of Victorian and Edwardian, or if they were lucky Georgian, terraces and semis didn't want plastic or aluminium window frames.

They would either put up with the old rattling, flaking sash windows or, if they had a few spare quid, have them restored. Or at top whack, would commission a replacement timber set which could be made with double glazing.

No plastic here: But period obsessives will face substantial bills to keep their properties looking the way they do when EPC rules are tightened.

Oh to have been a timber sash window restorer-replacer in the 1990s and the 2000s. There's too much competition around now but back then it must have been great money. Money not for old rope, so much as windows on a rope.

In some areas now, homes with unsympathetic alterations stand out like a sore thumb. 'Shame about the windows,' is a familiar refrain from house-seekers appraising pricey Victorian terraces.

A period home that has the old timber windows in decent condition will often command a higher asking price than a similar one with dated uPVC or aluminium double-glazing. And one that has replacement timber double-glazed windows will be a chunk more expensive still.

This isn't all snobby aesthetics: a lot of the uPVC heavy sell was and is disingenuous. They are not necessarily easier to maintain or longer-lasting than timber windows. In fact the opposite is true of good quality - and well-painted - timber windows versus poor quality uPVC.

But uPVC, and increasingly aluminium, have come a long way. Quality and style are better, and costs have come down. All of which makes them increasingly attractive to the fussy homeowner faced with rotting windows and frames. And that's a good job.

Because fans of period authenticity might soon be facing huge bills to get their homes up to standard.

A period home that has the old timber windows in decent condition will often command a higher asking price than a similar one with dated uPVC or aluminium double-glazing - in some areas at least.

Landlords already have to get their building up to an energy performance certificate 'C'-rating by 2028 in the drive to net zero, and if Committee for Climate Change proposals are adopted that will later apply to owners.

Mortgage lenders, soon to take EPC ratings into account when making loan decisions, could eventually be blocked from lending against properties without an EPC of at least 'C'. Even before Cop 26 puts more momentum behind the Net Zero Strategy and greening of homes, I reckon this is coming sooner rather than later.

How to get that C rating is not set in stone as exact measures are not stipulated as 'must-haves' in the rating system. It could be for instance that solar panels might make up for single glazing, at least in a property that doesn't have many windows.

For some homes, it could be impossible.

The author's home with timber casement windows pictured on ground and first floors, plus a loft dormer window with uPVC double-glazing on the 2nd floor.

However it works, it seems to me the time is not far off when single glazing will have to be replaced if a home is to be mortgaged. Many homeowners won't have the money and that's where the question of grants  and the public finances - will rear its head.

And as for the snobby aesthetes, myself among them, they will face a tricky choice. Get over yourself and do it cheap and ugly; splash a huge amount of cash on 'authentic' timber replacements; or compromise with the latest uPVC ranges that replicate the timber look, or the fashionable dark aluminium styles.

Hopefully homeowners will be able to add whatever grant is made available towards the cost of whatever they choose - as long as it's A-rated or something. But you're looking at many thousands of pounds.

We have a terrace built c.1900 that has nine  to my mind  attractive timber casement windows. The house's tenth window, a uPVC double-glazed unit in the loft dormer that was put in c.20 years ago, is the only one that's shot-at. There's water swilling around in the glazing cavities.

'The house's tenth window, a uPVC double-glazed unit in the loft dormer that was put in c.20 years ago, is the only one that's shot-at.'

It's being replaced, frame and all, in December at a cost of 1,350, which is for a fancy 'heritage' line of A-rated uPVC double-glazing that will make it look a bit like the rest of the windows.

If we were to do this over the whole house that'd be about 12,500 in total I reckon. Some of the other windows are small, and there would hopefully be some economies of scale.

So more do-able than timber double-glazing which would be twice as much. But it's clear that a lot of homeowners will simply not be able to do that, with all the 'mortgage prisoner' repercussions that entails.

I've not found out which country has the oldest housing stock in Europe. I'd put some money on it being Italy, and you certainly don't see much uPVC in the old towns there. Then again, they have slightly better weather.
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic will set aside old rivalries with British Airways tomorrow for a joint take-off to mark the reopening of the US to UK passengers after more than 600 days.

Virgin and BA will synchronise their flights from Heathrow to New York's JFK airport at 8.30am, taxiing down the north and south runways side by side to take off simultaneously.

American dream: After 600 days, Britons can fly to the United States again

The dual take-off is a rare display of unity by the rivals. In 2012, Branson and then BA boss Willie Walsh famously struck a 1million bet over whether Virgin Atlantic would still be in business under Branson's control in five years' time.

The pandemic left Virgin Atlantic fighting for survival and BA's owner IAG last week said it will make a 3billion loss this year. But the airlines are banking on the trans-Atlantic routes, closed to UK nationals since March last year, returning them to profit by next summer.

Sources said BA's flight BA001  Concorde's former New York flight number  would be 'celebratory', carrying customers and crew who haven't seen their families for almost two years.

Virgin Atlantic's 12 flights to the US from Heathrow and Manchester tomorrow are fully booked.

Chief executive Shai Weiss said: 'The US has been our heartland for more than 37 years since our first flight to New York City in 1984. We are simply not Virgin without the Atlantic.' Luis Gallego, chief executive of BA owner IAG, said it would be a 'pivotal moment'.
British Airways is set to announce the launch of its new short-haul airline at Gatwick within weeks after reaching a key agreement over pay and conditions for cabin crew with trade union bosses.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that BA finalised negotiations late last week with the Unite union, which represents more than 10,000 of the airline's cabin crew as well as engineers and ground staff.

Striking a deal with Unite, which has been one of BA's fiercest critics during the pandemic, was the last major hurdle to launching the new airline. It means BA can start hiring staff ahead of the first flights from next April.

Set for takeoff: British Airways finalised negotiations with the Unite union

In an internal update to staff on Friday afternoon, BA chief executive Sean Doyle said: 'Our plans for a new BA-branded subsidiary to fly short-haul at Gatwick are progressing well, having received support this week from Unite.

'While we still have some further negotiations to sort, it looks likely that we will be up and running to fly the summer schedule.' The final talks are with ground handling staff and Gatwick, which Doyle expects to conclude 'imminently'.

BA first announced its plans for the BA-branded Gatwick airline in August but said it would only be possible if it had a 'competitive cost-base'.

Staff employed by the new business  dubbed 'BA-Lite'  will be asked to sign more flexible contracts, expected to include part-time or seasonal working.

It is thought that around 160 pilots and several hundred cabin crew could be hired for the new airline, which will operate up to 17 planes for short-haul European trips.

BA reached agreement with pilots' union Balpa last month following weeks of tense negotiations. Balpa had previously walked away from the talks, putting the future of the airline in jeopardy.

It is understood Unite's negotiations with BA focused on pay and flying schedules to make sure cabin crew employed at Gatwick earn the same as staff in other parts of BA's business.

Cabin crew earn a basic salary plus variable pay, based on the number of hours flown and commission on in-flight sales.

Unite's aviation officer Oliver Richardson said the variable pay can add up to 'tens of thousands of pounds', adding: 'We wouldn't want a position at Gatwick where people are being asked to come back to a short-haul operation on radically inferior terms and conditions.'

Relations between Unite and BA are still frosty after the airline cut around 10,000 jobs last year.

Unite called the strategy 'opportunistic' and criticised BA's plans to bring back some former cabin crew now that travel is picking up, claiming they are being rehired on 'substantially reduced terms and conditions'.

But union bosses accept that BA's new short-haul airline will create jobs at Gatwick and in sectors that rely on the airport such as hotels, catering and transport.

Gatwick is one of the hardest-hit aviation companies after a string of major airlines based at the airport  including BA, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian  scrapped or scaled back flights during the pandemic.

BA's parent company, IAG, said on Friday that it would make a 3billion (2.57billion) loss this year, after a 452million (387million) loss for the three months to September. It followed a 1billion fundraise for BA last Monday.

With the aviation industry still struggling despite the gradual lifting of international travel restrictions since May, Tory MP Henry Smith, whose Crawley constituency includes Gatwick, last night welcomed BA's move.

He said: 'This is further evidence of the aviation sector and the local economy beginning its recovery from the damage caused by the pandemic.'
An 11-metre tall fence is at the centre of an ugly neighbourhood feud after it was constructed during Sydney's Covid-19 lockdown without council approval.

The eyesore was erected around the back yard of a Chester Hill home, in Sydney's west.

Angry residents of the quiet street told Daily Mail Australia the monstrous structure appeared suddenly in July - without any warning or council consultation.

They claim their subsequent complaints to the homeowner and Cumberland Council about the height of the fence have not been responded to.

'It blocks the sun, we don't really get sun any more,' a local resident said.

'I'm very stressed, I like my flowers and the view, with the trees before it was nice but now it's very bad.'

Neighbours watched in horror as a family erected an 11-metre wall and casted their backyards into darkness during Sydney's latest lockdown

The wall was built in July and surrounds the backyard of the Chester Hill home in Sydney's west

Neighbours say they've contacted Northumberland Council over the wall but have had no help from local MPs

Neighbours said three large pine trees stood in the place of the wall dividing the neighbour's yard for years until they were suddenly chopped down, a month after Sydney's lockdown began.

Tradesmen were then seen arriving to construct the giant L-shaped wall.

'They just told us they were building it. When they put the walls up we said it looked big but they ignored us,' a concerned neighbour said.

'They chopped down those massive trees, they put it up in one week.'

Witnesses say they had tradies working on the wall around the clock during lockdown to erect the 'hideous' wall.

Earlier images show the large Christmas trees that were cut down to make way for the wall

Images show construction of the wall taking place in July this year as the 11-metre monstrosity begins to take shape

Large black boards are then installed to complete the wall which is now casting shadows across a number of backyards in Chester Hill

The two walls block out a series of townhouses at the back of the home as well as another house on the side, framing the house's backyard.

The front side of the wall has been decorated with wood panelling and painted with Aboriginal artwork.

The other side is a black monstrosity with loose nails and wiring that has cast surrounding properties into darkness.

'It blocks the sun, we don't really get sun any more,' a local resident told Daily Mail Australia.

'Everyone on the street has complained. They didn't ask any of us.

'The council also have been horrible. We want to know what they're going to do about this.'

A neighbour looks out his back door at the 11-metre wall that is perched over his fence

Other angles give perspective of the hideous divider blocking the views of homes surrounding it - a development that was not blocked by local council

A cat perches up on the fence overlooking the 11-metre unfinished wall lined with loose nails and wiring

Several neighbours told Daily Mail Australia they have lodged complaints with Cumberland Council over the wall.

In a statement the council confirmed they are taking 'enforcement action' against the wall and the family who built it.

'Council has received and acknowledged complaints regarding an alleged unauthorised structure at the subject property,' Cumberland Council said.

'These complaints have been investigated and enforcement action has been taken, with specified timeframes provided for compliance.

'Council has provided updates to the complainants where contact details have been provided.

'Any complainants who require a update of the action taken may contact Council and further information will be provided.'

The occupants of the house did not respond to requests for comment.
A nurse at a detention facility in California has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after being accused of walking away from a 24-year-old inmate who collapsed in front of her on a cell floor before she died.

Danalee Pascua faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the charge stemming from the November 11, 2019, death of Elisa Serna at the Las Colinas Detention Facility in the San Diego suburb of Santee, the San Diego County District Attorneys Office said.

The day before she died, Serna was moved into the jail's medical observation unit after reporting she felt dizzy and nauseous.

Danalee Pascua, 36, is charged in connection with the November 11, 2019, death of Elisa Serna and faces up to four years in prison if convicted

According to prosecutors, Serna passed out in front of Pascua the next day and the nurse did not check her vital signs and instead left her on the floor for about an hour before returning with deputies to begin 'futile lifesaving measures.'

The District Attorney's office said the San Diego County Sheriff's Department alerted prosecutors to the case after conducting its own internal investigation. The sheriff's department offered condolences to the family in a statement Thursday.

The District Attorney's office said the investigation is ongoing and others may be involved.

Pascua is scheduled to be arraigned November 18. The District Attorney's office did not immediately respond to an email asking if Pascua had an attorney yet.

Serna died at the Las Colinas Detention Facility in the San Diego suburb of Santee, pictured

The sheriff's department initially said Serna died from complications of drug abuse, with a contributing factor of early intrauterine pregnancy.

Her family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the county last year, alleging jail staff knew she had used heroin before she was booked and was vomiting and showing 'obvious signs of medical distress,' but did not provide her medical treatment.

'There is nothing more sacred than the sanctity of life and when that life is in the custody and care of government, it must be safeguarded and provided with the appropriate medical care,' San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement.

'The evidence in the in-custody death of Elisa Serna demonstrates criminal negligence that contributed to her death. It is a heartbreaking case of failure to safeguard Elisa's life by those who are charged with that responsibility.'

Serna had been moved to the jail's Medical Observation Unit after feeling dizzy and nauseous before collapsing in front of Pascua who is accused of ignoring her and leaving her for an hour

Serna's death is also the subject of a federal wrongful death lawsuit that was filed against the county last year by Serna's family.

The family allege jail staff were aware of her substance abuse and subsequent withdrawal symptoms but did not provide her with treatment.

Although Serna was fainting, had low blood pressure, was vomiting and 'displaying odd and incoherent behavior', jail staff 'ignored the obvious signs of medical distress' and 'failed to provide proper medication as Elisa's condition was worsening,' the complaint alleges.

Serna left behind her parents, her sister and a young daughter who's is now six.

'The conditions of confinement and the lack of adequate care have caused death after death over a long period of time. This is not an isolated incident,' the family's attorney Gene Iredale told News 8.
An Afghan family who handed their two-month-old baby to a U.S. soldier at the Kabul airport during the chaotic Afghanistan evacuation is desperately appealing for help in finding the missing boy.

The parents and four older children are now living in Fort Bliss, Texas - but have no idea where the youngest member of their family is, more than two months later.

Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya were with their five children on August 19 in a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport when an American soldier, from over the tall fence, asked if they needed help.

They passed two-month old Sohail to the soldier, thinking they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet away.

But at that moment, the Taliban - which had swiftly taken over the country as U.S. troops withdrew - began pushing back hundreds of hopeful evacuees, Mirza Ali told Reuters.

It took the rest of the family more than half an hour to get to the other side of the airport fence.

Once they were inside, Sohail was nowhere to be found.

The family of Sohail Ahmadi are desperately appealing for help in locating the baby, who was lost in the chaos at Kabul airport two months ago

Chaotic scenes unfurled around Kabul airport (pictured, on August 16) as families scrambled to get out of Afghanistan as the Taliban took over

Crowds are seen at Kabul airport on August 16, the day after the country fell to the Taliban

Mirza Ali, who said he worked as a security guard at the U.S embassy for 10 years, began desperately asking every official he encountered about his baby's whereabouts.

He said a military commander told him the airport was too dangerous for a baby and that he might have been taken to a special area for children.

But when they got there it was empty.

'He walked with me all around the airport to search everywhere,' Mirza Ali said in an interview through a translator.

He said he never got the commander's name, as he didn't speak English and was relying on Afghan colleagues from the embassy to help communicate.

Three days went by.

'I spoke to maybe more than 20 people,' he said.

'Every officer - military or civilian - I came across I was asking about my baby.'

A U.S. soldier is seen inside Fort Bliss on September 10. The Ahmadi family were taken to the base from Kabul, hoping to reunite with their baby, but they have no idea where he is

He said one of the civilian officials he spoke to told him Sohail might have been evacuated by himself.

'They said 'we don't have resources to keep the baby here,'' Mirza Ali explained.

Mirza Ali, 35, Suraya, 32, and their other children, 17, 9, 6 and 3 years old, were put on an evacuation flight to Qatar and then to Germany and eventually landed in the United States.

The family is now at Fort Bliss in Texas with other Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled somewhere in the United States. They have no relatives here.

Mirza Ali said he saw other families handing their babies over the Kabul airport fence to soldiers at the same time.

One video clip of a small baby in a diaper being hoisted by her arm over razor wire went viral on social media. The little girl, Liya, was just 16 days old when her parents decided to flee.

She was reunited with her parents several hours later that day, and the three flew out of Kabul together and are now staying with relatives in Phoenix, Arizona.

A baby girl, Liya, was handed over to U.S. troops on August 19 - the same day that Sohail was passed across the fence. Liya's parents were reunited with her several hours later, but Sohail's family were unable to locate him

Liya is pictured with her father Hameed, a linguist and cultural advisor, and mother Sadia in Phoenix, Arizona. The trio were swiftly reunited and, unlike the Ahmadi family, able to fly out of Kabul together

Ever since his baby went missing dates are a blur, Mirza Ali said.

Every person he comes across - aid workers, U.S. officials - he tells them about Sohail.

'Everyone promises they will do their best, but they are just promises,' he said.

An Afghan refugee support group created a 'Missing Baby' sign with Sohail's picture on it and are circulating it among their networks in the hopes that someone will recognize him.

A U.S. government official familiar with the situation said the case had been flagged for all the agencies involved, including the U.S. bases and overseas locations.

The child was last seen being handed to a U.S. soldier during the chaos at the Kabul airport but 'unfortunately no one can find the child,' the official said.

A Department of Defense spokesperson and a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing resettlement efforts, referred queries on the matter to the State Department, since the separation took place overseas. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Suraya, who also spoke through a translator, said she cries most of the time and that her other children are distraught.

'All I am doing is thinking about my child,' Suraya said.

'Everyone that is calling me, my mother, my father, my sister, they all comfort me and say 'don't worry, God is kind, your son will be found.''
The handling of firearms on the Santa Fe, New Mexico set of Rust was said to be 'green,' 'immature' and 'lackadaisical.'

Some of those working on the set prior to the shooting that saw cinematographer Halyna Hutchins killed and director, Joel Souza, wounded, are said to have been horrified by what they saw.

The allegedly poor safety measures involving weapons on set was captured in pictures taken by others working on the film.

In one photo, the armorer, 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez Reed, can be seen standing in a circle together with two other women, with a pair of Old West rifles and a revolver.

Handling of guns on set of Rust said to be 'green', 'immature' and 'lackadaisical'. Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 24, pictured, was the armorer on the set

Hannah Gutierrez Reed is seen holding a weapon on the set of a movie in an image taken from social media. A source has come forward to detail several instances where guns were being improperly held or left on the ground

In the photograph described by Fox News but not published, the barrel of the rifle can be seen resting against the stomach of one of the women all the while Gutierrez Reed is on the phone.

The butt of the other gun is said to be propped up against the woman's hip while a third women is seen holding a revolver at the end of the grip together with tangled wired with the barrel of the gun pointing towards the ground.

'People didn't know the rules,' a source told Fox who also detailed other seemingly unsafe episodes.

In another incident, someone gave Gutierrez Reed a revolver while she was sat on the ground and 'playing on her phone'. She is said to have taken the gun without looking up and then allegedly tucked it into her waistband.

'Stuff like that just seemed unprofessional and it does not create an atmosphere of safety or professionalism,' the source said. 'When you find out she says her training came from her father [famed Hollywood armorer Thell Reed], you think, "Oh she's a hire because of her connections."'

CIRCLED, LEFT TO RIGHT: Alec Baldwin, Halyna Hutchins and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico earlier in October

Focus has been on production's armorer 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez Reed

Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust - Alec Baldwin killed cinematographer with gun that had been loaded with live ammunition by crew and used to shoot beer cans hours before tragedy

Often, armorers are well trained with many having a military background.

Cameramen Lane Luper who left the production said the armory crew working alongside Gutierrez Reed were 'three inexperienced people'.

'It's fine on a [low-budget production] to have inexperienced people, but your department heads shouldn't be, or people handling firearms shouldn't be,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. 'It seemed like she was also under a lot of pressure to rush.'

'I think with Rust, it was the perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set, the rushing. It was everything,' he also told Good Morning America about the events that led up to the fatal shooting.

'It wasnt just one individual. Everything had to fall into place for this one-in-a-trillion thing to happen.'

In his letter of resignation, Luper said there had been two accidental weapon discharges on set and one accidental sound-effects explosion that went off around the crew.

'In my 10 years as a camera assistant I've never worked on a show that cares so little for the safety of its crew,' Luper said.

Luper Lane has criticized the film's production as one that created the perfect storm for the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Luper claimed that there were two previous accidents of a weapon discharge on set and said there were only ever two safety meetings that involved the whole crew

He then disputed the producers' claim that safety was a top priority on set, saying, 'I only personally remember two safety meetings that involved the entire crew.

A lawyer for Gutierrez Reed defended her role as an armorer on Thursday.

'Hannah was very well trained by her father, Thell, who worked with her on sets from the time she was 10-years-old. She did everything she could to ensure safety on the set.'

Referring to the fact a real bullets were found on set, Bowles said 'never in a million years did Hannah think that live rounds could have been in the 'dummy' round box.'

Hannah Gutierrez Reed was trained by her father, Thell Reed, seen right in 1966. She had worked with him on sets from the time she was 10-years-old

Hollywood gun handler and trainer Thell Reed is seen left in a picture from July 2020. He is said to have trained his daughter up to work in the same profession

'What the f**k just happened?' Baldwin reportedly asked cast and crew members after the shot went off, and Hutchins suddenly stumbled back into head electrician Serge Svetnoy's arms

Rust assistant director David Halls allegedly handed Baldwin a loaded .45 revolver

'Who put those in there and why is the central question. Hannah kept guns locked up, including throughout lunch on the day in question, and she instructed her department to watch the cart containing the guns when she was pulled away for her other duties or on a lunch break.'

Warrants last week detailed how during a scene rehearsal, assistant director on the film, David Halls, allegedly handed Baldwin a loaded .45 revolver.

He told him that the gun was 'cold' and not loaded. Halls was completely unaware that a real bullet was inside the chamber.

As Baldwin rehearsed his cross-draw maneuver, a bullet shot out of the barrel passing through Hutchins torso and landing in the shoulder of the director.

Gutierrez Reed explained to detectives she had checked that dummy rounds were in the weapon earlier in the day adding 'no live ammo is ever kept on set.'

Pictured, Hutchins on set just before Baldwin's gun would go off

The incident took place on set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in the desert just outside Santa Fe

But last week, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed that a mix of dummy rounds, blanks and real bullets were all found on set.

Dummies and live rounds can sometimes appear almost identical.

Authorities have been attempting to work out who handled the gun before Baldwin fired the fatal shot on October 21.

It's believed the gun came into contact with at least four people in the hours prior to the firing and included Baldwin, Gutierrez Reed, Halls and the film's prop master Sarah Zachry.

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department say all those involved have been cooperating with police but scrutiny in particular has focused on the actions of Gutierrez Reed and Halls.

Gutierrez Reed has not been named a suspect, or charged with any crime in connection with Hutchins' killing, but she retains legal representation.

It is not yet clear how the live round entered the gun before it shot and killed Halyna Hutchins (pictured)

Baldwin, pictured after being questioned just hours after the shooting mourned the loss of Hutchins, whom he called his 'friend'
The U.S. Army has failed to issue a safety advisory or halt trainings after two Special Forces operators died during a rigorous diving training exercise two months apart.

Staff Sgt. Micah Walker, 31, died during the Combat Diver Qualification Course at the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida, on July 27, after he was found unresponsive during the water-treading segment of the course.

Trainings were temporarily halted in the aftermath for a safety review, but a spokesman for the Army said the review is complete and trainings resumed.

Just two months later, Staff Sgt. Paul Lincoln Olmstead, 29, also died during the same training at the Joe Swing Park Reservoir at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was conducting a surface swim as part of the course on September 23 when officials say he went under water and never resurfaced.

Despite two deaths, the Army has not halted the dangerous diving trainings nor has it issued a safety advisory, Business Insider reported, as Special Operations forces say the equipment for such strenuous dives is outdated and soldiers are being re-tasked to perform more administrative tasks.

Staff Sgts. Micah Walker, 31, left, and Paul Lincoln Olmstead, 29, right, died during the Combat Diver Qualification Course

The Combat Diver Qualification Course is known for its high drop-out rate

The Army's Combat Diver Qualification Course teaches soldiers how to be combat divers. Anyone in the Army, Marines or Air Force can take part in the training - but, according to Business Insider, it is known for its high drop-out rate, even among qualified and seasoned Green Berets and Army Rangers.

As part of the course, students need to pass a 50-meter underwater swim without breathing, retrieve a 20-pound object from the bottom of the pool and tread water for two minutes while wearing diving gear that weighs dozens of pounds.

During other events, instructors will 'assault the students underwater - simulating heavy currents and tangle their breathing apparatuses while the students wear blacked-out masks to prevent them from seeing as they try to fix their breathing tubes in the dark,' Business Insider reported.

An ambulance and a dive medic are on standby, with the medic called in often as students suffer shallow-water blackouts or faint due to a lack of oxygen.

The test is meant to wean out those who are not physically or mentally fit enough for the operations.

'The course is very dangerous, even for extremely fit and intelligent individuals,' a Green Beret, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider. 'It definitely takes a toll on the body, and you have to be in a phenomenal physical state to graduate.'

But the recent deaths of Walker and Olmstead have shaken the Special Forces.

Officials said at the time of Walker's death in July that safety swimmers on standby had him out of the pool within three to five seconds of losing consciousness and slipping underwater, according to the Army Times.

He was transported to the Lower Keys Medical Center Emergency Room 20 minutes later, the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School said in a statement, and he was pronounced dead.

Walker is survived by three children and a wife. The cause of his death is still under investigation, with an official for the Special Warfare Center and School saying: 'There was no indication of duress,' and Walker was 'performing all of the tasks extremely well.'

Olmstead, meanwhile, was pronounced dead on the scene after he slipped under water and did not resurface, the Army Times reported.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

'This is an absolute tragedy, especially when we lose someone as capable and promising as Lincoln,' Col. Paul Peters, commander of the 19th Special Forces Group, said. 'Sometimes we expect this sort of thing in combat, but not during training, which makes this difficult for the unit and especially the family.'

Still, soldiers told Business Insider, neither the U.S. Army Special Operations Command nor the subordinate 1st Special Forces Command have taken any action to address the deaths, either with a stand-down or a safety advisory to prevent further deaths.

A stand-down is typically issued when there have been fatalities, especially of an undetermined cause, a Green Beret explained, whereas a safety advisory is disseminated whenever a service member suffers an injury.

Sources in the Special Forces community said it is weird that the Army has not issued either precaution in the wake of the two deaths, saying they are spending too much time 'on banal stuff and not enough on the actual life-saving procedures.'

Anyone in the Army, Marines or Air Force can take part in the training

The test is meant to wean out those who are not physically or mentally fit enough for diving operations and is extremely dangerous

As part of the course, soldiers have to disentangle their breathing apparatuses while wearing a blacked-out mask

They are also tasked with retrieving a 20-pound object from the bottom of the pool

The deaths come after two decades of the military focusing its efforts on counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East, where there is little need for dive teams.

As a result, the Green Berets said, the dive teams and dive lockers, which are responsible for combat-diver-related matters, received fewer funds to train and purchase new equipment as existing gear became outdated.

'There are a lot of aspects of training that haven't been practiced on a regular basis in quite some time,' a retired Special Forces operator told Business Insider.

'Unfortunately, the training requirements set forth by United States Army Special Operations Command haven't been adjusted to allow for a gradual climb back into established training requirements.'

Meanwhile, conventional and Special Ops troops say they are being saddled with more administrative tasks and other requirements that aren't related to combat effectiveness.

'More than ever, our special operators are asked to do many tasks and be proficient at them,' a retired Green Beret said, describing a 'litany of other distractors' that prevent soldiers 'from focusing on their most dangerous and primary jobs' - such as specialized skills like diving, military free-fall and mountaineering.

'Frequently, we find at operator level that we have to introduce the right arm to the left arm,' he said, describing a disconnect between headquarters and troops in the field. 'This is something that should be happening at head level, or Army Special Operations Command.

'There is no excuse for taking the shorter path when it comes to the lives of operators,' he added.
A self-declared 'gangster' allegedly bragged about moving hundreds of kilograms of drugs and building a property empire while using encrypted messaging app ANOM.

Sydney's northern beaches man Mostafa Baluch allegedly boasted about his exploits while messaging overseas drug importers in Thailand, Cambodia, Montenegro, Greece and the Netherlands.

Baluch is currently on the run from police after he broke his strict bail conditions and removed his ankle monitor on October 25.

He was facing international drug importation offences and was alleged to be the sole financier of a 900kg shipment of cocaine from Ecuador with an estimated street value of at least $AUD270million.

Police have more than 1,000 pages of messages that were allegedly sent by Baluch under the username 'af3849'.

A self-declared 'gangster' allegedly bragged about moving hundreds of kilograms of drugs and building a property empire while using encrypted messaging app ANOM

Sydney's northern beaches man Mostafa Baluch allegedly boasted about his exploits while messaging overseas drug importers in Thailand, Cambodia, Montenegro, Greece and the Netherlands (pictured, af3849 messages exchanged with ANOM user Ownagain)

The messages allegedly show Baluch bragging about his ability to move 120kg of drugs in a week, showing off his extensive property portfolio, and boasting about a feud with a Turkey-based bikie 'Mark',' Daily Telegraph reported.

'He said he wanted me dead,' one of the messages read. 'I said 'No problems. Let's do it'.' 'His people are with me, not him. They don't like him.'

In one of the encrypted conversations, 'af3849' is speaking to another user called 'ownagain' and the pair are discussing moving '120kg'.

'Af3849' contemplates moving the large amount with another ANOM user by the name of 'bionic'.

'Af3849' complains to 'ownagain' that 'bionic' needs to check their 'ego' and listen to them in order to move the '120kg'.

'They have ego in this game everyone want to be gangster,' they wrote. 'I'm teaching them.'

In another series of exchanges, 'af3849' boasted about their massive property portfolio and creating offshore accounts to buy them.

'Yes, I buy a few (properties) here on (the) beach,' they wrote. 'But very scared. Australia dangerous. I arrange everything overseas.

'Because money a big problem  I have nothing in my name. I make offshore accounts everywhere.'

Police believe Baluch, 33, is still in NSW as the manhunt to track him down ramps up

The messages allegedly show Baluch bragging about his ability to move 120kg of drugs in a week, showing off his extensive property portfolio, and boasting about a feud with a Turkey-based bikie 'Mark' (pictured, Baluch visiting a luxury car dealership in May)

In another series of exchanges, 'af3849' boasted about their massive property portfolio and creating offshore accounts to buy them (pictured, af3849 calls a property owned by username Vaso a 'castle')

In another exchange, 'af3849' fawns over a property purchased by a Montenegro-based drug dealer by the ANOM name 'Vaso'.

'Af3849' said the property looked like a 'castle' on the coast before they referred to it as a 'gangster place'.

'Af3849' also boasted about their wealth in one of the messages to another ANOM user by the name of 'Eventbat'.

'I can pass 30 million of my own money,' 'af3849' wrote.

The text messages come after police raided two homes in Potts Hill and Yagoona in the city's south-west on Thursday night as part of national and international efforts to find Baluch.

Officers seized more than $250,000 cash, 200 grams of cocaine, 485 grams of an unknown substance, mobile phones and an electronic money counter.

Investigators believe the properties were allegedly used for a criminal syndicate.

Police believe Baluch, 33, is still in NSW as the manhunt to track him down ramps up.

Baluch pictured outside his home in Mona Vale on October 25, hours before the international drug lord disappeared - with authorities fearing he fled Sydney on a plane

The last sighting of Baluch shows CCTV footage of him flying down Pittwater Road near Bayview in his black Range Rover at around 10:30pm that evening

'We discovered not our crook, but a whole lot of money,' Detective Superintendent Rob Critchlow told 2GB on Friday.

'[Mr Baluch's] departure has made us really focus on this group and a lot of people are going to get locked up as a result of our investigations.'

He revealed the manhunt is going 'very well' and that police believe they're 'pretty close behind' the fugitive.

'We're putting a lot of pressure on people who know him, and it's going very, very well,' he said.

'He is very focused on leaving the jurisdiction...I can tell you for certain he is seeking assistance from those who will fly him out of NSW and out of the country,' he said.

Police have warned the public not to approach Baluch and to call triple-0 if they have information about his whereabouts.

Baluch is described as Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 180 centimetres tall, of a muscular build, with black hair, brown eyes and unshaven.
Majorca's Palma Airport has been closed following a reported runway invasion by passengers on a flight that had to make an emergency landing.

Around 20 people on an Air Maroc flight are said to have left the aircraft after it diverted to the holiday island so a passenger suffering diabetes could be taken off the plane.

The plane at the centre of the drama was heading from Casablanca in Morocco to Istanbul in Turkey.

A companion of the 34-year-old Moroccan man who was taken to Majorca's Son Llatzer Hospital after claiming he was ill and forcing the aircraft to divert to the holiday island, was on Friday night said to have disappeared from the medical centre.

Majorca's Palma Airport has been closed following a reported runway invasion by passengers on a flight that had to make an emergency landing

Local reports said the passenger at the centre of the health scare had been given a clean bill of health by doctors.

The other passengers police are still understood to be looking for - said to number between 10 and 20 - forced their way out of the aircraft when the doors opened so the 'sick' passenger could be rushed to hospital.

Police are trying to locate the people who have 'fled' the aircraft while all normal activity is suspended.

Flights bound for Majorca are being diverted to Menorca, Ibiza and the Spanish mainland while the incident is dealt with.

Margot, 25, from London, told MailOnline: 'Im on a plane and have been stuck on the runway for two hours as the airport has gone into lockdown.

'Just before we were due to take off it was announced that a plane flying from Morocco to Turkey made an emergency landing due to a passenger having a diabetic fit.

'As the plane landed 24 people pushed past medics and security and ran off the plane. The police are now trying to find them.'

Around 20 people on an Air Maroc flight are said to have left the aircraft after it diverted to the holiday island so a passenger suffering diabetes could be taken off the plane

Air traffic controllers said on a Twitter feed: 'Queues at Palma and possible diversions.

'Planes bound for the airport have been stopped for security reasons.

'It seems a plane has landed and there could be passengers from the flight on the runway.'

The alarm was raised just before 8.30pm local time on Friday.

It was not immediately clear if the incident has affected any flights heading to and from the UK or Ireland.

Spanish airports authority Aena confirmed: 'Palma de Majorca airport has suspended temporarily its operations following an incident after a plane landed.'
Bianca Jagger has called on the Government to declare tomorrows presidential elections in her home country of Nicaragua illegitimate.

The human rights defender protested against long-time president Daniel Ortega, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term, outside the Foreign Office in London yesterday.

Ortega, 75, spent a decade in power in the 1980s and returned to office in 2007.

The human rights defender protested against long-time president Daniel Ortega

Ahead of this vote, he has detained his main challengers on trumped-up charges.

The United States has branded him a dictator and dismissed the election as a sham.

Bianca Jagger joined a protest outside Downing Street against sham elections in Nicaragua

Mrs Jagger, president and founder of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and the former wife of rock star Sir Mick, told the Daily Mail: Im appealing to the international community to declare this sham process and its result illegitimate, and the regime of Daniel Ortega illegitimate too.

The Foreign Office should declare this electoral farce illegitimate and call for the immediate release of all political prisoners who are being tortured as we speak.
Prince Harry will not be allowed to wear military uniform when he hands out awards to war heroes next week.

The Duke of Sussex, 37, will be attending the Salute to Freedom gala on a warship in New York on November 10 where he will present five medals.

Despite serving two tours in Afghanistan with the Army, the veteran will not be able to wear his uniform at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum as he was stripped of his honorary titles.

Prince Harry will not be allowed to wear military uniform when he hands out awards to war heroes next week

Harry was stripped of his role as Captain-General of the Royal Marines - handed down to him by his grandfather Prince Philip, as part of the final deal for him and Meghan Markle, 40, to step back as front line royals.

He will have to instead wear black tie at the gala, but Harry will be able to pin his four medals on the suit.

It was reported prior to the announcement of the final 'Megxit' deal in February that Prince Harry had hoped to keep the titles.

And he is said to have asked the Queen about the possibility, in what was described as a half-in-half-out role.

But such a plan was vetoed and the title was taken back, along with his role as Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington in Suffolk and Commodore-in-Chief Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command.

The Duke of Sussex, 37, will be attending the Salute to Freedom gala on a warship in New York on November 10 where he will present five medals

Harry spent ten years in the Army, first with the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals), and later in the Army Air Corps where he rose to the rank of Captain. He served in Afghanistan.

He wore his Blues and Royals uniform when he married Meghan at Windsor in 2018.

The museum said: 'The Intrepid Museum's Salute to Freedom gala recognizes extraordinary leadership and honors the brave men and women who serve in defense of our nation.'

A spokesman for the duke did not want to comment.
Scott Morrison has caused widespread outrage in China after a slip of the tongue during his address at the UN climate summit.

The Prime Minister was speaking about Australia's approach and commitment to climate change at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday when he misspoke.

During the address, Mr Morrison said there was a build in 'global momentum to tackle China,' before he quickly corrected himself and said 'climate change'.

A video of the speech has spread across China, with Chinese state-media outlets and social media sites furious over the incident.

Scott Morrison has caused widespread outrage in China after an embarrassing slip of the tongue during his address on Tuesday at the UN climate summit

The hashtag 'Australian Prime Minister Misrepresents Tackling Climate Change as Tackling China' has gone viral on Chinese online networking tool Weibo with over 130 million views.

A user of the site didn't believe Mr Morrison's words were a mistake, but instead, he was expressing what was really in his head.

Chinese state media publication Guancha.com took to social media and said that the Prime Minister's mistake showed that his mind is 'full of China'.

The Prime Minister said there was a build in 'global momentum to tackle China,' before he quickly corrected himself and said 'climate change' (Pictured: Mr Morrison at a press conference in Sydney on Friday)

A later opinion piece from the outlet targeted Mr Morrison over the speech and the nation's approach to climate change.

'He doesn't have a passion to protect the environment but does have anti-China passion under the name of protecting [the] environment,' it said.

'This episode is the actual reflection of his mind.'

The state-run media outlet's post online has been shared by nearly 2,000 users and has been liked over 10,000 times.

A video of the slip up has spread across China, with Chinese state-media outlets and social media sites running rampant over the incident (Pictured: Mr Morrison at a press conference in Sydney on Friday with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet)

The hashtag 'Australian Prime Minister Misrepresents Tackling Climate Change as Tackling China' has gone viral on Chinese online networking tool Weibo with over 130 million views (Pictured: Mr Morrison at the UN summit)

The outrage aimed at Mr Morrison adds to the rising tensions between China and Australia.

In September, Scott Morrison doubled down on calls for an independent review into the origins of Covid-19 despite China inflicting months of economic pain on Australia.

In a pre-recorded address to the United Nations General Assembly, he said preventing future pandemics remained a priority and pushed for 'accelerated efforts' to identify how Covid-19 first emerged.

'Australia called for an independent review, and sees understanding the cause of this pandemic not as a political issue, but as being essential, simply, to prevent the next one,' Mr Morrison said.

In September, Mr Morrison wanted further investigations into the origins of Covid-19 and China's role in the pandemic (Pictured: Prime Minister Scott Morrison with US Vice President Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Washington DC)

'We need to know so we can prevent this death and this calamity being visited upon the world again.

'That can be our only motivation.'

In what appeared to be a reaction to April 2020's original call for an independent review, China has targeted Australia's agricultural and resources sector, with measures affecting export products including wine, seafood, barley and coal, treasurer Josh Frydenberg said earlier in September.

Those trade actions have seen total exports to China fall by around $5.4 billion over the year to the June quarter, Mr Frydenberg said, although most of these goods were successfully redirected elsewhere.

Mr Morrison's decision to develop nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom caused a lot of drawback from China

Mr Morrison's recent decision to develop nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom caused a lot of drawback from China.

The deal resulted in Australia tearing up a $90 billion contract with France for diesel submarines, and will instead see the US and the UK share sensitive technology to allow the development of Australia's first nuclear-powered submarines.

The Chinese government said the 'extremely irresponsible' deal would seriously undermine regional peace and stability, while the nationalistic Global Times tabloid carried an editorial warning Australia not to act provocatively or China would 'certainly punish it with no mercy'.

While in August, Scott Morrison took a swipe at China while addressing a damning UN report on climate change.

In August, Scott Morrison took a savage swipe at China while addressing a damning UN report on climate change

The Prime Minister said climate solutions are most needed in developing countries such as China, India and Vietnam where emissions are rising.

China accounts for roughly 30 per cent of the world's carbon emissions, pumping out twice the amount of the US which makes up about 15 per cent.

'We cannot ignore the fact that the developing world accounts for two thirds of global emissions and those emissions are rising,' Mr Morrison said.

'That is a stark fact. It is also a clear fact that China's emissions account for more than the OECD combined.'
The NHS is pushing to become greener by getting its biggest suppliers to reach 'net zero emissions' by 2045.

The health service has already become the first in the world to pledge to go carbon neutral.

But to advance this goal, its supply chain also has to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.

An International Leadership Group for a Net Zero NHS is led by Lord Prior, the current chairman of NHS England. It brings together the chief executives of major suppliers, as well as key trade bodies,

The BMJ, the independent charity the Health Foundation, and EAT, the non-profit science-based global platform for food system transformation.

The NHS is pushing to become greener by getting its biggest suppliers to reach 'net zero emissions' by 2045 (stock image)

They have written an open letter to the 80,000 global suppliers  published by BMJ.com  that make up the NHS supply chain, urging them to act now and commit to work with the NHS to decarbonise their operations by 2045 at the latest.

The health service has committed to reach net zero carbon by 2040 for its own emissions, but nearly two thirds of its carbon footprint resides in its global supply chain.

The letter said: 'We understand that taking action on this agenda is complex, not least because our supply chains are global.

'It will require strong leadership, bold commitments, and a clear roadmap with intermediate targets. But it is critical if we are to support a healthier planet and healthier people.'

The health service has committed to reach net zero carbon by 2040 for its own emissions, but nearly two thirds of its carbon footprint resides in its global supply chain (file photo)

Signatories include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Apple, AstraZeneca, BT Group, Smith+Nephew and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

It comes as bosses at some of Britain's biggest supermarkets  Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op  pledged to halve their impact on the natural world.

The stores will be taking action to combat the destruction of forests for food crops, to help protect wildlife.

They will also be making a switch to green power, reducing emissions and cutting food waste.

It comes as bosses at some of Britain's biggest supermarkets  Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op  pledged to halve their impact on the natural world (stock image)

The supermarkets also intend to make a switch away from meat and dairy easier for customers by offering new plant-based alternatives.

The retailers have signed up to an initiative drawn up by the conservation charity WWF, and they are calling on others across the food supply industry to follow suit.

WWF chief executive Tanya Steele said: 'We can't tackle climate change and keep global temperature rise to 1.5C without halting nature loss  and we can't save nature without changing what's on our supermarket shelves.'

In a joint statement, the chief executives of the five supermarkets said: 'We recognise that a future without nature is a future without food. By 2030 we collectively need to halt the loss of nature.'

Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said: 'Tackling the impact the food system has on our planet will require transformational change and collaboration across the industry.'

I'm sorry says 'climategate' sceptic

A former climate change sceptic has apologised for his role in the climategate scandal 12 years ago and said he now believes global warming is real.

Steve Mosher was sent documents and emails stolen by hackers from the University of East Anglia and selectively used quotations to undermine climate change science.

The 2009 leak, weeks before a UN climate summit in Copenhagen, called into question work by the universitys Climatic Research Unit.

Amid a media storm, the units then director Professor Phil Jones contemplated suicide after cherry-picked quotations were promoted on climate sceptics blogs and used to fuel doubts about global warming.

The work of climate modeller Professor Tim Osborn was also vilified in parts of the media.

US-based Mr Mosher told BBC Radio 4s The Hack That Changed The World podcast: If I get to make an apology to Phil Jones and Tim Osborn, then Im happy.

He said he had eaten a giant irony sandwich and accepts the reality of global warming.
A Spanish teacher whose body was found in an Iowa park on Tuesday could have been murdered in a racist attack, a former student has speculated.

Nohema Graber, 66, was a beloved teacher at Fairfield High School, where she had taught since 2012, and was remembered for her kindness.

Two 16-year-old students at the school, Willard Noble Chaiden Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale, have both been charged as adults for the first-degree murder.

Nohema Graber, 66, disappeared on Tuesday in Fairfield, Iowa. Her body was found the following day and two students at the school where she taught have been charged with her murder

The pair are being held on a $1 million bond each ahead of their next court appearance on November 12.

They are accused of killing Graber in the park where she regularly took an afternoon walk, and then dumping her remains under a wheelbarrow.

Former students were devastated by her killing.

'I absolutely cannot comprehend why any student would ever want to hurt her,' said Alyson Reid, a former student.

Reid told NBC she wonders if it might have been racially motivated.

Graber, who was born in Mexico, was a liaison between St. Mary Catholic Church in Fairfield, where she frequented Mass, and the town's growing Latino enclave.

'While Mrs. Graber was bilingual and fluent in English, she did struggle with slang and had an accent,' Reid said.

'I know some students made fun of her for that.'

Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old Spanish teacher who was born in Mexico and taught in Iowa, was found dead in a park in her hometown of Fairfield on Wednesday

Leaders in Iowa's Latino communities said they were worried that Graber's killing was part of a wider pattern.

'This murder is beyond comprehension on why this would occur,' said Joe Henry, the state political director for the Latino civil rights organization LULAC of Iowa.

He told the Des Moines Register: 'We can only assume that the hateful rhetoric that has been promoted over the past five years continues.'

Latinos constitute only six per cent of Iowa's total population, according to LatinoVoteIowa.org.

Yet the predominantly white state has seen the Hispanic share of its population more than double since 2000, with a 130 percent increase registered between 2000 and 2017.

In August, an Iowa woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 42, was sentenced to 25 years for hate crimes after trying to run over two children in Des Moines, believing one was Middle Eastern and the other was Mexican.

Police said they had no reason to suspect a racial motivation.

The two boys, Miller and Goodale, had exchanged messages about her killing on social media, investigators said, which is providing insight into the murder.

These are the two 16-year-old boys accused of killing their high school teacher and concealing her corpse in a park in southeast Iowa. Willard Noble Chaiden Miller (left) and Jeremy Everett Goodale, both 16, have been charged as adults with first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide

Yet Chauncey Moulding, Jefferson County attorney, said his office would 'absolutely follow the evidence.'

He added: 'This case is not, by any means, closed.'

Graber's son Christian and daughter Nohema Maria both said on Facebook that they had forgiven her alleged murderers.

The suspects' mugshots were released on Thursday night, with officers saying the pair plotted the murder of Graber as she took one of her regular strolls through Chautauqua Park on Tuesday.

Graber was last seen alive on November 2, was reported missing by her concerned family the next morning, with her remains found under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties on November 3.

After her remains were recovered, Graber's son Christian memorialized his mother on Facebook: 'I'm sorry I can't respond to the all of the messages', he wrote, 'but I'll just say what I've been told. My mother passed away. As I understand it was pre attempted murder by two students. I forgive them and feel sorry that they had that anger in their hearts. There's no point in being angry at them. We should hope that they can find peace in their lives'

She had suffered head trauma, although a cause of death hasn't been revealed.

Court documents released on Thursday detailing the criminal complaints against the two teenagers reveal that Miller admitted to investigators that he took part in the murder.

During the interview with detectives, Miller allegedly admitted he was at the park as the murder was taking place, provided materials used in the murder, and helped hide Graber's body, the complaint reveals.

Goodale was said to have worn bloodied clothes, although investigators still haven't said who they suspect of beating the teacher to death.

Their school - where Graber taught - was closed on Friday, with students being offered counseling to cope with the shocking death of the well-regarded teacher, who was described in one tribute as 'an absolute angel.'

The newly-released documents also reveal that an associate of both Goodale and Miller provided information detailing social media exchanges between the two teens that indicated Goodale knew specific details pertaining to Graber's disappearance and death.

Nohema Graber, 66, taught Spanish classes at Fairfield High School since 2012 before her life was snuffed out on Tuesday. Jefferson County police have charged two students at the Iowa school in her homicide death

A search warrant was then executed by Jefferson County police, who searched Goodale's residence, uncovering 'multiple clothing items appearing to have a substance consistent in appearance with that of blood,' the complaint states.

The court documents also reveal that investigators questioned an additional teen, this one an 'associate' of only Goodale, who reported meeting with Goodale at the park the day that Graber disappeared.

Investigators added in their report that the clothes the witness described matched a blood-spattered outfit police seized from Goodale's home, adding in the report that the clothes 'contained a substance consistent in appearance with blood.'

According to police, the witness 'described Goodale as wearing clothing consistent in appearance to that which was seized' during the search.

The witness also told investigators that saw Miller at the park as well.

Miller and Goodale, both 16 and students at the school, have been charged as adults with first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said.

Graber's body was found concealed under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties at Chautauqua Park, where she frequently walked in the afternoons

Graber's son, Christian, wrote on Facebook: 'I'm sorry I can't respond to the all of the messages but I'll just say what I've been told. My mother passed away.

'As I understand it was pre attempted murder by two students. I forgive them and feel sorry that they had that anger in their hearts.

'There's no point in being angry at them. We should hope that they can find peace in their lives.

'My mother was an angel of a woman and was one of the kindest souls.

'She gave me the gift of the Spanish language and helped many of her students over the years.

'She was well loved in the community and around the world.

'Thanks to everyone who reached out. I may ask for some help with things in the following days but in the end everything will be ok. Te amo madre.'

Graber, a mom of three, leaves behind her two sons and one daughter (not pictured). Graber's eldest son, Christian (at right), took to social media to say he forgives his mother's alleged killers

Graber, originally from Xalapa, Mexico, also leaves behind her husband, after she was allegedly killed by the two teens during a Tuesday stroll through the Iowa park

Meanwhile, daughter Nohema Marie wrote, 'We've lost an absolute angel in our family.

'It is all thanks to her for instilling a love of travel and languages that my brothers and I have continued to experience the world throughout our lives.

'We had the wonderful fortune of growing up in a home filled with such an abundance of warmth and love.

'I will miss her loud laugh and dancing with her to any music that was playing, she had so much joy in her eyes and such a deep sense of faith.

'To the two teenagers that so cruelly took her life,' she continued, 'it is clear that they need more love and light in their hearts.

'But I agree with my oldest brother Christian, all we can do is forgive.

'I am filled with so much gratitude to have had such a strong and beautiful woman as my mother.

'And from the outpouring of messages, it's incredibly touching to know that her presence impacted so many. What a blessing she is, we know that her soul lives on in heaven.'

Police said that Graber, pictured here with her three children, suffered head trauma before her homicide death, but did not reveal a cause of death as of Thursday

Graber's remains were found on Wednesday, hours after she was reported missing, at the Chautauqua Park in Fairfield, located about 95 miles southeast of Des Moines, where police say she was known to walk after school finished for the day

Graber's body was discovered hidden under a tarp, wheelbarrow and an assortment of railroad ties at the Fairfield park on Wednesday

Daughter Nohema Marie wrote on social media, 'We've lost an absolute angel in our family,' before adding, 'I will miss her loud laugh and dancing with her to any music that was playing, she had so much joy in her eyes and such a deep sense of faith. To the two teenagers that so cruelly took her life,' she continued, 'it is clear that they need more love and light in their hearts. 'She then, like her older brother, went on to forgive the two teens charged in her death

Authorities said the two juveniles will be tried as adults, citing circumstances and their ages. They are both being held on a $1 million bail, records show.

Court documents filed Thursday from their initial appearance in court indicate they did not yet have attorneys. Both appeared via video conference.

Magistrate Stephan Small ordered a state public defender to represent Goodale.

Documents said Miller did not request a court-appointed attorney and it wasn't immediately clear who would represent him.

According to court filings made public Thursday afternoon, Graber suffered 'inflicted trauma to the head.'

Fairfield High School (pictured), where Graber taught for the last nine years, cancelled classes on Thursday and on Friday after learning about the tragedy. However, the school's counseling services will remain open for impacted students

Graber, originally from Xalapa, Mexico, taught Spanish classes at Fairfield High School since 2012, though it was not disclosed whether she had been the teens' teacher.

She previously taught in the Ottumwa Community School District.

'An act like this is unspeakable, and we are torn that one of our education family is a victim to such a senseless act,' a statement from Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek read.

'Every day educators work tirelessly to protect the students in their care. With full hearts and deep commitment, educators have been the backbone of our state and our nation during this unprecedented time. We cannot understand this, or any violence aimed at such guardians.'

Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor of Iowa, tweeted her condolences on Friday.

'My heart goes out to the family, friends, colleagues, and students that are dealing with this tragic murder of Nohema Graber,' she said.

'Ms. Graber touched countless childrens lives through her work as an educator across our state by sharing her passion of foreign language.'

Fairfield students were dismissed from classes Thursday and all classes on Friday were canceled, the district said. The school said its counseling services will remain open for students and staff.

'We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Mrs. Graber,' Fairfield superintendent Laurie Noll said in a statement Thursday.

'At this time our students' and staffs' wellbeing is our top priority. As a community, we will remain united in this time of tragedy.'

The investigation remains ongoing, with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisting the Fairfield Police Department, Fairfield Fire Department, Iowa State Patrol, Jefferson County Emergency Management, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Jefferson County Attorney's Office.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 12 for Miller and at 11:30a.m. the same day for Goodale at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Sangar Khalid Mohammed, 32, admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and also admitted to drug supply. He was jailed for seven and a half years.

Two people smugglers, including a young pilot from Birmingham, have been jailed after they brought migrants to the UK on light aircraft and in vans fitted with hidden compartments.

Sangar Khalid Mohammed, 32, and Billy Hems, 24, both admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, with Mohammed also admitting drugs supply.

They were jailed for seven and a half years, and two and a half years respectively, on Friday at Worcester Crown Court.

Mohammed ran a hand car wash near Herefordshire beauty spot Symonds Yat but police officers discovered it was actually a front for a major people smuggling operation.

Behind the scenes, Mohammed was charging desperate people a small fortune - 12,000 per person - to bring them from France.

Meanwhile, Light aircraft pilot Hems, from Rye Croft in Hollywood, was recruited to drop migrants at rural UK airfields on under-the-radar dawn flights and sneak them into the country in secret 'hides' on board vans.

Judge Jackson told the pair: 'Both of you were involved in a conspiracy to bring immigrants illegally in to this country. It involved two successful migrations, one by plane driven by Mr Hems and another in a van.

'This was a conspiracy to bring migrants in by a variety of different methods of transport - by plane, by vehicle, by boat.'

Billy Hems, 24, a light aircraft pilot from Rye Croft in Hollywood, was recruited to drop migrants at rural UK airfields and sneak them into the country in vans. He was jailed for two and a half years and lost his pilot's licence.

The court heard on Friday how Mohammed and Hems used light aircraft and a van with hidden compartments to smuggle migrants into the UK.

Mohammed was arrested from his Symonds Yat home on October, 17 2019 at the same time seven Kurdish migrants, including a child, were being transported under his remote orders to Ghent in Belgium.

Inquiries revealed Mohammed was working with Hems as part of a widespread smuggling conspiracy.

'Mr Mohammed, you were actively recruiting others to take part in these activities,' His Honour Judge Jackson said.

'It's quite clear from the recorded conversations with undercover police officers that you were the one who took the lead.'

In September 2018, a VW van owned by 24-year-old Hems was stopped by French Police in Dunkirk with three migrants on board.

The driver and passenger, both British nationals, were later jailed in France and a phone found in the van was linked to the car wash run by Mohammed.

It was then discovered Hems, from Rye Croft in Hollywood, regularly flew between the UK and Amiens, France, in 2018 on suspected smuggling trips to countryside airfields.

Authorities confirmed their suspicions when they traced one of Hems' smuggling flights to an airfield in Shotteswell, near Banbury in 2019. He was later arrested on October 18, 2019.

'In your case Mr Hems, you were much younger,' Judge Jackson said. 'It's something of a tragedy you have thrown away your pilot's licence.'

The court also heard that officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit gathered vital intelligence and evidence which led to their downfall.

Pictured: One of the vans bearing Belgian number plates used by Mohammed and Hems to smuggle migrants into the UK

Detective Inspector Julie Woods said: 'This was a great piece of joint working between ourselves, immigration and the Belgian Police to bring down an established people smuggling gang.

'Mohammed and Hems were making big money on the plight and desperation of migrants while we also believe some were being put to work as cheap labour at Mohammed's hand car wash.'

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove, said: 'Both of these individuals showed a blatant disregard for the laws of the UK, for which they have all now rightly paid the price.

'We are determined to clamp down on despicable people smugglers that put profit before lives by organising dangerous and unnecessary journeys.

'This is why we are bringing legislation forward through the New Plan for Immigration to dismantle these people smuggling networks and save lives.'
Australia has hit its 80 per cent double vaccination target, a major milestone in the country's reopening plan.

The country made the breakthrough on Saturday, making it one of the most vaccinated countries in the world with double-dose rates in over 16s now higher than Israel and the United States.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described it as 'magnificent'.

Australia has hit its 80 per cent double vaccination target, a major milestone in the country's reopening plan

'How good is that,' he said.

'There's now been 35 million doses. This has been a true Australian national effort.

'Cities and suburbs, towns and hospitals and pharmacies. Aged care facilities and disability home, (and) there's been the pop up clinics. We've been in remote indigenous communities, army barracks and stadiums  all kinds of locations, all across our amazing country.

'A big thanks goes to our nurses, doctors, our healthcare workers and pharmacists  everyone who's been involved in this extraordinary effort including local councils and state and territory governments.'

NSW, Victoria and the ACT have already passed their individual 80 per cent double dose targets.

Queensland and WA are expected to reach 80 per cent first dose targets in the coming days.

The country made the breakthrough on Saturday, making it one of the most vaccinated countries in the world with double-dose rates in over 16s now higher than Israel and the United States

Australia's vaccine rollout had a slow start with the coutnry intially missing key dates of its vaccine plan.

The NSW delta outbreak saw the vaccine rollout boosted with residents going out in large numbers to get jabbed in the hope of supressing the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, hospitals, aged care facilities and schools are among the high-risk settings where workers and visitors could face rapid testing under an Australian plan to be developed.

National cabinet on Friday agreed the federal health department and Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will work on creating a nationally consistent framework for the use of rapid antigen tests.

It will guide authorities across the nation on how often the tests should be done and the implication of positive results, while also recommending high-risk settings for the screening.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) described the feat as 'magnificent'

Australian health authorities have previously been cautious to expand the use of rapid antigen tests given they are less reliable than PCR swabs.

In a further take-out from the first national cabinet meeting in more than a month, states and territories will consider changes to isolation requirements for fully vaccinated primary close contacts, including no or minimal quarantine for up to seven days.

Casual contacts would only be asked to seek testing and isolate if experiencing symptoms, but avoid high-risk settings until they return a negative result.

Victoria and NSW have already reduced the time most fully-vaccinated primary close contacts have to serve in isolation from 14 to seven days, while casual contacts can leave quarantine once they return a negative test result.

The federal government has also pledged to start vaccinating five to 11-year-old children, if backed by the national medicines regulator and immunisation advisory group.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly informed leaders of the emerging scientific evidence showing the benefits of vaccinating the age group, after US regulators approved the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11-year-olds.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan on Friday revealed long-awaited plans to reopen the state to eastern jurisdictions after months of hard border policies, as NSW and Victoria effectively reopened their borders to each other.
Faster booster jabs, a 'wonder pill' and plunging infection rates delivered a triple boost last night in the fight against Covid.

From Monday the double vaccinated will be able to book their third dose a month earlier than before.

In a second significant development, a new antiviral pill has been found to slash the risk of vulnerable people being hospitalised or dying from coronavirus.

And official figures yesterday showed that the infection rate and the R-rate have both fallen. Cases have dropped by a third in a fortnight  from 49,298 to 34,029.

One expert said the latest figures suggested that coronavirus infections may now have peaked across England.

Ministers have faced fierce criticism over booster jabs, with the sluggish pace of the rollout blamed for high case numbers.

So far third doses could only be booked when they become due  six months after a second jab. That resulted in people waiting weeks for a convenient appointment, at a time when their immunity was waning.

But next week bookings can be made a month in advance online or by calling 119.

From Monday the double vaccinated will be able to book their third dose a month earlier than before

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the Mail last night: 'Ahead of the peak winter season these are three really important developments that give us hope. The best thing anyone can do, to keep the virus at bay, is get their jab if they haven't already or their booster as soon as they are eligible.'

He added: 'Covid-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your family ahead of a challenging winter and this change to the booking system will make it as easy as possible for people to book their booster jabs.

'This will accelerate the booster programme, ensure the NHS is able to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, and importantly help more people maintain protection against Covid-19 as we know immunity will dip over time.

'Please do not delay  come and get the jab to keep the virus at bay.'

Ministers had hoped to offer boosters to 32million people by Christmas but this is looking increasingly unlikely. Only nine million have been given so far.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's health spokesman, has written to Mr Javid calling for more community pharmacies and walk-in clinics to give boosters and children's jabs. He warned action was needed to tackle the 'pitifully low' vaccination rate in youngsters. Just one in four 12 to 15-year-olds has been jabbed, despite a target to vaccinate them all by October half term.

Six million people in England who had a second dose at least six months ago and are eligible for a booster are yet to have it, with the gap continuing to widen, according to the Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group.

Protection against symptomatic disease falls from 65 per cent three months after the second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab to 45 per cent after six months. The figures for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are 90 per cent and 65 per cent.

Over the same timescales, protection against hospitalisation falls from 95 per cent to 75 per cent for Oxford/AstraZeneca and from 99 per cent to 90 per cent for Pfizer/BioNTech. A small change in effectiveness has major repercussions. A drop from 95 per cent to 90 per cent protection against hospitalisation would lead to a doubling of admissions in the vaccinated.

Early results from Pfizer show that a booster restores protection back up to 95.6 per cent against symptomatic infection.

Maggie Throup, the vaccines minister, said: 'The Covid-19 booster programme is making great progress  thank you to the NHS and everybody who has come forward so far to secure vital protection ahead of the winter.

'I encourage everybody eligible for a booster and flu vaccine to book your jab as soon as possible to keep yourself and your loved ones safe over the coming months.'

Clinical guidance was updated last week to enable Covid boosters to be given slightly earlier to those judged at highest risk. This allows care home residents who may have received their second doses at different times to be vaccinated in the same session, as long as it has been five months since their second dose.

It may also help with other vulnerable groups, such as housebound patients, so that they can have their flu and Covid vaccines at the same time. Covid boosters have been delivered or booked in at almost every older adult care home in England.

Over 9,700 care homes  almost nine in ten  have been visited since the rollout began in mid-September and a further 1,100 homes have visits scheduled for the coming weeks. More than four in five eligible residents have now had their top-up jab.

Some care homes cannot be visited currently because of norovirus or Covid outbreaks but dates have been agreed for future visits, NHS England said.

Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, said: 'Seven million people in England have already received their lifesaving booster vaccine, as the NHS moved at pace to get jabs in arms.

'While this winter is undoubtedly going to be different, the most important thing you can do is come forward for both your Covid booster and flu jab as soon as possible  now with the added convenience of booking in advance  making it even easier to protect yourself and loves ones.'

The Government yesterday said a further 193 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.

Pfizer pill slashes risk of getting seriously ill

By Victoria Allen, Science Correspondent for the Daily Mail

A new antiviral pill slashes the risk of vulnerable people being hospitalised with or dying from Covid-19 by almost 90 per cent.

Britain has already ordered a quarter of a million doses of the drug, called Paxlovid.

This week it was first in the world to approve a similar antiviral, molnupiravir, which can be taken at home by high-risk people. The UK has secured 480,000 doses.

The pill, called PF-07321332, works by inhibiting an enzyme that the coronavirus uses to make copies of itself inside human cells (file image)

Hopes high for Christmas as daily cases fall by a third The Covid pandemic is in retreat across the country and Christmas will be 'transformationally different' to last year, experts say. Daily new infections have fallen by almost a third in the UK over the past fortnight, from 49,298 on October 22 to 34,029 yesterday. The UK Health Security Agency says the outbreak could be shrinking by 1 per cent a day in England, with the R rate as low as 0.9. Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics show around one in 50 people in England had the virus in the week to October 30. This is equivalent to about 1.1million people  unchanged from the previous week  and the same as the second wave peak in January. Yet deaths have plummeted compared with a daily peak of 1,300 deaths in January, with 193 deaths reported yesterday. Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the numbers provide 'reassurance' that infections may have peaked. And Jim Naismith, professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford, added that vaccine uptake amongst teenagers would also hopefully 'drive down' infection numbers from now on. He added: 'There is no doubt that this Christmas will be transformationally different than last. 'There is simply no better evidence for the vaccine than this change to our fortunes. I am encouraged by the licensing of the new drugs and treatments.' Advertisement

Trials of Paxlovid, involving an initial 1,219 participants, were stopped early because it worked so well.

Among those who took the drug  which is made by US firm Pfizer  within three days of getting Covid symptoms, less than 1 per cent were admitted to hospital and none died.

Those given a dummy pill did much worse, with 7 per cent hospitalised and seven deaths.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the results were 'incredible' and that the medical regulator would now assess the drug's safety and effectiveness.

He said: 'If approved, this could be another significant weapon in our armoury to fight the virus alongside our vaccines and other treatments, including molnupiravir, which the UK was the first country in the world to approve this week.' Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said: 'Today's news is a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic.

'These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorised by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients' lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalisations.'

Pfizer's combination treatment contains a 'protease inhibitor', which blocks a key enzyme Covid needs to multiply in the body.

This is given with a low dose of an HIV drug called ritonavir, which keeps it in the body for longer to counteract the virus.

The pill works differently to molnupiravir, which was approved by the medical regulator on Thursday and is made by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and MSD  the UK arm of US pharmaceutical giant Merck.

Molnupiravir works by incorporating genetic errors into the virus so that it is less able to replicate. But both antiviral pills represent a landmark change in how the pandemic is tackled, as they could be taken at home without the need for infusions or injections.

When people were given Paxlovid within three days of symptoms appearing, 1 per cent were hospitalised in the following 28 days, and none died.

That compared to seven deaths among people given a dummy pill, among whom 6.7 per cent were hospitalised. The trials involved those who were unvaccinated, infected with the virus and were considered high-risk for hospitalisation due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The results have not yet been published in a journal or checked by other scientists.

Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, said the antivirals are 'a vital element for the care of clinically vulnerable people who may be unable to either receive or respond to vaccines'.
Queensland has recorded one new Covid case as Annastacia Palaszczuk considers restrictions on unvaccinated people.

The premier says those decisions are currently up to individual businesses, but public health orders restricting unvaccinated people, such as those in NSW and Victoria, could be issued in future.

'What we will see in the future across Australia may be, until the vaccination levels are consistent across the nation, you will see some measures we'll put in that only vaccinated people will be able to go to certain venues,' she told reporters on Friday.

Queensland has recorded one new Covid case as Annastacia Palaszczuk considers restrictions on unvaccinated people

'You're seeing that in New South Wales and Victoria at the moment.

'I don't want to pre-empt what's happening in Queensland but you could see businesses do that, you could see large festivals for example saying to young people: 'You can only come here if you are vaccinated'.

'So it's in everyone's interest to get vaccinated.'

Ms Palaszczuk said the government could consider public health orders restricting unvaccinated people from certain venues and premises in coming months.

Her comments came as the state recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 on Saturday.

Ms Palaszczuk said the government could consider public health orders restricting unvaccinated people from certain venues and premises in coming months

On Thursday two women and a teenager, only one of whom had had one jab, were recorded as cases.

They had recently visited the northern NSW town of Moree, where an outbreak has grown to at least 33 cases.

Queensland cut the Moree Plains Shire from its border bubble and will further restrict cross-border travel exemptions to only certain 'essential purposes' for the next seven days.

'We will try and get supplies to those communities in NSW rather than having to cross to get supplies into Queensland,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

The premier said hospital and aged care visitors would be banned from those facilities in Goondiwindi this weekend as well, as a precaution.

The town is unlikely to be locked down due to high vaccination rates, with 90.9 per cent of eligible Goondiwindi residents having had one jab and 81.5 per cent fully vaccinated.

Overall, 66.3 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated, and 79.1 per cent have had one dose.

Her comments came as the state recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 on Saturday

Meanwhile, the Queensland government has declared the Katherine region a hotspot from 12:01am Saturday following advice from their Northern Territory counterparts.

A three-day lockdown in Katherine and a lockout in Greater Darwin are scheduled until midnight on Sunday after a second case was diagnosed in the Top End.

Anyone arriving in Queensland who has been in the Katherine region since Thursday will have to isolate.

People who enter from the region before 6pm on Saturday will need to home quarantine until they receive a negative COVID-19 test.

Those who arrive in Queensland from Katherine after 6pm Saturday will need to isolate in a hotel until the hotspot status is lifted or 14 day quarantine is completed.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken says anyone who enters the state who has been in Katherine since Thursday can't enter "vulnerable facilities" in Queensland including prisons, aged care facilities disability accommodation services or hospitals until further notice.
A South African policewoman was yesterday handed six life sentences for murdering her boyfriend and five relatives in a chilling insurance fraud plot.

Rosemary Ndlovu, 46, was caught before she could carry out her plans to kill her mother, another sister, and her sisters five children.

She cashed in an estimated 69,000 from her bloody deeds in insurance payouts, Johannesburg High Court was told.

Rosemary Ndlovu, 46, was caught before she could carry out her plans to kill her mother, another sister, and her sisters five children

On top of the six life sentences, Judge Ramarumo Monama added 95 years in jail for incitement to murder, attempted murder, and insurance fraud.

Ndlovu, from Thembisa near Johannesburg, killed her cousin, sister, boyfriend, niece, nephew, and another relative between 2012 and 2017.

Much of the trial was broadcast live to a stunned nation.

The officer mostly hired hitmen to ambush her victims and either shoot or bludgeon them to death, the court found.

But she personally poisoned one sisters tea, strangling her when that failed.

She was caught in 2018, when one of her hitmen tipped off the police after she hatched a plan to burn down another sisters house.
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Oxford University has been accused of a 'moral failure' after accepting millions in donations from a trust set up by Max Mosley, pictured in 2011, to house the fortune he inherited from his Fascist leader father

Oxford academics have called on students to launch a 'Mosley Must Fall' campaign and urged the Government and Charity Commission to intervene after the university accepted millions in donations from a Max Mosley trust set up to house the fortune inherited from his Fascist leader father.

The university and two of its colleges - St Peter's and Lady Margaret Hall - were accused of a 'moral failure' last night after it emerged they had received 12million charitable donations from the Mosley family.

Oxford was given 6million from a charitable trust set up by the former Formula 1 tycoon for the inheritance he received from his father Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, The Telegraph reported. The newspaper also revealed the two colleges previously accepted more than 6.3million from the Mosley family trust.

Senior academics slammed Oxford for what they called 'vast hypocrisy' by accepting donations from a family renowned for its links to Fascism and anti-Semitism while 'going off the scale in wokery' - a reference to moves to 'decolonise' the curriculum and install an 'explainer' plaque next to the Cecil Rhodes statue outside Oriel College.

An Oxford spokesman confirmed that the millions donated to the university will be used to set up the Alexander Mosley Professor of Biophysics Fund, while the sum given to St Peter's is being put towards the construction of a new block of student accommodation in the city.

The university and the colleges said the funds were cleared by an independent committee, taking 'legal, ethical and reputational issues into consideration'.

However, Professor Lawrence Goldman, a former vice-master of St Peter's, has now called on the Government and Charity Commission to step in, accusing Oxford of 'proposing to keep the money but obscure the Mosley name'.

The academic, who lost relatives in the Holocaust and spent five months trying to persuade the college to refuse its donation, accused St Peter's of 'never making an apology' for Max Mosley's Fascist past - which stretched back decades - a 'condition of the gift'.

He accused officials including Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson of ignoring his correspondence and urged alumni to cancel donations to the university, adding: 'Our universities have lost their way and need the Charity Commission and Government to intervene decisively, as they did in the mid-Victorian period, an era of successful university reform.'

Speaking to The Telegraph, the professor added: 'The university has gone off the scale in wokery but they go ahead and take money from a fund established by proven and known Fascists. Its moral compass is just not working anymore. There has been a total moral failure.'

Professor Robert Lyman, a British military historian, called for students to protest the scandal, writing on Twitter: 'This has shocked me, though I'm not surprised. I stand with Lawrence Goldman. Its time for those renowned Oxford student activists to advocate that ''Mosley Must Fall''.

But he added: 'I won't hold my breath.'

A Charity Commission spokesman told MailOnline: 'Decisions around whether or not to accept a donation are for trustees to make, in light of our guidance and charity law, and trustees should always act in the best interests of their charity. We are aware of this matter and will assess whether or not there is a role for us as regulator.'

Mosley, who died with cancer this year aged 81, set up The Alexander Mosley Trust in the name of his son who died from an drug overdose in 2009.

An Oxford spokesman told MailOnline: 'We can confirm that donations to the Department of Physics from the Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust, including endowment of a chair in Biophysics named after Alexander Mosley, a graduate of the University, were all considered and approved by the University's committee to review donations and research funding.'

Much of the money funnelled into the charitable foundation came from the estate of Sir Oswald, who married wife Diana Mitford in 1936 in Berlin at the home of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister for propaganda, with Adolf Hitler as their guest of honour.

Oxford was given 6million from a charitable trust set up by the former Formula 1 tycoon for the inheritance he received from his father Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists

Oxford academics have called on students to launch a 'Mosley Must Fall' campaign and urged the Government and Charity Commission to intervene after the university accepted millions in donations from a Max Mosley trust set up to house the fortune inherited from his Fascist leader father

Professor Lawrence Goldman (left, in 2015), the former director of the Institute of Historical Research and senior dean of St Peter's college, accused the university of 'vast hypocrisy' and 'moral failure' for accepting the donations. Max Mosley set up The Alexander Mosley Trust in the name of his son (right) who died from an drug overdose in 2009

Max Mosley with his mother Lady Mosley and father Sir Oswald Mosley - leader of the British Union of Fascists - in 1962

Sir Oswald Mosley, Lady Diana Mitford and the British Union of Fascists Much of the money funnelled into the charitable foundation came from the estate of Sir Oswald Mosley, who married wife Diana Mitford in 1936 in Berlin at the home of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister for propaganda, with Adolf Hitler as their guest of honour. Mosley served as a Tory and Labour MP before he founded the British Union of Fascists. His movement had about 50,000 followers at its height and George Orwell once wrote that he doubted Mosley and his ilk 'would ever be more than a joke to the majority of English'. Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, marches with his Black Shirts to the East End of London Lady Diana was one of six famous society sisters and an admirer of Hitler. Shortly after he was born, both his parents were arrested under wartime regulations as Nazi sympathisers. During the 1936 abdication crisis, Mosley rallied his followers to support King Edward VIII, who later visited Nazi Germany with Wallis Simpson. British fascists converged on Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, calling loudly for the Stanley Baldwin's resignation. Fears spread that Edward might even dismiss the Prime Minister and invite Mosley to form a government. Much of the money funnelled into the charitable foundation came from the estate of Sir Oswald Mosley The wearing of the Blackshirt outfit was banned by the Public Order Act 1936. The law was introduced to curtail the activities of Mosley and the British Union of Fascists following the so-called Battle of Cable Street which took place on October 4, 1936. Police, called out to protect a march by Mosley and his followers, clashed with thousands of anti-Fascist demonstrators who did not want the march to proceed through London's largely Jewish East End. Under the provisions of the Act, which was rushed through Parliament, all political uniforms including black shirts were banned. The legislation remains on the statute book. Mosley died in 1980, with his widow dying in Paris at the age of 93 in 2003 having never renounced her Fascism. Advertisement

Mosley served as a Tory and Labour MP before he founded the British Union of Fascists. His movement had about 50,000 followers at its height and George Orwell once wrote that he doubted Mosley and his ilk 'would ever be more than a joke to the majority of English'.

Lady Diana was one of six famous society sisters and an admirer of Hitler. Shortly after he was born, both his parents were arrested under wartime regulations as Nazi sympathisers.

During the 1936 abdication crisis, Mosley rallied his followers to support King Edward VIII, who later visited Nazi Germany with Wallis Simpson.

British fascists converged on Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, calling loudly for the Stanley Baldwin's resignation. Fears spread that Edward might even dismiss the Prime Minister and invite Mosley to form a government.

Max Mosley's support for the British Union of Fascists and its successor, the Union Movement, is well documented, and his family's links to Oxford go as far back as the 1960s.

He was sent to school in Germany for two years where he learned to speak fluent German. On his return to England, he spent a year at Millfield, a prestigious international boarding school, and then later went on to Oxford, graduating with a degree in physics in 1961.

In 1961, the former boss of world motorsport worked for a Fascist candidate in a local by-election whose campaign included the slogan 'coloured immigration threatens your children's health', and was also arrested for assaulting anti-Fascist protesters during a march.

Mr Mosley, who had been involved in his father's post-war party, the far-Right Union Movement, in his teens and early 20s, abandoned attempts to launch a political career with the Conservative party in the 1980s, claiming his name would have been a handicap. He joined the Labour party during Tony Blair's leadership and later became a donor.

In a statement, a spokesman for Lady Margaret Hall told MailOnline: 'The AMCT donation to Lady Margaret Hall, approved by its Governing Body, enabled a cohort of students from very diverse and low-income backgrounds to attend Oxford and participate in LMH's pioneering Foundation Year.

'Lady Margaret Hall's due diligence included noting that the Trust had been considered and approved by the University's Committee to Review Donations and Research Funding. The Chancellor's Court of Benefactors official report also lists AMCT as a member of its fellowship 'who have provided exceptional philanthropic benefactions to Oxford.'

'The AMCT knew that the cohort of students came from diverse and under-represented backgrounds and was pleased to support the scheme and its aims. Six students from the cohort are now Oxford undergraduates. The gift was therefore fully in line with - and helped to deliver on - LMH's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

'There was no attempt to ''rehabilitate the Mosley family name.'' The AMCT trustees did not ask for, and were not given, any public acknowledgement of the donation.'

St Peter's College said the trust's 'generous' donation will make a 'transformative' difference to students, adding: 'Alexander Mosley was a student at the college and is warmly remembered by tutors and fellow students. He died in tragic circumstances and the [trust] was set up to remember him.'

However, Lord Mann, the Government's anti-Semitism adviser, said: 'My objection is to the memorialising of the Mosley family name.

'At a time when Oxford University are putting statues into storage or away from public display it is quite absurd to give credibility to a family who were active fascists over two generations and who led British fascism up to the Second World War.

'It is hard to comprehend why they would choose to put their reputation so at risk.'

He added: 'If Oxford is trying to rehabilitate the Mosley family name in any way, they can expect a very hostile response. I don't imagine people would be very happy to have a Mussolini building, or a Hitler scholarship. People in this country will feel the same way in relation to the Mosley name.'

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'The Mosley family has an infamous record in relation to anti-Semitism. Oxford University should think hard about accepting a donation from the family's trust, ensuring that a portion of the money funds education about anti-Semitism or supports Jewish life at the university.'

And Robert Halfon, Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, told the newspaper: 'I find it distressing that Oxford University is so keen to go on about diversity and inclusion, but is prepared to take the shilling from such sources.'

Oxford University has recently been embroiled in a number of rows 'wokeness'. Last month, academics slammed Oriel College for pandering to Left-wing statue topplers by erecting a plaque which depicts Rhodes as the 'devil incarnate' and 'distorts' history.

Cambridge professor David Abulafia said the plaque 'lacks balance', claiming it is 'only concerned with linking him to racist and imperialist policies' and is 'clearly a reaction to the Rhodes Must Fall campaign'.

Students began campaigning for the Rhodes statue outside Oriel to be removed in 2015, but the 'Rhodes Must Fall' protests were reignited after the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol at the height of last summer's Black Lives Matter protests.

The establishment's acceptance of the charitable donations from a family renowned for its links to fascism has drawn ire from former professors

Academics accuse Oxford's Oriel College of depicting Cecil Rhodes as the 'devil incarnate' with plaque 'distorting his legacy' Academics have slammed Oxford's Oriel College for pandering to Left-wing statue topplers by erecting a plaque which depicts British imperialist Cecil Rhodes as the 'devil incarnate' and 'distorts' history. Cambridge professor David Abulafia said the plaque 'lacks balance', claiming it is 'only concerned with linking him to racist and imperialist policies' and is 'clearly a reaction to the Rhodes Must Fall campaign'. Students began campaigning for the Rhodes statue outside Oriel to be removed in 2015, but the 'Rhodes Must Fall' protests were reignited after the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol at the height of last summer's Black Lives Matter protests. The new plaque describes Rhodes as a 'committed British colonialist' who 'obtained his fortune through exploitation of minerals, land and peoples of southern Africa. Some of his activities led to great loss of life and attracted criticism in his day and ever since.' Academics have slammed Oxford's Oriel College for pandering to Left-wing statue topplers by erecting a plaque which depicts British imperialist Cecil Rhodes as the 'devil incarnate' and 'distorts' history The new plaque describes Rhodes as a 'committed British colonialist' who 'obtained his fortune through exploitation of minerals, land and peoples of southern Africa. Some of his activities led to great loss of life and attracted criticism in his day and ever since' It adds: 'In recent years, the statue has become a focus for public debate on racism and the legacy of colonialism. In June 2020, Oriel College declared its wish to remove the statue but is not doing so following legal and regulatory advice.' The wording has now sparked a backlash among a group of academics who intend to write to Oriel's Provost, Lord Mendoza, to express their concerns. Prof Abulafia told the Telegraph: 'I am not trying to defend Rhodes's career right across the board. This is a man who was a great benefactor of Oxford University and who - it may seem strange to us - actually thought he was bringing benefits to the people who fell under his control. 'The notice is only concerned with linking him to racist and imperialist policies. This is clearly a reaction to the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and it's simply not how you do it.' Advertisement

The new plaque describes Rhodes as a 'committed British colonialist' who 'obtained his fortune through exploitation of minerals, land and peoples of southern Africa. Some of his activities led to great loss of life and attracted criticism in his day and ever since.'

It adds: 'In recent years, the statue has become a focus for public debate on racism and the legacy of colonialism. In June 2020, Oriel College declared its wish to remove the statue but is not doing so following legal and regulatory advice.'

The wording has now sparked a backlash among a group of academics who intend to write to Oriel's Provost, Lord Mendoza, to express their concerns.

Prof Abulafia told the Telegraph: 'I am not trying to defend Rhodes's career right across the board. This is a man who was a great benefactor of Oxford University and who - it may seem strange to us - actually thought he was bringing benefits to the people who fell under his control.

'The notice is only concerned with linking him to racist and imperialist policies. This is clearly a reaction to the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and it's simply not how you do it.'

Rhodes, an Oxford student in the 1870s who left money to Oriel on his death in 1902, was an imperialist, businessman and politician who played a dominant role in southern Africa in the late 19th Century.

He founded Rhodesia and served as prime minister of the Cape Colony in the 1890s. Rhodes was not a slave trader but supported apartheid-style measures in southern Africa.

Last year, Oriel's governing body said it was their 'wish' to remove the statue and it established an independent commission to examine the key issues surrounding it. The commission eventually concluded its inquiry saying it backed the college's original wish to remove the statue.

More than 100 Oxford academics are refusing requests from Oriel to give tutorials to its undergraduates. They have also pledged not to assist the college with its outreach work and admissions interviews, and they will refuse to attend or speak at talks, seminars, and conferences sponsored by the college.

Oxford students recently removing a portrait of the Queen from Magdalen's Middle Common Room due to the monarchy's links to colonialism, while Theresa May's portrait was taken down from the geography department so as not to antagonise EU students.

In March, Oxford was considering changes to the music curriculum, including alternative titles for courses, after certain staff raised concerns about the 'complicity in white supremacy' in the teaching of the subject.

Professors were set to reform their music courses to move beyond the classic repertoire, which includes the likes of Beethoven and Mozart, in the wake of the BLM movement.

University staff argued that the current curriculum focuses on 'white European music from the slave period', according to The Telegraph.

Documents seen by the publication indicate proposed reforms to target undergraduate courses. It claimed that teaching musical notation had 'not shaken off its connection to its colonial past' and would be 'a slap in the face' to some students.

And it added that musical skills should no longer be compulsory because the current repertoire's focus on 'white European music' causes 'students of colour great distress'.

It is thought that music writing will also be reformed to be more inclusive.

But the proposals caused upset among some faculty members who argued that it was unfair to accuse those teaching music from before 1900 of being concerned with just 'white'.

All Souls College in January removed the name of an 18th century slave trader from its main library but defied calls to take down his statue.

The college reviewed its link to Christopher Codrington, a Barbados-born colonial governor, in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter movement.

The former fellow, who died in 1710, bequeathed 10,000 to the library which has since been unofficially known as the Codrington Library.

A marble statue by Edward Cheere of the benefactor has been standing in the library for centuries and the college says it has no plans to take it down despite the clamour from students.

The All Souls governing body said: 'Rather than seek to remove it the College will investigate further forms of memorialisation and contextualisation within the library, which will draw attention to the presence of enslaved people on the Codrington plantations, and will express the College's abhorrence of slavery.'

Their review found that Codrington's wealth 'derived largely from his family's activities in the West Indies, where they owned plantations worked by enslaved people of African descent'.

The college claims it has undertaken a number of measures to address the colonial legacy, including erecting a memorial plaque in memory of those who worked on the Caribbean plantations.

It comes just days after Oxford University's Linacre College, named after humanist and physician Thomas Linacre (1460-1524), announced its name would be changed to 'Thao college' in honour of Vietnamese billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao who donated a whopping 155 million.

Thao founded the budget airline VietJet Air and has been fined several times for perking up her flights with semi-naked stewardesses.
The Home Secretary's plan to turn back migrant boats is not being implemented by border force for fear it will lead to the death of more migrants.

Yesterday, the home office said a record 853 migrants crossed the channel on Wednesday.

It takes the total number this year to 21,050 which is double the number for all of last year.

In separate incidents this week, three migrants died trying to cross the channel.

Priti Patel announced her plan to turn back migrants in a Tory conference last month after she took legal advice, according to the Times.

Border Force has rejected requests to use Ms Patel's new strategy, citing objections such as weather and size of boats being intercepted.

Officials said they do not think the policy will be implemented because of conditions which have to be met and the agency's lack of support for it.

Priti Patel announced her plan to turn back migrants in a Tory conference last month after she took legal advice

The Border Force officer said: 'There is fairly universal agreement that this is not likely to ever happen.

'The captains of the cutters have control of the process and in practice, if they're not willing to use it, it will never happen.'

The official said the force will 'not be easily pushed about' by the Home Secretary but it is the captain of each vessel's decision.

An ally of Ms Patel and Conservative MP said: 'People should be in no doubt about Priti's determination to stop the boat crossings, whatever unionised officials say.'

The Border Force officer said: 'There is fairly universal agreement that this is not likely to ever happen. 'The captains of the cutters have control of the process and in practice, if they're not willing to use it, it will never happen. Pictured: Border Force officers bring migrants to shore

Lucy Moreton, of the Immigration Services Union, which represents frontline Border Force staff, said the tactics were unlikely ever to be used because of the risk of killing people.

Ms Moreton said safety at sea is paramount and pushback cannot be used on a vulnerable boat. Small boats are more likely to be vulnerable.

She said the force cannot turn back a vessel in trouble unless the French are there to receive it and they won't cooperate with the policy because they do not think it is 'legal.'

Turnback powers are ready to be used after the prime minister gave the green light at the end of September.

Border Force has been seen off Dover practicing the tactics, involving three jet skis surrounding a migrant boat and directing it back to France.

According to guidance, the tactic can only be used in the Channel sections which are 1.8 miles wide and a commander can only agree to the procedure if it is confirmed that a French navy or rescue boat can escort the boat back.

Other safety rules must also be met including weather, sea conditions, number of migrants and size of the boat.

Pictured: Migrants arrive into Dover after crossing the channel in the dangerous journey

In Australia and Greece, when similar tactics were used, migrants threatened to jump overboard in a bid to force authorities to rescue them.

Ms Patel was frustrated at Matthew Rycroft who is her permanent secretary.

He told MPs in September that Border Force would turn back a small number of migrant boats and the plan would be rarely used because of rules that need to be followed.

Dan O'Mahoney, a former commando dealing with small boats said migrants making crossings are risking their lives.

He said the team are using every tactic to bring the journeys to an end and that people should seek asylum in the first country they reach which is safe.

Mr O'Mahoney said the government's plan for immigration will fix the system and make it firm on those who 'abuse' it an 'fair' on those in real need.
A child psychologist has warned the constant attention on Cleo Smith could be harmful to her health as Mark McGowan is slammed for visiting the four-year-old.

Michael Carr-Gregg said Cleo needed to be left alone so she can start to recover following her rescue from a housing commission property in Carnarvon, Western Australia, at 1am on Wednesday.

'I think (her) mum and dad are going to have to do a lot to shield her from her new-found notoriety, because I don't think that's going to be helpful,' he told The West.

'She's been through enough  she now just needs to resume a normal life.'

Dr Carr-Gregg warned Cleo could begin to withdraw and develop a fear for people after she was allegedly abducted from the Quobba blowholes campsite on October 16.

The Western Australia premier has been accused of adding to the growing attention after he decided to visit the four-year-old girl at her home on Thursday - a day after she was rescued by police.

A child psychologist has warned the constant attention on Cleo Smith could be harmful to her health as Mark McGowan is slammed for visiting the four-year-old

The Western Australia premier has been accused of adding to the growing attention after he decided to visit the four-year-old girl at her home on Thursday - a day after she was rescued by police

Body cam footage captured the rescue of Cleo Smith after police stormed a Carnarvon housing commission property on Wednesday

'I don't think there's any need for the Premier to be there,' former Liberal minister Amanda Vanstone told ABC's The Drum.

'It's great that he wanted to wish her and her family well, but he could have done that via Zoom.

'My own view is that we should all butt out. I know we're all interested and there's an endless demand for information on this, but none of our interest comes ahead of the interest of the child and the family.'

Cleo has constantly been under the spotlight since her rescue - with photos shared of the little girl being admitted to hospital and later reunited with her family.

Broadcaster Zoe Marshall said she uncomfortable over the photo that showed Cleo in hospital just moments after she was rescued by police.

'Why is there someone taking a photo and sharing it with the world at all? What this little girl has endured. I just don't get it. Let her recover, be with her family, get the camera out of her face,' she wrote.

Mr McGowan said he and Cleo 'did a few high-fives' before he accidentally stood on one of the little girl's new Barbie shoes.

'I owe her a pair of shoes. But I gave her the two little police teddies which we named Cameron and Rod,' Mr McGowan told a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

'I am not sure that will stick, Cleo didn't seem too enamoured by the names.'

The teddy bears are named after Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde - the lead investigator into Cleo's disappearance - and Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine.

Sergeant Blaine was one of the four officers who was on the scene as Cleo was rescued from the delipidated Carnarvon home.

Mr McGowan said the youngster was 'bubbly' and 'sweet' during their encounter and eating an icy pole - the same treat she was pictured holding in hospital on Wednesday.

'She spilt it everywhere. She told me it was very, very sticky, which I believed,' he said.

Mr McGowan arrives at a press conference at Carnarvon Police Station on Thursday. He visited the four-year-old and her family a day after she was miraculously rescued from a locked Carnarvon house

Cleo has constantly been under the spotlight since her rescue - with photos shared of the little girl being admitted to hospital and later reunited with her family

A team of forensic police are seen at the home where Cleo was found earlier this week

'She was just delightful. It was a lovely experience to meet that little girl. She is just bubbly, friendly and sweet.'

When asked if Cleo was aware of the enormity of what had happened to her, Mr McGowan replied simply 'probably not'.

The WA leader said Cleo - whose disappearance from a remote campsite on October 16 sparked a mass police search and made headlines around the world - appeared to be a 'well-adjusted little girl'.

'She heard the school siren go off and she said 'That's my school.' She was talking about her dog. We just had a normal conversation,' he said.

Mr McGowan said the four-year-old had 'done a lot of sleeping and eating' since being reunited with her mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon.

'She was a very bright, upbeat, sweet little girl... They have done a lot of lying around together, cuddling and connecting as parents do with their little daughters,' he said.

'They're a very humble family... and fundamentally decent, honest human beings - it's great to meet them and acknowledge what they've been through.

Police officer's guard the Tonkin Crescent house in Carnarvon, WA where Cleo Smith was rescued

The WA premier flew into the state's north-west on Thursday to give the rescued four-year-old teddy bears named after the police officers who led the search to find her

'They had no complaints - no demands. I said to them 'there's so many resources here to help you, whatever you need'. They weren't difficult at all.'

Speaking alongside the premier on Thursday, Sergeant Blaine said he didn't think Cleo 'was too keen' on naming a teddy bear after him or his colleague.

'Quietly while the premier was talking to the parents I tried to convince her she could call it Mark,' he said.

'It was really heartwarming to see her interacting and playing in the backyard and just being herself,' he said.

'I'm sure [the past two weeks] has had an impact but to see her behaving like a four-year-old girl should do, and enjoying being in the presence of her little sister and her family was nice.'

Superintendent Wilde meanwhile said Cleo was 'playing around and in great spirits' when he saw her.

Officials spoke of meeting the little girl after it emerged the man arrested over her alleged kidnapping was allegedly attacked by another prisoner inside a police holding cell.

On saturday an officer in full protective gear is seen at the home where Cleo was found

Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine was spotted leaving Cleo Smith's family home on Friday (pictured) after checking in on the four-year-old who was reunited with her family after 18 days missing

Sergeant Blaine paid a visit with fellow officers but sported a more casual look wearing a polo t-shirt and slacks (pictured)

Terry Kelly, 36, had only been at Carnarvon police station for a few hours on Wednesday when he was allegedly set upon by a prisoner.

That prisoner's mother told Daily Mail Australia her son was 'furious' when he discovered why Kelly had been arrested.

'As soon as he heard this bloke was arrested over that little Cleo, he blew up, beat him black and blue,' the woman said.

'I tell you what, he (Kelly) got a real hiding... my son had to be taken out in shackles, and he (Kelly) was taken for treatment... he was in a bad way. He is a big bloke but he really copped it'.

A spokesman for the WA Police Force said detectives would not be commenting on the woman's claims, but confirmed the man in custody had been treated in hospital for a range of injuries including some of self-harm.

Kelly was loaded into an ambulance outside the police station yesterday morning and taken to hospital for treatment.

A large white bandage was wrapped around his head.

Terry Kelly, a suspect in the kidnap of Cleo Smith in Western Australia, being taken to hospital

Cleo, four, was found by startled detectives in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a locked house in her hometown of Carnarvon, 18 days after she disappeared from a remote campsite while on holiday with her parents

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch told Sydney's Radio 2GB the alleged kidnapper was returned to hospital on Thursday morning, but his injuries are not serious. .

Detectives used crowbars and battering rams to kick in the door and free Cleo about 12.46am Wednesday from a home just seven minutes away from where she lives with her mum Ellie, stepdad Jake Gliddon and baby sister Isla.

Remarkable bodycam footage captured the moment Cleo was rescued by detectives, with the brave little girl clinging to her savior as she is gently spoken to and told she would soon see her 'mummy'.

Cleo is now back in the arms of her mum Ellie and stepfather Jake (pictured together)

'Four fathers walked into that room they might have been wearing guns and detective suits but they were four fathers,' Mr Blanch said.

Shocked neighbours told Daily Mail Australia they were first alerted to the commotion when police flood lights lit up their cul-de-sac, which is normally bustling with children playing in their front yards and at the park across the road during daylight hours.

'My nephews went up to see what was going on and then they saw cops leading out the little white girl,' a neighbour who has known Kelly for more than a decade said.

He described the accused as a 'loner' who never really made an effort to speak with people in the cul-de-sac, and never brought friends back to his house.

Others woke to the news that Cleo had been rescued, filing into the streets before the sun even rose to watch the scene unfold.

West Australian Police shared an adorable first photo of Cleo since she was rescued, smiling with an ice block in hospital in her Frozen pyjamas. 'The miracle we all hoped for,' they wrote.
The Prime Minister was dragged into a fresh sleaze row last night as he refused to say how much his free holiday in a luxury Spanish villa owned by Zac Goldsmiths family was worth.

Labour demanded the Commons standards watchdog launch investigations into both Boris Johnsons stay and the lavish revamp of his Downing Street flat.

He spent around a week at a property in the hills above Marbella with his wife Carrie and son Wilfred last month following the Conservative Party conference.

Labour demanded the Commons standards watchdog launch investigations into both Boris Johnsons stay and the lavish revamp of his Downing Street flat

In the latest register of ministerial interests, the PM revealed the getaway was funded by Lord Goldsmith, the former MP who he gave a peerage to after he lost his Commons seat.

But unlike with previous holidays, Mr Johnson has not declared it on the separate Commons register of MPs interests, which requires more details including the value of the trip.

Angela Rayner, Labours deputy leader, last night called on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate.

Unlike with previous holidays, Mr Johnson has not declared it on the separate Commons register of MPs interests. (Boris Johnson holidaying in Benahavis)

But Downing Street insisted Mr Johnson had met the transparency requirements as he declared this arrangement in his ministerial capacity, given this was hospitality provided by another minister.

The Prime Ministers spokesman declined to answer when asked how much the holiday was worth, but added: Given the hospitality was provided by another minister, its right that the PM made this declaration in his ministerial capacity.

I also point out that this was a family holiday at the home of longstanding family friends and is unconnected with a PMs parliamentary and political activities. But writing to Commissioner Kathryn Stone, Mrs Rayner said: This appears to be a breach of the House Code of Conduct and the rules relating to the conduct of members regarding the declaration and registration of interests and gifts.

She said under a previous conduct investigation it had been found that Mr Johnson was required to register the holiday accommodation he received in the Register of Members Interests in relation to a 15,000 stay on the island of Mustique.

Lord Goldsmith (right) lost his Richmond Park seat in the 2019 election. He was given a peerage by Mr Johnson so he could remain a junior minister

Mrs Rayner also formally requested that the Commissioner investigate whether the Prime Minister breached Commons rules by failing to declare details of the financing of the lavish refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, which included a loan from Lord Brownlow, a wealthy Tory donor.

In her letter to Miss Stone, Mrs Rayner condemned attempts by Mr Johnson and his ministers to bully you out of your job.

Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Thursday suggested her role was untenable in the wake of the row over Owen Paterson.

Mrs Rayner wrote: I would like to take this opportunity to express my solidarity with you in the face of this entirely unacceptable behaviour.

Angela Rayner, Labours deputy leader, last night called on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate

This behaviour demonstrates that the Prime Minister is clearly attempting to disempower the role of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and even remove you from your post at a time when he is facing a potential investigation by you for breaching the rules yet again.

This situation is deeply concerning for all of us who believe in democracy and basic standards of decency, integrity and honesty in public life.

The Daily Mail understands that the Commissioner will decide whether to investigate the funding of the refurbishment as soon as a separate probe being conducted by the Electoral Commission has been completed.

The commission has handed its initial findings to Tory party chiefs who now have an opportunity to respond.

Lord Goldsmith lost his Richmond Park seat in the 2019 election. He was given a peerage by Mr Johnson so he could remain a junior minister.
Retailers are seeing a rush of early Christmas shoppers amid fears of shortages  with experts forecasting record spending of 85billion.

John Lewis brought forward the launch of its festive advert by one week after seeing an explosion in the number of early Christmas searches on its website.

And Marks & Spencer, which also aired its Christmas advert this week, has already sold out of puddings, large turkeys and Brussels sprouts online.

Meanwhile Currys and Amazon have already launched Black Friday deals offering savings of up to 70 per cent  well ahead of the event usually held on the last Friday of November.

Retailers are seeing a rush of early Christmas shoppers amid fears of shortages  with experts forecasting record spending of 85billion [File photo]

Website VoucherCodes is forecasting record spending of 84.7billion ahead of December 25  which would beat the pre-pandemic figure of 83.13billion in 2019.

The rush comes amid fears that supplies of toys, food and other items will be disrupted by logjams at UK ports and the ongoing HGV driver shortage.

One in eight adults has already started shopping for Christmas presents and food earlier than normal, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Susannah Streeter, an analyst at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: It seems many [families] are desperate to avoid a Scrooge-like celebration this year.

So they are stocking up now, to ensure the table and tree are fully laden with treats.

Currys and Amazon have already launched Black Friday deals offering savings of up to 70 per cent  well ahead of the event usually held on the last Friday of November [File photo]

Oh no, a run on Walkers! Crisp lovers could face shortages of the snack in the run-up to Christmas. Walkers, the countrys biggest producer of crisps, said supply problems caused by an IT fault could lead to a reduced range of flavours. It is prioritising production of its most popular flavours  ready salted, salt and vinegar and cheese and onion  as well as Quavers and Wotsits. A spokesman said: A recent IT system upgrade has disrupted the supply of some of our products. Our sites are still making crisps and snacks but at a reduced scale. Were doing everything we can to increase production. A number of Walkers products have been unavailable on the Tesco website in recent weeks, amid reports of empty shelves in crisp aisles. Advertisement

Brits start their Christmas shopping earlier than ever: One in eight adults say they have ALREADY bought gifts and food that they would usually get closer to festive break

Some 12 percent of the adults surveyed said they bought items earlier

Another three percent said they pre-ordered items they would normally leave

Most common items bought early are food (47 per cent) and toys (44 percent)

By Emer Scully for MailOnline

One in eight adults have shopped for Christmas presents and food earlier than usual this year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In the past fortnight 12 percent of the almost 5,000 adults surveyed said they have bought items they would usually purchase closer to the festive break.

A further three percent said they have pre-ordered items they would usually leave until later.

The most common items bought or pre-ordered early are food (47 per cent), toys (44 percent) and clothes, shoes or accessories (33 percent).

The majority of those polled - 86 percent - said they have not bought or pre-ordered any items earlier than normal.

The ONS analysed responses from 4,397 people between October 20 and 31 as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

In the past fortnight 12 percent of the almost 5,000 adults surveyed said they have bought items they would usually purchase closer to the festive break (file image)

It also found that 43 percent of adults continued to experience shortages when shopping in the past two weeks - down from 53 percent in the previous survey period.

Some 17 percent said they had been unable to buy essential food because it was not available, up from 16 percent, while 18 percent were unable to buy fuel (down from 37 percent).

It also found that 43 percent of adults continued to experience shortages when shopping in the past two weeks - down from 53 percent in the previous survey period (file image)

Around two-thirds (65 percent) said they experienced differences when food shopping compared with normal, such as less variety and items not being available.

Overall, 57 percent of people said everything they needed to buy while shopping had been available, up from 47 percent.

It follows a period of instability for British shoppers as the country faced a fuel and supply chain crisis in recent months.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder over the Halloween stabbing of a 22-year-old man in Reading.

Reece Heffernan, from Tilehurst, has been confirmed as the stabbing victim by police.

A post-mortem concluded the cause of death to be a stab wound to his chest.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) said the 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was arrested on Wednesday evening and subsequently charged with one count of murder, one count of perverting the course of justice and one count of possession of bladed article.

He is due to appear at Reading Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

Reece Heffernan, from Tilehurst, has been confirmed as the stabbing victim by police. Pictured: Police at the crime scene in Reading

Thames Valley Police (TVP) said the 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was arrested on Wednesday evening and subsequently charged with one count of murder, one count of perverting the course of justice and one count of possession of bladed article. Pictured: The crime scene in Reading is guarded by a policewoman

It comes after two men were charged as part of the investigation.

Hamzah Ahmed, 18, of Reading, has been charged with murder, while 23-year-old Umer Arshad, from Wokingham, has been charged with perverting the course of justice.

The force added a 29-year-old man and two 19-year-old men, all from Reading, who were arrested on suspicion of murder have since been released under investigation.

The force added a 29-year-old man and two 19-year-old men, all from Reading, who were arrested on suspicion of murder have since been released under investigation. Pictured: Forensics work at the murder scene in Tilehurst, Reading
Yales director of diversity and inclusion Yaseen Eldik invited 'kinky' diversity trainer Ericka Hart

A law professor who was caught on tape pressuring a Native American student to apologize for 'trap house' party, pushed Yale to host a diversity trainer who reportedly told students anti-Semitism is a form of 'anti-blackness' and that the FBI artificially inflates hate crimes against Jews.

Yales director of diversity and inclusion Yaseen Eldik invited 'kinky' sex education and diversity trainer Ericka Hart to the university after the board 'publicly expressed' it would 'implement implicit bias and antiracism training.'

The Ivy League school had seen its fair share of racial controversies, including Eldik telling a Native American story to apologize for using the term 'trap house' the same day as Hart's presentation.

Hart's training was advertised as 'training which galvanizes audiences to explore their own biases, share in their experience of identity and offer actionable steps on how each individual can integrate a social and racial justice ethic in their own lives for a more equitable and just world.'

Attendants wrote in a review that Hart was asked to provide 'concrete ideas of next steps to promote antiracism and diversity.'

Hart's presentation allegedly dealt with 'pretty privilege' and 'fatphobia.'

When a Yale Law Review journal editor asked her why her presentation dealt with those types of topics instead of anti-Semitism, Hart allegedly replied that she did because she covered anti-blackness and there are some black Jews, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

'She basically said anti-Semitism is a subset of anti-blackness,' the unidentified editor told the Free Beacon said.

'She didn't recognize there could be anti-Semitism against white people.'

A review by journal editors and student attendants confirmed this statement.

When a Yale Law Review journal editor asked her why her presentation dealt with those types of topics instead of anti-Semitism, Hart allegedly replied that she did because she covered anti-blackness and there are some black Jews

Students and editors were also asked to rate her presentation on a scale of one to 10. Hart was rated an average of a one. Only one out of 33 responses rated her a 10, according to the report

Hart's presentation was rated poorly, with 82 per cent of journal editors saying they would not hire her again, even if she changed her presentation to fit their suggestions.

Students and editors were also asked to rate her presentation on a scale of one to 10.

Hart was rated an average of a one. Only one out of 33 responses rated her a 10, according to the report.

Editors described her presentation as 'shocking,' 'upsetting,' and 'offensive,' according to the Washington Free Beacon.

One reviewer wrote: 'I urge you not to invite Ericka Hart again.'

Another wrote: 'I am appalled at her attempt to minimize anti-Semitism in response to one of the questions at the end (suggesting, among other things, that the FBI intentionally distorts statistics to exaggerate hate crimes against Jews.'

Hart's presentation allegedly included examples of 'perfectionism,' 'objectivity,' 'a sense of urgency,' and 'the written word' as examples of white supremacy, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

She allegedly said in order to dismantle white supremacy culture, society needed to abolish prisons, yet imprison former President Donald Trump, as well as opposing capitalism, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

She also reportedly listed things such as 'punctuality' to be a white trait.

One editor disagreed with Hart, writing in review: 'How is it not infantilizing for her to stand up there and say such traits are inherently white. This sort of neoracism is not something we should be promulgating at the journal.'

One reoccurring positive review regarding her presentation was the 'free GrubHub voucher.'

Several reviews from the Yale Law Journal called Hart's presentation 'shocking,' 'upsetting,' and 'offensive'

In the memo sent to all journal editors, the board of the law review said it 'condemns anti-Semitism and all forms of implicit and explicit prejudice,' according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Hart's training was adapted from her two-part webinar - which she hosts with her girlfriend Ebony Donnley - called Racial and Social Justice - which costs $72 per person - where she told attendees that anyone who disagrees with her was likely 'conditioned' to 'dismiss' black people, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which attended the event.

Hart said at her webinar that she benefits from 'pretty privilege' and 'cisgender passing' and 'small fat privilege/thicc,' among others.

Slides obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, showed that Hart said her family derived from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was a nonbinary femme, kinky, white neighborhood survivor, as well as a breast cancer and sexual assault survivor.

She also claimed in his seminar that biology is a 'racist pseudoscience created by white people to further their dominance' and that 'race is a social construct as in there is no biological basis for it.'

The same day of the presentation, Eldik told a Native American to apologize for using anti-black language.

The invitation to the 'trap house' event was deemed triggering by Eldik, who previously worked in the Obama administration's White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership.

Her presentation was based on a two-part webinar she and her girlfriend host. She allegedly told attendees that anyone who disagrees with her was likely 'conditioned' to 'dismiss' black people

The student who sent it has spoken to DailyMail.com on October 13 about his ordeal, but did not wish to be identified over fears for his future career prospects.

He was later identified as Trent Colbert.

His invitation to a September 18 party was sent to members of the elite schools Native American Law Students Association (NALSA).

Sup NALSA, the note said. Hope youre feeling social! This Friday at 7:30, well be christening our very own (soon to be) world-renowned NALSA Trap House by throwing a Constitution Day bash in collaboration with FedSoc.

Planned attractions include Popeyes chicken, basic-b**ch-American-themed snacks (like apple pie), a cocktail station, assorted hard and soft beverages, and (most importantly) the opportunity to attend the NALSA Trap Houses inaugural mixer!

A trap house is a term used to describe a place in a sketchy part of town where illegal drugs are sold.

The party host met on September 16 with Eldik, who pressured the student to apologize to facilitate community healing over the invite after it triggered nine complaints in a matter of hours.

During the meeting, which the student recorded, Eldik said the latter phrase resulted in complaints from several students.

In one paradigm you would think about the word trap through the lens of a crack den or crack house, Eldik said during the recorded meeting.

The racial association with that connotation would be bound up in some of the drug use that has been historically associated with poor black communities in this country.

Eldik added that the offer to serve fried chicken was used to undermine arguments that structural or systemic racism have contributed to health disparities in the US.

But the student who sent the invite insisted he had no such intentions, and merely wanted to highlight one of his favorite snacks, which he planned on serving.

There have been offhanded comments about why black communities tend to be overweight, Eldik said. Theres a lot of racism tied into the using the words fried chicken with trap.

Eldik encouraged the student to apologize for his use of language - and even offered to help draft a letter - but the student was reluctant to do so, saying he'd rather have face-to-face conversations.
Police officers should face random spot checks on their phones to help tackle the 'revolting' online misconduct as shown by Met officer who shared photos of two murdered sisters, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.

Sir Tom Windsor has said that trawls of private and work mobile phones would help deter officers using WhatsApp and other social media channels to share photographs of crime scenes and inappropriate jokes.

He said online misconduct like this also includes misogyny and sexual harassment, racist, sexist and homophobic slurs.

Sir Tom Windsor has said that trawls of private and work mobile phones would help deter officers using WhatsApp and other social media channels to share photographs of crime scenes and inappropriate jokes

He told The Times he supported the idea that staff and police officers are to be checked in the same way they are required to undertake random drug tests.

Home Secretary Priti Patel asked Windsor to examine how police forces were dealing with predators and mysogynistic behaviour.

This comes after PC Wayne Couzens murdered Sarah Everard, exposing errors in vetting practices.

This also raised national concerns surrounding policing culture in the UK.

Windsor's comments follow closely behind this week's admission by Metropolitan Police constables Deniz Jaffer, 48, and Jamie Lewis, 33, after they photo graphed the bodies of two murdered sisters in Wembley, north London.

The pair then shared the picture with colleagues on WhatsApp.

They were warned by the judge that they were 'extremely likely' to be jailed, as their 'repellent' actions towards sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry had violated the public's trust.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that police officers were increasingly misusing social media and spreading racist, homophobic and misogynistic messages.

Another group of officers are now under investigation by the IOPC for doing exactly that on WhatsApp with Couzens, who was found guilty of the abduction, rape and murdered Everard in March.

There is also another Met probationary constable who sent a 'joke' to his colleagues about luring a woman into the woods and killing her, while Everard was missing.

The officer is now facing a misconduct evening.

There has been a stream of officers charged with similar disciplinary offences.

PC Deniz Jaffer, 47, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office after he shared pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

Windsor ovesees the independent inspectors, who complete police force assessments and acknowledged the fact that in Couzen's case and the Wembley sister murders had damaged trust.

He called for a change of policing culture by weeding out police officers who showed a fondness for the exercise of 'power or violence', or 'display racist, homophobic or misogynistic tendencies'.

He was not concerned about privacy implications for these random checks on phones, noting police were held to higher standards than other professions because of their 'extraordinary powers'

'It seems to me that there is no strong case for saying there should not be random checks of their social media. If they put stuff up on Facebook, a public site, it's public,' he said.

'WhatsApp communications are encrypted end to end, but they are still stored on the receiving device and indeed the sending device. So they can be interrogated.

'Let's say rather than put the information on an electronic message, the person in question wrote it down, put it in an envelope and posted it to another person.

'Nobody would seriously assert that the paper correspondence should be confidential in all circumstances.

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman taken from Bibaa's phone in Fryent Country Park in north west London

'The right to privacy of your correspondence, under the Human Rights Convention, is not an absolute right.'

Windsor warned, in the wide-ranging interview, that professional standards units and counter-corruption squads, whose job it is to uncover misconduct by officers and staff, were often staffed by weaker detectives.

Higher standards to become a police officer were also under consideration.

He has been asked by Home Secretary Patel to inspect the vetting and counter-corruption procedures in policing across England and Wales.

He has been asked by Patel to carry out an inspection of vetting and counter-corruption procedures in policing across England and Wales, including forces' ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

The watchdog is separately carrying out an inspection into how forces deal with allegations of police officers as perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Second protest was also staged in St Kilda in relation to climate change inaction

Hundreds of demonstrators have also slammed a proposed state pandemic bill

Scores of protestors are in Melbourne's CBD opposing state vaccine mandates

Thousands of people have gathered outside Melbourne's state library to protest against vaccine mandates and a proposed pandemic bill.

Scores of protesters in the CBD have slammed the yet-to-be approved bill as 'dangerous new legislation.'

The demonstrators marched down Bourke Street to Parliament House on Spring Street just after 12pm, with shouts of 'free Victoria' and 'Sack Dan Andrews'.

Any mentions of the Premier or chief health officer Brett Sutton were met with universal boos from the animated crowd.

A second rally was staged earlier in St Kilda, as part of a climate change action march.

Over 1000 people have gathered outside Melbourne's state library to protest against the state's vaccine mandates and a proposed pandemic bill

Scores of angry protestors in Melbourne's CBD have slammed the proposed pandemic bill as 'dangerous new legislation.'

The new pandemic-specific laws, which are set to replace state-of-emergency powers when they expire on December 15, curtail the chief health officer's powers.

If rubber-stamped, they will give the premier authority to declare a pandemic and the health minister the role of issuing public health orders.

The crowd, which was comprised of children, the young and the elderly, brought the CBD to a standstill.

Face masks were scarce, with some protestors spotted deliberately waving Australian flags held upside down  symbolising the nation is in distress.

Others were clutching Eureka flags and bizarrely, Donald Trump flags.

If the bill is approved, premier Dan Andrews could declare a pandemic (pictured, protestors in the CBD)

Any mention of Premier Andrews or chief health officer Brett Sutton were met with universal boos from the animated crowd (pictured)

In a statement, Victoria Police said they were aware of protest activity planned in the city centre.

'There will be a highly visible police presence to ensure there are no breaches of the peace and the community is safe,' the statement said.

In St Kilda, a towering skeletal koala puppet dubbed Blinky was the focal point of the Extinction Rebellion protest against inaction on climate change.

Earlier on Saturday, a series of skeletons clutching briefcases full of cash cycled from the CBD to St Kilda, publicly expressing the perceived 'failure' of this week's COP26 climate summit in Scotland, according to The Age.
The newly-elected mayor of Boston has doubled down and vowed to press ahead with her plan to remove police from schools - speaking the day after a 61-year-old high school principal was knocked unconscious by a 16-year-old female student.

Michelle Wu, who on Tuesday night became the first woman and first person of color elected as mayor of the city, campaigned on a progressive platform.

On Wednesday afternoon, an unnamed teenage girl was arrested after Patricia Lampron - the principal of Dr. William W. Henderson Upper Campus school - was taken to the hospital to treat a head injury and broken ribs.

Lampron had reportedly asked the girl, at the end of the school day, to leave the grounds and the girl punched her, knocking her out cold for four minutes.

Wu, 36, was asked on Thursday if the attack had made her reconsider her policing policy in schools.

'No,' she replied.

Michelle Wu, the newly-elected mayor of Boston, campaigned on the promise of keeping police out of Boston's schools. She said that Wednesday's attack on Principal Patricia Lampron had not changed that

Patricia Lampron - the principal of Henderson Upper Campus school - was knocked unconscious in an attack at the school on Wednesday. A 16-year-old student has been arrested and charged with assault and battery

She called the attack on Lampron 'an incredibly horrific, tragic situation.'

But she insisted that having police officers in schools was not the answer.

'All throughout the system we need - particularly in this moment coming out of the pandemic when there's been such stress, anxiety, trauma on our families - to be putting more resources into social and emotional supports, into the wraparound services that our schools should be providing,' Wu said on Thursday.

In her campaign manifesto, one of the pillars of her education plan was titled: 'Ending the criminalization of students'.

Wu's campaign manifesto includes the pledge to 'end the criminalization of students'

Wu wrote: 'Metal detectors have been found to negatively impact students' sense of safety at school, while school resource officers (SROs) disproportionately criminalize Black and Latinx students, perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline.

'We must immediately move to dismantle these punitive measures and reinvest in restorative justice practices employed by trusted, adult school community members.

'We must also codify a policy for stronger surveillance oversight and accountability that protects BPS students  including undocumented students  from having sensitive information shared with the BPD or the BRIC.'

A police reform law in 2020 eliminated the requirement of Boston's schools to have police officers inside. Boston police also lost their power to arrest students earlier this year.

Lampron was recovering from Wednesday's attack, and the teenager facing charges.

'This incident is disturbing and completely unacceptable,' Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in a statement.

'We want to be clear: Violence of any kind is not tolerated and will not be tolerated in the Boston Public Schools.'

Police officials said the mother of the teenage girl had also threatened Lampron the night before the incident.

The attack occurred at the Upper Campus of the Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood

Police said an officer assigned to a safety post outside the school campus was altered to a 'very violent attack' taking place at 2:30 p.m., WCVB reported.

When the officer arrived, he found the principal on the ground unconscious, and being tended to by other staff members.

Witnesses to the incident told police that the student told Lampron and other school staff members to stop following her, before she allegedly attacked the principal.

Lampron is reported to have been knocked out for several minutes before she was taken to hospital.

The 61-year-old suffered a head injury and broken ribs, but while her injuries are considered serious, the police said they are not life threatening.

The other staff member who was attacked was reported to be okay despite suffering from some injuries as well.

Two school safety officers had been detaining the student before the officer arrived.

The teenager was taken into custody and will appear in Dorchester Juvenile Court on assault and battery charges.

Police officials said that the investigation over the incident is still ongoing.

Patricia Lampron, pictured celebrating Thanksgiving with family. Her daughter, MaryKate, center, said her family expects a full investigation over the incident

The school was closed on Thursday following the attack, and the district said a crisis team and support staff will be available for students and faculty on Friday

MaryKate Lampron said there was no place for violence in schools following the incident

MaryKate Lampron, the principal's daughter, posted a message on behalf of the family, condemning the alleged assault.

'Today our mother, Patricia Lampron, was violently attacked at school and seriously injured by a student. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance where she is being assessed and treated for her injuries,' she wrote on Facebook.

'Anyone who knows her knows how passionate she is about this school, it's students and the Henderson School community. Our primary concern is her health and safety. She will need time and support to recover from her injuries.

'We expect a full investigation into the circumstances of the assault to assure the safety of all the students, staff and teachers in the Henderson School Community. She wants everyone to know that there is NO place for violence in our schools.'

Cassellius echoed those remarks, 'This violent behavior will not be tolerated,'

'The health, safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority at Boston Public Schools.

'I am personally involved and am ensuring we are taking immediate and swift action.'
A group of former inmates has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Oklahoma County authorities alleging they were 'tortured' by jail officials who made them listen to Baby Shark on repeat.

In the lawsuit, Daniel Hendrick, Joseph Mitchell and John Basco allege that they were taken from their cells at the Oklahoma County Detention Center by two officers, put in a 'standing stress position' with their arms handcuffed behind their backs, and were then forced to listen to the popular children's song on a loop for hours.

The suit called the conduct 'tantamount to torture,' and said the two police officers involved, Christian Charles Miles and Gregory Cornell Butler Jr., were 'wanton, depraved and sadistic.'

It compared the conduct to the heavy metal music played at Guantanamo Bay 'as an "enhanced interrogation" technique to weaken Iraqi captives' resolve, and cited academic studies as to why the Baby Shark song by Pinkfong, which went viral in 2019, is particularly irritating, CBS News reported.

The civil rights lawsuit names Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, county commissioners and the jail trust, as well as Miles and Butler, as defendants.

Former inmates at the Oklahoma County Detention Center (pictured) have filed a civil rights lawsuit against county officials and former officers

They claim they were taken from their cells, forced to stand with their arms handcuffed behind their back, as the song Baby Shark played on a loop for hours

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the since-released inmates claimed that they 'posed no threat to the officers or anyone else,' were 'compliant,' and were 'not actively resisting any lawful command' when they were forced to listen to the music in November and December 2019.

The lawyers argue that the 'prolonged restraint ... under the conditions described herein, is tantamount to torture, was excessive and not rationally related to any legitimate governmental or penological purpose.'

They also added that a fourth former detainee who signed onto the lawsuit, Ja'Lee Foreman Jr., was spared from the looping music when the officers allegedly got distracted by another incident at the jail.

But, the lawsuit claims, Foreman was instead subjected to unwarranted verbal and physical assault.

It says that on November 2, 2019, officers 'accosted' Foreman, who was only 18 at the time and 'small in stature,' 'without provocation,' the Washington Post reports.

It alleges that Miles taunted and yelled obscenities at Foreman, and threatened to beat him saying: 'I'm going to make sure you live in hell.'

Still, the lawsuit claims, Foreman managed to remain calm out of fear that the verbal assault would become physical.

At that point, the lawsuit allege, officers handcuffed Foreman and took him out f his cell and into another area of the jail where they sat him on a bench and secured him to a bar behind his back for over an hour and a half.

'After removing the handcuffs, Officer Miles, in the presence of Officer Butler, drove his knee into Mr. Foreman's back as he slammed into the wall of his cell,' the lawsuit alleges.

'As Mr. Foreman turned around, Officer Miles then spit into Mr. Foreman's face. Both Officer Miles and Officer Butler laughed at Mr. Foreman as they left the cell pod.'

The suit further claims: 'This history of mistreatment was well known to supervisors at the Jail, but no action was taken to stop the conduct and no reasonable measures were taken to alleviate the risk of harm to detainees like Plaintiffs.'

It claims these actions were 'open, obvious and repeated. Yet, no one from' Oklahoma County, the sheriff's office and the criminal justice authority 'stepped into take remedial action.

'This exemplifies a systemic and deep-seated failure to train and supervise, with respect to the most basic aspects of correctional operations and constitutional conditions of confinement.'

Not addressing those issues, they added, made them 'deliberately indifferent to citizens' health and safety.'

The former detainees are seeking $75,000 in retribution, according to KFOR.

The popular children's song went viral in 2019

The lawsuit comes one year after Miles and Butler were charged with four misdemeanor counts of cruelty to prisoners, corporal punishment to an inmate and conspiracy.

The officers' supervisor, Raymond Hendershott, was also charged for allegedly turning a blind eye to the behavior, after he reportedly ignored 20 hand written inmate complaints.

'It was unfortunate that I could not find a felony statute to fit this fact scenario,' District Attorney David Prater said at the time. 'I would have preferred filing a felony on this behavior.'

According to an affidavit filed in the case, Miles admitted to working with Butler to 'teach [the inmates] a lesson because they felt that disciplinary action within the Detention Center was not working in correcting' their behavior.

The song was reported to be a joke between the two and Butler confirmed he had used the room 'as a means of punishment'.

Miles and Butler resigned amid an internal investigation into the behavior, and Hendershott retired.

A trial is now scheduled for February.
A desperate search is underway for a missing swimmer after they were mauled by a large shark in Western Australia.

Emergency crews were rushed to Port Beach in Perths North Fremantle at 10.10am local time on Saturday after reports a 57-year-old man was attacked by a shark.

Water police are coordinating a marine search for the victim who is believed to have been attacked 30m offshore.

Water police are currently coordinating a marine search for the victim, who is understood to have been attacked 30m offshore

A St John Ambulance spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia paramedics are still at the beach on standby.

A witness told The West Australian a teenager in a dinghy saw the swimmer attacked and raised the alarm.

'I've actually gone out to meet him at his boat to get more of an account of what's just going on. He said ''someone's been done, they've taken most of him''.

'That kid deserves a shout out, he was an avid little boatie, got everyone out.'

Kaiden Boult, 16, was surfing with his friends when the teenage boy also alerted them to get out of the water.

He and his friends quickly hopped out onto nearby rocks to get a higher viewpoint and saw a 'massive shark' in the water.

'At first we thought the dude was okay. But police are now saying that he's not. There's a big search going on so someone has been taken,' he said

A search and rescue is underway to located a missing 57-year-old swimmer who was mauled by a shark in North Fremantle on Saturday

Local councils have closed Port Beach and all beaches from Leighton Dog beach to Sand Tracks beach

The attack happened at 10am (local time) at Port Beach, 16km south west of the centre of Perth

Police and lifesavers are searching for the victim the water

Carolyn Cutri witnessed a woman hysterically sprinting along the beach when she arrived for a walk.

Ms Cutri said she noticed a police and ambulance services in the car park before she saw a woman dash to the beach.

'And then there was a lady frantically on the beach searching, calling out, and she ran up to the police,' she added.

Local councils have closed Port Beach and all beaches from Leighton Dog beach to Sand Tracks beach.

The state's Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has urged residents to take additional caution in the Port Beach area.
A disabilities rights activist has died from complications of an infected ulcer three months after United Airlines allegedly destroyed her custom-made wheelchair and provided her with a replacement that did not properly support her body.

Engracia Figueroa, 51, died on Sunday from complications from an infected ulcer, two weeks after she was admitted to an ICU for the second time since her wheelchair was reportedly destroyed onboard a United Airlines flight.

She had been hit by a Bay Area Rapid Transit train 30 years ago that left her with a spinal cord injury and an amputated left leg, and had a wheelchair built specifically to support her body, which she considered an 'extension' of herself.

But the wheelchair was reportedly destroyed in the cargo hold of a flight from Washington DC to her hometown of Los Angeles back in August, and she was forced to use a replacement that did not properly support her, resulting in a pressure sore and acute pain.

Soon, Hand in Hand, a nationwide network advocating for dignified working conditions that Figueroa was involved in, says Figueroa began to experience further pain, muscle spasms, a severe edema and finally an infected ulcer that spread to her bones and tissue and that ultimately led to her death.

Engracia Figueroa, 51, was hit by a Bay Area Rapid Transit train 30 years ago that left her with a spinal cord injury and an amputated left leg. She had a custom wheelchair built specifically to support her body

The disabilities rights activist's wheelchair was reportedly destroyed in the cargo hold of a flight from DC to her hometown of Los Angeles back in August, and she was forced to use a replacement that did not properly support her, resulting in a pressure sore and acute pain

Figueroa had been active with the Long Term Care and Support Services for All Coalition, and was the president of the Board of Communities Actively Living Independent and Free, an independent living center in Los Angeles.

She was representing Hand in Hand in Washington DC in July at the Care Can't Wait rally and Communities of Care art installation to urge Congress to invest in the home health care system.

When she returned home to Los Angeles in early August, she discovered that United Airlines had damaged her wheelchair while it was in the cargo hold.

'I was heartbroken,' she told ABC 7 after she discovered her chair 'completely contorted.'

'I just thought, all of the independence that I fought and strived for and successfully survived for soon to be 30 years by the minutes, it's stripped away, and I was completely disabled and traumatized as well as hurt and exhausted.'

She was forced to wait five hours in the airport, Hand in Hand said, and was provided with a replacement wheelchair that was 'broken,' and did not properly support her.

'Her struggle to maintain her balance over that length of time in the faulty device led to the development of a pressure sore,' Hand in Hand alleges.

'When she was finally able to return home,' it said, 'she experienced acute pain and was admitted to the hospital shortly after.'

United had agreed to fully replace her wheelchair, which was valued at $30,000, under the Air Carrier Access Act, ABC 7 reported, saying at the time it was 'working to fix the wheelchair as quickly as possible.'

But in the months that it took to replace the custom wheelchair, Hand in Hand said, 'Engracia was forced to use a loaner chair that was not properly fitted to Engracia's body.

'This further exacerbated her pressure sore and caused muscle spasms, severe edema, and an inability to eat, as well as two additional hospitalizations.

'The sore became infected, and the infection eventually reached her hip, requiring emergency surgery to remove the infected bone and tissues.'

Figueroa died of complications from that infection, according to Hand in Hand, saying it 'should never have happened.'

Figueroa considered her wheelchair an 'extension' of herself

United had agreed to fully replace her wheelchair, which was valued at $30,000, under the Air Carrier Access Act, ABC 7 reported, saying at the time it was 'working to fix the wheelchair as quickly as possible'

'While we are reeling from the layers of injustice this tragedy makes visible, we are holding Engracia's tenacity and resolve as our guidepost.'

The national organization is now petitioning United Airlines to 'end the damage of wheelchairs and assistive devices on its flights and create an accessible process for people with disabilities to travel safely, with dignity.'

According to figures from the US Department of Transportation, airlines on average mishandle about 10,500 mobility devices annually - or nearly 30 each day.

For Figueroa, in fact, the incident had been the fourth time her wheelchair had been damaged in-flight.

She blamed the damage on a lack of training on how to break down and load the devices.

'There is no regard or respect of the extension of the human that's in the plane,' Figueroa said. 'When they see a mobility device, they should respect it as if it is a person, because that's what it is - an extension of their person. And we're trusting them with the rest of our body.'

In a statement to the Independent, a United spokesperson said: 'We were saddened to hear about Ms. Figueroa's passing, and we offer our condolences to her family and friends.
Skeletal remains found in Colorados Rocky Mountain National Park are believed to be those of a 27-year-old man from West Germany who disappeared during a multi-day mountaineering trip nearly 40 years ago, park officials said.

Rudi Moder, an experienced winter mountaineer who was living in Fort Collins, Colorado, started his excursion over Thunder Pass and into the park February 13, 1983.

His roommate reported him overdue February 19, 1983.

Searchers started looking for Moder the following day, but more than a foot of fresh snow prevented them from immediately finding tracks or other clues.

Rudi Moder's skeletal remains were found after 38 years. The search for Moder began on February 20, 1983, but had to be called off due over a foot of snow (pictured: the search team in 1983)

His body was found near Skelton Gulch in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Rangers found some of his belonging near Thunder Pass, where he entered the park in 1983

The only major clues found during the four-day search were a food cache belonging to Moder that was discovered at the mouth of a canyon in the northwest corner of the park and a nearby snow cave with Moders sleeping bag and other gear and items inside.

The search included teams on skis and snowshoes, a dog trained to find people in avalanche debris and a helicopter. Additional searches were conducted that spring and into the summer.

In August 2020, a hiker found human remains near avalanche debris in the Skeleton Gulch area.

His body was found in the Colorado Rocky Mountain National Park in 2020, but search teams could not investigate due to ongoing wildfires

Park officials say a thorough investigation could not be completed at the time because they had to shift priorities to fighting two massive wildfires. Snow then blanketed the area above 11,000 feet.

This summer, park rangers returned to the area and found skis, poles, boots and other personal items believed to have belonged to Moder. The FBI Evidence Response Team assisted park rangers with remains they recovered.

The Grand County Coroners Office tried to confirm the identity of the remains through dental records, but the results were inconclusive.

Search teams braved the weather in 1983 (pictured). They found his food cache and sleeping bag near the entrance of the park

They found his remains near avalanche debris on Thursday after almost four decades of looking for him (pictured: the mountains in 1983)

Still, park officials say they consider the case closed and are working with the German government to repatriate the remains.

'Officials have worked extensively with the German government for repatriation, family notification and dental record analysis,' the park's statement said.

His immediate family is reported in Western Germany.

East Germany and West Germany were reunited as of October 3, 1990.
The street where little Cleo Smith was allegedly held captive by a doll-obsessed loner for 18 gruelling days was the site of one of Carnarvon's most violent riots exactly a year before her disappearance.

Both Carnarvon council and police records show a major riot broke out in and around Tonkin Crescent, home to her 36-year-old accused kidnapper Terence Kelly, late Friday night on October 16, 2020.

That date is exactly one year to the day before Cleo Smith was snatched from her tent at the Quobba Blowholes and allegedly held captive at Kelly's duplex home.

The street - nicknamed 'Toxic Crescent' in the coastal town - was the centre of violent riots which left several officers injured, residents told Daily Mail Australia.

Last year's riots re-emerged as a large team of forensic officers scoured Kelly's home on Saturday afternoon, with dozens of dolls believed to be among the piles of evidence seen being removed from the derelict property.

Terence Kelly's duplex in Carnarvon, Western Australia, was swarming with forensic police on Saturday

Bags of evidence were removed, believed to contain contain Kelly's beloved Bratz dolls

Kelly, 36, allegedly held four-year-old Cleo Smith inside the derelict home for 18 days after she was taken from her family's tent

Police officers bundle evidence wrapped in white plastic into a trailer after combing the property on Saturday

Cleo Smith, four, was found alive and well, 18 days after she vanished from her family's tent at the remote Blowholes campsite in north-west Western Australia

Forensic officers - who also were seen inspecting a bedframe and holding a box filled with coloured pens - may take as long as two months to fully search the home, The Sunday Times reported.

Locals claimed the riots last year led to 'many arrests' and ultimately saw police withdrawing from the site for their own safety.

One Carnarvon resident, who asked not to be named, said the riot was 'a big deal' at the time amid concern the the area was becoming a hub for drugs, alcohol and violence.

In the days following the riots, local Senior Sergeant Jayd Morawski addressed Carnarvon council and described chaotic scenes as large groups - fuelled by excessive alcohol use - attacked police officers.

He said the worst hit areas were Shallcross Street, Crossland Street/Hubble Street and Mills and Tonkin Crescent - the latter being where Cleo was miraculously found alive early on Wednesday following her 18-day ordeal.

Crisis talks were then held between local police and councillors about the town's drug and alcohol problems and how to solve them 'immediately'.

According to council meeting notes, local Nationals member Vince Catania said he would raise the issue at an upcoming parliament sitting.

A year on and Catania said this week that Kelly's neighbourhood - a housing commission precinct - had been left to fall into 'rack and ruin' and that little had improved since the violent incident a year ago.

Littered with broken glass and rubbish, the street and neighbouring David Brand Drive is also nicknamed by Carnarvon locals as 'ground zero' and was dubbed 'scorched earth' by some of the media covering Cleo's abduction.

Small children can often be seen wandering the area alone, with dog attacks and break-ins 'common' according to residents.

One business owner, who has resided in the area for seven years, said Cleo's abduction came at a time when the town was slipping down a slope of 'rampant' crime and social disturbance.

Residents claim the area has become a hub for drugs, alcohol and violence. Police officers are pictured at Kelly's home on Saturday

Forensic officers were seen in the backyard of Kelly's property on Saturday as they searched through piles of evidence

Neighbours claim riots on his street led to 'many arrests' and ultimately saw police withdrawing from the site for their own safety

Police records confirm the street was the site was one of Carnarvon's most violent riots exactly a year before her disappearance

Terence Kelly is now on remand in Casuarina, which is widely regarded as the toughest prison in Western Australia

'We left Carnarvon and got stuck in Thailand due to Covid but when we returned we were shocked at how bad things had become,' said shop-owner Denam French who described the area around Kelly's Tonkin Crescent home as a 'well-known no-go area'.

'It's an area that even taxis stopped driving to some time ago,' he said.

'You just don't drive anywhere near there.

'If you do you can have your car pelted with rocks or bottles.

'It's just a part of town that is generally avoided.'

Forensic experts will remain at Kelly's duplex home for several more days as they search for evidence that can be used against him before his next court appearance in December.

A police officer in full protective gear is seen at the Carnarvon home where Cleo was found

The large team of experts are believed to have been brought in from Perth and Carnarvon's surrounding areas earlier in the week.

Tonkin Crescent's dark history was revealed as it emerged detectives used mobile data to track down Cleo's alleged abductor.

Sources close to the investigation claim the mobile phone data was crucial in helping police to identify Kelly as a prime suspect.

'His phone was allegedly in the area as part of the data collection,' a source told The West Australian. 'That is part of the information that led the taskforce to him.'

There are at least three new mobile base stations located not far from the remote campsite where Cleo vanished from at Quobba Point, 73km north of Carnarvon, on October 16.

Telecommunication providers then gave police a list of phone numbers that had been used in the area during the times of interest.

A forensic team is pictured standing in front of a Mazda vehicle outside the rundown home

Detective superintendent Rod Wilde said the data was then layered with other information before Kelly became a person of interest.

'So we put the phone data over numberplate-recognition data, CCTV, witness accounts, forensics... And when you layer them on top of each other you solve crimes and that is merely what we have done here.'

Police tailed Kelly in an unmarked police car at 11.24pm on Tuesday - just hours before they raided his housing commission home at Carnarvon at 1am on Wednesday.

Detective senior sergeant Cameron Blaine said officers had been waiting for Kelly to 'go mobile and leave the premises'.

'It was clear in my head what had to occur so it was: 'OK, let's do that'.'

Dashcam footage from a passing taxi captured the moment Kelly was pulled over by the unmarked police vehicle as he drove down Robinson Street.

Police tailed Kelly in an unmarked car at 11.24pm on Tuesday - just hours before they raided his housing commission home at Carnarvon at 1am on Wednesday

A second unmarked police vehicle pulls up in front of the parked car to prevent any chance of escape.

A bystander recalled watching police then pin Kelly to the ground before arresting him.

'We saw one of the detectives on top of the guy pinning him down on the curb ... you know really vigorously,' they said.

With their prime suspect now in handcuffs, detectives made the decision to search his housing commission home at 12.46am on Wednesday.

Detectives then found Cleo playing with toys in one of the rooms which had been locked.

'I just saw a little girl sitting there and didn't think about anything else than picking her up,' Detective senior constable Kurt Ford said.

It will be a day WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson will never forget as he recalled new details of the rescue to the state's 7,200 officers in internal weekly publication From The Line.

Cleo Smith was pictured in her mum Ellie's arms outside her Carnarvon home on Thursday, 24 hours after her incredible rescue

Stepfather Jake Gliddon (pictured on Thursday), Cleo and Ellie spent their first night together sleeping in the same room as the four-year-old who they didn't want to let out of their sights

'It was a day that will go down in history as one of the greatest triumphs for WA Police Force. For many officers, it will be the greatest day of their careers,' Commissioner Dawson said.

'My heart has been bursting with pride since I first received a phone call from Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch advising of Cleo's rescue shortly before 1am.

'Today, I want that pride to fill the hearts of all employees of this great agency.'

The commissioner met Cleo along with her mum Ellie Smith, stepfather Jake Gliddon and her grandparents at the family home just hours after the little girl was rescued.

'As Cleo and her mum were exchanging kisses and hugs she fell asleep in Ellie's arms,' he recalled.

'None of us will forget that day. It's why we join the police force.

'From the bottom of my heart - which is so very swollen with pride - thank you to all... Enjoy this moment in history and let it carry you forward in service of our community.'

He also sent an photo of Cleo smiling and waving in hospital to WA Premier Mark McGowan, who described the little girl as well adjusted, sweet and delightful during his visit to the family home on Thursday.

Cleo Smith was found in a bedroom of Kelly's home by detectives who used mobile data to track down her alleged abductor

Commissioner Dawson also recalled the heart-melting moment he first heard the audio of the little girl's rescue and the first words she uttered, telling officers: 'My name is Cleo'.

'In policing, we frequently see the worst of society and the circumstances surrounding Cleo's abduction certainly fit that bill,' he said.

'But on occasion...we also have the great privilege of having a front row seat to witness the very best of humanity and the rescue of Cleo is one of those moments.

'It should be treasured.'

Meanwhile, Cleo's parents are under strict instructions by police not to discuss the four-year-old's 18-day nightmare with her.

Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine revealed on Thursday that discussing the details of what happened could jeopardise the prosecution's case by diluting the accuracy of her information.

Kelly, who is not known to the family but lives just minutes away, was charged with multiple offences on Thursday night, including Cleo's kidnapping.

A beaming Cleo is seen from her hospital bed after she was rescued by police on Wednesday

He appeared in Carnarvon Magistrate's Court on Thursday afternoon, where he was formally refused bail.

Police have warned Cleo's parents to wait until specialist child abuse detectives formally interview the four-year-old before talking about the traumatic events with her.

'This is still a matter that needs to go before the courts, there's certain aspects of what we saw that is going to be evidence, and I don't want to say anything that's going to prejudice that,' Senior Sergeant Blaine, who was one of the four detectives that rescued Cleo from the locked house said.

'It's not always the case that people understand that, but we want to see a successful prosecution at the end of the day for the people who are responsible.

'We've given them advice around that, and that must be incredibly hard for them, so we appreciate their assistance and cooperation with that.'

He said the family have been 'cooperative and understanding' all the way through the hellish ordeal as police worked tirelessly to track down Cleo's alleged abductor.

'They understand where we are going with the investigation and what remains to be done,' Senior Sergeant Blaine said.

Terry Kelly, 36, was taken away from Carnarvon police station, in Western Australia, after sustaining head injuries

'Our family liaison officer is going back out there now to speak to them and talk them through the next steps.'

A heart-warming audio clip of the moment detectives first found Cleo alone in a room playing with toys was heard for the first time on Thursday.

Sergeant Blaine can be heard asking the little girl 'what is your name?' three times before she finally falteringly replied: 'M-my name is Cleo.'

He said police have tried to share as much information they can with the parents but at this stage investigators are still piecing all the details together themselves.

CLEO DISAPPEARANCE TIMELINE By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia Friday, October 15 Cleo along with her mother Ellie Smith, her partner Jake Gliddon and her little sister Isla Mae arrive at the Blowholes campsite around 6:30pm. They had a 'quiet' night and arrived at sunset. Saturday, October 16 1:30am: Parents' last sighting of Cleo in the tent she shared with her parents and baby sister when the four-year-old asks for some water. 6.23am: Ellie calls 000 to report her eldest daughter missing as she continues to search the camp ground. 6.30am: The first two officers are dispatched from Carnarvon police station. They travel to Blowholes as a matter of priority, with sirens and lights. 6.41am: A second police car with another two officers is sent to Blowholes, also with lights and sirens. 7.10am: The first police car arrives. The second is only minutes behind. 7.26am: Police on the scene establish a protected forensic area which is taped off to the public, surrounding the family tent where Cleo was last seen. 7.33am: A drone operator is called upon to search from the skies. 7.44am: A third police car is dispatched to the Blowholes. 8am: Family and friends of Cleo's parents begin to arrive to help with the ground search. Another group of detectives briefly searches Cleo's home to make sure she's not there. They then head to Blowholes and begin stopping cars coming into and leaving the area. 8.09am: A helicopter from a local company arrived at the scene and started searching as police request an SES team attend the Blowholes search. 8.24am: Police air-wing and volunteer marine searchers are called in to assist with the search. 8.34am: Roadblocks are set up at the entrance of Blowholes as detectives gather the names, registration details and addresses of people coming and going. Police search cars. 9.25am: Nine SES personel arrive at the Blowholes to assist with the search. Investigators, bounty hunters and officers from the Australian Federal Police have spent two-and-a-half weeks searching for missing four-year-old Cleo (pictured) 9.30am: Detectives sit down with a distressed Ellie and remain by her side for the rest of the day while other search crews hunt for Cleo. 11am: Homicide detectives from the Major Crime Division are called and begin travelling from Perth to assist with the search. 1pm: More homicide detectives and search experts are flown in from Perth. 3pm: Officers and search experts arrive in Carnarvon to offer their expertise. Sunday, October 17 Ms Smith takes to social media to plead for help finding her missing daughter. A Facebook post uploaded at 1:45am on Sunday which said: 'It's been over 24 hours since I last seen the sparkle in my little girl's eyes. 'Please help me find her! 'If you hear or see anything at all please call the police!' Police suggest Cleo may have been abducted. Monday, October 18 Police release an image of the red and grey sleeping bag missing from Cleo's tent. Cleo's biological father is interviewed by police in Mandurah and is asked to provide a statement, which he does so willingly. WA Police with the help of SES members, volunteers and aircraft continue the land hunt for Cleo, with officers searching nearby shacks and vehicles in the area. Tuesday, October 19 Cleo's mother Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon front the media for the first time and describe the terrifying moment they realised the little girl was missing. Ms Smith says her four-year-old would never have left the tent by herself. Police release new images of Cleo and the pink and blue one-piece she was wearing the night she went missing to aid the investigation. Investigators urge anyone who was at the campsite or in the vicinity on October 15 to get in contact with police. Wednesday, October 20 Police reveal the zip of the family tent, which was found hanging wide open by her mother at 6am on Saturday morning, was too high for Cleo to reach. Officers say they 'haven't ruled out' reports from campers who heard the sound of screeching tyres in the early hours of Saturday morning. Deputy Police Commissioner Daryl Gaunt confirms officers are investigating the whereabouts of 20 registered sex offenders in the Carnarvon area. Thursday, October 21 The WA Government offers a $1million reward for information that leads to Cleo's location announced by WA Premier Mark McGowan. 'All Western Australians' thoughts are with Cleo's family during what is an unimaginably difficult time,' Mr McGowan said. 'We're all praying for a positive outcome.' The speed of the reward being issued - within days of her disappearance - was unprecedented. Pictured: Police are seen examining rubbish left near the Blowholes campsite in remote WA Monday, October 25 WA Police confirm Cleo was definitely at the camp site - on CCTV footage on a camera installed inside a beach shack just 20 metres from the family tent she disappeared from. Tuesday, October 26 Forensic officers and detectives spent much of the day at her home in Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, on Tuesday and left with two bags of evidence. Although investigators had been to the home before, this was the first time they thoroughly searched inside with a forensics team. Acting WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the search of the family home was 'standard practice' and did not indicate they were suspects in Cleo's disappearance. Wednesday, October 27 WA Police forensics officers return to the Blowholes campground and are seen collecting soil samples from a number of campfires near shacks in the area. The federal government announce Australian Federal Police officers had been drafted in to support forensic and intelligence efforts. Friday, October 29 Police return to the Blowholes camp to analyse the area with drones. Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde returns to the Blowholes campsite to join the search for Cleo as the search hit the two-week mark. He confirms national and international agencies are engaged in the search for Cleo. Sunday, October 31 Detectives go door-knocking at a number of homes along the North West Coastal Highway in the North Plantations, 5km from Cleo's hometown on Sunday. Monday, November 1 Detectives sort through mounds of rubbish from roadside bins located hundreds of kilometres away from the campsite she vanished from. The material was transported to Perth, where forensic officers and recruits sorted through hundreds of bags in search of items that may have helped them find Cleo. Officers issue a plea for dash cam and CCTV footage from within a 1000km radius of where the four-year-old disappeared. Police renew an appeal for more businesses in Carnarvon to provide footage and go door to door in an industrial area on the outskirts of the town. Her elated mother, Ellie, (pictured, with Cleo, her partner and younger daughter) broke her silence the morning Cleo was found, sharing a series of love heart emojis on Instagram Wednesday, November 3 After two-and-a-half weeks of searching Cleo Smith is found alive and well in the early hours of November 3. WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed just before 7am AEST that little Cleo is alive and well and had been reunited with her relieved parents. 'One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her 'what's your name?' he said. 'She said: 'My name is Cleo'.' Ellie Smith posted to social media: 'Our family is whole again'. A Carnarvon man is currently in custody and being questioned by detectives. On October 19, Ellie Smith (pictured) and her partner Jake Gliddon fronted the media for the first time and begged the public to report any information 'big or small' Advertisement

'We share with them what information we can. They know what they need to know,' Senior Sergeant Blaine said.

'Obviously it's still a time where we're exploring all the facts. We're getting information from, still, a number of different sources. Some of that information is completely wrong.

'So we're careful about what information we share with people, we want to make sure we're 100 per cent sure of the facts.'
Question Time panellist Nazir Afzal today backed Fiona Bruce, saying he had 'no criticism' of the host after accusing her during the show of asking him first about the cricket racism row because he is a 'brown person'. The BBC programme has become embroiled in an 'unconscious racism' row after Bruce asked Mr Afzal, the only non-white member of the panel, to be the first person to answer an audience member's query about racism. During the show, Mr Afzal agreed with Bruce that he thought she was 'wrong' to go to him first. But reacting this morning after the incident prompted huge debate online, Mr Afzal tweeted: 'I have no criticism of Fiona Bruce. I made point that racism is something which everyone should have a view on, not just minorities. If the subject was say child or domestic abuse, you wouldn't just ask the victim. It's everybody's business.' The question, which was partly about recent allegations of racist abuse made by cricketer Azeem Rafiq, was asked last night to a panel made up of former crown prosecutor Mr Afzal; white psychologist Jordan Peterson; and three white MPs - Mims Davies from the Conservatives, Stella Creasy of Labour and Stephen Flynn from the SNP. Bruce then immediately turned to Mr Afzal and asked him to answer, prompting him to say: 'The brown person will answer first'. As he made the comment he turned to the audience and laughed, which saw some chuckle with him. The presenter then asked him: 'Nazir, so do you think that was wrong of me to come to you first?' Mr Afzal replied: 'I think so' and attempted to continue answering the question while pointing towards the audience. But Bruce then added: 'Well let's not do it. I'm not being sarcastic at all. I mean if that's how you feel, I respect that.' Mr Afzal then stopped speaking and sat silently, while Bruce went to Mr Peterson to hear from him instead.
The British former public school boy who says he was kidnapped in Italy last month was close with his captors, one of the alleged kidnappers has claimed.

Video footage shows Sam Demilecamps, 25, cooking meals for the people accused of kidnapping him in Monte San Giusto last month, their lawyer insisted in the latest move to cast doubt on his story.

Attorney Vando Scheggia said Mr Demilecamps was only kept locked up by the group  Rubens Beliga Gnaga, 18, Ahmed Rajraji, 21, Dona Conte, 22, and his girlfriend, Aurora Carpani, 20  so he could pay off his debts.

Clips from his and the alleged kidnappers' social media show the group enjoying sunsets, clubs and waterfalls together shortly before he said he was abducted.

Mr Demilecamps, who went to 36,000-a-year Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire, was found by police tied to a ladder on October 13.

Sam Demilecamps, 25, said he was held captive for eight days in Monte San Giusto, central Italy, by a gang who, he claimed, beat and tortured him, and fed him 'leftovers like a dog'

Clips from his and the alleged kidnappers' social media show the group enjoying sunsets, clubs and waterfalls together shortly before he said he was abducted

Aurora Carpani, 20, is one of the group of four arrested over the kidnapping of the Briton

He told investigators he had been kidnapped and held for ransom for eight days, forced to live off scraps of food 'like a dog'.

His alleged ordeal came to light when he sent a desperate text message to his father, who alerted the authorities.

'I owe money to very dangerous people,' the message said. 'This is matter of life and death  if I don't get 7,000 euros (6,000) I'm dead tomorrow.'

Friends received equally desperate messages and also raised the alarm. Italian law enforcement, working in conjunction with the National Crime Agency (NCA), traced the phone signal to the flat.

Three young men and a woman appeared in court on charges of 'kidnapping for the purpose of extortion'.

But Mr Scheggia, who represents Mr Rajraji one of the alleged kidnappers, told the Daily Mirror: 'If this was a real kidnap they could have taken him in June and asked for 600,000.

'Yes, Mr Demilecamps was held against his will. But they treated him well. He said they made him eat scraps like a dog but he cooked for them.

'During the five to six days he was in the house he managed to get friends to send 1,500. When he realised he wasn't going to get more, he thought he could escape. They put handcuffs on him.'

Sam Demilecamps when police broke-in to the apartment. Mr Demilecamps, 25, was found malnourished and chained to a stepladder after he phoned his estranged father saying he needed 6,000

The lawyer claimed Mr Demilecamps spent from June to August with the alleged kidnappers, visiting night clubs and restaurants in the area.

Mr Demilecamps had been in Italy since June, visiting Naples, Sorrento, Bologna and Florence, before arriving on the Adriatic coast in July, where he is said to have met the four.

He said he was abducted from a park in Florence, where he had been staying in a hostel, bundled into a vehicle and driven more than 200 miles south to Monte San Giusto.

In a statement to a judge, Mr Demilecamps said: 'My captors had seen me spending lavishly.

'They kicked and punched me, used a taser and pepper spray, then dragged me into a car and gave me tranquillisers.

'They drove me to Monte San Giusto. I was held underwater in a bath and beaten.'

The alleged kidnappers are now under house arrest, which could continue for up to four months when, by law, it has to be either lifted or extended.

New judges could downgrade the charges. If Mr Demilecamps gave false information to the police, he could also be summoned to stand trial.

If, on the other hand, the charges stand, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion carries a sentence of up to 30 years in jail.
A child rapist wants the taxpayer to pay for the therapy he needs after being sexually abused and assaulted by a sadistic sex offender during his time in jail.

The paedophile, 21, was forced to perform oral sex on serial rapist Troy Allan Burley as he was repeatedly abused by the notorious criminal over three months at Wolston Correctional Centre near Brisbane in 2018.

One rape occurred while Burley was watching Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding.

The victim, who has not been identified for legal reasons and since been released from prison, was himself convicted of raping a child.

The abused inmate has filed for compensation in the Brisbane District Court claiming he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder following his ordeal and has panic attacks when he sees 'bald heads'.

Troy Allan Burley (pictured) was convicted of raping a child rapist inmate behind bars. The victim wants the taxpayer to compensate him for the therapy he needs after being sexually abused

The prolonged abuse left the young inmate traumatised and feeling like a 'sex object'. He suffered panic attacks when seeing men with bald heads afterwards. Burley was convicted in 2019 over the attacks and had seven years added to his sentence

A court previously heard the prolonged abuse left the young inmate traumatised and humiliated while feeling like a 'sex object'.

The statement of claims says Burley bit his nipples, toes, arms and legs during the sexual assaults.

His lawyers have not specified the amount they want the taxpayer to pay.

The man's psychiatrist said though some would go to pay for therapy and that the state is liable because prison officials failed to stop the rapes.

Court documents say the victim alleges he reported the abuse to the Wolston prison unit supervisor but that the staff member took no action.

Brisbane Psychiatrist Malcolm Foxcroft said the man suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder and an eating disorder.

He said he believes the man will need $8,640 worth of supportive psychotherapy and cognitive and dialectic behavioural therapy over 18 months.

Mr Foxcroft said the man would likely be unable to hold down a full-time job for at least five years.

His compensation claim named inmates as potential witnesses, including an ex-Queensland ambulance officer serving a 13-year sentence for sexually abusing 22 young girls.

The repeated sexual assaults happened at Queensland's Wolston Correctional Centre in 2018

Burley, 41, has spent most of his adult life in jail and was at the time serving a sentence for knifepoint sexual attacks on four women at railway stations in 1997.

During that trial Judge Rosengren heard Burley attacked his victims from behind, covered their faces and taunted them about hurting their children.

Burley sobbed in court during the 2019 trial over the rapes of the paedophile.

He was convicted of three counts of rape, one count of sexual assault, and two counts of sexual assault with aggravation for the attacks on the inmate.

He also had another seven years added to his sentence and will remain behind bars until at least 2027.

During the trial Crown prosecutor Jacqueline Ball noted similarities between Burley's most recent an previous sexual assaults.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major this morning became the latest figure to hit out at the current government over the the Owen Paterson scandal.

In an extraordinary broadside, Major - who lead the government and the party from 1990 to 1997 - called the current cabinet's behaviour 'very un-Conservative' and argued some of their actions have been 'politically corrupt'.

'There's a general whiff of "we are the master's now" about their behaviour and I think this is cutting through to the public,' Major told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme.

'It seems to be me as a lifelong conservative that much of what they are doing is very un-conservative in its behaviour,' he added.

In a hard-hitting intervention, Sir John Major:

Said the way Boris Johnson's regime handled the Owen Paterson scandal was 'shameful, wrong and unworthy of this or indeed any government'

Praised the conservative MPs who rebelled against the Government's attempt tear up Parliament's anti-sleaze rules, but wished more had done so

Said he had sympathy with Lord Evans' assertion that Britain could 'slip towards corruption,' saying the government's actions have damaged overseas reputation

Lambasted Boris Johnson's actions, saying parliament cannot be the plaything of any Prime Minister or indeed any government

Said if Owen Paterson could be given a peerage after the scandal, it would be 'quite extraordinary' but expressed doubt the move would be approved

Spoke on Brexit, saying suspending parts of Northern Ireland's Brexit deal would be dangerous and 'colossally stupid'

Said that voting for this Conservative government would be a dilemma for many people, saying the 80-set majority was because Labour did not seem credible

His appearance on the show came after a Daily Mail poll found 57 percent of voters agreed with chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and former MI5 chief Lord Evans' assertion that Britain could 'slip into becoming a corrupt country'.

Responding to the results of the Daily Mail poll, Sir John said: 'I think the way the government handled [the Paterson scandal] was shameful and wrong and unworthy of this or indeed any government.

'A number of Conservative MPs rebelled and very well done them. I wish more had had the courage to do so and I suspect they will in future because they were put in a dreadful position by the Prime Minister.'

Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major (pictured in 2019, file photo) this morning became the latest figure to hit out at the current government over the the Owen Paterson scandal, lambasting Boris Johnson's government over its actions

The Owen Paterson scandal led to accusations of a return to Tory corruption, voters believe MPs should be ordered to give up lucrative second jobs outside Parliament, the Daily Mail poll revealed

Downing Street has since refused to rule out the possibility of recommending Mr Paterson him a peerage.

Sir John said that would be 'rather extraordinary' and expressed doubt that it would be approved. 'There have been some extraordinary elevations to the peerage in recent years, quite extraordinary,' he said.

'Quite apart from the over-large number of peers that have been put there, I think it would be rather extraordinary if that happens and Im not at all sure if it would be approved of by the House of Lords or by those who vet peerages.'

Sir John Major - whose own government was damaged by accusations of sleaze after the cash for questions scandal in 1994 before he went on to establish the Committee on Standards in Public Life - spoke at length about the assertion that Britain could slip towards corruption.

He told the BBC's presenter Nick Robinson that he thinks the country has a long way to go before it is 'financially corrupt on a large scale'.

However, he said that in terms of political behaviour, 'I have a considerable amount of sympathy with what Lord Evans has said.

'What has been happening is damaging at home and to our reputation overseas. And that matters. Our reputation overseas matters to us - and it should,' he said.

Mr Major said there is a larger point away from the Owen Paterson scandal, and lambasted Boris Johnson's government over its behaviour in general.

'Parliament cannot be the plaything of any Prime Minister or indeed any government,' he said. 'This government has done a number of things that concern me deeply.

'They have broken the law  I have in mind the illegal prorogation of Parliament for which I took to the Supreme Court. They have broken treaties  I have in the mind the Northern Ireland protocol.

Owen Paterson who has has resigned as the MP for North Shropshire, is seen sitting in Parliament on November 3, before the Government was forced into a humiliating U-turn in the face a public outcry and anger among Tories over the scandal

'They have broken their word on many occasions  the one that I find most odious was the cutting of overseas aid, which was a statutory requirement to make and was cut long before parliament gave permission for it.

'And whenever they run up against difficulties against anybody - whether it's the Supreme Court, the Electoral Commission, the BBC - they react not with an understanding, not with trying to placate what has gone wrong, but actually in rather a hostile fashion, and that's why I say it is profoundly un-Conservative and something I dislike intensely,' he said.

The former prime minister, whose opposition to Brexit has seen him at odds with Mr Johnson's Government, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I'm afraid that the Government, with their over-large majority, do tend to treat Parliament with contempt. And if that continues, it will end badly.

'They bypass Parliament at will and the Speaker has expressed his frustration about that on many occasions, and rightly so. But they also behaved badly in other ways that are perhaps politically corrupt.'

That included briefing announcements to sections of the press before MPs.

Sir John, whose own government in the 1990s was undermined by sleaze rows, said: 'When that happened I set up the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life to stop it, which has been a huge success.

'The striking difference is this: in the 1990s I set up a committee to tackle this sort of behaviour. Over the last few days we have seen today's government trying to defend this sort of behaviour.

'Sleaze is unacceptable, was unacceptable when I was there, and I suffered a great deal of pain and anguish over it. It's unacceptable today, and it needs to be stopped.'

He suggested there was an arrogance at the heart of Mr Johnson's administration.

The Government has a working majority of around 80 and Sir John suggested that had allowed Mr Johnson to treat Parliament 'with contempt'.

Major announcements were briefed to sections of the media before MPs, he said, and ministers had 'behaved badly' in 'ways that are perhaps politically corrupt'.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council and Chief Whip Mark Spencer have been blamed for their 'disastrous strategy'

Sir John said Chief Whip Mark Spencer and Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg had a duty to the Prime Minister to inform him of the mood in Parliament.

'Plainly either they told him the mood was wrong and he brushed their concerns aside, which may have happened, or alternatively they were not in touch with Parliament.'

Major also said that suspending parts of Northern Ireland's Brexit deal would be dangerous and 'colossally stupid'.

Talks between the EU and UK over the Northern Ireland Protocol continue but Brexit Minister Lord Frost has warned that the option of unilaterally abandoning parts of the agreement remained 'very much on the table'.

Lord Frost and the Prime Minister have argued that the EU's interpretation of the deal has led to difficulties which have created the condition to justify the use of Article 16 of the protocol, effectively suspending elements of the arrangements.

Sir John, an opponent of Brexit, told BBC 'I think it would be colossally stupid to do that. To use Article 16, to suspended parts of the protocol, would be absurd.

'This protocol is being denounced week after week by Lord Frost and the Prime Minister. Who negotiated the wretched protocol? 'Lord Frost and the Prime Minister.

'They negotiated it, they signed it, they now wish to break it.'

Lord Frost met European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic on Friday but there was no breakthrough in efforts to resolve the row.

Further talks will take place in London on November 12 but Sir John said: 'At the moment, we are negotiating over the protocol with all the subtlety of a brick.

In today's Mail poll, 69 per cent of voters say the Prime Minister was wrong to order Tory MPs to vote in favour of letting Mr Paterson off

'What is happening week after week is that Lord Frost goes into the negotiations, he gives away nothing, he takes something from the European Union, he goes away, blames them for the fact that nothing at all has happened.'

Sir John said he suspected Article 16 would be triggered after the United Nations Cop26 climate summit being hosted by the UK in Glasgow has concluded.

'This is a very difficult and dangerous road to go down. It's not just a question of trade difficulties,' he warned. 'It could, we've seen what's happened in Northern Ireland before, it could become much worse.

'They should be very, very careful about this. This is silly politics to placate a few extreme Brexiteers, and the price will be paid by businesses, people in Northern Ireland and the reputation of the United Kingdom.'

Sir John acknowledged that critics would brand him as a 'bitter old Remoaner'.

He said: 'I am old, and I'm most certainly a Remainer. But I'm not bitter, but I am disappointed and angry at the way the Government has behaved.'

'There will come a moment when it will stop. There's come a moment in the House of Commons in the last week when many missteps by the government have exploded into a general anger. The same thing may happen over Northern Ireland if they proceed down the route they are going.'

When asked about whether he would cast his vote for Boris Johnson in the future, he said that it would be a vote for his local MP, and thus more complicated. He agreed, however, that it would be a dilemma for many people.

'We question ourselves with this majority of 80. But the 80 was partly a vote for the Conservative party, but I fear in significant part it was a vote against the fact that the Labour party did not seem credible to form a government.

'Those votes are not certain in the future. That is why a little humility would be entirely appropriate for the government in which they find themselves.'

Talks between the EU and UK over the Northern Ireland Protocol continue but Brexit Minister Lord Frost has warned that the option of unilaterally abandoning parts of the agreement remained 'very much on the table'. Major criticised Frost and Johnson

Responding to Sir John Major's comments, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: 'For a former Conservative Prime Minister to describe this government as being politically corrupt is frankly astonishing and a damning indictment of the Tories under Boris Johnson.

'John Major is simply saying what millions of lifelong Tory voters are thinking: Boris Johnson's Conservatives no longer represent them.

'This week's scandal is just the latest in a long string of attempts to undermine our democratic traditions and shared values of decency, honesty and transparency.

'Right across former Conservative heartlands in the Blue Wall, people are sick of being taken for granted by a government mired in sleaze and corruption.'

Downing Street did not immediately respond to a PA request for comment.

Johnson has not spoken publicly since withdrawing his backing for the lawmaker, but his education minister said on Friday the government made a mistake.

The row has raised fresh questions about Johnson's ethics. He has faced other accusations of wrongdoing, including plans to have party donors secretly contribute to a luxury renovation of his Downing Street flat.

Meanwhile Tammy Banks, one of the non-MPs who sits on the Standards Committee, defended the process and the work of Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had suggested her future was in doubt and allies of Mr Paterson have publicly criticised her handling of the case.

Tammy Banks, one of the non-MPs to sit on the Standards Committee, said she had been 'appalled' by 'slanderous' attacks on Ms Stone.

She told BBC Radio 4's Week In Westminster: 'She works hard, she does her best and above everything else she is fair.'

Senior Tory backbencher Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told Today that ultimately the Prime Minister was responsible for the mistakes in handling the situation.

'The Chief Whip was merely doing his job, he was collating the strands of opinion, he was then reporting that back to No 10 who decided what to do and what decisions were made,' Sir Geoffrey said.

'The Prime Minister is in charge of the party, in charge of the Government, ultimately he must take responsibility.'

Mr Paterson had previously been found guilty of breaking Commons rules by lobbying for two firms that paid him 500,000, and was facing a 30-day suspension from the Commons as punishment.

In an attempt to let Mr Paterson off the hook, the Government backed and won a vote on plans to tear up Parliament's anti-sleaze rules on Wednesday.

But the next morning, the Government was forced into a humiliating U-turn in the face a public outcry and anger among Tories, who had been forced to back the amendment.

With Mr Johnson's support effectively withdrawn, Mr Paterson quit what he described as 'the cruel world of politics' on Thursday.

The poll was carried out during an extraordinary week in Westminster, which ended with former Cabinet minister Mr Paterson resigning as an MP  and senior Tories seriously questioning the judgment of Mr Johnson, who had backed him.

The JL Partners poll found the public believe Boris Johnson is leading the 'sleaziest' government in more than 40 years of British politics and is considered more than twice as 'sleazy' as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

But even amid widespread criticism of his bungled handling of an attempt to ditch the parliamentary standards system, the Prime Minister is still ahead of Sir Keir in the personal ratings war.

The poll for the Mail showed that nearly one in three (31 per cent) believe Mr Johnson's administration is the worst behaved in terms of corruption, dating back to Margaret Thatcher's government in 1979.

A total of 22 per cent say Tony Blair's government was 'sleazy', with 9 per cent of voters awarding the same badge of shame to David Cameron's administration.

By contrast, the governments of former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown and ex-Conservative PM Theresa May are seen as 'sleazy' by only 2 per cent of voters.

A total of 53 per cent say Mr Johnson is 'sleazy', but only 20 per cent place Sir Keir in the same category.

Similarly, nearly half (46 per cent) say the Conservative Party as a whole is 'sleazy', but only 17 per cent would apply the description to Labour.

A separate poll showed the Tories' five-point lead over Labour a week ago has narrowed to just one point.

In today's Mail poll, 69 per cent of voters say the Prime Minister was wrong to order Tory MPs to vote in favour of letting Mr Paterson off.

A total of 71 per cent say he should return the 500,000 he earned from his two 'second jobs'.

More than six in ten (61 per cent) say all MPs should be banned from having second jobs and 81 per cent say an independent body led by a High Court judge should take over the task of dealing with corruption claims against them.

Asked if Mr Paterson had been right to claim that the inquiry into his behaviour contributed to the suicide of his wife, Rose, last year, 33 per cent say he was wrong to have done so; 15 per cent backed his decision.

A stark warning this week by former MI5 chief Lord Evans, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, that Britain could 'slip into becoming a corrupt country' struck a chord with the public.

A total of 53 per cent say Mr Johnson is 'sleazy', but only 20 per cent place Sir Keir in the same category

A total of 57 per cent agree and 18 per cent disagree.

But Sir Keir and Labour appear to have gained little from accusing Mr Johnson of 'leading his Tory troops through the sewer' in a doomed bid to save Mr Paterson.

Asked who is the better leader, 41 per cent choose Mr Johnson; 27 per cent choose Sir Keir.

The Conservatives are also seen as more competent than Labour, which is still seen as far more divided party.

James Johnson, of JL Partners, said: 'People who have heard about the Paterson scandal are outraged by it, and are scathing about the way the Conservatives tried to scrap the system of dealing with complaints against MPs.

'In the public's eyes, this was merely to protect one of their own.' He continued: The public  angry about this attempt to weaken Parliamentary scrutiny  want the system made much tougher.'

The pollster added: 'So far, however, this episode has not been as damaging as [former senior No 10 aide] Dominic Cummings flouting Covid lockdown rules with his infamous trip to Barnard Castle  which felt much more personally insulting to voters.'

A total of 1,021 adults took part in the online survey in Britain on Wednesday.
A migrant has faked a diabetic coma to claim asylum at a hospital in Majorca while 15 of his companions are still on the run after jumping from a plane when it made an emergency landing.

Paramedics boarded the aircraft that was diverted to Palma Airport for the 'medical emergency' and the group of Moroccans took advantage by fleeing through the open door and disappearing into the night.

The man accused of feigning a diabetic coma told medics he was fine when he got to the island's Son Llatzer hospital and a companion allowed to travel with him to the medical centre was still on the run this morning after vanishing soon after their arrival.

A migrant has faked a diabetic coma to claim asylum at a hospital in Majorca while 15 of his companions are still on the run. Pictured: authorities search the airport

Paramedics boarded the aircraft that was diverted to Palma Airport and the group of Moroccans took advantage by fleeing through the open door. Pictured: Spanish Civil Guard investigate at the airport

Around 40 incoming and outbound flights, including several international flights, are said to have been delayed

Police are treating the incident, believed to be a first in aviation history, as a well-orchestrated and ingenious coup by the more than 20 Moroccans who made it off the aircraft.

The plane, heading for Istanbul in Turkey from the Moroccan city of Casablanca, made an emergency landing yesterday evening after one one of the men on board went into an apparent diabetic coma.

Well-placed sources said the passengers who fled the aircraft massed on an exit door as medical responders arrived to treat the 'sick' man and made their escape shortly after the paramedics had left the plane for hospital with him and his companion.

Their flight from the plane, which was initially thought to belong to Air Maroc but was being identified locally this morning as an Air Arabic Maroc-operated aircraft, led to the suspension of all airport operations for nearly four hours.

Security forces, firefighters and police searched the runways for the group who fled the plane upon landing

The man accused of feigning a diabetic coma told medics he was fine when he got to the island's Son Llatzer hospital

Spanish airports authority Aena confirmed business had been resumed in a tweet just before midnight.

It confirmed this morning 13 flights scheduled to land at Palma had been diverted - five to Barcelona, four to Ibiza, two to Menorca, one to Madrid Barajas and another to Valencia.

Around 40 incoming and outbound flights, including several international flights, are said to have been delayed.

Margot, 25, from London, told MailOnline last night: 'I'm on a plane and have been stuck on the runway for two hours as the airport has gone into lockdown.

Five flights to Barcelona, four to Ibiza, two to Menorca, one to Madrid Barajas and another to Valencia were diverted

Spanish airports authority Aena confirmed business had been resumed in a tweet just before midnight

'Just before we were due to take off it was announced that a plane flying from Morocco to Turkey made an emergency landing due to a passenger having a diabetic fit.

'As the plane landed 24 people pushed past medics and security and ran off the plane. The police are now trying to find them.'

Local reports last night said the 'fake patient' at the centre of the drama, whose age has not been revealed but is believed to be in his early twenties or thirties, had requested political asylum.

A sixth Moroccan was arrested overnight after five of the runaway passengers were intercepted earlier in the evening in the municipality of Marratxi.

Police could not be reached early this morning for an official comment.

A sixth Moroccan was arrested overnight after five of the runaway passengers were intercepted earlier in the evening in the municipality of Marratxi

The plane, heading for Istanbul in Turkey from the Moroccan city of Casablanca, made an emergency landing

Both the National Police and the Civil Guard, Spain's two national police forces, are involved in the hunt for the runaways.

Majorca is increasingly a key destination for people smugglers who help illegal migrants reach the island by boat from the likes of Algeria.

Moroccans tend to favour the Canaries route and the Straits of Gibraltar to make the dangerous sea crossing from their homeland.

In December 2017 police arrested a Moroccan OAP after discovering him trying to smuggle this 12-year-old African boy into Spain curled up INSIDE the dashboard of his car.

Officers discovered the youngster - believed to be from Guinea in West Africa - hidden in a foetal position in a pair of dirty shorts after detecting his heartbeat using a special machine.

An officer confirmed the schoolboy had been stuffed into the tiny space between the engine and the passenger of the BMW X5 after reaching into the dashboard with his hand at a checkpoint on the border between Morocco and Spain's north African enclave of Melilla

Majorca is increasingly a key destination for people smugglers who help illegal migrants reach the island by boat from the likes of Algeria

It was ripped apart and the child, said to have been disorientated and suffering breathing difficulties and numbness in his limbs because of the position he had been forced to adopt, was given medical assistance at the scene.

In May 2015 officials at the border crossing between Morocco and Spain's other North African enclave of Ceuta found an eight-year-old boy in a suitcase being dragged by a young Moroccan woman.

His father Ali Ouattara, who was already in Spain and had paid to try to get little Adou across the border to join him, was later fined and handed a three-month suspended prison sentence by a court in Cadiz.

He insisted at his trial he had no idea his son was going to be stuffed in a suitcase and thought he would enter Spain illegally in a car.

Last night's mass plane escape, prompted by the allegedly fake medical emergency, is being described as a 'first of its kind' by aviation experts in Spain.

Police quizzes of the first migrants intercepted by officers will seek to ascertain whether the migrants who fled the plane had been briefed before making their bid for freedom - as officials suspect at this stage - or took advantage of the drama to make a last-minute split-second decision to abandon the aircraft and invade the runway.
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More than 50,000 eco-warriors are demonstrating through UK cities including Glasgow, London and Bristol today, demanding urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.

Thousands of people including students and Left-wing activists are marching through Glasgow, where the Cop26 conference is being held, and carrying red flags and banners reading 'Capitalism is killing the planet' amid a significant police presence.

The last of the marchers finally reached their destination point in a Glasgow park, nearly 5 hours after they began walking.

It was a kind of atmosphere along the way, despite the rain and cold winds that battered the marches.

Police did, however, keep a close watch on a group of young men who were dressed in black, had black Anarchist flags and wore black masks.

But one marcher, Cynthia Benjamin, 48, from Abergavenny, said: 'This has been a wonderful, peaceful, non-violent coming together of tens of thousands of people who come to Glasgow to have their voices heard together.

The sales manager added: By the very nature that we are all here, the governments around the world have to listen to us. We need to stop the planet from burning.

We need to ban plastics and do so much and ensure that future generations 200 years .from now can live with trees, butterflies and all good things around them. 

Erica Bloom, 71, from Bristol, said: 'Ive been on many demonstrations. But this is the first time that I felt that every observer and many other police officers actually sympathise and support us.

We are not here fighting anybody. Were only fighting climate change. We need to stop this hellfire that is burning through our Earth, save our oceans, save our trees, save our animals. Make it a paradise. And not the hell did it could be if we dont stop global warming.

She added: My feet really hurt. Im a pensioner. But the pain will wear off. So its okay.

Scroll down for videos.

Mounted police patrol during a global day of action on climate change in Glasgow

Climate activists attend a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow on November 6, 2021

Climate activists attend a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow on November 6, 2021

The rally calling for urgency on the climate crisis continues as the sun sets in Glasgow

Activists gather and march for the climate protest in Glasgow, the host of Cop26

A projection about the Cop26 Climate Summit is seen on a clock tower in Glasgow, Scotland

Indigenous people chant as they participate in a protest rally during a global day of action on climate change in Glasgow

Indigenous people attend a protest during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow

An Indigenous climate activist at a rally at the end of a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

People in Glasgow carried placards saying 'No More Blah Blah Blah' and posters with the Earth crying out for help

Climate change activists gather as steam emits from a chimney at Glasgow Green as climate protestors gather for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march

Day seven of the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow will focus on nature

Indigenous people at a protest in Glasgow, with a sign saying 'colonialism caused climate change'

A large puppet fish carried through Glasgow as people participate in the protest rally

Demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square in London, demanding immediate climate action and 'planet not profit'

Protesters in central London marched and demanded global leaders' action on the climate crisis

Climate activists in central London calling for environmental urgency

A demonstrator is detained during a protest on the King George V Bridge in Glasgow

A demonstrator is detained during a protest on the King George V Bridge in Glasgow

A demonstrator is detained during a protest on the King George V Bridge in Glasgow

A climate change protester with a sign that says 'I want a hot boyfriend not a hot planet' painted on in red and black on cardboard

Police officers keep guard as demonstrators attend a protest amid the Cop26 summit in Glasgow

Climate protestors gather for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march in Glasgow on November 6, 2021

A climate activist speaks as protestors gather for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march in Glasgow on November 6, 2021

Climate activists attend a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow, Scotland

The cops at COP26: Police line up to protect protesters at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow, which continued today

Ex-Green Party leader Sian Berry speaking in Trafalgar Square after a protest march by climate activists in London

Protesters take part in a rally organised by the Cop26 Coalition in London demanding global climate justice

Climate activists gather near the Bank of England as they take part in a protest through the streets of London

Thousands of protesters are gathering around the world today ahead of mass demonstrations about climate change. Pictured: Protesters in the city of London

Demonstrators participate in a protest outside the Bank of England in London on November 6, 2021

A climate-conscious young boy holds up a homemade poster that says 'Save Planet Earth' in multi-coloured writing at a protest in London today

Demonstrators hold banners while they participate in a protest in London on November 6, 2021

Demonstrators hold banners while they participate in a protest in London on November 6, 2021

Protesters gather in Trafalgar Square having marched into central London from the City of London

Climate activists take part in a protest through the streets of London, Saturday

Hollywood actor Idris Elba, who is a UN Goodwill Ambassador, speaking at COP26 in Glasgow today (left). He was joined by his wife Sabrina Elba, who is also a UN IFAD Goodwill Ambassador (right)

Police officers with protesters taking part in a rally organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

Members of the Red Rebel Brigade, an international performance artivist troupe participate in a protest rally during global day of action on climate change in Glasgow

Police tug at a bag as they halt part of a march by protesters taking part in a rally organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

Many protesters have signs adorned with 'blah', echoing the description of the COP26 summit by 18-year-old activist Greta Thunberg

A woman holds a poster that says 'seize the wealth of the billionaires' and 'make the polluters pay' as a man helps her carry a climate change banner made by a Trotskyist organisation

Climate change protesters have started to gather in Glasgow to protest politicians' action to battle global warming across the world

Mena and women waving red flags were guarded by police officers in Glasgow during the demonstrations in the city today

A demonstrator in a crimson mask with brightly dyed red hair protests climate change in Glasgow. Eco-demonstrators often wear red to symbolise the blood that binds humanity together

A climate change protester holds up a placard that says 'There is no Planet B' during a climate change demonstration in Glasgow today

A woman in a red wig and matching anorak holds up a sign that alludes to the 1.5C target for warming temperatures by the end of the century. The cap would help prevent against further global warming, which could lead to more natural disasters

'The world is literally burning!': Thunberg slams Cop26 leaders for 'destruction of the future' Greta Thunberg yesterday slammed Cop26 as 'shameful' and added: 'The world is literally burning' Greta Thunberg yesterday slammed Cop26 as 'shameful' and added: 'The world is literally burning.' And she accused governments and leaders such as Boris Johnson and Joe Biden of being complicit in the world's ecological problems. She told those who gathered: 'It is not a secret that Cop26 is a failure. It should be obvious that we cannot solve a crisis with the same methods that got us into it in the first place. 'And more and more people are starting to realise this. Many are starting to ask themselves what will it take for the people in power to wake up. 'But let's be clear, they are already awake. They know exactly what they are doing. They know exactly what priceless values they are sacrificing to maintain business as usual. 'The leaders are not doing nothing. They are actively creating loopholes and shaping frameworks to benefit themselves. And to continue profiting from this destructive system. 'This is an active choice by the leaders to continue to let the exploitation of people and nature and the destruction of present and future living conditions to take place.' Advertisement

In Scotland's second city, demonstrators brought the centre to a standstill by chaining themselves to the King George V Bridge, blocking pedestrians and cars as they sang 'power to the people' and unfurled a banner which read: 'Climate revolution or we will lose everything'. Images at the scene of the chaos show Police Scotland officers arresting the protesters.

Meanwhile in London, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Bank of England for the start of a two-mile march through the city to Trafalgar Square, banging steel drums, chanting 'one solution' and waving Extinction Rebellion banners reading 'tell the truth'.

Speaking on stage at Trafalgar Square, former Green Party leader Sian Berry said climate change protesters represent 'the majority'. To cheers from the huge crowd, she added: 'We are here in our thousands, in our millions, we are most people now, and we will be heard.'

Across the Irish Sea, activists congregated in Belfast ahead of a noisy and colourful march through the city centre before a planned rally at City Hall - while in the Republic of Ireland, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.

In total, some 200 events are taking across the UK and around the world including France, the Netherlands and Australia, according to organisers The Cop26 Coalition. The marches come after Greta Thunberg led schoolchildren and their parents through Glasgow yesterday as they protested against investment in fossil fuels and 'failure' to tackle the climate crisis.

On one stage at the conference, actor Idris Elba warned Cop26 that the climate crisis poses a threat to global food security. Sitting on the same panel, climate justice campaigner Vanessa Nakate of Uganda implored the world to stop burning fossil fuels, the main cause of rising global temperatures.

Miss Thunberg, 18, called the Cop26 conference, where countries are meeting in a bid to increase ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, 'a global north greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah'.

The latest demonstrations come midway through the summit, which has seen world leaders gather to set out the action they are taking and commit to curb deforestation, phase out coal, end funding for fossil fuels abroad and cut methane emissions.

But there is still a significant gap between the measures countries have committed to and what is needed to avoid more than 1.5C of warming, beyond which the worst floods, droughts, storms and rising seas of climate change will be felt.

Countries are under pressure to agree a process to increase ambition in the next decade, as well as deliver finance for developing countries to cope with the crisis and finalise the last parts of how the global Paris Agreement on climate change will work.

As the protests take place, negotiations continue at Cop26, while the conference is also focusing on the role of nature, land use and agriculture in tackling climate change on Saturday.

Jason Cook, 54, from Wootton Bassett, said he and two friends were marching through Glasgow because they were tired of hearing 'blah, blah, blah' from leaders on climate action.

The three men had come to the march wearing helmets, each adorned with a sign which said 'blah', echoing the description of the Cop26 summit by Ms Thunberg.

Dave Knight, 51, from Wiltshire, said the best way to stave off the worst effects of climate change is to end the use and extraction of fossil fuels. He also said 'significantly more investment' was needed in renewables.

Demonstrators will also be on the streets of central London, as well as for 200 events across the UK and around the world, organisers said.

Ms Blake, 33, from Kentish Town in north London, said she had joined the protest so the Government would 'make the right decisions for our children' at the Glasgow summit.

Another parent, Valkan Aran, 48, from Stoke Newington, carried his four-year-old daughter Aylin on his shoulders and told local media he wanted to show her how to take action for her future.

Katie Harrington was among the crowds who gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin for a march through the city to Government Buildings.

'For me it's extremely important that we use our voices,' said the Dublin woman.

'I'm not here for myself, I'm here for future generations. We need our government to actually act on climate change and the climate crisis, not just keep talking and not just keep making plans.

'It's really important for us to use our voices and march on these streets so we're heard.'



Among those to address a rally at Belfast City Hall was acclaimed teenage author and naturalist from Co Fermanagh Dara McAnulty.

'We are at a junction as a species and there are two paths in front of us,' he told the crowds. 'One - we change our future, we make a difference, we go on the road to restorative justice and climate action.

'Or we can go down the path of further destruction and inevitably the demise of our species.'

The events on the island were part of a global day of action aimed at increasing pressure on world leaders attending the Cop26 conference on climate change in Glasgow.

Catherine O'Rourke from Liverpool was in Dublin to visit her daughter. She said she felt compelled to come down and join in the protest.

'I am very concerned about the future for my grandchildren and my great grandchildren and we've got to make a difference,' she said. 'We can't just hope for it, we've got to do it. We've got to make our governments wake up before it's too late. It's already nearly too late. I had to come - I'd no choice.'

Susan Rossney from Dublin credited the Irish government with making 'good progress' on climate action. But she added: 'It still bears repeating every day and in every possible format that everyone has to take action on the climate crisis.

'It's for us now, it's for the entire world and it's so unjust that so much pollution is being created by the developed world and the developing world is bearing the brunt of this.'

Daithi McKay, the vice chair of the NI Climate Coalition, helped organise the event in Belfast.

'We've heard a lot of promises, we've heard a lot of pledges,' he said of Cop26. 'But we need much more than that - we need immediate action.'

Climate change activists in Sydney joined together in calling for the rich to be abolished, which the eco-warriors allege will save the planet. Tens of thousands of protesters are marching for action on global warming around the UK and the rest of the world today

People take part in demonstration '26 years of COP: only words in the air! for a popular ecology!' to demand actions from world leaders against climate change, in Lausanne, Switzerland

People take part in demonstration '26 years of COP: only words in the air! for a popular ecology!' to demand actions from world leaders against climate change, in Lausanne, Switzerland

Protesters take part in a demonstration, in Amsterdam, on November 6, 2021

Environmental activists display portraits of world leaders Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron in front of the Paris city hall on November 6, 2021

Climate protestors gather for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march on November 6, 2021 in Glasgow

Police halt part of a march by protesters taking part in a rally organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

People hold up signs and banners during a protest amid the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow on Saturday

People hold up signs and banners during a protest amid the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow on Saturday

People hold up signs and banners during a protest amid the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow on Saturday

A climate activist shouts out during a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

Mounted police officers si on their horses as they stand on duty during a protest rally during a global day of action on climate change in Glasgow

Climate protestors gather for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march on November 6, 2021 in Glasgow

Protesters at College Green on November 06, 2021 in Bristol

Protesters march on November 6, 2021 in Bristol, in solidarity with protesters in Glasgow

Protesters march on November 6, 2021 in Bristol, in solidarity with protesters in Glasgow

Protesters march on November 6, 2021 in Bristol, in solidarity with protesters in Glasgow

Protesters march on November 6, 2021 in Bristol, in solidarity with protesters in Glasgow

Climate activists attend a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow

Protesters gather at College Green prior to the march on November 06, 2021 in Bristol

With faces painted white, protesters wore clothing designed to remind everyone present of the blood that binds humanity together in costumes inspired by Bristol street performers the Invisible Circus

Dancers from the Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts Centre are seen during a rally to mark the Global Day of Action on Climate in Sydney

Marches for climate change are happening around the world today. More than 50,000 people are expected to decscend on the UK's streets. Pictured: People participate in a rally in Sydney today

Protesters in Australia gathered in Sydney to voice their displeasure at the way politicians are handling the threat of climate change

Extinction Rebellion protesters were protesting about climate change during a rally to mark the Global Day of Action on Climate in Sydney today

Protesters gather on Gyllyngvase Beach as protesters across the UK march on Climate 'Day Of Action'

Protesters gather on Gyllyngvase Beach as protesters across the UK march on Climate 'Day Of Action'

Demonstrators have started to make their way to the protest in Glasgow today as the the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 continues in the city

A man and a woman stand and sit on and near to bikes that will be used during the protest. Each bike has a banner reading 'people around the world are marching for climate justice'

Thunberg joins fellow Emma Watson to dismiss Cop26 as 'greenwashing campaign for politicians and CEOs' Greta Thunberg dismissed Cop26 as a 'greenwashing campaign' for politicians as she joined Emma Watson on a climate discussion panel. Miss Thunberg, who also this week denounced Government figures who gathered in the Scottish city for 'whatever the f*** they are doing in there', attended the New York Times' 'Climate Hub' - a forum for discussing 'actionable climate strategies', also based in Glasgow. Greta Thunberg dismissed Cop26 as a 'greenwashing campaign' for politicians as she joined Emma Watson on a climate discussion panel The Swedish eco activist heaped scorn the UN's Cop26 conference, branding it a 'greenwash campaign, a PR campaign' for businesses and politicians to pretend they are taking action, but not follow through. In a 'surprise session' curated by Emma Watson, Miss Thunberg said: 'Since we are so far from what actually we needed, I think what would be considered a success would be if people realize what a failure this COP is.' She and other young female activists, including Malala Yousafzai and Vanessa Nakate, also discussed the role women have played in bringing together protests and demanding action from world leaders, the New York Times reports. Advertisement

Chloe Ferguson, the chair of Queen's University Students' Union Climate Action Group, said street protests could have a 'massive impact'. 'When we look at what politicians and what our leaders respond to, they listen to what's going to cause them the most bother publicly,' she said.

The marches come after thousands of youth activists, including Miss Thunberg, marched through Glasgow on Friday to decry investment in fossil fuels and failure to tackle the climate crisis.

Miss Thunberg called the Cop26 conference, where countries are meeting in a bid to increase ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, 'a global greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah'.

The young Swedish activist has digressed from her usual calmly mannered rhetoric and opted for a few more choice words about politicians and how they have reacted to climate change.

The teenage activist spoke about people being 'p****d off' by protests and was also filmed singing 'You can shove your climate crisis up your a***' while outside Cop26.

Miss Thunberg gave a passionate and foul-mouthed speech last week, telling demonstrators: 'Inside Cop, there are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously... No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there!'

As heads of Government from around the world discussed what could be done to save the planet from ruin, the Swedish eco activist appeared to lay the blame for looming natural disasters squarely on them as she riled up her fellow activists with a chant of: 'You can shove your climate crisis up your a***'.

However, US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry said there was a greater sense of urgency and focus at the Cop26 talks than ever.

However, he added he was 'frustrated' over the pace of climate action and warned it was 'not job done' at the conference.

The latest demonstrations come midway through the Cop26 summit, which has seen about 120 leaders gather in Glasgow to set out the action they are taking and commit to curb deforestation, phase out coal, end funding for fossil fuels abroad and cut methane emissions.

Yet there is still a significant gap between the measures countries have committed to and what is needed to avoid more than 1.5C of warming, beyond which the worst floods, droughts, storms and rising seas of climate change will be felt.

Countries are under pressure to agree a to increased ambition in tackling global warming in the next decade, as well as to deliver money for developing countries to cope with the crisis and finalise the last parts of how the global Paris Agreement on climate change will work.

As the protests take place, negotiations continue at Cop26, while the conference is also focusing on the role of nature, land use and agriculture in tackling climate change on Saturday.

One of the protesters taking part in Saturday's demonstrations, Mikaela Loach, is a young Scottish climate activist who is challenging the UK's North Sea oil and gas expansion in court.

She said: 'Many thousands of us are marching right across the world today to demand immediate and serious action. We're clear that warm words are not good enough and that the next week of talks must see a serious ramping up of concrete plans.'

The demonstrations come after months of eco-warriors from Insulate Britain, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, have divided public opinion about their extreme protesting methods.

The climate enthusiasts blocked roads by sitting down or gluing themselves to the tarmac, causing havoc for commuters.

Just last week the group were ridiculed for blocking an insulation lorry carrying the exact materials they want installed in homes across the country as activists took their sit-down protests to the heart of Westminster.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has disappeared from public view for 10 days and abruptly canceled plans to attend the COP26 climate summit in Scotland over unexplained 'family obligations.'

Newsom was last seen in public on October 27, receiving a COVID-19 booster shot in Oakland. He said it was painless and then flexed in celebration, urging others to get boosters as well.

Two days later, his office issued a statement citing unspecified family obligations, abruptly cancelling his plans to attend the global climate conference, a huge gathering of international leaders on a subject that is among his highest priorities.

The statement claimed that Newsom would attend the summit virtually, though he still has not made a video appearance. California's lieutenant governor led the delegation in his place. No further information on the 'family obligations' that caused the sudden alteration to his schedule have been shared.

Since then, Newsom has been seen only in prerecorded video statements, and in family Halloween photos posted on Monday, in costume as a pirate with his wife and four young children.

'The governor has been working from the Capitol this week,' a spokeswoman for Newsom told DailyMail.com on Saturday, dismissing any suggestion that the COP26 cancellation was connected to Newsom's booster shot as 'misinformation.'

October 27: Governor Newsom was last seen in public receiving a COVID-19 booster shot in Oakland from Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency

He said it was painless and then flexed in celebration, urging others to get boosters as well

After the federal government late Tuesday authorized Pfzier's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use for kids 5 to 11, California implemented what state officials deemed a 'robust vaccination program.'

It's the kind of announcement that Newsom typically makes in-person in front of TV cameras, but the governor's office announced the plan with an emailed news release.

His Twitter account went dark from October 28 until Tuesday, when he tweeted Election Day support to fellow Democratic Governors Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, who were seeking reelection.

As the week went on, Newson's Twitter account was more active, tweeting about climate change, urging children to get vaccinated, and praising President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates for large companies.

Newsom submitted some prerecorded remarks to a transit conference earlier this week, and also posted a pre-recorded statement on Friday commemorating Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists.

His office announced some appointments to state agencies and boards. He also posted a photo on his Instagram account with his wife and four children, aged five to 12, dressed as pirates on Halloween.

November 1: Newsom posted a photo on his Instagram account with his wife and four children, aged five to 12, dressed as pirates on Halloween

The only statement from Newsom's office cited an unspecified family obligation for his abrupt cancellation of plans to attend the COP26 climate summit in Scotland

November 5: Newsom posted a pre-recorded statement on Friday commemorating Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists

It's rare, but not unprecedented, for Newsom to go a whole week without some type of appearance. Such absences are usually explained, including when Newsom leaves the state for vacation.

In this case, the only statement from Newsom's office came October 29 and referred to unspecified family obligations. No additional information about the family's circumstances has been released.

It's a relatively slow time in Sacramento as the state Legislature is not in session and won't meet again until January.

Recent storms mean no major wildfires are burning out of control, as has been the case in the fall months of recent years.

In September, Newsom survived a GOP-led recall election, beating Republican radio host Larry Elder by a margin of 61.9 percent to 38.1 percent, the same breakdown by which Newsom won the 2018 election.

For COP26, Newsome tapped Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to lead the state delegation in his absence.

Democrats close to Newsom say he 'desperately wanted to go' to COP26 (above), the premiere global summit on climate change attended by elite leaders from around the world

'The governor has a young family and we should all be understanding, especially those of us who have been there,' said Kounalakis, who has two grown sons, at the time.

Democratic state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, who also attended the conference, said he suspected Newsom was very disappointed to not be going.

'He loves this issue, he cares about it a lot,' Hertzberg said. 'It's a big deal to him, and I'm sure he desperately wanted to go.'

Kounalakis returned from Scotland on Thursday. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon will lead a second delegation of state lawmakers to Scotland next week for a series of meetings with world leaders and a tour of off-shore wind energy in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said the governor will appear virtually at the U.N. climate conference, which ends on November 12, next week.

'The Governor will participate in a couple events next week focused on global efforts to advance zero emission vehicles and to move beyond oil,' she said Thursday.
A woman who went looking for her missing sister unknowingly ended up helping the man who had just mowed down her sibling in a horrific hit and run collision.

Chenai Radnedge was searching for her sister Tammara Macrokanis, 32, on the Gold Coast on October 17, 2020.

She was worried after her sister, a mother of five, had stormed out of a family gathering in the city's northern suburbs.

Her search though was held up when she stopped to help a man lying on the ground next to his car on the shoulder of the M1 highway.

Ms Radnedge at that point had no clue the man she was calling triple-zero for was Kaine Andrew Carter, who minutes earlier had fatally struck her sister while under the influence of drugs and dragged her body 60m down a highway.

Tammara Macrokanis, 32, was walking down the M1 Pacific Motorway, near Coomera on the Gold Coast, when she was struck and killed by a drugged-up driver

Chenai Radnedge (pictured) accidentally helped a drugged-up driver who hit and killed her sister minutes earlier

Chenai Radnedge pictured third from left at her beloved sister's funeral with family and friends

The impact was so savage it tore her sister's body in half, The Courier Mail reported.

But when Ms Radnedge bent down to help Carter at 9.30pm that night, she had no idea what had happened to Ms Macrokanis - a recovering drug user who had turned her life around.

All she knew was her sister left the family gathering after taking offence to a misunderstanding and threatened to hitchhike back home to New South Wales.

Just as Ms Radnedge was trying to help the drugged Carter beside the M1, several Queensland police cars arrived.

They had been alerted to a car parked in a dangerous spot near an exit on the M1.

Ms Radnedge didn't notice the damage to Carter's ute - and the amount of blood and 'body matter' smeared across it.

Live traffic camera shot of exit 54 on the M1 Pacific Motorway at Coomera near where Ms Macrokanis's body was recovered

When Carter was helped up, Ms Radnedge recognised him.

She knew him through friends and asked if he had seen her sister - but her question received no reply.

Police, quickly assessing the horror scene, asked Ms Radnedge to leave immediately.

After failing to find her sister, she drove back to the Pimpama house, worried but still clueless to her sister's devastating fate.

Tammara Macrokanis, from Casino in northern New South Wales, was visiting family on the Gold Coast when was struck by a ute driven by drug-affected driver Kaine Andrew Cater

In the morning Ms Radnedge was woken by her mother with the news that her sister had been killed in an accident.

When they started driving to find answers, then entered the highway, she did a double take.

'[Carter's ute] was still there, surrounded by police. It clicked. Kaine killed Tammara (and) I had been there not long after it happened,' Ms Radnedge said.

Had she known when she pulled over to help Carter she couldn't have saved her sister.

Kaine Andrew Carter, 31, pleaded guilty to two charges and faces sentencing next month

Forensic investigators later determined Ms Macrokanis had became wedged between the bullbar of the ute and the roadside guardrail and been cut in half.

Part of her torso and legs were found about six metres from her top half, which was thrown 10m from the roadside.

She never got to view her sister's body.

Reflecting on the scene a year later, Ms Radnedge thinks it was better she didn't realise what was on Carter's ute.

The last photo taken of Ms Macrokanis, playing with animals while with family in Queensland

'I reckon if I had seen the body matter on the car, I would've thrown myself into the traffic at that moment, to be honest,' she said.

Carter pleaded guilty to two charges in Southport Magistrates Court in October 2021.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance and to leaving the scene without obtaining help.

Tammara Macrokanis, 32, was hit and killed while walking along a highway last year

He was under the influence of drugs when he hit and killed Ms Macrokanis and fled the scene.

Carter will be sentenced in court on December 6.

Ms Radnedge says she wants to know of Carter 'what's in his head?'

To her, any jail time Carter spends in prison can't make up for ending her sister's life.

'It's nothing. Time behind bars gives him a roof over his head, three meals a day  wow, isn't he lucky,' she says.
The hearing will come after Ghislaine Maxwell's trial starts on November 29

civil trial would be held 'between September and December next year'

Giuffre filed a complaint accusing Andrew of sexual assault on three occasions at the home of the billionaire paedophile

The Duke of York, 61, will plea for the dismissal of a sexual assault case

Prince Andrew has taken an early morning horseride at Windsor after a judge set the date to hear the royal's plea for dismissal of the sexual assault case brought against him by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts.

The Duke of York sat at the wheel of his Range Rover and went for a ride in the grounds of the royal estate as he faces an anxious Christmas.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said the court would hear 'the defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint' on the morning of January 4 next year.

The Duke of York, 61, has been under increasing pressure since August when Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court accusing the 61-year-old of sexual assault when she was a minor over 20 years ago.

Ms Giuffre alleges that late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates, including Andrew.

Prince Andrew looked to be enjoying himself despite the looming sexual assault lawsuit that filed against him in the United States

Andrew arrived for the ride in Windsor driving his Range Rover before the outing with a friend

The Duke has been under increasing pressure since Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed the lawsuit

The Duke has been dogged by his relationship with disgraced paedophile finacier Jeffrey Epstein for months since allegations about Andrew and Virginia Roberts Giuffre resurfaced

She says the prince assaulted her at Epstein's home in New York, as well as on his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Ms Giuffre alleges that Andrew also sexually abused her at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges she helped recruit and groom underage girls for Epstein to abuse. Her trial begins on November 29.

The 38-year-old, who was known as Virginia Roberts at the time of the allegations, is also expected to request the Duke of York give testimony under oath.

Her lawyer David Boies said that he would seek to depose between eight and 12 people while the Duke's lawyers wanted to question a similar number.

A New York judge has set a date to hear Prince Andrew's plea for dismissal of the sexual assault case brought against him by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre

Ms Giuffre alleges that Andrew sexually abused her on three occasions including at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, then 17, and Maxwell pictured in London in 2001

It is possible that Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, could be called to give evidence after Mr Boies told the court he intended to formally speak with two British witnesses.

The prince has not been charged with crimes and has denied the allegations made against him.

He has also accused her of trying to profit from accusations against Epstein, who Giuffre says also abused her, and people who knew him.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. A medical examiner called his death a suicide.

Andrew denies the charges and has called for the complaint to be dismissed, saying it was 'without merit' and that Giuffre was seeking to profit financially from the case.

The prince has always denied claims by Virginia Giuffre (left) that she was trafficked by her abuser Jeffrey Epstein (right) to have sex with him on three occasions when she was 17

The hearing will come after Ghislaine Maxwell's trial starts on November 29. Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam (pictured together) and former close friend of Andrew, is accused of procuring and trafficking underage girls to Epstein - which she denies

A civil trial - if the prince's request is rejected - should be held 'between September and December next year,' Judge Kaplan said in a recent hearing.

Neither hearing is believed to have addressed the Duke's challenges to Mrs Giuffre's claims including a 2009 legal settlement she signed with Epstein which may give Andrew legal immunity.

Nor did the judge address any of the Duke's claims in his response including an article from the Daily News written in 2015 which quoted friends of Mrs Giuffre saying she was 'not a sex slave, but a money-hungry sex kitten'.

The hearing took place two weeks before the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam and former close friend of Andrew, is due to begin.

Maxwell, 59, is accused of procuring and trafficking underage girls to Epstein knowing they were going to be abused. She denies all the allegations.
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The Queen enjoyed a morning drive at her Sandringham estate today as she continues her recovery after doctors advised her to cancel all official visits for a fortnight.

The 95-year-old monarch wore a headscarf as she sat in the passenger seat of a Range Rover while she was driven around the estate.

One of her corgis also made an outing but had a Land Rover to itself, peering out the rear window during the excursion around the ground.

The head of state is expected to spend the weekend at Sandringham while she has some time off amid her determination to be fit for Remembrance Sunday.

Her Majesty last week pulled out of a planned visit to the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow and instead recorded a video message from Windsor last Friday, which was played to world leaders on Monday.

The Queen enjoyed a morning drive at her Sandringham estate as she continues her recovery after doctors advised her to cancel all official visits for a fortnight

The 95-year-old monarch wore a headscarf as she sat in the passenger seat of a Range Rover while she was driven around the estate

One of her corgis also made an outing but had a Land Rover to itself, peering out the rear window during the excursion around the ground

And her 105-mile flight to Sandringham for the weekend comes after insiders said the Queen was determined to host her family at the estate for Christmas this year after the pandemic forced them to scrap last year's event.

The Queen and Prince Philip used to escape to Sandringham every year around the time of Halloween so they could enjoy some quality time together at Wood Farm on the estate.

And although her 'dear late husband'  as she referred to him this week  died in April, the Queen has decided to honour those cherished memories together by going back to the estate this week.

The head of state is expected to spend the weekend at Sandringham while she has some time off amid her determination to be fit for Remembrance Sunday

Her Majesty last week pulled out of a planned visit to the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow and instead recorded a video message from Windsor last Friday, which was played to world leaders on Monday

And her 105-mile flight to Sandringham for the weekend comes after insiders said the Queen was determined to host her family at the estate for Christmas this year after the pandemic forced them to scrap last year's event

Wood Farm was where Philip, her husband of 73 years who passed away aged 99, largely spent the last few years of his life following his retirement

The Queen's very busy October schedule The Queen maintained her typically busy schedule in October up until she was told to rest by doctors and cancelled a trip to Northern Ireland around two weeks ago. Here is what the 95-year-old monarch has been up to since the start of October: October 6: The Queen holds two virtual audiences at Windsor with the Greek ambassador and the ambassador for Belize. She meets Canadian troops from 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, and later has a telephone audience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

October 7: The Queen, with the Earl of Wessex, launches the Queen's Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games from the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.

October 12: The Queen, accompanied by the Princess Royal, attends a Westminster Abbey service of thanksgiving to mark the centenary of the Royal British Legion. She uses a walking stick at the abbey, the first time she has done so at a major event.

October 13: The monarch has a face-to-face audience with pianist Dame Imogen Cooper to present her with the Queen's Medal for Music. She also holds three other audiences.

October 14: On an away day to Cardiff, the Queen delivers a speech at the sixth session of the Welsh Senedd.

October 16: The Queen enjoys a day at the races at Ascot, and presents the trophy after the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes during the Qipco British Champion Day.

October 18: She holds a virtual audience with the new Governor-General of New Zealand, Dame Cindy Kiro.

October 19: The Queen has three engagements, two virtual audiences with the Japanese ambassador and the EU ambassador, and then hosts an evening reception at Windsor Castle to mark the Global Investment Summit.

October 20: The Queen is under strict orders to rest and 'reluctantly' cancels a two-day trip to Northern Ireland.

October 21: Buckingham Palace confirms the Queen spent the previous night in hospital for 'preliminary investigations'. She returns to Windsor Castle at lunchtime and is said to be in 'good spirits', back at her desk, undertaking light duties.

October 24: The monarch misses a church service at Windsor.

October 26: The Queen carries out virtual audiences from Windsor Castle, her first official engagements since she was ordered to rest by doctors. Later, Buckingham Palace announces the Queen has 'reluctantly decided' not to attend a Cop26 reception in Glasgow on November 1. Instead, she delivers an address via recorded video message on Monday of this week, which was filmed on Friday of last week. Advertisement

Wood Farm was where Philip, her husband of 73 years who passed away aged 99, largely spent the last few years of his life following his retirement.

A countryman at heart, he loved Sandringham and relished the relative simplicity of Wood Farm, where his only concession to modernisation had been to put in a new kitchen. If not for the pandemic, which saw him move to Windsor to be with the Queen, it is likely to have been where he would have spent his last days.

A royal source told Mirror Online yesterday: 'The Queen had been hoping she would still be able to spend the weekend at Sandringham and was delighted her doctors gave her the all clear to travel.

'Her Majesty is very much looking forward to hosting her family at her Norfolk home for the Christmas holiday and there is much preparation to be done in time to accommodate everyone who has been invited.

'The Queen has many happy memories of being at Sandringham with the family over Christmas and was in the firm belief that she was far better off being there in person to oversee everything as much as possible.'

The source added that the Queen travelled 'on the understanding with her doctors that she continues to rest as advised' after they said last week that she should only take part in 'light, desk-based' duties for at least a fortnight.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh last year spent their Christmas alone at Windsor Castle  which made it the first time since 1987 that she did not spend the holiday with her family at Sandringham.

The monarch has vowed to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph on November 14, even though she will miss the traditional Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall the previous day.

The head of state had been due to attend Cop26 where she had hoped to deliver an in-person speech and to host a reception, but was forced to drop out after royal doctors said that she should not travel for any duties.

The Royal Family were instead represented at the conference by Prince Charles, Camilla and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Last month, the Queen was secretly taken to the private King Edward VII Hospital in London. Royal aides have only said that the trip was for 'preliminary investigations' with the exact reason for the trip still unknown.

Speaking last weekend, the Prime Minister said that the Queen was in good spirits when they held their regular weekly audience last Wednesday.

Boris Johnson said: 'She seems in very good form. She's been told by her doctors that she's got to rest and I think we've got to respect that and understand that. I think the whole country wishes her well.'

But despite reassurances from Buckingham Palace that she remains in good spirits, public concern is unlikely to be eased at what has been the lengthiest absence from ill health during her reign.

Doctors will reassess the monarch at the end of her recommended fortnight of rest, with it likely that her diary could be affected for some time to come.

The Queen's eagerness to get out and about as soon as possible will ultimately be overshadowed by what her doctors think is best.

This will leave other senior royals, especially the Prince of Wales, having to attend more engagements on her behalf whenever possible.

A countryman at heart, he loved Sandringham and relished the relative simplicity of Wood Farm, where his only concession to modernisation had been to put in a new kitchen

If not for the pandemic, which saw him move to Windsor to be with the Queen, it is likely to have been where he would have spent his last days

The Queen and Prince Philip used to escape to Sandringham every year around the time of Halloween so they could enjoy some quality time together at Wood Farm on the estate

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh last year spent their Christmas alone at Windsor Castle  which made it the first time since 1987 that she did not spend the holiday with her family at Sandringham

The Queen is driven back to Wood Farm in a Range Rover while resting in Sandringham after being told to take time off by doctors

Queen Elizabeth II is seen during a Cop26 video message recorded last Friday and played in Glasgow on Monday this week

Concerns about the Queen, who has recently been seen using a walking stick at events for the first time, were triggered last month when she cancelled a two-day tour to Northern Ireland.

The decision came just hours before she was due to fly and despite aides saying she stayed at Windsor Castle she was later whisked to hospital for her first overnight stay for eight years.

On Monday the Queen was photographed driving close to Windsor Castle in Berkshire in a green estate car, wearing a signature headscarf and a pair of sunglasses.

During her message to world leaders at Cop26 on Monday, the Queen issued a powerful plea to them over the climate crisis, saying they should put aside division and act now for the sake of 'our children'.

In her first major intervention on the environment, the monarch said they should 'rise above the politics' and show 'true statesmanship' on the issue.

The Queen has been staying at Windsor Castle in Berkshire for rest following her recent overnight hospital stay

Speaking in a video message  played at a reception marking the first day of the climate summit  the Queen declared: 'The time for words has now moved to the time for action.'

She included a poignant nod to her advancing years, saying many involved in the Glasgow summit  including herself  would not see the fruits of their actions, adding: 'None of us will live for ever.'

But she stressed: 'We are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children's children, and those who will follow in their footsteps.'

She struck a markedly positive note, saying that 'working side by side' the world's leaders could solve 'the most insurmountable problems' and 'triumph over the greatest of adversities'.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh last year spent their Christmas alone at Windsor Castle - the first time since 1987 that she did not spend the holiday with her family at Sandringham. The Queen and Philip are pictured at Sandringham in 2017

Insiders said the Queen was determined to host her family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk for Christmas this year

She spoke with unusual candour of her pride in her family and their stance on the environment  from 'my dear late husband', the Duke of Edinburgh, to her son the Prince of Wales and grandson the Duke of Cambridge.

She recalled how in 1969 Prince Philip told an academic gathering: 'If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.'

The Queen said: 'It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. I could not be more proud of them.'

She added she had also 'drawn great comfort and inspiration from the relentless enthusiasm of people of all ages  especially the young  in calling for everyone to play their part'.But she emphasised the enormous task ahead, saying: 'In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.'
Melbourne has been lashed by giant hail stones and torrential rain as homes were flooded and Victoria's rescue hotline recorded its second busiest week ever.

Victoria's State Emergency Service received 200 calls for help on Saturday afternoon after 24mm of rain fell in Melbourne's south east in just 15 minutes.

The inner eastern suburbs of Camberwell and Glen Iris both experienced flash flooding.

The SES received calls predominantly from Melbournes south-east and inner eastern suburbs with reports of damage to homes from flooding.

It was so sunny 30 mins ago 



Lightning and hail, thanks melbourne pic.twitter.com/aymkMzEkfa  Freddi  () (@owa_owa_ow) November 6, 2021

The SES was inundated with 200 calls for help on Saturday as a severe thunderstorm warning is issued for parts of Victoria on Saturday evening

Heavy rainfall and large hailstones lashed Melbourne's south east and inner-eastern suburbs on Saturday (pictured)

In the 24 hours to 7pm on Saturday the SES received 333 calls, with the service also reporting its second busiest week on record in the past seven days.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm notice on Saturday evening warning more large hailstones and heavy rainfall could be on the way.

The BOM said hailstones up to 2cm in diameter were reported during the storm, with hail as large as 3cm in Nagambie, 120km north of Melbourne.

The areas with the most calls for assistance were Dandenong North, Inverloch, Dandenong, Springvale and Noble Park.

Hailstones lashed Melbourne on Saturday in a bout of unpredictable weather, with more heavy rainfall and large hailstones potentially on the way

The SES has reminded Victorians to drive cautiously during wild weather by looking out for fallen tree branches and to avoid entering into dangerous floodwater.

Severe weather warnings remain in place for south and west Gippsland, Mallee and Wimmera districts as damaging winds and heavy rainfall are forecast to hit the region.

A heavy rainfall warning has been issued for Western Port as the storm continue to move further east.
Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of gunning down three people with a military-style semi-automatic rifle last year, killing two and injuring one

The officers ultimately pepper-sprayed the teen to get him away as they worked

He said he did not think the teen was surrendering because he was not lying down and the officers had been approached by many armed men that night

Moretti described the August 2020 scene as like a 'war zone' where gunfire was still going off, sparking fears of an active shooter situation

Kenosha Officer Pep Moretti said he and his partner did not arrest Kyle Rittenhouse moments after the fatal shootings because of the on-going chaos

A cop filmed failing to arrest Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse moments after the teen shot two men dead says he feared there was another active shooter nearby, and that Rittenhouse didn't display a 'surrender' pose.

Officer Pep Moretti testified on the fourth day of the double murder trial that the sound of gunshots during the August 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was of greater concern than Rittenhouse, then 17, walking towards him with his hands up.

Moretti told jurors: 'There was still gunfire erupting around us  so we still thought he was an active threat.'

The clip of Rittenhouse walking towards Moretti's car with his hands up was widely-shared online, sparking fury as to why he wasn't apprehended, and was allowed to travel back home to Illinois afterwards.

But Moretti insisted that Rittenhouse's demeanor was unusual, and that people looking to surrender usually get on their knees.

Kenosha Officer Pep Moretti testified that he and his partner did not arrest Kyle Rittenhouse moments after the 2020 fatal shootings because of the on-going chaos and active gunfire

The officer said Rittenhouse walked up to his police car with his hands up, pictured, but the officers were dealing with active gunfire and peppers prayed the teen to get him away

He told the court: 'In my prior experience in law enforcement, when somebody surrenders to us, they will generally put their hands up but they will take the further step and drop to their knees or they will lay in a prone position.

'Theyll usually follow commands when theyre attempting to surrender. Never in my career have I had somebody put their hands up and continue to advance.'

Moretti added that the AR-15 rifle Rittenhouse was toting was not in itself suspicious given that he and his partner had been approached by so many armed individuals during the protests.

'We were surrounded all night, all week. There was probably more people armed with weapons than not throughout that entire course of the civil unrest,' Moretti said.

The officers believed Rittenhouse was yet another armed man trying to volunteer to help officers that night, but he said they grew worried when Rittenhouse continued to approach them armed with an AR-15 rifle.

When Rittenhouse failed to back up, Moretti said his partner pepper-sprayed the teen as gun fire continued to go off in the crowd and the officers grew tense.

'Its not uncommon for a police officer in this country to be ambushed. And given everything that was taking place, a war zone is the only way I could describe it, Moretti said.

'We were surrounded and the city was burning and on fire.' The Kenosha riots were sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man shot seven times after wielding a knife at cops called to reports of a domestic disturbance at his girlfriend's house.

Rittenhouse walked up to police officers after he shoot three people, killing two. Moretti said he did not believe the teen was surrendering because he did not lie flat on the ground

Moretti added that Kenosha officers did not want armed volunteers to help them manage the crowds. He said he and his fellow officers instructed any volunteer to go home.

The officer was the last witness to testify on the fourth day following a heated cross-examination of the family of Anthony Huber, the man Rittenhouse fatally shot after killing Joseph Rosenbaum.

Rittenhouse is accused of gunning down three people with a military-style semi-automatic rifle last year, killing Rosenbaum, 36, and Huber, 26, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.

The defense claimed Huber had a violent criminal past in which he assaulted family members, threatened to 'gut his brother like a pig' and to burn down the family home 'with all you f****** in it.'

This is the startling criminal history that Kyle Rittenhouse's defense will try to bring into proceedings should the state push the notion that Huber was a 'peaceable character.'

The jury were not present as defense attorney Corey Chirafisi addressed the judge responding to the state's earlier attempt to paint Huber as 'a hero' during direct examination of Huber's great aunt, Sarah Hughes.

According to the criminal complaints quoted by Chirafisi in one instance, Huber 'hurled a chair,' and armed with a butcher's knife told his brother he would 'gut him like a pig.'

Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of gunning down three people with a military-style semi-automatic rifle last year, killing two and injuring one

Anthony Huber had a violent criminal past in which he assaulted family members, threatened to 'gut his brother like a pig' and to burn down the family home 'with all you f****** in it.'

Shortly before breaking for lunch the court heard from Anthony Huber's great aunt, Susan Hughes (pictured)  the first 'spark of life' witness, brought in by the prosecution to humanize the victim

Chirafisi stated, 'Huber told his brother he would kill him. Huber put a knife to his brother's stomach saying he was going to gut him like a pig.

'Huber grabbed his brother by the neck, dug his nails in and choked him for approximately ten seconds. He put a knife to his brother's left ear and his brother felt it cut.

'He said, 'I'm going to burn the house down with all you f*****s in it.'

On another occasion he kicked his sister in her right hip, causing her pain and to fall.

Chirafisi stated, 'they're saying this is a peaceful man. If you're saying that's peaceful this is the [material] we will want to admit.'

Faced with this prospect the state backed away from the attempt to paint Huber a 'hero' so the jury will not hear details of Huber's violent criminal past.

As Friday afternoon drew on, jurors heard that an opportunity to collect vital DNA evidence from Rittenhouse's gun had been missed as officers were not directed to swab for evidence on the barrel despite receiving information that Huber and Rosenbaum may have both laid hands on it.

Images displayed in court show Huber grabbing Rittenhouse's gun with his bare hands, while the defense contends that Rosenbaum made a grab for the gun's barrel and may have been close enough to make contact  something that could have been established had DNA swabs been taken.

Questioned by Chirafisi, Officer Jeffery VanWei explained that he only swabbed the trigger and the part of the rifle most likely have been held by the shooter.

Chirafisi asked, 'Did any detectives come to you and ask you to do additional swabs now that more information about what had happened was out there?'

The officer replied, 'No.'

Chirafisi asked, 'If somebody would have asked you, 'We would like to know if there was DNA on the actual barrel of that gun,' could you have done that? He replied, 'Absolutely.'

Jason Lackowski was the first witness of the fourth day of the trial and is an army veteran who traveled to Kenosha to 'protect property.'

Questioned by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, Lackowski, who was armed with an AR-15, a knife and CS canisters that night, said that Rittenhouse's first victim Joseph Rosenbaum asked him to shoot him several times.

Lackowski said, 'He said 'Shoot me,' and used more explicit language than that.

'He had been acting very belligerently. He had asked people very bluntly to shoot him. He did what I would call, ''false-stepping'' to incite someone.'

On Binger's request, Lackowski rose to demonstrate 'false-stepping' to the jurors. He lurched forward from a standing start, in a jarring movement and with his chest puffed out, then simply stepped back.

Despite this, Lackowski said he did not consider Rosenbaum a credible threat to him or anyone else. Instead, he turned his back on him and walked away.

Lackowski is the second prosecution witness whose testimony about Rosenbaum's aggressive behavior and the chaos of the night seems only to add weight to the defense's case that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense when he shot first him, Huber and Grosskreutz.

Lackowski is the second prosecution witness whose testimony about Rosenbaum's aggressive behavior and the chaos of the night seems only to add weight to the defense's case that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense when he shot first him, Huber and Grosskreutz

Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum (pictured), 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020

Jason Lackowski was the first witness to take the stand Friday on the fourth day of Rittenhouse's trial

Yesterday the court heard from key witness, Daily Caller Chief Video Director Richie McGinniss, who described how Rosenbaum had 'lunged' for Rittenhouse's gun having pursued him into a row of parked cars and what appeared to be 'something of a dead end.'

McGinniss painted a compelling picture of the sporadic violence of the night as well as Rosenbaum's erratic and 'menacing' behavior. And he refused to cede to Binger's assertion that the dead man was already falling forward when Rittenhouse shot.

Under increasingly testy direct examination that at times seemed more like a cross-examination of a hostile witness, McGinniss insisted that Rosenbaum was gaining ground on Rittenhouse when he 'lunged forward' and attempted to grab the teen's weapon.

He said that Rosenbaum may have been unable to stop himself from falling face down because of the shot, but would not agree that he had witnessed Rosenbaum fall before the first shot was fired

Under direct examination Lackowski described the scenes of 'chaos' in downtown Kenosha, earning a reprimand from the judge when he referred to, 'the a**holes who were trying to use the protest to their own gain.'

He explained, 'There were a lot of individuals there to legitimately protest and there were people there to instigate and I noticed there were a lot of people who were using that to cause havoc.

'People throwing things at police, people staring fires, people with mal intent.'

He told the court that he had been trained to, 'Shout, shove, show, shoot.' But that he had never had to take even that second step.

Lackowski testified that Rittenhouse told him he was an EMT and that he assumed he was 18 because of that and the fact that he was carrying a firearm.

Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy, and sister McKenzie were once again in court. They were flanked by security as they have been every day.

Both Rittenhouse and his family have a constant security detail as the teen and his family received multiple threats on their lives since the events of last summer.

Lackowski testified that Rittenhouse had run towards him after shooting all three men. He was, Lackowski said, 'frazzled and in shock,' but when Rittenhouse spoke he said he had NOT shot anybody but needed help. But under cross examination Lackowski said he was 'not at all certain' of that assertion.

Lackowski said, 'I told him to run towards the police [vehicles]'

After that, he said, 'I pretty much blacked out because the next thing I remember is helping Mr. Grosskreutz.'

He said, 'I remember him being on the ground screaming. Somebody was screaming for a tourniquet. I had given that to him, he applied the tourniquet. He had done it wrong so I pushed him out of the way and applied it correctly.'

After the police showed up Lackowski said he noticed Grosskreutz's Glock on the ground and someone walking towards it.

He said, 'I pushed him away, picked up the firearm, dropped the magazine and emptied the chamber.'

Rosenbaum's fiance Kariann Swart briefly took the witness stand directly after lunch. She told the court that she had been with Rosenbaum for just over a year and recalled how she and her sister visited the site where he had been shot the morning after

Joseph Rosenbaum, in the red shirt, front center, and Anthony Huber, in the blue hat behind Rosenbaum, are seen at the riots confronting armed men

Rosenbaum's fiance Kariann Swart briefly took the witness stand directly after lunch. She told the court that she had been with Rosenbaum for just over a year and recalled how she and her sister visited the site where he had been shot the morning after.

She said, 'We went over to the Car Source and there was this mark where Joe had lain. I put my hand in it and my hand was wet with his blood andI collapsed to the ground.'

Swart had received a telephone call telling her that Rosenbaum was dead at around 4am she said.

She said, 'I fell to my knees and cried.'

Rosenbaum had visited Swart earlier in the day and she had 'explicitly told him' not to go downtown that night because the 'whole city was up in flames.'

She said that the visit had been 'pleasant' and that he had been 'excited' to 'work on the relationship and work on himself.'

When he left he told her he loved her.

Rosenbaum had been released from a psychiatric hospital that morning following a domestic assault and suicide attempt. He could not stay with Swart as she had a restraining order against him.

Earlier the defense had unsuccessfully argued to have that information put before the jury.

But today, in another point scored by the defense with a state witness, the jury heard details of Rosenbaum's mental health issues for the first time.

The jury was asked to leave the room while Chirafisi questioned Swart regarding the medication Rosenbaum took.

She said she did not know them all but knew that he was on Gabapentin, Effexor and Seroquil - medications for bi-polar disorder, depression and a sleep disorder respectively.

On hearing this Judge Schroeder deemed the information admissible and recalled the jury to continue her testimony.

A second juror in the trial was dismissed Friday. The juror who is pregnant asked to be removed at the start of the fourth day of testimony due to medical reasons.

Juror 27 was dismissed without issue and Judge Bruce Schroeder wished her well before seating the remaining jurors.

Car Source owner Amnol Khindri took the witness box mid Friday afternoon. In often conflicting, confused testimony he denied ever asking Rittenhouse or any of the other vigilantes on any of his family's three properties that evening

Car Source owner Amnol Khindri took the witness box mid Friday afternoon. In often conflicting, confused testimony he denied ever asking Rittenhouse or any of the other vigilantes on any of his family's three properties that evening.

Earlier in the week Dominick Black testified that he had spoken with Khindri on just that matter.

He denied seeing a text sent by Rittenhouse to his cell phone on the afternoon of August 25 in which the teenager offered armed protection to the Car Source properties.

The text, shown on a screen in court, read, 'Hi Sam [Amnol's nickname] It's Kyle do you need anyone to protect your business tonight I'm more than willing and will be armed I just need address. Me and my brother would both be there armed.'

Khindri also initially denied communicating with Rittenhouse at all, before admitting that he had spoken with him earlier in the day when Rittenhouse had offered to fundraise for his company and had taken his cell phone number.

Under both direct and cross examination Khindri was often evasive, frequently appearing to default to the response that he did not understand direct questions.

Asked by Chirafisi if he was concerned that his family might be open to prosecution if they had given permission for armed men to be on their property when a man was ultimately shot there, he said he did not.

Under cross-examination and increasingly frustrated Chirafisi attempted to pin Khindri down to straight answers to straight questions.

He denied providing a ladder for the men who positioned themselves on the roof and denied seeing them on his property one moment then admitted in the next breath that he had seen a group of armed men, of which Rittenhouse was part, being photographed with his brother.

At the beginning of cross examination, he claimed that all of the property was insured and suggested that he was resigned to shouldering any loss or damage caused by the protesters.

He said he did not know the extent of loss to inventory.

Chirafisi rounded on him and stated quite bluntly that neither of those statements were true.

The attorney pulled up an interview given by Khindri shortly after the night of August 25. In it Khindir stated that 137 cars had been destroyed and estimated losses of $2.5million.

He told the reporter that the insurance company was not paying out. Chirafisi said, 'You testified under oath that you had insurance for this. That's not true. One of the first questions I asked was about your loss and you said you had insurancebut not for those vehicles due to arson, correct?'

Khindri answered quietly, 'I'm not understanding the question.'

Lackowski claimed Joseph Rosenbaum screamed 'Shoot me N*****' and 'false-stepped' towards strangers to incite a violent response during the riots

Juror 27 was dismissed Friday without issue and Judge Bruce Schroeder wished her well before seating the remaining jurors

Shortly before breaking for lunch the court heard from Anthony Huber's great aunt, Susan Hughes  the first 'spark of life' witness, brought in by the prosecution to humanize the victim.

She recalled her great nephew as a man with whom she shared a 'special bond,' rarely without the skateboard that he rode whenever possible.

She said that his 'vision' was to build an indoor skatepark in downtown Kenosha.

She also recalled how Huber told her that he knew Jacob Blake  the black man whose shooting by a Kenosha police officer led to the nights of protest and rioting at which Rittenhouse shot Huber and Rosenbaum dead and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz.

Jurors at the Kenosha shooter's trial heard jolting audio of the first four shots fired by Kyle Rittenhouse on the night of August 25, 2020

She said that she had seen Huber on the day he was shot and told him to be back by curfew.

Rittenhouse is accused of gunning down three people with a military-style semi-automatic rifle last year, killing two and injuring one

Jurors heard startling testimony as Ryan Balch took the stand Thursday afternoon. Balch, a self-avowed 'boogaloo boi' had traveled to Kenosha to 'police' the community after hearing of the protests and riots that had taken place across the previous nights.

According to Balch, Rosenbaum made the threats within ear-shot of Rittenhouse who had quickly attached himself to Balch and the two spent much of the evening side by side.

Rittenhouse was by Balch's side when Rosenbaum 'got in his face' 'yelling and screaming.'

In direct testimony Balch told Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, 'He was yelling and screaming. I said, ''Dude back up, chill out.''

The court then heard that Rosenbaum turned to Balch and said, 'If I catch any of you guys alone tonight I'm going to f***ing kill you.'

According to Balch, 'the defendant was close enough to hear what was said.'

Later that night Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse down in a pursuit that ended when the younger man turned on him and fired off four shots, shooting him dead.

Earlier in his testimony Balch, a military veteran who was armed with an AR-15 and wearing body armor that night, characterized Rosenbaum as, 'hyper-aggressive and acting out in a violent manner.'

He said, 'He was always having to be restrained by someone. The crowd was pretty good about getting in between him and whoever it was.

'If he landed a blow I didn't see it, but he definitely wanted to.'

In contrast Balch described Rittenhouse  whom he believed to be 19 years old  as 'underexperienced and underequipped.'

He said, 'He seemed like an impressionable kid. I felt like as young as he looked and the general way he was carrying himself the protesters would have seen that as a weakness and tried to exploit that.'

In a moment of levity Balch recalled the only direct encounter he witnessed between Rittenhouse and a protester. He said, 'He had one exchange that I saw. Just some random person in the crowd yelled, 'F*** you!'

Balch said Rittenhouse replied, 'I love you too ma'am.'

Balch told the court that he mistakenly believed the hospital bag that Rosenbaum was carrying to contain ammonia and bleach  the ingredients for a Molotov cocktail.

Daily Caller Chief Video Director Richie McGinniss (pictured) took the witness stand Thursday morning as a prosecution witness. He claimed Rittenhouse victim Joseph Rosenbaum 'lunged towards the muzzle' of Rittenhouse's gun in the moment the teen levelled it towards him and shot

Jurors heard the startling testimony as Ryan Balch took the stand Thursday afternoon. Balch, a self-avowed 'boogaloo boi' had traveled to Kenosha to 'police' the community after hearing of the protests and riots that had taken place across the previous nights

Earlier in the day Thursday Daily Caller Chief Video Director Richie McGinniss took the stand to testify that Joseph Rosenbaum 'lunged towards the muzzle' of Kyle Rittenhouse's weapon in the moment the teen leveled it towards him and shot.

McGinniss had traveled to Kenosha to cover the unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake and was so close to the shooting on August 25, 2020, that Rittenhouse has been charged with reckless endangerment.

He told the court he followed Rosenbaum's pursuit of Rittenhouse because he sensed that 'something newsworthy' was about to happen after seeing Rittenhouse running carrying a fire extinguisher in one hand and his AR-15 in the other.

McGinniss had been called as a state witness, but if he had hoped that McGinniss would further his case Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger was disappointed. At times his direct examination seemed more like a contentious cross.

McGinniss detailed the events of the night as he had witnessed them chronicling the 'menacing' atmosphere and random violence up to the point where he found himself just feet behind Rosenbaum as Rittenhouse turned to face him.

Binger focused in on the moment that Rittenhouse pulled the trigger  suggesting that Rosenbaum was already 'falling forward' when the first shot was taken, a key element to the state's contention that Rosenbaum was no threat and that the shooting was therefore not self-defense.

But McGinniss pushed back, with testimony that rendered him more a witness for the defense than the state.

Indeed DailyMail.com has learned that McGinniss, who gave a host of interviews to right-wing outlets in the days following the shooting, was seen speaking with the defense team in a Kenosha hotel last night.

McGinniss said, 'It's unclear to me whether the shots were the reason he was falling because he lunged as the shots were fired. Perhaps it was the shots that caused him to fall forward.

'He was lunging, falling, I would use those as synonymous terms  he threw his momentum towards the weapon. His momentum was going forward and that's the point at which he fired the shots.'

The defense claims Rittenhouse tried to turn himself in for shooting Rosenbaum, but was seized by a mob, including Huber, who they claimed tried to 'decapitate' Rittenhouse

Binger badgered McGinniss to cede the point and agree with him that Rosenbaum was falling when the shots were fired but despite an increasingly tense examination McGinniss would not be swayed.

He insisted that Rosenbaum 'lunged' towards the rifle and that it was in that moment that Rittenhouse, 'levelled [his gun] at Mr. Rosenbaum and fired.'

McGinniss went onto recall how he attempted to comfort Rosenbaum as he sped to hospital with the dying man in the back of a stranger's car.

He said, 'I was telling him we were going to have a beer together afterwards and that it was all doing to be okay. I believe that when I was talking, I like to think, that he could hear me.

'It seemed that his eye was looking at me but it was kind of rolling back and when I started talking it kind of rolled back towards me, looking at me.

'He was having difficulty breathing.'

McGinniss revealed that the crowd were so 'animated' and angry that he was punched in the face as he tried to load Rosenbaum into the car.
A Florida man who is currently jailed for his alleged participation in the Capitol riots on January 6 was arrested after accidentally revealing his illegal cache of explosives while trying to sell his home on Zillow.

Jeremy Brown, a self-described Oath Keeper, former Green Beret, and one-time congressional candidate, was arrested and charged with entering restricted grounds and possession of unregistered firearms on October 2. His arrest came after the FBI spotted a Zillow listing for his home said to show a list of flash bangs, which he wasn't allowed to have.

Federal agents searched the 47 year-old's home last month to find a short-barrel rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, more than 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and two hand grenades.

In court, federal agents claimed they also found $6,000 in cash and a dry-erase board that listed food and other items necessary for life off the grid.

A man who said he was an Oath Keeper providing security looks on ahead of the U.S. Congress certification of the November 2020 election results during protests in Washington. A witness later identified this man as Jeremy Brown

Federal agents found a dry-erase board that listed food, illegal. explosives, and other items necessary for life off the grid in a photo on Zillow listing his home for sale

When federal agents searched his home last month they found a short-barrel rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, more than 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and two hand grenades

Agents also found $6,000 in cash, all of which were noted in his hearing last month

While investigating the 47-year-old man, they found a photo of 'what appears to be Brown's office' in a Zillow listing of his home, according to the search warrant. The photo shows a white board with columns labeled 'Food,' 'Clothing,' 'Shelter,' 'Currency,' 'Communicate,' 'Move,' and 'Shoot,' the search warrant states.

Under the 'shoot' column, 'there are numerous firearms listed and explosive devices such as 'flash bangs,' which the picture indicates he has 'on hand' but is not legally registered to possess, the search warrant explains.

The search warrant also states that Brown was living both in his home and in an RV on his property and recently purchased a trailer, both of which were registered under his girlfriend's name- which has been redacted.

Investigators believe that the stash of explosives are being kept in the RV or trailer.

Brown was arrested and charged with entering restricted grounds and possession of unregistered firearms on October 2

A criminal complaint filed against Brown, notes encrypted chat messages on the Signal app in the weeks leading up to January in which Brown coordinated travel plans to help others get to Washington D.C.

A witness identified Brown to the FBI after photos of him in tactical gear identifying as an Oath Keeper were circulated in the media.

The Oath Keepers is one of the largest far-right antigovernment groups in the country which claims tens of thousands of present and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, according to Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a court hearing last month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sean P. Flynn ordered Brown to remain behind bars citing his threats he made to authorities after they searched his home.

Brown posted a hand written sign outside his home addressed to the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

It urged them to 're-read your oath,' saying they were being used as 'pawns by the enemies of this republic,' and warning when they came back, they should 'bring a bigger tactical package,' according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Brown also has a troubling history with two sheriff's reports documenting times when Brown had been subject to the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows a person to be held for treatment if deemed a threat to themselves or others.

In 2019, Tampa police sought a risk protection order against Brown to seize his guns after relatives reported him missing and expressed concern for his well-being. A judge denied the the request, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

A judge has ordered that Brown remain detained after he posted a threatening message to authorities outside his home after they searched it. (Pictured: A photo posted on Twitter shows Brown wearing full military gear standing more than 100 feet within the restricted grounds at the Capitol building on January 6)

Prosecutors in court last month also highlighted Brown's history of disappearing and played part of a from a June episode of a far-right political podcast in which he brags about not having been arrested for the Capitol riot.

'Well, I'm hard to catch, I'm hard to kill,' he said with a laugh.

Brown served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, 17 of them in special forces. He settled in Tampa after his discharge and filed to run in the 2020 election as a candidate in Florida's 14th congressional district, but withdrew from the race before the primary.

He claims to have information that could help the more than 600 other people charged for participating in the riots which he said he will reveal during his trial.

'I am an expert at what's going on in this country,' he said. 'I am prepared to stay in prison for as long as the government says I need to be there.'
Ahmaud Arbery's mother wept as she watched bodycam footage showing her son's bloodied body for the first time at his murder trial in Georgia on Friday.

Cooper-Jones could be seen crying out in anguish, then leaning on a family member sat next to her during Friday's hearing in Glynn County, Georgia, as responding officer William Duggan's footage was played to jurors for the first time.

Duggan was filmed confronting Travis McMichael - who shot Arbery in February 2020, as well as McMichael's father Gregory and their neighbor William Bryan, who filmed the killing.

Wanda Cooper-Jones said afterward in a brief press conference at the trial that she had 'often avoided the video' of Ahmaud's death but decided Friday 'was time to see' it.

She told reporters the footage from Glynn County Police Officer William Duggan, in which Travis McMichael can be heard saying 'I f---ing killed someone' was 'heartbreaking.'

The footage, in part, shows Duggan approaching Arbery as he lies motionless, his face down in the street. He then turns Arbery over onto his back with his shirt and shorts saturated with blood.

A pool reporter in the courtroom noted that at one point, one of the jurors had to shield their eyes with a notebook as the horrific scene appeared on a TV in front of them.

Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, watched the video depicting the shooting that killed her son

Cooper-Jones told reporters afterward it was the first time she'd watched the video in full

She closed her eyes and covered her ears during the final moment when Arbery was shot

Cooper-Jones, seen in a photo with her son Ahmaud Arbery

Arbery's mom wept as horrific images of her son's dead body were displayed on a screen during Friday's court hearing

Cooper-Jones wept as police bodycam footage showing the aftermath of Arbery's fatal shooting was shown to the court

#RT @nowthisnews: The mother of Ahmaud Arbery became visibly emotional while a video of her sons death played in court on Friday. Wanda Cooper-Jones later revealed that it was her first time watching the video in its entirety.



Cooper-Jones plans to hon pic.twitter.com/IQbPqMR8ou  T.N.T VIRAL US  (@TNTVIRALUS) November 6, 2021

Duggan, an officer of the force for 12 years, took the stand and talked the jury through his bodycam video, which depicts the moment the officer found Arbery on the ground after being shot by Travis McMichael, who chased the black jogger with the help of his father Greg McMichael and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan.

Duggan said when he approached Travis, the 35-year-old was covered in blood. The cop told the court he asked Travis McMichael if he was okay, prompting the killer to respond: 'No, Im not OK, I just f**king killed somebody.'

Meanwhile, Duggan, who has had nearly 190 hours of medical training, determined that Arbery was already dead given 'the blood loss, lack of rise and fall of the chest and the gaping would I saw in his chest.'

'There was nothing I could do,' he told EMS officials as they arrived at the scene shortly after.

His testimony came after prosecutors claim the three white men on trial for the murder of Arbery knew that he was not a burglar despite their claims that they confronted the black jogger because they suspected him of robbery.

Officer William Duggan was the first to take the stand in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on February 23, 2020, while he was out for a run in his neighborhood

Travis McMichael delivered the fatal gunshot wounds that killed Arbery

Greg McMichael sits and listens to the charges placed against him during the trial

William "Roddie" Bryan helped chase Arbery and filmed the fatal interaction

Georgia Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski presented a bodycam video of Greg and his adult son, Travis , speaking with a police officer months before the fatal shooting, with the officer telling them that Arbery, 25, is only a suspected trespasser and loiterer in the area, not a burglar.

'Mr. Arbery has never taken anything from this property. At this point, the McMichaels knew this,' Dunikoski told the nearly all white jury at Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick.

The McMichaels had armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck as he ran through their neighborhood just outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick on February 23, 2020. A neighbor, Bryan, joined the chase and recorded graphic video of Travis shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

Travis's attorney, Robert Rubin, claimed that the former US Coast Guard service member was only trying to defend his neighborhood amid a series of robberies in the area.

The prosecutor was also allowed to show the jury, which has just one black juror on the 12-person panel, a picture of Travis's license plate that features an old Georgia flag with the Confederate battle emblem, after the judge overruled objections by defense lawyers.

Georgia Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, left, claimed Greg McMichael, top right, and son Travis McMichael, knew Ahmed Arbery was not a burglar months before they were caught on video shooting the black jogger in their neighborhood

Dunikoski presented photos highlighting Travis's shadow, demonstrating that he confronted Arbery in front of the car and not backing away from the jogger when he shot him

Police bodycam footage shows the Confederate flag vanity plates on Travis McMichael's pickup truck

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley has slammed the trial for 'intentional discrimination' after just one black juror was picked to sit on the 12-person jury

Georgia's response to the killing has become part of a broader effort to address racial injustice in the criminal legal system after a string of fatal encounters between police and black people such as George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

All three defendants are standing trial together, charged with murder and other felony counts.

Dunikoski said the tragedy befell Arbery for a series of assumptions, 'driveway decisions' and malice about his race and suspicion regarding thefts in the area.

Larry English had long been complaining about thefts on his property when his home surveillance caught video of Arbery on the property in late 2019.

Dunikoski said English and police suspected Arbery of the burglaries for only a brief moment before designating him as a 'strange' trespasser and loiterer who only seemed to walk by the area. Videos of Arbery were shared around the neighborhood in an attempt to identify him.

Despite being told this by police, according to the bodycam video, both McMichaels said they believed Arbery was the serial robber plaguing their neighborhood when they chased after him.

Dunikoski said the men had time to think about what they were doing when they decided to chase the black men with their pick-up truck and guns, but carried on anyway. The McMichaels also called police to say they were chasing Arbery and had him 'trapped like a rat.'

She presented a photograph of the incident, which shows Travis, 35, running towards Arbery in an effort to intercept him before discharging his shotgun.

'The state will show this was an attack on Ahmaud Arbery for five minutes, and all Mr. Arbery did was runaway,' Dunikoski said.

Dunikoski said said the tragedy befell Arbery for a series of assumptions and malice about his race and suspicion regarding thefts in the area

Arbery was video tapped trespassing in the area in late 2019

He was spotted multiple times in October, November, December and February

Rubin claims that the character of the neighborhood had changed in the months leading up to the shooting due to the string of robberies in 2019.

'Satilla Shores was a neighborhood on edge,' Rubin said, alluding that neighbors were putting up cameras, posting worries on Facebook and children were no longer allowed to play outside.

He said Travis felt he had a duty and responsibility to help catch not just the suspected thieves, but also the trespasser, Arbery.

Rubin adds that Travis had come across a trespasser at English's home on the night of February 11, presumably Arbery, who Travis claimed may have been armed in a 9-11 call that night.

He also claimed Arbery was a in fact a burglar, because he was trespassing on the property even if he did not steal anything from English, so Travis had probable cause to chase Arbery.

Rubin said Travis ultimately shot Arbery in self-defense when Arbery ran at him and allegedly tried to grab the shotgun away from him.

Robert Rubin said his client, Travis McMichael, was doing his duty when he chased Arbery

Rubin presented statements from the neighborhood over their fears of the robberies

The jury was shown the video and images taken when the men chased and trapped Arbery

Franklin Hogue, Greg McMichael's attorney, said his defense also believed Arbery was the man who had been burglarizing English's property.

Hogue said Greg, a former officer, used his training to recognize Arbery as the man from the video tapes and notified his son as the two decided to go after him.

Greg was the one speaking with police at the time Travis confronted Arbery. Hogue said Greg believed Arbery was trying to grab Travis's gun.

'He was in abject fear that he was about to see his only son get shot before his very eyes,' Hogue said.

He added that Greg only wanted to arrest Arbery in order to get answers as to why he continued to break into English's property.

Defense Attorney Kevin Gough, representing William 'Roddie' Bryan, said he wanted to forego his opening statement until the state presents its case in chief.

Franklin Hogue said Greg McMichael was afraid Arbery would kill his son

Defense Attorney Kevin Gough, representing William 'Roddie' Bryan, said he wanted to forego his opening statement until the state presents its case in chief

Arbery had been dead for more than two months before the McMichaels and Bryan were charged and jailed last year. Greg McMichael, a retired investigator for the local district attorney, told police the men were trying to stop Arbery because they suspected he was a burglar. Security cameras had recorded him entering a nearby house under construction.

Greg McMichael said his son killed Arbery in self-defense after Arbery attacked with his fists and tried to take Travis McMichael's gun.

Prosecutors say Arbery was merely out jogging, was unarmed and had committed no crimes in the neighborhood. When Bryan's video of the killing leaked online in May 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. GBI agents arrested the McMichaels the next day, and charged Bryan two weeks later.

The killing of Arbery has dominated news stories and social media feeds in Brunswick and surrounding Glynn County, a coastal community of about 85,000 people.

Arbery was chased by the armed McMichaels as he was jogging in February 2020

Arbery, in a white T-shirt, is confronted by Travis McMichael, who holds a shotgun

This combination of booking photos provided by the Glynn County, Ga., Detention Center, shows, from left, Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. On Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, a Georgia judge has ruled that Ahmaud Arbery's mental health records can't be used as trial evidence by the men who chased and killed him.

It took the judge and attorneys 2 1/2 weeks to select a jury. Nearly 200 people summoned to jury duty were questioned extensively about what they knew about the case, how many times they had seen the video and if they had any personal connection to Arbery or the defendants.

Controversy erupted on Wednesday, the final day of jury selection, when prosecutors objected to a final jury consisting of 11 whites and one black juror. They argued that defense attorneys had cut eight potential jurors from the final panel because they are Black, which the U.S. Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional.

The judge agreed there appeared to be 'intentional discrimination,' but said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene because defense attorneys stated non-racial reasons for excluding Black panelists from the jury.

One juror, a white woman, was dismissed Thursday for medical reasons. Fifteen total panelists will hear the trial - 12 jurors plus three alternates. The judge has not given the races of the alternate jurors, and they were not asked to state their race in open court.

Court officials have said the trial could last two weeks or more.

If the defendants are acquitted, their legal troubles won't be over. They have also been indicted on federal hate crime charges. A U.S. District Court judge has scheduled that trial to begin February 7.
Donald Trump said the GOP's surprise Virginial gubernatorial win was due to the Democrats' obsession with him during their campaign.

The former president said Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe and his allies focused too much on him and not Youngkin, who Trump called a 'very good candidate.'

'If you look at what happened in Virginia, it's very interesting. They used my name  the Democrats  so much that they ended up losing,' Trump told Fox News's website. 'One of the reasons [McAuliffe] lost is because he kept saying Trump, Trump, Trump.'

He also claimed that MAGA voters swept the polls because they liked Youngkin's education policy, which has been highlighted through the protests at the Loudoun County Public School District against the teaching of critical race theory.

'The people of Virginia are angry, and the reason we won that state  number one  we had a good candidate and a nice guy and somebody who was really, very gracious, but you also had the MAGA voters come out in force because they're tired of it, and they voted, and they made the difference.'

Former President Donald Trump, pictured in October, said MAGA supporters helped sweep the polls for Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin

Youngkin celebrated said his victory signified a shift in culture where education policies will become key points in the coming elections

Trump and Youngkin pointed to the Loudon County School protests against critical race theory as to why fed up parents would vote for him over his opponent, Terry McAuliffe

Youngkin beat McAuliffe 50.9 per cent to 48.4 per cent in a state that was expected to easily be handed to Democrats, after President Joe Biden won it by 10 points in the 2020 presidential election.

Issues involving education became a central focus of the campaign when parents were concerned they were losing say over their children's time at school  including the teaching of Critical Race Theory and the rights of trans students.

Progressives insist CRT isn't being taught there, conservatives say that youngsters are being instructed on charged subjects seen by their teachers through the lens of CRT, which examines how racism permeates all levels of society.

'Parents across Virginia started to recognize that they really did need to have an important, decisive role in their children's education,' he continued. 'And when they heard Terry McAuliffe say he wants to put government between parents and their children, this ceased to be a campaign and it started to be a movement led by parents.'

During the campaign season, names as big as Biden and former President Barack Obama both came out to campaign for McAuliffe, with the latter insisting culture wars topics were being used Trump-style to stoke voters' fears.

Obama accused Youngkin of stoking fears in order to grow his base, similar to the accusations he made against Trump in 2016.

'They brought in everybody they could bring in,' Trump told Fox. 'It was a great victory in a state that, I happen to think, is much more red than they think.'

Former President Barack Obama, right, gives an elbow bump to Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe during a rally in Richmond, Virginia

Youngkin's victory is seen as a test for the rest of the nation as Democrats fear losing swing states and strongholds to Republicans amid the culture wars over critical race theory.

Conservatives have fought hard against schools implementing the teaching of CRT, which is a way to teach history that links the development of the US and its laws to race.

Republicans claim this teaching is a way to make America seem like a racist nation and they say it focuses too much on dividing students by race.

In April, the county announced that they planned to allocate more then $6 million to 'equity training' which was met with strong opposition by some residents.

Trans issues have also become big in Virginia schools, especially in Loudoun County, the wealthiest county in the U.S.

Parents in the Loudoun County School District protest teaching CRT in schools in June

The school quickly became a symbol for the national debate surrounding 'woke teachings' in public schools. Pictured, parent Shelley Slebrch leading protests inside the school

Parents also protested the school's trans-inclusionary policies

The school board in Loudoun County ruled in August that transgender students could use facilities and participate in school groups, like sports, associated with their gender identity.

A few months later, the wealthy Virginia county was making national headlines for a case involving a rape of a girl student by a teenage boy dressed in a skirt in the women's rest room at school.

That student was later transferred to another school, where he is said to have struck again.

Youngkin had used the case and protests erupting in Loudoun to make promises that he would put an end to teach any CRT courses in the state and fully investigate the rape case after it was found that the school board new about it when they denied such an event could take place.

Youngkin, a businessman before running for office, said he is ready to get to work for Virginians in 'real people time, not government time.'

He is expected to be inaugurated on January 15, 2022.
HBO Real Time host Bill Maher has defended parents who are opposed to Critical Race Theory in public schools, saying it is 'disingenuous' to suggest that they are upset with incorporating African American history into the curriculum.

During his panel discussion on Friday night, Maher debated Vanderbilt professor Michael Eric Dyson about the role parent frustrations played in Tuesday's gubernatorial election in Virginia. It was won by GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin after a last minute surge in support credited to parents worried about what their children are being taught in the state's schools.

Dyson argued that parents were outraged that black history was being 'centered' in schools, saying that they were 'spooked' by CRT even though 'none of them can define it'.

Maher fired back: 'I find that a disingenuous argument because I don't think that is what people are objecting to... They are not objecting to black history being taught. There are other things going on in the schools.'

HBO Real Time host Bill Maher has defended parents who are opposed to Critical Race Theory in public schools

Vanderbilt professor Michael Eric Dyson argued that parents were outraged that black history was being 'centered' in schools, saying that they were 'spooked' by CRT even though 'none of them can define it'

Pressed for examples, Maher said that parents objected to 'separating children by race and describing them either as oppressed or oppressor.'

'I mean, there are children coming home who feel traumatized by this. That's what parents are objecting to,' he added.

Dyson responded by arguing that much of the public discourse over CRT is driven by conservatives who believe the controversial ideology will 'make good publicity.'

'It's not critical race theory, it's the notion of centering black people as historical agents,' he said.

'I think you are underestimating the anti-black sentiment that's deeply entrenched that's way beyond Trump.  It ain't just Donald Trump, it's the [Republican] party itself,' added Dyson.

Defenders of current progressive school policies argue that CRT is a college-level academic theory that isn't taught in schools, and that it's being used as a catch-all term to scare parents.

But those opposed say many lessons and school policies - most under the umbrella of 'diversity, equity and inclusion,' are created by adults influenced by CRT.

Schools have sparked outrage with lessons urging white children to see themselves as oppressors, with black children told they are victims.

And others have created 'affinity groups' where students can spend time with other people of the same race, which critics have condemned as segregation.

In his monologue on Friday, Maher also addressed the election in Virginia, in which Youngkin defeated former governor Terry McAuliffe in a shocking upset for Democrats.

Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated former governor Terry McAuliffe in a shocking upset for Democrats in the Virginia governor's race on Tuesday

Opponents of the academic doctrine known as Critical Race Theory protest outside of the Loudoun County School Board headquarters, in Ashburn, Virginia earlier this year

Education became a hot-button issue in the race after McAuliffe said in a debate that parents shouldn't have any say in what is taught in schools, follow parent protests over alleged CRT elements in education.

Democrats insist that CRT, which holds that racism is systemic in American institutions, is not taught in Virginia's public K-12 schools. Republicans rubbish this claim as false and say there are clear elements of the ideology in the school system.

'Virginia people, the only race they want their kids to be learning about is NASCAR,' joked Maher in his Friday monologue. 'That seems to be the message.'

'I think Democrats should study Critical Race Theory, which is the theory that it's critical to win races,' he added.

Later, during the panel discussion including Dyson, the Vanderbilt professor doubled down on his argument that parents were actually upset about the inclusion of black history in the curriculum.

'I think Democrats should study Critical Race Theory, which is the theory that it's critical to win races,' joked Maher

'But that's not all we're talking about,' Maher pushed back. 'We're talking about kids who seem to be too young sometimes to fully appreciate all this.'

'I think if kids watched you, they wouldn't know a lot of those words. So to ask them as opposed to letting kids be kids, maybe, where usually kids are pretty nice to each other if they're instructed not to be,' Maher said.

Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury also participated in the panel with a conservative perspective, arguing that 'we need to be getting beyond race.'
Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin's son twice tried to vote in the election his father later won - despite being underage, officials say.

Thomas Youngkin, 17, turned up at Great Falls Library in Virginia on two occasions to attempt to vote in the November 2 election his Republican father later won.

Notes written by observer Jennifer Chanty, and seen by WUSA reporter Mike Valerio for the day say: '9:30am, 17 yo voter came in requested ballot. Told he had to 18 today to vote. Offered voter registration. He declined.'

Then in the next entry, for 10am, the observer wrote: 'Same 17 yo voter - named Thomas Youngkin - came back to request a ballot. Again offered opportunity to register - he declined if he would not be able to vote today.'

Thomas Youngkin (right), pictured on stage next to his siblings at a victory rally on November 3, tried to vote for his father twice in Virginia's gubernatorial election

Thomas, pictured behind his mom Suzanne on at a victory rally on November 3, did not vote or break any state election laws, according to election officials

Thomas is pictured with his dad during counting during this week's gubernatorial race, which Glenn Youngkin won

This document released by Fairfax County officials notes that a teenage boy, later confirmed to be Thomas, attempted to vote at the Hickory precinct twice on Tuesday morning

Thomas's name was redacted in a tweet shared by a WUSA reporter, but has since been confirmed by multiple media outlets.

Fairfax County official released a statement Friday identifying Youngkin's son and confirming that he did not vote or violate any state election laws, because he didn't attempt to conceal his real age and vote fraudulently. No charges will be filed.

A spokesman for Youngkin confirmed events, saying Thomas had 'misunderstood' the rules - but made no attempt to say why he'd tried to vote twice.

Thomas, a high school junior, presented his driver's license at the Great Falls Library when Jennifer Chanty, the precinct captain, told him he was too young.

Chanty said she offered to register the boy to vote in upcoming elections but he declined and left the building.

She recounted that the teen returned about 30 minutes later insisting that his friend who is also 17-years-old was able to vote and therefore he should be able to cast his ballot.

According to Virginia's election laws, a 17-year-old can can cast their ballot in a primary election if they'll be 18-years-old at the time of the general election.

'I told him, 'I don't know what occurred with your friend, but you are not registered to vote today. You're welcome to register, but you will not be voting today,' ' Chanty said.

Chanty noted that the Youngkins are not registered to vote at the Hickory precinct. 'It was just weird,' she said. 'He was very insistent that he wanted to vote in this election and I said, 'Well, you're not old enough.''

While she thought the teen's actions were odd she does not believe he had bad intentions.

'Teenagers do stupid things,' Chanty said. 'I'll chalk it up to that. I'll believe that first before anything else.'

Fairfax County released the Observation, Comments, and Suggestions notes from the Hickory Precinct on November 2. The first two lines note a 17-year-old boy who attempted to cast a vote at 9:30 am and again at 10 am.

Scott O. Konopasek, the head of Fairfax's elections office, confirmed that according to Chanty's account, the boy, later identified as Thomas, did not break any state election laws.

Konopasek said the teen 'did not vote,' 'made no false statements,' and 'did not disrupt voting' therefore 'he committed no election offense as defined in Chapter 10 of the Elections Code.'

Youngkin, a Republican former private equity executive, defeated former Governor Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday after running a campaign in which he made 'election integrity' one of his issues.

Glenn Youngkin, pictured, went on to win the governorship, and his son won't face any charges because he was honest about his age, and did not try to attempt to vote using fraudulent information.

His victory came after a late surge in polls credited to parents concerns about progressive teachings in Virginia's schools, on issues such as race and gender.

While Youngkin kept former Republican President Donald Trump at a distance in an attempt to win over moderates offended by Trump's style, his promotion of 'election integrity' was coded language to appeal to voters who erroneously believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Devin O'Malley, a spokesman for Youngkin, released a statement about the incident involving Youngkin's son on Friday.

'It's unfortunate that while Glenn attempts to unite the Commonwealth around his positive message of better schools, safer streets, a lower cost of living, and more jobs, his political opponents  mad that they suffered historic losses this year  are pitching opposition research on a 17-year old kid who honestly misunderstood Virginia election law and simply asked polling officials if he was eligible to vote; when informed he was not, he went to school,' the statement read.

This comes as Republicans have continued to push baseless claims of election fraud since Trump's loss in 2020.

Trump even began spewing speculation ahead of Virginia's high-profile gubernatorial election before Youngkin was elected. He said in a statement that he was 'not a believer in the integrity of Virginias elections, lots of bad things went on, and are going on.'

Yet in his statement congratulating Youngkin on his win, Trump made no mention of the integrity of the election and credited his own supporters with the win.
Pawel Pazola, 51, from Crawley, west Sussex, has been jailed for 14 years after pretending to be a police officer with a fake gun and badge to rape two Brazilian prostitutes

A rapist who pretended to be a police officer with a fake gun and badge was today jailed for 14 years for sex attacks on prostitutes.

Pawel Pazola, 51, from Crawley, west Sussex, used the gun to subdue the two Brazilian victims while raping them.

He was sentenced for for two counts of rape, one count of robbery, one count of impersonating a police officer and one count of possession of an imitation firearm.

His victims were two sex workers who were in London at the time of the attacks in 2020.

The sentencing at Wood Green Crown Court came after he was found guilty of all charges on September 2 following a trial that lasted two weeks.

During the trial, the court heard details about how Pazola first contacted his victims via an online escort service.

He raped the first victim on August 7 last year after meeting her at an address in Camden, where he forced her to engage in sexual acts beyond what they had agreed.

The second rape took place on August 22, 2020, in Bayswater, Westminster. Again, Pazola used force to get the victim to carry out sex acts that she had not agreed to.

On both occasions, Pazola pretended to be a police officer and threatened to deport the victims if they didn't comply.

In the second attack, he even produced a fake police badge and fake gun.

After raping the victims, he took back the money he had initially paid them. He also stole additional money from his second victim.

This fake gun was found in Pazola's home during a police search. He used it to subdue his victims

The first victim had already reported Pazola to the police on August 10, just 12 days before he carried out his second attack.

The second victim reported her incident to the police on August 27, with the encouragement of the first victim, who she had met on a WhatsApp group for Brazilian sex workers in the UK.

Pazola was arrested three days after he was reported for the second time, on August 30, at an address in Crawley following an investigation by detectives from the Central North's Serious Sexual Offences Team.

An imitation police badge, a black replica handgun and 1,380 in cash were seized at his property during a police search.

An imitation police badge, a black replica handgun and 1,380 in cash were seized at his property during a police search

The next day, Pazola was charged and sent to appear at the Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court where he was remanded in custody ahead of trial.

His victims testified against him via video link throughout his trial, as they had both since returned to Brazil.

Detective Sergeant Sam Lockstone, who led the investigation, said: 'Pazola is a highly dangerous predator who sought to take advantage of the victims' perceived vulnerabilities for his own gratification and monetary gain.

'I would like to praise the victims for showing such bravery and courage throughout this investigation and during the trial. I am especially pleased that our supportive response to the first victim encouraged the second victim to come forward.

'The Met's response to sex work has not changed; our priority remains addressing vulnerability and exploitation linked to on-street, off-street and online sex work.

'Our approach is not to criminalise the sex workers involved but to safeguard and support them, and build mutual trust and confidence to encourage the sharing of information to improve safety.

'I hope that this sentence demonstrates the Met's commitment to tackling crimes against sex workers, and violence against women and girls in whatever form it may take.'

After his release from his 14-year sentence, Pazola will remain on licence for a further four years.

Pazola has also been made subject to sex offenders notification requirement for the rest of his life.
Scientists have said British holidaymakers must stop having sex with strangers on Gran Canaria's famous sand dunes.

Research found that so many people are travelling to the Canary Island to have open-air illicit sex on the dunes that rare plants and bushes are being destroyed.

The study discovered nearly 300 favourite locations on the vast area of sand located on the south side of the island.

Scientists have said British holidaymakers must stop having sex with strangers on Gran Canaria's famous sand dunes (pictured, file photo)

Covering around 1,000 acres of the island found off the coast of Africa, the dunes have been protected as a nature reserve since 1987 and are considered one of the greatest natural treasures in Spain.

Researchers have been carrying out a detailed study into the impact on the dunes of 'cruising' which involves anonymous sexual encounters in public places.

And they have concluded that the activities carried out have a direct impact on the dunes and on eight native plant species, three of which are endemic.

The study was carried out by the Group of Physical Geography and Environment, the Institute of Oceanography and Global Change (IOCAG-ULPGC) and the Beach and Dune Systems (BEADS) Laboratory of Flinders University.

Their conclusions have now been published in a report entitled ' 'Sand, Sun, Sea and Sex with Strangers, the five S's'.

The researchers point out that the dunes and coastal beaches are examples of open public spaces where these sexual practices are widely carried out, to the point of having been identified and defined by the bibliography as the 'Four S' (sand, sun, sea and sex; in English).

'In this sense, there are abundant studies that have addressed the issue of the relationship between tourism and sex (sexual tourism) but few have analysed the consequences of these practices on the natural environment, especially when the spaces where these activities take place are protected areas,' said a spokesman.

The experts located and recorded all the points where sexual encounters (sex spots) happened.

They then collected information related to the dimensions or internal distribution of these spaces, as well as the type of sexual use, their geographical position, the coverage and type of vegetation and the environmental impacts or the lack of management actions.

There were subsequently examined, collated and analysed spatially and statistically using geographic information systems (GIS).

Pictured: A map showing the location of the Maspalomas, where the sand dunes are found on the south of Gran Canaria island

The results show that the total area occupied by the 298 located sexual meeting points is 5,763.85 m2.

These sex spots are related to the distance to the authorised trails in the protected area, the presence of very dense vegetation, and the dunes stabilised by vegetation (nebkhas).

The larger the size of the sex spot, the greater the number of people who use it, as well as the probability that it is a low area covered with vegetation and with a greater amount of waste.

The activities carried out at these sexual points have a direct impact on the dunes and on eight species of native plants, three of which are endemic.

The researchers point out that Maspalomas is not the only coastal dune field that registers this type of activity in the world, since other similar places are known in Australia, France or Portugal, among many others.

'However, given the nature of the study and the complexity of performing socio-ecological analyzes of these processes, this type of event has been little studied.

For this reason, the topic on which this report is inscribed is of international interest, because, for the first time, it has been possible to characterise and analyse the environmental impact of this activity in a protected area,' said the spokesman.

An aerial photograph of the Maspalomas dunes on the Spanish Canary island of Gran Canaria

'On a practical level, between September 2018 and July 2019, 159 of these points were eliminated and 1,244.49 m3 of dry vegetation were removed, uprooted and killed by the people who practice this activity in the aforementioned Reserve.'

The authors said they had no intention whatsoever to offend the LGBTI community and note that Gran Canaria has been gay-friendly for years, welcoming gay tourists from all over the world, especially the UK, the USA and Germany.

What they hope will come out of the report is a better understanding how cruising in the dunes can be managed and the environment protected when green issues are now so important.

In some of the sex spots, branches had been cut or bushes uprooted to provide greater privacy and also rubbish was being left behind, including cigarette butts, torn/cut vegetation, toilet paper and wipes, condoms, fruit peel and cans.

The report stated: 'The direct impacts generated around the sex spots can be observed in several ways, such as the impacts on the vegetation, the abandonment of waste or the presence of urinal and defecation,' says the report. 'In general, data from the fieldwork allow us to calculate that a

A total area of 58 hectares has been altered to build the 298 sex spots identified,. The almost constant presence of people means that the dominant processes are human-induced processes such as stepping on the plants, removing the plants and the sand, creating nests.'

Since 2018, the authorities have been working on a major project to protect the dunes.

The study discovered nearly 300 favourite locations on the vast area of sand located on the south side of the island (pictured in an aerial photograph)

'It is a benchmark environmental project with the main aim of protecting and conserving the natural Dune area, one of our most important environmental resources and a protected natural space with incalculable ecological value,' said a spokesman for the island's government.

'For several decades, the dune system has suffered increasingly obvious degradation with a constant loss of sand, mainly due to urban development processes and human impact, which has altered the dynamics of the wind and the dunes.

It is estimated that around 45,000 cubic metres of sand are lost each year that end up at the bottom of the sea.'

'This has caused an uncontrolled increased in vegetation in the inner zones, reducing the area occupied by the dunes and increasing the erosion, affecting biodiversity and generating a very negative impact on the animals and plants living in the zone. If this situation continues, the dune reserve might disappear in less than a generation.'
Two children have been arrested after threatening drivers with a fake gun and knife in Walsall, police have said.

West Midlands Police said they had receved reports from drivers that the boys were threatening motorists near Reedswood Retail Park in Walsall.

Police also noted that they were attempting to use the fake weapons in order to get drivers to hand over their vehicles.

The incident took place near and in Reedswood Retail Park in Walsall

Armed police were deployed to the scene and detained four boys - two were aged 12, one was 11 and one was 7.

A toy gun that was painted black and a kitchen knife was taken off the wannabe thugs.

The gang also were reproted to be throwing stones at cars.

The rampage then allegedly continued as the boys went into a shop at the retail park and threated staff.

The 7-year-old is under the age of criminal responsibilty in the UK.

Police have not confirmed whether they are looking to charge the children with any offences.
A British national has been arrested in Ireland for making threats to kill a female Labour MP just three days after Sir David Amess was stabbed to death, police have said.

The 41-year-old man was detained in Douglas near Cork today by officers from the Special Detective Units in Cork and Dublin, with armed support.

Up to 15 gardai were involved in the operation which led to the arrest outside the man's rented apartment at 7.30am.

A British national has been arrested in Ireland for making threats to kill a Labour MP just three days after Sir David Amess was stabbed to death

He has been taken to the Bridwell Garda station (pictured) where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act

The suspect phoned the MP and allegedly made death threats on October 18, and gardai were alerted by British officers.

He has been taken to the Bridwell Garda station where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act where he will be held for 24 hours for questioning, The Irish Times reported.

The alleged terrorist accused of fatally stabbing Sir David Amess will enter pleas next month at the Old Bailey ahead of a potential trial in March next year.

Ali Harbi Ali is charged with murdering the Conservative MP for Southend West during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on October 15.

The 25-year-old British defendant, who is in custody, is also charged with preparing acts of terrorism between May 1, 2019 and September this year.

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, is charged with murdering the Conservative MP for Southend West last month

A draft indictment claims Ali engaged in reconnaissance of locations of targets to attack including addresses associated with MPs and the Houses of Parliament.

He also allegedly did online research relating to targets to attack. Ali appeared on Friday morning at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing by videolink from HMP Belmarsh.

Wearing a pale blue jumper, Ali spoke only to confirm his name. The judge Mr Justice Sweeney set a preparatory and plea hearing for December 21.

A provisional trial date has already been identified for March 7 next year. Following the brief hearing, the defendant was remanded into custody.

Ali appears via videolink from HMP Belmarsh for an Old Bailey hearing on October 22

Sir David with (from left) daughter Katie, wife Julia and other daughters Flo, Sarah and Alex at Flo's wedding in August. On October 15, the veteran MP was pronounced dead at the scene

Ali is accused of travelling by train from his home in Kentish Town, North London, to attend 69-year-old Sir David's surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church.

During the meeting, he was allegedly seen to use his mobile phone before standing up, producing a large knife from his pocket and repeatedly stabbing Sir David.

The veteran MP was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.10pm and a preliminary post-mortem report gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds to the chest.

Ali was arrested at the scene and later charged before appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, which heard he had been plotting to kill an MP for two years.

Forensic officers at the scene near the Belfairs Methodist Church in Essex on October 15

People look at flowers left by the police cordon near Belfairs Methodist Church on October 17

On October 22, Ali appeared at the Old Bailey for the first time by videolink from high security Belmarsh prison in South East London.

In that hearing, the defendant lifted up his face mask to confirm his name and date of birth and was not asked to enter pleas to the charges.

Ali's barrister, Kevin Toomey, made no application for bail in that hearing and the defendant was remanded in custody.

The Crown Prosecution Service alleges the murder has a terrorist connection because of its 'religious and ideological' motives.
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Britain's Covid crisis continued to shrink today, official data showed as amid hopes a triple boost of falling infections, faster booster jabs and a 'wonder pill' will aid the UK's fight against the virus this winter.

Department of Health bosses posted a further 30,693 new infections over the last 24 hours, down 25 per cent on the 41,278 recorded last Saturday.

It was the 14th day in a row cases fell week-on-week, barring Monday  a blip that was down to Wales not publishing any infection numbers the previous week.

The number of people dying with the virus also fell 6.6 per cent to 155, down from 166 last Saturday.

And hospitalisations fell to 1,055 on Tuesday, the latest date data is available for. They were down 3.2 per cent on the previous week.

The figures come after hopes in Britain's fight against the virus were booster by faster booster jabs, a new treatment that can half the risk of serious infection, as well as plunging infection rates.

From Monday the double vaccinated will be able to book their third dose a month earlier than before.

In a second significant development, a new antiviral pill has been found to slash the risk of vulnerable people being hospitalised or dying from coronavirus.

And official figures yesterday showed that the infection rate and the R-rate have both fallen. Cases have dropped by a third in a fortnight  from 49,298 to 34,029.

Britain is no longer 'Europe's Covid capital': Belgium, Austria and Ireland's outbreaks overtake UK Britain's Covid outbreak is no longer the worst in Western Europe, according to official data that shows infections are beginning to soar across the continent. Cases spiked in the UK when schools went back in September, which led to the country being branded Europe's coronavirus capital by advocates of the Government's 'Plan B' strategy. Many scientists, including No10's own, argued that the UK was only recording higher case, hospital and death rates because it is testing far more than other EU nations. But latest statistics show Austria, Belgium and Ireland have all overtaken Britain in Western Europe's infections league table. This is despite all three countries having a mix of tougher restrictions, including face masks, work from home guidance and vaccine passports. And Germany today reported its highest ever daily infection toll, prompting the country's health minister to warn the fourth wave has hit the country with 'full force'. The World Health Organization warned Europe is 'back at the epicentre' of the pandemic. Britain led the way with Covid vaccinations at the start of the year and was months ahead of the rest of the EU, which many scientists believe led to immunity waning quicker here and left the country vulnerable to another uptick in cases. Advertisement

In other coronavirus developments:

A hospital boss warned patients may be despatched up to 88 miles away for treatment in a stark message to staff over a bed crisis at its hospital;

The FTSE regained more ground on the back of positivity surrounding the breakthrough with Pfizers Covid pill;

It was announced Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, one of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine inventors, is set to deliver this years prestigious Richard Dimbleby Lecture;

A headteachers' union said Ofsted should defer school and college inspections on request because of the ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic;

A mother who gave birth to 'miracle' baby while on life support last year with Covid urged pregnant women to get vaccinated;

Official data showed Britain's Covid outbreak is no longer the worst in Western Europe with infections beginning to soar across the continent.

One expert said the latest figures suggested that coronavirus infections may now have peaked across England.

Ministers have faced fierce criticism over booster jabs, with the sluggish pace of the rollout blamed for high case numbers.

So far third doses could only be booked when they become due  six months after a second jab. That resulted in people waiting weeks for a convenient appointment, at a time when their immunity was waning.

But next week bookings can be made a month in advance online or by calling 119.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the Mail last night: 'Ahead of the peak winter season these are three really important developments that give us hope. The best thing anyone can do, to keep the virus at bay, is get their jab if they haven't already or their booster as soon as they are eligible.'

He added: 'Covid-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your family ahead of a challenging winter and this change to the booking system will make it as easy as possible for people to book their booster jabs.

From Monday the double vaccinated will be able to book their third dose a month earlier than before

Pfizer pill slashes risk of getting seriously ill By Victoria Allen, Science Correspondent for the Daily Mail A new antiviral pill slashes the risk of vulnerable people being hospitalised with or dying from Covid-19 by almost 90 per cent. Britain has already ordered a quarter of a million doses of the drug, called Paxlovid. This week it was first in the world to approve a similar antiviral, molnupiravir, which can be taken at home by high-risk people. The UK has secured 480,000 doses. Trials of Paxlovid, involving an initial 1,219 participants, were stopped early because it worked so well. Among those who took the drug  which is made by US firm Pfizer  within three days of getting Covid symptoms, less than 1 per cent were admitted to hospital and none died. Those given a dummy pill did much worse, with 7 per cent hospitalised and seven deaths. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the results were 'incredible' and that the medical regulator would now assess the drug's safety and effectiveness. He said: 'If approved, this could be another significant weapon in our armoury to fight the virus alongside our vaccines and other treatments, including molnupiravir, which the UK was the first country in the world to approve this week.' Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said: 'Today's news is a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic. 'These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorised by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients' lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalisations.' Pfizer's combination treatment contains a 'protease inhibitor', which blocks a key enzyme Covid needs to multiply in the body. This is given with a low dose of an HIV drug called ritonavir, which keeps it in the body for longer to counteract the virus. The pill works differently to molnupiravir, which was approved by the medical regulator on Thursday and is made by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and MSD  the UK arm of US pharmaceutical giant Merck. Molnupiravir works by incorporating genetic errors into the virus so that it is less able to replicate. But both antiviral pills represent a landmark change in how the pandemic is tackled, as they could be taken at home without the need for infusions or injections. When people were given Paxlovid within three days of symptoms appearing, 1 per cent were hospitalised in the following 28 days, and none died. That compared to seven deaths among people given a dummy pill, among whom 6.7 per cent were hospitalised. The trials involved those who were unvaccinated, infected with the virus and were considered high-risk for hospitalisation due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The results have not yet been published in a journal or checked by other scientists. Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, said the antivirals are 'a vital element for the care of clinically vulnerable people who may be unable to either receive or respond to vaccines'. Advertisement

'This will accelerate the booster programme, ensure the NHS is able to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, and importantly help more people maintain protection against Covid-19 as we know immunity will dip over time.

'Please do not delay  come and get the jab to keep the virus at bay.'

Ministers had hoped to offer boosters to 32million people by Christmas but this is looking increasingly unlikely. Only nine million have been given so far.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's health spokesman, has written to Mr Javid calling for more community pharmacies and walk-in clinics to give boosters and children's jabs. He warned action was needed to tackle the 'pitifully low' vaccination rate in youngsters. Just one in four 12 to 15-year-olds has been jabbed, despite a target to vaccinate them all by October half term.

Six million people in England who had a second dose at least six months ago and are eligible for a booster are yet to have it, with the gap continuing to widen, according to the Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group.

Protection against symptomatic disease falls from 65 per cent three months after the second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab to 45 per cent after six months. The figures for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are 90 per cent and 65 per cent.

Over the same timescales, protection against hospitalisation falls from 95 per cent to 75 per cent for Oxford/AstraZeneca and from 99 per cent to 90 per cent for Pfizer/BioNTech. A small change in effectiveness has major repercussions. A drop from 95 per cent to 90 per cent protection against hospitalisation would lead to a doubling of admissions in the vaccinated.

Early results from Pfizer show that a booster restores protection back up to 95.6 per cent against symptomatic infection.

Maggie Throup, the vaccines minister, said: 'The Covid-19 booster programme is making great progress  thank you to the NHS and everybody who has come forward so far to secure vital protection ahead of the winter.

'I encourage everybody eligible for a booster and flu vaccine to book your jab as soon as possible to keep yourself and your loved ones safe over the coming months.'

Clinical guidance was updated last week to enable Covid boosters to be given slightly earlier to those judged at highest risk. This allows care home residents who may have received their second doses at different times to be vaccinated in the same session, as long as it has been five months since their second dose.

It may also help with other vulnerable groups, such as housebound patients, so that they can have their flu and Covid vaccines at the same time. Covid boosters have been delivered or booked in at almost every older adult care home in England.

Over 9,700 care homes  almost nine in ten  have been visited since the rollout began in mid-September and a further 1,100 homes have visits scheduled for the coming weeks. More than four in five eligible residents have now had their top-up jab.

Some care homes cannot be visited currently because of norovirus or Covid outbreaks but dates have been agreed for future visits, NHS England said.

Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, said: 'Seven million people in England have already received their lifesaving booster vaccine, as the NHS moved at pace to get jabs in arms.

'While this winter is undoubtedly going to be different, the most important thing you can do is come forward for both your Covid booster and flu jab as soon as possible  now with the added convenience of booking in advance  making it even easier to protect yourself and loves ones.'

The Government yesterday said a further 193 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.
Police are investigating the death of a retired pharmacist who was today found dead after a fire at her detached village home.

Anne Peterson, 79, lived alone in Old Street, Newton Flotman, near Norwich, Norfolk.

The widow lived on a quiet road where house prices average 280,000.

Her death is being treated as 'unexplained' by police and forensic officers have begun a crime scene investigation to try and establish how she died.

Norfolk Fire Service investigators are also looking into the cause of the fire which is currently unknown.

The inferno was tackled by five crews of firefighters at the detached home, which is close to the main A140 road between Norwich and Ipswich, after the alarm was jailed just after 3am.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service alerted police at 3.50am after her body was found in the house.

Police are investigating (pictured) after a retired pharmacist called Anne Peterson, 79, was found dead at her detached home following a fire in the early hours of his morning

One neighbour said: 'She was a very kind-hearted. I am very shocked because I only saw her yesterday and she was fine.'

Peter Hale, 85, who lives next door to Mrs Peterson's home said: 'I don't think I had seen her since her husband died because she never left the house.

'I remember her being friendly when I used to see her. It is a mystery how the fire could have started.

'She and her husband had the house for around 40 years or so. She worked as a stand-in pharmacist for many years.'

Mrs Peterson's death is being treated as 'unexplained' by police and forensic officers have begun a crime scene investigation to try and establish how she died. Pictured: Her detached Norfolk home where the fire occurred

Other neighbours said they saw fire engines and police cars in the street as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Mrs Peterson was a mother-of-two with three grandchildren who had mobility problems and used a walking frame.

Husband John Peterson died from cancer in December 2019 aged 77 and was a retired computer science lecturer at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Mr Peterson was a Liberal Democrat councillor on South Norfolk Council for around 20 years until standing down in 2007.

Villagers said he was a keen local historian who was interested in Roman archaeology as well as being a model railways enthusiast.

A Norfolk Police statement said: 'Police are investigating a fatal house fire in Newton Flotman.

'Officers were called by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service at 3.50am this morning to reports of a fire at an address in Old Street and a body was discovered within the property.

'The death is currently being treated as unexplained and the cause of the fire is unknown at this stage.

'A police cordon remains in place while Crime Scene Investigators and fire investigators carry out enquiries to establish the cause.'
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A 'cannibal' solar flare triggered a spectacular Northern Lights show across Northern parts of the United States on Wednesday, with the hues seen as far south as California and Connecticut.

It came as the result of three outbursts from the sun, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), since Monday. The third outburst overtook the two previous CMEs to become a 'cannibal' solar flare and 'ate' it.

Its turbocharged energy resulted in the colorful nighttime display, which happens as a result of electrons colliding with the Earth's thin upper atmosphere.

The flare reached the earth's magnetic field on Wednesday resulting in a level 3 - out of a 5 point scale- geomagnetic storm. The storm resulted in a stunning show of the Northern Lights from Washington to Maine.

Friday's beautiful storm was even seen in some parts of California and Connecticut, whose latitudes are normally too far south to catch the displays.

The outbursts are connected to sunspots, which are magnetic storms on the sun's surface.

Hongming Zheng captured the stunning scene of the Northern Lights in Lincoln, California on Wednesday, November 4

The Northern California sky was illuminated by a spectacular red glow as the aurora borealis peaked through the clouds

The beautiful display was only seen for a few minutes Wednesday night , as is common for the Northern Lights

Bright green lights brighten up the sky above North Dakota on Monday November 1 as the geomagnetic storm began

The Northern Lights illuminated the night sky in North Dakota as solar flares reacted to the Earth's magnetic fields

The beautiful natural phenomena was also spotted in Northeast Montana as clouds began to roll in but did not block the view

Photographer Hongming Zheng captured the Northern Lights as they illuminated the sky in stunning shades of red as south as Lincoln, California.

Solar flares bring an influx of electrons that interact with the oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's magnetic field surrounding the planet. In turn, this produces the colorful waves of the aurora borealis - the scientific term for the Northern Lights.

The sun's activity is tracked in an 11-year cycle. The sun is currently in 'solar cycle 25,' which scientists expect to peak in the summer of 2025.

'The last several years really we've had very little activity, as is the case during solar minimum, but now we're ramping up and ramping up quite fast into the next solar cycle maximum, which we expect in 2025,' Bill Murtagh, a program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told Space.com.

'We're seeing the increase in activity that one would expect with this rise in the solar cycle,' Murtagh said. 'This is kind of our awakening phase.'

He explained the CMEs as 'a billion-ton cloud of plasma gas with magnetic fields'. 'So the sun shot a magnet out into space and that magnet made the 93-million-mile transit from the sun to the Earth.'

While the Northern Lights are typically easier to spot in dark remote locations, the lights this week were strong enough to dazzle over the bright city skyline in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Drone footage recorded the moment orange, yellow, and green light from the aurora borealis shimmered in the Alberta sky

Bright colorful lights were recorded dancing in the dark sky above Manitoba, Canada putting on a beautiful display

Pink and green lights flashed among the stars in Manitoba, Canada this week as three solar flares traveled to Earth's orbit

The Earth has its own magnetic field which reacted to the CMEs magnetic fields causing the geomagnetic storm this week.

The first two CMEs essentially cleared the path for the third CME which 'cannibalized' the previous two to travel the 93-million-mile to reach Earth's orbit.

Dr. Mark Conde, a physics professor with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, explained the phenomenon to Fox News.

'Most likely, neither (CME) would, by themselves, have ejected enough material to produce more than a moderate disturbance at Earth,' Conde said. 'But in this case, the blast front ejected by the second flare was traveling to Earth faster than the material shot out by the first flare - so it over-ran the expanding front of material from the first flare.'

Conde explained the third CME became a 'Cannibal' solar when it caught up to Sunday's flare 'and sort of (ate) it.'

'Several CMEs occurred 1-2 Nov, to include a full halo CME,' the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tweeted

'G3 storm levels were reached at 03/2359 UTC due to anticipated CME arrival,' the NOAA Space Weather account tweeted

'The two combined to produce a much bigger effect at Earth than either CME would have done alone.' The combined flares hit the Earth at 1.8 million mph, which is nearly triple the average speed that CME travels under calm conditions, according to Fox News.

A CME can grow as it travels through space depending on the size of the CME and how the two magnetic fields align.

Murtagh explained that scientist are able to model how a CME will travel but only after the magnetic field is measured once the outburst reaches the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a NOAA spacecraft which hovers a million miles from the Earth towards the sun.

At that point, the geomagnetic storm is typically about 20 to 30 minutes away from hitting the earth.

These types of storms have happen hundreds of times but they can impact crucial infrastructure, including power grids, navigation satellites, and airplane radio communications in remote areas.
Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe had his New York home raided by FBI agents Saturday over a stolen diary said to belong to President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley.

Authorities raided O'Keefe's Westchester County residence on Fenimore Road in Mamaroneck just a day after O'Keefe himself acknowledged Project Veritas was being probed. O'Keefe is yet to make a comment on Saturday's raid.

It came hours after a Friday raid on two other properties connected to the group, including an apartment in a Midtown Manhattan block, and a home in Mamaroneck, close to the location of Saturday's raid at O'Keefe's apartment.

Project Veritas did not publish the handwritten diary, as O'Keefe said in a video released Friday that the group could not confirm the authenticity of the diary, its belonging to Ashley Biden or that the contents of the diary were truthful.

The diary was obtained by Project Veritas just a week before the 2020 Presidential Election, and later published by a right-wing website days before America went to the polls. It says it obtained the diary from a 'tipster' who'd obtained it after staying in a location that Ashley Biden had previously visited.

Project Veritas bills itself as a journalism nonprofit, and uses undercover tactics to expose mainstream media bias against conservatives.

The investigation, ordered by the Department of Justice (DOJ), was carried out by both federal investigators and federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to the New York Times.

O'Keefe is seen at CPAC in August 2020 in National Harbor, Maryland

His apartment in this block in Westchester County was raided early on Saturday morning

Ashley Biden, 40, is the only daughter of Joe and Jill Biden

The FBI searched two locations in New York linked to Project Veritas as part of an investigation into how Ashley Biden's diary was stolen and published online. She is pictured center at her father's 2021 inauguration

A spokesperson for the FBI said that agents had 'performed law enforcement activity' at the building, but did not give any details of the investigation. O'Keefe has yet to comment.

O'Keefe said Friday that Project Veritas had been offered the diary by tipsters who said that the then-Democratic candidate's daughter left it in a room where she stayed and the tipsters stayed after she departed. O'Keefe said that the tipsters said they were shopping it around to other outlets to see who would offer money for it.

O'Keefe then claimed that once they got hold of the journal, they attempted to return it to an attorney representing Ashley. The attorney refused to authenticate the diary, so he said they then turned it into law enforcement.

O'Keefe, who is suing the New York Times for defemation, claimed the raids were politically-motivated.

But another conservative news site did publish the full 112-page diary, on Oct. 28, 2020, one week before the election. It was largely ignored by media and other conservative news sites that were likely skeptical of its authenticity. The Department of Justice's involvement, however, boosts the likelihood that the writings are genuinely those of the first daughter.

The website claimed to have obtained the diary from a whistleblower who worked for a media organization that had declined to publish the story.

Ashley has kept a much lower profile than her half-brother Hunter, whose business dealings former President Trump had his sights set on at the time of the diary's publication.

Last year, the DOJ launched an investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes.

Meads, a longtime Project Veritas operative and confidant of O'Keefe, has lived in the 35th street apartment in Midtown Manhattan that the FBI raided since 2019

One of the raids was conducted on the Project Veritas office in Mamaroneck, N.Y., north of New York City.

O'Keefe said in the video that Project Veritas had received a grand jury subpoena and the DOJ had asked, but not ordered, the group not to disclose the existence of the subpoena. O'Keefe said that he did not know who had leaked the raid to the New York Times.

'In what world is the alleged theft of a diary investigated by the president's FBI and his DOJ? A diary. This fed investigation smacks of politics,' O'Keefe said.

The DOJ under President Trump had opened an investigation into theft of the diary after a member of the Biden team reported it to authorities in October 2020. The representative of the Biden family had said that several of Ashley Biden's belongings had been stolen, according to the Times.

Meads, a longtime Project Veritas operative and confidant of O'Keefe, has lived in the 35th street apartment in Midtown Manhattan that the FBI raided since 2019.

Ashley, 40, is the sole daughter of Joe, 78, and First Lady Jill, 70. She is married to Philadelphia-based surgeon Dr. Howard Krein.

Ashley, 40, is the sole daughter of Joe, 78, and First Lady Jill, 70. She is married to Philadelphia-based surgeon Dr. Howard Krein

Project Veritas' undercover investigations and secret recordings have targeted Democrats, Planned Parenthood, media outlets like CNN and the Washington Post, Facebook and even Pfizer-BioNTech.

At one point, former British spy Richard Seddon was recruited to train operatives at Project Veritas.

Seddon owns a company, Branch Six Consulting International, registered to an address in Sheridan, Wyo. Flyover Media, the company that owns the website that published the diary, is registered to that same address.

The founder of Project Veritas was once president of a company that was also registered the the same address.

Project Veritas is currently suing the New York Times for libel over a video they published containing allegations of voter fraud. The Times called the video 'deceptive' and full of 'misinformation.'
Iran's supreme court in the capital of Tehran has upheld death sentences for adultery against a 27-year-old and his 33-year-old lover after the man's father-in-law denied them clemency.

The man's wife, who presented police with video evidence of her husband's infidelity early this year, had asked the courts to spare the pair the death penalty, the Shargh Daily said.

Yet her father demanded that the death sentence be imposed and the court found in his favour, the paper added.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, Iran carried out 246 executions last year, just one in public. Pictured: An Iranian flag in flies above Tehran, Iran's capital city

Iranian law provides that if a victim's family forgives the accused in a capital crime, the convict can be either pardoned or given a jail sentence.

Under the interpretation of Islamic Sharia law in force since Iran's 1979 revolution, adultery is punishable by stoning.

However, Tehran changed the law in 2013 to allow judges to order an alternative method of execution, usually hanging.

It was unclear what form of execution the court ordered in the latest case.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, Iran carried out 246 executions last year, just one in public.

It gave no breakdown of the number carried out for adultery.
Disgraced ex-NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's former girlfriend Sandra Lee made a very glamorous return to the Big Apple for a gala held among a famed set of ruins.

On Thursday the 55-year-old professional chef posted sultry selfies in a glamourous, low-cut golden gown she wore to attend the 60th Anniversary of The White House Historical Association Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She snapped herself admiring the Upper East Side museum's famed Temple of Dendur, which was originally built in Egypt in 10BC and has since been reconstructed.

Lee, who now lives in Malibu, returned to the Empire State - where she once resided with Cuomo - after months of being away.

Since she's been gone from New York since Cuomo, her former boyfriend of 14 years, was forced to resign as governor after mounting allegations of sexual harassment while in office. But there was a glimmer of hope for the embattled lawmaker Thursday, after Albany prosecutor David Soares delayed Cuomo's arraignment after branding the case against the ex-gov 'defective.'

The 55-year-old professional chef posted sultry selfies in a glamourous, low cut golden gown

Lee posted pictures of the gala's decor and installments, including an ancient Egyptian temple display

Lee's outfit included a vintage bejeweled Bob Macki couture dress, an Oscar De La Renta clutch and a Christian Dior Ruby & Art Glass necklace

Lee and Cuomo never got engaged during their 14 years together. The relationship is said to have ended when Cuomo allegedly cheated on her. The former Food Network star was previously married to former KB Home CEO Bruce Karatz from 2001 to 2005.

Lee posted multiple snaps of her night out on the town as she donned a vintage bejeweled Bob Macki couture dress, an Oscar De La Renta clutch and a Christian Dior Ruby & Art Glass necklace, Fox News reported.

On her Instagram she said she had an 'amazing night' and called the venue 'fun and elegant,' as she posted pictures of the gala's decor and installments.

Lee was even able to snap a selfie with first lady Jill Biden, who presented her with the City of Hope, Spirit of Life Award back in 2016.

The gala was meant to celebrate the White House's support of educational projects.

Missing in action was her new fiance Ben Youcef, 42, who she got engaged to this summer in France.

In August, around the same time Cuomo's political career was imploding, Lee accepted Youcef's proposal during a romantic Paris break.

Lee and Cuomo's 14 year relationship is said to have ended in 2019 when Cuomo reportedly cheated on her (pictured together in 2018)

Missing in action was her new fiance Ben Youcef, who she got engaged to this summer in France (pictured in France)

The pair are believed to have met at a charity event in Santa Monica back in March, with Youcef making the first move

Youcef, a devoted father of 5-year-old twins, separated from his wife, California-based realtor Apryl Stephenson in 2019 and they filed for divorce in January 2020.

He is an interfaith leader, an actor and a producer who had his big break when Steven Spielberg cast him as a Palestinian member of Black September in the 2005 movie, Munich.

They are believed to have met at a charity event in Santa Monica back in March, with Youcef making the first move.

Lee moved to Malibu, California following the 2019 break-up, where she bought a $3.4million beach house.

She sold her Mt. Kisko, New York home - named 'Lily Pond' - for $1.85 million last October.

The star was famously seen loading a U-Haul truck with her possessions before beginning the mammoth journey to her new home on the other side of the US.

Her glamourous outing came one day before news broke that Cuomo could have his sex crime charge tossed out after the Albany County district attorney called the complaint 'potentially defective.'

On Friday District Attorney David Soares said that Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple filed the complaint 'unilaterally and inexplicably' while his investigation was still ongoing.

Soares, a Democrat, added that the complaint did not even include a sworn statement by the alleged victim, former aide Brittany Commisso, that would allow them to prosecute the deposed governor.

The DA noted that parts of Commisso's prior testimony were excluded and that one part of the complaint incorrectly stated the relevant law that Cuomo had allegedly broken.

Cuomo could have his sex crime charge tossed out after the Albany County district attorney called the complaint 'potentially defective'

On her Instagram Lee said she had an 'amazing night' and called the venue 'fun and elegant,'

The gala was meant to celebrate the White House's support of educational projects

Judge Holly Trexler of Albany City Court agreed to Soares' request to postpone Cuomo's arraignment until January 7, giving the district attorney 60 days 'to reduce the risk of a procedural dismissal of this case' and give Soares 'time to continue with our independent and unbiased review of the facts.'

Cuomo has been charged with forcible touching, two months after being pushed out of office by New York AG Letitia James, the woman now campaigning for his job.

James has since launched her own run for the governorship in 2022, with Team Cuomo claiming the allegations against him are a politically-motivated witch-hunt.

His former Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul is now serving as governor, and says she intends to run for re-election next year too.

On Sunday, the Cuomo camp had issued a lengthy statement saying that 'Sheriff Apple and Tish James have epitomized the worst combination of politics, incompetence and abuse of the law.'

'Despite Apples claim that there is "overwhelming evidence", he has offered zero evidence corroborating the claim. Likewise the James report did not offer any corroborating evidence of the claim,' the Cuomo statement added.

James on Monday responded saying: 'This is nothing more than an attempt by the former governor to undermine and politicize this report.'

'I believe the women. They obviously told their truth. And we are going to stand by our report,' she added, according to NY1.

The charges were filed last week in Albany City Court. They relate to the allegation brought by Commisso, a former aide who claimed Cuomo groped her breast in the office of the Executive Mansion in Albany in December 2020, when he was at the height of his pandemic popularity.

Cuomo has always denied it.
President Joe Biden sent the head of the CIA to Moscow this week to warn the Kremlin that the US is keeping tabs on their buildup of troops near the Ukranian border.

CIA Director Bill Burns made a rare trip to Russia to hold talks with their national security officials, who are directly involved in the troop buildup.

An energy crisis in Ukraine has been the cause of the increased fervor between Kiev and Moscow, as Ukraine believes Russia is purposefully causing the problems.

Vladimir Putin has long had ambitions to seize control of the country as part of his desire to rebuild the former Soviet Union.

The United States is growing more and more concerned by the activity, multiple sources said, as the Biden administration tries to soothe tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Burns also spoke to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone, a senior State Department official told CNN.

A similar buildup in the spring did not lead to a return of the Russian invasions of Ukraine.

CIA Director Bill Burns made a rare trip to Russia to hold talks with their national security officials, who are directly involved in the troop buildup

Satellite images appeared to show a build-up of tanks, armored units and self-propelled artillery as well as ground troops near the Russian town of Yelnya - raising fears of a new escalation in fighting with pro-Moscow separatists.

Videos posted on social media in recent days also showed Russian military trains and truck convoys moving tanks and missiles in the country's southwest near the Ukrainian border.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that Washington was monitoring the situation and US officials told the Washington Post they were concerned.

But Ukraine's defense ministry said in a statement late Monday that 'no additional deployment' of Russian forces had been observed near the border.

The ministry said the published videos could be an 'element of special informational and psychological actions' and showed a planned movement of troops after a Russian military exercise.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday also dismissed the reports of a potential build-up, saying there was no need to 'waste time' on 'low-quality' claims.

'The movement of our military equipment and army units... is exclusively our business,' he told reporters. 'Russia has never threatened anyone.'

It comes after a US official, speaking on the basis of anonymity, told the Washington Post that there had been some movement, though not as large as the surge in Moscow's forces earlier this year.

Satellite images appeared to show a build-up of tanks, armoured units and self-propelled artillery as well as ground troops, near the Russian town of Yelnya, which is close to the border of Belarus and Ukraine

Satellite images appear to show troop tents and an administrative area amid the presence of a large ground forces deployment

Satellite image appear to show the presence of a large ground forces deployment on the northern edge of the town of Yelnya, near the Ukrainian border

US officials are concerned by satellite images appearing to show a fresh build-up of Russian troops on the country's border with Ukraine - but the Kremlin has dismissed the 'low-quality' claims. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin

The satellite images appeared to show the buildup of Russian units, including the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, at the border since late September after a joint military exercise with Belarus finished.

The images, taken by Maxar Technologies, also show troop tents and an administrative area, as well as armored units and support equipment.

'The point is: It is not a drill. It doesn't appear to be a training exercise. Something is happening. What is it?' Michael Kofman, director of the Russia studies program at the U.S.-based nonprofit analysis group CNA, told Washington Post.

Kofman said that the satellite images show that forces from Russia's 41st Combined Arms Army did not return to their base in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk after the joint exercise - and instead joined other Russian forces near the Ukrainian border.

'We're aware of public reports of unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine,' Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

'We're going to continue to consult with allies and partners on this issue... As we've said before, any escalatory or aggressive actions would be of great concern to the United States.'

But the Kremlin rejected reports of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine as 'low-quality fake', although it said it was up to Moscow where it moved troops around on its territory.

Ukraine said it had not observed any increase in Russian troops or equipment near the border.

This satellite image taken on Monday shows tanks, armoured personnel carriers and support equipment amid the presence of a large ground forces deployment on the northern edge of the town of Yelnya

Satellite image shows self propelled artillery and other equipment amid the presence of a large ground forces deployment

Satellite image shows an overview of the presence of a large ground forces deployment on the northern edge of the town of Yelnya

It comes just after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin toured the Black Sea region, stopping in NATO partner states Ukraine and Georgia and alliance full member Romania, to express solidarity and build more support for confronting Russia in the area.

Russia-aligned separatists in eastern Ukraine have been battling Ukrainian government forces since 2014.

Also in 2014, Russian troops seized the Crimea region of Ukraine, sparking stiff Western sanctions on the country.

It also comes just a day after Putin emphasised the need to strengthen Russia's air defences amid NATO's military activities near Russia's borders.

Russian snipers have also been seen taking part in a shooting contest in the Krasnodar region bordering Ukraine.

Russian snipers have also been seen taking part in a shooting contest in the Krasnodar region bordering Ukraine

A Russian sniper took part in a shooting contest in the Krasnodar region bordering Ukraine

In March, just weeks after President Joe Biden's inauguration, Russia massed thousands of troops, heavy military equipment, naval vessels and aircraft on the Ukraine border and in Crimea, holding them there for weeks and sparking fears of an invasion.

Moscow called the movements an exercise, but many of the military assets remained for weeks, and analysts saw it as a warning to Biden.

Washington has refused to accept Russia's claim on Crimea and has delivered lethal military aid to Kyiv for use in fighting the separatists.

Moscow has made clear its rejection of any effort to bring Ukraine, a former part of the Soviet Union, into the NATO alliance.

Kirby said that Washington would consult allies and partners on the Russian buildup.

'We continue to support deescalation in the region and a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine,' he said.

It comes a day after Putin said he will strengthen the country's air defences.

Speaking during a meeting with military officials and arms makers in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Putin specificially noted the deployment of NATO's U.S.-led missile defense components in Eastern Europe and increasingly frequent missions by NATO ships near Russian waters in the Baltic and Black Seas.

'Even now, a U.S. warship has entered the Black Sea, and we can see it in binoculars or crosshairs of our defense systems,' he said in an apparent reference to the deployment of the U.S. destroyer USS Porter, which sailed into the Black Sea over the weekend and is to be joined this week by USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks during a meeting with hight level officers and heads of defense industry enterprises in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, on Monday

U.S. Sixth Fleet said in a statement that their mission will help 'further enhance collaboration between U.S. and NATO forces at sea,' adding that 'NATO allies and partners stand together to ensure a safe, stable and secure Black Sea region, building partner capacity to improve effectiveness and interoperability.'

Russia has bristled at the deployment of U.S. and other NATO ships near waters it claims as its own as tensions between Moscow and the West have sunk to post-Cold War lows after Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, its support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine and other irritants.

Last month, Russia suspended its mission at NATO and ordered the closure of the alliance's office in Moscow after NATO had withdrawn the accreditation of eight Russian officials to its Brussels headquarters, saying it believed they had been secretly working for Russian intelligence.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concerns over the deployment of NATO forces near Russian borders, describing it as a threat to its security. Russia and the alliance also have continuously accused each other of dangerous and provocative maneuvers at sea and in the air.

In June, Russia said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs in the path of British destroyer Defender to drive it away from Black Sea waters near the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Britain denied that account, insisted its ship wasnt fired upon and said it was sailing in Ukrainian waters.

Like most of the world, Britain recognizes Crimea as part of Ukraine despite the peninsulas 2014 annexation by Russia.

In the aftermath of the incident, Moscow warned that it is prepared to target intruding warships if they fail to heed warnings.

'We must further improve our air and space defense system as leading powers have been developing prospective high-speed strike weapons,' Putin said. 'It's also warranted by the military-political situation, including increasingly intensive flights by NATO aircraft near Russia and the appearance of the alliance's warships armed with guided missiles in the Baltic and Black Seas.'
We met deep inside Europe's last remaining primeval forest, where bison and wolves roam beneath ancient towering oaks. 'I am an IT professional and I had a good life,' Hussan told me. 'But now I am standing in the woods with bare feet and dirty hands.'

Hussan, 41, lived happily in the Syrian city of Homs before it was shattered by bombs, bullets and feuding militia, forcing him to flee to Turkey.

Tears flowed down his face when I asked about his family, then he spoke in English of his dream to find sanctuary in Britain. Instead, he finds himself in Bialowieza Forest, a fearful refugee hiding from Polish security forces seeking to send him back over the nearby border to Belarus.

For this is the latest front line in Europe's migration crisis. Hussan is just one of many bedraggled pawns in a cruel global power game being played by Belarus's sinister dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who has 'weaponised' migration by luring people from the Middle East and Africa to his country, then despatching them to next-door EU nations.

This policy is designed to stoke divisions and destabilise the EU in retaliation for sanctions imposed after the autocrat sparked world outcry by forcing a Ryanair passenger jet carrying an opposition activist to divert to the Belarusian capital Minsk, where he was seized and then paraded on television.

Pictured: Hussan, 41, from Syria and his pregnant wife Sarah, who spent 28 days in the Bialowieza forest

Politicians across Europe accuse Lukashenko of launching a 'hybrid war' backed by Moscow. 'Refugees and asylum-seekers are being brought to the border with the aim of intimidating Brussels and Poland,' said Marcin Swiecicki, an MP and former mayor of Warsaw. 'The situation is a tragedy.'

True. But Lukashenko's cynical tactics seem to be working, with EU countries spending millions of euros on border walls, bickering about how best to respond and the far-Right seeking to exploit the human misery for its own ends.

Taxi drivers in the Polish city of Bialystok, close to the border, told me of seeing even cars with UK licence plates arriving to pick up arrivals from Belarus. 'We see so many migrants and traffickers,' said one, called Pawel. 'You can see English, French and German plates on cars coming to collect people.'

In Germany, where police say up to 1,000 people are arriving every day, armed vigilante patrols of Right-wing extremists have been found operating at the frontier.

A record 200 crossings into Lithuania were attempted on one day recently. Others have begun trying to reach Europe via Ukraine.

Two months ago I reported in The Mail on Sunday about the surge into Lithuania, but focus has shifted to Poland. Officials logged 16,800 efforts at illegal entry last month  four times more each day than for the whole of last year. Hussan was in a group of 20 people from Iraq, Egypt and Syria whom I found sitting around small fires, craving food and dry clothes while drinking water from a small stream.

Pictured: Ali Abd Alwareth, 24, from Lebanon sits in the woods outside the Emergency State zone at the Polish-Belarusian border and waits for arrival of Border Guard patrol, October 22, 2021

He said he had been pushed back and forth over the frontier four times in a fortnight in a grotesque game of human ping-pong being played by Polish and Belarus guards. Others said they were bounced over the border 20 times. There are reports of beatings, injured migrants ejected from Polish hospitals and families trapped in a militarised no-man's land on the Belarus side. At least ten people have died and many more lives are at risk as winter temperatures plummet.

'I'm so tired and it's so cold that I am shaking,' said Hussan. 'We are scared at night because of the wild animals so we hide our heads under our clothes.'

He spent all his 1,000 savings to get here. 'Life is a disaster. We've gone from our home in Syria to being trapped between two borders because no one wants us in their country. But we are human too.'

Hussan left his wife and four children in Turkey. But his group included an Iraqi man with his nine-year-old son.

Elsewhere in the forest, I met a woman called Sarah who is five months pregnant. The 26-year-old claimed to have spent 28 days in the forest with her husband Hassan, after flying to Belarus. Officials then took them to the country's border with Lithuania. They were caught after crossing the frontier, then taken across to the Polish border on the other side of the country. They had been pushed back nine times, she said, despite asking each time for asylum.

This sudden influx of migrants is stirring tensions in Poland, a divided country currently run by an ultra-conservative government at loggerheads with Brussels on gay rights, pollution and the supremacy of EU law. There is even talk that the country might follow Britain and leave the union.

'We put the security of our fatherland above everything,' said Poland's defence minister, Mariusz Blaszczak.

The defence ministry said that on Wednesday, Belarusian soldiers threatened to open fire on Polish forces who found a group of 250 migrants and refugees at the border. Nato says it is concerned about the 'escalating' situation.

Poland is one of ten countries that asked Brussels to pay for 'barriers' to block migrants  a request denied by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, who says Brussels should not fund 'barbed wire and walls'. In defiance, Poland is spending 300 million on a wall along the 260-mile border with Belarus. Critics say it will be a costly failure, taking years to construct in forests and swamps. Lithuania has also started building an 11ft-high steel fence topped with razor wire on its frontier.

The Polish government has declared a state of emergency, sent 10,000 troops to assist frontier guards and banned outsiders from coming within 3km (1.9 miles) of the border.

An Iraqi migrant child (pictured centre) stands as he and others are surrounded by border guards and police officers after they crossed the Belarusian-Polish border during the ongoing migrant crisis, in Hajnowka

In a war of words against Lukashenko, whose international pariah status has pushed him into the embrace of Vladimir Putin, ministers claim Belarus is giving migrants 'strange pills' and the heroin substitute methadone to help them survive the border crossings.

After arriving in the border area, I received a text message saying: 'The Polish border is sealed. BLR [Belarus] authorities told you lies. Go back to Minsk! Don't take any pills from Belarusian soldiers.' My car was stopped several times at checkpoints in the region.

Piotr Mazuruk, a border police commander, said: 'These migrants are like stones. The Belarusians throw them over the border to us. And we throw them back again.' A plea from Catholic church leaders to let medical volunteers enter the emergency area was rejected by ministers last week. Activists and opposition figures argue that such decisions, and forcing people back over the border, flout international treaties  and so plays into Lukashenko's hands.

Karolina Czerwinska, project co-ordinator for the Polish Migration Forum, told me about a refugee who was treated for a broken leg in a Polish hospital and then applied for asylum. But she said that 24 hours later, the Polish authorities had sent him back to Belarus.

I accompanied volunteers from Grupa Granica who take food, drink and clothing to groups who send details of their location in the forests to family and friends as they play cat-and-mouse with the border forces hunting them down. One volunteer told me that many people crossing from Belarus thought they could happily stroll across borders through Poland to Germany, thus arriving utterly unprepared to be stuck in a freezing forest.

Pictured: Polish soldiers build a fence on the border between Poland and Belarus near the village of Nomiki

She had found a Syrian family with elderly grandparents and children as young as three. 'It was so sad. They had no idea they were in a forest hundreds of miles from the German border. They thought it would be so easy.'

Poland claims it is respecting international obligations to migrants as it tries to stem the flow of people. Under EU rules, people should apply for asylum in the first safe country they enter. But many of the migrants, hoping to head further west, do not want asylum in Poland. A former minister in the Polish government said: 'The pushback is not 100 per cent legal but it has become common practice on many European borders such as Greece and Italy.'

He said Poland was being targeted by Belarus in revenge for its strong support of the democratic anti-Lukashenko movement in Belarus, but was powerless to stop the regime without wider diplomatic support.

Although Belarus has promised to suspend flights from Iraq that are used by migrants, the winter schedule for Minsk airport shows 55 flights a week from the Middle East, including the launch of daily flights from Damascus, the Syrian capital. Some refugees have told of being taken directly to Belarus's borders after arriving in Minsk. But one local journalist describes the city centre as being 'Little Baghdad' as there are so many migrants, while a human-rights worker told me the capital's hotels are packed with Middle Eastern visitors. Most want to go to Germany, where Angela Merkel agreed in 2015 to allow one million refugees and migrants to come and stay. Although the numbers making the journey are far smaller than six years ago, the Berlin government rapidly moved thousands of police to the Polish border to intensify checks. The police union, however, is warning of another 'collapse' if tougher action is not taken.

Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, backs Poland's plan to build a border wall, but other politicians have condemned the responses that could results in people freezing to death in forests.

'This is a disgrace for Europe,' said Gerhart Baum, a former interior minister. 'We have a moral obligation towards these people that we are not abiding by.'

Gaith, 20, is a Syrian who has just applied for asylum in Germany. He told me he paid $7,000 (5,200) in Lebanon for a fake passport but it was rumbled when he tried to enter Turkey. So his smuggler flew him to Minsk to ensure that he could enter Europe.

'I was stuck in the forest for 11 days  it was like a game of ping-pong. The Polish police send you back to Belarus, then the Belarus police send you back to Poland. It happened to me about 20 times. The Poles were friendly, giving us food and water, but the Belarusians beat people and let their dogs bite you. I was scared since the forest was cold and dark. There were so many people from all over the world  from Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Lebanon.'

Eventually, Belarusian officials took them to a spot on the border where there were no Polish frontier police, and five of his 16-strong group made it through, They were met by taxis hired by his people-traffickers and taken to Berlin.

Pictured: In this aerial view trucks and cars cross a bridge over the Oder River between Germany (L) and Poland as a railway bridge stands farther behind on November 05, 2021 near Swiecko, Poland (stock image)

The explosive nature of this crisis became clear two weeks ago when it emerged that more than 50 far-Right German vigilantes armed with batons, machetes, pepper sprays and a bayonet were stopped by police on anti-migrant patrols.

They had responded to a call from Third Way, a small extremist group which broke away from the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party. That group told me it was sending 'sympathisers' on border patrols to find illegal entrants.

Sascha Rossmueller, chairman of the party in Bavaria, said their unarmed patrols kept within laws that allow people to 'physically hold' anyone suspected of a crime.

'The crucial aspect is not that we will prevent mass migration but it allows us to attract attention,' he admitted.

There have also been protests outside centres for asylum-seekers near the border.

'This is evil genius but we all play Lukashenko's game,' says Greta von der Decken, legal adviser for a refugee group working in Eisenhuttenstadt, a town by the Polish border. 'I am sad because Lukashenko is winning.'
A murder investigation has been launched after a man was found dead on a tow path in east London.

The victim, who is 22, was found on Navigation Road in Tower Hamlets shortly before 9am.

Paramedics and Metropolitan Police officers attended the scene.

Scotland Yard confirmed that the victim's family have been informed and are being supported by specialist liaison officers.

A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a man in Tower Hamlets.

A spokesperson said: 'Police were called to Navigation Road, Tower Hamlets at 08:43hrs on Saturday, 6 November after the London Ambulance Service had been called to reports of an unresponsive man.

The victim, who is 22, was found on Navigation Road in Tower Hamlets shortly before 9am

'Officers attended with paramedics and found a 22-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene.

'The mans next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers. A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.

'The investigation is being led by homicide detectives from Specialist Crime. There has been no arrest at this early stage.'

Officers have asked anyone with information to contact the police on 101 citing the reference number 2171/06NOV.

Also, information can be given to the charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Jordan fell asleep beside me, and I continued to sit with him, my dress crumpled around me, the lamp still on, his picture book open in my lap, my iPhone in my hand as I began responding to the messages that had come in over the past 30 minutes.

Can you talk?

Anthony had quietly walked into the room. From the tone, I knew it was bad.

The New York Post called. Really bad.

It was late. There was simply too much going on in my world for Anthonys problems to surface at this moment. The Democratic National Committee server being hacked; Trump publicly calling on Russia to find Hillarys emails; warnings about Russian election interference; death threats from Islamic State. I was also planning the final two months of the campaign. On the home front, Jordans first day of school was the following week and I was worried I wouldnt even be in town for it. I didnt have the bandwidth to contend with any more problems.

Distracted and overwhelmed, I half-heartedly asked, What is this about?

He opened with an apology, the admission that he didnt entirely know what was in the story. He simply said the Post had a picture of him and that Jordan might be in it. I envisioned a photo of Anthony and Jordan out somewhere. On the ferry. On the subway. On a park bench. I inferred that he had sent some such picture to another woman. I had given up on expecting him to respect the vows of our marriage, but our childs image being shared felt more violent than any humiliation I had faced in the past.

The stakes were already so high, almost unbearably so, and I needed help navigating how to handle the story. Around midnight, I emailed Clintons adviser Philippe Reines all I knew, which was essentially nothing. Philippe, I think I have a problem, I typed before falling into a night of fitful sleep. I knew only one thing: it wouldnt be as bad as Anthony said. It would be worse. And it was.

A response from Philippe appeared in my inbox in the early hours: You need to look at this picture yourself. And so I clicked on the link Philippe sent. I wish I could take back the image that appeared but I can never erase it. There was Jordan, sleeping peacefully next to an indecent Anthony, an image shared with a stranger, or a friend in Anthonys view, and now for the entire world to see. This crossed into another level of degradation, a violation of the innocence of our child. There were no more What were you thinking? questions left in me. It was over.

If there was anything unforgivable in a marriage, a partnership in raising a child, this was it. It was not rage that motivated me that morning, because the word rage would not do justice to what I was feeling. I think God had put me in this perfect glass and wood-framed house for a reason, because I would have destroyed everything around me if I had been in my own home. I simmered until I thought I would explode. After checking to make sure Jordan was still asleep and closing the door to his room, I marched out to the living room, where Anthony was lying on the sofa, still fully dressed from the previous night, his eyes bloodshot, phone in his hand, no doubt having seen the article as soon as it posted. I informed him I was putting out a statement announcing our separation, to which he responded quietly: OK. I then told him that he needed to find another place to live when we returned to Manhattan. He would not be welcome to sleep in the apartment or spend any nights alone with our son ever again. He nodded, looking down while I screamed at him. The yelling didnt make anyone feel better, but I did it anyway.

I went outside and got on the phone with Philippe a little after 7am, and asked him to help me with a statement. Then I steeled myself, took a few deep breaths, and dialled Hillary Clinton. She did not need this. Our campaign did not need this. She counted on me, had faith in me, and I was bringing more scandal, more shame to what should have been a laser-focused effort to close out the campaign. She said that she was glad I was finally moving on with my life. I then dialled Bari Luri, now Chelseas chief of staff, and emailed Bill Clintons team, too, apologising to them all. I knew they would face questions about this on the campaign trail.

I thought the image might kill my mother, so I sent her an email, told her I was leaving Anthony and assured her I was fine and that Jordan would be OK. I was glad she was close by, visiting family in New Jersey, because I knew she would come to help me; but I couldnt have her hear my voice in that moment because then she would know just how bad it was. Everyone has a limit and I had finally reached mine, ages after everyone else had gotten there. The next day, my mom, my sister, my nephews would all descend on us.

I received all sorts of messages that began with I dont know what to say, because Im sorry didnt seem quite enough this time. Most people congratulated me for finally freeing myself from Anthony.

Twenty-four hours later, my family were on their way to join us, and the fundraisers were in full swing. But I had something else on my plate. New York state Administration for Childrens Services (ACS) was making their first visit to interview Anthony and me, to ensure that Jordan was safe. Childrens Services investigations can be triggered by calls to the agency from members of the public concerned about the wellbeing of a child. Enough people had called in to report us that Childrens Services said they had no choice but to open a case. It was a tense and uncomfortable visit. A young woman and two or three men in suits filled the chairs at the dining table and asked questions. Anthony couldnt remember enough details to answer. When was the photo taken? Who was it sent to? Were there others? What was happening in the image? Was the child awake? I felt like I was in a bad movie where the acting was subpar and the plot made no sense.

After a few minutes, they shifted their attention to me. Did I have any prior knowledge of Anthony taking suggestive pictures in which Jordan was present? I tried not to let the anger within me distort my voice when I said of course I did not. Never, for one second, did I think Anthony would do anything to harm or expose our child. Ever. Until now. The barrage of questions continued, and in the brief silences during their note-taking, my mind could escape back to the old world I had lived in, the world of reason. I wondered why Anthony would do this now, just when we both had so much at stake in our lives. I was on the campaign of a lifetime which, if successful, would be historic. His life was finally back on track. He was in talks to anchor a television news show, write a book, launch a podcast. None of these opportunities could possibly survive the scandal. And they didnt.

When the investigators said they needed to interview Jordan, I became protective of him and tried to resist. The young woman, who had identified herself as the primary investigator, assured me that she would only ask him a few general questions about how he was doing, and there would be nothing that would make him uncomfortable.

It took a few excruciating minutes. I brought her upstairs and introduced her to Jordan as Mommys friend who wanted to say hello. Jordan was eager to tell her how much he loved to play chess, and liked watching Paw Patrol. Then she asked him what form of punishment his parents gave him if he misbehaved. My heart stopped. I was shocked at the implication in her question. No cookies! Jordan chirped back.

When the investigator told me she could see that our family was closely bonded, it felt like things would be OK. Then she went on to ask me if it was possible my assessment of Anthonys parenting lacked the accuracy it would have had if I was present in the home on a regular basis, and what I heard, between the lines, made me want to ask, You mean if I worked less? I had been the primary breadwinner for most of my marriage, so not working was not an option. I expressed as much to her.

She nodded that she understood and kept writing her notes.

On the night of 24 October I returned home to find the Childrens Services investigator waiting for me. Had I considered what life would be like if Anthony went to prison, she asked. By then, it had been alleged that Anthony had sexted with a teenage girl. Each time I thought he had reached a new nadir, he shocked me by going even lower. But I must have looked blank because she then offered, as kindly as she could, You seem perplexed. Perplexed didnt begin to describe it.

I just need to get through the next 15 days, I responded. Just 15 days. Then I can think about things like prison.

It may have sounded flip, but I really had no answers to this question  or to so many others. I just didnt.
The Conservative Party has been accused of guaranteeing peerages to a group of multi-millionaires who have donated more than 3 million to the party.

Wealthy backers who take on the temporary role of party treasurer appear to be offered a seat in the House of Lords once they have donated the set figure.

All 16 of the Conservatives' main treasurers, excluding the most recent, were offered a seat in the Lords in the past two decades including Peter Cruddas, Lord Spencer, Lord Fraser, Lord Lupton and Lord Farmer.

According to the investigation by The Sunday Times and Open Democracy, six former Tory ministers felt uneasy about the practice, some calling it a 'scandal'.

One ex-party chairman said: 'The truth is the entire political establishment knows this happens and they do nothing about it...The most telling line is once you pay your 3 million, you get your peerage.'

Another former minister called it a 'scandal in plain sight' whilst another alleged that 'a law of omerta' silences anyone from discussions of a link between donations and seats.

Peter Cruddas's peerage was pushed through by Boris Johnson despite the Lords appointments commission's recommendation

Boris Johnson has been dragged through a number of 'sleaze-row' and cronyism scandals in the party

The wealthy contributor appears to be offered a seat in the House of Lords if they take on a temporary role as party treasurer and donate more than 3 million, according to the investigation

Peter Cruddas's peerage was pushed through by Boris Johnson despite the Lords appointments commissions' recommendation.

One of its members told the investigation the decision 'left a bad taste in my mouth'.

The commission advised against the honour because Mr Cruddas resigned as Conservative co-treasurer in 2012 after it was claimed he offered access to then PM and his chancellor in return for donations and it is believed he has been turned down numerous times before.

According to data from The Electoral Commission Mr Cruddas donated a total of 4,238,299.66 to the party and campaigns it's supported going as far back as 2009.

Today ex-Prime Minister John Major became one of the latest to hit out against Johnson in the deepening sleaze-row his party has been embroiled in, the latest being Owen Paterson's scandal.

Speaking of Downing Street refusing to rule out the possibility of recommending Mr Paterson a peerage, Major told BBC Radio 4: 'There have been some extraordinary elevations to the peerage in recent years, quite extraordinary.

'Quite apart from the over-large number of peers that have been put there, I think it would be rather extraordinary if that happens and I'm not at all sure if it would be approved of by the House of Lords or by those who vet peerages.'

Johnson was also dragged into a fresh row last night as he refused to say how much his free holiday in a luxury Spanish villa owned by Zac Goldsmith's family was worth.

The investigation said insiders called the alleged appointment system a 'scandal in plain sight'

The investigation suggests treasurers are rewarded with peerage if they donate more than 3 million to the party. Pictured, Lord Lupton

Labour demanded the Commons standards watchdog launch investigations into both Boris Johnson's stay and the lavish revamp of his Downing Street flat.

In the latest register of ministerial interests, the PM revealed the getaway was funded by Lord Goldsmith, the former MP who he gave a peerage to after he lost his Commons seat.

He spent around a week at a property in the hills above Marbella with his wife Carrie and son Wilfred last month following the Conservative Party conference.

According to the investigation a Tory insider said peerages were dangled like 'carrots' in the 'cynical operation' and told of an instance where a donor was convinced to give 1 million because it may lead to a seat.

There was apparently no suggestion that any of the donors named were promised peerage or requested it return for donations but several sources in the party have criticised the system's rewarding of wealthy benefactors.

Lord Spencer's lawyers have denied the claim that he took the treasury role for peerage and Lord Farmer told the investigation that he donated to the party 'because he wanted a Conservative government' while others declined to comment.

A Conservative Party spokesman told MailOnline: 'We do not believe that successful businesspeople and philanthropists who contribute to political causes and parties should be disqualified from sitting in the legislature.'

MailOnline has reached out to the Peter Cruddas, Lord Spencer, Lord Farmer and Lord Lupton for comment.
A gay businessman has revealed plans to become a surrogate father at the age of 66 and says: 'I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.'

The company boss and his 40-year-old partner are currently seeking a woman to help them have a baby.

If successful in their quest, it is believed he will become the oldest man in Britain to have a child through surrogacy.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, the sexagenarian defended himself against potential criticism for attempting to become a first-time father at the official age of retirement.

'People will call me selfish, but I have a younger partner who will look after the child,' he said. 'It's also what you can give to the child. I'm financially secure now and I can impart wisdom. I can also still run up the stairs two at a time.'

The businessman is among a growing number of older parents turning to surrogacy to have children. The trend has sparked fierce debate over whether it is irresponsible to have children so late in life.

The company boss and his 40-year-old partner are currently seeking a woman to help them have a baby (stock image)

It is believed, though never confirmed, that Dame Julia Peyton-Jones, the former head of London's Serpentine Gallery, used a surrogate or IVF when she had a baby at the age of 64 in 2017. There has also been speculation that supermodel Naomi Campbell, 51, who announced the birth of her daughter earlier this year, may have used a surrogate.

The would-be father is the same age as Rod Stewart was when he had his eighth child in 2011 and two years younger than Ronnie Wood was when he had twins with wife Sally Humphreys in 2016.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said his partner had suggested surrogacy during lockdown last year and they had decided that it was preferable to adoption.

'I'm doing this for him, for love,' he said. 'I asked when he first suggested this to me if he was sure.

'I have lots of nieces and nephews, so it doesn't make a difference to me, but I wanted to do it for him. My partner is 40. He wants to be biologically connected to the child and that I can understand.'

The would-be father is the same age as Rod Stewart (pictured) was when he had his eighth child in 2011

The man admitted that his age was a 'concern', given he will be in his late 70s by the time the child goes to secondary school. 'I'm worried about the embarrassment for the child at the school gates and children asking, 'Is that your grandad?' Kids can be cruel and I don't want it to affect the child.'

A heterosexual couple, aged 63 and 65, were previously understood to be Britain's oldest parents after having a baby through surrogacy. It was reported three years ago that social services had taken the child away from them, with the age of the couple a factor in concerns over the child's wellbeing.

There is no official data for first-time fatherhood in the UK, but the average age of all fathers to babies born in 2019 was 33.6 years  a figure that has increased for ten consecutive years.

Louisa Ghevaert, a lawyer whose specialisms include surrogacy, said there is no age limit when it comes to courts granting an order to those who have babies through surrogacy to make them the legal parents.

'There are no specific requirements in court to look at the age. There is a welfare consideration, but there is no requirement to be in a certain age parameter,' she said.

'In the absence of any significant other legal issue, I would be surprised if the age of the intended dad at 66 in any way precluded the granting of a parental order.'
A new study reveals which airports in America have the most delayed arrivals - and it's bad news for anyone trying to get to the New York-area by plane.

Newark Liberty Airport in nearby Northern New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, was named the worst airport for delays, with nearly 25 percent of all flights arriving tardy.

Unfortunately, the news isn't much better if you cross the border to New York, as LaGuardia finished second-worst and JFK finished tied for 10th.

Over 22 percent of arrivals at LaGuardia were delayed and over 18 percent at Kennedy, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statisticss (BTS) Airline On-Time Statistics and Delay Causes.

The study determined both which of the nation's 50 busiest airports and airlines had the best and worst results for on-time arrivals.

Scenes like this at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey might be more common than any other in the nation, as a study showed the airport sees nearly a quarter of all arrivals delayed

LaGuardia Airport in New York finished second on the list, with over 22 percent of flights delayed

Nearby John F. Kennedy Airport wasn't much better, finishing tied for 10th on the list

U.S. airports where flight arrivals are most frequently delayed 1 Newark Liberty International 75.71% On Time / 24.29% Late or Cancelled 2 New York LaGuardia 77.48% On Time / 22.52% Late or Cancelled 3 Dallas/Fort Worth 79.23% On Time / 20.77% Late or Cancelled 4 Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood 79.78% On Time / 20.22% Late or Cancelled 5 Palm Beach International 80.34% On Time / 19.66% Late or Cancelled 6= Boston Logan International 80.61% On Time / 19.39% Late or Cancelled 6= Louis Armstrong New Orleans 80.61% On Time/19.39% Late or Cancelled 8 Orlando International 80.78% On Time / 19.22% Late or Cancelled 9 San Antonio International 80.97% On Time / 19.03% Late or Cancelled 10= John F. Kennedy New York 81.21% On Time / 18.79% Late or Cancelled 10= San Francisco International 81.21% On Time / 18.79% Late or Cancelled Advertisement

Outside the New York area, Dallas/Fort Worth International in Texas came in third for most delayed arrivals with 20.7 percent.

Two Florida airports rounded out the top five: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International with 20.2 percent and Palm Beach International with 19.66 percent.

The remainder of the top 10 was: Boston Logan International (19.3 percent), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (19.3 percent), Orlando International (19.2 percent), San Antonio International (19.0 percent), while San Francisco International and JFK tied for 10th.

Travelers will have to leave the mainland to visit the airport with the fewest delayed arrivals, as it's Daniel K. Inouye International in Hawaii with only 11.6 percent of all arrivals delayed.

In the continental US, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta topped the airports and finished second overall, with only 12.6 percent delayed arrivals.

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport had the fewest delayed arrivals of any American airport, with just 11.6 percent of arrivals delayed

In the continental US, Hartsfield-Jackson topped the airports and finished second overall, with only 12.6 percent delayed arrivals

Minneapolis-St. Paul International came in third at 12.7 percent

Minneapolis-St. Paul International (12.73 percent) Salt Lake City International (12.78 percent) and Detroit Metro Wayne County (13.1 percent) rounded out the top five.

Four California airports were among the five in the rest of the top 10: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (14.3 percent), John Wayne Airport in Orange County (14.88 percent), Sacramento International (15.05 percent) and Metropolitan Oakland (15.1 percent).

Portland International in Oregon (14.7 percent) also made the top 10.

Allegiant Air was determined the most likely airline to see your flight delayed, with a whopping 27 percent of flights departing past schedule.

The remainder of the top five was filled out by JetBlue (23.2 percent delayed flights), Frontier (21.2 percent), Envoy (19.5 percent) and United (18.6 percent).

Allegiant recently hit the headlines when a flight that should have been a short hop from Las Vegas to Stockton in California turned into a multi-leg, 17.5 hour trip from hell.

Passengers aboard Allegiant Airlines flight 161 from Las Vegas to Stockton, California had a journey from hell in July when their one-hour flight turned into a 17-hour journey.

After taking off from Las Vegas on Monday night, passengers were expecting to land in Stockton, California at 9:30 pm.

How passengers boarded the flight on July 12 at 8.30pm in Las Vegas and didn't get to their destination in Stockton until 2pm on July 13.

Allegiant Air was determined the most likely airline to see your flight delayed, with a whopping 27 percent of flights departing past schedule

But when the plane arrived in Stockton the pilot couldn't get ahold of anybody on the ground in order to get a weather report.

The control tower at the Stockton Airport is typically manned from 7 am to 9 pm running on an automated system when the tower is unstaffed.

The Stockton Metropolitan's Deputy Director, Helene Nusdbaumer, confirmed with KCRA that the airport's automated surface observing system, or ASOS visibility sensor, failed. But insisted that this kind of issue rarely happens.

The pilot then flew the plane to LAX and the estimated 175 passengers were finally allowed to deplane the flight at around midnight.

But the nightmare wasn't over yet, the passengers were then ushered into a holding room without a bathroom.

The flight to Stockton was then rescheduled for the next day as upset passengers were given $250 ticket vouchers and left to sort out their situation on their own.

Passengers finally landed at Stockton Airport at 2 pm on Tuesday, 16 hours later than they had planned.

JetBlue had the second most delayed flights, with 23.2 percent arriving lated
Talktalk is allowing women to claim the cost of menopause medication on expenses in an attempt to retain talented older staff.

Chief executive Tristia Harrison told The Mail on Sunday she has informed employees that the company will foot the bill for hormone replacement therapy, a treatment that helps relieve menopause symptoms.

The menopause tends to affect women between the ages of 45 and 55 when their periods stop and fertility ends. Symptoms can be crippling, including headaches, joint pains, palpitations, memory loss, anxiety and hot flushes.

A prescription for HRT costs 9.35, or 18.70 if a woman needs two types of hormones.

Talktalk is allowing women to claim the cost of menopause medication on expenses in an attempt to retain talented older staff (stock image)

Ms Harrison, 48, said she is trying to keep women in the workforce for longer after research revealed many around menopausal age end up leaving or cutting back their hours because of the debilitating side effects.

A survey of 3,800 women last month found 99 per cent believed menopausal symptoms or perimenopause  the transitionary period before  led to a negative impact on their careers.

The survey, by Dr Louise Newson, showed that 59 per cent had taken time off work due to their symptoms.
A 22-year-old Royal Marines officer on the remote southern Atlantic island of South Georgia received an uncompromising radio message from his superiors. 'When asked to surrender, you are not to do so.'

Half an hour later, a second, apparently contradictory, order followed. 'The OCRM [Officer Commanding Royal Marines] is not, repeat not, to take any action that would endanger life.'

The subsequent actions of that young man, Keith Mills, in the challenging opening hours of the Falklands War saw him awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and feted at home as one of the conflict's greatest heroes.

His is one of many astounding stories of gallantry and courage which I am privileged to be able to tell in a new book to mark the 40th anniversary of the ten-week conflict.

Through in-depth conversations with former service personnel, I am able to pay tribute to the immense courage of those who fought, and ultimately repelled, the Argentine invasion of the British-ruled Falkland Islands in the spring and early summer of 1982. I am grateful for everyone's time and their memories, not all of them fond or easy because, as with all wars, there was a heavy price to pay  even in victory.

The Falklands War was an extraordinary conflict in so many ways. It could easily prove to be the last colonial war that Britain ever fights. Whether or not this is the case, it is remarkable that the country sent a force of 20,000 military personnel to fight for a small cluster of islands 8,000 miles away that were home to only 1,820 people  and 400,000 sheep.

My book is not an attempt to shed new light on some of the biggest controversies surrounding the war.

At dawn on April 3, 1981 Keith Mills found himself in charge of a tiny force of Royal Marines, preparing to defend the last remaining British outpost in the southern Atlantic: South Georgia. The situation could hardly have been more challenging. With fewer than two dozen men at his disposal and reinforcements still far away, the responsibility of withstanding the Argentine assault rested on his young shoulders alone.

Should it have been avoided in the first place? Did Britain really need to resort to fighting, leading to the deaths of 255 of its military personnel and three islanders, and the loss of 649 Argentine lives? Should we have attacked the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano  an episode that is still controversial 40 years on? Was the battle for Goose Green fought too recklessly?

Indeed, most of these issues have been addressed extensively in the intervening years. My intention is instead to highlight and celebrate the courage of veterans who risked, and in some cases gave, their lives for the rights of the people of the Falkland Islands to continue to live there free of Argentine control.

These are their stories.

IT all began on March 19, 1982, when a group of civilian scrap-metal workers landed illegally on South Georgia, a dependency of the Falklands, and hoisted the Argentine flag.

Like many in their homeland, they believed that the Falklands, known to them as Las Malvinas, should belong to Argentina, not to a country thousands of miles away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Acting Lieutenant Keith Mills and his small detachment of Royal Marines were on South Georgia ahead of the Argentine invasion

The workers' arrival alerted a British Antarctic Survey team, the only UK presence on the island, which, in turn, sent messages to London and to Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falklands.

At the request of the British, the Argentine flag was eventually lowered. But when diplomatic niceties were ignored, Hunt despatched the British patrol ship Endurance to South Georgia to drop off a detachment of 22 Royal Marines. Their brief was to monitor events.

Within days, tensions were escalating. What had seemed to be a minor episode of no consequence was rapidly developing into something far more serious.

On April 1, Hunt made a radio announcement to the islanders. 'There is mounting evidence,' he told them, 'that Argentine armed forces are preparing to invade the Falklands.' Events moved swiftly.

The following day Hunt declared a state of emergency, and minutes later Argentine commandos landed three miles south of the capital, Port Stanley, and advanced on Government House.

Following an intense two-hour gun battle, and by now cut off from London, Hunt surrendered. Argentina and its military junta leader, General Leopoldo Galtieri, were firmly in control of the Falkland Islands.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

At dawn on April 3, Keith Mills found himself in charge of a tiny force of Royal Marines, preparing to defend the last remaining British outpost in the southern Atlantic: South Georgia. The situation could hardly have been more challenging. With fewer than two dozen men at his disposal and reinforcements still far away, the responsibility of withstanding the Argentine assault rested on his young shoulders alone.

The Royal Marines faced overwhelming odds when Argentine forces arrived in the Falkland Islands, which they called Las Malvinas. (Pictured survivors from the RFA Sir Galahad which was bombed by Argentinian fast jets in San Carlos Bay

At 10.30 that morning, Argentina's Captain Cesar Trombetta radioed Mills from the auxiliary vessel Bahia Paraiso. 'Following our successful operation in the Malvinas, the ex-Governor has surrendered the islands and dependencies,' he said. 'We suggest you adopt a similar course of action to prevent any loss of life. If so, all British troops and government personnel will be repatriated to the UK unharmed.'

Mills asked for time to clarify the situation  to consider his response and to radio his superiors on Endurance, now many miles away, for guidance. He had hoped for several hours' grace, but was told he had just five minutes. His reply was swift, decisive and defiant.

'I am the British commander of the military troops stationed on South Georgia,' he radioed back to Bahia Paraiso. 'Any attempt to land will be met with force.'

Many years later his commanding officer on Endurance, Nick Barker, would write: 'We were most fearful for Keith and our Marines. When you join the armed services, you accept the risks. But you do not expect to fight, and perhaps die, on some godforsaken windswept mountainside just about as far from home as you can get.'

With a Union Jack fluttering beside them, Mills's men dug into a position about 100 yards from the shore in a sheltered bay. They had placed mines and improvised explosive devices in front of the position where they anticipated the enemy would land. The plan was, Mills later said, to give their assailants 'a bloody nose' and then withdraw into the mountains, where his men had some basic supplies.

The first the Marines saw of the invading force was the corvette (a small warship) Guerrico rounding a point and coming into a cove close to the British Antarctic Survey base. It was supported by an Alouette helicopter hovering above.

Demonstrating immense courage, Mills marched down to the jetty with the intention of talking to the Argentine landing party. Instead, the helicopter landed and dropped eight enemy marines close by, one of whom raised his rifle in Mills's direction. He retreated. Next, a Puma helicopter from Bahia Paraiso attempted to land on the foreshore. Mills ordered his men to open fire, and more than 500 small-arms rounds hit the helicopter from a range of less than 100 metres. Trailing smoke, it pulled away and limped 1,200 metres to the other side of the bay, where it crash-landed.

Next on the scene was another helicopter, again an Alouette. This was also hit by British fire and crashed.

Guerrico began blasting away with 40mm guns from its stern, and a 100mm gun from the bow.

The British had expected it to stop out of their range and then fire at them from a safe distance, but Guerrico carried on advancing until it was only 500 metres away.

In his official report of the incident, a copy of which I have obtained, Mills wrote: 'I ordered my men to open fire. The corvette was committed to entering the bay and could not turn around. The first 84mm round fired at the ship landed approximately 10 metres short of its target. The round did not detonate on impact with the water, but did detonate on impact with the ship below the waterline. The ship was also engaged by heavy machine gun and rifle fire.'

Mills continued: 'The ship then moved right into the bay, about-turned and headed out to sea again at full speed. We engaged the corvette for a second time, scoring anti-tank rocket hits to the Exocet [missile system] and to the main upper-deck superstructure.

'I was later informed by an Argentine marine officer that we had scored a total of 1,275 hits on the corvette, and had we hit her again below the water line she would surely have sunk.'

Twenty minutes of heavy shelling was followed by what seemed to be a temporary ceasefire. It was then that Mills realised the extreme peril of their situation.

'I realised that a withdrawal for us would be almost impossible as the Argentine troops that had landed on the far side of the bay had moved round to cut off our withdrawal,' he wrote. 'We had already sustained one casualty, and I realised that we would sustain many more had we waited until the hours of darkness before attempting a withdrawal.

'Having already achieved our aim of forcing the Argentines to use military force, I realised we could achieve no more. It was at this stage I decided to surrender.'

But even this proved to be an unnerving and dangerous experience, remembered Mills.

'As we had not planned to surrender, we had no white flag, and therefore had to improvise using a green anorak with a white lining,' he recalled. 'On initially waving this article of clothing [perched on the top of a rifle], the Argentines engaged it with heavy fire. I then waved it again and this time it was not engaged.

'I realised that I would have to move forward from my position to negotiate with the Argentines, as it was unlikely they were going to come to me. I slowly stood up and, remarkably, I was not shot. I then moved forward to the Argentine position in the base and was met by an Argentine marine officer.

'I informed him that his position was desperate, as was ours, and that unless we ceased firing, he and his men would surely die. We had achieved our aim and if we were to be guaranteed good treatment we would lay down our arms, sparing the lives of many of his men who would have died had he taken our position by force.

'The Argentine officer agreed, saying that it was a very sensible decision and that he would guarantee good treatment for my men.'

After more than two hours of intense fighting, the battle for South Georgia was over.

It is believed that the 22 Royal Marines faced an overall invasion force of 300 enemy servicemen. The sole British casualty was a corporal shot twice in one arm. The number of enemy casualties is not known, but it is likely there were around 20 dead and wounded.

Mills and his men assembled on the beach, along with the rounded-up 13 British Antarctic Survey scientists, and were escorted on to Bahia Paraiso.

In an interview at his Devon home, Mills told me the Argentines had initially been 'twitchy' after the British had surrendered. They could not believe that, given the extreme strength of the resistance, they were facing such a small number of men and feared they were about to be ambushed.

'After a while they accepted it was just 22 of us,' he told me. 'But even when we were unarmed, they were still very wary of us, while our guys were a bit worried that we still might all get shot in cold blood.

'It was all a bit tense. I had to tell the Argentines we had wired up the jetty and other areas. I didn't want them blowing themselves up, now that we were all prisoners of war.'

Back in Britain, the media seized on Mills's story, likening his stand to the famous defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War, when a small group of British soldiers held out against a much larger force of Zulu warriors. 'Marine Who Showed Whitehall That The British Fighting Spirit Is Still Alive,' read one headline.

After their negotiated surrender, Mills and his men were taken on an 11-day voyage to the Argentine naval base of Puerto Belgrano, where they were questioned by officials. Mills became emotional with sheer pride when he told me how a senior Argentine officer, General Carlos Busser, had insisted on meeting all 22 Royal Marines in person. The Argentine told Mills: 'I have come here today because I have been in Buenos Aires listening to the stories of the defence by British Marines of South Georgia. 'I am a marine and I decided I had to come and meet these men.'

Mills continued: 'With that, the general went along the line and saluted each of my men, shook their hands and said, 'If Argentine marines were the same as British Marines, we would conquer the world. If there is anything you want, let me know and you will have it.'

'We made a shortlist that ended 'Twenty-two one-way tickets to London and 22 women.'

'Busser said, 'You can have everything on the list except the women, and the one-way tickets home you will have to wait for.' Yet the next day we flew out of Argentina.'

On the morning of April 19 the Marines were flown back to England in an RAF VC10, landing at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

The following day, Keith Mills was reunited with his girlfriend, Liz Stananought, who later became his wife. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on June 4.

In a typed letter dated three days later, Admiral Sir Desmond Cassidi, the Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel, wrote to Mills saying: 'Many congratulations on your award of the DSC for the part you played in the defence of South Georgia. Your resolute leadership during this action reflected the finest traditions of the Corps.'

After leaving the Armed Forces following several further tours of duty, including operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Croatia, Mills, now 62, started a business developing and running care homes in Devon.

Thousands of miles away his legacy lives on  after hostilities ended, a mountain on South Georgia was named Mills Peak in the young officer's honour.

'A lot of people are fortunate enough to be awarded gallantry medals, but to have a landmark named after you is quite something,' Mills told me. 'I was very touched.'

Abridged extract from Falklands War Heroes, by Michael Ashcroft, published by Biteback on Tuesday at 25. To order a copy for 22.50, with free UK delivery, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937 before November 28. Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For information about his work, visit lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook @LordAshcroft.
One Wednesday about a month ago, I made my way to work as usual. I am  or at least I was  a professor at Sussex University, and that day I was teaching classes in feminist philosophy.

In the past, Id been told my views on sex and gender identity were an embarrassment to Sussex.

Yet there was no sign of embarrassment in the growing numbers of bright and curious students entering my classroom.

Kathleen Stock, recently resigned from her Professorship at Sussex University after controversy over her views on gender and trans issues

I got off the train and joined the crowd walking through a tunnel to the university entrance  to find the walls were plastered with posters, each one screaming my name in bold capitals.

KATHLEEN STOCK MAKES STUDENTS UNSAFE, SUSSEX STILL PAYS HER.

WERE NOT PAYING 9,250 A YEAR FOR TRANSPHOBIA, FIRE KATHLEEN STOCK.

Struggling to breathe, I ran back to the station where, seeing the state I was in, a railway worker offered me a bottle of water. Later that day, I saw an Instagram account titled Kathleen Stock is a transphobe. It showed balaclava-wearing figures brandishing flares and banners saying Stock Out.

The website called me a spiteful bootlicker and urged its viewers to get angry. Until I was fired, said the anonymous authors, youll be seeing us around.

This is certainly not the Sussex University I joined as a junior lecturer in 2003. Back then, it was a struggle to get students to commit themselves to any firm moral opinions.

Its all relative, they would insist.

Theres a lot more certainty now, which can be disconcerting in such young and inexperienced people.

My views would never have been thought controversial in the past. I simply believe we should be free to debate the trans lobbys growing demands that we recognise a persons gender identity rather than their biological sex.

Discrimination against trans people is utterly abhorrent. They need protection from abuse.

But we must also look at the effects of these demands and consider, in particular, any costs to women and girls.

HATE MOB: Protesters let off flares during a trans campaign against university professor Kathleen Stock

Why should people born as men  whove never had a sex change operation  be given access to female changing rooms, for example? Or refuges from domestic violence or womens prisons?

What about the health of children who say they wish to change gender but who, in doing so, might put themselves in line for irreversible medical treatment?

I am a lesbian with teenage children, so these topics are a matter of great personal interest. But I also care about truth and freedom of speech.

I believe we should discuss these issues and, three years ago, I started to say so. To my astonishment, I found that others, including some Sussex colleagues and students, disagreed.

There were protests at my talks. I had official complaints and disciplinary investigations. Student deputations to my bosses demanded that I stop teaching feminism.

I was no-platformed  disinvited from speaking in public  after protests. And I was denounced in open letters by fellow academics, including when I was awarded an OBE in January last year.

That particular letter accused me of transphobic fearmongering, of helping to restrict trans peoples access to life-saving medical treatment and of serving to encourage the harassment of gender-nonconforming people.

None of that is remotely true.

Concerned for my safety, the campus security manager advised me about the emergency phone system and arranged to have a spyhole put in my office door.

When my book Material Girls appeared in March, the campaign against me escalated further.

Even so, I could not have imagined the vicious rage of the past few weeks.

The offensive posters were taken down only to reappear the next day.

I spotted stickers on the walls and doors in my building talking about the transphobic s*** that comes out of Kathleen Stocks mouth.

Demonstrations followed. The police warned me to step up my security at home.

A hundred masked figures disrupted a University Open Day.

The ringleaders made angry speeches, set off flares, wrote graffiti and held up placards urging me to quit.

A few days later, frightened, demoralised, and exhausted, that is exactly what I did.

It would be tempting to lay the blame on the students and, obviously, the ringleaders bear a lot of responsibility. But things are more complicated than that.

It emerged that few of those involved had any idea what my views really were.

They didnt know, for instance, that I have repeatedly and sincerely stated my support for special legal protections for trans people.

What I was actually saying seemed to make no difference to people in the grip of what have been described as luxury beliefs.

Such frivolously held opinions can give the student protesters  often from privileged backgrounds  extra social status with their tribe.

In the past, Kathleen had been told her views on sex and gender identity were an embarrassment to Sussex

Never mind the costs to others who are less well-off.

One angry social media post showed a university workman removing a poster attacking me and asked this telling question: Who do you serve, transphobes or students?

Since when were workmen paid to serve students?

My persecutors neither knew nor cared that an increasing number of trans people agree with me that lobby groups such as Stonewall have gone too far.

When questioned by onlookers, some protesters could only say that I was very transphobic and that they had read this on social media.

But they had also heard it in lectures.

At Sussex, as I have long known to my cost, there exists a group of academic colleagues  none of them to my knowledge trans themselves  who are hell-bent on disseminating false claims that I am transphobic, which is to say a hater of trans people.

Over the past three years, this slur on my character has been repeated by colleagues in classes, in department meetings and  of course  on social media.

When, in 2019, some students set up a public Facebook group to discuss ways to have me fired, academic colleagues posted on the page in solidarity.

One individual spent three years churning out tweets with the same monotonous message: The views of Kathleen Stock make her a danger to every trans student at Sussex. This simply isnt true, as the supportive emails Ive had from trans students attest to.

As I write this, a former colleague, whose office was four doors from mine, is tweeting that there will never be a full accounting of all the ways people within the institution aided and abetted her.

Her, of course, is me.

With supposedly responsible adults acting this badly in public, who can blame impressionable young people for following suit?

The effect of all this has been debilitating. At times I have struggled to get out of bed and carry on.

The fact I have managed to continue writing and talking throughout has been presented as proof that there is no real problem.

But no one should be forced to go through such an ordeal simply in order to say what they think out loud.

The debacle has sent a terrible message to lecturers and students at Sussex University who think as I do: remain silent or the same thing will happen to you.

Questions of sex and gender are central to many academic areas, so this is a catastrophe for the university.

Its public statements on my departure have strongly upheld the value of academic freedom, and thats a decent start, but Sussex must now work hard to rectify the damage to its reputation and restore the confidence of staff and students.

The university must also reject the influence of Stonewall, which takes an intransigent line about gender identity, condemning debate let alone dissent.

Everyone, they insist, must be free to determine their own gender on the basis of nothing more than their own feelings on the matter.

PAINTED AS THE VILLAIN: Protests and graffiti by trans activists forced Sussex University professor Kathleen Stock, left, to resign

Along with a number of institutions and most other universities, Sussex actually pays Stonewall to be a diversity champion. Sussex has even stated its ambition to join the Stonewall Top 100 Employer Index by 2025.

This effectively means that, between now and then, the university will take instruction from a lobby group with extreme, un-evidenced and divisive views.

Freedom of Information requests made to Sussex illustrate the extent of this cosy relationship.

They show that Stonewalls stance has been embedded in the institution. The university management has already adapted internal policies to ensure that references to biological sex are all but invisible. This is chilling to any staff or students who dissent.

It means I am said to be a transphobe when I say that males who claim to be female on the basis of no more than their hidden inner feelings should be kept out of womens prisons.

Or when I say that children should be given talking therapy not drugs should they announce they are trapped in the wrong body.

There are many academics out there with views like mine, frightened to express them. They need help. Whether through bullying or self-censorship, they are losing their freedom to speak and write.

Yes to argument and evidence. No to witch-hunts and intimidation under the false guise of offering a safe and inclusive environment.

I can see its tempting to present campus life as a comforting cocoon  particularly when universities must compete for students. But the price of this can be ostracism for those who dont fit.

Members of the awkward squad are existential threats to the social herd. And herds, it turns out, can be easily led. They can sometimes turn into mobs.

Many bad ideas once seemed attractive until they were debunked by contrarians, eccentrics, heretics, naysayers, difficult women  and even down-the-line traditionalists. They are all an important part of the intellectual community, and of life itself. They must not be silenced.

Dont let the mob come for the rest of us, too.
A suspected pedophile was arrested for abducting a 16 year-old girl after she used an emergency hand signal she saw on TikTok to alert other drivers to her plight, cops say.

Laurel County Sheriff's officers in Kentucky arrested James Brick, 61, on November 4 after receiving a call on Thursday about a 16-year-old girl in his car making hand gestures known on TikTok that represent domestic violence.

It was seen by someone driving behind Brick's vehicle, with the girl subsequently telling police she'd been abducted from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, and driven through her home state, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Her parents had reported her missing.

The signal, demonstrated on multiple TikTok accounts, including one set up by news site NowThis, sees a person raise their palm and tuck their thumb, then lower their fingers so that the thumb is 'trapped' inside them, with the signal resembling a clenched fist.

It is designed to show others that the signaler is suffering from domestic abuse.

One driver called in about the teen in a silver Toyota who 'appeared to be in distress' making hand gestures known on the social media app to represent 'violence at home  I need help,' the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said.

James Brick, 61, was arrested for kidnapping a 16-year-old girl in North Carolina. Drivers on the interstate spotted the girl making emergency hand signals from TikTok in his car

Many on TikTok have shared videos on how to discretely perform the hand sign in order to combat domestic abuse. The teen said she learned the sign from these types of videos

This graphic explains how the hand signal used by the girl works

'It was learned through investigation that the female passenger was a reported missing juvenile  reported by her parents on Tuesday morning missing from Asheville, North Carolina,' the Laurel Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. 'A check through NCIC confirmed that she was a reported missing person.'

The missing teen told police that she and Brick had traveled to Ohio, where Brick's family lived, but left shortly after his family realized she was underaged and reported missing by her parents.

She began making the hand signs that she learned on TikTok when they were driving back to North Carolina on Interstate 75, where drivers she caught the attention of other drivers.

Officers quickly arrested Brick and also found a phone in his possession 'that allegedly portrayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner.'

It is unclear if that is the same girl was the teenager found in the car. Cops have also yet to explain whether Brick knew his alleged victim before the attack, and more details about how he had been able to take her.

Brick was charged with kidnapping and possession of child pornography and jailed at the Laurel County Correctional Center.

The Laurel County Sheriff's Office said the investigation over the incident is still on-going.
The former girlfriend of Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from a Portuguese holiday resort, says he admitted being close to the youngsters apartment when she vanished.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Nakscije Miftari recalled Brueckner falling silent when the subject of Madeleines abduction was raised by friends during a party in early 2014 at their flat in Braunschweig, northern Germany.

I remember he made no answer to the question. After they went, I asked about Maddie as I did not know anything about her, she said.

Nakscije Miftari, pictured right with her ex boyfriend, recalled Brueckner falling silent when the subject of Madeleines abduction was raised by friends during a party in early 2014 at their flat in Braunschweig, northern Germany

I asked him about it and he said, I know about Maddie, I was near the hotel at the time. I was living in the area at the time. I am not going to say anything more. I am not a stupid guy, I am a businessman. 

German prosecutors are convinced that sexual predator Brueckner, 44, snatched Madeleine, then aged three, from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, but are struggling to compile enough evidence to bring charges.

Ms Miftaris dramatic testimony  which she has already shared with German police  is the first in which Brueckner is said to have confessed to being at the scene of the crime.

Speaking for the first time, Ms Miftari, 25, told how terrified she was of violent, controlling Brueckner and of discovering his warped interest in child pornography featuring young blonde girls.

She was just 17 in 2013 when she met the apparently charming and generous owner of a kiosk shop in Braunschweig, where she had gone to buy sweets.

Madeleine McCann went missing aged three, from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, and German prosecutors are convinced that sexual predator Brueckner, 44, snatched her

The first time I saw him, he was on his mobile phone at the kiosk, she said. He got off the phone and said, Hello lady, how can I help you? I was surprised as no one called me a lady before.

He asked me to have a look and choose what I wanted. Then, when I asked him how much I should pay, he said, Nothing, a lady doesnt have to pay in my kiosk. 

Despite her being less than half Brueckners age, they began dating and Ms Miftari even considered marriage.

But about a year into their relationship, she found child pornography on his mobile phone and laptop, much of it featuring blonde girls. Brueckner was in some of the videos.

When she confronted him, Brueckner launched a savage attack on her.

I asked him about the videos and pictures and thats when he punched me, she said. I fell down the stairs and was unconscious for about ten minutes.

Ms Miftari and her mother reported the assault to police and officers raided the flat, recovering electronic equipment which was later revealed to contain 391 child porn photographs and 68 videos, including images of Brueckner abusing the five-year-old daughter of one of his previous girlfriends in a park.

Ignoring her mothers pleas, Ms Miftari, a German Muslim of Kosovan origin, remained in contact with Brueckner even when he fled to Portugal as police began to close the net.

He was eventually returned to Germany on a European arrest warrant in 2017 and was later given a 15-month prison term for abusing the five-year-old.

German police dramatically announced that he was the prime suspect in the Madeleine case in June 2020, while he was still serving that sentence.

Ocean Club, Praia da Luz, near Lagos, Portugal. Madeleine McCann went missing from the Ocean Club in May 2007 and was subsequently not found

He has since been given a further seven-and-a-half-year prison term for the rape of an American pensioner in Praia da Luz in 2005.

Madeleine vanished from her familys holiday apartment while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were dining with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

German police have established that Brueckner, who denies any involvement in Madeleines disappearance and has refused to speak to police or prosecutors, was living in the Algarve.

Mobile phone signals show he was near the Ocean Club resort on the evening of May 3, 2007.

Ms Miftari, who admitted to visiting the Algarve with Brueckner but refused to say whether it was before or after he fled Braunschweig in 2014, is now trying to rebuild her life.

But she still struggles to believe that she fell in love with a monster.

She added: I have no feelings any more for Christian.

I cannot believe he was doing all these things.

I have heard so much about him in the past year and I was always hoping it was not true, even today.
The society fixer at the heart of the Prince Charles cash-for-access charity scandal has revealed that he has still not been interviewed by investigators.

Michael Wynne-Parker acted as a middleman for the Prince's Foundation, offering to set up dinners and an overnight stay with Charles at Dumfries House in exchange for six-figure donations to help restore the 18th Century Ayrshire mansion.

After The Mail on Sunday exposed the grubby deals, the charity announced an independent inquiry and said they had ceased working with Mr Wynne-Parker and William Bortrick, the editor of Burke's Peerage who was receiving the payments.

But two months later, there is still no sign of the report and Mr Wynne-Parker last night said he has not been questioned by forensic accountants tasked with unearthing the truth.

The society fixer at the heart of the Prince Charles cash-for-access charity scandal has revealed that he has still not been interviewed by investigators. Michael Wynne-Parker (above) acted as a middleman for the Prince's Foundation, offering to set up dinners and an overnight stay with Charles at Dumfries House in exchange for six-figure donations to help restore the 18th Century Ayrshire mansion

Meanwhile, Mr Wynne-Parker (right) and his business partner Volha Havorchanka (also pictured, with her husband, Anatoly, left), a Belarusian investment banker, have applied to have their PR firm Introcom Ltd, struck off the Companies House register. Ms Havorchanka, a Belarusian investment banker, has denied any knowledge of the fundraising scheme and did not respond to a request for comment

'I'm not surprised I haven't been questioned. I am an innocent person,' he said. 'Over a ten-year period I raised millions of pounds for Dumfries House through my connections.

'I'm very proud of what I've done. I know it is greatly acknowledged by the Prince of Wales. Certain events happened with slightly less morally motivated persons who entered the scene and finally disrupted it, totally.'

In August, this newspaper published an email written by Mr Wynne-Parker in which he outlined 'practical steps' that wealthy donors could take to secure dinner with Charles.

The MoS has revealed a letter from Michael Fawcett (above), Charles's right-hand man and chief executive of the Prince's Foundation, to a Saudi donor offering to help secure him a knighthood in light of his 'generous' donations to the charity

In exchange for a suggested sum of 100,000, guests would be greeted by the Prince 'with conversation and photographer' followed by a black tie dinner with the heir to the throne.

At the time, Douglas Connell, the foundation's chairman, said: 'Following publication of an initial allegation relating to 'middlemen' and donors, the trustees instigated a full and rigorous investigation with the assistance of forensic accountants from one of the 'big four' accountancy firms.'

The MoS then revealed a letter from Michael Fawcett, Charles's right-hand man and chief executive of the Prince's Foundation, to a Saudi donor offering to help secure him a knighthood in light of his 'generous' donations to the charity.

Above, Michael Fawcett (left) with Prince Charles and Camilla at Ascot Racecourse in 2018

Mr Fawcett agreed to 'temporarily step back' from his role, as did Chris Martin, the charity's executive director of development. Mr Connell has since resigned.

A source close to the foundation said: 'We had hoped this would all be done and dusted by now, but that's not the case.'

The delay is thought to be due to the complexity of the investigation and the number of documents, including hundreds of emails, that need to be examined.

Meanwhile, Mr Wynne-Parker and his business partner Volha Havorchanka, a Belarusian investment banker, have applied to have their PR firm Introcom Ltd, struck off the Companies House register.

Ms Havorchanka, a Belarusian investment banker, has denied any knowledge of the fundraising scheme and did not respond to a request for comment.

According to documents filed at Companies House, Introcom's assets have shrunk from 27,917 to a little over 1,000 in the past year.

Mr Wynne-Parker, who maintains another company called Introcom International, said the firm was being closed 'simply because it was not profitable'.

Mr Bortrick did not respond to a request for comment and the Prince's Foundation declined to comment while the investigation was ongoing.
He is supposed to be committed to reducing emissions  but when President Joe Biden produced a little natural gas of his own at the COP26 summit, it was audible enough to make the Duchess of Cornwall blush.

An informed source has told The Mail on Sunday that Camilla was taken aback to hear Biden break wind as they made polite small talk at the global climate change gathering in Glasgow last week.

'It was long and loud and impossible to ignore,' the source said. 'Camilla hasn't stopped talking about it.'

The President met the Duchess during a reception on Monday at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, attended by Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Boris Johnson.

An informed source has told The Mail on Sunday that Camilla was taken aback to hear President Joe Biden break wind as they made polite small talk at the global climate change gathering in Glasgow last week at Kelvingrove Art Gallery. Pictured: with Camilla and Liz Truss

Just hours earlier, the 78-year-old  nicknamed 'Sleepy Joe' by Donald Trump  had appeared to doze off during the opening addresses, prompting more questions from his political rivals over his fitness for office.

This is not the first time that Biden has faced claims that he broke wind. In May 2020, Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr, posted a video clip of Biden containing a suspicious noise while live-streaming an exchange with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

However, a separate video which circulated last month  and was briefly trending on Twitter under #Fartgate  was found to have been doctored to include fake flatulence.

Trump Sr is considering running in the 2024 Presidential race. After a year in the White House, Biden's approval ratings are at rock bottom, with polls putting his predecessor two percentage points ahead.

Just hours earlier, the 78-year-old  nicknamed 'Sleepy Joe' by Donald Trump  had appeared to doze off during the opening addresses (pictured), prompting more questions from his political rivals over his fitness for office

At the reception, which was originally supposed to have been hosted by the Queen until she was ordered to rest by doctors, Biden was seen laughing and joking with Prince William, at one stage placing a hand on his shoulder.

At COP26, Biden apologised for Trump's actions in taking the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord and he pledged that America would devote more resources to fighting climate change. The President was 'gonged' eight times by organisers for running past the three minutes allotted for his speech.

This summer, Johnson praised Biden as being 'a big breath of fresh air' on climate change compared to his predecessor.

Appropriately, Biden has urged world leaders to cut methane gas emissions by 30 per cent by the end of the decade. Cows and other livestock contribute substantially to global methane levels.

The White House declined to comment last night.
British Airways plans to launch the first commercial flights powered by sustainable jet fuel next year as part of a green revolution in air travel.

Green jet fuel produced in the US could be blended with conventional fossil fuel to power BAs fleet.

The airline is also working with fuel firms on four projects to produce green jet fuel in the UK, which could power its planes from 2025.

The aviation industry has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and BA wants the Governments target of aircraft using ten per cent sustainable aviation fuel by 2030 to become a legally binding requirement.

British Airways plans to launch the first commercial flights powered by sustainable jet fuel next year as part of a green revolution in air travel

New jet engines can take up to 50 per cent green jet fuel, but Rolls-Royce said its Trent engines could be 100 per cent powered by sustainable fuel by 2023.

The drive to slash airline emissions will get a major boost at the COP26 climate summit on Wednesday when a new coalition of governments will make an ambitious and comprehensive declaration.

It comes as the Governments Jet Zero Council, led by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, finalises plans to boost the manufacture of sustainable jet fuel.

Sustainable aviation fuel, which cuts CO2 emissions by up to 80 per cent, can be made from waste oil and fats, green and municipal waste and non-food crops. It can also be produced synthetically in a process that captures carbon from the air.

The airline industry body IATA estimates it could provide 65 per cent of the reduction in emissions needed by the sector to reach net zero by 2050. Green jet fuel is up to five times dearer than conventional jet fuel, and represents one per cent of aviation fuel used globally.

It comes as the Governments Jet Zero Council, led by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, finalises plans to boost the manufacture of sustainable jet fuel

The cost could mean higher air fares unless the Government offers financial support, such as subsidies similar to those used to kickstart the offshore wind sector, a loan guarantee scheme to underwrite lending used to finance the production of green jet fuel, using revenue from air passenger duty or an emissions trading scheme.

Government involvement could unleash backing from City investors to reach the target of building 13 sustainable aviation fuel plants by 2030, each costing 300 million.

BA is investing in a plant at Immingham in Lincolnshire that could produce 80 million litres annually within four years.

Another biorefinery being developed at Stanlow in Cheshire aims to produce 100 million litres a year  enough to run 1,200 Boeing 777-300 long-haul jets when blended 50-50 with traditional fuel.

The Government says the sustainable aviation fuel sector could create 6,500 jobs by the mid-2030s and boost the economy by 900 million.

Meanwhile, 100,000 protesters took to the streets of Glasgow yesterday in the biggest demonstration so far during COP26.

Organised to coincide with 300 similar events worldwide, the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice involved environmental groups, charities, climate activists, trade unions and indigenous people.
Thousands of unvaccinated nurses and healthcare assistants who work in care homes are set to flood the NHS, say bosses, as a ban on unjabbed staff in social care comes into effect.

Up to 60,000 care home workers across England  about ten per cent of the sector's workforce  have still not been double-vaccinated against Covid, according to official figures.

But on Thursday, they will be forced to leave their jobs when a new law banning the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated from working in care homes kicks in.

The hard-line move is part of the Government's drive to ensure elderly residents, who can still develop severe Covid illness despite being double-vaccinated, are protected.

Ministers insist the law is necessary, and point out that care home staff have had months of warning.

But care home bosses say the move will lead to staff simply swapping one workplace where they care for the vulnerable elderly  care homes; for another  hospitals.

Up to 60,000 care home workers across England  about ten per cent of the sector's workforce  have still not been double-vaccinated against Covid, according to official figures (stock image)

That is because the Government has agreed to delay the imposition of the same 'no jabs, no job' rule on NHS workers until the spring. Care bosses are also warning the new law risks snarling up hospitals with 'bed blockers'  patients well enough to be discharged but not strong enough to live on their own  as staffing shortages will force them to close homes to new residents. Last night, Dr Charles Armitage, director of Florence, which helps social care providers fill staff gaps with health workers and volunteers said: 'Unvaccinated staff are going to leave and work in retail and hospitality, or go to the NHS because they don't need to have vaccinations to work there  which is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

'Then you suddenly get this influx of workers into the NHS who are unvaccinated and it just shifts the problem there.'

Agencies are already turning up at care homes offering staff on 9 to 11 an hour 17 to work in the NHS, said Wade Newmark of The Dales Nursing Home in Exeter.

Mike Padgham, (pictured) of the Independent Care Group, said 'a considerable number' of care home nurses and healthcare assistants were migrating to the NHS. 'In my view, it's a bizarre policy having two different deadlines,' he added

Mike Padgham, of the Independent Care Group, said 'a considerable number' of care home nurses and healthcare assistants were migrating to the NHS. 'In my view, it's a bizarre policy having two different deadlines,' he added.

Social care organisations have asked Health Secretary Sajid Javid to delay the ban until the end of March, with Mr Padgham saying 'no one would criticise Ministers for changing their minds'.

That is unlikely to happen. Ministers are haunted by the spectre of last year, when tens of thousands of care home residents died after being infected with Covid  sometimes by patients discharged from hospitals, sometimes by staff.

The deadline threat has also worked, to some extent, as the proportion of double-jabbed staff has risen in recent months.

Care Minister Gillian Keegan (pictured) said: 'Whether because of age or underlying health conditions, our loved ones in care homes are at the highest risk of the worst effects of Covid-19. We have all seen the devastating effects the virus has had on these group'

London care worker and GMB union rep Chika Ruben, who is tasked with encouraging colleagues to get jabbed, said: 'Many decided to get vaccinated when the Government said they were going to make it compulsory. It changed minds. You don't want to lose your job.'

Care Minister Gillian Keegan said: 'Whether because of age or underlying health conditions, our loved ones in care homes are at the highest risk of the worst effects of Covid-19. We have all seen the devastating effects the virus has had on these groups.'

However, many care home bosses said they fear the policy will cause more problems than it solves.

Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA, the UK's largest charity care provider, said: 'The staffing crisis in social care means that for MHA an average of 7.5 per cent of our care homes have been closed to new admissions over the past weeks.

'The mandatory vaccination for people working in care homes will mean we lose [more] people from the sector.'
A parishioner who falsely claimed that a married vicar made her pregnant has received more than 40,000 compensation from the Church of England.

The woman faked a terminal illness to inveigle herself into the Reverend William Bullochs life and later invented a story that they had an affair behind his wifes back.

Astonishingly, despite a Church tribunal ruling last year that her behaviour was dishonest and manipulative, she was later awarded funds from a scheme to help victims of sexual abuse by bishops, clergy and lay workers.

According to documents seen by The Mail on Sunday, the woman  known as AB for legal reasons  was given 9,000 in subsistence; 1,500 to cover legal fees; 3,120 for therapy, 2,010 towards a holiday at Disneyland Paris; 3,765 to clear debts and 375 for a stay at a spiritual retreat.

The woman faked a terminal illness to inveigle herself into the Reverend William Bullochs (pictured) life and later invented a story that they had an affair behind his wifes back

When AB, who is in her 40s, wanted a brand new car  so she knows no one has been in it before  the Churchs Interim Support Scheme agreed to fund up to 8,000 for a recent, dealer-sourced vehicle plus warranty and servicing.

The woman was given 875 for replacement settees as neither she nor members of her family will sit on the larger of her settees because of what happened there  despite the tribunal dismissing her claim of a sexual relationship with Mr Bulloch.

Sources close to the case say she was given at least another 10,000 after making a second application to the support scheme, set up last year by the Churchs executive body, the Archbishops Council, to help survivors in seriously distressed circumstances.

The scheme has, however, been criticised for failing genuine victims such as Teresa Cooper, whose health was damaged by inappropriate drugs she received during years of abuse in a Church-run childrens home in the 1980s.

They literally just cut me off, she said.

Last night, the Church said it had improved the scheme. It added: We are aware that a very limited number of payments were made in the early days of its operations which would not now be made.

AB was represented by an advocate from Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, Its chairman, Phil Johnson, while declaring an interest, was allowed to sit on the support scheme panel.

Despite being cleared by a tribunal, Mr Bulloch was later referred to as the abuser in some of the panels documents.

The tribunal heard that AB met Mr Bulloch, 53, of St James the Great Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in August 2015, and a pastoral relationship developed which included his wife and family.

During 2016 and 2017 the woman appeared to become unwell and faked letters from doctors asking Mr Bulloch to grant her dying wish to live with a family.

When the clergyman broke off contact, she alleged he had sex with her and that she was pregnant.

Although Mr Bulloch had not had an affair with AB, the tribunal said he acted extremely naively by swearing at her and not referring her to safeguarding officials. He was reinstated to his job.

The woman  known as AB for legal reasons  was given 9,000 in subsistence; 1,500 to cover legal fees; 3,120 for therapy, 2,010 towards a holiday at Disneyland Paris (pictured); 3,765 to clear debts and 375 for a stay at a spiritual retreat

The Church of England said in a statement: The scheme was set up a year ago in response to a very concerning urgent need of a survivor and continues to support survivors in need.

'The terms of reference have been developed over the last year with the latest version being agreed in September by the Archbishops Council.

As with all processes the operation of the scheme will be kept under continual review.

'We are aware that a very limited number of payments were made in the early days of its operations which would not now be made.

'Such grants were made before these terms of reference were finalised and we have learnt and developed the scheme accordingly.

We are absolutely committed to both responding well to survivors and also to learning when we get the process wrong.
For the past two decades, in the Army and in politics, I have lived the war on terror. I have seen it on the battlefield, managed it in government and felt it daily in my family life. Now, with the murder of fellow Conservative MP Sir David Amess, the dark shadow of fanaticism has fallen over us once again.

It was in 2002 that my brother Jonathan was killed, one of more than 200 innocent lives destroyed by an Al Qaeda-linked terror group in the Bali bombing. It fell to me to travel 8,000 miles to identify his remains.

And this question has stayed with me ever since: what purpose did the death of Jonathan and all those others serve? I was the brother whod joined the Army and saw active service. I was the one who signed up to be put in harms way. Yet it was Jonathan, a teacher attending an international education conference, who was killed.

Hed been catching up with teachers from other schools at a busy Irish Bar in Kuta, a beach town on the Indonesian island of Bali, when two suicide bombers struck in deadly succession  a cruelty that ensured survivors of the first blast would be cut down in the second.

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood shook hands with the Taliban - despite the terror organisation killing his brother

Tobias and his brother Jonathan, pictured here as children. The Tory MP's brother was killed by terrorists in the 2002 Bali bombings

So I am, perhaps, the last person youd expect to meet  let alone attempt to understand  the people who gave Al Qaeda sanctuary and support. The people who have done their best to obstruct international attempts to bring stability and freedom to Afghanistan. Who have killed and maimed hundreds of British soldiers for the past two decades.

Yet, last month, in the Grand Sheraton Hotel in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, I came face to face with the Taliban in the most extraordinary encounter of 15 years as an MP.

Its a particular irony that I was in Qatar as part of a parliamentary delegation which was headed by fellow MP David Amess. He had held a long-standing interest in the Middle East. And, just days away from becoming a terror victim, David had helped arrange the meeting through the Qatari government, which has hosted the Taliban leadership for the past ten years.

The contrast between the gaudy magnificence of the Sheraton and the dusty shacks of Afghanistan could hardly have been greater.

But then the Taliban are in Doha for a reason: to persuade us they are serious, an Afghan government for Afghan people. That they deserve a place in the wider world. They want to convince us of their good intentions. And they need large amounts of money  our money.

There were four of them chatting by the window of the conference suite as I walked in. They turned as one to face me, dressed in imposing black and white attire, complete with turbans. At least theyd left the AK-47s in Kabul.

The largest of the four, the giant Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, welcomed me through an interpreter and we took seats facing each other across a vast wooden table. I thanked him for meeting me, then wasted no time in explaining why I was there.

The terrorists who you harboured and defended in Afghanistan were the terrorists who orchestrated the 2002 Bali bombing that killed more than 200 innocent victims, including my brother Jonathan, I said.

The Taliban, pictured in Kabul, have been consolidating their base over the past few weeks

Can you assure me the Taliban will not allow this to happen again? The smile faded. He realised this was very personal.

The loss of my brother in 2002 had started a journey that would take me across the Middle East and to Afghanistan a dozen times. I want to understand that violent form of Islam which persuades fanatics to hijack a plane or trigger a suicide vest.

But there is even more at stake than that because, after 20 years of bloodshed, this basic truth remains: despite invading Afghanistan and Iraq, despite our fight against IS, despite suffering attack after attack in Britain itself, we have no answer to the extremist warfare now terrifying the West.

It is essential that we understand what people like the Taliban are thinking and that they understand us, too. Today, Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Much of the middle class has departed. Its international assets are frozen by the US. The Taliban needs solutions, and quickly.

Who can doubt the scale of the crisis when desperate Afghans are pictured selling babies so they can afford to feed their other children? Now, the freezing winter is approaching in a country which is as mountainous as it is poor.

The smiling Amir Khan Muttaqi has been specially appointed as principal negotiator with the West, to promote a moderate image.

Yet even he admitted this to me: if the Taliban  or, more accurately, an alliance of Taliban factions  are in charge, they are not fully in control. Many of their soldiers do as they choose, killing and violating those with whom they disagree.

The Taliban knows that if it does depart from a ruthless interpretation of Sharia law, more radical elements could defect to the regional arm of IS  ISIS-K  which is already destabilising parts of the country.

Yet, as I replied, the Taliban leadership will not last a year if it repeats the mistakes of the past and tries to subjugate the population. Afghanistan has changed radically, particularly in the cities, where a new young generation has tasted modern freedoms. The people cannot be crushed as before.

Jon Ellwood, pictured, died after terrorists attacked Bali in Indonesia attacking holiday makers

The Taliban must grant access and freedom of movement to the international community and its agencies, including groups such as the Halo Trust, specialists in mine-clearance.

According to Muttaqi, they are welcome and they will be safe and you are welcome to visit.

As for my brother and the others who died with him  what was the Talibans response?

Muttaqi replied that the Bali bombing and other such attacks on civilians were wrong and cannot be justified as Islamic.

He assured me that every effort would be made to remove terrorist groups from Afghanistan and, as it happens, I believed him. But we both knew some Taliban rank-and-file are conducting reprisals. Ill wait a little longer before accepting his invitation to pay a visit.

Is it a betrayal to have a civil conversation with the likes of the Taliban, or be in the same room, given their brutality? It certainly felt like that. But meetings like this must happen, whether we like it or not.

Id lived with armed terror in Northern Ireland, where I served with the Royal Green Jackets and where the killing only stopped with dialogue.Then there was March 22, 2017. That was the day that Khalid Masood drove a rental car at speed across Westminster Bridge, killing five pedestrians and injuring more than 50. After crashing, he continued on foot through the gates to the Palace of Westminster, stabbing PC Keith Palmer before a protection officer shot Masood dead.

Several of us there attempted to save Keiths life. For 30 minutes we pumped his chest, an attempt at CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) with the killer lying motionless only a few yards away. We couldnt save him.

Islamic radicalisation and the deadly results had now reached the gates of our own Parliament.

Wed already seen the London Tube and bus bombings in July 2005, dreadful events that made it clear Islamic extremism is not just a foreign issue but a British one, too.

Thats why, however nauseating it might seem to some, Id asked to meet the Taliban.

Only by talking can we continue helping 40 million Afghans, who are still coming to terms with our shameful withdrawal. We owe it to them. And only by talking can we help stop the rise of terrorist camps once again.

Britain has long held an important position in world diplomacy, which has helped maintain peace in the West. Our history means we know more about Afghanistan than any other foreign nation.

Yet we fell short. We failed to stand up to the Americans and tell them that their attempt to run the country from Kabul was doomed. Or that peace talks excluding the Afghan government were bound to fail.

For 20 years, we didnt bother talking to the Taliban. Little wonder that when Donald Trump did stage peace talks in Doha, we werent even at the table.

So, a full two months since the Taliban takeover, it was left to me, a mere MP, to stage the first meeting with the new Afghan government.

Where was our own Government?

The cost of this war has been huge. More than 3,500 Nato soldiers including 450 Britons  and at least 50,000 Afghans  paid with their lives. Thousands of our servicemen and women returned with devastating injuries. Many, now utterly confused, ask what was it all for?

This cannot be how we imagined leaving. It was a monumental own goal, a humiliating failure that has emboldened our Islamist adversaries. For without a stable Afghanistan, we can have no peace  and the same principle applies elsewhere.

Rising threats from countries such as China and Russia will be checked only through collective international efforts and this requires leadership.

Yet America is withdrawing from the world and we, too, are failing to step up to the mark.

Despite a huge increase in public spending, the recent Budget saw a real-terms reduction in the defence budget, which is neither sensible nor wise. Today, the ideology behind the murder of our dear colleague David Amess, of Keith Palmer and indeed my brother still needs to be addressed  and more than ever.

No one can yet explain how 7th Century fundamentalism can be reconciled with the 21st Century but we must keep on trying.

Our core values, democracy, freedom and the rule of law, are timeless, but they need defending.

For a century, weve had the means, the desire and the statecraft to help shape the world. But now, as the West loses its sense of purpose, so we in Britain have lost that appetite, too.

We live in increasingly dangerous times. Afghanistan has exposed how feeble we in the West have become.
Sir John Major faced the Governments wrath last night after he accused Boris Johnsons administration of taking a we are the masters now approach.

The former Conservative Prime Minister yesterday said plans to trigger Article 16 in the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol were colossally stupid and that Ministers had broken the terms of the Brexit agreement with the EU.

Under the protocol, customs and food safety checks are made on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

Triggering Article 16 would unilaterally suspend parts of the agreement.

Sir John Major faced the Governments wrath last night after he accused Boris Johnsons administration of taking a we are the masters now approach

A Government source told The Mail on Sunday that Sir John was trying to settle scores over Brexit, which he opposed, and that he had a fundamental misunderstanding of the protocol.

Sir John yesterday also heavily criticised the Governments handling of the lobbying row involving Tory MP Owen Paterson.

He told the Today programme on Radio 4 that the Governments actions in the Commons last week were shameful and Mr Johnsons administration was damaging the UKs reputation overseas and treating Parliament with contempt.

The former Conservative Prime Minister yesterday said plans to trigger Article 16 in the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol were colossally stupid and that Ministers had broken the terms of the Brexit agreement with the EU

Mr Johnson last week made a humiliating U-turn after attempting to rewrite Commons standards rules and prevent Mr Paterson being suspended for 30 days over breaching lobbying rules.

Sir John, whose Government was mired in sleaze scandals, said: The striking difference is this. In the 1990s I set up a committee to tackle this sort of behaviour. Over the past few days we have seen todays Government trying to defend this sort of behaviour.

He added that there is a general whiff of we are the masters now about their behaviour and accused Mr Johnsons administration of being un-Conservative  including over Brexit.

This Government has done a number of things that have concerned me deeply, he said.

They have broken the law, [with] the prorogation of Parliament. They have broken treaties  I have in mind the Northern Ireland Protocol. They have broken their word on many occasions.

But former Brexit Secretary David Davis criticised intrinsic Remainers such as Sir John for attacking the UKs negotiating strategy while at the same time failing to criticise France for clearly trying to make life difficult.

This was a reference to French Prime Minister Jean Castexs letter urging the EU last week to use the fishing row to show there was more damage to leaving the EU than remaining there.

Last night, a Government source said: The comments from John Major suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Article 16 is a safeguard within the treaty to be used by either side in the event that the protocol causes serious difficulties in real life.

Given the significant disruption the protocol is causing in Northern Ireland we would be within our rights to use this safeguard. It would not be breaking any treaty.

Its difficult to avoid thinking that John Major is simply trying to settle scores over Brexit.

The source also said Sir John seems to have forgotten that the EU had invoked Article 16 at the start of this year during the row over the supply of Covid vaccines. The source said this had significantly undermined cross-community confidence in the protocol in Northern Ireland.

Mr Davis said of Sir Johns comments about Article 16: To accuse us of considering it as somehow misbehaving is frankly very odd. Its all very well for people who are intrinsically Remainers to attack the negotiating strategy when EU countries like France are clearly trying to make life difficult.

Under the protocol, customs and food safety checks are made on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK

He said Article 16 was put there for unforeseen circumstances arising. And at the moment we are heading towards exactly that  a position that is untenable for Northern Ireland businesses. It is entirely proper to consider applying it.

This would be more credible if John Major had criticised the EU when they threatened to use it in a manner that was not appropriate  over vaccines. That was, bluntly, a vindictive use.

This week, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic will travel to London to continue talks. On Friday he warned that triggering Article 16 would have serious consequences.

Downing Street has repeatedly rejected EU claims that the UK was about to trigger Article 16 imminently and said it preferred settling their differences through negotiation. However, the UK is prepared to use the mechanism if a solution cannot be reached.

Sir John yesterday also heavily criticised the Governments handling of the lobbying row involving Tory MP Owen Paterson

After three weeks of intensive negotiations, talks have stalled, with the UK side saying the EU has not made enough concessions.

Sticking points include discussions over cutting the amount of customs checks, red tape around medicines and the movement of pets between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

A Government source said: Weve always said that well use Article 16 if solutions cant be found. But people need to understand that were taking these talks seriously and we mean it when we say that we want a negotiated outcome.

The source said the EUs proposals so far dont deliver what they say on the tin. The number of checks and processes would still be unacceptably high, contrary to what the Commission said when they first announced them.
Oxford academics have called on students to launch a 'Mosley Must Fall' campaign and urged the charity watchdog to investigate after the university accepted 12million from a trust fund set up with money inherited from fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.

Education chiefs have been accused of 'grotesque hypocrisy' and a 'total moral failure' after the university and two colleges accepted the trust's donation while kowtowing to Left-wing projects to 'decolonise' the curriculum, and considering calls from Black Lives Matter activists to tear down Cecil Rhodes' statue at Oriel College.

Professor Lawrence Goldman, a former vice-master of St Peter's who lost relatives in the Holocaust, said he had spent five months trying to persuade the college to reject the donation from the Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust, adding: 'The university has gone off the scale in wokery, but they go ahead and take money from a fund established by proven and known fascists. Its moral compass is just not working any more.

Max Mosley pictured in 2011: The trust was named after the son of the late Formula One tycoon Max Mosley, whose support for his father Sir Oswald's far-Right party, the British Union of Fascists, and its successor, the Union Movement, is well documented

'There has been a total moral failure.'

Professor Robert Lyman, a military historian, urged students to protest like they did during the 'Rhodes Must Fall' campaign against the statue at Oriel College, adding: 'It's time for those renowned Oxford student activists to advocate that Mosley Must Fall.'

Oxford defended the donations, saying they had been approved by an independent committee.

But a Charity Commission spokesman said: 'We will assess whether or not there is a role for us as regulator.'

The trust was named after the son of the late Formula One tycoon Max Mosley, whose support for his father Sir Oswald's far-Right party, the British Union of Fascists, and its successor, the Union Movement, is well documented.

A damning dossier in the Daily Mail in 2018 exposed how Max Mosley published a pamphlet during a 1961 by-election as a Union Movement agent claiming that 'coloured immigrants' spread leprosy, venereal disease and TB, and should be repatriated.

He attended an antisemitic rally in London's Jewish East End and backed South Africa's apartheid regime.

Lord Mann, the Government's antisemitism tsar, said: 'If Oxford is trying to rehabilitate the Mosley family name in any way, they can expect a very hostile response.

Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of The Guardian newspaper, was head of Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University until last summer, signed a letter with other college heads pledging to 'work together towards a world free of systemic racism and discrimination'

'Anything that glorifies the Mosley name is a problem. I don't imagine people would be very happy to have a Mussolini building, or a Hitler scholarship.

'People in this country will feel the same way in relation to the Mosley name.'

In the 1930s Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist supporters, the Blackshirts, wore Nazi-style uniforms and were notorious for their violence against Jews and Left-wing groups.

Sir Oswald married his second wife Diana Mitford in 1936 at the Berlin home of Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister for propaganda, with Adolf Hitler as guest of honour. In the war Sir Oswald was interned and held under house arrest,

The Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust was named after Max Mosley's son, who died aged 39 from a heroin overdose in 2009. It gives money to charitable causes and supports a form of state-approved Press regulation which many regard as a move to shackle the free Press and crush the public's right to know.

Max Mosley  who, in 1962, visited the Dachau death camp while en route to a conference with several Nazis and two ex-Waffen SS officers  was said to be worth 11 million when he died in May aged 81. In 2008, his reputation was tarnished by taking part in a sadomasochistic orgy with prostitutes, exposed in the News Of The World. He successfully sued for breach of privacy.

A spokesman for The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'The Mosley family has an infamous record in relation to antisemitism. Oxford University should think hard about accepting a donation from the family's trust, ensuring that a portion of the money funds education about anti-semitism or supports Jewish life at the university.'

Nick Lowles, from anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate, revealed that his organisation had rejected 50,000 from Max Mosley 'on principle' some years ago. Mr Lowles said: 'There has to be a higher bar in cases like this when money that is potentially tainted is offered. I know Max Mosley's past. As a youngster he was actively involved in fascism.'

The Mosley family's 6 million donation to Oxford, revealed by the Daily Telegraph, will go towards a new physics laboratory, while 5 million for St Peter's will help build a student accommodation block named after the college's previous head, Mark Damazer, a former BBC boss.

Another 260,000 has been given to Lady Margaret Hall, whose head until last summer was Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of The Guardian newspaper.

Last year he signed a letter with other college heads pledging to 'work together towards a world free of systemic racism and discrimination'.

Oxford University said that the donations were reviewed by a committee in a 'robust' manner, taking 'legal, ethical and reputational issues into consideration'.

St Peter's said the trust's 'generous' donation will make a 'transformative' difference to students. Lady Margaret Hall said the money 'enabled a cohort of students from very diverse and low-income backgrounds to attend Oxford.'

Husband of Madam Thao, Thanh Hung, and and China President Xi Jinping rubs shoulders with Communist leaders

However, Robert Halfon, Conservative chairman of the education select committee of MPs, said: 'I find it distressing that Oxford University is so keen to go on about diversity and inclusion, but is prepared to take the shilling from such sources.'

Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, who read history at Oxford, said: 'It is a grotesque hypocrisy if you spend so much time and energy talking about tearing down statues of people for something they've done 200 years in the past but you agree with taking money left behind by fascists.'

Tory MP Sir John Hayes said: 'The ludicrous campaign to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes reflects Oxford's inadequate grasp of history and woke prejudices. Yet simultaneously they seem happy to take money from almost any source that fills their coffers.'

Vietnam tycoon who gave college 155m has links to brutal Communist regime

By Jonathan Bucks and Will Stewart

The Vietnamese tycoon whose name is being adopted by an Oxford college has close links to the country's brutal Communist regime.

Linacre College is set to become Thao College after Madam Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietnam's first self-made female billionaire, made a 'transformative donation' of 155 million.

The deal sparked controversy amid claims that the college  described as 'one of the greenest' in Oxford  is honouring a tycoon who founded the budget airline VietJet Air, and has been fined several times for using semi-naked stewardesses on flights.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Madam Thao and her husband Nguyen Thanh Hung have close ties to the Vietnamese government, which is judged to have one of the world's worst human rights records.

Linacre College, named after 15th century scholar Thomas Linacre, prides itself on its commitment to freedom of expression and even insists students follow a code of conduct that describes free speech as 'the lifeblood of a university'.

Yet, according to the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch, 'basic rights, including freedom of speech, opinion, press, association and religion are restricted' under the Vietnamese regime, while 'rights activists and bloggers face harassment, intimidation, physical assault and imprisonment'.

VietJet Air's parent company Sovico boasts on its website of having 'excellent relationships with the Vietnamese government, ministries and localities'. Earlier this year, it donated around 200,000 to the country's Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, named after the brutal former Communist leader who led North Vietnam in its war against the US.

Dr Hung was photographed at a reception last March with Cao Tien Dung, a senior Communist government official. Dr Hung has also been pictured at parties rubbing shoulders with China's totalitarian leader Xi Jinping and Vietnam's prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Madam Thao retains close links to the Kremlin after becoming one of Russia's first female millionaires  at the age of 21  by importing fax machines and latex rubber to Moscow. She had been sent to the USSR as a brilliant 17-year-old student by the Communist authorities in Vietnam.

According to records from the time, she drove a blue Mercedes 500 with a diplomatic number plate, indicating she was on the technical staff of the Vietnamese embassy and benefited from diplomatic immunity.

It was in Moscow that Madam Thao met her husband. One ex-business partner told the MoS: 'I know them very well. They had a lot of support from the Vietnamese trade mission in Russia.' According to the ex-associate, support from the Vietnamese regime was the 'key to their success'.

The family relocated to Vietnam after a decade in Moscow, but maintained close ties in both Russia and ex-Soviet republic Kazakhstan through Sovico where their burgeoning business empire was involved in building new capital city Astana, now called Nur-Sultan.

Dr Hung, an expert in cybernetics, was made an honorary consul for Kazakhstan  a country widely seen to have a deeply corrupt ruling class  in 2013. Last night, neither Sovico nor Linacre College responded to requests for comment.

Billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, founder and chief executive officer of VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co, has close links to the country's brutal Communist regime

Woke-wash Jesus College's cash from Beijing tech giant

By Glen Owen and Georgia Edkins

A Cambridge University college at the centre of rows over funding linked to the Chinese Communist Party has been accused of 'woke-washing' by returning a colonial statue to Nigeria.

Concerns have been raised about the links with Beijing after Jesus College accepted a 200,000 grant in 2018 from an agency linked to the ruling communist party for its Global Issues Dialogue Centre.

It also accepted 155,000 from Chinese technology company Huawei, sparking fears that Beijing was exerting undue influence.

Last month, in an apparent bid to 'right wrongs', the college returned an antique 'Benin bronze' to Nigeria that was looted more than 120 years ago by British forces. Last night a senior Government source accused officials of trying to 'distract attention' from its dealings with the Chinese.

The source said: 'How convenient that they are making a big hoopla about returning the bronze at a time when their links to China are coming under the microscope. It's woke-washing.'

Last night, a Jesus College spokesman said; 'We returned the bronze to the people of Nigeria because it is the right thing to do.

'The college announced its decision to repatriate the bronze in November 2019, three months before the first unjustified attack on our China-related academic work in February 2020.'

Cancel threat to scientist by uni with Chinese military ties

By Jake Ryan and Brendan Carlin

A university debating whether to 'cancel' a 19th Century scientist over his theories on race has close links with some of the world's most sinister regimes.

Imperial College London has established multiple ties to Chinese military specialists as well as forging relationships with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Imperial is considering a proposal to rename a campus building honouring biologist Thomas Huxley and removing a bust of him. It follows an independent report that claimed an essay by Huxley on the link between race and intelligence 'fed the dangerous and false ideology of eugenics'.

The Mail on Sunday has uncovered more than a dozen projects that show Imperial scientists working on potential military technologies.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'Imperial is seeking to 'cancel' a world-famous scientist but it has no qualms about forging close links with a Chinese regime guilty of genocide.'

Imperial last night said: 'This bizarre attempt to connect Imperial's open dialogue about its history with international scientific research is totally misleading and baseless.

'Imperial is not 'cancelling' anyone.'
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British travellers who fail to take their booster jabs face renewed restrictions, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Plans to reimpose quarantine and testing for those who have refused their third vaccine are currently being drawn up by Ministers to protect the UK against the spread of new coronavirus variants.

But they are likely to prove controversial if introduced before most of those eligible for their booster have received it. So far, only 60 per cent have done so.

The move would change the definition of 'fully vaccinated' from having had two jabs to three.

Officials are divided over how soon to implement the measure and are discussing a grace period that would allow people to travel without quarantine if they had sought a booster six months after their second jab but had not yet been offered an appointment.

British travellers who fail to take their booster jabs face renewed restrictions, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Plans to reimpose quarantine and testing for those who have refused their third vaccine are currently being drawn up by Ministers to protect the UK against the spread of new coronavirus variants. (Above, tourists from Britain arrive at Palma de Mallorca Airport in June following an easing of quarantine requirements for travellers returning from the Balearic Islands)

The plans are likely to prove controversial if introduced before most of those eligible for their booster have received it. So far, only 60 per cent have done so. The move would change the definition of 'fully vaccinated' from having had two jabs to three

The news came as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said almost 10 million people have now received their booster jab, but encouraged people to urge their elderly relatives to come forward

Officials are divided over how soon to implement the measure and are discussing a grace period that would allow people to travel without quarantine if they had sought a booster six months after their second jab but had not yet been offered an appointment. (Pictured: Majorca, one of Spain's Balearic Islands)

Under the plans, modelled on the Israeli system, travellers would not be able to avoid the need for a third jab by producing evidence of a negative Covid-19 test.

Last night a Government source said: 'This is not going to happen immediately  but happen it will.'

The news came as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said almost 10 million people have now received their booster jab, but encouraged people to urge their elderly relatives to come forward.

Boosters are currently available to over-50s, health workers and the clinically vulnerable, although the scheme is expected to be extended to the over-40s early next year.

Seven out of ten of those over 80 and three in five of the over-50s in England have had their third injection, which can be administered six months after the second.

As at present, those who have not been fully vaccinated will have to self-isolate for ten full days on returning to the UK and pay for four expensive PCR tests, two before departure and two back on British soil. It is the definition of 'fully vaccinated' that will be extended to include only those who have accepted the booster.

In other developments:

The number of daily positive tests fell to 30,693, down almost 11 per cent on the previous Saturday, while hospital admissions rose 3 per cent to 1,055 over the same period and deaths rose 8 per cent to 155;

Pfizer is planning to submit an application to regulators to allow its vaccine to be used on children as young as five;

Ministers have launched a 'Second Chance' campaign on social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat to convince unvaccinated people to come forward, using hard- hitting footage of young people who rejected a jab suffering the effects of 'long Covid';

Sir Richard Branson will tomorrow set aside old rivalries by synchronising a joint take-off of New York-bound Virgin and British Airways flights on Heathrow's parallel runways to mark the reopening of the US to British passengers after more than 600 days;

Care home chiefs say they fear thousands of workers who have not been fully jabbed will migrate to the NHS when new rules banning the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated from working in the sector come into effect on Thursday, since around 60,000 care home staff  a tenth of the workforce  have not had a jab.

As the MoS revealed last month, the NHS booking service will be updated tomorrow to allow people to arrange their booster jab five months after their second dose.

Pfizer's bid to win approval to give its vaccine to children under the age of 12, and possibly as young as five, is only the first step in what may prove a controversial process, given the experience of jabs for 12- to 15-year-olds.

Cabinet Ministers are split about vaccinating younger children. One said: 'I don't think we will need it. It's boosters for all over 50s that will transition us from pandemic to endemic.'

But two Cabinet colleagues said they would support extending vaccines for younger children, subject to regulatory approval and parental consent.

One said: 'If the medical advice says it's fine, that will be good enough for me. If that helps us win the war, that's fine. We should look to find ways of facilitating vaccination rollout rather than preventing it.'

The debate about giving vaccines to 12- to 15-year-olds earlier this year was fraught, with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation effectively handing the decision to Chief Medical Officers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. When they recommended the jabs be given, the Government agreed.

Pfizer recently got the go-ahead from US regulators to use their vaccine on five- to 11-year-olds and the firm has submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency which would allow it to do so on the Continent. In the UK, it needs the green light from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

A Pfizer spokesman said: 'We will submit the 5- to 11-year-old data package for consideration at the appropriate time.'

Under the plans, modelled on the Israeli system, travellers would not be able to avoid the need for a third jab by producing evidence of a negative Covid-19 test. Last night a Government source said: 'This is not going to happen immediately  but happen it will.' (Above, passengers at check-in desks in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in May)

The debate about giving vaccines to 12- to 15-year-olds earlier this year was fraught, with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation effectively handing the decision to Chief Medical Officers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. When they recommended the jabs be given, the Government agreed. (A family board a Ryanair flight at Southend Airport in July, 2020)

To encourage those already eligible, but as yet unvaccinated, to get a jab, the Second Chance campaign will deploy 'street teams, community champions and behavioural insight techniques' to areas where vaccine hesitancy is highest, particularly some ethnic minority communities.

In a letter to MPs, Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup said that the campaign would target 'hyper-local, hyper-specialist audiences'.

Amid concern of low take-up among pregnant women, officials have been asked to ensure that GPs, nurses and midwives give 'objective' evidence on vaccines at every antenatal appointment.

NHS England will this week invite a further 3 million eligible people to get their booster jab, taking the total in England offered the third shot to around 16 million.

Mr Javid said: 'Almost 10 million people in the UK have received their Covid-19 booster and third jabs.

'We know immunity begins to wane after six months, especially for the elderly and the vulnerable, and booster vaccines will top up their protection to keep people safe over the winter.

'For those not yet eligible, please help your parents, grandparents or vulnerable loved ones get their jabs  it could save their lives.'

Additional reporting: Stephen Adams
Karen Hadaway, pictured, and her friend Nicola Fellows, were murdered by Russell Bishop in Brighton in 1986

BBC boss Tim Davie has told the mother of a murdered schoolgirl that the Corporation has failed to find her daughters bloodied clothes after they were lost by rogue reporter Martin Bashir.

In a letter to Michelle Hadaway, seen by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Davie said the BBC is unable to shed any further light on what happened to her daughter Karens clothes and that little more can be done to find them.

He apologised on behalf of the Corporation and said it will urge Bashir to make a personal apology.

Karen Hadaway and her friend Nicola Fellows, both aged nine, were murdered by Russell Bishop in Brighton in 1986 in what became known as the Babes In The Wood killings.

Five years later, Bashir persuaded Michelle to hand over Karens clothes after promising to subject them to DNA tests but they went missing and have never been returned.

In 2004, the BBC launched an inquiry but the MoS revealed in September that it had failed to speak to Bashir. Journalists who worked alongside him  and his agent  also said they were not contacted.

Amid mounting questions about Bashirs conduct, Mr Davie, the BBCs Director General, asked Paul Smith, a former head of editorial standards at BBC Radio, to launch a review into what happened during the 2004 investigation.

But the BBC has revealed the review was hampered by the passage of time because some of those people spoken to could not recall being approached in 2004 and others cannot remember details of what they knew at the time.

Called the 'Babes in the Wood' killings, Nicola Fellows, pictured, and her friend, Karen Hadaway, both age 9. Five years later, Bashir persuaded Michelle to hand over Karens clothes after promising to subject them to DNA tests but they went missing and have never been returned

In his letter to Ms Hadaway, in which he offered the BBCs sincere apologies, Mr Davie said: Your family deserved better and we are deeply sorry for the hurt and upset that has ensued as a result of Martin Bashirs actions for which the BBC is responsible.

Last night, Ms Hadaway said the BBCs response was not good enough and that she would continue to fight to discover what Bashir did with the clothes.

I am not stopping, she added. Ive had 35 years of fighting for justice. I am not giving up now after being wronged for so long. 

Ian Heffron, an uncle of Nicola Fellows, said: The actions of the Corporation have been nothing less than appalling. I genuinely hope that lessons have been learnt.

A spokesman for Bashir said: When asked about the pain involved, he has always expressed his concern for Michelle Hadaway and sorrow for her grief.

Panorama veteran wins compensation from BBC over Martin Bashir's Princess Diana lies

By Mark Hookham

The veteran BBC journalist Tom Mangold has won compensation from the Corporation after he was smeared for blowing the whistle on disgraced reporter Martin Bashir.

Mr Mangold and two colleagues from the Panorama programme warned their editor in December 1995 that Bashir had commissioned forged bank statements before his landmark interview with Princess Diana.

The veteran BBC journalist Tom Mangold has won compensation from the Corporation after he was smeared for blowing the whistle on disgraced reporter Martin Bashir

Bashir then used the fakes to gain access to the Princess of Wales, before spinning a web of lies to land the interview.

Mr Mangolds concerns were dismissed at the time, with the BBCs press office briefing newspapers that jealous colleagues were trying to undermine Bashir. Mr Mangold said this was a smear against him.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Mr Mangold said: I have received a personal apology from the Director General.

He declined to say how much compensation had been agreed.

The BBC said: We have reached an in-principle resolution with Tom Mangold although terms are yet to be agreed.
The Government has spent more than 3 million on controversial transgender research including projects charting the experience of pregnant men and the fate of trans people in Lebanon.

A total of 13 such schemes, some lasting up to four years, have been uncovered in analysis by The Mail on Sunday.

They are funded by the UK Research and Innovation quango, which is financed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to support academic investigations.

CAN YOU CONCEIVE IT? Model poses as pregnant man

But critics say money is being wasted on woke programmes.

Projects being financed by the taxpayer, which often have jargon-filled names, include:

A four-year-project run by Leeds University entitled Pregnant Men: An International Exploration Of Trans Male Experiences And Practices Of Reproduction, which was given 668,224 of taxpayers money;

An 80,000 Exeter University study entitled Transgender Citizenship In Lebanon and subtitled Navigating Socio-Legal And Medical Constructions Of Gender In Lebanons Judicial Order And Healthcare System;

A Kings College London project called Reforming Legal Gender Identity: A Socio-Legal Evaluation, which has been handed 579,000 of Government cash over four years to look into issues such as birth certificates allowing more than two gender options or letting people to choose their own legal gender;

Transgender Romantic Relationships at Nottingham University, given about 80,000.

The projects date from 2007 but some of them have continued to run over recent years.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng visits the department's control room in September this year

John OConnell, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Taxpayers expect money to go towards groundbreaking projects and innovative technologies, but not to be wasted on righteous research.

The current system rightly scrutinises projects throughout the application process, but lacks effective measures to judge value for money on those that have already been funded.

UK Research and Innovation said the process for winning funding was highly competitive.

A spokesman added: The decision to fund these research projects on transgender questions and issues was made via a rigorous peer-review process based on excellence by relevant independent experts from academia and business.
Lisa Wilkinson has detailed the traumatic sexual assault she suffered at the age of 15 in her new autobiography It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This.

The Project host, 61, said the man who molested her was her school friend's dad, and her father's colleague.

'I was walking home after school and I saw him come out of the local TAB. I desperately didn't want to see him. As soon as he saw me, he called out, telling me to wait up. I didn't want to but I was in the main street in broad daylight - what could he possibly do?' she wrote in her book.

Lisa Wilkinson shared horrific details about her shocking sexual assault when she was just 15 years old

'He picked up off the ground and hugged me I dropped my heavy schoolbag on the pavement and tried to slide out of his gasp and started pushing down on his arms.

'Finally he started to let go but as I slid down, he immediately grabbed onto my now-exposed bottom and panties.'

Lisa also spoke about another horrific incident she experienced while visiting her friend's home.

'Without a single word, his large frame completely blocking the only way in and out, his eyes beneath those wild eyebrows now looking glazed, he put his hand on my breast and started stroking,' Lisa recalled. Pictured: Lisa as a teenager

The Project host, 61, said the man who molested her was her school friend's dad, and her father's colleague

'Without a single word, his large frame completely blocking the only way in and out, his eyes beneath those wild eyebrows now looking glazed, he put his hand on my breast and started stroking.'

Lisa recently said she was inspired to tell her story following the bravery of Brittany Higgins, a former Liberal staffer who alleges she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019.

Ms Higgins came forward in February, two years after the alleged attack.

Ms Higgins sparked an outpouring of anger over the treatment of women and spoke at a March 4 Justice rally in Canberra in March.

'I wasn't actually going to write about that and I only made that decision earlier this year after witnessing the incredible courage of Brittany [Higgins],' Lisa told Stellar Magazine.

'I thought, if [women] don't come forward and don't show how incredibly common these experiences are, then the perpetrators win. And I couldn't be a party to that,' she added.
She's an undeniable fashionista.

And Paris Hilton was in fine style as she spent the afternoon shopping in Beverly Hills on Friday.

The reality television star, 40, perused the collection at Alice + Olivia donning a flowing white dress, somewhat sheer at the top, and a pair of shades with matching white frames.

Spending the day out: Paris Hilton spent the afternoon shopping in Beverly Hills while wearing a gorgeous dress on Friday

Hilton's dog was also dressed to the nines. She put the pup in a pink Chanel sweater.

She finished off her ensemble with a gray purse in her right hand and a pair of white stilettos.

The Simple Life star's appearance comes just days after she announced that she and fiance Carter Reum decided to change the venue of their wedding just days before the ceremony.

A beautiful outfit: Hilton wore a gorgeous white dress and a pair of matching shades on her shopping excursion

Dog decked out: Hilton took her with her on the shopping trip in a pink Chanel sweater

The hotel heiress will now be saying 'I do' at her late grandfather Barron Hilton's Bel-Air estate, per Page Six, which is also the location of the reception to follow.

It had previously been reported that the ceremony portion of the lavish-three day affair would be taking place at the Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills, however an invited guest divulged that plans had now changed.

'It changed about a week or so ago. It's changed several times. Originally, they were going to get married in the church, but they switched it about a week or so ago,' a source told the publication.

In order to ensure maximum privacy, save the dates sent out in October had no disclosed location, and the new RSVPs  which were sent out on Wednesday November 3  also have no addresses listed reportedly.

Changing things up: Hilton also recently announced that she and her fiance Carter Reum decided to change the venue of their wedding just days before the ceremony

Grandfather: Barron's sprawling Bel-Air mansion is 15,000 sq ft, and was owned by the hotel magnate for 60 years before it was sold to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in May; Paris and Barron pictured 2010

Paris' late grandfather Barron's sprawling Bel-Air mansion is 15,000 sq ft, and was owned by the hotel magnate for 60 years before it was sold to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in May.

It also served as the backdrop for a then 19-year-old Hilton's 2000 Vanity Fair photoshoot shot by David LaChapelle.

Reum  an entrepreneur and venture capitalist  popped the question in February with a 15-20 carat engagement ring estimated to cost nearly $2M, following nearly a year-and-a-half of dating.

According to sources she will reportedly wear a Valentino bridal gown and the pair have an eye-popping $60,000 wedding registry through luxury store Geary's Beverly Hills.
Kiwi-Australian actor Russell Crowe is rumoured to be selling his lavish pad in Sydney's Woolloomooloo soon.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Private Sydney, rumours are rife the 57-year-old will be putting the expansive waterfront property on the market and could very well fetch a whopping $40million for it.

As the publication reports, Russell's pad features 11 bedrooms, having combined four properties in the complex, and even has its own 35-metre marina berth.

Ready to sell? Russell Crowe, 57, is 'set to sell his Wolloomooloo pad' featuring 11 bedrooms and its own 35-metre marina berth for a whopping $40million, according to Private Sydney

Russell first purchased the pad back in 2003 for $14.35million and is believed to have refused an offer of $25million for it back in 2017.

Russell, who is the co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, also owns a sprawling 400-hectare property property in Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour in NSW.

The property, which has been hit by bush fires before, also features it's own chapel where he married ex-wife Danielle Spencer in 2003.

Pricey: Russell first purchased the Sydney pad (pictured is the complex) back in 2003 for $14.35million and is believed to have refused an offer of $25million for it back in 2017

Property portfolio: Russell, who is the co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, also owns a sprawling 400-hectare property property in Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour. The property, which has been hit by bush fires before, also features it's own chapel where he married ex-wife Danielle Spencer in 2003

Back in June, Russell announced his plans to build a $400milllion Hollywood film studio in the area, in Coffs Harbour.

Russell, alongside business partners Peter Montgomery and Keith Rodger, will be building a new film studio called Pacific Bay Resort Studios and Village which will span over 100 acres.

Peter, resort owner and operator, said in an official statement that a lot of careful thought and consideration has gone into the design and planning process and gave an idea of what they hope to achieve with the studios.

Big plans: Back in June, Russell announced his plans to build a $400milllion Hollywood film studio in the area, in Coffs Harbour

'Our studios will cater for major international feature films as well as local productions, giving them the bonus of resort lifestyle in facilities that are designed to bring employment to the region and work in harmony with Coffs Harbour's Regional City Action Plan,' he said.

At the studios, there will be on-site accommodation for A-list movie stars and their families.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted representatives of Russell for comment in relation to this story.
Lisa Rinna is giving thanks after her daughter Delilah Hamlin's frightening accidental overdose.

The 58-year-old Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star thanked her fans and 'angels' who had tried to boost her spirits after her daughter's health scare in an Instagram Stories post on Wednesday.

The day before, Delilah, 23, claimed on social media that she had accidentally overdose on Benadryl and beta blockers after getting hooked on a high dose of Xanax.

Grateful: Lisa Rinna thanked the 'angels' who had sent their 'love and prayers' to her family after daughter Delilah Hamlin claimed she accidentally overdosed earlier in the week

'Thank you to all of the angels who have reached out, sharing their stories, sending their love and prayers, we are so grateful to you all for your help and your guidance!!' Lisa wrote.

Although Covid-19 vaccines have been determined to be safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Delilah suggested in her video that some of her health issues may have begun after she was vaccinated.

Although she stressed she was 'in no way an anti-Vaxxer,' she claimed her vaccination caused autoimmune diseases to 'flare up.'

'I didn't realize that the vaccine would cause an autoimmune response in my body that basically flared up and triggered certain autoimmune diseases that I didn't know I had,' she claimed in the 30-minute long video.

Unusual complaints: Delilah claimed Tuesday on Instagram that she had been dealing with autoimmune disorders in the wake of her Covid-19 vaccination

Too much: However, it was for psychiatric problems that she saw a psychiatrist, whom she claims overprescribed Xanax, which she says led to an accidental overdose when combined with propranolol and Benadryl

According to the Global Autoimmune Institute, evidence currently indicates that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination significantly outweighs any potential risk of side-effects.

How safe are COVID vaccines for autoimmune patients? The Global Autoimmune Institute has reviewed the scientific literature in regards to COVID-19 vaccination and autoimmune disease, and the evidence available at this point indicates that the benefit of COVID-19 vaccination outweighs the risk of side-effects. The CDC website also states that 'COVID-19 vaccines may be administered to most people with underlying medical conditions.' The consensus has been that COVID-19 vaccine efficacy may be decreased for people who take immunosuppressant drugs, which includes many being treated for autoimmune disease. Advertisement

Although many people have no side effects at all after being inoculated, the most-common side effects include headaches, fatigue, chills, fever and nausea.

Most common side effects of the vaccine shot include tiredness, headaches, chills, fever and nausea.

The model claimed she had been suffering from painful migraines, as well as psychiatric issues including panic attacks and obsessivecompulsive disorder symptoms which led her to be afraid of eating meat.

She also claimed to have dealt with PANDAS, or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.

Delilah said she began seeing a psychiatrist to help get her panic attacks under control, and they began 'overprescribing' Xanax to her.

The benzodiazepine is a common treatment for generalized anxiety and for panic disorders.

But Lisa's daughter was concerned that the doctor may have been prescribing her too much of the medication

She said the psychiatrist prescribed 20mg of Xanax three time per day, despite the medications history of being addictive.

Delilah claimed that she was also prescribed the beta blocker propranolol, which caused her to overdose when she also took the over-the-counter allergy medication Benadryl.

'I ended up in the hospital,' she said.

Health scare: Delilah then claimed she had subsequently been diagnosed with encephalitis, a kind of inflammation of the brain. She says she can't drink or fly now; seen with Lisa and Amelia Hamlin in 2019 in NYC

Delilah then claimed she had subsequently been diagnosed with encephalitis, a kind of inflammation of the brain.

According to her, the diagnosis meant that she was no longer supposed to drink alcohol, and even flying on an airplane could be dangerous.

She claimed that she had subsequently entered a treatment facility in Arizona to help taper down from her Xanax dependency, but she said that she suffered seizures that led the facility to ask her to leave.

Since then, Delilah has been getting support from her boyfriend Eyal Booker, who made the flight from London to Los Angeles to help support her.

She shared a photo of their tearful reunion as Eyal held her tightly.

'Haven't seen each other in 3 months this was the best feeling ever,' she captioned her Insta Stories photo.

The lovebirds were seen kissing and looking affectionate while out and about in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Reunited and it feels so good! Since then, Delilah has been getting support from her boyfriend Eyal Booker, who made the flight from London to Los Angeles to help support her
Fifi Box wants to be a role model for single mothers across Australia.

Speaking to Stellar magazine, the radio personality, 44, said that she's proud to have her media platform to show diverse families to everyday Aussies.

'It's important to point out and educate that families come in all different shapes and sizes,' the radio personality said.

Proud: Fifi Box wants to be a role model for single mothers across Australia. The radio personality, 44, said that she's proud to have her media platform to show diverse families

'Because I'm in the media and have a profile and platform, I'm able to shape and shift that, but it is frustrating,' she added.

Fifi has two daughters, Trixie, eight, and Daisy-Belle, two.

She recently released a children's book titled Minty Mae Gray and the Strangely Good Day, which she dedicated to her daughters.

'I'm so excited my new baby is about to be published and coming out in October!' she wrote on Instagram in July.

Motherhood: Fifi has two daughters, Trixie, eight, and Daisy-Belle, two

'This is Minty Mae Gray and I'm so happy she's coming to life,' she added.

'I wrote this story because as the mum of two girls growing up in an image [and] appearance obsessed world.'

The Fox FM star shares Trixie with her ex-partner Grant Kenny, 57, and welcomed Daisy via IVF and an anonymous sperm donor.

She shared a lengthy Instagram post last year explaining how Daisy had been suffering from sleep regression and she'd reached out to a sleep consultant for help.

'Because I'm in the media and have a profile and platform, I'm able to shape and shift that, but it is frustrating,' Fifi added

'I recently shared the struggles I've been having as a mum with a baby that stopped sleeping for longer than an hour in lockdown,' she said.

'I'm not very good at asking for help, and because I love my kids so much I feel like it is my job alone to care for them.

'I was being strangled by the guilt that I was letting them both down and I wasn't good enough. But thanks to all the love and messages I received I realised I was not a failure for asking for help.'
Paris Hilton revealed on Friday that her former stylist turned mega-star Kim Kardashian snagged an invitation to her November 11 wedding.

The 40-year-old hotel heiress confirmed that Kim was invited to her lavish nuptials, but remained mum on whether or not Pete Davidson would be allowed as a plus one, when asked by TMZ.

Famously Paris helped aid the reality star's rise to fame in the early 2000s when Kim worked as her stylist, but the duo's friendship incurred ups and downs before they got things back on track.

Made the cut: The 40-year-old hotel heiress revealed that her former stylist and BFF Kim Kardashian snagged an invitation to her lavish nuptials on November 11 but remained mum about Pete Davidson; pictured November 5

Paris was chatted up outside of the Alice + Olivia store in Beverly Hills on Friday, when she was asked about Kim's presence at the wedding.

The Cooking With Paris star gave a nod of confirmation that the SKIMS founder was included in her big day, but remained silent when the conversation shifted to her new romance with the SNL funnyman.

Questions including 'Can she bring Pete as a plus one?' drew no acknowledgement from Hilton as she sashayed in a white dress out of the store and into a waiting SUV.

A reporter continued to press if Pete was 'just a fling' and asked her 'what do you think of their relationship,' which also were met with silence.

However an insider told Page Six: 'Kim is not bringing Pete. She will be there solo.' It had been reported previously that things were 'casual' between the two but she enjoyed back to back dates with him in New York City this week.

An insider also told DailyMail.com that he's made it 'crystal clear he likes her,' and can't keep his hands to himself when around Kim.

Flying solo? An insider told Page Six : 'Kim is not bringing Pete. She will be there solo'; pictured October 20

As Paris and Kim's friendship spans way back, the blonde bombshell has witnessed a slew of men in the curvy brunette's life including the likes of Reggie Bush and Ray J in the 2000s.

Kim began to make a name for herself around the time she and Ray J made that infamous sex tape, which quickly launched her to fame and laid the groundwork for the famous family's hit show Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The two started to drift apart around that time, with the turning point in their once ironclad friendship being a 2008 interview given by Hilton where she said that Kim's butt looked like 'cottage cheese stuffed in a trash bag.'

'She did that interview about something that was negative to me, called my butt fat,' the Skims founder shared of their fallout on the KUWTK reunion, adding: 'but we spoke afterwards and had a real mature conversation about that.'

In the past: 'She did that interview about something that was negative to me, called my butt fat,' the Skims founder said of their fallout during the KUWTK reunion but added 'we spoke afterwards and had a real mature conversation about that'; pictured 2019

Early days: 'I will never think I'm too good to not know where I came from and understand she was a big part of my career,' Kim said of rising to fame as Paris' stylist in the 2000s; pictured 2006

And the billionaire reality star has continued to credit Paris both publicly and in private for giving her a perfect roadmap to fame.

'I think we drifted for a while, but we're super back cool and I think that I have a lot of respect. I will never think I'm too good to not know where I came from and understand she was a big part of my career.'

Kardashian continued to say that Paris 'opened up my mind to a whole other world. We have a really good relationship now.'

Paris is set to marry Carter Reum on November 11 in a lavish three-day affair. Page Six was the first to report on November 4 that a mere week before her nuptials, Hilton changed the location of the ceremony.

She will now be saying 'I do' at her late grandfather Barron Hilton's Bel-Air estate, which is also the location of the reception to follow, where as it was previously reported the ceremony would take place at the Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills.

Mrs. Reum: She will now be saying 'I do' at her late grandfather Barron Hilton's Bel-Air estate, which is also the location of the reception to follow, where as it was previously reported the ceremony would take place at the Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills

'It changed about a week or so ago. It's changed several times. Originally, they were going to get married in the church, but they switched it about a week or so ago,' a source told the publication.

In order to ensure maximum privacy, save the dates sent out in October had no disclosed location, and the new RSVPs  which were sent out on Wednesday November 3  also have no addresses listed reportedly.

'New email invitations went out [Wednesday] to confirm attendance, but there still aren't any addresses [listed],' the source said.

'There will be three parties  including a carnival-themed bash at Santa Monica Pier,' and also an 'out-of-towners dinner,' an insider added.

According to sources she will reportedly wear a Valentino bridal gown and the pair have an eye-popping $60,000 wedding registry through luxury store Geary's Beverly Hills.
Lauren Phillips has been pictured for the first time since being forced to apologise on-air for laughing at a true crime podcast during her radio show.

The media personality kept things casual in a pair of black denim jeans and a matching jacket as she stepped out for The Block auction in Melbourne on Saturday.

The 34-year-old paired it with a white T-shirt and simple white sneakers.

Stepping out: Lauren Phillips stepped out for The Block auction in Melbourne on Saturday

She was spotted with a film crew nearby, indicating that she'll appear on camera for The Block auction.

The public appearance comes just days after Lauren apologised on-air to the mother of a murdered child she had accidentally laughed at during a broadcast.

Aspiring dancer Rachel Barber was just 15 when Caroline Reed Robertson strangled her to death with a telephone cord in a plot to steal her identity in 1999.

Casual: The media personality kept things casual in a pair of black denim jeans and a matching jacket

Casual: The 34-year-old brushed some hair away from her face as she paced around the set

Last week, Phillips shocked the family and friends of the murdered dancer when she laughed on Melbournes KIIS 101.1 while listening to a true crime podcast describing her murder.

'Am I a psychopath?' Phillips asked during the conversation with co-host Jason 'Jase' Hawkins, outraging Elizabeth Barber, her friends and family.

Phillips told listeners on Wednesday she had been unaware the audio producers played during her conversation had been taken from the the very real life CASEFILE series of true crime podcasts.

Scandal: She was pictured for the first time since being forced to apologise on-air for laughing at a true crime podcast during her radio show

The chat saw Phillips describe how she had used the podcast discussing Rachel's tragic murder to cheer herself up.

Phillips cackled with laughter in the segment, which was later posted on the radio station's own social media platforms.

The 34-year old explained she had just had an argument with her boyfriend when she decided to listen to the podcast.

Filming: She was spotted with a film crew nearby, indicating that she'll appear on camera for The Block auction

Lights, camera, action! Lauren stood by as the camera operator got into position

On Wednesday, she claimed she had become aware over the weekend that the snippet she had laughed at had been ripped from a TikTok video.

Choking back tears, Phillips said she had never intended to use audio of a real life crime to go with her on-air chat.

'All of us here on the show were devastated when we realised what we had done. The show takes full responsibility and our background checks on the source of audio should have been more thorough,' Phillips said.

Shocking: The public appearance comes just days after Lauren apologised on-air to the mother of a murdered child she had accidentally laughed at during a broadcast

Hawkins too apologised for his limited role in the conversation and thanked Rachel's mum for taking their calls to apologise in person.

'She didn't have to do that and we both had chats with her and yeah we appreciate her taking the call,' he said.

Phillips added that the incident had impacted deeply on the entire production crew.

'We really, from the bottom of our hearts, are very sorry that that audio was used, but we are deeply sorry and we will do everything in our power to ensure nothing like that ever happens again on our show,' she said.
Jack Whitehall attended a special lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building alongside his Clifford the Big Red Dog co-stars to promote their upcoming movie.

The comedian, 33, was photographed alongside Veep actor Tony Hale, 51, and the film's two child actors Darby Camp, 14, and Izaac Wang, 14.

He wore a green jacket over an even darker green turtleneck with a pair of gray pants on the bottom.

A big event: Jack White and Tony Hale posed with their Clifford the Big Red Dog posed next to their Clifford the Big Red Dog co-stars at an event in New York City

Camp wore a professional looking red pantsuit while her same-aged co-star Wang donned a dark blue suit jacket and a white button-down shirt.

The final member of the quartet, Hale, wore dark blue trench coat with a burnt orange sweater underneath it.

They all posed next to a brown pitbull wearing a small gray t-shirt.

All four of the actors will have a main role in Clifford the Big Red Dog, the upcoming live action film based on the children's series of the same name.

Looking good: Whitehall donned a green jacket, darker green turtleneck and a pair of gray pants

Bring childhood to life: The actors will bring the Clifford the Big Red Dog children's series to the big screen

The movie will center around a young girl, played by Camp, whose love for her dog makes him grow as to a huge size.

Rosie Perez, John Cleese and Horatio Sanz will also take on starring roles in the film.

Whitehall has become a very coveted actor in recent days with a number of recently completed and upcoming projects.

Lots of love: The movie will center around a young girl, played by Camp, whose love for her dog makes him grow as to a huge size

Not his only upcoming project: Clifford the Big Red Dog isn't the only movie that Whitehall has upcoming

On top of Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Bad Education actor also appeared in The Jungle Cruise and The KSI Show this year.

He has a number of projects on the way as well. Two of his movies, titled Robots and Silent Retreat, are currently in post-production.

Whitehall also recently took a role in The Mouse Guard, a live-action adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. The plot follows a brotherhood of mice who are sworn to protect other mice.
Julia Roberts recently arrived in Australia to film a new movie with George Clooney.

And on Saturday, the Hollywood actress was pictured boarding a private jet to Hamilton Island after quarantining in a Sydney mansion.

The 54-year-old, along with fellow A-lister Clooney, will film their new blockbuster comedy Ticket to Paradise in the picturesque Queensland location.

Take off! On Saturday, Julia Roberts was pictured boarding a private jet to Hamilton Island after quarantining in a Sydney mansion

Julia was dressed in a simple black outfit, a backpack and a yellow bucket hat.

The actress had just spent two weeks at a $56.9million mansion in Vaucluse, one of Sydney's most exclusive suburbs.

It was the former rental home of Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch, the son and daughter-in-law of Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Privacy arrangements were made for Julia's stay, with a large black screen being erected on the waterfront side of the home.

Boarding: The 54-year-old, along with fellow A-lister Clooney, will film their new blockbuster comedy Ticket to Paradise in the picturesque Queensland location

Simple: Julia was dressed in a simple black outfit, a backpack and a yellow bucket hat

The home was being patrolled by around-the-clock armed guards, while multiple chefs, waiters and housekeepers are staying with Julia as part of her travel bubble.

International visitors to Australia must spend two weeks in quarantine due to coronavirus restrictions.

Julia is in the country to film rom-com Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney.

Luxury: The actress had just spent two weeks at a $56.9million mansion in Vaucluse, one of Sydney's most exclusive suburbs

Time to go! Julia appeared keen to board the jet and get to Hamilton Island

The shoot is scheduled for two months from mid-November, with locations on the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

The project received a $6.4million grant from the federal government's Location Incentive Program.

George and Julia play a divorced couple who travel to Bali in a desperate bid to stop their daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever, from getting married.

The movie will be filmed entirely in Queensland, with the picturesque Whitsundays doubling for Bali.
Mila Kunis couldn't take her eyes off her phone as she shopped in Beverly Hills on Friday afternoon.

The actress, 38, stepped out in a white t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans that stopped just above her ankle.

She wore her glasses, a black Lapcos face covering and finished off her look with a pair of white Vans.

Glued to her device: Mila Kunis couldn't take her eyes off her phone as she shopped in Beverly Hills

Kunis combed her hair off to the right. It cascaded down past her shoulders and ended near the middle of her back.

The Friends With Benefits actress has been in the news quite a bit over the last week including discussing the need for ladders all over the California farmhouse she shares with Ashton Kutcher.

She revealed in a Hot Ones interview that she has to keep the ladders to make up for the size difference with her husband.

'I am 5-foot-4 on a good day, my husband's 6-foot-3,' Kunis said. 'Our house is built for 6-foot-3.'

A very casual outfit: The Bad Moms actress wore a white t-shirt and faded blue jeans on her afternoon out

Getting personal : Kunis opened up about her life with husband Ashton Kutcher (pictured September 2021)

She continued, 'I am at all times on tippie-toes and so I felt like that was a really good marriage compromise that I made. I have ladders everywhere. I have a ladder in the closet, I have a ladder in the kitchen. I can't reach things!'

She went on to talk more about her husband including his bouts with pancreatitis while filming the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs that came out in 2013.

'He was so dumb. He only ate grapes at one point, it was so stupid,' the Bad Moms star said. 'We ended up in the hospital twice with pancreatitis!'

Not taking care of himself: Kunis revealed that Kutcher was twice hospitalized for pancreatitis during the filming of the biopic Jobs

Family life: Kutcher and Kunis married in 2015 and have two children together. They share Wyatt, 7, and Dimitri, 4 (pictured 2019)

The pair married in 2015 and share two children together: Wyatt, 7, and Dimitri, 4.

While she's keeping busy with taking care of her family, Kunis is also working on a number of upcoming products.

She will appear in Luckiest Girl Alive, a film about a woman who has to deal with a trauma that slowly causes her life to fall apart.
Actress Rachel Griffiths added some A-list glamour to Stakes Day on Saturday.

The Six Feet Under star turned heads in a loose-fitting frock as she entered the grounds at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.

The 52-year-old accessorised with a small hat and held a white clutch in her hand, which matched her high heels.

Stepping out: Actress Rachel Griffiths added some A-list glamour to Stakes Day on Saturday

Other celebs at the races that day included Michelle Payne, best known for being the first and only female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.

In a recent column for Stellar Magazine, Rachel, who lived in USA for a decade before coming home, wrote that 'American freedom is in tatters'.

'Over the past year, as I checked in with Australian friends in the US, I kept hearing the same thing: 'I just want to come home I've never felt more Australian.'

'It wasn't just the pandemic  it was the exhaustion of trying to make sense of that country, of living between truths and lies,' she writes.

Style: The Six Feet Under star turned heads in a loose-fitting frock as she entered the grounds at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse

'Then the murder of George Floyd crystallised for many  who have a home country to compare with  that 'American freedom' lay (like its flag) in tatters on the streets, and that it was a poor substitute for collective responsibility.'

Rachel, who has been back in Australia since 2012, added: 'I was hungry to come home and tell our own Australian stories with humanity and vigour.

'So I did, and the years since have been the most satisfying of my career. But the sense that a nation can so deeply lie to itself about what it actually is... came back with me'.

Rachel has been busy with various acting roles since return to Australia.

In 2019, she starred in the ABC political drama series Total Control alongside Deborah Mailman and was also seen in Aftertaste on the ABC earlier this year.
Federica Cavenati, the co-founder and designer of the London-based brand 16Arlington, suddenly passed away, at aged 28, following a short illness on October 18.

Still stunned and seemingly in the mourning process, friend Lena Dunham shared a moving tribute to Cavenati, where she acknowledged her inner and outer beauty, infectious laughter, love of fashion, and endless support of women as a whole.

'Kikka was a vibrant and present person who showed up to life with Olympic vigour,' Dunham said of the Italian-born artist, in her emotional essay, which was published in Vogue's website on Friday and another shorter version on her Instagram page.

Emotional: Lena Dunham shared a heartfelt tribute to her late friend, Federica Cavenati, who suddenly passed away at the age of 28 on October 18

The Girls creator and star revealed that when she first 'met my friend Federica 'Kikka' Cavenati, it took me about 10 minutes to realize how beautiful she was.'

After describing her many physical attributes, Dunham explained how her beauty paled in comparison to how she made other women feel, writing that 'Kikka lived to help other women recognize their beauty, and that quality was inherent to her own.'

She then praised her friend's work and the love that she shared with her partner, Marco Capaldo, which included their @16arlington fashion label that Dunham says 'single-handedly redefined the spirit of London fashion and given style back its folly and joy.'

Inner and outer beauty: Dunham, 35, revealed that when she first 'met my friend Federica 'Kikka' Cavenati, it took me about 10 minutes to realise how beautiful she was'

Girl power: Dunham also complimented Cavenati on 'how she made other women feel

After launching in 2017, 16Arlington quickly became a go-to for stars including Amal Clooney, Lizzo, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Dunham.

'I was one of the lucky ones... who got to be a 16Arlington girl,' she said of her time spent with Cavenati and Capaldo.

Cavenati was already feeling the symptoms of her illness by the time of Dunham's recent wedding to Luis Felber in New York City in September.

'She was at that point not feeling her best, and for Kikka, being seen without that trademark sparkle just wasn't an option  not because she was vain (she was the farthest thing from it), but because she loved joy and she always wanted to embody the values she held so dear,' Dunham explained as to why she didn't attend the ceremony and party.

Time well spent: 'I was one of the lucky ones... who got to be a 16Arlington girl,' the New York City native said of her time spent with Cavenati and her partner Marco Capaldo

Ultimate compliment: 'No one who crossed her path will ever be the same, and neither will fashion,' Dunham said of her friend

But Capaldo did make it to the wedding celebration, and he brought along a symbol of his ladylove, which came in the form of 'delicate satin pajamas with that trademark pointed collar and feathery cuffs.'

'Since then I've worn them almost non-stop, and everywhere I go I seem to be dropping feathers, little white curls on the stairs or in an office chair, Dunham confessed. 'Each one feels like Kikka reminding me to have fun, relax and embrace the madness of style.'

The New York City native ended her Instagram post by sharing the ultimate compliment: 'No one who crossed her path will ever be the same, and neither will fashion.'

Capaldo will be showing an unseen collection from 16Arlington in February 2022 in Cavenati's honor.

Health concerns: Cavenati was already feeling the symptoms of her illness by the time of Dunham's wedding to Luis Felber in New York City in September
Lily-Rose Depp stepped out for an afternoon of shopping with a friend in a midriff-baring outfit.

The actress, 22, and her friend visited a couple different stores in the Los Angeles area including Reformation, a store that sells sustainable clothing, and then to the Beverly Center Mall.

She wore a crop top that read 'Paris' with a picture of the Eiffel Tower and a blonde cartoon character wearing a blue dress on the front of it.

Retail therapy: Lily-Rose Depp stepped out for an afternoon of shopping with a friend in a midriff-baring outfit

Lily-Rose also donned a pair of faded blue jeans and worn white sneakers. She finished off her ensemble with a pink surgical mask.

She threw a purple Adidas jacket over her ensemble when she got a bit chilly in a parking garage.

The Voyagers actress' shopping trip came soon after news that her famous father Johnny Depp received a potential advantage in his lawsuit against his ex Amber Heard.

Page Six reported that a court had given the Alice In Wonderland actor and his legal team access to Heard's phone records so that Depp's lawyers can try to prove she faked injuries the actor allegedly gave her.

Tight outfit: The star wore a white crop top that read 'Paris' across the front and a pair of faded blue jeans. She threw on a purple Adidas sweater when she got cold

Legal victory: Her father Johnny Depp won a potential advantage in his lawsuit against ex Amber Heard after the court gave him access to her phone records (pictured October 2021)

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor's legal team is claiming that the Aquaman star doctored two photos which showed her with two black eyes she alleged Depp gave her.

The pair are currently engaged in a $50million libel suit in Virginia over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post about alleged domestic abuse - though she didn't mention Depp by name in the article.

Depp lost a lawsuit last year against The Sun in the United Kingdom after he sued them for calling him a 'wife beater' in one of their articles. His request to appeal was denied in March of this year.

Messy litigation: Depp is currently suing Heard (seen here in 2011) for $50 million dollars over an op-ed she wrote about domestic violence

Multiple actors have stood up for Depp in recent days including Dakota Johnson, who said she had an 'incredible time' working with him, and Pirates of the Caribbean co-star Kevin McNally claiming 'there's no dark side' to him.

While her father's personal life is still fraught with lawsuits, Lily-Rose's relationship seems to be going very well.

The Silent Night star was photographed in enjoying a passionate PDA with her French rapper Yassine Stein.

Stein rapped his arm around her waist as the pair walked and the two hugged several times as they made their way through the streets of Paris.
Lucas Bravo has completed his mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine in Sydney, and has jetted off to film his new movie in Brisbane.

The French actor, 33, departed from Sydney Domestic Airport on Saturday, and was stopped by fans wanting a selfie.

The Emily In Paris star obliged, taking down his face mask and taking some photos with his admirers.

Off her goes: Lucas Bravo (left) has completed his mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine in Sydney, and has jetted off to film his new movie in Brisbane. The French actor, 33, departed from Sydney Domestic Airport on Saturday, and was stopped by fans wanting selfies

Lucas was dressed for comfort for his 90 minute flight to the Queensland city, donning a black hoodie with matching black track pants.

He wore a shirt underneath and completed his look with a pair of chunky leather boots and a red cap.

Lucas is set to film his new romantic comedy, Ticket to Paradise, alongside his A-list co-stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney in Brisbane.

Comfort: Lucas was dressed for comfort for his 90 minute flight to the Queensland city, donning a black hoodie with matching black track pants

Locked down: Last week, Lucas shared an Instagram Story of his quarantine experience at a Sydney hotel, taking a mirror selfie which he captioned: 'quarantino 5/14' alongside an Australian flag emoji

Julia and George both left Sydney separately on private flights the same day.

The shoot for the comedy is scheduled for two months from mid-November, with locations on The Gold Coast and Brisbane.

George and Julia will play a divorced couple who travel to Bali in a desperate bid to stop their daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever, from getting married.

Ready to film: Lucas is set to film his new romantic comedy, Ticket to Paradise, alongside his A-list co-stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney in Brisbane

The movie will be filmed entirely in Queensland, with the picturesque Whitsundays doubling for Bali.

Last week, Lucas shared an Instagram Story of his quarantine experience at a Sydney hotel, taking a mirror selfie which he captioned: 'quarantino 5/14' alongside an Australian flag emoji.

Mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine is run by state governments in Australia, and requires the participant to stay inside a hotel room for two straight weeks.
Marilyse Corrigan has revealed she will undergo surgery on Tuesday in order to donate a kidney to her ex-partner Shaun, to save his life.

The Married At First Sight UK star, 37, will be taking part in a kidney donation scheme, where her organ will go to a woman she has never met before, meaning Shaun will receive one in exchange.

Shaun suffers with polycystic kidney disease, which causes numerous cysts to grow , reducing kidney function and leading to kidney failure.

'This is for my kids': Marilyse Corrigan has revealed she will undergo surgery in order to donate a life-saving kidney to her ex-partner on Tuesday, who suffers with polycystic kidney disease

Although Marilyse is healthy, tests results showed she is not the correct fit for her former partner, who was told he would need dialysis and a donor transplant in 2019.

The mum of two, who shares Josh, 13, and Callum, 15, with Shaun, kept her plans completely secret until recently and was motivated by the distress of her children.

She told OK! magazine, 'They were very upset because they don't understand it. And we had to explain to them what it meant and they had to witness, when they were staying with their dad and he'd be on the [dialysis] machine every night.'

Worrying: Shaun suffers with polycystic kidney disease, which causes numerous cysts to grow, reducing kidney function and leading to kidney failure

Wow! The mum of two, who shares Josh, 13, (right) and Callum, 15, (left) with Shaun, kept her plans completely secret until recently and was motivated by the distress of her children

What is Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a genetic disorder in which fluid filled sacs, called cysts, grow on the kidneys. Signs and symptoms of the disease include high blood pressure, headaches, abdominal pain, blood in the urine, excessive urination and back pain. There are currently no approved treatment or therapies to prevent the progression of the disease. Advertisement

The reality star went on to add that none of his family are able to give their own kidney due to various reasons, including their own health conditions, and Shaun had been on a very competitive waiting list for a dead donor.

After Shaun had visited her house to see their boys, Marilyse surprised him with a letter which detailed her plans. After she presented it to him, he was moved to tears by the kind gesture, she said.

However, things took a turn for the worst when the coronavirus pandemic meant all operations were cancelled, meaning the operation has been on standby for nearly two years - but it will be going ahead in a matter of days now.

'I signed all the paperwork and Covid hit. Shaun couldn't have the kids because he had to isolate  he was a high risk patient. So I had the kids for a year while he did a few window visits to say hi to them.

'So for me, this is my kids needing the kidney because I needed it for their dad, so that's how I look at it. And because my kids are so important and valuable to me then it makes the whole situation right.'

Marilyse will be in hospital for only one night, but joked that she 'won't be able to lift anything other than a cup of tea' but will tune in to Married At First Sight Australia.

Brave: The MAFS UK star, 37, will be taking part in a kidney donation scheme, where her organ will go to a woman, meaning Shaun will receive one in exchange (pictured in 2021)

Meanwhile, Shaun will be treated with medication in hospital for between seven and days due to the risk of his body rejecting the kidney.

The Yorkshire native wed military man and fellow fitness fanatic Franky, 47, on the latest series of the E4 show.

And to the shock of viewers Marilyse had decided to stay with her Dubai-based husband, who had been dubbed 'controlling' by fans, after the programme ended in the couple's vow renewal.

But speaking to The Sun, she revealed her relationship with Franky turned into more of a friendship.

Hilarious: Marilyse will be in hospital for only one night, but joked that she 'won't be able to lift anything other than a cup of tea' but will tune in to Married At First Sight Australia

'Its really sad as we got on really well and Franky has a heart of gold,' said Marilyse, explaining that it was a mutual decision to end their relationship.

Adding that the experience was 'full-on', she admitted: 'I saw a lot of Franky and that probably spoiled it because we spent too much time together.

Eventually things just went a bit dry and we ended up being more like friends than people in a relationship.'

Following the show, Franky moved to Beverly, while he looked for a job in Leeds, amid planning his return to the UK from Dubai.

Moving: After Shaun had visited her house to see their boys, Marilyse surprised him with a letter which detailed her plans. After she presented it to him, he was moved to tears

Marilyse said her children 'really got on with Franky', who she is still friends with.

However the star has since revealed that she speaks with 'amazing' Luke Dawson - who married Morag Crichton, 31, from Essex - every day.

She told The Sun: 'I'll say it, I do really like Luke, I think he's a lovely guy and he has the potential to be the perfect partner for me.'

'We have a very close friendship; we speak most days and I think he's really cool and amazing.'

She continued: 'I kind of clicked with him at the first dinner party  we're both the same age, we're both reserved, laidback and not out there.'

However, Marilyse went on to say that she doesn't know whether the off-show recoupling would work because the pair are 'so similar' - but added on the contrary, that may also be a reason it does work.

Despite admitting she's only ever looked at Luke in a 'friendly way,' she added that she 'doesn't know what the future holds.'

Marilyse is raising funds for Kidney Research UK and has set up a Just Giving page.
Priyanka Chopra and Kal Penn were pictured arriving at a Diwali party in the Hollywood Hills on Friday.

The actress, 39, wore a dazzling green ensemble as she stepped out of a car while framing her face with a pair of circular sunglasses.

Meanwhile, Kal, a former White House associate director, 44, cut a bold figure in a green kurta with a floral print.

Arrival: Priyanka Chopra (pictured) looked sensational in a dazzling green ensemble as she joined Kal Penn at a Diwali party in Los Angeles on Friday

Kal completed his outfit with a pair of black trousers and white trainers, while chatting on the phone and wearing a face mask.

It appeared guests were in for a treat with Kal seen holding onto a blue gift box.

Also pictured arriving was Macaulay Culkin and his girlfriend Brenda Song, who arrived via a Covid check-in.

Looking good: Kal, a former White House associate director, 44, teamed his bold kurta with a pair of black trousers and white trainers while chatting on the phone

The Home Alone star, 41, looked sensational in an edgy black shirt featuring tiger prints while sporting a pair of black jeans and coordinating Converse sneakers.

He framed his face with a pair of black wayfarer glasses and carried a large blue box, complete with a shiny gold ribbon.

Brenda cut a chic figure in a plunging black maxi dress and a coordinating smart blazer, while slinging a charcoal leather purse over her shoulder.

Sighting: Also pictured arriving was Macaulay Culkin, 41, and his girlfriend Brenda Song, who arrived via a Covid check-in.

Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists in India.

People celebrate the festival by lighting little earthen oil lamps to mark the victory of light over darkness.

It spans over five days and symbolises the spiritual 'victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance'.
Maria Thattil has been dubbed one of the most beautiful women in the world.

But growing up, the Miss Universe Australia 2020 says she was bullied for her brown skin and Indian heritage.

The 28-year-old tells Body+Soul Magazine this week that her at age 15, a schoolmate was praised for her 'beautiful, European, golden brown tan' while slamming Maria's tone as 'dirty, Indian brown'.

Bullied: Maria Thattil has been dubbed one of the most beautiful women in the world. But growing up, the Miss Universe Australia 2020 says she was bullied for her brown skin and Indian heritage. Pictured in this week's Body+Soul Magazine

'Skin is a sensitive subject. Up until 27, I'd never self-tanned, as I had a tumultuous relationship with my skin' she tells the magazine.

The model even turned to bleaching creams to lighten her skin.

'While I no longer use bleaching creams, for a long time I wanted to wash away the brown that made me an outsider, that was never celebrated in the public eye and made me feel 'less than'' she said.

Painful: The 28-year-old tells Body+Soul Magazine this week that her at age 15, a schoolmate was praised for her 'beautiful, European, golden brown tan' while slamming Maria's tone as 'dirty, Indian brown'. Pictured as a child

The model even turned to bleaching creams to lighten her skin: 'While I no longer use bleaching creams, for a long time I wanted to wash away the brown that made me an outsider, that was never celebrated in the public eye and made me feel 'less than'' she said

Maria added that deeply tanned skin is now in fashion - but she finds it upsetting to see light-skinned people praised for painting on the same skin tone for which she was mocked.

'It's triggering to see our skin commodified in a can, celebrated on white bodies but derided on ours. They have the beautiful, golden, sun-kissed glow  whereas brown and black skin is considered dirty' she said.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the beauty admitted she was bullied so badly as a teenager she tried to abandon her Indian heritage.

Winner! Maria was crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2020 and represented the country at the 69th Miss Universe Pageant in Florida (pictured)

Platform: Maria is now using her platform to help other people of colour

'In my teens, I stopped listening to Bollywood music, I stopped eating the food and even stopped speaking to my extended family.

'That is what a lack of representation and bullying and racism will do to a person - it can make them wish that they occupied skin that was not theirs.'

After placing in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant in Florida in May, Maria is now using her platform to help other people of colour.
Demi Sims' new love interest Alexa Brooke uploaded a very steamy video with the TOWIE star during a night out at the Gotham Hotel in Manchester on Thursday.

The pair packed on the PDA, with the reality star licking the OnlyFans star's breast in the saucy clip where she jokingly asked Alexa to 'marry' her on the boozy night out.

Demi, 25, who was out partying with the Geordie Shore girls, wasn't afraid to show off her affection for Alexa, 28.

Close: Demi Sims' new love interest Alexa Brooke uploaded a very steamy video with the TOWIE star during a night out at the Gotham Hotel in Manchester on Thursday.

Steamy: The pair packed on the PDA, with the reality star licking the OnlyFans star's breast in the saucy clip where she jokingly asked Alexa to 'marry' her on the boozy night out

The couple could be seen dancing in the video before Demi licked Alexa's cleavage and smiled at the camera. Alexa captioned the video: 'My Baby.'

The reality TV star was joined by Love Islander's Georgia Steel, 23, Alexis Bailey, 21, and Kaz Crossley, 27, as they attended the LullaBellz launch.

Geordie Shore cast members Chloe Ferry, 26, and Bethan Kershaw, 26, who were also in attendance at the star-studded bash.

New romance? Demi, 25, who was out partying with the Geordie Shore girls, wasn't afraid to show off her affection for Alexa, 28

Having fun: The couple could be seen dancing in the video before Demi licked Alexa's cleavage and smiled at the camera. Alexa captioned the video: 'My Baby'

Night out: The reality TV star was joined by Love Islander's Georgia Steel, 23, Alexis Bailey, 21, and Kaz Crossley, 27, as they attended the LullaBellz launch

Gals night out: The group enjoyed a very boozy session at the bar

Happy: The pair couldn't keep their hands off each other

Demi recently talked about her sexuality on The Only Way Is Essex as she confessed that she was confused about if she identified as gay or bisexual.

The blonde beauty received an outpour of support from sisters Frankie and Chloe as well as other TOWIE cast members.

This comes as just last month, Demi was seen sharing a kiss with Geordie Shore's Bethan and Too Hot To Handle's, Christina Carmela, 30 within a week of another.

Bethan and Demi were quick to squash rumours of a romance at the time, with the pair taking to Instagram to explain to their followers they were not together and simply had 'a really flirty relationship'.

Pals: Bethan Kershaw, 26, Georgia Steel, 23, Kaz Crossley, 27 and Chloe Ferry, 26, were also in attendance at the star-studded bash

Demi spoke about her 'flirtatious relationship' with Bethan in June and explained despite their attraction, the pair are just friends.

She said of the Geordie: 'Don't get me wrong me and Bethan have spoken in the past and when we are with each other we are all over each other.

'Like we just have a really flirty relationship and that's what it was the other night, it was just really flirty and stuff.

'But that doesn't mean we are in a relationship, no, but I do love her. I've got a lot of time for Bethan.'

Bethan later echoed Demi's feelings, saying: 'So me and Demi we're really good friends, we're friends that like to have a bit of a flirt, have a bit of a neck on, but we are not in a serious committed relationship.'

More recently, the latest instalments during TOWIE's 29th series has seen James Bennewith, aka Diags, and Roman Hackett fight for Demi's attention.
A new teaser trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things was released on the show's official YouTube channel on Saturday.

In the clip, Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, adapted to her new life in California after having moved away from Hawkins, Indiana at the conclusion of the last season.

The new run of episodes for the hit Netflix show has been in production for over a year and are scheduled to make their debut in the near future.

A new look: A new teaser trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things was released on the show's official YouTube channel on Saturday

The trailer begins with an overhead shot of what appears to be a suburban California town, and Eleven is heard writing a letter to her romantic interest, Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard.

After she expressed that she has 'finally adapted' to her new surroundings, the Byers brothers are shown spending time at their new residence.

Eleven and Will Byers are later picked up in a pizza van by new character Argyle, played by Eduardo Franco, before being taken to an unseen location.

Brown's character then shows up at a local high school, where another student's spitball lands on her face. She noted she is 'ready for spring break. Mostly because I get to see you.'

California dreaming: The trailer begins with an overhead shot of what appears to be a suburban California town, and Eleven is heard writing a letter to her romantic interest, Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard

Wistful: While writing a letter, Eleven noted she is 'ready for spring break. Mostly because I get to see you'

Fresh face: Eleven and Will Byers are later picked up in a pizza van by new character Argyle, played by Eduardo Franco, before being taken to an unseen location

Mike read the letter with obvious excitement, and Eleven points out that they 'will have the best spring break ever.'

A rapid-fire montage of shots focused on Byers' home being ambushed by armed men, Brown's character going to a roller rink, and Will and Mike escaping in the pizza van.

The trailer ends after a chase in the desert, and an unknown character stands in front of an explosion.

The fourth season of Stranger Things was officially confirmed by Netflix in September of 2019.

Big plans: Mike read the letter with obvious excitement, and Eleven points out that they 'will have the best spring break ever'

Disorienting: A rapid-fire montage of shots focused on Byers' home being ambushed by armed men, Brown's character going to a roller rink, and Will and Mike escaping in the pizza van.

Feeling the heat: The trailer ends after a chase in the desert, and an unknown character stands in front of an explosion

Several new cast members were added to the show's lineup that same November.

Other performers who had established presences on the show, including Maya Hawke, David Harbour and Winona Ryder, signed on to reprise their roles earlier in the year.

Physical production initially began in February of last year, with Lithuania serving as a primary filming location.

The cast and crew later started work on the series in the United States, although shooting was shut down in March due to the onset of the global pandemic.

Signing on: Several new cast members were added to the show's lineup in November of 2019

Working hard: Physical production initially began in February of last year, with Lithuania serving as a primary filming location

Production later resumed in September and took place in several locations before concluding after a year of work.

The first teaser trailer for the new season of the hit program was initially released to the public in 2019.

Several other promotional clips for the series were also made available over the course of this past year.

The fourth season of Stranger Things has yet to receive a release date.
Her former pop group Little Mix released their new single Between Us on Friday.

And on Saturday, Jesy Nelson commanded attention in two sultry snaps shared to Instagram as she continues to focus on her solo career.

Drawing attention to her tinted sunglasses and edgy sense of style, the 30-year-old posed while holding onto the frames and cryptically captioned the post, 'I see you'.

'I see you': Jesy Nelson (pictured), 30, wowed in sultry Instagram snaps on Saturday as she showed off her edgy style - just hours after Little Mix released their new single Between Us

Posing in a studio, Jesy donned a baggy grey denim jacket by Sean Combs' label Sean John - with the rapper making a cameo on her debut single Boyz.

Alongside her statement sunglasses, the stunner accessorised with several gold rings on her fingers and a body chain that also drew the eye to her toned abs.

Her auburn locks were styled sleek and straight and her makeup was ultra glamorous, consisting of a bronzed complexion, full brows and a nude lipstick.

Sultry: The 30-year-old donned a baggy grey denim jacket by Sean Combs' label Sean John - with the rapper making a cameo on her debut single Boyz. She posed by holding onto the frames of her stylish tinted sunglasses

Keeping it simple: The songstress captioned the near-identical snaps with the text, 'I see you'

She captioned the near-identical snaps with the text, 'I see you'.

Jesy was back in the studio on Friday working on new music just hours after Little Mix marked their 10-year anniversary with a new single, Between Us.

The girl group, who propelled to fame after winning X Factor in 2011, wanted to celebrate 'friendship and sisterhood and their amazing relationship with their fans' in the stunning emotional ballad.

Released on Friday, this is the fourth track that the band has released as a trio, following Jesy's departure in December last year.

Star: Jesy was back in the studio on Friday working on new music just hours after her former group Little Mix released their new single Between Us

The song, taken from their upcoming album of the same name, was written by members Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards, alongside MNEK, Tre Jean-Marie and Janee 'Jin Jin' Bennet.

Perrie, 28, said: 'Between Us is basically the song that we're never going to be able to get through live!

'We're going to be in floods of tears in front of everyone. It's just such a cute stunning song, I love it so much.'

Leigh-Anne chimed: 'I love how we reference Little Mix songs in the lyrics. We feel each other's emotions 24/7, we've gone through everything together. It's about ten years of friendship and sisterhood and our amazing relationship with our fans.'

Fan favourite: Little Mix marked ten years of 'friendship and sisterhood' with their new single Between Us, released on Friday

One of the girls' earliest singles, Wings, is mentioned in the second verse, alongside songs Bounce Back and Power: 'Remember the day when we finally found our wings? It changed our lives, gave us power to do anything and any time they break us down, we bounce back, every track, had your back.'

Jade added: 'It's one of those songs that anyone can listen to and think of someone that they truly love. It's nice that we're gonna have this song forever.'

The band have been celebrating ten years of Little Mix and announced they will be releasing a new album Between Us on November 12th.

Latest work: The song was written by members Jade Thirlwall (l) Leigh-Anne Pinnock (r) and Perrie Edwards (middle) alongside MNEK, Tre Jean-Marie and Janee 'Jin Jin' Bennet

The album is a celebration of a decade of global hits from a record-breaking pop band.

All of their biggest hits are featured on the album including their number one singles Wings, Black Magic, Shout Out To My Ex and Sweet Melody.

They feature alongside major tunes such as Touch, Move, Power, Salute and their latest smash collaboration with Galantis and David Guetta - Heartbreak Anthem - which has so far been streamed over 400 million times.

Come a long way: The girl group propelled to fame after winning X Factor in 2011 and Between Us is the fourth track that the band has released as a trio, following Jesy's departure in December 2020 (Jesy pictured left with the girls in 2011)

Their upcoming album will also feature five brand new sensational songs that the trio have been working on over the last few months, bringing their decade of chart smashes up to date.

Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perrie have established themselves as the world's biggest girl band - having sold over 50 million records worldwide, collected over 19 million Spotify listeners, received over three billion YouTube views, and collated 12 billion streams worldwide.

2021 has proved to be a record-breaking year so far for the band. Earlier this year Little Mix won 'Best British Group' at the 2021 BRIT Awards, the first female group in history to win the award.

Celebration: Earlier this year Little Mix won 'Best British Group' at the 2021 BRIT Awards, the first female group in history to win the award (pictured in May)

This August saw the girls celebrate 100 weeks in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 10, the most for a girl band in history.

Their 6th album Confetti spawned four hit singles and had track sales of over four million.

2022 will see the band finally hit the road with their highly anticipated Confetti Tour, gracing arenas across the UK and Ireland.
Avril Lavigne has announced her first new single since she signed with Travis Barker's label DTA Records.

The 37-year-old 'pop-punk princess' posted a leggy Instagram promo Friday for the song revealing it will be entitled Bite Me and will drop next Wednesday.

Demonstrating her retro chic bona fides in a tartan skirt and a pair of platforms, she posed languorously beside a heart-shaped cake with the song title written on it.

'Are you ready to "BITE ME" ?': Avril Lavigne has announced her first new single since she signed with Travis Barker's label DTA Records

Avril flaunted her knockout gams as she sat on a chessboard floor with a small cloud floating just above her head.

'Are you ready to "BITE ME" ? My new song, November 10th. Pre save now. Link in bio,' she captioned the picture, in which she tagged Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann, Israeli guitarist Omer Fedi and her rapper beau Mod Sun.

Just two days earlier she had announced her DTA Records deal on Twitter and hinted to her fans that she may already have cut a record for her new label.

'Lets f*** s*** up! Just signed a record contract to Travis Barkers record label DTA Records! Should I drop my first single next week ?' she tweeted Wednesday.

Ready to roll: Just two days earlier she had announced her DTA Records deal on Twitter and hinted to her fans that she may already have cut a record for her new label

'Lets f*** s*** up!': 'Just signed a record contract to Travis Barkers record label DTA Records! Should I drop my first single next week ?' she tweeted Wednesday.

Travis, 45, also celebrated the new arrangement on Instagram gushing: 'Welcome to @dtarecords @avrillavigne !'

He included a Boomerang that showed himself and Avril playfully spraying freshly popped bottles of champagne at each other.

Both of them fired up their social media to post a slew of pictures of them celebrating their new creative venture.

The duo were holding cakes with: 'DTA,' frosted on top and in one goofy snap they flung their desserts at one another.

Having a ball: Avril, 37, made the big announcement on Twitter and hinted to her fans that she may already have cut a record for her new label

Such fun: Travis, 45, also celebrated the new arrangement on Instagram gushing: 'Welcome to @dtarecords @avrillavigne !'

Only the best: The dynamic duo posed for a picture with themed cakes

Avril showed off her taut midriff in a Breton striped crop top while Travis bared his sprawl of tattoos by going shirtless as they both flipped the camera off.

Their announcement comes after Travis featured as a drummer on Avril and Willow Smith's song Grow from Willow's album Lately I Feel Everything.

Grow first appeared in the public eye when the album dropped in July, and then in the middle of last month the music video dropped.

Travis' drumming could be heard as Avril and Willow were seen singing alongside one another and dancing in giant size through a cityscape.

Ready to party: Both of them fired up their social media to post a slew of pictures of them celebrating their new creative venture

Goofing around: The duo were holding cakes with: 'DTA,' frosted on top and in one goofy snap they flung their desserts at one another

Pulling out the stops: Balloons spelling 'DTA' and 'AVRIL' celebrated the new collaboration

If Avril releases a single next week it will be her first as a lead artist since We Are Warriors which she dropped last April.

However she has been busy musically since then as well, as at the start of this year she featured on the song Flames by her boyfriend Mod Sun.

Travis' new musical adventure with Avril comes amid his high-profile engagement to Kourtney Kardashian with whom he is known for his public displays of affection.

Mod has had Avril's name tattooed onto his neck while Travis has gotten Kourtney's name inked prominently on his chest.
Mia Regan sent temperatures soaring when she posted a bikini snap of herself to Instagram on Saturday.

Posing in the sand, the 18-year-old model put her peachy bottom on display, with the word 'posh' written in blusher on it.

Wearing a stringy pink thong bikini, she posted the cheeky snap to promote her boyfriend Romeo Beckham's mother's beauty line - Victoria Beckham Beauty.

Cheeky! Mia Regan, 18, sent temperatures soaring when she posted a bikini snap of herself on Saturday, which showed off her peachy bottom

She captioned the photo, which was to promote her boyfriend Romeo Beckham's mother Victoria's beauty line: 'blusher on the butt butt <3'

Bold: Romeo was soon in the comments section of the snap to simply write a peach emoji

Romeo was quickly visible in the comments section of the snap, leaving a playful peach emoji.

Mia captioned the photo: 'blusher on the butt butt <3,' as she tied her beachy waves back into a green ribbon for the stunning shot.

Mia also stunned in a promotional video for the brand which saw her putting her make up on in a get ready with me style video to music.

Her natural beauty was highlighted by the products she used, including a glittery eyeliner and pink blush - the same used on her bottom.

Gorgeous: Mia also stunned in a promotional video for the brand which saw her putting her make up on in a get ready with me style video to music

Stunner: Her natural beauty was highlighted by the products she used, including a glittery eyeliner and pink blush - the same used on her bottom

The video depicted Mia making an espresso from a coffee machine, and then getting ready in the mirror with the products.

The blonde beauty wore a silky white lacy camisole top with blue jeans and let her locks fall in natural waves on her shoulders.

She could also be seen answering a call on a vintage telephone.

Mia and Romeo began dating back in May 2019, and have recently enjoyed some time in New York City together.

She shared a carousel post of their time together in the city, and captioned the snaps: 'No shame being a stereotypical tourist in nyc :)'

Having fun: She could also be seen answering a call on a vintage telephone

Getaway: The post comes after Mia shared a sweet gallery from her time in New York with Romeo on Thursday

The series of shots captured several highlights from their city break, including loved-up embraces, selfies in a ceiling mirror and a stroll around Times Square.

Mia, who models for Storm, showed off her quirky sense of fashion on the cover image, a range of hues incorporated into her jumper, skirt and beanie.

The Beckham's second eldest looked utterly smitten with her in the slew of snaps, as he wrapped his arms around her adoringly.
Kristen Stewart left New York on Saturday after a busy work week on the East Coast.

The 31-year-old actress has been promoting her film Spencer, a drama about the demise of Princess Diana and Prince Charles' marriage.

The newly engaged star was dressed down in ripped jeans as she made her way through the terminal with her fiancee Dylan Meyer.

Headed out: Kristen Stewart left New York on Saturday after a busy work week on the East Coast

The Los Angeles native's strawberry blonde hair was scooped into a messy bun and she wore a bright blue Yokohama jacket with navy blue accents.

Her casual coat was worn over a crewneck black T-shirt, and the entertainer's light wash blue jeans were cuffed and distressed.

The Twilight actress showed off her carefree style in a pair of black socks paired with classic white Vans slip-on sneakers.

She had on a small black wristwatch and a black face mask as she walked through the airport.

Comfortable: The newly engaged star was dressed down in ripped jeans as she made her way through the terminal with her fiancee Dylan Meyer

For her part, Dylan was also wearing red Vans with white sole and laces. And she was in dark trousers that cropped above her ankles.

The screenwriter was in a black T-shirt with a graphic on the front and she layered it with a simple navy blue jacket.

Over her face she wore a maroon mask and her platinum blonde hair hung over her shoulders in a side part.

Airport style: For her part, Dylan was also wearing red Vans with white sole and laces. And she was in dark trousers that cropped above her ankles

Stewart's portrayal of the late Princess Diana premiered in theatres on Friday, Nov. 5.

On Saturday Emma Roberts took to Instagram to give a shoutout to Kristen. She posted a black and white photo of the two and wrote: 'My face after seeing @spencer_movie. The movie and my girl are iconic.'

Kristen's media junket for the feature film included appearances on Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and Howard Stern - where she announced her partner of two years had popped the question.

'We're marrying, we're totally gonna do it,' Stewart told host Howard Stern. 'I wanted to be proposed to, so I think I very distinctly carved out what I wanted and she nailed it. It was really cute, she did very well. We're marrying, it's happening.'

Supportive friend: On Saturday Emma Roberts took to Instagram to give a shoutout to Kristen. She posted a black and white photo of the two and wrote, 'My face after seeing @spencer_movie. The movie and my girl are iconic'

Working! The busy performer was out and about on the east coast recently as she embarked on an extended press tour

Discussing Meyer's 'cute' proposal, Stewart said, 'I wasn't specific at all. It's not a given that I would be the one. You know what I mean? With two girls, you never know like who's going to fulfill what weird f---ing gender role thing.'

Later she revealed she wanted Food Network favorite Guy Fieri to officiate her nuptials, and during her segment on The Today Show she was surprised with a message from the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host.

In a video message he said: 'Hey Kristen, Guy Fieri here, and I heard through the Flavortown grapevine that you are looking for a sweet spikey-haired officiant for your wedding.'

Host Hoda Kotb asked the thrilled Twilight star if she was seriously considering Guy's offer, to which she affirmed: 'Absolutely!'
NEW CANAAN  Second graders headed to the woods on their schools campus to exercise their imagination, finding their inspiration after reading Roxaboxen.

The award-winning childrens book was written by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney.

Students at New Canaan Country School explored the schools 35-acre woodlands for several hours, either in small groups or individually. The children collected fallen branches, stacked logs, piled stones and swept leaves aside to make roadways and paths as they created an imaginary town.

Back in the classrooms later that afternoon, students connected their experiences to the schools mission and core values, which honor courage, curiosity, creativity and kindness.

The second grade Day of Roxaboxen, which was held Oct. 20, is just one of many Country School traditions that combine traditional teaching methods, such as a read-aloud stories, with an experiential component.

It was a joy to watch students express themselves as individuals, while also working together to form their own special community, Grade 2 teacher Caitlin Bellgamba said. The ability to imagine, and then act upon that imagination, is a crucial part of childhood. Its a fundamental underpinning of creative problem-solving and entrepreneurial thinking. Plus, it has the added benefit of being a lovely way to spend a morning.

New Canaan Country School is a co-ed, independent day school for students in preK through Grade 9. For more information, visit countryschool.net.
Since late summer we have been inundated with headlines and breaking news stories about Gabby Petito, a young woman who had gone missing while traveling cross country with her boyfriend. Photos of Gabby were, and still are, everywhere. So many of us anxiously awaited any small update about the case.

We came to learn that for more than a year Gabby had been separated from her family and friends in New York and was living with her boyfriend and his parents in Florida. We learned that she really only had one friend and confidante in Florida, and that her friend had concerns about Gabbys relationship. Like how her boyfriend would get upset when Gabby made plans with this friend and without him, how he would hide her identification to prevent her from going out; and how he would show up, uninvited, when the girls went to the beach. Rather than joining them, he would set up a chair several feet away and just watch them.

We learned that the relationship was tumultuous, that Gabby would often call her friend crying about arguments shed with her boyfriend, and that he deliberately made it difficult for her to make new friends. In hindsight, its easy to see the many red flags and to recognize her boyfriend as controlling and abusive.

On Oct. 1, new legislation went into effect in Connecticut redefining domestic violence to include coercive control. Coercive control is not a new phenomenon. Victims and survivors have always been trapped by abusers with tactics such as isolation, gaslighting, manipulation, controlling finances and monitoring activities; preventing their autonomy and independence. Abusers skillfully create an environment of deference and constant fear, without ever using physical violence.

The court system, intended to ensure justice for all, can be overwhelming for survivors and is often manipulated by abusers to further control and harass their victims. Public Act 21-78 provides survivors with enhanced tools to increase safety for themselves and their children. Now, victims can be granted orders of protection for a pattern of non-physical acts of abuse such as threats, intimidation and verbal abuse  all of which are well established precursors to physical violence.

Looking back on the history of Gabbys relationship, we can now clearly see that her murder was the punctuation mark at the end of a long pattern of coercive control.

Gabbys story is not unique, but it captured the attention of the county.

So what is it about this case, that resulted in mass media coverage? What was it about Gabby that made us all pay so much attention? It could be that she already had a large presence on social media, with images of herself readily available for public consumption. It could also be what those images depicted  a beautiful, enthusiastic and creative woman who was also young, blonde and white.

The media frenzy over Gabby Petito is not unlike that of other white female victims of domestic violence who have been sensationalized. Weve been captivated by the stories of Laci Peterson, Shannon Watts and, most recently, Jennifer Dulos. But what about the thousands of other women in the United States who have been murdered by a current or former intimate partner? What about the victims who dont look like Gabby? Its clear, our society values some victims more than others.

On average, three women a day are murdered by current or former intimate partners in this country. Women of color are disproportionally victimized by domestic violence. Native American women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average. Black women are 2 1/2 times more likely to be murdered by men than white women are. Yet, we rarely learn these womens names, see their faces or know their stories.

As we continue to mourn the loss of Gabby, we must also commit to increasing our understanding of the underlying dynamics of domestic abuse, including coercive control. How we respond to domestic violence matters, and it is imperative that we examine when and why there are differences between which victims capture our collective attention and sympathy.

The mission of YWCA Greenwich includes eliminating racism and empowering women. Our Domestic Abuse Services team has worked diligently every day, for 40 years, to bring that mission to life by raising our voices for those who have been silenced and by delivering comprehensive, client-centered services to those impacted by domestic violence.

Anyone, and everyone, who has been impacted by domestic violence.

Please call our 24-Hour Hotline for more information or to get help 203-253-6274.

Meredith Gold is director of domestic abuse services and Leslie Coplin is training and community engagement coordinator of YWCA Greenwich.
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Brown label ATMs are those in which the ATM machine is owned by the service provider but the cash management and connectivity to banking networks is supplied by a sponsor bank.  Representational image/DC

Mumbai: Banks are passing on management of automatic teller machines (ATMs) to third parties as they focus on growing their businesses, according to cash management company CMS Info Systems.

Also, cash circulation is back to pre-demonetisation level exactly five years later despite digital transactions seeing high growth in metros and big cities .

"Next five-six years may see increased outsourcing of managed services by banks and 80 to 85 per cent of ATMs will be managed by third parties as banks shed NPAs and focus more on growing their businesses," said Manjunath Rao, president -managed services business, CMS Info Systems during a facility visit at Navi Mumbai, ahead of its proposed initial public offering.

Around 17,000 plus ATMs were added in India between FY19 and FY21 despite Covid-19. SBI, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India have, in the last 18 months, issued a request for proposal (RFP) for over 20,000 brown label ATMs.

Brown label ATMs are those in which the ATM machine is owned by the service provider but the cash management and connectivity to banking networks is supplied by a sponsor bank.

In 2020, State Bank of India alone issued RFP for installation of 10,000 ATMs under the total outsourced model.

In order to drive better ATM management and accountability, banks and other participants in India are increasingly outsourcing their managed services needs, such as brown-label ATMs. This will result in the managed ATM services segment space growth at a faster pace, he said.

India has low ATM penetration with only 22 ATMs per 100,000 adults, compared to a global average of 47 ATMs, as of December 31, 2020.

The government has undertaken initiatives aimed at increasing financial inclusion to give greater access to bank branches and ATMs, in semi-urban and rural regions where ATM penetration is very low at 15 ATMs per 100,000 adults.
The Telangana Petroleum Dealers Association is also deeply concerned over the fate of petrol pumps on state borders. Representational Image. (ANI)

Hyderabad: The Telangana government seems to be under pressure to cut VAT (value-added tax) on petrol, diesel after several states did so in the last two days following the Centre cutting down fuel prices.

Opposition parties and civil society organisations are strongly demanding the state government to cut VAT which is among the highest in the country. The state government imposes 35.2 per cent VAT on petrol 27 per cent on diesel.

There is also a strong demand from various associations of petrol pumps in the state to cut VAT to bring down fuel prices on par with the neighbouring states. If not, they fear, around 200 petrol pumps located within a radius of 50-kilometres bordering Karnataka and Maharashtra would face closure.

Karnataka slashed VAT on petrol, diesel by Rs 7 per litre. With this, the petrol price decreased to Rs 100.58 per litre and diesel to Rs 80.01 per litre. Although Maharashtra did not slash VAT rate so far, the price of diesel is lower than Telangana. In Hyderabad, petrol costs Rs 108.20 per litre and diesel Rs 94.62. There is a price difference of Rs 7.62 per litre for petrol and Rs 14.61 per litre for diesel.

Petrol pumps on borders witness more diesel sales than petrol with huge consumption by transportation vehicles. The price variation has led to almost zero diesel sales on state borders in Telangana due to which around 200 petrol pumps face closure if VAT is not reduced accordingly.

"It's not just petrol pumps, even the state government will suffer huge losses as fuel sales will dip in Telangana. This translates to lower fuel sales and lower VAT collection for state government. The government has to take a decision on VAT reduction without any further delay in its own interest and also in the interest of petrol pumps in state," said Rajiv Amaram, joint secretary, Confederation of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD).

The Telangana Petroleum Dealers Association is also deeply concerned over the fate of petrol pumps on state borders. "There are around 2,000 petrol pumps in Telangana of which nearly 200 are located on state borders alone. They are sitting idle for the past two days with no sales. If the same situation continues, there is no option for them but to shut down the petrol pumps," said G. Vinay Kumar, founder secretary, TS Petroleum Dealers Association.

The VAT on fuel remains the major revenue earner for the state government. The state government is earning nearly Rs 1,000 crore per month through VAT on fuel. However, there has been no move from the state government to cut VAT on fuel so far.

Officials say, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has to take a call on this issue. The Chief Minister himself holds the portfolio of commercial taxes department which collects VAT.

Official sources in the commercial taxes department say there has been no communication from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) regarding holding a meeting to discuss VAT cut so far.

The ruling TRS has made spiralling fuel prices as its main poll plank to target the BJP in the recent Huzurabad bypoll. It demanded that the BJP government at the Centre to cut taxes to bring down fuel prices. Now that the Centre has reduced taxes, there is an increased demand on the Telangana government to follow suit if it is really concerned about price rise.

City Petrol Diesel Hyderabad 108.20 94.62 Karnataka 100.58 80.01 Chennai 101.40 91.43 Maharashtra 109.91 94.14
New Delhi: With Pakistan recently announcing its boycott of Indias forthcoming NSA-level Delhi Regional Security Dialogue conference on Afghanistan that will be held in New Delhi on November 10, even its powerful all-weather friend and benefactor China is yet to confirm its participation. But Russia, Iran and some Central Asian nations have already confirmed participation, government sources said on Friday. The sources also said Pakistans decision not to attend was unfortunate, but not surprising, and that it has played a pernicious role in Afghanistan which it sees as its protectorate.

A source said: Pakistans decision is unfortunate, but not surprising. It reflects its mindset of viewing Afghanistan as its protectorate. Pakistan has not attended the previous meetings of this format. Its media comments against India are an unsuccessful attempt to deflect attention from its pernicious role in Afghanistan.

The sources added that there has been an overwhelming response to Indias invitation and this is the first time all Central Asian countries, not just those which are Afghanistans immediate land neighbours, are participating in this format, in which the last two conferences were held in Iran in 2018 and 2019.

It may be recalled that earlier this week, Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf had snubbed India and declared he would not travel to New Delhi to attend the conference, while accusing India of being a spoiler in Afghanistan who cannot try to be a peacemaker. The word spoiler is Pakistans regularly-used expression for India when it comes to Afghanistan. Also, Pakistan and China have also been working in close tandem on all issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, where the Pakistan-backed Taliban captured power in a lightning military sweep in mid-August this year.

Meanwhile, a government source said on Friday: India will be hosting the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10. The meeting will be at the NSA level. National security adviser Ajit Doval will chair (the meeting)  There has been an overwhelming response to Indias invitation. Central Asian countries as well as Russia and Iran have confirmed participation. Invitations have been extended to China and Pakistan too, and formal responses are awaited. However, Pakistan has indicated through the media that it will not attend.

The source further said: The enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to Indias role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan. The high-level participation in next weeks meeting hosted by India reflects the widespread and growing concern of regional countries about the situation in Afghanistan and their desire to consult and coordinate with each other. India has an important role to play in this process.

Two earlier meetings in this format were held in Iran in September 2018 and December 2019. The third meeting in India could not be held earlier due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sources pointed out.
The rise of the Taliban two decades after it was compelled to flee Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent Operation Enduring Freedom once again focuses attention on Samuel Huntingtons theory of Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of the World Order. Explaining why civilisations would clash he opined in the summer of 1993, civilisation identity will be increasingly important in the future, and the world will be shaped in large measure by the interactions among seven or eight major civilisations. These include Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and, possibly, African civilisation. The most important conflicts of the future will occur along the cultural fault lines separating these civilisations from one another.

Explaining the fault lines between the Islamic and the Anglo-Saxon civilisations, he wrote, Conflict along the fault line between the Western and Islamic civilisations has been going on for 1,300 years. After the founding of Islam, the Arab and Moorish surge west and north only ended at Tours in 732. From the eleventh to the thirteenth century, the Crusaders attempted with temporary success to bring Christianity and Christian rule to the Holy Land. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, the Ottoman Turks reversed the balance, extended their sway over the Middle East and the Balkans, captured Constantinople, and twice laid siege to Vienna. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Ottoman power declined Britain, France, and Italy established Western control over most of North Africa and the Middle East. After World War II, the West, in turn, began to retreat; the colonial empires disappeared; first Arab nationalism and then Islamic fundamentalism manifested themselves; the West became heavily dependent on the Persian Gulf countries for its energy; the oil-rich Muslim countries became money-rich and, when they wished to, weapons-rich. Several wars occurred between Arabs and Israel (created by the West). France fought a bloody and ruthless war in Algeria for most of the 1950s; British and French forces invaded Egypt in 1956; American forces went into Lebanon in 1958; subsequently American forces returned to Lebanon, attacked Libya, and engaged in various military encounters with Iran; Arab and Islamic terrorists, supported by at least three Middle Eastern governments, employed the weapon of the weak and bombed Western planes and installations and seized Western hostages. This warfare between Arabs and the West culminated in 1990, when the United States sent a massive army to the Persian Gulf to defend some Arab countries against aggression by another. In its aftermath, Nato planning is increasingly directed to potential threats and instability along its southern tier. This centuries-old military interaction between the West and Islam is unlikely to decline. It could become more virulent.

Huntington was prescient. 9/11 followed and the War on Terror commenced. First, Afghanistan was unravelled in 2001 followed by Iraq in 2003. It was complemented by Western-inspired and social media delivered revolutions across the greater Middle East colloquially, characterised as Arab Spring.

Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain erupted. In some nations there were regime changes while others descended into the morass of civil war from which they have still not emerged. Unremitting street protests shook the ruling entrenched and brittle ruling dispensations in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Iranian Khuzestan, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and even Sudan, situated in the broader definition of the Horn of Africa. Even the regimes in nations like Djibouti, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara were not spared of the wrath of the people. The defining battle cry of the activists was ash-shab yurid isqat an-nizam! (people want to bring down the regime).

However, as the US and its Western allies tried to reorder the frozen geography of the Middle East post the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War, it unleashed tectonic forces that had been brutally repressed by the dictatorial and monarchical forces across the Arab World for close to a century. One of the inadvertent consequences of this attempted redesigning was the creation of the Shia Crescent that extended Irans reach and influence across the region without as much as firing a shot.

The term, Shia Crescent, refers to a swathe of areas that includes Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and the Shia populations in each of those countries. Anchored by Iran, it embraces key surrogate groups, be it the Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and southern Iraqi militias. It provides flexibility and leverage to Iran to operate unconventionally across the Middle East in its broader strategic interest. General Qassem Soleimani, the late commander of the IRGC-Quds Force, was the overlord of the Crescent. He almost singlehandedly built the network of relationships and alliances that allowed Iran to wield an enormous amount of influence.

The US deep state has now identified the Shia Crescent along with Xis Jinpings stroppy China as the foremost national security challenge to continued American global hegemony. This in part may explain why the Americans handed over Afghanistan to a Sunni Taliban virtually on a platter after bashing them for 20 years.

Though the Americans and even the Afghan defence forces claim that most of the state-of-the-art weaponry was disabled, that is not what many serious strategic thinkers are willing to accept at face value. The American objective of thus creating a countervailing hardline Sunni force in the form of the Taliban living cheek by jowl with Iran, the driving force of Shia resurgence in the region, is, therefore, not very difficult to absorb.

Where does that leave India and other nations in this post-Taliban arc of turbulence? They all need to look for civilisational allies sandwiched as they are within conflicting idioms of pan-Islamic fundamentalism and a belligerent Confucian order.

It is in this context Prime Minister Modis visit to the dominant seat of spiritual Anglo-Saxonism, the Vatican, and Indias participation in the nascent Western Quad need to be analyzed. The Western Quad is in its essence is a US (read Anglo-Saxon)-Israel (read Jewish)-India (Hindu according to the RSS-BJP) alliance with a co-option of those forces in the Muslim world represented by the UAE who fear both politically regressive and theologically puritanical Sunni impulses on one hand and the continuing aggressive Shia resurrection on the other. Is a Samuel Huntington redux the correct way to acquire both equilibrium and leverage in a deeply divided world that continues to roil? Only time would tell.
This launch marked the 396th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: China on Saturday successfully launched three new remote sensing satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the country's southwestern Sichuan province, official media reported.

The satellites, belonging to the Yaogan-35 family, were launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully, according to the Xinhua news agency.

This launch marked the 396th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

In March 2019, China's Long March-3B rocket -- regarded as the main stay of the country's space programme since 1970 -- had successfully completed its 300th launch by putting a new communication satellite into orbit.

The Long March carrier rocket series, developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is responsible for about 96.4 per cent of all the launch missions in China.

It took 37 years for the Long March rockets to complete the first 100 launches, 7.5 years to complete the second 100 launches, and only about four years to accomplish the final 100, with the average number of launches per year increasing from 2.7 to 13.3 and then to 23.5, Xinhua reported in 2019.
Boeing Co current and former company directors have reached a $237.5 million proposed settlement with shareholders to settle a lawsuit over the safety oversight of the 737 MAX aircraft, documents seen by Reuters show.

Following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in the space of five months in 2018-19 that killed 346 people, Boeing's best selling plane was grounded for 20 months and returned to service after the company made significant software and training improvements.

The proposed agreement, which is being filed in Delaware Chancery Court late on Friday and was confirmed by Boeing, will require the election of an additional board director with aviation/aerospace, engineering, or product safety oversight expertise within one year.

Boeing's board would always be required to have at least three directors with safety-related experience, according to the proposal, which must be approved by a judge to become final.

Under the settlement, Boeing would amend its bylaws to require the separation of the CEO and Board chair positions, create for at least five years an ombudsperson program to provide Boeing employees conducting airplane certification work for the Federal Aviation Administration with a way to raise work-related concerns.

The settlement would also require Boeing to provide annual public reports on safety related enhancements implemented by the planemaker since the MAX air disasters.

The financial penalty is to be paid by insurers to Boeing, the documents show, minus up to $29.7 million in legal fees and expenses to the shareholder attorneys.

Under the settlement, Boeing's current and former directors do not admit wrongdoing and assert they were acting in what they believed was in the best interests of Boeing and its stockholders.

The Delaware court in September ruled Boeing stockholders could pursue some claims against the board, saying the first 737 MAX crash was a "red flag" about a safety system known as MCAS "that the board should have heeded but instead ignored."

The crashes have cost Boeing some $20 billion. Boeing agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in January including $2.5 billion in fines and compensation stemming from the 737 MAX crashes.

Boeing confirmed the settlement and said "Boeing has taken significant actions to reinforce and strengthen our commitment to aviation safety" since the crashes.

The settlement, it added "builds on those actions with additional oversight and governance reforms that will further advance safety and quality in the work that we do."

Boeing's board includes the recent additions of Retired Lieutenant General Stayce Harris, who has over 10,000 hours experience as a pilot of Boeing aircraft; and David Joyce, who led GE Aviation from 2009 to 2020.

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Terming whistleblower allegations on loan evergreening as "grossly inaccurate and baseless", Indusind Bank on Saturday admitted to have disbursed 84,000 loans without customer consent in May owing to a "technical glitch".

Lending without consent was reported by the field staff in two days, and the glitch was also rectified expeditiously, the private sector lender said in a clarification.

On Friday, there was a media report about anonymous whistleblowers writing to the bank management and the RBI about BFIL, the microlending-focused subsidiary of the bank, allegedly resorting to evergreening of loans, wherein existing borrowers unable to pay dues were given new loans to present the books as clean.

"The bank strongly denies the allegations of evergreening. All the loans originated and managed by BFIL, including during the Covid period which saw the first and second waves ravaging the countryside, are fully compliant with the regulatory guidelines," an official statement said.

Also Read | IndusInd Bank gets empanelled as Agency Bank to RBI

"Due to a technical glitch in May 2021, nearly 84,000 loans were disbursed without the customer consent getting recorded at the time of loan disbursement," it added.

"Operational issues" due to the pandemic's second wave like lockdowns, containment zones, and restrictions at the village/panchayat level had necessitated disbursement of some loans in cash, it said.

At the end of September, 26,073 of these 84,000 clients were active with the loan outstanding at Rs 34 crore, which is 0.12 per cent of the September-end portfolio, the bank said, adding that it carries necessary provisions against the loans.

It also said that the Standard Operating Procedure has since been revised to make biometric authorization compulsory, and that in October 2021, nearly 100 per cent of the loan disbursements were in the bank accounts of the customers, as in pre-Covid time.

During the pandemic, customers faced operational difficulties and some have turned to intermittent payers, though a large part of them demonstrated a strong intent to repay on many occasions, the bank statement said.

The bank added that help was rendered to such clients, including through additional liquidity support to the extent of 20 per cent of the outstanding as on February 29, 2020 as applicable under the ECLGS (Emergency credit line guarantee Scheme), restructuring, and additional loan with a longer tenor and lower EWI (equated weekly instalments) for customers, after they cleared of their arrears and with their due consent.

It can be noted that nearly all the lenders have reported reverses on the microloans front since the beginning of the pandemic. The activity is concentrated in rural areas, where field agents of a lender go deep to disburse loans and also collect dues in cash on a weekly basis.

With the easing of the lockdown measures, all lenders are reporting an improvement in collections and also disbursements.

Indusind Bank management had reported an increase in stress in the microfinance loans portfolio, with the gross non-performing assets ratio moving up to 3.01 per cent as of September, up from 1.69 per cent in June.

The fresh slippages in the book had stood at Rs 1,070 crore in the September quarter, while the net after-recoveries and upgrades stood at Rs 460 crore.

As per the media report on Friday, communication from the whistleblowers to the banks chief executive Sumant Kathpalia, independent directors and RBI officials had happened between October 17 and October 24. Additionally, there was also an "outsider" who had written to RBI on October 14, it said.

The report had highlighted that a month prior to the October 14 complaint, BFIL's non-executive chairman M R Rao had stepped down and also flagged RBIs concerns on the loans given without customer consent in his resignation letter, calling it a deliberate act to shore up repayment rates.
Democrats in the US House of Representatives reached a tentative agreement on Friday that could allow them to pass the two massive spending bills that account for most of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda.

At Biden's urging, progressives and centrists in the party agreed to end a standoff that had halted progress on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $1.75 trillion social policy and climate change bill for more than 12 hours.

The House moved quickly to vote on one of them, the $1 trillion package of roads, broadband and other infrastructure projects after progressives promised to support it.

Centrists, in turn, promised to back the $1.75 trillion package of social spending and climate programs as long as nonpartisan analysts find that the White House has accurately described its cost - a process that could take weeks. The House planned a procedural vote on that package for later on Friday.

"Welcome to my world. This is the Democratic Party," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters earlier in the day. "We are not a lockstep party."

Also Read | Rebel Democrats tank vote on Joe Biden's welfare package

The two pieces of legislation include the biggest upgrade of America's roads, bridges and airports in a generation and the largest expansion of social programs since the 1960s.

The standoff came just days after Democrats suffered losses in closely watched state elections, raising concerns that they may lose control of Congress next year.

Biden called lawmakers to urge them to pass the transportation package, which has already won approval in the Senate.

Aim to move forward

The party is eager to show it can move forward on the president's agenda and fend off Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections in which Republicans will seek to regain control of Congress from the Democrats.

The House and Senate are due to be out next week. A group of five centrists said they would support a vote on the social spending package by Nov. 20.

Congress also faces looming Dec. 3 deadlines to avert a politically embarrassing government shutdown and an economically catastrophic default on the federal government's debt.

With razor-thin majorities in Congress and a united Republican opposition, Democrats need unity to pass legislation.

The infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate in August with 19 Republican votes, would fund a massive upgrade of America's roads, bridges, airports, seaports and rail systems, while also expanding broadband internet service.

The "Build Back Better" package includes provisions on child care and preschool, eldercare, healthcare, prescription drug pricing and immigration.

It would bolster the credibility of Biden's pledge to halve US greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 during the UN climate conference taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.

Republicans uniformly oppose that legislation, casting it as a dramatic expansion of government that would hurt businesses.

"This is potentially a very black day for America," said Republican Representative Glenn Grothman, who characterized the legislation's child-care and preschool provisions as a "Marxist" effort to have the federal government raise children.

The nonpartisan US Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the social-spending bill would raise $1.48 trillion in new tax revenue over the next decade, short of its $1.75 trillion cost.

Pelosi and other top Democrats have said that fails to account for increased tax enforcement and savings from lower prescription drug prices.
Bloodstains still mark the spot where assassins gunned down Mohib Ullah, an activist who was a leading voice for the 850,000 Rohingya living in fear in Bangladeshi refugee camps.

In the weeks since the murder, a senior member of the now-shellshocked volunteer group that Ullah headed has received phone calls telling him he'll be next. And he's not alone.

"They can hunt you down the way they have brazenly shot dead our leader and so many people," Noor, too frightened to give his real name or be filmed, told AFP.

"They", he believes, are members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an insurgent group fighting the Myanmar military but also thought to be behind a wave of killings and criminal activity in the camps.

ARSA has denied it killed Ullah.

Most of the Rohingya have been in the camps since 2017 when they fled a brutal military offensive in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where the predominantly Muslim minority are reviled and seen as illegal immigrants.

Also Read | Bangladesh arrests over 170 Rohingyas after leader's murder

Refusing to go back until they are assured of security and equal rights, the refugees remain stuck in bamboo-and-tarp shacks with no work, poor sanitation and little education for their children.

Overflowing latrines fill narrow mud lanes with excrement in monsoon season and fires can rip through the flimsy homes in minutes during the hot summers.

By day the Bangladesh authorities provide some security. But at night the camps become the domain of gangs -- allegedly linked to ARSA -- that traffic millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine from Myanmar.

"The scenario is different as soon as the sun sets," Israfil, a Rohingya refugee who goes by one name, told AFP.

"The dark time is the long hours when they do whatever they want to do," he added.

Working among the chaos and unease in the camps, Ullah and his colleagues quietly documented the crimes that his people suffered at the hands of the Myanmar military, while pressing for better conditions.

The former schoolteacher shot to prominence in 2019 when he organised a protest of around 100,000 people in the camps to mark two years since their exodus.

That year he met US President Donald Trump in the White House and addressed a UN meeting in Geneva.

But his fame appears to have gone down badly with ARSA.

They saw Ullah as threatening their place as the sole voice representing the Rohingya -- one who was opposed to their violence, his colleagues and rights activists say.

"He became a thorn in ARSA's side," said Nur Khan Liton, a top rights activist in Bangladesh.

"ARSA was also frightened by his enormous popularity."

Three weeks after Ullah's murder in late September, gunmen and machete-wielding attackers slaughtered seven people in an Islamic seminary that had allegedly refused to pay protection money to ARSA.

"The brutal carnage bore all the marks of ARSA. The group previously slaughtered at least two top Islamic clerics because they didn't back ARSA's violent struggle," said a top expatriate Rohingya activist.

"ARSA has carried out the murders to establish its full control in the camps. After the latest carnage, everyone seems to be silenced," he added, asking to remain anonymous.

After the attack on the seminary, the UN refugee agency urged the Bangladesh authorities "to take immediate measures to improve the security in the refugee camps".

A series of turf war killings in 2019 prompted the Bangladesh army to erect barbed-wire fences around the camps. The elite Armed Police Battalion was tasked with patrolling the area.

Police have also carried out a series of security operations that have killed dozens of alleged Rohingya drug traffickers.

But although they have arrested dozens of people over Ullah's killing, they are in denial about ARSA's activity, blaming instead "rivalries" in the camps.

"ARSA has no presence in the camps," Naimul Haque, the commanding officer of the Kutupalong camp, insisted to AFP.

Members of Ullah's group are far from reassured, saying that their security concerns fall on deaf ears.

Some even mutter that ARSA and the Bangladesh security forces are in cahoots -- something Dhaka vehemently denies.

Kyaw Min, a top Rohingya leader, said police assist ARSA to "reign" at night by "conveniently" not being around when they operate.

A month before he died Ullah sent a letter, seen by AFP but which could not be independently verified, to the Bangladesh authorities.

He named 70 men in the camps he said were ARSA members, and said he and his colleagues feared for their lives.

Bangladesh's refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat and camp-in-charge Atiqul Mamun denied receiving any such letter.

Family members of senior Rohingya leaders told AFP that Bangladesh security forces have since relocated at least six families including Ullah's, fearing they will be targeted.

"We thought we would be safe in Bangladesh. But now we don't know when the killers will knock on our doors," activist Sa Phyo Thida told AFP.

"Just like those genocide days in Myanmar in 2017 when we were living in fear of the military death squad, we now live in extreme fear."
At least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the capital of Sierra Leone late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, local authorities said.

Fuel still appeared to be leaking from the wrecked tanker on Saturday morning as police and soldiers tried to clear large crowds of onlookers from the street, according to a Reuters reporter.

A burnt human body and the blackened shells of several cars and motorbikes dotted the road in the eastern Freetown suburb of Wellington, where hundreds had gathered.

The death toll currently stands at 99 with more than 100 casualties being treated in hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters.

Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said initially in a post on Facebook that was later edited to remove the reference.

"We've got so many casualties, burnt corpses," said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. "It's a terrible, terrible accident."

Videos shared online shortly after the explosion showed people running through clouds of thick smoke as large fires lit up the night sky. Reuters was not able immediately to verify the images.

Accidents with tanker trucks in Sub-Saharan Africa have previously killed scores of people who gathered at the site to collect spilled fuel and were hit by secondary blasts.

In 2019, a tanker explosion in Tanzania killed 85 people, while around 50 people were killed in a similar disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.

The mayor said the extent of the damage in Freetown was not yet clear.

"My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result," President Julius Maada Bio tweeted.

"My Government will do everything to support affected families."

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After a week of negotiations filled with grand announcements from nations promising to accelerate the decline of fossil fuels, where do the pledges put projected emissions halfway through the COP26 climate summit?

Countries came in to the UN-led negotiations with their latest national emissions cutting pledges -- known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs -- placing Earth on course to warm 2.7C this century.

Assuming all net-zero plans are kept and implemented in full, that falls to 2.2C.

The Paris Agreement, the bedrock accord that aims to chart humanity's path away from catastrophic heating, commits nations to limit temperatures to "well below" 2C and to work towards a safer 1.5-C cap.

This week saw several new announcements, including India vowing to be net-zero by 2070 and an international agreement to cut 30 per cent of global methane emissions by 2030.

Read | What is Net Zero? Can India achieve it in 50 years?

Experts say these and other pledges could have a significant effect on temperature rises.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, on Thursday said that analysis by his organisation -- which has yet to be published -- showed that if all COP26 pledges were implemented it would limit heating to 1.8C.

He stressed however that the figure was heavily dependent on nations making the swift emissions cuts needed to implement net-zero plans.

"What is essential is for governments to turn their pledges into clear and credible policy actions and strategies today."

An assessment by the University of Melbourne this week analysed countries new net-zero pledges, including India and largest emitter China's and found that they represent Assessment from the University of Melbourne said there had been a "strong step forward" towards 1.5C.

The team ran the NDCs through the same climate model used on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent report.

They found that the new promises -- again, if implemented, would warm Earth 1.9C by 2100.

UN Climate Change on Thursday issued a rapid assessment of the new NDCs.

Read | India, China missing from COP26 coal phase-out deal

While it has yet to convert the calculations to a temperature rise equivalent, it found that latest plans would see carbon emissions rise 13.7 per cent by 2030.

This compares with the 45 per cent drop in pollution needed for 1.5C.

It however said that for the 74 nations that have submitted detailed net-zero plans, emissions would be 70-79 per cent lower in 2050 compared with 2019 levels.

The UN Environment Programme said last month that only emissions cuts this decade that are eight times deeper than planned would keep temperatures to 1.5C.

UNEP director Inger Andersen told AFP that she welcomed the numbers circulating after the first week of COP26.

"But we don't do back on the envelope calculation, we do technical work," she told AFP.

"Obviously the more announcements that are out there the better it is, but these announcements have to be followed by action."

Juan Pablo Osornio, from Greenpeace, said that the only figure that really mattered was 1.5C.

"If we breach 1.5C then some countries will simply disappear from the map," he said.

"So the takeaway from these calculations is that we need to see not just words but action, and a lot more of it."

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The southwestern Chinese city of Ruili is small, remote and largely unknown internationally. It is also, when it comes to the coronavirus, perhaps the most tightly regulated place on earth.

In the past year, it has been locked down four times, one lasting 26 days. Homes in an entire district have been evacuated indefinitely to create a buffer zone against imported cases. Schools have been closed for months, except for a few grades  but only if those students and their teachers do not leave campus.

Many residents, including 59-year-old Liu Bin, have gone months without income, in a city that relies heavily upon tourism and trade with neighboring Myanmar. Liu, who ran a customs brokerage before cross-border movement essentially stopped, estimated he had lost more than $150,000. He is tested on a near-daily basis. He borrows cigarette money from his son-in-law.

Why do I have to be oppressed like this? My life is important too, he said. Ive actively followed epidemic control measures. What else do we normal people have to do to meet the standards?

As the rest of the world shifts to a strategy of living with the coronavirus, China has remained the last country chasing full elimination, for the most part with success. It has recorded fewer than 5,000 virus-related deaths, and in parts of the country without confirmed cases, the outbreak can feel like a hazy memory.

But the residents of Ruili  a lush, subtropical city of about 270,000 people before the pandemic  are facing the extreme and harsh reality of living under a Zero Covid policy when even a single case is found.

While other Chinese cities have been locked down to control flare-ups, those restrictions have often been limited to certain neighborhoods or been eased after a few weeks. But in Ruili, the past year has consisted of extended paralysis, with people confined to residential complexes for weeks at a time. Even during the gaps between official lockdowns, residents have not been allowed to dine in at restaurants. Many businesses remained closed.

Only high school sophomores and juniors, as well as third-year middle school students, have been allowed to resume face-to-face classes  if they live on campus. Classrooms have been converted to dorms. Since students are always around, they also have classes on weekends.

One driver for a ride-sharing app told state media he had taken 90 Covid-19 tests over the last seven months. Another parent said that his 1-year-old son had been tested 74 times.

Tens of thousands of residents have fled the city for elsewhere in China in the breaks between lockdowns; officials recently acknowledged that the population had dropped to about 200,000. To control the outflow, the authorities now require people to pay for up to 21 days of pre-departure quarantine.

In a sign of the desperation many residents are feeling, a former deputy mayor of Ruili last month wrote a blog post called Ruili Needs the Motherlands Care  a stunning move in a country where officials almost never deviate from the government line.

Every time the city is locked down is another instance of serious emotional and material loss, wrote the official, Dai Rongli. Each experience battling the virus is a new accumulation of grievances.

Ruili has reported just five symptomatic locally transmitted cases in the past month. More than 96% of residents in the city and its surrounding area have been vaccinated, according to state media. No cases have been traced to people leaving Ruili for elsewhere in China.

Even so, officials insist that there is little room for adjustment.

If Ruilis epidemic does not reach zero, there will be risk of outward transmission, Ruilis deputy mayor, Yang Mou, said at a news conference Oct. 29.

Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, said Ruili epitomized the Chinese governments stubborn approach to the pandemic. Since the outbreak began, he said, it has deployed the same playbook of lockdowns and mass testing, without considering potentially less costly tactics.

They believe thats the only way that they can be successful, but that is actually not the case, he said. The situation is rapidly evolving. Now it is actually very different from 2020.

In recent weeks, other regions have reimposed restrictions as a new outbreak tied to domestic tourism infected more than 700 people. Roughly 10,000 tourists were stranded in Inner Mongolia after cases were found there. About 30,000 visitors to Shanghais Disneyland spent hours waiting to be tested Sunday night before they could leave the park. Parts of Beijing are locked down, and many incoming trains and flights have been canceled.

One county in eastern Jiangxi province announced that all traffic lights would be turned red, to prevent unnecessary travel. (It later backtracked.)

Ruili is uniquely vulnerable to both the virus and the burdens of lockdown.

Nestled in the corner of Yunnan province, it shares more than 100 miles of borders with Myanmar, attracting tourists and traders. In 2019, people passed through its border checkpoint nearly 17 million times, according to official statistics.

When China sealed up the country, trade and tourism all but collapsed. Yet Ruilis borders remained porous, raising fears of imported cases. And the military coup in Myanmar this year has led some to seek refuge in Ruili, legally or illegally. Some residents have had to dodge stray bullets from the conflict across the border, according to Chinese media reports.

The citys remote location and small size also meant that many Chinese people did not know about residents extended plight.

Then, on Oct. 28, Dai, the former deputy mayor, published his blog post.

The pandemic has ruthlessly plundered this city again and again, sucking out its last trace of life, wrote Dai, who now lives in Beijing. The long-term lockdown has brought this citys development to a dead end. Restarting production and necessary business operations appears extremely urgent.

The post went viral. Two hashtags about Dais letter have been viewed 300 million times on Weibo. Dai declined to comment further.

People who said they were Ruili residents also posted their stories on social media, which were then widely shared.

They described being unable to visit sick relatives or filmed themselves driving down deserted streets, with row after row of shops and restaurants shuttered. Some residents, unlucky enough to be sent to centralized quarantine, posted images of ramshackle sheds and flooded floors.

The lockdown has had other, more unexpected effects. The government banned residents from livestreaming about the local jade industry to limit gem orders and the movement of delivery people.

Amid the onslaught of national attention, Ruili officials dismissed the concerns as exaggerated. Mao Xiao, Ruilis Communist Party secretary, told state media that at the moment, we do not need additional help. The day before, he had warned against criminals who he said would use public opinion and false information to disrupt social order.

Still, officials promised to improve quarantine conditions and to bolster financial support for poor residents, through subsidies, gifts of rice and other staples, as well as rent breaks for some companies. They also pledged to increase the number of hotel rooms available for quarantine for those seeking to leave Ruili.

Those measures are likely to do little for people such as Li, a jade merchant in his 50s who asked to be identified only by his surname out of fear of reprisals. (The Ruili police have admonished people for protesting lockdown conditions.)

Earlier this year, Li and a group of fellow investors pooled together about $3 million for a jade market in Ruili, which they had hoped to open in May. Instead, the premises have sat empty, though they have continued to pay rent. He has heard nothing about government assistance.

Originally, his company employed about 50 people. Now? We only dare to keep one person, to guard the door, he said. What can you do? We cant pay them.

The cost of daily living has shot up. A kilogram of bok choy used to cost less than 6 renminbi, or less than $1, Li said; now the price has jumped to 8 or 10 renminbi.

The ordinary people, he said, with a sigh, have no way to live.

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South Korea has agreed to buy 70,000 courses of Pfizer Inc's experimental antiviral Covid-19 pill, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday.

Pfizer on Friday said trial results showed that its Paxlovid pill reduced by 89 per cent the risk of hospitalization or death in patients at high risk of severe illness within three days of the onset of coronavirus symptoms.

South Korea has already signed agreements to secure 200,000 courses of Merck & Co Inc's Covid-19 treatment. It is looking to buy an additional 134,000 courses, though it is undecided of which treatment, KDCA said.

Also Read | Pfizer results open door to new chapter for Covid treatments

Last month, the government said it was in talks with Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG, which is developing an easy-to-administer antiviral pill for Covid-19.

The government had allocated a budget of 36.2 billion won ($30.63 million) for oral Covid-19 antiviral pills.

Pfizer is in talks with 90 countries over supply contracts for Paxlovid, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview on Friday.

The UK has already secured 480,000 courses of Merck's drug and procured 250,000 courses of the Pfizer treatment.

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The long-frozen Western Sahara conflict pitting Morocco against the Polisario Front independence movement has flared in recent months, worsening already tense relations between the kingdom and its Polisario-backing neighbour, Algeria.

The killing of three Algerians on a highway through the territory, in what Algiers says was a Moroccan strike, has raised fears of escalation.

So what is at stake, and what are the risks?

A former Spanish colony with extensive phosphate reserves and rich Atlantic fishing grounds, the Western Sahara is seen by Morocco as its own sovereign territory.

To stake Morocco's claim, the current king's father, Hassan II, sent 350,000 civilian volunteers on the iconic Green March into the territory in 1975 -- 46 years ago this Saturday.

Shortly afterwards, Spain withdrew, leaving Morocco and fellow claimant Mauritania to fight it out with the Polisario Front, which proclaimed a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, with support from Algeria, a state with strong anti-colonial roots.

A 15-year war ensued during which Mauritania sued for peace but Morocco gradually overran 80 percent of the territory before a UN-monitored ceasefire took effect in 1991.

The ceasefire deal envisaged a UN-supervised self-determination referendum for the territory with all options on the table but Morocco has since rejected any vote that includes independence as an option, offering only limited autonomy instead.

In December last year, Morocco normalised diplomatic relations with Israel and as a quid pro quo, the US administration of Donald Trump recognised the kingdom's sovereignty over Western Sahara.

That came just weeks after the Polisario declared the 1991 ceasefire null and void, after Moroccan forces entered no man's land to break a blockade by Sahrawi activists of a highway linking Moroccan-controlled territory with Mauritania.

The Polisario says that both the highway and the military incursion violated the decades-old truce.

"We are facing a pattern of escalation," said Dalia Ghanem, a resident scholar and Algeria specialist at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

The Polisario has since launched multiple attacks on Moroccan forces, killing six Moroccan soldiers, according to an informed Moroccan source.

To make matters worse, the kingdom's alleged use of Israeli spyware against Algerian officials and a Moroccan official's expression of support for separatists in the mainly Berber Kabylie region east of Algiers prompted Algeria to break off ties completely in August.

The succession of affronts has pushed Algeria to take "an increasingly aggressive stance towards its neighbour," said Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa project director at the International Crisis Group.

Then, this week, the Algerian presidency reported that "three Algerians were assassinated... in a barbaric strike on their trucks" in an area of the Western Sahara under Polisario control, that it blamed on Morocco.

"Even if it's possible that Morocco believed that they were Polisario forces, they killed civilians," said Youssef Cherif, director of Columbia Global Centers in Tunis.

"That shows that they're more sure of themselves and that they see their sovereignty over the Western Sahara as a fait accompli."

Cherif said Rabat now wants to impose a new status quo, including by closing a desert highway used by Algerian truckers to shorten the journey between Mauritania and Algeria.

Fabiani said that following Washington's recognition of its sovereignty, "Morocco has shown a more hardnosed approach to Western Sahara and in its relations with its neighbours, including Spain."

In May, thousands of migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Moroccan territory. Many observers believe that the Moroccan authorities let them pass in order to punish Madrid for allowing Polisario chief Brahim Ghali to receive medical treatment in Spain.

Fabiani says the Western Sahara conflict had long been frozen, discouraging outside actors from getting involved.

"This balance has been modified by the recent developments related to Western Sahara and Israel's transfer of military equipment to Morocco," he said.

The new imbalance "is slowly pushing the two countries towards a possible confrontation", he said.

The Algerian presidency said Monday's killings would "not go unpunished".

Ghanem said Algiers "feels compelled to respond".

"Not doing anything would send the following message: 'You can attack us, and we will not react'.

"That is not an option, especially with a leadership that has been good at playing on the nationalistic sentiment."

But Cherif said the two sides were unlikely to risk a direct conflict.

Another Maghreb specialist, who asked not to be identified, said Algeria could move to create "blockages at every level" in international bodies.

That does not bode well for efforts by incoming UN Western Sahara envoy Staffan de Mistura to revive long-frozen talks on a lasting solution for the conflict.

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India and France on Friday held the second strategic dialogue on the occasion of the 35th session of the Indo-French strategic dialogue and decided to strengthen maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region and also discussed the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, the French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said on Saturday.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday held discussions with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the occasion of the 35th session of the Indo-French strategic dialogue, which was held in Paris, a statement issued by the French embassy said here on Saturday.

This was a follow up meeting after the earlier meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the G20 in Rome, the French Minister stressed on the commitment to deepening the Indo-French strategic partnership and strengthening its various aspects, particularly in the areas of defence, space, civil nuclear energy and security.

"At his meeting with NSA Ajit Doval on the occasion of the 35th Strategic Dialogue in Paris, French FM @JY_LeDrian stressed France's commitment to deepening the Indo-French strategic partnership in all its dimensions," French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain stated on Twitter.

It is learnt that NSA Doval met French defence minister Florence Parly and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian throughout a short journey to the French capital. The French foreign minister mentioned the priorities within the battle against local weather change, the French Embassy statement said. He also discussed the priorities in the fight against climate change with Doval.

Understanding the importance of the mutual trust between France and India, Le Drian said that the Indo-French partnership is working to strengthen multilateralism and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.

The French Minister called for continued Indo-French coordination, including at the UN Security Council, on Afghanistan.

India will host the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan here in New Delhi on November 10 and the meeting will be attended by the National Security Advisors of different countries and will be chaired by NSA Ajit Doval.

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Former Union minister and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi on Saturday welcomed the cut in petrol and diesel prices and also called for lowering the LPG cylinders rates.

Maneka Gandhi made the request to the Union government while touring her parliamentary constituency on a four-day visit.

The petrol and diesel prices have come down. The Union government should consider lowering the prices of other things, like gas (LPG cylinder), too to provide relief to the people, she said during a programme in her constituency.

The BJP MP made the request days after the centre slashed the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively followed by various BJP-ruled states too lowering the VAT on the two fuels in significant relief to the common man.

While participating in her partys membership drive program in the Dehli Bazar township of Isauli assembly segment, Gandhi said, Our efforts will be to win Isauli. Wherever I will go, I will keep making members. There will be 100 programs in 100 days but it does not matter much until we don't make up our minds."

"We have to win the election. We had lakhs of members earlier also, but not a single seat came in the Zila Parishad. If only our BJP office-bearers had voted, we would have won. If the booth president, his family, his relatives had voted, we would have won," she said referring to the Panchayat elections.

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A series of allegations against NCB zonal officer Sameer Wankhede has prompted the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to transfer the drug case involving Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, along with 5 other cases to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IPS officer Sanjay Kumar Singh.

Sameer Wankhede, who heads the Mumbai zone of the NCB, was accused by Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik of bribery, extortion, lying about his religion, forging his documents for a government job and the arrest of high-profile people in petty drug cases. Wankhede's extravagant personal lifestyle has also been brought up several times by various parties

Even though Wankhede and NCB officials have denied that these charges led to the transfer of the case NCB to the Special Investigation Team, headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh, an offcer close to the case developments told Firstpost that the idea "behind shifting these sensitive cases is to see them in a completely transparent prism of facts and evidence. The Central Unit will avoid unnecessary controversy around high-profile cases like Aryan Khan's."

As these cases have "wider and inter-state ramifications", they have been transferred to the operations unit in Delhi, NCB Deputy Director General (north-west region) Mutha Ashok Jain told PTI on Friday

Also Read: Sameer Wankhede raised 'private army' for drug peddling, accuses Nawab Malik

The NCB operations unit has a pan-India jurisdiction and it is currently headed by DDG Sanjay Kumar Singh. He is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1996 batch Odisha cadre. He also served in the Odisha Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games scam was investigated by a team supervised by Singh, during his stint with the CBI. During his time with the Odisha Police, he was the Additional Director General and headed the Drug Task Force (DTF) that busted numerous drug trafficking rackets in the city of Bhubaneshwar. Several anti-drug campaigns were also carried out by him in the state.

According to media reports,Singh headed the Drug Task Force (DTF) of the Odisha Police as Additional Director General (ADG) before joining the NCB and launched anti-drug drives in the state, busting several drug rackets in Bhubaneshwar. Prior to that, Singh also worked with the CBI and supervised the investigation into the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam, according to an NDTV report.

Singh has been appointed to head the SIT team in 6 cases including the drug case involving Aryan Khan, along with other cases linked to Bollywood personalities as well. Apart from this, Singh will also handle the case of Armaan Kohli, who was arrested for possession of 1.3g of cocaine, on August 28.

Also Read: Aryan Khan case transferred to NCB headquarters; Sameer Wankhede 'not removed' from the case

Sameer Wankhede, however, clarified on Friday that he has not been removed from the investigaton. "I have not been removed from investigation. It was my writ petition in court that the matter be probed by a central agency. So the Aryan (Khan) case and Sameer Khan case are being probed by the Delhi NCB's special investigation team. It's a coordination between NCB teams of Delhi and Mumbai," he told news agency ANI.

Further, NCB mentioned in their statement that no officer has been removed from their current roles. The statement read that they will continueto assit the operations brand investigation as required until any specific orders are issued. It is reiterated that the NCB functions across India as a single integrated agency, the statement added.

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The Congress on Saturday sought to take the BJP-led Centre to task following a Pentagon report mentioning that China has built a village within Arunachal Pradesh, demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "misleading" the world about no incursions from the neighbouring country to keep his "image" intact.

It said Modi should now give a deadline to the country on when the government would restore the status quo ante of April 2020 on the borders with China.

Referring to the 'Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China' by the Pentagon, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Prime Minister must "withdraw the clean chit" he issued to China when he said on June 19 last year that nobody has entered the country or stayed here in reference to the neighbouring country.

Read | China continues incremental and tactical actions to press territorial claims with India: Pentagon

He said the Pentagon report submitted before the US Congress has now confirmed that China has intruded 4.5 km in Arunachal Pradesh and constructed a village.

The Pentagon report said, "sometime in 2020, the PRC (People's Republic of China) built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the PRCs Tibet Autonomous Region and Indias Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC. These and other infrastructure development efforts along India-China have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media."

Khera said these villages are dual use villages as they can also act as cantonments for the Chinese Army. He also claimed that some of the structures in this village are multi-storeyed.

"This is a very very serious issue. The Prime Minister must withdraw the clean chit given to China and give a deadline to the nation when the status quo ante of April 2020 on the borders with China is restored. We need dates, deadlines. We need an apology for misleading the world that China has not entered into our territory," Khera told a press conference.

He said Modi's clean chit came despite Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal (East) Tapir Gao raising the issue at several fora, including in Parliament.

"The Prime Minister may be friends with China. But his friendship should not be more important than the sanctity of Indian borders...When the borders are not safe, what will you do? What face you will show the sons of farmers who are protecting the borders," he said, adding his previous clean chit had "emboldened" China.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his Jinnah remark, saying that someone who is "cultureless" cannot be expected to know the difference between a national hero and a traitor.

He was attacking Yadav for his remarks in which he appeared to have equated Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Without naming the SP chief directly, Adityanath said a leader of a party had recently spoke of Sardar Patel and Jinnah in the same breath as leaders who fought for India's independence.

Read more: Time now to act not only against criminals but their protectors too, says Yogi Adityanath

During a public meeting in Hardoi on October 31, Yadav had put together names of Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters with Jinnah's.

"Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle," he had said.

During a programme launching online transfer of money in the accounts of parents of 1.80 crore students studying under Basic Shiksha Parishad at his official residence in Lucknow, Adityanath said, "Remember, if education is incomplete, culture is lacking, etiquette is lost, then you cannot expect that person to feel the difference between a national hero and a traitor."

"If such a situation arises today, then it may also be a reason for the lack of interest of the child's parents in their education. And, so all this needed to be told in the morning assembly," he said.

"Often this disorientation starts only when the person does not know who is the friend of the country and who is the enemy of the country. When we start weighing the national hero and the anti-national in the same scale, then naturally it raises a question mark on the person's ability," the chief minister said.

In Auraiya, earlier in the day, Adityanath warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah.

Referring to his government's achievements in the field of basic education, he said when his government was formed in 2017, the condition of basic education was very bad, but today it is better and a lot of improvement has taken place.

"Today, the attitude about the Basic Education Council has changed. When the School Chalo campaign was launched in July 2017, there were 1 crore 30 lakh children in the council schools, but the number of children increased by 50 lakh in three years. Today, the Basic Education Council's schools look different, their colours, different furnishings and the uniforms of the children studying are visible," he said.

The chief minister also called for promoting technology and said that transfer of money online into the accounts of parents will help avoid charges of corruption in the education department.

At the foundation stone laying of a government medical college in Auraiya and inaugurating other projects, Adityanath said, "A leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country. The entire state should reject such shameful and condemnable remarks."

"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh'). Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' (national hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to remain alert of people who are trying to equate them," he said.

Speaking on the law and order front, Adityanath said that the image of the state is changing.

"Earlier, professional criminals and mafia had made the lives of the poor, traders and women miserable. Earlier, there was a race to embrace the mafia elements, and derive political mileage. But, today everybody knows that bulldozers are running over the mafia, and it can also run over those who give refuge to the mafia," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister added that every person knows that there is zero tolerance towards criminals.
Maintaining their centuries-old tryst with Kashmir, thousands of migratory birds from many European and other western countries have started arriving here, bringing cheer to bird watchers of the valley.

The arrival of these migratory birds from Siberia and China as well as Philippines, Eastern Europe and Japan to spend the winter months in the relatively less harsh weather of the Valley has led to a riot of colour and cackle in the wetland reserves of Kashmir.

Regional Wildlife Warden (Wetlands) Rashid Naqash said an estimated over four lakh migratory birds have already arrived in the Valley after flying thousands of miles and navigating by instinct.

By the middle of this month, we are expecting large numbers of these avian visitors, who come here to spend the winter months to escape the extreme freezing conditions in their natural habitats, he said.

Naqash said last year an estimated 10 lakh migratory birds had arrived in Kashmir and we're sure this season the number will be much higher than their last arrival''.

J&K has four wetlands identified as Ramsar Sites and the migratory destination for birds arriving from Siberia and other places. Wular Lake, Dal Lake, Hokersar and Mirgund Lake are among a few important wetlands of the valley where these migratory birds have been making a temporary shelter for the winter months.

However, the threat of migratory birds being poached and hunted is keeping the Wildlife officials on their toes. Inside the bird reserves like Hokersar, Hygam and Shallabugh, where the permanent staff of the department is posted, we have no threat of poachers, Naqash said.

But, he said the real threat of these birds falling prey to poaching becomes a problem in unprotected and isolated wetlands where theres no permanent staff of the Department.

Wildlife Warden (Wetlands), Ifshan Dewan says that in order to provide a feasible ambiance to the visiting avian guests, the wildlife department has taken several measures to maintain sufficient water levels in all the wetlands of the valley.

During the extreme freeze in the wetland reserves, when natural feeding becomes difficult, the wildlife department arranges large stocks of paddy for feeding these birds.

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Punjab Advocate General A P S Deol on Saturday attacked Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, accusing him of obstructing the functioning of the state government and his office as well as "spreading misinformation to gain political advantage".

Deol's remarks came a day after Sidhu withdrew his resignation as Punjab Congress chief but declared that he will not re-assume charge till Deol is removed as AG and a panel set up for the appointment of the new director general of police (DGP).

Sidhu had resigned from the post on September 28.

Also Read | Sidhu withdraws resignation as Punjab Congress Chief, says 'will make Cong win in 2022 polls'

In a statement, Deol said Sidhu's "repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the state government to ensure justice in the drugs matter and the sacrilege cases".

"Navjot Singh Sidhu is obstructing the functioning of the government and the office of the advocate general," he alleged.

"Navjot Singh Sidhu is spreading misinformation to gain political advantage over his political colleagues.

"There is a concerted attempt by vested interests to malign the functioning of the Congress party in view of coming elections in Punjab for their selfish political gain by politicking the constitutional office of the Advocate General of Punjab," he added.

Sidhu, the Amritsar East MLA, has been opposing Deol's appointment as the state AG and Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota's as DGP. Both Deol and Sahota are considered Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's choices.

Last month, Sidhu had said that the Congress would have "no face" if the AG and DGP were not removed.

Deol had represented former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 sacrilege incidents and police firing on protesters, while Sahota was the head of the special investigation team formed by the previous SAD-BJP government to probe the sacrilege incidents.

Deol had replaced Atul Nanda, who had stepped down in September following the resignation of Amarinder Singh as Punjab chief minister.

Early this week, there were reports that Deol had offered to resign as AG. However, the senior advocate refuted the reports.

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CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Saturday said the Jammu and Kashmir administration's decision to shutdown internet sporadically in several parts of Srinagar and other areas of the Valley has brought back "painful memories" of the communication blockade of August 5, 2019.

Reportedly, internet access is shut for most of the day in many areas and services resume mostly after 10 pm when they are least required. This has hugely impacted students, who are not able to attend their online classes as the internet remains shutdown during day hours, Tarigami said in a statement.

He said people, including businessmen, doctors, media personnel and other professionals, are also suffering immensely due to sporadic shutdown of internet services.

"The 2019 communication blockade led to huge economic losses and unemployment and cost the Kashmiri economy thousands of crores while thousands of people lost their livelihood. The latest curbs on internet are bound to aggravate the situation," he said.

The Centre of August 5, 2019, had abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The CPI(M) leader said the curbs on 4G internet in Kashmir are "contrary to government claims of creating opportunities" for all citizens by harnessing digital technologies through the Digital India initiative.

It is high time that internet services are restored throughout Kashmir without any further delay, he demanded.

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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sought to defend his Muhammad Ali Jinnah remark as he hit out at his detractors, asking them to read history books again.

On Sunday, Yadav courted controversy when he named Jinnah, along with Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Mahatma Gandhi, saying they had helped India achieve independence and never shied away from any struggle. He had also said the three leaders studied at the same institute for their barristership.

Asked by reporters here on Saturday at the inauguration of the office of ally Janvadi Party Socialist about that row, Yadav shot back, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh minister attacks Akhilesh Yadav again, suggests narcoanalysis for glorifying Jinnah

His comments drew a sharp response from Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who in a Hindi tweet said, "The love for Jinnah still remains intact. Akhilesh Yadav ji please tell which history books have to be read -- the Indian or the Pakistani."

Singh had earlier said that glorifying Jinnah will prove costly to Yadav, as the country still considers Jinnah a "villain".

On Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths comment that he is ready to contest polls from anywhere in the state, the SP chief said he should not do so as he is going out of power.

"Now, 'Baba Mukhyamantri' should not contest the elections. He is going (out). Now, what has to be done with a person who is going out," he said.

Asked whether he will be contesting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Yadav said the decision is for the party to make but indicated he is not averse to the idea.

"When we are in the election arena, then how can we move back?"

He added that if he answers the question, the next question will be "which constituency?"

Asked the purpose of a recent meeting between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and RLD's Jayant Chaudhary at the Lucknow airport, Yadav downplayed the matter saying there was nothing more to it than bumping into someone at a restaurant.

The SP leader chose to sidestep the question of any possible poll alliance between his party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

"Why should I tell? You are a friend, but the problem is that through you, the BJP will come to know about it. For this very reason, it has not been disclosed now," he said.

On speculation about SBSP chief O P Rajbhar giving a ticket to mafia don-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari (currently lodged in Banda jail), he said it was not based on facts.

"O P Rajbhar is our ally, and as of now you do not have the information about tickets," Yadav said.

When reminded of a recent comment by Adityanath, where he said those who fired upon 'karsevaks' will be made to stand in line for 'karseva', Yadav said the chief minister should see the temple the previous government (his) built at the chief minister's official residence.

"Next time you meet the chief minister, please request him to show you the most beautiful temple constructed at his residence by the previous government, so that you can have a glimpse also.

"If the chief minister has seen a better temple than it, then he should tell all of us. And this temple was made without a map," he said.

Adityanath was apparently referring to an incident from 1990, when the then Mulayam Singh Yadav's government ordered to open fire against 'karsevaks' who had gathered in Ayodhya to march to Babri Masjid.

Yadav trained his guns at Adityanath also for present law-and-order situation in the state.

"Law and order was never so bad in Uttar Pradesh as it is today. The custodial deaths are highest in Uttar Pradesh. NHRC has sent the maximum notices to Uttar Pradesh. There is no police modernisation, he said.

"And when a chief minister withdraws cases lodged against himself then how can he be expected to improve the police. He likes that the police are doing injustice. Deputy chief minister also withdrew cases lodged against himself," he added.

On Adityanath inaugurating a jail in Etawah, Yadav said the act was just one of the many done in the recent past to appropriate previous government's achievements and renaming things.

He said if the SP is voted to power it will erect a statue of king Prithviraj Chauhan in Kannauj, and another on the Purvanchal "Samajwadi" Expressway. It will also build a museum, he said.

"We will work to spread information about Prithviraj Chauhan, and also work to restore his lost pride," he said.

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Former interim general secretary of the AIADMK and close aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, V K Sasikala has asked the Tamil Nadu government to speed up paddy procurement.

In a statement on Saturday, Sasikala, signing it as the party general secretary, said that farmers were complaining that they were incurring losses as paddy in the bags was getting wet in the rain during the northeast monsoon lashing Tamil Nadu.

She called upon the state government to clear the dues of the farmers, especially in the delta region of the state.

Also Read | Will Sasikala emerge successful in her attempt to 'reclaim' the AIADMK?

Sasikala, who is trying for a comeback to the AIADMK, said that several thousand bags of paddy were at the Direct Procurement Centres and still to be procured. Farmers are forced to cover them with tarpaulin sheets. She asked the government to immediately take steps to procure the paddy before it becomes spoiled.

Sasikala is in the news for staking claim to a comeback to the AIADMK with former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam announcing that her return will be decided by the party high command. A section of party leaders led by Edappadi K Palaniswami is opposing her re-entry into the party fold with former fisheries minister D. Jayakumar stating that she would never be allowed into the AIADMK.

She had recently, during the golden jubilee celebrations of the party's formation, reached the MGR memorial in a car with an AIADMK flag and displayed a plaque announcing her as the party general secretary.

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In a shocking incident, at least 11 patients died and six others were injured after a fire broke out in the ICU of the civil hospital in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Saturday.

This is the sixth big incident of a tragedy involving a hospital this year in the state.

Those in the ICU were Covid-19 patients or being treated for post-Covid ailments. Majority of those who died were senior citizens.

Short-circuit in the ICU seems to have triggered the fire, reports said.

The Maharashtra government has ordered a probe, headed by the divisional commissioner, into the incident and called for a report in a weeks time.

Expressing shock over the incident, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.

                               .  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) November 6, 2021

State public health and family welfare minister Rajesh Tope said that a probe has been instituted and no one will be spared. Responsibilities would be fixed, he said.

        .   10     7     .      .     .  Rajesh Tope (@rajeshtope11) November 6, 2021

              .  Rajesh Tope (@rajeshtope11) November 6, 2021

Ahmednagar district collector Rajendra Bhosale said that initial reports show that a short circuit caused the fire. A total of 17 persons were there in the ICU, of which 10 have diedthe rest are being treated, he said.

Another person died in hospital while being treated - taking the toll to 11.

There are two ICUs in Ahmednagar civil hospital - one on the ground floor and another on the second floor, where the fire broke out around 11 am.

Hospital staff, aided by locals and rescue teams, managed to shift many patients from the neighbouring wards.

Whether a fire audit was conducted by the hospital - as mandated by the government - needs to be ascertained.

According to Tope, majority of the deceased were senior citizens. They were on ventilators, recovering from Covid-19 and in post-Covid treatment, he added.

The electricity inspection department has reached the incident spot. The inspection team will start its inquiry after the police panchnama is completed," energy minister Dr Nitin Raut said.

Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah have expressed shock over the incident. My condolences are with the families, he said.

Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2021

                                           Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 6, 2021

Expressing shock over the incident, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis said: An in-depth inquiry should be conducted and strict action against all responsible people.

         .     .      .  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2021

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In a significant development, the Narcotic Control Bureau's (NCB) controversial Aryan Khan case was taken over by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officers from Operations NCB Headquarters, one of six cases taken from NCB Mumbai Zonal Unit, raising speculation whether Director Sameer Wankhede has been removed from the case.

In a press release, however, the NCB clarified that no officer has been removed from their present roles and they will continue to assist as required until any specific orders are issued to the contrary.

Questioned by media in Mumbai, Wankhede had also denied that he has been removed from the case.

Also Read | Aryan Khan drugs case transferred to Delhi NCB, Wankhede says 'combined investigation'

"I have not been removed from the investigation. It was my writ petition in the court that the matter be probed by a central agency. So, the Aryan Khan case and Sameer Khan case are being probed by Delhi Special Investigation Team. It is coordination between NCB teams of Delhi and Mumbai."

Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik said that Wankhede has been removed from a total of five cases, including the Cordelia Cruise case.

"This is just the beginning. A lot more has to be done to clean this system and we will do it," he asserted, adding that there are a total 26 cases that need to be probed.

Wankhede has been under a cloud for a variety of reasons including allegations of corruption, fake caste certificate, a lavish lifestyle, and targeting high-profile individuals, especially from Bollywood and glamour industry with comparatively insignificant drug seizures, etc.

Malik and Wankhede have been engaged in an unprecedented war of words for the past one month, with the NCP leader making a series of shocking exposes on the NCB Mumbai head, besides an affidavit by a witness accusing him of extortion, allegations of Bharatiya Janata Party politicians and wanted criminals being roped in during the ship raid, etc.

The embattled Wankhede has been running from pillar to post to politicians to statutory panels to the courts seeking protection from action against him, and has been recently given relief in the form of three working days' notice in case of arrest by the police.

On the raid on an alleged rave party aboard the Cordelia Cruise ship, Wankhede had made a big catch of Aryan Khan and seven others, and later another 12 were arrested in the case which has hogged national attention for a month.

(With IANS inputs)

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Lack of praise from the media in Goa over Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's decision to slash petrol and diesel prices ahead of Diwali was a common grouse shred by Sawant and state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sadanand Shet Tanavde on Saturday.

Days after the central and state government slashed fuel rates, bringing the price of petrol and diesel below Rs 100, Tanavade also said that it was awkward to respond to questions about high fuel prices from media persons, when the price of both diesel and petrol unprecedentedly skyrocketed above Rs 100 across the country.

"We also used to feel awkward when you (media) used to ask us questions (about fuel hike). We would find it awkward to answer. Therefore today we congratulate the government. But you have not given publicity in the manner it should have been done," Tanavade told a press conference in Panaji.

Read more: Fuelling a duel: BJP, Congress draw swords on petrol, diesel prices

"We know that on many occasions, reporters were asking us questions about the price rise of petrol and diesel. People were asking us about fuel rates. When petrol and diesel prices increase, other prices increase too, whether it is food grains or other things. Everything is dependent on fuel. PM's decision to lower prices was historic," Tanavade also said.

Tanavade also tried to link the high price of fuel to the phenomenal costs incurred on development of the Covid vaccine and the expansive pan-India inoculation drive, during which the vaccines were provided free of cost at state government centres.

"The vaccination (effort) cost crores... Despite this, the central government has borne a loss of Rs. 1.80 lakh crore... Government expenses increased during the pandemic. Government income had also reduced. Plus it took a great deal of money to develop the vaccine and to give it free across India and Goa. 100 crore people have taken the first dose. Despite these rising costs, I congratulate the PM and his cabinet for its decision to lower the fuel rate," Tanavade further said.

Post the price drop, petrol and diesel in Goa is now available at Rs. 96.38 and Rs. 87.26 respectively as of Saturday.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant also complained that the media did not him and the Prime Minister for the fuel price drop.

"You did not congratulate me. Petrol has been reduced by 12 rupees and diesel by Rs. 17. You should have congratulated me and Modi ji. You did not..." Sawant said.

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At the ongoing CoP26 at Glasgow to discuss reduction in carbon emissions, much attention is on China as the largest polluter in the world since the last decade and a half. However, Chinas participation in CoP26 remains subdued, with President Xi Jinping preferring not to physically attend this crucial meeting, instead circulating a written note. US President Joe Biden took a swipe at Xi for not showing up at Glasgow, despite the latters penchant for staking claim to global leadership.

Increasing geopolitical competition between China and the US are weakening consensus-building on climate change issues. In 2014, former US President Barack Obama had signed a climate deal with Xi. This time, Joe Bidens special envoy on climate change John Kerry visited China in September but the visit was vitiated by the bilateral discord.

China eventually did not accept deeper cuts in emissions citing former US President Trumps walking away from the Paris Agreement. China has also cited differences with the US on Taiwan, the South China Sea, Senkaku Islands disputes and AUKUS, bringing them into the discussions related to climate change. The China-US spat at the UN last year on Covid-19 likewise scuttled debate and effective response in tackling the pandemic.

In 2017, at the 19th Communist Party Congress, Xi had declared that China intends to be in the drivers seat on climate change cooperation efforts. However, according to Xie Zhenhua, Chinas special envoy on climate change at Glasgow, the situation has changed since the Paris Agreement  the new ambition is to restrict global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, rather than 2C -- and the target date has been advanced. This would create problems for Chinas growth and stability.

Moreover, the US and the EUs inclusion of another polluting emission -- methane (which contributes to about 15% of global pollution) -- meant Chinas options will get further reduced, in addition to C02 emissions. Xie also criticised the developed countries for not walking the talk on the $100 billion a year climate change finance promise to developing countries.

Chinas role in cutting emissions is crucial. According to the Rhodium Group estimates, of the 52 giga tonnes of C02-equivalent that the world put out into the atmosphere in 2019, Chinas share was about 14 giga tonnes, or about 27% of the global total, although Chinas emissions contribution per capita is far below that of the developed countries.

China has made several decarbonisation pledges earlier, including in September 2020 when Xi announced at the UN that China would become carbon-neutral by 2060. Xi also announced this September at the UN that China will not commission new thermal power plants abroad. However, as a part of the Belt and Road Initiative projects, China has already pledged to finance over 24 GW of thermal power projects in several countries.

China has also pledged to draw a quarter of its total energy consumption from renewables by 2030, while boosting forest coverage. In July, it launched a national emissions-trading scheme based on the cap-and-trade model.

However, critics point to the breakneck speed at which China is building thermal power projects. At 4 billion tonnes a year, China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world. It generates 70% of its electricity in coal-fired plants, of which it has the largest number in the world.

As a result, an estimated one-third of urban China is heavily polluted and over half-a-million people die of air pollution every year. Besides, China has suffered extreme weather events, such as the devastating floods last month in Shanxi province, which is home to several coal mines. The floods aggravated Chinas energy crisis. The Henan floods in July also took a heavy toll of lives and infrastructure due to torrential rains.

In the 2000s and earlier, China had aligned with the positions of the Global South on climate finance and climate justice to further its interests. Several G-77 countries, specifically coastal states and others, who have become more vulnerable to rising sea levels due to rising emissions, including from China, have made these issues front-and-centre at CoP26.

The BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) coalition that espoused equal but differentiated responsibilities, formed at the Copenhagen summit in 2009, have also drawn their position on similar lines at CoP26. Despite the recent differences between India and China on the territorial dispute in the Aksai Chin-Eastern Ladakh areas, the BASIC coalition has got together to suggest carbon market mechanisms, the role of the private sector, and other issues.
Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar's noble gesture to donate his eyes has created a sort of movement of eye donation in Karnataka.

The eye donation which was badly hit by the Covid pandemic has gained momentum once again after the untimely demise of Puneeth, which was widely discussed in media and the good word has spread from mouth to mouth dispelling all hesitation regarding eye donation.

Dr Bhujanga Shetty, founder of Narayana Nethralaya, who collected the eyes of Puneeth and successfully transplanted them to four persons, informed IANS that the gesture of the actor has created a lot of awareness among people about eye donation.

Also Read | Puneeth Rajkumar's eyes benefit four patients

"As many as 1,500 people have come forward and pledged their eyes in four to five days. About families of 16 deceased people have actually donated eyes of their dear ones, which is a record by itself," he said.

Dr Sujatha, Director of Minto Eye hospital said, the trend of eye donation is steadily increasing all across the state. There is a rise of 20 to 30 per cent as far as eye donation is concerned after Puneeth and Sanchari Vijay donated their eyes, she said.

People started donating their eyes after the death of National award winning Kannada actor Sanchari Vijay. The news of Vijay pledging his eyes for donation and helping the blind to see the world had moved the people to take a decision in this regard.

Also Read | Basavashree Award for Puneeth Rajkumar posthumously

The message of importance of eye donation has reached every household of Karnataka after the death of actor Puneeth, who had massive fan following in the state.

The family of Puneeth had promptly informed the doctors to collect his eyes amid the grief.

Puneeth's father, legend of Kannada cinema Dr Rajkumar after pledging his eyes, reminded family persons and doctors to see to it that they are collected at the right time before going waste after his death. His wife Parvathamma Rajkumar also followed suit.

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Derry jobseekers are being invited to send off their CVs to Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) as the business process management firm have announced plans to create more than 560 across the north of Ireland.

Offering a number of diverse roles across customer service, management, and support, employees will be able to take advantage of HGSs innovative and flexible Work at Home model.

With over 400 positions having been recruited and confirmed already, HGS will embark on a recruitment campaign to promote a range of jobs that are currently still available, encouraging job seekers from across the Derry City and Strabane District Council to apply.

Rosalind Young, Investment Manager at Derry City and Strabane District Council said: We fully support HGS and its endeavours to grow a workforce here in the Northern Ireland.

Were pleased that HGS is building its presence in this region, with a view to establishing one of their Engagement Hubs in the future.

We already know this area is full of talent and potential, and we have been promoting Northern Ireland as a premium remote working destination for a while now.

HGS is an excellent company that offers a fantastic range of employment opportunities across our Council area.

All of the posts will primarily be home based and customer service experience is highly desirable in candidates.

Home-based posts come with a number of positive attributes in that they offer less travelling for staff, a better work life balance, and more flexibility.

Full training will be provided, and the posts will be particularly suited to those in our Council area attracted to working from home through lifestyle or necessity, and those who live in more remote communities.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Alderman, Graham Warke, welcomes the recruitment drive and explains he is delighted that HGS has identified Northern Ireland region as a potential location for growth.

Mayor Warke recognised the companys commitment to the region and the important supportive role being played by Councils Investment and Skills teams to promote the existing employment opportunities alongside their support towards establishing an Engagement Hub in the north of Ireland.

Encouraging the public to view some of the job opportunities that are available, the Mayor said there are immediate vacancies for customer service advisers and other roles on both a part time and full time basis.

Adam Foster, CEO of HGS UK said: We are delighted that HGS is growing in Northern Ireland and are looking forward to attracting more people from Northern Ireland. The area has a high volume of very talented candidates and offers a strong infrastructure, one which were proud to be supporting.

You can send your CV directly to: Preston.Recruitment@teamhgs.com

To find support on completing a CV or interview skills visit: https://www.derrystrabane.com/Business/Employment,-Skills-Training/Job-Support
The Postmaster for Buncrana Road Post Office, Jim Gough, has retired after 45 years of dedicated service.

Eighty-eight-year-old Jim's career as a postmaster has gone from strength to strength. Jim first took on Carlisle Road Post Office in 1976 after a friend of his announced his retirement and asked if he was interested in taking over.

After re-organising the post office and discovering how much he enjoyed the work, he then took on Park Avenue Post Office after its Postmaster also retired.

After a third local postmaster retired  this time on Buncrana Road  Jim decided to once again take on a branch because he liked it so much.

His service has spanned some of the most turbulent periods Northern Ireland has faced. Serving these communities during the height of the Troubles, Jim said he became the most robbed postmaster in the UK but he continued running his branches through a combination of stubbornness and great staff.

Besides supporting the community through the Troubles, Jims branches were also a lifeline through the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the initial impact of the pandemic saw footfall sharply fall, Jim said that with the right precautions in place his customers gradually returned.

Jim has lived in Derry his entire life and at the age of 88 has decided that it is now time to hang up the date stamp.

Reflecting on the evolution of Post Office, Jim remarked how it has changed drastically over the years with the introduction of computers, online business, emails. In particular, he noted that post offices increasingly now act on behalf on many banks in supporting customers to withdraw and deposit their cash.

Above all, Jim reflected on the people he has both worked alongside and served. He gave credit to those he worked with over his four decades of services, noting I was lucky to have first class people about me. Without them I would not have remained.

He also admitted that, at one point, he may have known as many as half the people in Derry because he ran three different branches and enjoyed talking to people from the local communities so much.

His branches in particular served and supported many elderly people and pensioners. The excellent service his work partners provided led to an increase in the number of elderly customers because we all went beyond the call of duty to give a good service  and this was particularly true during the pandemic.

Local Post Office Area Manager, Sean Docherty, has his own personal connection to both Jim and the post office.

Mr Docherty said: The Branch has a history for me also as I started my career at the age of 16 in the branch over 28 years ago and its very near my family home, so it has a real special meaning to me.

Jim and his daughter Geraldine are widely known and very well respected within the city for their tireless dedication, commitment and service to their local community all throughout the Troubles and beyond. I wish Jim all the very best and well deserved retirement and long health for the future.

A framed long service leavers commemoration letter from Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read was presented by Post Office Network Provision Lead Janese Sung along to Jim with gift vouchers and a pen to thank him for his loyal service. A bouquet of flowers was also presented to his daughter Geraldine.

Jims daughter, Geraldine, took over in the day-to-day running of Buncrana Road Post Office some 15 years ago. Buncrana Road Post Office has shared its space with Centra, one of Northern Irelands leading convenience stores, for the last 10 years and Jim has now passed the baton to Centra to continue running the post office.
She loved Derry, says film-maker Alison Millar on her friend Lyra McKee. She was so happy there. She had met loads of new friends.

Journalist Lyra McKee had spent the last few months of her young life in Derry before she was shot dead on the night of April 18, 2019 while reporting on a riot that had broken out on Fanad Drive in the city's Creggan area.

She had moved to Derry from Belfast to live with her partner Sarah Canning, a nurse at Altnagelvin Hospital, and thrived during her time here.

Millar added: Derry's a really creative city so she would be meeting up with other writers, journalists and she enjoyed it.

She really loved it and really took to the city. Belfast was her home but she really settled into Derry. Lyra hadn't been there very long but she loved living in Derry.

Millar's film on her friend, simply titled Lyra, will be premiered on Sunday evening simultaneously at the Belfast and Cork Film Festivals respectively.

This will be the latest in a long line of acclaimed work for Millar who herself has had IFTA, BAFTA and Prix Italia success for her documentaries.

Although not yet planned for general release throughout cinemas in Ireland or even broadcast on television, Millar is hopeful that over the next year or so, many others will get to see the film.

The film itself opens to window to people who only knew Lyra McKee by her written work or even by the news of her killing two years ago.

Rumours aplenty had begun to generate of others planning to make a film about Lyra and Millar knew that being a close friend of McKee's, she had to be the one to do it.

After all, as Millar says, had anything happened to her, Lyra would be writing about Alison.

Millar said: I knew she loved my films and wrote about them. I knew that she wrote about me in her books. So I came to the conclusion that if anybody else made a film about her, I would be really fed up about it.

Because I knew her family and her partner Sarah and I knew they wanted me to make a film with their help  and they helped me hugely.

I had a team of people who all knew her as well. I knew that if anything had happened to us, Lyra would be writing about us so we just knew we had to do it. It wasn't even like 'will we or will we not', we had to it because we wanted people to know more about her and her work.

The film was more like a way of trying to get people to know Lyra more. She had already at such a young age just achieved so much and her work was so astonishing that it could not be not talked about. We wanted to give her that voice and that's what we wanted to achieve.

We also wanted to let people know what Lyra was like as a person. She would have given  in fact I've seen her do this  someone her last five pounds. She had even given people her coat if she saw somebody cold.

She was one of those people who would meet somebody else and talk to them for ages, asking if they were OK, if they needed food or if they were cold, where are they staying are they alright. Lyra was literally that person who wouldn't pass people by.

One example of her work was a story she covered about a guy who set himself on fire at Belfast's City Hall. That was a story that she what had happened but wondered why he did that so she set out to try and find out what could have led someone to that horrible place where they felt they had to do that.

She really was that voice for the under-represented and she wanted to make sure that people were treated better and listened to what they had to say. That compassion and real love of people and life was Lyra  and people loved her back. She was very disarming with that great laugh and smile. It was her charm that got her the big interviews.

When she was 15, she went on a big trip to Canada to attend a conference and (pop star) Alicia Keys was one of the speakers. The only person or journalist to get an interview with Alicia Keys at that conference was Lyra McKee.

She decided she wanted to speak to Alicia Keys so she made it through the crowds and the barriers and just said to her, 'my name's Lyra McKee and I'd love to interview you'. And Alicia replied, 'Of course  no problem'.

Miller and McKee had been friends since they first met when Lyra was 17.

What impressed her about McKee was her compassion and ability to relate to people who were cast aside by society and make sure that the voice of the under-represented would be heard loud and clear.

She added: I first met Lyra when she was 17. I'd known her a long time and I was actually due to have dinner with her the next night at my house whenever I got the message that she had been killed.

I had watched both her and her career grow and she was literally flying. She was amazing  she had just signed a two-book deal with Faber, done the TED talks the year before and she was at the top of her game. Everything was there, sitting waiting for her. She had achieved so much.

She was very compassionate. One of those people who cared deeply about people and giving them a voice. She loved to represent the under-represented.

She came from a wee house in north Belfast, brought up by her mum, her sister and her family. When Lyra was a young girl, she had hearing difficulties that made her speech difficult so she started reading books. Her granny used to buy her Harry Potter books, her sister would buy her 'The Twits' by Roald Dahl and she got submerged in books and writing.

She was writing from an early age as it was her space  her happy place. She actually wrote a lot of poetry when she was a young girl. She wanted to be a poet for a while.

Lyra had just won the Sky Young Journalist of the Year award when I met her. She was 17 but when I met her I thought she was 12 as she had this wee baby face that meant she never looked her age.

It used to really annoy her that we would go out for a drink  even when she was in her twenties  and she was always asked to produce ID at the door.

I loved her writing  it was really beautiful and descriptive and she looked for voices in her community and to break stories for people she felt hadn't been listened to or heard properly.

From a young age, if she saw something and she wanted to do it she did. She always said that 'brick walls were not there to keep you out. But depending on how much you want something, you've got to work out how to get over them'.

We want Lyras work to live on, we want her writing to live on, we want her voice to live on. Shes a great character, and what we really want is for people to come and spend some time with her through this film.
Shahid Kapoor's wife Mira Rajput is disappointed with Delhi's air quality levels; Says This can't be my home

As Delhi's air quality reached hazardous levels a day after Diwali, actor Shahid Kapoor's wife Mira Rajput expressed her disappointment over the same. Taking to Instagram Story, Mira wrote, "This can't be my home... Please let's do our bit. Don't burn crackers, segregate your waste (whatever isn't gets burnt) and support groups that are creating awareness about the stubble burning." She also shared a picture of the city's skyline covered in smog.

For the unversed, Mira was born and brought up in the capital. She moved to Mumbai after getting married to Shahid seven years ago. In another post, Mira urged people to stop bursting crackers. "Seriously why? Who is even bursting these crackers? Please stop," she requested.

As per the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality would not improve until Sunday evening (November 7). The improvement would, however, just fluctuate in the 'Very Poor' category.
Singham 3: Rohit Shetty books Independence Day 2023 weekend for Ajay Devgns cop drama; film to be shot in Kashmir

At the end of his super hit film Simmba, starring Ranveer Singh, Rohit Shetty gave us a brief glimpse of Akshay Kumars Sooryavanshi. Well, the much awaited cop drama hit theatres on 5th November and during the climax, Ajay Devgn aka Singham made a smashing entry. Much to our delight, he hinted that Singham 3 is on the way during a conversation with Jackie Shroff, who has portrayed the role of a terrorist situated in Pakistan. Well, according to latest buzz, Singham will be arriving on the big screen in 2023.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn)

In a report shared by Pinkvilla, a source was quoted saying, Its among the most patriotic films that Rohit and Ajay are collaborating on, as it is set against the backdrop of turbulent Indo-Pak relationship. The premise has Kashmir in its backdrop, and its a story special to all the stakeholders. Given the plot and vibe, the makers feel, its best to bring the film on the big screen during the Independence Day 2023 weekend.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn)

The report further stated that Singham 3 will go on floors in September-October next year and will be extensively shot in Kashmir and Delhi. Earlier reports had suggested that other than Jackie, Akshay will also be a part of this film! Bollywoods Khiladi will apparently make a prominent guest appearance alongside Ajay.

Another exciting crossover? Cant wait!
Photo: Getty

Hacking has already become so common with the evolving times and advancing technology. However, while we all thought we were safe from chips and malicious websites until and unless we actually were directed to pages holding malware, an Israeli based company completely changed this thought process.The Israeli firm called NSO Group has a spyware called Pegasus which it sells to government and law enforcement agencies in various countries. The tricky part about this is that it can hack users without much of an interaction. What we mean by this is that most of the times when a person is affected by a malware they receive a weird text, or email responding or interacting to which leads to the malware being activated. However, in this case no interaction is required for the malware to do its work.The Pegasus spyware is known to affect both Apple and Android systems equally, but this is not the topic of conversation today.Now that we have background on how this spyware works, lets enlighten you about the United States actions against it. The US government has labelled this spyware as a national security threat. Considering how slyly anyone can input it anywhere and the user wont know, the government has added it on the Entity List, which means any export, import or selling related to this companys product is now banned within the States.According to several reports on the background check of this spyware, the company though was selling this spyware to only governments, its buyers were basically countries with poor human rights record, who were using the saved information to attack journalists and other people they felt were threats.The United States government and its BIC believes that the spyware is definitely a threat which is being used to target journalists, businessmen, politicians and several other important people that are running the country and hence the crossing of any device from countries like Israel, Russia, and Singapore and this NSO group has severely been banned within the States.It is United States measure to protect its people and its country. While the US is the leading power of the world, it definitely cannot tolerate other countries spying on it and this spyware seems a rather breach in privacy to a large extent. From our point of view, its ban seems well implemented.Read next: Apple And The European Union Butt Heads Over A New Proposed Side Loading Act
(The Center Square)  Congressional Republicans say they will fight a White House plan to pay up to $450,000 in reparations to migrants separated from their families under the Trump administration after entering the country illegally.

After The Wall Street Journal reported on the plan earlier this week, President Joe Biden called the report "garbage," only to be corrected by his spokesperson the next day.

At issue is former President Donald Trumps policy of prosecuting all adults who entered the country illegally, in accordance with federal immigration law, including those with children. The Biden administration rescinded the policy, along with many other immigration enforcement efforts.

The New York Times estimates that roughly 5,500 children were separated from their parents as a result of the policies. The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups sued on behalf of noncitizens over the policy.

In response to the lawsuit, the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering paying $450,000 per person to family members who were reportedly separated when they entered the U.S. illegally. The payments could total $1 million per family and $1 billion overall.

Fox News Peter Doocey questioned Biden about the policy on Wednesday. Biden responded that the reports were "garbage." He said, "If you guys keep sending that garbage out? Yeah, but it's not true. $450,000 per person, is that what youre saying? Thats not going to happen."

He was corrected by the ACLU, which later Wednesday said Biden "may not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department as it carefully deliberated and considered the crimes committed against thousands of families separated from their children as an intentional governmental policy."

ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said Biden would be contradicting a campaign promise if he didn't allow the payments.

"But if he follows through on what he said, the president is abandoning a core campaign promise to do justice for the thousands of separated families," Romero said in a statement. "We respectfully remind President Biden that he called these actions criminal in a debate with then-President Trump and campaigned on remedying and rectifying the lawlessness of the Trump administration. We call on President Biden to right the wrongs of this national tragedy."

On Thursday, a White House spokesperson told reporters at a press briefing that the president was perfectly comfortable with American taxpayers funding cash payments to those entering the country illegally.

Republicans say they aren't having it.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 to prevent such payments from happening. The amendment was supported by more than two dozen Senate Republicans. He also introduced the measure as a standalone bill.

In the U.S. House, Rep. Tom McClintock, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, introduced the Illegal Immigration Payoff Prohibition Act to stop the process. The bill would block the U.S. Attorney General from making any settlement payments to illegal immigrants resulting from violations of federal immigration laws.

"Who says crime doesnt pay? Under Biden it apparently pays very well indeed," McClintock said in a statement. "Law-abiding, hardworking Americans have seen their purchasing power decimated by Bidens economic policies while he has surrendered our southern border. Paying illegal immigrants $450,000 apiece as an apology for Trumps decision to enforce our immigration law adds insult to injury. Congress has the power of the purse, and thats why we must act today to stop this outrageous plan in its tracks."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., cosponsored the bill along with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and 135 other congressional members.

"With all the challenges Americans are facing every day  including an unprecedented border crisis  providing $450,000 per person settlement payments to illegal immigrants is pure insanity," McCarthy said. "This is not only an insult to the American people, but also will worsen the border crisis and lead to a business boom for drug cartels and human traffickers, who are already exploiting Democrats disastrous border policies."

Jordan said, "Democrats lock down the economy, pay people not to work, raise your taxes, and now want to give illegal immigrants $450,000 checks paid for by American taxpayers. Our bill would make sure the Attorney General cant unilaterally make that happen."
STONEWALL [ndash] Funeral services for Maple Hamilton, 78, of Stonewall, OK will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021, at the Stonewall First Baptist Church with the Apostle Gary Bruner officiating. Interment will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Stonewall, OK. Mrs. Hamilton passed away in a Deni
Tenants are set to begin moving into the redeveloped Halliday Mills apartment complex later this month, according to Louth County Council.

At the most recent meeting of Dundalk Municipal District, Green Party Councillor Marianne Butler queried when tenants were expected to begin moving into the apartment complex, as the original move-in date had been pushed back earlier this year.

Senior Executive at Louth County Council, John Lawrence told the meeting that the first tenants from the housing list were expected to be in the complex by the end of November.

It comes as the housing body delivering the project, Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI), originally told the Democrat in late July that the apartments would be completed and occupied by the end of September.

According to Mr Lawrence, all contracts with CHI have been signed and completed, with the tenants on the housing list set to move-in in multiple stages.

In total there are 85 apartments being delivered by the project, with a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments having been built.

The total estimated cost of the apartment block in late July was 21 million, with contractors for the project being employed locally.

The building is six storeys high, with it now being bigger than the original Ard Dealgan apartments built in the early 2000s.

The Halliday Mills complex is CHIs first development in Louth, with the housing body saying that they are looking at developing in both Ardee and Drogheda in the near future, with plans expected to come to fruition in mid-2022.
A 33 year old man claimed at Dundalk district court last week that he didnt realise his ex-partners emergency accommodation was being raided in a Garda drugs search, and he was in fear for his safety and that of his ex and her two children when the door was forced open.

Colm Beatty with an address at Farnham Road, Cavan denied a charge of obstructing a garda, at Oyster Bay Court, Carlingford on November 19th last by attempting to the close the door on gardai and prevent them from gaining entry.

The court heard how local gardai and members of the Dundalk District Drugs Unit were executing a search warrant around 8.40pm, when an enforcer was used to open the door, which was locked.

Three gardai gave evidence that they had identified themselves a number of times beforehand. One garda said she went to walk in once the door was opened but Colm Beatty had repeatedly pushed the door against her. She said she was wearing a high-viz garda stab vest. She said the defendant was extremely aggressive and tried to stop them searching the house. The garda confirmed to the Defence barrister that the address was emergency accommodation provided to his clients ex-partner due to a feud with other persons in the county.

The witness,who said her arm was bruised from being jammed between the door and the defendant pushing it up against her, rejected a suggestion that there was no knock or ring of a doorbell before the enforcer was used.

The Defence barrister said his client was in panic mode because he thought somebody was coming to attack his ex-partner.

A detective from the Garda Drugs Unit said he was wearing a standard navy Garda stab vest with Garda written across it.

He said Mr. Beatty was irate and abusive and there was no talking to him and added a number of garda vehicles were outside the house and in his opinion it was not possible for him not to know we were gardai.

A third garda said the defendant was using all his strength on the other side of the door  pushing very forcefully particularly against the female officer.

Colm Beatty told the court he was watching Christmas movies with the children when he heard a ruckus and bounced up out of the chair towards the front door, which came through and he threw himself at it claiming he was in fear for himself and the others in the property and claimed when he saw it was guards I was rested assured.

The Defence barrister argued his clients intention was not to obstruct, but to ultimately protect his former partner and her children.

Judge John Brennan said he had no doubt that the gardai identified themselves and accepted their accounts of the level of aggression shown. He added that tensions were heightened and Mr. Beatty was in an anxious state.

However, the judge said he was not convinced that the defendant definitely knew that it was gardai. He had a reasonable doubt and dismissed the charge.
A 38 year old man who was excluded from his own contested hearing after he called a garda a corrupt b**tard, had the case against him dismissed last week, after his Defence barrister argued the Garda who brought the alleged evidence to the Forensic Science Ireland lab, should have been called as a witness.

Damien Clarke with an address at the time at St. Josephs Homeless Aid, Drogheda was prosecuted in the local district court for unlawful possession of drugs on the Avenue Road, Dundalk on February 18th 2019.

A member of the Dundalk district drugs unit gave evidence of the defendant dropping a plastic item on the ground on seeing the patrol car around 8.20pm.

After detecting a smell of cannabis off him, he searched the defendant under the misuse of drugs act. Nothing was found on him, but the garda said he suspected that the brown wrap that was retrieved was diamorphine  more commonly known as heroin.

He claimed the defendant confirmed he had dropped the wrap and said it was for his own personal use and he signed the admission in his garda notebook.

The witness added he placed the drugs into the evidence back and received a certificate from the FSI lab, confirming the substance was heroin.

He said it was worth 50 but alleged Mr. Clarke had said 20.

The Defence barrister told the court his client denies signing the notebook or making any admissions whatsoever, but the Garda replied Thats his signature there.

The barrister argued the Garda who had taken the evidence bag to the lab should have been present to give evidence to confirm there was no break in the chain of custody.

Although Insp. Darren Kirwan argued that the certificate before the court matches the sealed evidence bag, Judge John Brennan said he accepted the submission and found the chain of evidence is not complete.
Claremont, NH (03743)

Today

Cloudy with light rain this morning. High around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain. Low 42F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
For more than 90 years, The Eagle-Tribune Santa Fund has assisted those in need in the Merrimack Valley through generous contributions from businesses, organizations and individuals. This year the need is as great as ever.

Contribute
Pfizers manufacturing facility in Ringaskiddy is poised to play a key role in the manufacturing and supply of a new Covid-19 drug, should the medicine be approved.

"Ringaskiddy is one of the primary sites where the drug substance will be manufactured," a spokesperson said.

"We are currently recruiting for roles at all of our manufacturing sites at the moment."

On Friday, the company announced that a trial of an investigational novel Covid-19 oral antiviral medicine called Paxlovid was found to reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89% compared to placebo in non-hospitalised high-risk adults with the virus.

It also announced that following the overwhelming efficacy demonstrated in the results that it was ceasing further enrollment into the study and plans to submit the data as part of its ongoing rolling submission to the U.S. FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) as soon as possible.

Prior to this authorisation, Pfizer has already starting investing in the manufacture of the potential oral antiviral candidate to help bring this potential treatment to patients as soon as possible.

Speaking to the Echo, a spokesperson for the company confirmed that Pfizers manufacturing facility in Ringaskiddy will support the global manufacturing and supply of the drug, should it be approved.

Pfizers site in Ringaskiddy has an established and successful history of contributing to our manufacturing efforts.

Tackling the Covid-19 pandemic will likely require both vaccination and targeted treatments for those who contract the virus. Pfizer continues to dedicate its best-in-class global resources at all levels to work towards the development of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the development of potential antiviral treatments, the spokesperson said.

First oral antiviral of its kind

If approved or authorized, Paxlovid, which originated in Pfizers laboratories, would be the first oral antiviral of its kind.

In a statement, Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer described the news of the positive results as a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of the pandemic.

These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorized by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalisations.

Given the continued global impact of Covid-19, we have remained laser-focused on the science and fulfilling our responsibility to help healthcare systems and institutions around the world while ensuring equitable and broad access to people everywhere.
LATEST: Gardai said on Saturday afternoon that the man injured in the serious assault on the Lower Glanmire Road on Thursday night remains in a critical condition.

Three people have so far been arrested in connection with the assault on the man in his mid-forties, who is currently being cared for in Cork University Hospital.

The man in his late 30s who was arrested on Friday night has been released without charge.

"A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions," a Garda spokesperson told The Echo. "The injured man remains in a critical condition at Cork University Hospital.

"Investigating Gardai continue to appeal for witnesses to come forward and for those with camera footage to make it available to them."

A man and a woman, both aged in their late 20s, were also arrested in connection with the incident. The woman was released without charge on Friday night and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The man appeared before the courts this morning.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mayfield Garda Station 021 4554510, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

Gardai say the investigation is ongoing.

UPDATE: Gardai in Mayfield investigating the serious assault on the Lower Glanmire Road on Thursday night have arrested a second man.

Gardai said the man in his late 30s was arrested late on Friday night and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Gurranbraher Garda station.

The woman in her late 20s who was arrested was released without charge last night and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The man in his late 20s who was arrested has since been charged in relation to the assault and he will appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice, Anglesea Street, Cork this morning.

Gardai said investigations are ongoing.

EARLIER: An incident room has been established at Mayfield Garda Station following a serious assault in Cork city that has left a man in critical condition.

A comprehensive forensic examination of the scene has been completed and Gardai are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

"Shortly before 9pm on Thursday, November 4, gardai and emergency services attended an incident at Lower Glanmire Road where a man in his mid-40s was discovered with an apparent head injury following reports of a disturbance," a Garda spokesperson said.

"He was removed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where his condition is understood to be critical."

A man and woman, both aged in their late 20s, have since been arrested and are currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at the Bridewell and Gurranabraher Garda Station.

Investigating gardai are appealing for witnesses to come forward. They are also appealing to anyone with camera footage to make it available to them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mayfield Garda Station 021-4554510, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
Athens, AL (35611)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing this afternoon. High around 65F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening rain. Thunder is possible early. Low 41F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
It's no secret that app data can reach investigators without much oversight, but you might be surprised at just who is buying that data. The Intercept and advocacy group Tech Inquiry have learned that the US Treasury Department recently bought sensitive app data from Babel Street, the same firm that handed info to the Secret Service and other agencies. The department spent over $300,000 on two contracts in the past four months to collect data for the sake of investigations.

One contract, made official in July 2021, gave Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) investigators access to mobile app location data from Babel Street's Locate X tool. The info will help OFAC target people and enforce international sanctions, according to the contract. As you might expect, there's a concern the office is effectively circumventing Fourth Amendment search restrictions. The data is technically anonymous, but it's relatively easy for an investigator to link data to individuals.

The other contract, from September 2021, gives the Internal Revenue Service a tool that scrapes information from "public digital media records." The software will theoretically help the IRS catch tax evaders through online activity like social media posts and forum conversations. While it's legal to view that content, the Treasury wants Babel Street to provide "available bio-metric [sic] data" like addresses and marital status that may create a detailed profile.

The concern isn't just that the Treasury might be circumventing the Fourth Amendment by obtaining some data (particularly locations) without a warrant. This also represents an expansion of "invasive surveillance," Tech Inquiry founder Jack Poulson told The Intercept. Rather than scaling back its efforts, the US government is stepping things up.

We've asked the Treasury for comment. There's no guarantee it will back off. With that said, Senator Ron Wyden and others are pushing legislation that would require a court order for these data purchases. If bills like The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act ever become law, the government would at least need to pass a basic legal test to buy this sensitive material  even if officials wouldn't require your knowledge.
January 2, 1942 - November 20, 2021 Meron Kay Highfill Burleson went home to her Lord on November 20, 2021. She will be cremated at her request. There will be no memorial service at this time. A private memorial service to celebrate her life and going home will be held at a later date. Meron
Superstar Angelina Jolie has spoken out regarding how proud she is of Marvel for refusing to bow to censors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait with their film, "Eternals." Reportedly, censors in these Gulf nations put pressure on Marvel to cut scenes featuring Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos, the first openly gay hero depicted in the MCU.

In quotes cited in The Hollywood Reporter, the A-lister said, "I'm sad for [those audiences]. And I'm proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out. I still don't understand how we live in a world today where there's still [people who] would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love. How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn't approve or appreciate it is ignorant."

Directed by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, "Eternals" has been lauded for its diverse and inclusive cast, and for the film's director's wish to take the film in that direction. However, according to the same Hollywood Reporter article, sources claim that the inclusivity may have been a step too far for these Gulf Nations due to a scene where Phastos and his husband, Ben, played by Haaz Sleiman, kiss on screen.

In "Eternals," Jolie plays Thena, an elite warrior whose special power comprises forming any weapon using cosmic energy. In addition to her successful film career, Jolie is widely regarded for her humanitarian work, where she often advocates for helping refugees, conservation, education, and women's rights. Jolie's latest move to defend "Eternals" from anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments follows her track record of standing up for causes she believes in.

While audiences in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait may have a hard time watching "Eternals," audiences in the United Arab Emirates will not be affected. The film is still set for theater release on November 11, 2021.

Marvel's "Eternals" begins playing in theaters throughout the United States on November 5, 2021. For more entertainment news and commentary, check out Enstarz! We bring you the latest on your favorite celebrities, TV shows, and films.
German security services believe that a man found dead in a street outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin last month was an undercover agent of Russia's FSB intelligence service, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.
The Classic Theatre has implemented some changes as the result of an investigation into concerns raised about the previous leadership.

In an Aug. 24 Facebook post, a woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted when she was 16 by an actor employed by Classic Theatre. She said she later told the artistic director about the incident. The theater company announced the investigation three days later.

It is Express-News policy not to identify victims of sexual assault.

Our investigation did reveal a few gaps in our policies and procedures, which we have taken steps to address to better reflect our values and commitment to our community, the company said in an email to supporters.

The email did not specify what those gaps were.

Ruben Jauregui Jr., the companys interim executive director, declined to comment beyond the statement in the email.

The email said the company had created a guidebook that underscores Classics commitment to a workplace without harassment, retaliation and discrimination. It also said the guidebook updates procedures on how to report a concern or grievance. It will be provided to everyone who works with the company, including actors and stagehands, and also will be posted on its website, classictheatre.org.

Our goal is to provide a happy, welcoming, and safe place for everyone in our artistic community, and we are always open to suggestions on ways to meet that commitment, the email said.

It is not known when the assault was alleged to have taken place, nor who the artistic director was at the time. The most recent executive and artistic director was Kelly Hillard Roush, who stepped down from that role in May. She had worked under various titles at the theater for six years and left to relocate to Minnesota with her family. A search for her replacement is ongoing.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
Trespassing charges filed against dozens of migrants arrested under Gov. Greg Abbotts catch and jail border security initiative have been dropped because court documents filed by the local county attorney failed to point out on what property the men were allegedly trespassing.

The fumble, which ultimately led another prosecutor to sheepishly admit defeat and agree to toss out about 30 cases, is the latest in a string of missteps since Abbott deployed Texas state troopers and National Guardsmen to arrest migrant men suspected of crossing the border illegally on state criminal charges.

The dismissals came during Kinney Countys first court hearings for some of the hundreds of men who have been arrested in the rural border area under Abbotts initiative, which he began in July in response to a rise in illegal border crossings. Many of the men whose charges were dropped had already spent more than two months in Texas prisons waiting to go before a judge.

They were expected to be released to federal immigration authorities and likely will either be deported, further detained or released into the United States on asylum bonds.

The fact they have been held for that long on charges that were deemed defective is really disgraceful, said Amrutha Jindal, a Houston defense attorney whose organization, Restoring Justice, represents nearly 50 migrants arrested in Kinney County.

A sparsely populated region near Del Rio, Kinney County has accounted for the large majority of the more than 1,600 migrants arrested under Abbotts operation for allegedly trespassing. Most of the countys arrests occur after Texas Department of Public Safety officers pull people off passing train cars at a remote rail yard or when people are spotted walking across private ranch lands, sometimes caught on game cameras.

Many of the conservative countys residents have voiced support for the arrests, saying an influx of people crossing the border has led to high-speed police chases, damaged property and general feelings of unease.

Residents want protection, they want this to end, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe said in August. (Migrants) are tearing up their livelihood, theyre tearing up their fences, driving off their hunters, and thats our big industry here.

But with nearly every step into the new state criminal justice system for migrants, Kinney County officials have stumbled.

When arrests first began in the ranching county, about 150 men sat in prison for weeks without being appointed attorneys, which Texas law requires to happen within days of a person requesting one. In September, a state district judge ordered nearly 250 men, the majority arrested in Kinney County, to be immediately released from state custody on bond because they were being illegally detained, held for more than a month without the state filing charges against them.

In three court hearings for migrants at the end of October, defense attorneys challenged the cases against migrants arrested in Kinney County because the prosecutors charging documents didnt include necessary information  like where the migrant allegedly trespassed, to whom the property belonged and what notice was given to the defendants that entry was forbidden. At least some of the complaints listed vaguely that the defendant did then and there, with notice that entry was forbidden, enter agricultural land of another.

A retired state district judge assigned to the migrant cases on Oct. 26 tossed the charging documents and ordered that several jailed men be automatically released from state custody on no-cost bonds until the state filed new paperwork. But defense attorneys continued to push back on continued prosecution, arguing there was no way to hold the men to conditions of a bond for nonexistent charges. By Oct. 29, David McCracken, a Lubbock County prosecutor filling in for the Kinney County attorney, agreed to toss all 20 cases on the days docket, conceding that all of the complaints filed against the migrant men were deficient.

Defense attorneys argue the mistakes were not simple clerical errors, instead contributing to migrants long stints in jail before they get a hearing before a judge  which in some cases has taken more than three months.

The paperwork errors are not just mere technicalities. They are serious constitutional violations that are extremely concerning, especially when our clients have been in custody in prison facilities for months based on defective and unconstitutional charging documents, said Kristin Etter, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which is being paid by the state to represent hundreds of arrested migrants.

Overall, more than 30 men had their cases dropped, while three accepted deals to plead guilty to sentences of the amount of time they already had been in prison. Other men whose cases were set to be heard had bonded out of the state prisons and released to immigration authorities.

Those no longer facing charges were expected to be released to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, while those who now had a conviction would likely be transferred to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Many of Kinney Countys legal mistakes have stemmed from the county attorneys office, which prosecutes misdemeanor crimes like trespassing. The office has only one lawyer, Brent Smith, who was recently elected to the job without any listed experience in criminal law, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In court, Smith has been noticeably absent, instead enlisting other prosecutors from across the state to act as temporary assistant county attorneys.

Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan told the Texas Tribune in September that the high numbers of arrests had overwhelmed the modest judicial system of the county, which has only about 3,000 residents.

But attorneys defending the arrested migrants question why Smith isnt taking the lead or offering explanations as problems continue to surface.

Smith did not respond to repeated requests from the Tribune through email, phone calls and an office visit to talk about the situation. Other prosecutors who have represented his office in court hearings also did not respond to questions.

It is strange that Mr. Smith has not actually appeared in any of these court proceedings and hasnt been able to provide any information as to why the charges were filed late or why the charges that were filed were deficient, Jindal said.

George Lobb, an Austin attorney representing a migrant client, said more concerning than Smiths absence from court is his activity outside of the courtroom, where he repeats anti-immigration rhetoric in memos and on social media and has spoken against migrants for allegedly causing damage on his own property. Last month, Lobb argued in a procedural court hearing that Smith, who was not present, should be disqualified from representing the state in such cases because of racist and discriminatory comments and his public discussion of his own property damage, presenting a conflict of interest.

His bias, or interests, is brought into question as well as his ability to see that justice is done impartially, Lobb told the judge, who waved away the argument saying it was not on the days agenda.

On Nov. 2, more men appeared through Zoom from Texas prisons for arraignments to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty  some of whom had been locked up for nearly 100 days without seeing a judge. Many pleaded not guilty and were ordered to be released on no-cost bonds, likely to ICE, because Smiths office did not file charges against them within the 30-day deadline under state law, meaning they were illegally jailed.

The state, represented by McCracken and the Kimble County district attorney in lieu of Smith, had filed amended complaints to fix the faulty paperwork errors.

Jindal said she expected the prosecutors to quickly fix the errors in their charging documents, but noted that so far the migrants criminal cases have largely failed every time they come under scrutiny from defense attorneys. Mentioning other concerns, like only arresting for trespassing men who are predominantly Latino, she said defense attorneys have litigated just the tip of the iceberg with the issues with these prosecutions.

There are still a lot of other issues that will be litigated in terms of violation of rights, she said.

sdowning@express-news.net
SAN MARCOS  For Rachel Martinez and her family, celebrating Veterans Day always includes attending this citys annual parade and making a trip to the citys cemetery to visit her fathers gravesite.

Its a tradition meant to honor her father, Donaciano Cervantez, a World War II Army veteran who died in 1997. But Martinez said its also an opportunity to show respect to other veterans in the community and teach her familys younger generation about what veterans have sacrificed for the country.

Martinez, 53, is the youngest of 11 siblings, half of whom were able to attend the San Marcos Veterans Day parade Saturday morning along with several other relatives. The group gathered along the downtown parade route under a canopy, where they hung a banner that said Honoring Daddy beneath a photo of Cervantez.

Its very important, especially in our day and age, to continue to respect those that have served, Martinez said. Them serving in the past is what allowed us our freedom today.

The family was among hundreds of people who lined the streets of downtown San Marcos to cheer on about 50 groups that drove or marched the parade route. Local elected officials were in the parade along with organizations such as the San Marcos Lions Club, San Marcos High School Air Force JROTC and the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association.

The San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department has been organizing the parade since 2007, according to Lisa Morris, recreation programs manager and event organizer. She said last years parade was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was replaced with a monthlong series of activities designed to honor veterans.

This year, the department decided to keep some of those activities going and is encouraging residents to do something for veterans each week this month, such as making donations to the food bank for the veterans food pantry and writing a letter to a resident of a Texas State Veterans Home.

But on Saturday, residents came downtown for the return of the parade.

The Kiwanis Club of San Marcos had a float pulled by the clubs tractor. As it circled San Marcos town square, it was followed by a bicycle brigade of a dozen children, who had decorated their bikes with red, white and blue stars and streamers. The club organizes the bike brigade each year.

The parade is Council Member Alyssa Garzas favorite parade. She said this years festivities were a great way to bring the community together as we emerge from COVID-19.

Garza walked in the parade with the Hays County Democratic Party. The group carried signs advocating for veterans housing and for jobs and job training for veterans.

I think thats a sentiment that the entire community shares, she said, so seeing everybody come out here regardless of party affiliation to support our veterans solidifies that were on the right path.

Stephanie Brown, VFW Post 3413 commander, said she hopes the community had fun connecting with each other, especially because they didnt have the chance to celebrate with a traditional parade last year. Brown, 40, was a medic in the military for a decade, first serving in the Air Force and then in the Army.

Its an honor to be recognized in the community as well as an educational opportunity for community members to see how many veterans live here, she said. We walk among them all the time and they dont know. So thats cool; its a two-way street.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
Sujata Jana / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm

Two people checking on damage from a wreck in the middle of Interstate 35 were killed early Saturday morning, according to police.

The San Antonio Police Department reported a male and female were traveling north in a 2015 Ford Escape after midnight. The male driver crashed into a Chevrolet truck traveling in lane four.
Sunday marks an unfortunate anniversary  21 straight years of daily deaths on Texas roadways.

Its a record that the Texas Department of Transportation is trying to end.

More than 75,000 people have died on Texas roadways in the past two decades, according to a news release. About 10 people die each day in Texas wrecks. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number went up to 11 people per day despite the fact that traffic dropped almost 50 percent.

Unsafe practices such as speeding, drunken driving and distracted driving all play a role in the streak. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, most wrecks and fatalities are preventable and caused by such behaviors.

With about $600 million being put into safety improvements along Texas roadways in 2020 and 2021, Laura Lopez, San Antonio district public information officer, said TxDOT is trying to protect drivers.

But adding rumble strips and reinforced shoulders can go only so far, so Lopez said TxDOT is continuing to encourage safe driving through its social media and word of mouth #EndTheStreakTX campaign. She stressed that things like finding a sober ride home and putting phones away when driving are critical parts of keeping the states roads safe.

We cant do this alone, she said. We need the traveling public to be alert when driving, to buckle up first thing when you get in the vehicle; and not just the driver, that includes passengers, everyone in the vehicle.

On ExpressNews.com: TxDOT: Concerns grow as pedestrian, bicyclist deaths increase in Texas

Lopez said that more than 3,000 people have died in wrecks so far this year in Texas.

Last year with 151 deaths, San Antonio was among the top five cities with the most fatal wrecks in the state. Houston was No. 1, with 275 deaths, followed by Dallas, which lost 225 people.

The two leading causes of fatal wrecks in San Antonio last year were drivers being under the influence of alcohol and pedestrians failing to yield the right of way to a vehicle, Lopez said.

Sharing personal stories about people who have died in wrecks and posting on social media with the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX also can go a long way, Lopez said.

We ask Texans to encourage others to make safer driving decisions, Lopez said.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
Congressional Republicans and Democrats dont agree on much, but they agreed on HR390.

This was a bill introduced by Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen to change the name of a federal building in Memphis. Cohen wanted to remove the name of the late Clifford Davis, a onetime Klansman and lifelong segregationist, so the building would be solely named after Odell Horton, the first African American federal judge to serve in the Western District of Tennessee since Reconstruction.

What right-minded person could oppose such a proposal? Even Davis family, in a statement released last year, backed the idea.

The current reckoning with our nations enduring history of racism is long overdue, and we support renaming the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building to bear Hortons name alone, the family said.

All 217 Democrats on the House floor Thursday afternoon voted for the name change. All but three of the 208 Republicans did the same.

Chip Roy was one of the three contrarians.

The Texas Republican, whose district includes part of San Antonio, voted Present.

Its a familiar role for Roy. After all, this is the same guy who, in 2019, temporarily blocked the passage of a $19.1 billion disaster relief bill (including $4 billion to Texans ravaged by Hurricane Harvey) because he objected to the idea of the House passing it by unanimous consent, without a roll call vote.

On Thursday, Roy essentially boycotted the Memphis Federal Building vote because he wanted to make some kind of statement on unrelated issues.

From this day forward  or at least until the Congress of the United States actually secures our borders, balances our budget, and otherwise stops harming this great country  I will vote present on all bills involving the naming of federal buildings and installations, Roy said in a Thursday news release.

Roy also made a point of attacking what he described as a military more focused pushing woke ideology than destroying our enemies.

He said his staffs time is better spent on these multiple crises than in trying to gather information on the lives of people for whom government buildings are named.

Roy blasted his congressional colleagues for using the Peoples time passing bills to name federal buildings.

So, what substantive work does Roy have to show for his 34 months in Congress? What pivotal legislation has he produced? How exactly is he preventing woke ideology from taking over the military?

His biggest crusade this year has been to rail against women registering for the Selective Service, a bureaucratic process that has little meaning in a country that did away with the military draft 48 years ago and has no plans to bring it back.

If not for symbolic, grandstanding moves, however, Roy would have no moves at all. But he wants us to believe that renaming the Memphis Federal Building was a frivolous affront to his sense of legislative integrity.

Since Roy considered it a waste of his staffs culture war workload to do even the most basic research into Clifford Davis life, here are some facts:

Davis launched his political career in 1923 as the Ku Klux Klans candidate for city judge, the shining light of the Klans Memphis ticket, as the Chattanooga Daily Times recounted in 1944. The night before his big win, Davis spoke at a Klan rally to 2,000 people outside Memphiss Lyric Theatre.

One of the big targets at that time for Davis and the Klan was Memphis Commercial Appeal editor C.P.J. Mooney, whose big sin was that he happened to be Catholic.

From 1928 to 1940, Davis served as Memphis public safety commissioner, recruiting so many Klan members that they came to constitute 70 percent of the police force. Davis Klan recruits were notorious for brutalizing African Americans.

He later served 12 terms in the U.S. House, establishing himself as one of the most staunch segregationists in Congress. In 1956, he signed the so-called Southern Manifesto opposing the desegregation of public schools mandated by the U.S. Supreme Courts Brown v. Board decision.

One of Davis last acts in Congress was to vote against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Memphis is a city with a 64 percent African American population, and for 50 years that city has been saddled with a federal building named after a repulsive bigot.

But that information is too trivial for Roys attention. After all, hes mighty busy retweeting any quack theory he can find that shoots down the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Every other member of the San Antonio congressional delegation  Joaquin Castro, Tony Gonzales, Henry Cuellar and Lloyd Doggett  voted to remove Davis name from the building.

In the end, the bill passed easily and Roys little statement of rebellion had no impact. It just made him look like a fool. And not for the first time.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Re: On Bidens side, Your Turn, Monday:

Thank you, Jose Caballero, for your letter. You succinctly enumerated some of the multitude of violations of decorum and morality of the former White House occupant. He was a dangerous egotist, interested only in enhancing his self-image as a strongman, like the dictators he so admired and publicly praised.

Jose, your well-expressed comments, with a light comedic touch, twice on Sunday, were a breath of fresh air. Please keep writing.

Rachel V. Diaz-Kennon

Alma E. Hernandez /For the San Antonio Express News

Swipe at Trump

Re: Missing Powell, too, Your Turn, Wednesday:

Like the writer, I, too, liked Colin Powell. I would have voted for Powell, but must ask the question, What was he afraid of that kept him from a guaranteed nomination for president? Well never know.

Of course, the letter writer also took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, saying It will take years to repair the damage hes done to the United States.

Please, Mr. Celaya, write in again and list for us factual things Trump did to damage the country. Did he damage the military? Did he damage the VA? Did he damage legal immigration? Did he damage the economy? Did he damage the $2,000 tax savings I realized? Did he damage the unprecedented speed of vaccine development?

Its the sweeping allegations against the other side that keep this country so divided.

Fred Martin, Fair Oaks Ranch

A better place

I recall from a long-ago history class a story about a 19th-century city with two privately owned and competing fire departments. So eager were the firefighters to win by getting to the fire first, they often stopped to fight each other, and while they were fighting, the structure burned down.

I suggest all angry Americans screaming over masks and shouting about freedom as if they didnt have it to watch the report by David Muir of ABC News on southern Madagascar, and if your children have clean water to drink and food to eat, maybe thank your lucky stars for our America and stop trying to destroy it.

There are worthwhile things you can do to make the world a better place, but acting like spoiled children isnt it.

Theresa S. Doyle
A population surge is forcing Bexar County leaders this week to redraw the line between two commissioner precincts to comply with federal law.

About 40,000 residents in Precinct 3  on the North Side  will likely be shifted into Precinct 2  on the West/Northwest Side  to divide the population more evenly. According to U.S. census data, Precinct 3 had the most growth over the last decade and now has 552,251 residents, compared with 463,625 in Precinct 2, which had the lowest population count.

A 17.6 percent variance between the two violates the U.S. Constitution, redistricting attorneys Rolando L. Rios and Jose Garza told commissioners at their last regular meeting Oct. 26. Federal law requires less than 10 percent variance. The attorneys presented three options to move the boundary.

Because of the timeline for the 2022 primary elections, commissioners have about a week to finalize a redistricting plan.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County races to meet redistricting deadline

They committed last month to making a decision Tuesday. Although county redistricting is simpler and less political than at the city or state level, the two commissioners most affected by the process said they want to be sure its the best plan to have possibly for the next 10 years.

The unfortunate thing is we have to do this in a pretty constricted timeline because the pandemic caused a delay in census data, said Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez, who was elected last year to complete an unexpired term. He plans to seek re-election next year.

Rodriguez stands to pick up voter precincts in the Leon Valley, Medical Center and Oak Hills areas, along with neighborhoods east of Bandera Road. He was studying maps in detail last week to prepare for Tuesdays decision. Although no one spoke on redistricting at the Oct. 26 meeting, Rodriguez said he wouldve preferred to have more time for public input.

Thats always a concern. You rush things and maybe miss something. But I think were trying to be as diligent as possible and deliberate as possible as we work through this process, knowing that weve got this mid-November timeframe to get this adopted and really, frankly, to be in compliance, he said.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Trish DeBerry would cede those areas to Rodriguez. But she hopes to pick up land in and around Helotes, a sprawling, amorphously shaped municipality known as San Antonios gateway to the Hill Country.

Since most of Leon Valley is in Precinct 2, and much of Helotes is in Precinct 3, DeBerry and Rodriguez both support a boundary adjustment that places all of Leon Valley in Rodriguezs jurisdiction and most of Helotes in DeBerrys.

DeBerry said its more efficient for suburban mayors and city councils to have one commissioner who can wholly dig into their issues and help leverage county, state or federal funding.

Ive tried to build relationships with the municipalities because theyre important, too. Sometimes they dont feel theyre paid much attention to, DeBerry said.

The first of three redistricting options presented to commissioners achieves their goals without changing other precinct boundaries in the county.

Its a great opportunity, since we only do this every 10 years, to be able to get it right, DeBerry said.

Leon Valley Mayor Chris Riley said her city has had two county commissioners and two state representatives for the past 10 years. The city worked with Rodriguez to secure a $1.3 million grant for flood control and has talked about contacting DeBerrys office about flooding on the suburbs east side.

But Riley said the dual-commissioner setup has created confusion among citizens as to who their commissioner is, depending on where they reside. All three proposed redistricting maps provide a simpler boundary between the two precincts, eliminating existing pockets of Precinct 3 that are surrounded by Precinct 2.

Helotes Mayor Rich Whitehead said his city has worked well with both commissioners, but he understands the desire to streamline representation. He said it would be hard to get 100 percent of the homes in Helotes into one precinct, without carving out a section of San Antonio.

All three maps definitely clean up the boundary line and make it a little bit more understandable, Whitehead said.

Theres a possibility the redistricting could be revisited in as little as two years.

Many have raised concerns about a census undercount. Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert believes the countys official 2020 population of 2,009,324 may have been understated by 200,000.

They did not count people in the apartments properly. There were many people who were undercounted. Our precinct is booming, said Calvert, whose precinct came in with the second-lowest figure of 484,768.

On ExpressNews.com: City growth spurs ideas of expanding council

Lawyers consulting the county on redistricting have predicted widespread lawsuits alleging inadequate funding and outreach for a complete census that left out communities of color.

Rodriguez said he shares concerns about an undercount. But the county can conduct out-of-cycle redistricting to address problems in the census data that is determined to have stemmed from the pandemic.

I do think that the numbers in my precinct probably also reflect the lack of outreach and probably represents an undercount, Rodriguez said.

For the short term, the challenge will be for political candidates who have little time to reach out to voters in the redistricted areas.

Thats a concern every time youre on the ballot, he said.

shuddleston@express-news.net
Opening a second front in widening legal wars over redistricting, a coalition of mostly Hispanic, Democratic members of the Texas House filed suit in state court Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the new political map for the state House.

Multiple lawsuits challenging new political districts drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature will play out in federal court, but the Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed the state case citing language in the Texas Constitution requiring legislators drawing the Texas Houses 150 districts to keep intact counties with sufficient population to make up one House district.

MALCs challenge centers on the reconfiguration of Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley, which breaks the county line twice to create three districts  only one wholly contained within the county. The states county line rule, MALC argues, would require two districts be drawn within Cameron, with the remaining population connected to a single neighboring district, as was the case under the map the state used for the last decade.

Texas redistricting fights have typically played out in federal courts, which decade after decade have found that lawmakers, often intentionally, flouted federal protections for voters of color. Two federal lawsuits had already been filed against the new maps.

The caucus simultaneously filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, alleging the states new maps were drawn with discriminatory intent and violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Filed in Austin, MALC framed the suit as an effort to redress once again Texass sordid pattern of racial discrimination.

The new lines in Cameron, drawn over the objections of lawmakers who represent the affected areas, would afford Republicans a newly competitive state House seat in an area currently dominated by Democrats. In its federal lawsuit, MALC alleges the lines would also severely dilute the ability of Latinos and the Spanish-speaking community in the area to elect their preferred candidates.

The MALC lawsuits are just the latest entries in the growing stack of legal challenges to the new maps for the statehouse, Congress and the State Board of Education.

The Republican-controlled Legislature this year took on the work of redistricting to include a decade of population growth into the states maps and equalize the population of districts. The final product was contained in district boundaries that solidified the GOPs dominance while weakening the influence of voters of color.

Of the 4 million residents the state gained since 2010, 95 percent were people of color. But throughout their mapmaking, Republicans manipulated boundary lines around communities of color and drew them into districts that diminish their voice.

Half of the states population gains in the last decade were among Hispanics. Yet the House map drops the number of districts in which Hispanics make up the majority of eligible voters from 33 to 30. The congressional map reduces the number of districts with a Hispanic voting majority from eight to seven.

Republicans who led the redistricting process have argued the maps were drawn blind to race and cleared by legal counsel for compliance with federal law, though they have declined to disclose how those conclusions were reached.

In its federal lawsuit, MALC challenges the new maps for Congress, the Texas House and the State Board of Education, saying they are intentionally discriminatory and mired in illegal racial gerrymanders. The caucus also raises specific claims on a litany of districts where they allege the Legislature packed and cracked communities of color to limit their electoral impact.

The plans adopted by the State not only failed to increase Latino and minority opportunities for representation, they actually decreased them while increasing the number of districts in which Anglos form a majority of the eligible voter population, the MALC complaint reads. This turns the concept of representative democracy on its head.

Echoing the two federal lawsuits already in the pipeline, MALC is also challenging the Legislatures refusal to create additional districts in which Hispanic voters would control elections.

Republicans, who had complete control over the redistricting process this year, declined to create those districts even as they reconfigured the congressional map to include the two additional U.S. House seats the state gained, the most of any state in this years reapportionment, because of its explosive growth.

Latino voters and organizations that represent them filed the first federal lawsuit last month before all of the maps were sent to the governor, arguing the new boundaries intentionally discriminate against them and would pull back on their influence on elections.

A second lawsuit dropped shortly after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the maps into law. Backed by an organization affiliated with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a group of voters and Voto Latino are seeking to overturn the states new congressional map based on claims that it dilutes the voting power of people of color.

Representatives for Abbott, who is named as a defendant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.


The Croatian government has issued a much-delayed tender call for twelve Public Service Obligation (PSO) flight contracts for a period of four years, which will come into effect on May 1, 2022 and run until March 28, 2026. PSOs make European funds available for unprofitable, primarily domestic routes which are considered vital for the economic development of the region they serve. The previous four-year contracts expired back in March of last year but have been extended ever since due to the coronavirus pandemic. No further terms and conditions have been outlined in the latest tender call, which runs until December 24, 2021. The previous contracts were awarded to Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. The Croatian government has issued a much-delayed tender call for twelve Public Service Obligation (PSO) flight contracts for a period of four years, which will come into effect on May 1, 2022 and run until March 28, 2026. PSOs make European funds available for unprofitable, primarily domestic routes which are considered vital for the economic development of the region they serve. The previous four-year contracts expired back in March of last year but have been extended ever since due to the coronavirus pandemic. No further terms and conditions have been outlined in the latest tender call, which runs until December 24, 2021. The previous contracts were awarded to Croatia Airlines and Trade Air.





The routes which will be compensated and maintained as PSO are: Dubrovnik - Zagreb  Dubrovnik, Split - Zagreb - Split, Zagreb - Zadar - Pula - Zadar - Zagreb, Zagreb - Brac - Zagreb, Osijek - Dubrovnik - Osijek, Osijek - Split - Osijek, Osijek - Zagreb - Osijek, Rijeka - Split - Dubrovnik - Split - Rijeka, Osijek - Pula - Split - Pula - Osijek, Rijeka - Zadar - Rijeka and Osijek - Zadar - Osijek. Compared to the previous four-year period, new additions include flights from Osijek and Rijeka to Zadar. Rijeka Airport had previously urged the Croatian government to do more to include the city in its PSO contracts, but only gained one additional route.





Pre-pandemic average annual load factor on PSO routes in Croatia









Ryanair, which will have three aircraft stationed in Zagreb by the end of the year, has said it will seriously consider applying once tendering for the new PSO agreement begins. Commenting on the potential of operating domestic flights in Croatia, Ryanair recently said, We are waiting for a tender call for the PSO routes to be published. We will undertake a serious analysis of the terms and conditions. At this point, we cant say definitively if we will take part in the procedure or not. Our decision will primarily depend on the proposed requirements. However, we would have to look into whether our aircraft, which have almost 200 seats, would be cost-effective on domestic flights within Croatia. In 2019, the former Slovenian national carrier, Adria Airways, was preparing to take part in Croatias 2020 PSO tender process. However, the airline went bankrupt in late September that year. PSO routes are restricted to a single operating carrier.





The value of the new PSO contracts has not been disclosed. Under the previous deal, Croatia Airlines received roughly 11.4 million euros in annual compensation for the domestic services. The largest amount, 4.2 million euros per year, went towards maintaining flights between Split and Zagreb, where the airline was remunerated some 22 euros per passenger carried, although the largest compensation per traveller was on the Zagreb - Pula - Zadar service, totalling 177 euros. The value of Trade Air's PSO contracts amounted to roughly 2.5 million euros per year according to the European Commission. The largest share of the subsidies went towards the upkeep of the Osijek - Zagreb service (1.3 million euros per year), where the airline was compensated approximately 599 euros per passenger.





Existing PSO compensation per passenger












The graduate program in French Studies at the University of British Columbia is now accepting applications for the 20222023 academic year until January 31, 2022.



Online Information Session: On Tuesday, November 9th, we will be hosting an online Information Session for anyone who would like to learn more about our Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs. Register now.



Our MA and PhD programs delve into the languages, literatures, and cultures of Quebec, France, and the Francophone world in an environment that celebrates intellectual curiosity and freedom of inquiry. Our diverse team of nationally and internationally recognized faculty specialize in a variety of interdisciplinary research, blending French Studies with History, Visual Arts, Gender Studies, Linguistics, and more. Our hands-on approach to mentorship and vibrant community are frequently cited as contributing factors to the success of our graduate students. We encourage all eligible candidates to apply to achieve their education and career goals at our top-ranked Canadian university!



GRADUATE STUDENT FUNDING



We offer entrance scholarships, multi-year funding packages, tuition awards, and scholarship top-ups. Graduate students may also earn an income through Teaching Assistantships and potential Research Assistantships. Full-time PhD students are provided with a minimum funding package of $18,000which is normally higherfor each of their first four years.



There is a wide array of additional opportunities for financial support from departmental, university, and external sources. For example, the Ministry of Education (French Education Branch, British Columbia) offers bursaries to residents of the province who take at least 55% of their courses in French, and the Baxter & Alma Ricard Foundation provides scholarships to Canadian citizens who are finishing their BA or starting an MA or PhD degree and are living in a Francophone minority environment. More details are available on our Graduate Funding webpage.



ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT



We provide a comprehensive Teaching Assistant training program, as well as academic and professional development workshopson grant writing, publishing, conference attendance, the job market, and wellbeing, among other topicsto support our graduate students' experience at our university and help them make an impact on society.



CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH



From Medieval French literature to 21st-century African and Caribbean cultures, we offer solid academic training through a variety of innovative courses, research clusters, reading groups, and research seminars. Students may participate or even lead these initiatives, both in the department and in interdisciplinary centres, such as Green College, the Public Humanities Hub, and the Liu Institute for Global Issues. View the collection of MA and PhD theses of former students.



COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT



Our biennial Graduate Student Conference, organized by graduate students with the assistance of faculty members, offers a platform to share research with the wider academic community, network with local and international peers, and plan large-scale academic events. Moreover, our annual Graduate Student Symposium allows graduate students to present their research to the department. Graduate students may also volunteer as tutors at the FHIS Learning Centre to help undergraduate students become proficient in the languages they are studying.



LIFE IN VANCOUVER



In normal circumstances, learning at UBC means enjoying a superb campus in one of the planets truly spectacular regionsbeautiful British Columbia. Vancouver is BCs cosmopolitan urban centre, providing a temperate climate, safe streets, a vibrant arts and culture scene, and a welcoming, culturally diverse population.



ADMISSION PERIOD



The admission period runs from November 1, 2021  January 31, 2022 for the September 2022 and January 2023 intakes.



For more information, please visit our website at https://fhis.ubc.ca/graduate/.

If you have any questions about our program, do not hesitate to contact the graduate advisor, Dr. Patrick Moran (patrick.moran@ubc.ca).
PITTSBURGH (AP)  Marion Yates lived the first 10 years of her life without electricity. Frank Pugliano Sr. had one of the first television sets in his neighborhood. Elijah Gardner grew up on a Southern plantation that his father operated for a white family.

All three are centenarians, people who have lived 100 years  or more.

And have they lived.

Part of the Greatest Generation, they have endured two pandemics, a Great Depression and a Great Recession. They have witnessed technological advances unfathomable to even the most imaginative mind, and they have watched as someone just 10 years their junior flew to the edge of space two weeks ago.

There are more centenarians today than at any point in history, according to the Pew Research Center.

I am blessed, Gardner said. I thank God for every breath I take. I dont want for anything.

___

I am blessed.

I thank God

for every

breath I take.

I dont want

for anything.

 Elijah Gardner

___

The worlds centenarian population is projected to grow rapidly, according to Pew, citing United Nations estimates. In 2015, there were nearly a half-million centenarians worldwide  more than four times as many as in 1990. U.N. projections suggest there will be about 3.7 million centenarians in 2050.

The most recent Social Security Administration numbers on centenarians in Pennsylvania show there were about 5,890 in 2019. Thats a minuscule percentage of the 13 million people who live in the state, but more than double from 2010, according to U.S. Census figures.

Its clear that more people are living to 100 in the post-industrial world and some are living to be 110, what we call supercentenarians, said Dr. Eric G. Rodriguez, a geriatrician at UPMC Benedum Geriatric Center in Oakland.

While hitting the century mark is a reason for celebration, its not without hardships.

One of the rewards of long life is that you lose everyone and everybody close to you who has meaning to you, from spouses to friends and relatives and even your children, Rodriguez said. The biggest thing is to avoid isolation and to be open to learning new things like a computer, iPad and smartphone.

Rodriguez credits many seniors longevity to improvements in medicine, including less invasive surgeries and vaccinations. Nutrition is better, he said.

For many, their memory  at least their long-term memory  remains vibrant.

Rodriguez said with most seniors, remembering things that happened many years ago comes more easily than recalling the recent past because its more difficult for the brain to retain new information. Those long-ago memories are hard-wired, he said.

There is some connection to long life being hereditary, he said. The ability to handle stress is important. If people are able to roll with the punches, he said, they will be able to overcome some tough times.

As they mark 100 years with parties and celebrations, a centenarians birthday candles illuminate more than an age. They represent a life well lived.

The following centenarians exude wisdom, humor and personality, their stories tantamount to living history.

Frank Pugliano Sr.

100, Washington Township

The lawn at Frank Pugliano Sr.s home is pristine. He mows it himself and handles trimming the bushes and other landscaping duties  despite using a wheelchair.

He lifts himself from his wheelchair onto a riding mower, often wearing a T-shirt that reads Father Mows Best.

He also can fix pretty much anything. Neighbors call him the handyman.

Pugliano, a World War II veteran, celebrated his 100th birthday in June with a party at Boyce Park.

He came to the U.S. from Italy as a child and later contracted scarlet fever. He eventually recovered and went on to graduate from Penn Hills High School. Thats where he met Mary Strough, the love of my life, he said. They were married for 65 years and raised two children. He has one granddaughter.

Mary died of cancer in 2011.

We owned one of the first televisions to come out, and we had all kinds of people coming over to our house, he said.

Pugliano enlisted in the Army on Dec. 28, 1942, and became a technical sergeant. He survived a torpedo attack by the Japanese on his convoy mission to Luzon in the Philippines.

Those young men, they never had a chance at life, he said as tears welled up.

After the war, Pugliano laid railroad ties and rails with Union Railroad, served as a crane operator at Gascola Slag Co. and for Robert M. Chambers in Penn Hills, and worked as a diesel mechanic for Mushroom Transportation on Neville Island. He can play the guitar, harmonica and saxophone. He enjoys chocolate and Coca-Cola.

He said he has good genes  his parents lived into their 90s.

They gave me a 50-50 chance of living (as a child with scarlet fever), and here I am 100 years later, he said. When you are born, you are dealt cards. What makes me (live to be 100), I dont know.

Ruthie Shuster

100, Irwin

Ruthie Shuster loves to dance and often extends an invitation, starting with a polka. But she might be best known for working three days a week at McDonalds in North Huntingdon. She can spotted cleaning a table or washing windows.

I miss seeing the customers, she said one day during the summer as she stood in an empty dining room. At the time, covid-19 forced in-restaurant dining to stop. I love working at McDonalds.

McDonalds threw Shuster a party for her 100th birthday in March.

She wears an M necklace the company bought her two years ago marking for 25 years of service.

Shuster said she doesnt see turning 100 as anything special.

I am just plain Ruthie, she said.

Mary Lou Shuster, who is married to Ruthies son Jack, said her mother-in-law is one of a kind.

Ruthie Shuster was born in North Huntingdon, the daughter of Italian immigrants. All of her brothers joined the military. She met Joseph F. Shuster at a square dance in Manor. The couple wed in April 1945. She has been a widow since 1971. Shuster has two children, Jack and Janet, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

She has a valid drivers license but doesnt use it much these days.

Shuster said she never drank alcohol or smoked. She loves chocolate and any kind of soup.

She wears an angel pin every day and lives by the belief that love is the most important thing.

Her mother lived into her 90s.

She appreciates the good things in life, said Michael Delligatti, owner of the North Huntingdon McDonalds. She is always singing, You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

We could use 1,000 more Ruthies.

Julia Parsons

100, Forest Hills

Julia Parsons kept a secret for more than 50 years.

The Forest Hills resident was a code-breaker in World War II. She served in the Navys WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) after graduating from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) in 1942.

She worked on one of the first computers to decode German U-boat message traffic sent via the Enigma machine, according to Todd DePastino, founder and executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club, a Pittsburgh nonprofit dedicated to sharing veterans stories.

Parsons never talked about her service  even with her husband.

I knew this was important information to keep to myself, she said. It was a top military secret.

She broke her silence in 1997 when she discovered that the information was declassified in the 1960s.

Serving in the U.S. Navys WAVES during World War II, Julia Parsons decoded German U-boat messages.

For her 100th birthday in March, DePastino organized a parade past Parsons home with police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck, and other vehicles driving by her home as she sat on the lawn.

A Color Guard of servicemen and women saluted Parsons.

It was exciting being in the Navy, she said. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like doing a crossword puzzle every day.

Parsons works to stay sharp by playing bridge. She said she had to find younger people to play with because most of her friends have died.

She attends Veteran Breakfast Club meetings virtually on her iPad. She said she had less trouble learning to use a coding machine in the 1940s than adjusting to todays technology.

Parsons credits her longevity to good genes  her mother lived to be 100.

Parsons and her husband Don, whom she met in the service, were married for 62 years. He died when he was 82. They have three children, eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

As she read through a pile of birthday cards, Parson said: I was thinking the other day, Oh my God, how did I get here?

Elijah Gardner

100, Valencia

Elijah Gardner walked into the living room with a walker and tapped his wife, Minnie, who was sleeping in a recliner, lightly on her foot.

Honey, Im back, he said.

She opened her eyes and smiled, that same look she given him throughout their 70 years of marriage. Gardner serves as his wifes caregiver.

They had two sons. One of the couples toughest times was when son Herbert, then 24, drowned in 1984.

Gardner said the pain of losing a child is indescribable. Every day, I wish he was still here, he said.

Gardner said he asked God for a wife. He had a dream about a woman offering him peanuts. The next day he said he met Minnie. She asked him if he wanted some peanuts.

God sent Minnie to me, said Gardner as he sat in the chapel at St. Barnabas The Arbors-Valencia, where the couple lives.

His faith guides him, no matter the challenge, he said.

Gardner, in his soft-spoken tone, recounted growing up on a plantation in South Carolina, which his father ran. Curious to learn, white men would meet with the elder Gardner late at night so no one would see they were asking for help.

Gardner said his family was treated well on the plantation.

He didnt know the specific difficulties African Americans faced in urban settings until he found himself immersed in that culture, Elijah Gardners son Kelvin said. When we watch shows that address racism, he realizes he was blessed to have avoided some of the terrible things that happened to others.

Elijah and his brother Peter joined the Navy. Elijah served on two destroyers during World War II: the USS Parrott from August 1943 to March 1944 and the USS Ellis from April 1944 to September 1945.

When the war was over, Gardner came to Pittsburgh to work in a steel mill. He later applied for a job with the Veterans Administration and was hired as vehicle operator. The family lived in what was called the Lincoln District of Pittsburgh and belonged to the Homewood A.M.E. Zion Church.

Gardner turned 100 on Oct. 1, the same day as he and his wifes 70th wedding anniversary. There was cake and singing of Happy Birthday as well as a virtual party Kelvin arranged with family and friends.

Life is about doing the right things and treating people the way you want to be treated, Elijah said.

Marion Yates

100, Upper Burrell

Eat right. Think right. Do right. Live right. That is Marion Yates motto.

The Upper Burrell resident turned 100 in September. A celebration was held at United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington.

Those are the words she has always lived by, said her son Ernie, 69, of Catawissa, Columbia County. This is quite a milestone. She said, Lets do this again next year.

Yates, who is deaf, communicates via messages on a dry-erase board. She lost her hearing because of an infection two and a half years ago. She still puts her hearing aids in every day out of habit, said another son, Cecil.

Yates also is blind in one eye.

At her birthday party, family members and friends wrote on a dry-erase board Happy Birthday, You can have some of my Mountain Dew, Singing Happy Birthday and other warm sentiments.

Asked about the celebration, she wrote, Oh my, its wonderful. It is so exciting to see family and friends gathered to celebrate my birthday.

Born Marion Morrow, she grew up on a farm in the New Kensington area. She told her children that her family had no electricity until she was 10. She was so happy afterward, she said, because she hated cleaning the globes used with oil lamps.

She married Cecil H. Yates, who later became New Kensingtons police chief.

They had three sons and a daughter. She has eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Her husband died in 1987. They had been married 45 years.

My mother has always had a lot of spirit, said Yates daughter Kathy Forrest, 77, of Gaithersburg, Md. She has a really good philosophy on life.

William Fedor celebrated his 100th birthday  on Oct. 9  with his two younger sisters.

William Fedor

100, West Mifflin

William Fedor doesnt own a mop  he prefers to clean the floor on his hands and knees.

He also still drives his 2003 Toyota Corolla.

He has such a positive outlook on life, said his niece Pati Damon-Johnson, of Virginia Beach, Va. He is vintage and has all his original parts  knees, hips, teeth.

William Fedors real birthday is Sept. 27; the midwife who delivered him never filed the paperwork until Oct. 9.

Fedor grew up in Braddock, where is family owned Fedors Meat Market. Everyone had to chip in, said Fedor, who later owned the market.

At 19, he left Westinghouse Technical School where he was studying electrical engineering and enlisted in the Army Air Corps  the precursor to the Air Force. He became a certified radar bombardment operator. He spent most of his service in England and was assigned to a B-24 bomber.

He was awarded six service stars and became a staff sergeant.

He never married. He lives with his sister Irene Fedor, 97, in West Mifflin. Another sister, Agnes Ivory, 93, lives in Wilkinsburg.

Damon-Johnson and another of Fedors nieces, Ann Ivory Hersh of Bethlehem, helped plan a party Oct. 9 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. Damon-Johnson contacted the J.M. Smucker Co. about getting her uncles photo on a jar of jelly to be profiled on NBCs popular Today Show segment profiling 100-year-olds. He hasnt yet appeared, she said.

Asked how he hit 100, Fedor said: I was lucky, so lucky.

He recounted the story of riding in a Jeep in London during World War II. The Jeep was bombed. A fellow passenger died. He survived.

Fedor told the crowd at his birthday party that his actual birthday is Sept. 27. He said the midwife who delivered him never filed the paperwork until Oct. 9.

At the party, there were more than 300 birthday cards from Homeville Elementary School in West Mifflin. Ivory Hersh contacted the principal and asked if the students would write to Fedor. Many thanked him for his service.

One read, Happy Birthday Mr. Bill. Lets see if you can get to 200. Good luck with that.

Fedor made the rounds at his birthday celebration, where a cake was adorned with three candles spelling out 100.

I just want to wish all of you the best in luck, health and happiness, he told the group.

Everyone clapped.

You have always supported each and every one of us through special and memorable family occasions, Damon-Johnson said. Now its our time to celebrate you.

___

Online:

https://bit.ly/31mFMde
Wildlife campaign group Wild Justice has launched a fresh legal challenge against Northern Ireland's general licences.

The group, founded Chris Packham, Dr Ruth Tingay and Dr Mark Avery, has hit its fundraising target of 45,000 to spearhead the legal action.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) recently issued general licences permitting the killing of several species of wild bird.

These are for specified purposes, such as to preserve public health and safety, to prevent the spread of disease and to prevent serious damage to livestock and crops.

But Wild Justice said it believed the general licences were 'scientifically flawed and unlawful'.

"They are scientifically flawed because they allow the killing of several species where there isnt evidence to demonstrate they are a problem," the campaign group said.

"DAERA is the only regulatory body in the UK to issue general licences for these purposes."

The general licences under scrutiny are TPG1, TPG2 and TPG3. Of note to farmers is TPG2, which allows users to kill or take certain birds to prevent damage to agriculture.

Wild Justice said that they believed the general licences issued in Northern Ireland were "the worst in place anywhere in the UK".

The group's activists said they had been 'lengthy and reasonable discussions' with DAERA since March 2021 to have the licences amended.

However, they have since been re-issued 'without addressing any of our concerns', the group explained.

"The general licences are legally flawed for a long list of reasons, including that they do not specify the circumstances under which they can be used or the non-lethal alternatives which should first be deployed.

"We will now challenge them in the courts with vigour."


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In a new sub-analysis of the landmark EMPEROR-Preserved Phase III trial, empagliflozin reduced the combined relative risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure and slowed kidney function decline1

Empagliflozin consistently improved outcomes across the full range of kidney function down to an eGFR of 20 mL/min/1.73 m2 1

Empagliflozinreduced the risk for the composite primary endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure and slowed kidney function decline in adults with heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) over 40 percent regardless of chronic kidney disease status at baseline, according to findings from a new prespecified sub-analysis of the EMPEROR-Preserved Phase III trial.1 In EMPEROR-Preserved, two thirds of enrolled adults had heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF; LVEF of at least 50 percent) and one third had mildly reduced LVEF (greater than 40 percent but less than 50 percent).2 The results were presented today at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2021, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced.1

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211106005123/en/

"Heart failure and chronic kidney disease are intimately linked the risk of death in people with heart failure increases with kidney function decline," said Faiez Zannad, M.D., Ph.D., EMPEROR Program Clinical Investigator and Emeritus Professor of Therapeutics and Cardiology at the University of Lorraine, France. "The consistent benefits shown for the reduction of serious heart failure events and the slowing of kidney function decline regardless of chronic kidney disease status are welcome results for both patients and physicians. The findings underscore the potential value of empagliflozin across a wide range of kidney function in this heart failure population that includes people with preserved ejection fraction."

Nearly half of adults with heart failure also have chronic kidney disease.3 Together, these conditions are associated with high mortality rates and risk for hospital admission.3 More than 60 million people worldwide have heart failure, and approximately half of them have HFpEF.4,5 No currently approved treatments have been clinically proven to significantly improve outcomes across the full spectrum of heart failure.

"In those living with heart failure, including those with preserved ejection fraction, chronic kidney disease poses an additional challenge to managing these patients and contributes to the worsening and progression of heart failure," said Waheed Jamal, M.D., Corporate Vice President and Head of CardioMetabolic Medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim. "It is very encouraging to see the evidence from EMPEROR-Preserved, which shows cardiovascular and kidney benefits in these patients with heart failure, including those with HFpEF, and concomitant chronic kidney disease."

As previously reported, EMPEROR-Preserved showed that empagliflozin significantly reduced the risk for the composite primary endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure in adults with heart failure with LVEF over 40 percent compared with placebo.2 Empagliflozin also significantly reduced the risk of first and recurrent hospitalizations for heart failure and slowed kidney function decline.2

Over half (53.5 percent) of adults in EMPEROR-Preserved had chronic kidney disease (defined as eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or UACR above 300 mg/g) at trial entry, and 9.7 percent had severe kidney impairment (eGFR below 30 mL/min/1.73 m2).1 The new prespecified sub-analysis of EMPEROR-Preserved demonstrated that the benefits seen in the overall population were consistent in adults with and without chronic kidney disease.1 Empagliflozin consistently improved cardiovascular outcomes and slowed kidney function decline across the full range of kidney function down to an eGFR of 20 mL/min/1.73 m2.1 Empagliflozin was well tolerated regardless of the level of baseline kidney function.1

"This data marks an important milestone for the growing number of people living with both heart failure and chronic kidney disease, many of whom are in need of additional treatment options for these interconnected, complex conditions," said Jeff Emmick, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Product Development, Lilly. "We look forward to continuing research with the goal of addressing the unmet needs of those with kidney impairment, including through our EMPA-KIDNEY Phase III trial of empagliflozin, from which we eagerly await a readout next year."

Empagliflozin is currently indicated for the treatment of adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes.6,7,8 Additionally, empagliflozin is approved for the treatment of adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in the European Union and the U.S..6,7 Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly Alliance plan for global regulatory submissions in HFpEF in 2021. Research is ongoing regarding the effects of empagliflozin on hospitalization for heart failure and mortality in post-myocardial infarction (heart attack) patients with high risk of heart failure.9 Empagliflozin is also currently being investigated in chronic kidney disease.10

# Ends #

About the EMPEROR heart failure studies11,12

The EMPEROR (EMPagliflozin outcomE tRial in patients with chrOnic heaRt failure) chronic heart failure studies were two Phase III, randomized, double-blind trials that investigated once-daily empagliflozin compared to placebo in adults with chronic HFrEF or HFpEF, with or without diabetes:

EMPEROR-Reduced [NCT03057977] investigated the safety and efficacy of empagliflozin in patients with chronic HFrEF.

Primary endpoint: time to first event of adjudicated cardiovascular death or adjudicated hospitalization for heart failure

Number of patients: 3,730

Completion: 2020

EMPEROR-Preserved [NCT03057951] investigated the safety and efficacy of empagliflozin in patients with chronic HFpEF.

Primary endpoint: time to first event of adjudicated cardiovascular death or adjudicated hospitalization for heart failure

Number of patients: 5,988

Completion: 2021

Link to lay summary

About the EMPOWER program

The Alliance has developed the EMPOWER program to explore the impact of empagliflozin on major clinical cardiovascular and renal outcomes in a spectrum of cardio-renal-metabolic conditions. Cardio-renal-metabolic conditions are the leading cause of mortality worldwide and account for up to 20 million deaths annually.13 Through the EMPOWER program, Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly are working to advance knowledge of these interconnected systems and create care which offers integrated, multi-organ benefits. Comprised of nine clinical trials and two real-world evidence studies, EMPOWER reinforces the long-term commitment of the Alliance to improve outcomes for people living with cardio-renal-metabolic conditions. With more than 400,000 adults enrolled worldwide in clinical trials, it is one of the broadest and most comprehensive clinical programs for an SGLT2 inhibitor to date.

About heart failure

Heart failure is a progressive, debilitating and potentially fatal condition that occurs when the heart cannot supply adequate circulation to meet the body's demands for oxygenated blood.14 To do so, it requires increased blood volume leading to fluid accumulation (congestion) in the lungs and peripheral tissues.15 It is a common condition affecting over 60 million people worldwide and expected to increase as the population ages.4,5 Heart failure is highly prevalent in people with diabetes;16 however, more than half of all people with heart failure do not have diabetes.17

There are different types of heart failure. People with left-sided heart failure have either a reduced or a preserved ejection fraction. Ejection fraction is a measurement of the percentage of blood the left ventricle pumps out with each contraction.18 When the heart relaxes, the ventricle refills with blood.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction occurs when the left ventricle of the heart is unable to relax and properly fill with blood, resulting in less blood being available to be pumped out to the body. 18

occurs when the left ventricle of the heart is unable to relax and properly fill with blood, resulting in less blood being available to be pumped out to the body. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction occurs when the left ventricle of the heart is not able to contract effectively, which means that the heart cannot pump with enough force, so less blood is pushed out to the body.18

People with heart failure often experience breathlessness and fatigue, which can severely impact their quality of life.19 Individuals with heart failure often also have impaired kidney function, which can have a significant negative impact on prognosis.20

About cardio-renal-metabolic conditions

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly are driven to transform care for people with cardio-renal-metabolic conditions, a group of interconnected disorders that affect more than one billion people worldwide and are a leading cause of death.5,13

The cardiovascular, renal and metabolic systems are interconnected, and share many of the same risk factors and pathological pathways along the disease continuum. Dysfunction in one system may accelerate the onset of others, resulting in progression of interconnected diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and kidney disease, which in turn leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular death. Conversely, improvements in one system can lead to positive effects throughout the others.21,22,23

Through our research and treatments, our goal is to support people's health, restoring the balance between the interconnected cardio-renal-metabolic systems and reducing their risk of serious complications. As part of our commitment to those whose health is jeopardized by cardio-renal-metabolic conditions, we will continue embracing a multidisciplinary approach towards care and focusing our resources on filling treatment gaps.

About empagliflozin

Empagliflozin (marketed as Jardiance) is an oral, once-daily, highly selective sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor and the first type 2 diabetes medicine to include cardiovascular death risk reduction data in its label in several countries.6,7,8

Please click on the following link for 'Notes to Editors' and 'References' https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/emperor-preserved-kidney-subanalysis

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211106005123/en/

Contacts:

Stefanie Molkenthin

Product Communication Manager

Boehringer Ingelheim

Email: press@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Phone: +49 (6132) 77 172 209



Stephan Thalen

Global Business Communications

Eli Lilly and Company

Email: stephan.thalen@lilly.com

Phone: +1 (317) 276-8304
London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2021) - Trister announced the launch of the new DAO salary mechanism task system TLC today. Trister Community is also called TLC task promotion system, and TLC is the token of community governance in this system. It is the token of the task promotion rights and interests.





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For users, TLC task promotion system is a platform to gain profits through skills.

In TLC task promotion system, users can get benefits through various channels.

complete the promotion of Trister Community DAOs community tasks and get TLC awards, including but not limited to 1. invite to share tasks; 2. Add TLC-USDT flow cell task and so on. If user hold TLC and participate in the promotion of Trister Community DAOs community tasks, they can get bonus rewards for cooperation or incubation projects. E.g. completing the forwarding of Trister's Lend, thumb-ups, etc., which is one of TLC's incubation projects. Holding TLC can enjoy 50% of TWFI mine tax dividends of the eight major ecosystems of Trister World.

The remuneration in TLC task promotion system is settled by TLC. The limited edition of TLC is 20,000,000 pieces. The platform will reduce the circulation of TLC market by means of fixed destruction, ladder destruction and transaction tax destruction. At present, TLC task pool has destroyed 2 million TLC.





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For the platform, TLC task promotion system is a good exposure and drainage platform.

In TLC task promotion system, the project attracts users with high rewards to bring traffic and exposure to the project. Different levels of TLC rewards are set according to the difficulty of task completion.

Users can obtain promotion tasks of Trister's Lend loan agreement in the TLC task promotion system, including inviting friends to deposit/borrow money, watching Trister's Lend promotional video, and making contributions to Trister's Lend social media.





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The TLC task promotion system was officially launched on November 1, 2021. The TLC task system will first focus on improving the joint awareness, adopting and maximizing the crossover and revenue potential for users. In the future, there will be more tools and mechanisms to distribute salaries and rewards to core contributors based on their work.

TLC task promotion: https://task.trister.pro

TLC telegram group: https://t.me/TLC_TaskP

TLC Twitter: https://twitter.com/TLC_TaskP

Media Contact

Company Name: Trister's Lend

Contact: Louis Fee

Email: tristerworld@outlook.com

Website: https://task.trister.pro

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/102299
Zhengzhou, China--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2021) - A gathering of leaders and researchers talked about the development trend of sensor technology in various fields, the development plan of sensor industry, and promoting the upgrading of sensor industry. "2021 World Sensors Summit" was opened in Zhengzhou International Convention & Exhibition Center on November 1, 2021.

With the theme of "Sense the world, Create the future", international and domestic organizations, experts, scholars and representatives of well-known enterprises in the field of global sensors gathered in Zhengzhou to create an ecological development system of sensor industry with advanced technology, application, industrial chain and optimized business environment and to promote the construction of Zhengzhou Intelligent Sensor Valley, boosting the construction of an important national characteristic intelligent sensor industry base and building an internationally famous intelligent sensor application demonstration city.







Opening ceremony of 2021 World Sensors Summit

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In recent years, Henan province attaches great importance to the development of intelligent sensor industry, accurately grasps the new development stage, implements the new development concept, builds a new development pattern, seizes the opportunity of a new round of industrial reform of scientific and technological revolution, actively layouts strategic emerging industries, cultivates future development advantages, promotes intelligent manufacturing to a new level and builds a platform for the transformation and upgrading of important industries in Henan, providing strong support for accelerating high-quality economic development.







Awarding ceremony for the Secretary General of Henan Intelligent Sensor Industry Chain Alliance and Henan Intelligent Sensor Industry Association

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Zhengzhou Intelligent Sensor Valley Innovation Base Awarding Ceremony

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Signing Ceremony of 2021 World Sensors Summit

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Taking advantage of the conference, Zhengzhou high tech Zone, Hebi and other places successively signed contracts with enterprises in three batches, a total of 24 projects with a total investment of 8.442 billion yuan, including 19 signed projects in Zhengzhou high tech Zone with a total investment of 7.578 billion yuan. We will continue to make efforts in sensor core devices, industrial applications and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, so as to add new momentum to the development of sensor industry by attracting a number of innovation platforms, science and technology incubation and manufacturing projects.

At the same time, the "Smart Sensor Industry Brain" platform of Zhengzhou high tech zone was officially released. Through the construction of industrial map and industrial chain panoramic module, the industrial battle map of sensor industry resources overview, industrial diagnosis and development route of high tech zone was realized, the sensor industry innovation resource agglomeration and scientific quantitative decision-making service were supported and the real-time dimension of sensor industry elements to promote the high-quality development of the sensor industry.







Opening ceremony of 2021 World Sensors Summit

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"2021 World Sensors Summit" was successfully opened. This conference will be a new international event in the sensor field. The conference is of great significance for promoting the upgrading of sensor industry, promoting industrial transformation, developing strategic emerging industries, promoting modern national defense construction and ensuring and improving people's living standards.

Media contact

Contact: WSS project team

Company Name: China Instrument and Control Society

Website: www.china-wss.com

Email: service@ilinki.net

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/102300
Floyd County native Betty Perry has always been one to give back. Born in 1940, the now 81-year-old not only volunteers for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, where she does everything from clearing trails to conducting krill surveys, she also helps with KDFW kids fishing events.

Perry raises all of the prizes for the annual event, in which children and parents can come to Dewey Lake inside Jenny Wiley State Resort Park for a day of fishing and fun.

Trophies are awarded for several categories, however, every child leaves with a prize.

Perry has a special friend who also donates prizes for the event legendary angler, Bill Dance.

Their friendship, she said, started from a simple Christmas fruit cake 13 years ago.

I wanted some glow sticks for my fishing rods, so I called a company in Michigan, who, gave me a number for a man in Florida, John Druitt, Perry said.

Druitt obliged Perry by sending an entire case of glow sticks. In return, Perry sent a fruitcake. It was such a hit, Druitt called Perry with his own request.

He asked if I had an extra one (fruit cake), and I told him I did, said Perry.

Druitt asked Perry if she could mail the delicious confection to a friend of his. That friend, happened to be the world renowned fisherman.

He gave me the address and I mailed it to him. The office called and thanked me for it, and we just started conversing from there, Perry said.

The two communicate through letters, due to Dances busy schedule. Perry has every letter he has sent and frequently talks to Bill Dance Jr., the elder Dances son, on the phone.

Once Dance discovered Perrys kids fishing event, he wanted to get involved right away.

He found out about my fishing event and he began sending autographed hats for my fishing event, said Perry.

Dance, famous for his orange and white University of Tennessee hat, personally signs each one to be given away during Perrys event.

Operation Unite also provides funds for prizes. TTI Blakemore donates hooks and other equipment for the event.

Next years KDFW kids fishing event will be held the second weekend in June 2022.
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Whats great about this recipe is its become one of those back pocket recipes that I make so often for my family to use as stuffing for all kinds of vegetables, from peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and squash to chard and cabbage. You can even serve this hashweh (without the rice) on top of hummus, mixed in an omelette or alone with pita bread or pita chips. Its such a versatile recipe thats easy enough for a weeknight dinner but also can be dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner.
Under the Constitution, federal law trumps state law, but Alabama lawmakers this week passed legislation they believe finds a way to shield workers who do not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Friday, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law sponsored by state Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Daphne) that makes it easier for workers affected by federal vaccine mandates to claim exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

The law prohibits companies from firing employees who ask for exemptions until an administrative law judge at the Alabama Department of Labor has ruled on an appeal.

In Alabama, it is illegal to terminate someone based on their vaccination status, Elliott said. And I think thats a lot of protection for Alabama employees and the direction we needed to go right now.

The law offers broad protection to employees who claim one of nine different medical exemptions, including people who have had COVID-19 within the past 12 months. In addition, people asserting sincerely held religious beliefs against vaccination also must get an exemption. Employers can object, but the burden of proof is on companies.

When evaluating requests of exemptions, employers shall liberally construe the employees eligibility for an exemption in favor of the employee, the law states.

President Joe Bidens administration is pressing two wide-ranging vaccine requirements. The first requires companies doing business with the federal government to ensure that their workers are vaccinated. The second is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule requiring companies with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine.

Those requirements will take effect Jan. 4.

Some states, including Alabama, have pushed back with lawsuits challenging federal authority. Elliott, who represents part of Baldwin County, said he realizes that federal law trumps law.

Because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, Im not able to stand up and fight that, he said. What I am able to do and what weve done here is broadly define the exemptions and exceptions under Alabama law that these folks can claim.  I think that is an innovating approach and weve been able to threat that needle.

The law expires in May 2023. By then, Elliott said, he hopes legal challenges will have eliminated federal mandates.

Paul Horwitz, a University of Alabama law professor who teaches constitutional law and religion, said the new state law probably would withstand legal challenges.

Im not sure theres an immediate conflict, he told FOX10 News.

Horwitz noted that federal law has provisions for medical and religious exemptions to vaccine requirements. He also pointed out that companies do retain the ability challenge an exemption that workers claim.

An employer that is concerned about safety or concerned about policy or concerned about the effect of the federal law, seems to me, can still ask for some basis for the religious claim, he said.

Elliott said he included that appeals process specifically to withstand a possible legal challenge. But he predicted few employers would be able to prevail the appeals process. And if an employee were to lose in front of an administrative law judge, he or she would have 14 days to take the case to court.

Kiet Rodriguez, an Austal USA employee in Mobile who said he has been locked out of the system over his refusal to get the shot, said the new law is a positive step. But he said it comes too late for many employees who already have left their jobs.

That ship has sailed for some people, he said. Some people, like myself, are in limbo.

Horwitz said the Biden administration, itself, has relaxed its vaccine requirements somewhat.

The vaccination mandate, itself, is not absolute, he said. Its a soft mandate in the sense that if you dont get vaccinated, you have to comply with regular testing requirements.

Even if Alabama workers get exemptions under the news state law, Horwitz said, they may be required to submit to regular COVID tests  and employers have the authority to pass on the costs to those employees.

Horwitz said workers may argue that requiring them to pay for the testing amounts to an undue burden on their religious freedom.

But I sincerely doubt that such a claim would succeed, he said.

The legislative battle over the exemption law exposed a rare rift between Republican leaders and business leaders. Elliott and his allies forced the issue during a special session called to draw the states political boundaries and managed to get the supermajority needed to pass both houses.

The Business Council of Alabama, a powerful lobby that represents large businesses, argued the federal mandates should be fought with lawsuits, not state laws.

The Legislature is constricting Alabamas federal contractors and putting current and future jobs at risk, the organization said in a statement released during the legislative debate. BCA will continue to fight federal and state mandates.

The governor, meanwhile, suggested the legislation  and another law requiring parental consent to vaccinate minors younger than 19  is part of a larger effort to stand up against what she regards as federal overreach.

I will continue doing everything I can as your governor to fight this thing every step of the way, Ivey said in a statement Friday. Alabama will not stand idly by and allow the Biden Administration to get away with this.
Competitive coyote hunts, where the winner kills as many coyotes as they can, are banned in most other southwestern states. Now there is a push to have them banned in Nevada.
Guilty Pleasure: An Exclusive Collection by Symrise

Fragrance Reviews

German fragrance house Symrise prepared an exclusive fragrance collection called Guilty Pleasure for the BeautyWorld Middle East 2021 exhibition. There were three chapters of forbidden pleasures: Chocolate, Coffee, and Tobacco, with a total of 15 perfumes.

The concept was developed by Victoria Lagros, Marketing Manager at Symrise, and she introduced me to all the fragrances. It turned out that in each chapter, in addition to a thorough study of the topic from a historical and geographical point of view, there is a "twist", a rather unusual element. But let's talk about everything in due order.





Chocolate Collection

The Chocolate collection of Guilty Pleasure includes four fragrances.

The fragrance that was dedicated to dark chocolate, Obsession, was created by perfumer Alexandra Carlin, and it surprised me from the very beginning. The dark powdery scent of chocolate in it developed in parallel with an alliance of bergamot and spices that are typical for the men's colognes of the pre-aquatic period (nutmeg, cloves, cardamom). After that, the aroma warms up and relaxes, moving from invigorating spices to an amber-chocolate base with a subtle vanilla-caramel shade. It's a chic masculine scent with a very persistent chocolate heart, combining nostalgia for men's fragrances of the 1970s and 80s with the modern gourmand trend.

Don't be confused by the familiar name - the Guilty Pleasure fragrances are intended only to introduce clients to the creative possibilities of the perfumers and their style, as well as to the Symrise perfume palette; they will not be marketed under these names so they are not subject to copyright laws.



Obsession - Perfumer: Alexandra Carlin.

Top notes: Chocolate, Bergamot, Cardamom;

Heart notes: Rose, Geranium, Clove, Mace;

Base notes: Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood drenches, Patchouli, Caramel.

Another chocolate perfume created by Alexandra Carlin is called Addiction. It also contains quite a lot of dark chocolate, but here cocoa, together with orris, seems to be a nutritious powdery layer for the flowers to bloom in - a dark burgundy rose, a fruity fresh magnolia, some ylang-ylang, and the osmanthus flower... I have never tasted such chocolate in my life; flowers in the chocolatier's palette are quite an unusual thing. It is worth noting that the chocolate note fits perfectly into the traditional middle-eastern accords of "rose-jasmine-oud-ambergris-sandalwood", bringing a dark woody-powdery hue to the heart of such compositions.



Addiction - Perfumer: Alexandra Carlin.

Top notes: Rose, Grapefruit, Blackcurrant, Bergamot, Mandarin;

Heart notes: Chocolate, Osmanthus, Jasmine Sambac, Milk, Orris, Magnolia;

Base notes: Amber, Patchouli, Oud, Vanilla, Benzoin, Musk, Rockrose, Sandalwood.

'Chocolate in a pink robe,' as Emilie Coppermann's creation Temptation was presented to me, is dedicated to a rather new form of chocolate: ruby chocolate, patented in 2017 by Barry-Callebaut. This chocolate differs from all previously known ones in that the cocoa beans do not undergo fermentation beforehand, and as a result, a pink chocolate mass is obtained, reminiscent of white chocolate with a kind of sweet and sour, fruity flavor. I was offered a piece to eat before trying the Temptation fragrance.

What can I say? I liked the perfume much more than ruby chocolate itself - it was unexpectedly much more voluminous. It has both a fruity and balsamic-creamy sweetness, as well as a smoky leathery hue resting on the smooth, creamy, powdery tone typical of chocolate. At the base, the fragrance becomes more masculine, mysteriously earthy, green, and even a little animalic. So to me, the chocolate tastes only so-so, while the perfume is extremely interesting. In addition, the fragrance uses an interesting material obtained from the branches of sandalwood (Sandalwood Dreches), which were previously not used in the production of sandalwood oil.



Temptation - Perfumer: Emilie Coppermann.

Top notes: Peach, Cade, Orange, Saffron, Apricot seed;

Heart notes: Chocolate, Jasmine, Blackcurrant;

Base notes: Vanilla, Sandalwood dreches, Cypriol, Amber, Moss, Musk.

White chocolate is represented by the fragrance Tenderness, which was created by new Symrise perfumer Philippine Courtiere. This is indeed a very delicate chocolate aroma, with a very unusual fresh beginning. Have you ever smelled transparent white flowers with a hint of freshly cut melon in your chocolate? But then in the base, it is the perfect white chocolate with vanilla, tonka beans, sandalwood, and milk. The creamy texture of white chocolate that's melting in your mouth and the infinitely delicate sweetness of vanilla are perfectly conveyed.

Tenderness - Perfumer: Philippine Courtiere.

Top notes: Orange, Apple, Peach, Melon;

Heart notes: Chocolate, Lilac, Ylang-ylang, Lily of the valley, Orris, Milk;

Base notes: Vanilla, Caramel, Amber, Musk, Tonka, Sandalwood.





Coffee Collection

The coffee line of the Guilty Pleasure collection consists of five fragrances - quite a lot if you consider the amount of caffeine you'd get with drinking five cups of coffee. Most of them are sweet, and sniffing coffee beans in between smelling the different fragrances is no help in this case. As I found out, not all of them have a distinct coffee note.

For example, Tonka d'Enfer, dedicated to Colombian coffee, created by perfumer Emilie Coppermann, is at first a quite pungent, sweet, resinous and green fragrance. A typical niche perfume that smells amazing and incomprehensible - either hemp resin, or roasted nuts, or chocolate, or vanilla. Coffee arises in the heart of the aroma, awakening a subtle hint of jasmine and neroli, and later hides in the sweet almond-marzipan sillage. A very unusual and interesting composition - I think Symrise needs to find its own rebel brands (in the vein of Etat Libre d'Orange and Comme des Garcons) to release such bold, revolutionary compositions.

Tonka dEnfer - Perfumer: Emilie Coppermann.

Top notes: Timut pepper, Elemi, Angelica root;

Heart notes: Chocolate, Coffee, Nuts, Orange Flower;

Base notes: Vanilla, Guaiacwood, Labdanum, Caramel, Musk, Tonka beans.

In the Santal de Lune fragrance by perfumer Pierre Gueros, coffee is again under the radar. The leading actors of the perfume are spicy cardamom and an incredibly smooth, warm, and sweet accord reminiscent of marzipan and luminous milky white skin. At first, I thought for a minute of the Helmut Lang Eau de Parfum, but no, their similarity is only tactile, not olfactory. This scent could also very well be used for shaving foam, soap, talc, and other men's products with a pseudo-vintage Italian fougere character.



Santal de Lune - Perfumer: Pierre Gueros.

Top notes: Cardamom, Rose, Bergamot, Plum;

Heart notes: Coffee, Cedarwood, Geranium, Orris, Jasmine;

Base notes: Amber, Vanilla, Caramel, Musk, Moss, Tonka, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vetiver.

The first fragrance in the collection that struck me with a powerful coffee accord was Ylang Outrenoir, created by perfumer Marine Ipert, on the theme of coffee from Guatemala. It delivers a powerful accord of roasted coffee and nuts set against a tropical floral background but nevertheless develops first into a mixture of coffee and cream liqueurs, and then into a pleasant combination of caramel ice cream, ambergris, and woods.



Ylang Outrenoir - Perfumer: Marine Ipert.

Top notes: Apple, Apricot, Bergamot, Cherry, Blackcurrant, Mandarin, Red berries, Rose;

Heart notes: Coffee, Cedarwood, Orris, Orange blossom, Ylang-ylang;

Base notes: Amber, Vanilla, Guaiacwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Caramel.

The Ombre Feline fragrance, created by perfumer Stephane Bengana, should be noted as the perfect creation that could be included in each of the three Guilty Pleasure lines. None of the three notes (chocolate, coffee, tobacco) stand out to give a hint about its main theme; they are equally balanced. Ombre Feline embodies all three guilty pleasures in one and evokes an unlit cigarette, a cup of fresh coffee, and a slice of dark chocolate. Nevertheless, if I have to, I would include it in the Tobacco line, since tobacco adds its main qualities to this perfume - a tart character and quick addiction.

Ombre Feline - Perfumer: Stephane Bengana.

Top notes: Bergamot, Rose;

Heart notes: Coffee, Jasmine, Tobacco, Chocolate;

Base notes: Vanilla, Caramel, Musk, Amber, Benzoin.

And finally, the biggest surprise within the Coffee collection - Paradise Blanc, created by Philippe Paparella-Paris, dedicated to a white Arabian coffee, Kahwa Beida. I didn't know that such a variety of "coffee without coffee" existed - Victoria Legros told me about it just before trying the perfume. Kahwa Beida is a drink of Lebanese origin made from hot water with orange blossom water and acacia honey, which is consumed after meals, especially in the evening, to avoid a caffeine boost. So no need to look for coffee shades; this is a gorgeous orange blossom aroma on a sweet vanilla-honey base. It is dazzlingly beautiful, reminiscent of one of my favorite aromas, And The World Is Yours by A Lab On Fire! In its beginning and heart, you notice a juicy pear-freshness against the background of citruses, and the orange blossom and neroli are decorated with a bouquet of other flowers. Thyme is used here instead of mint, which is often included in the recipe of Lebanese white coffee.

Paradise Blanc - Perfumer: Philippe Paparella-Paris

Top notes: Thyme, Pear, Apple, Bergamot, Mandarin, Orange;

Heart notes: Jasmine, Neroli, Orange blossom, Cinnamon, Rose;

Base notes: Amber, Vanilla, Caramel, Musk.





Tobacco Collection

There are six fragrances in the Guilty Pleasure Tobacco line and they represent different types of smoking in different countries of the world and at different times. In some places, tobacco smoking was an expensive naughtiness, in others a ritual of communication with spirits or a means of escaping reality. Now that I know the fragrances, I would say that the collection is more about smoke and connecting to the heavens than about tobacco leaves themselves - some of the perfumes have no tobacco components at all. I find this perspective much more interesting than the usual tobacco perfume bestsellers.

Perfumer Philip Paparella-Paris must have had his experience of perfume creating at Symrise's Dubai office in mind when he composed his fragrance named Sultan's Wonders. This middle east-leaning scent contains the sweet smoke of a fruity hookah and the smell of a slightly moist, flavored tobacco blend. But the main feature of the aroma is that it very clearly reproduces the soft and woody sweetness and all-pervading ability of the smoke of oud on coals. Instead of fumigating your clothes with oud smoke, you can use this wonderful scent.

Sultans Wonders - Perfumer: Philippe Paparella-Paris

Top notes: Apricot, Clove, Cypress, Coconut;

Heart notes: Coffee, Cinnamon, Jasmine, Tabac Bourbon DL;

Base notes: Patchouli, Amber, Guaiacwood, Caramel, Vanilla, Moss.

Poppy Fantasy avoided opium and its smoke; this perfume by Suzy Le Helley is a smooth, polished fruity-floral scent on the theme of jasmine and the powdery shades of chocolate. In the soft woody-balsamic base, a smoky accord is represented by styrax and vetiver - the fragrance is more about the tenderness of dreams filled with white clouds and flower petals than a figurative rendition of opium or tobacco.

Poppy Fantasy. Perfumer: Suzy Le Helley

Top notes: Peach, Bergamot, Black pepper, Lemon;

Heart notes: Orange blossom, Jasmine;

Base notes: Vetiver, Moss, Styrax.

Perfumer Alienor Massenet presented her scent about communication between the shaman and the spirits of the upper world with the help of tobacco. Shaman's Soul is an extremely lively and rich aroma in which a vanilla and tobacco accord hints at the famous Tobacco Vanille standard. At least, that was my first impression smelling it from the blotter. But having more than a couple of minutes to get to know each other and after applying it to the skin, I have to say - I was wrong. This is a bold step forward. Firstly, the abundance of spices, and secondly, the powdery accord of carrot seeds and myrrh (some of Alienor's favorite materials, together with labdanum) make the fragrance huge and calm. Wearing such a scent, you want to be silent as if you're staring up at a sky full of stars. There is not much tobacco here, but it gives its desired bitter shade.



Shamans Soul - Perfumer: Alienor Massenet.

Top notes: Thyme, Black Pepper, Ginger, Plum;

Heart notes: Carrot, Clove, Cinnamon, Geranium, Tabanon;

Base notes: Vanilla, Myrrh, Amber, Musk.

Created by Philippe Paparella-Paris, the 70s Dream fragrance begins with an interesting green, resinous accord reminiscent of hemp. But this impression is quickly replaced by a cycle of various spices, among which ginger stands out. Gradually, the spices calm down against the background of a warm immortelle, and after that, the aroma becomes a mild (but still spicy) suede-leather scent, with a touch of a vintage leather fougere. A great pick for DKNY Fuel For Men-lovers who need more energy and stamina, and for admirers of the Cuir Magnifique Noble Royale fragrance.



70s Dream. Perfumer: Philippe Paparella-Paris.

Top notes: Clove, Basil, Elemi, Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Cypress, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Saffron;

Heart notes: Coffee, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Geranium, Immortelle, Olibanum, Rosemary, Hay;

Base notes: Amber, Labdanum, Guaiacwood, Vitessence cuir, Vetiver, Vanilla, Patchouli.

I would call Flowers of Hay-ven by perfumer Thomas Obrocki a chocolate illusion; a chocolate perfume without chocolate. Its spicy, powdery, woody, smoky, and amber notes give the impression of a chocolate truffle with the addition of rose oil. Yes, of course, towards the base, the illusion dissipates, and the aroma becomes a more familiar amber-woody perfume, but it still remains a chic aroma image of hookah tobacco and smoke, somewhere in an oasis under the night sky.



Flowers of Hay-ven - Perfumer: Thomas Obrocki.

Top notes: Clary sage, Cedar leaf, Cardamom, Elemi, Grapefruit, Black pepper, Licorice, Saffron;

Heart notes: Orris, Geranium, Gurjun balsam, Thyme, Rose;

Base notes: Sandalwood, Cypriol, Amber, Tobacco, Vanilla, Musk, Caramel, Labdanum, Patchouli.

Cuba's Legacy was dedicated by perfumer Marine Ipert to her trip to a Cuban cigar factory. It seems this factory was located next to a pastry shop and a good old bar, and the wind freely mixed the aromas of tart tobacco, butter caramel, marzipan, and spicy rum with the smells of dry grass and old wood. Why would anyone release another copy of Tobacco Vanille when you can release such an incredible tobacco perfume?

Cubas Legacy - Perfumer: Marine Ipert.

Top notes: Clary sage, Clove, Mandarin, Saffron, Plum;

Heart notes: Cedarwood, Honey, Hay, Tobacco;

Base notes: Amber, Cypriol, Vanilla, Caramel, Moss, Patchouli, Styrax, Tonka.



Smelling this collection on the run in Dubai was a real crime against beauty. I honestly dont think anyone can judge fragrances in general, and such fragrances of great complexity in particular, in a couple of minutes - even if all together, you're spending half an hour.

Many thanks to Symrise and specifically to Victoria Legros for the opportunity to enjoy the Guilty Pleasure collection at home - each fragrance in the collection deserves a wonderful future on the perfume shop shelves, plus a separate article (or more), an interview with the perfumer, and dozens of user reviews on Fragrantica. All it would take is for a brand to pick up these creations since they won't be put on the market by Symrise.

Previously, I was already familiar with many fragrances of Alienor Massenet, Philippine Courtiere, Alexandra Carlin, Emilie Coppermann, Pierre Gueros, and Philippe Paparella-Paris, and I knew that these perfumers can work wonders. Now I discovered new names within the Symrise perfumers club, and I would love to also see the fragrances of Marine Ipert, Suzy Le Helley, Thomas Obrocky, and Stephan Bengana in perfume stores as soon as possible - at least the fragrances that I tried from the Guilty Pleasure collection.
Chicken Salad Chick Expands In South Carolina With Rock Hill Opening

November 05, 2021 // Franchising.com // ATLANTA - Chicken Salad Chick announced today the opening of its newest restaurant in Rock Hill, South Carolina that will feature a drive-thru and indoor seating area. Located at 760 Herlong Avenue, the Rock Hill restaurant will celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, November 16 by offering free chicken salad for a year to the first 100 guests.

During grand opening week, guests will experience the Southern hospitality that Chicken Salad Chick is known for with giveaways and specials that include:

Tuesday, November 16 - Free Chicken Salad for a year to the first 100 guests! The first 100 guests will receive one free large Quick Chick per month for 12 months.*

- Free Chicken Salad for a year to the first 100 guests! The first 100 guests will receive one free large Quick Chick per month for 12 months.* Wednesday, November 17 - The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive their next Chick Special for free on their next visit.**

- The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive their next Chick Special for free on their next visit.** Thursday, November 18 - All day long, Chick fans can enjoy buy two Quick Chicks, get one free.***

- All day long, Chick fans can enjoy buy two Quick Chicks, get one free.*** Friday, November 19 - The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick special will receive a free Chick cooler.**

Behind the Carolina opening are multi-unit franchise owners Julie Beville and Michelle Singleton of Sing Bev Hospitality, LLC. The two opened their first Chicken Salad Chick in Greenville in 2013 and have since grown the brand opening 13 locations across North and South Carolina. Beville and Singleton had been longtime patrons of Chicken Salad Chick, each having previous careers in sales and marketing and time spent as stay-at-home moms before joining the brand. When they had the opportunity to meet with Chicken Salad Chicks founder, Stacy Brown, they felt connected to the brands mission of spreading joy, enriching lives, and serving others and were inspired to take a leap of faith and join the Chicken Salad Chick family.

Michelle and I are so excited to bring Chicken Salad Chick to Rock Hill as our love for Chicken Salad Chick just keeps growing, says Julie Beville. From our first location in Greenville to now opening and operating our 13th restaurant in the Carolinas, we have treasured getting to know the Chick fans in each community and bringing them our made from scratch chicken salad. We believe Chicken Salad Chick is a perfect fit to Rock Hills historic charm and Southern culture, and we look forward to creating a space where friends and family can gather together over a fresh meal, whether they choose dine-in or on-the-go.

Chicken Salad Chick in Rock Hill will be open Monday - Saturday from 10:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.

*Guests should arrive at Chicken Salad Chick between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Grand Opening Day to get checked In. The first 100 people will be assigned a number and a designated return time between 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. While waiting, guests will need to download the Chicken Salad Chick App and get registered. Upon arrival, guests will grab their spot in line, make a purchase of "The Chick" or anything of greater value, and once inside, scan a special code to make the "First 100 Spot" official. If a guest is late or misses their designated return time, the spot will automatically be awarded to the next guest in line.



**Dine in or take out only. Limit 1 reward per Guest Present. Not valid with any other offers.

***Free item must be equal or lesser value. Not valid with any other offers.

SOURCE Chicken Salad Chick

###

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Sunday service: Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 2650 NW Highland Drive in Corvallis, will share Gods Word and Holy Communion at 9 a.m. Sunday, both in the sanctuary and via livestream worship, accessible at www.svlccorvallis.org and facebook.com/shepherdcorvallis.

Pastor Eric Bohlmanns sermon theme will be Reformation Sunday. The congregation continues to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to protect worshipers health and asks individuals to wear masks.

Multi-Gen Bible study will follow the service at 10:30 a.m., both in church and via Zoom. This week the study of the Gospel of Mark will continue, still focusing on Chapter 12. For access to the Zoom meeting, call the church office at 541-753-2816.

Sunday worship: First United Methodist Church, 1165 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis, will hold services at 9:30 a.m. Sunday in person (masks required) and online at https://www.facebook.com/CorvallisFUMC/live.

Scripture calls us to reimagine a world where our social and economic systems are not built to disparage or impoverish, but instead to provide for and benefit all. This week the congregation will revisit the story of the widows mite, a scripture that begs for reimagination and reinterpretation from the harmful ways it has been used. Instead of commending the widows giving practices, perhaps Jesus is condemning the economic system that created her poverty.

The Jewish practice of the jubilee year invites us to imagine leaving the edge of the harvest for the poor and immigrant to reap; in the fiftieth year, the harvest is shared and disparities are rebalanced. In light of these stories in scripture, we are called to reimagine our own money stories. Based on Mark 12:38-44.

Baha'i devotions and discussion: "Honoring Lyn Martin: Hallmarks of Spirituality" is set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday via Zoom.

The quality of inquiry is another spiritual attribute present in the human spirit. Baha'is are especially enjoined to "independently investigate the truth," and this must, by definition, involve asking questions.

Seekers of truth, no matter where or into what discipline they delve, share qualities of open-mindedness, earnest striving, and unswerving faith. Becoming spiritual means devoting time to meditation and prayer, becoming comfortable with solitude and reflection.

Join the group for readings on the theme of searching for truth and entering a path toward becoming spiritual beings. All are welcome to enjoy fellowship, the program and discussion.

Zoom instructions for the meeting and readings can be found on the local Baha'i website, https://linnbenton.local.bahai.us/. Those who need help or have questions can call 541-753-5752.

Nursing program offered: Registration is open for the Foundations of Faith Community Nursing Course, starting Nov. 15 via Zoom.

The Foundations of Faith Community Nursing Course and a concurrent Foundations for Health Ministry course for lay members of faith communities is set for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15 and Tuesday, Nov. 16, Nov. 29 and 30, and Dec. 13, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14; the final day includes a dedication ceremony.

The course is offered in partnership with Samaritan Health Services, Linn-Benton Community College Extended Learning, and the Faith Community Health Network of the Mid-Willamette Valley.

Faith Community Nursing is a recognized nursing specialty. Faith Community Nurses and Health Ministers serve their congregations and community through advocacy; by improving health literacy, health equity and overall access to care; and by promoting spiritual, emotional and physical well-being.

The financial support of Samaritan allows the course to be offered at a reduced cost of $299, which includes textbooks and 38 contact hours for continuing education. Registration is available by emailing colea@linnbenton.edu.

Shoebox gift collection: Several mid-valley sites will open Monday, Nov. 15 through 22 to collect shoebox gifts for the Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Child project.

The program collects donations of gifts to be delivered to children in need around the world. Individuals, families and groups still have time to transform empty shoeboxes into fun gifts filled with school supplies, hygiene items and toys.

The project partners with local churches across the globe to deliver these expressions of Gods love to children in need. A step-by-step guide on how to pack a shoebox gift is available at samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box.

Local collection sites and hours follow.

 Northwest Hills Community Church, 3300 NW Walnut Blvd., Corvallis: 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 15, 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 17, 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, noon to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 20, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 22.

 Albany City Church, 2418 Geary St. SE: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15 through Thursday, Nov. 18, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, 9 to 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 22.

 Jefferson Baptist Church, 15002 Jefferson Highway 99E SE: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 9 a.m. to noon and 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 22.

 Lebanon First Assembly, 726 W. Oak St.: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 17, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 22.

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More details emerged on Friday, Nov. 5 into the assault of a Corvallis-based 7-Eleven employee as the three suspects in what is now called a bias crime were arraigned in Benton County Circuit Court.

Dylan Guido, 21, of Roseburg and Riley Westbrooks, 21, of Myrtle Creek were arraigned on charges of third-degree assault and first-degree bias crime. Kyle Rackley, 22, of Sutherlin was arraigned on a charge of third-degree assault.

According to a news release from Corvallis Police Department, the charges stem from an assault that took place Oct. 24 at the 7-Eleven at 746 NW Kings Blvd. Police alleged the suspects used homophobic and transphobic slurs.

During Fridays arraignment, Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue ordered the conditional release of all three suspects. Donohue ordered Guido, Rackley and Westbrooks to not have any contact with the assault victim, with the 7-Eleven where the incident happened or with each other.

Conditions of their release also include not possessing or consuming any alcohol or other controlled substances.

Guido had already obtained an attorney, Gillian Wickersham of Roseburg, prior to the arraignment. Rackley was denied a court-appointed counsel because of his monthly income but was represented during the proceeding by James DeVecchio. David Terry represented Westbrooks during the hearing.

The three defendants were arrested in Roseburg on Thursday, Nov. 4 and lodged in Benton County Jail following a lengthy investigation by the Corvallis Police Department.

The suspects were released from jail the same night of their arrests after posting bail.

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Before the altercation

According to probable cause affidavits for the suspects, the victim was working at the Northwest Kings Boulevard 7-Eleven when Guido and Westbrooks tried to enter without a mask, which is against COVID-19 protocols. Rackley remained outside of the convenience store. All three allegedly had been drinking.

When Guido and Westbrooks attempted to cover their faces with their shirts, the store clerk denied them entry, according to the affidavits. Two other customers in the store at the time reportedly overheard the conversation.

Guido and Westbrooks left without buying anything, according to the affidavits. The two other customers exited the store, and one gave a mask to Guido and a slice of pizza to Westbrooks.

After obtaining the mask, Guido re-entered the store, but the clerk denied him service a second time, police say. At this point, Guido and Westbrooks walked away but remained in the parking lot.

According to the affidavits, a little while later the employee saw the three men still in the 7-Eleven parking lot. The clerk confronted the group about drinking alcohol on the property by holding out a phone and telling them to leave or she would call the police.

The affidavits state the two other customers heard Guido and Westbrooks yelling gender-related slurs toward the clerk. The clerk then started cursing at the three men and told them to get off the property. In response, the men moved toward the edge of the parking lot but did not leave.

The employee followed, according to the affidavits, again telling them they needed to go home. The clerk then stood inches away from Guidos face, according to the affidavits.

The various parties disagree what happened next, according to the detective who signed off on the affidavits: The victim told police she gently pressed on Guidos chest to move him back. However, the three men allege that she forcefully shoved Guido.

The alleged assault

According to the clerk, she then attempted to knock a piece of pizza out of Westbrooks' hand, but the three men dont recall this. The clerk alleges Westbrooks punched her in the face, but the suspects told police Westbrooks did not punch her.

At this point, the clerk is said to have punched Westbrooks in the face, knocking him backward, causing him to hit his head and lose consciousness, according to the affidavits.

As Westbrooks remained on the ground, Guido, Rackley and the clerk allegedly began fighting. The group exchanged blows, according to the affidavits. Westbrooks eventually got back up and reportedly rejoined the fight.

The clerk recounts in the affidavits being punched by all three men in the head and face, altogether receiving around 30 blows.

Rackley told detectives he was involved in the fight but never punched or hit the victim, according to the affidavits.

The fight ended and the three men left the area. The victim tried to walk back to the store. At this point, her face was covered in blood, according to the affidavits. She called police who arrived and began an investigation.

The injuries

According to the affidavits, the victim was spitting up blood following the assault and was transported to the hospital. She described her injuries from the assault as follows: fractured nose, fractured orbital floors, fractured sinus wall, bruises and abrasions.

During a follow-up investigation days after the assault, detectives observed bruising on the victims knees, elbow, ear, nose and forehead. She had dark purple bruising around her eyes.

Westbrooks told detectives he had severe head and face pain for several days following the fight, according to the affidavits. Rackley and Guido reported no injuries.

The victim told detectives she believed the assault by Guido and Westbrooks was motivated by their perception of her gender status, based on the words they used. Mid-Valley Media is purposefully not disclosing the precise wording.

However, both Guido and Westbrooks deny saying or hearing any type of slurs during the incident, according to the affidavits. The detective noted they were able to remember other specific words and conversations from around the same time period.

All three men denied hitting the victim, according to the affidavits.

The suspects next court appearances are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 9.

Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_

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Ethan Beachy, Bermudian Springs Football: Ethan rushed for 3 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more TDs in a 33-21 win over Littlestown.

Honey Strosnider, Fairfield Cross Country: Honey posted the fastest time among Times Area girls' runners in the YAIAA Championships after placing 16th in 21:07.3

Landon McGee, Gettysburg Football: Landon rushed for an area-high 235 yards and a touchdown in a 27-10 win over New Oxford

Denae Bello, Delone Catholic Girls' Volleyball: Denae combined for 20 kills, 23 digs and 45 serve-receive point in 3 matches for the Squirettes

Drew Cole, Gettysburg Cross Country: Drew was the fastest among Times Area runners at the YAIAA Championships, placing 19th in 17:25.0

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The Diane and Bruce Halle Adult Day Health Services center features a young adult activity room, a space for members in the early stages of dementia, and a kitchen area where members can take part in cooking groups through the Empowerment Kitchen program.
MUSQUEAM TERRITORY, British Columbia, Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As neighbours and partners, Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announce the recent signing of a historic relationship agreement. The agreement creates a framework for a long-term, meaningful relationship between Musqueam and the port authorityone that will advance a strong, shared future marked by mutual respect and reconciliation.



On Friday November 5, a signing ceremony was held to witness Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Robin Silvester sign the relationship agreement, and celebrate this milestone as partners.

This relationship agreement recognizes Musqueams ongoing stewardship of our territory. It is another fundamental step towards long-term reconciliation through acknowledgement of Indigenous rights to our lands and waters, said Chief Sparrow. We are excited to work collaboratively with the port authority to advance our shared goals for a sustainable future, while also providing training and employment opportunities for our people.

Musqueam Indian Band and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority co-developed a multi-faceted, long-term agreement that fundamentally reframes their working relationship to better deliver on joint commitments. Through this agreement, the parties will work together to uphold the rights of Musqueam and move towards a more productive and collaborative shared future.

We look forward to working with Musqueam in the months and years to come  as neighbours and partners  to build a strong future together that will continue to include meaningful dialogue and a mutual respect that will support our shared priorities, said Silvester.

Media Contacts

Musqueam Indian Band Communications

Odette Wilson

owilson@musqueam.bc.ca

236-885-7335

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Communications

Matti Polychronis

Matti.Polychronis@portvancouver.com

604-665-9540

About Musqueam Indian Band

Musqueam people have lived in the Fraser River estuary since time immemorial. We are a proud and culturally-resilient First Nation of over 1,300 members. About half of our members live in a small portion of our territory known as Musqueam Reserve, located south of Marine Drive in Vancouver. Many of the remaining members live throughout Musqueams territory, parts of which are now called Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and New Westminster. Our lands and waters continue to support our cultural and economic practices, while serving as a source of knowledge and memory, encoded with our teachings and laws.

About the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Port of Vancouver

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is the federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the Port of Vancouver. Like all Canada Port Authorities, we are accountable to the federal minister of transport, and operate pursuant to the Canada Marine Act with a mandate to enable Canadas trade through the Port of Vancouver, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. The port authority is structured as a non-share corporation, is financially self-sufficient and does not rely on tax dollars for operations. Our revenues come from port terminals and tenants who lease port lands, and from port users who pay various fees such as harbour dues. Profits are reinvested in port infrastructure. The port authority has control over the use of port land and water, which includes more than 16,000 hectares of water, over 1,500 hectares of land, and approximately 350 kilometres of shoreline. Located on the southwest coast of British Columbia in Canada, the Port of Vancouver extends from Roberts Bank and the Fraser River up to and including Burrard Inlet, bordering 16 municipalities and intersecting the traditional territories and treaty lands of several Coast Salish First Nations. The Port of Vancouver is Canadas largest port, and the third largest in North America by tonnes of cargo. Enabling the trade of approximately $240 billion in goods with more than 170 countries, port activities sustain 115,300 jobs, $7 billion in wages, and $11.9 billion in GDP across Canada.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/78826d09-4e3e-42ee-b6ab-91d0b73cd6b1
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

TORONTO, Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rise Capital Corp. (TSXV: RSE.P) ("Rise") and MiniLuxe, Inc. ("MiniLuxe") are pleased to provide a further update with respect to the arms length business combination between Rise and MiniLuxe, pursuant to which Rise will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of MiniLuxe (the "Transaction"). Upon completion, the Transaction will constitute a reverse take-over of Rise by MiniLuxe, with the resulting company (the "Resulting Issuer") to be renamed "MiniLuxe Holding Corp.".

In anticipation of the completion of the Transaction, the parties have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of reorganization (the Merger Agreement). The Merger Agreement contemplates the merger of MiniLuxe with a newly-incorporated subsidiary of Rise Capital and the issuance of post-consolidation securities the Resulting Issuer in exchange for all outstanding securities of MiniLuxe (the Merger). The Merger is an arms length transaction and will constitute a reverse takeover of Rise Capital by MiniLuxe.

Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, existing stockholders of MiniLuxe will receive subordinate voting shares and/or proportionate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer in exchange for their common and preferred stock of MiniLuxe. The terms of the subordinate voting shares and the proportionate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer can be found in the management information circular of Rise dated August 20, 2021, which is available on Rise's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Following the completion of the Transaction, former shareholders of MiniLuxe will hold: (a) 32,784,148 subordinate voting shares, representing approximately 59.6% of the outstanding subordinate voting shares; and (b) certain former shareholders of MiniLuxe will hold 91,065 proportionate voting shares, representing all of the outstanding proportionate voting shares.

Upon completion of the Merger, the directors of the Resulting Issuer will be Anthony Tjan, Stefanie Jay, Mats Lederhausen, Zoe Krislock and Vernon Lobo, and all senior officers of Rise Capital will resign and be replaced by appointees of MiniLuxe. It is proposed that Zoe Krislock, the current Chief Executive Officer of MiniLuxe, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Resulting Issuer, and Elizabeth Lorber the current Chief Financial Officer of MiniLuxe, will serve as the Chief Financial Officer of the Resulting Issuer.

The Merger is subject to a number of conditions, including, (i) all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") for the listing of the Resulting Issuer subordinate voting shares; (ii) the conversion of all outstanding promissory notes of MiniLuxe into common stock of MiniLuxe (which common stock will immediately thereafter be exchanged for subordinate voting shares and/or proportionate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer in accordance with the terms of the Merger); and (iii) the Subscription Receipts issued by MiniLuxe FinCo Corp., as previously announced on October 19, 2021 (the "Financing"), shall have been exchanged for an equal number of subordinate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer. There can be no assurance that the Merger will be completed as currently proposed or at all. In addition, listing of the subordinate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer on the TSXV is subject to satisfaction of all requirements of the TSXV. A further news release will be issued by Rise if and when such requirements have been satisfied.

Upon completion of the Transaction, it is expected that there will be 54,972,714 subordinate voting shares and 91,065 proportionate voting shares outstanding. Cue Ball Capital LP ("Cue Ball"), an entity controlled, in part, by Anthony Tjan and Mats Lederhausen, is expected to own approximately 44.4% of the outstanding subordinate voting shares of the Resulting Issuer, assuming conversion of all outstanding proportionate voting shares, together with warrant to acquire an additional 206,772 subordinate voting shares, and will therefore be considered a "control person" of the Resulting Issuer, as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV. In addition, following the completion of the Transaction an affiliate of Cue Ball will provide advisory services to the Resulting Issuer on an ongoing basis at a rate of USD$26,500 per month, subject to adjustment from time to time based on the needs of the Resulting Issuer. A copy of the Merger Agreement will be available on Rise's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

History of MiniLuxe

MiniLuxe Inc. is a privately-held Delaware company incorporated on April 22, 2008. From its inception, the MiniLuxe brand has been anchored in a dual commitment to a) setting the high standards of clean in the beauty industry and b) empowering a diverse community of self-care and beauty professionals. Since opening its first studio, every MiniLuxe service meets standards for hygiene protocol, sourcing and ingredients of the components used, and fair labor practices.

In 2015, MiniLuxe expanded its studio footprint beyond the Boston area, specifically, to the Dallas and Los Angeles markets. In parallel to its geographic expansion, MiniLuxe has focused on developing its training and education programs. It has further evolved into an omni-platform business spanning services at nail care studios and partner channels (e.g. "shop-in-shop" and kiosk form factors) and clean nail and body care products.

Today, MiniLuxe's business model chiefly generates talent revenue via provision of nail care and waxing services, which is complemented by product revenue from the sale of MiniLuxe-branded products and select third-party products. MiniLuxe is currently executing a deliberately sequenced omni-platform strategy, which it expects will further diversify these revenue streams.

This omni-platform strategy aims to introduce on-demand services that meet the client where they areanywhere, anytime; this, in turn will create flexible work options for MiniLuxe's talent base (i.e. options to provide services at a branded physical fleet location, workplace, home, etc.). Such a model would be complemented by MiniLuxe-owned and developed "eduployment"-based certification programs, which would graduate talent directly onto the MiniLuxe platform.

The past three years of MiniLuxe's history have been marked by the following milestones:

record revenue level of $22M generated in 2019.

assembly of experienced management team: hired Zoe Krislock as Chief Executive Officer of MiniLuxe in 2018. Prior to MiniLuxe, Ms. Krislock had spent 15 years at Nike. hired Elizabeth Lorber as Chief Financial Officer of MiniLuxe in 2020. Prior to MiniLuxe, Ms. Lorber spent 10 years in equity research at OppenheimerFunds before leading finance and corporate development at lifestyle and beauty brands. expansion of digital capabilities: digitized the business by moving close to 100% online or digital bookings, removing cash-wraps in studios to accelerate the shift toward fully-digital payment, and developing an end-to-end digital customer experience with personalized recommendations throughout 2019 and 2020. development of asset-light channels: established off-premise talent revenue with channel partners, including Equinox, and with the custom-designed "Myrtle" mobile nail service station in 2019. launch of MiniLuxe-branded product line: launched e-commerce in 2019 with MiniLuxe-branded nail care and body-care treatments and products, followed later by customer-driven product line expansion.





Through March 8, 2020 (prior to COVID-19 related closures) MiniLuxe year-to-date service revenue was up nearly 15% versus same-store sales over the corresponding period in 2019. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in government-mandated stay-at-home orders. On March 17, 2020, MiniLuxe closed all of its studios. With the full cessation of services, the board of directors and management of MiniLuxe moved immediately to enact a COVID-19 plan. A significant number of team members were furloughed; by March 30, 2020, MiniLuxe downsized from a team of hundreds to just seven full-time employees. Management also immediately moved to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the Small Business Administration of the U.S. federal government, which has since been fully forgiven. In its studios, MiniLuxe has doubled down on hygiene by implementing even higher safety standards during reopening, exceeding those set by government-mandated protocols. Since May 2020, MiniLuxe has been steadily reopening its studios as capacity restrictions have permitted and is currently bringing its talent revenue back up toward pre-COVID run rates.

Summary of Financial Information of MiniLuxe

The following table sets forth selected historical financial information for MiniLuxe for the fiscal years ended December 27, 2020, December 29, 2019, and December 27, 2018, and the for the thirteen and twenty-six weeks ended June 27, 2021, in each case prepared in accordance with IFRS. The results for fiscal year 2020 reflect an environment in which the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impaired revenue and earnings relative to prior years:

Income Statement Data Fiscal year ended Dec. 27, 2020 Dec. 29, 2019 Dec. 27, 2018 Revenue $10,610 $22,324 $21,021 Income (Loss) From Operations ($9,520) ($8,261) ($7,699) Net Income (Loss) $6,761 ($27,915) ($7,020) Cash Dividends Declared $0 $0 $0 Adjusted EBITDA(1) ($8,028) ($7,045) ($6,741) Balance Sheet Data Fiscal year ended Dec. 27, 2020 Dec. 29, 2019 Dec. 27, 2018 Total Assets $20,098 $25,422 $28,268 Total Long-Term Liabilities $50,777 $57,517 $45,405 Working Capital ($3,491) ($11,011) $1,175





Income Statement Data 13 Weeks Ended 26 Weeks Ended June 27, 2021 June 27, 2021 Revenue $4,176 $6,774 Income (Loss) From Operations ($1,680) ($3,464) Net Income (Loss) ($14,282) ($21,833) Cash Dividends Declared $0 $0 Adjusted EBITDA(1) ($893) ($2,451)





Balance Sheet Data As of June 27, 2021 Total Assets $21,340 Total Long-Term Liabilities $56,593 Working Capital ($17,256)





Note: (1) Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adding back fixed asset depreciation, right-of-use asset depreciation under IFRS 16, asset disposal, and share-based compensation expense to IFRS operating income, then deducting straight-line rent expenses net of lease abatements. A reconciliation to IFRS measures will be provided in Rise's filing statement to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Summary of Sources and Uses of Funds of the Resulting Issuer



The total funds expected to be available to the Resulting Issuer after giving effect to the Merger and the Financing are estimated to be approximately USD$18,030,000, which includes the following: (a) the gross proceeds from the Financing of C$10,051,269/$8,119,415; (b) the net cash and cash equivalents of Rise of C$9,388,243/USD$7,583,823 as at September 30, 2021; and (c) the net cash and cash equivalents of MiniLuxe of USD$2,327,000, as at October 31, 2021.

The table below sets forth the principal purposes for which the estimated funds available to the Resulting Issuer upon completion of the Transaction are expected to be used for the ensuing 12-month period:

Principal use of funds(1) Amount ($) Base business operations $4,280,000 Studio and channel investments $2,990,000 Corporate headcount and overhead expansion $2,710,000 Technology and e-commerce investments $3,075,000 Debt service $470,000 Merger transaction costs $1,000,000 Working capital requirements $2,300,000 Consideration set aside for potential future acquisitions(2) $1,120,000 Excess cash $85,000 TOTAL $18,030,000





Notes: (1) The principal use of funds has been prepared based upon anticipated needs of the Resulting Issuer over the 12-month period immediately following the completion of the Transaction. The Resulting Issuer intends to spend the funds available to it as stated above. There may be circumstances, however, where for sound business reasons, a reallocation of funds may be necessary. It is difficult, at this time, to definitively project the total funds necessary to effect the planned activities of the Resulting Issuer. For these reasons, management considers it to be in the best interests of the Resulting Issuer and Resulting Issuer shareholders to afford management a reasonable degree of flexibility as to how the funds are employed among the uses identified above, or for other purposes, as the need arises. These funds include the expected net cash need of existing business operations, but exclude anticipated contributions from studio and channel investments. (2) There are no agreements for contemplated acquisitions currently in place. However, MiniLuxe believes that there are numerous potential acquisition targets to deploy these resources toward in the 12 months post-Transaction. Cash earmarked for potential acquisitions will be deployed for other purposes should those acquisitions not materialize.

The parties also wish to clarify that Christine Mastrangelo, the current corporate secretary of MiniLuxe, will not be an officer of the Resulting Issuer. Ms. Lorber will act as the corporate secretary of the Resulting Issuer. In addition, Blue Door Agency, a current provider of public relations services to MiniLuxe, has not been retained to provide investor relations services to the Resulting Issuer.



About Rise

Rise is a "capital pool company" that completed its initial public offering in May 2021. The common shares of Rise ("Rise Shares") are listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") under the stock symbol RSE.P. Rise has not commenced commercial operations and has no assets other than cash. It is intended that the Transaction, when completed, will constitute the "Qualifying Transaction" of Rise pursuant to Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies (the "CPC Policy") of the TSXV.

About MiniLuxe

MiniLuxe, a Delaware corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts is a digitally-driven, socially-responsible lifestyle brand and empowerment platform in nail care. For over a decade, MiniLuxe has been setting industry standards for health, hygiene, and fair labour practices in its efforts to transform the most used, but poorly regulated beauty service. MiniLuxe seeks to become one of the largest educators and employers of Asian-American, Asian-Canadian, and other diverse members who are part of one of the largest independent workforces of women.

Today, MiniLuxe has revenue streams principally across talent services (nail care and waxing services) and product revenue (through its own proprietary clean nail care products). MiniLuxe is driven by a fully integrated digital-first platform that manages all client bookings, preferences and payments and provides designers with the ability to manage their scheduling, clientele, bonuses and gratuity, and training content. Since its founding, MiniLuxe has performed over 2 million services.

Trading Halt

Trading in the common shares of Rise has been halted and is not expected to resume until completion of the Transaction or until the TSXV receives the requisite documentation for the resumption of trading.

For more information, please contact:

Michael Zych

Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director, Rise

(905) 825-4011

Zoe Krislock

Chief Executive Officer, MiniLuxe

zkrislock@cueball.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange Requirements (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV), majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. All information contained in this press release with respect to Rise and MiniLuxe was supplied by the respective party for inclusion herein, without independent review by the other party, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party.

The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information contained herein may include, but is not limited to, information concerning the Transaction, the Financing, the completion and timing of the application to the TSXV in respect of the Transaction, the proposed structure by which the Transaction is to be completed, the ability of Rise and MiniLuxe to meet the conditions of the Transaction in the required timeframes, obtaining the necessary exemptions and approvals from the TSXV or other regulatory bodies, including the business, name and function of the Resulting Issuer and certain financial information.

Rise cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of Rise and MiniLuxe, including expectations and assumptions concerning Rise, MiniLuxe, the Resulting Issuer, the Transaction, the timely receipt of all required shareholder, court and regulatory approvals (as applicable), including the acceptance of the TSXV, the satisfaction of other closing conditions in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Rise's final prospectus dated May 6, 2021, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

In connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Rise has made certain assumptions. Although Rise believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Rise does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Rise or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.
Washington, DC, Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, American Forests celebrated the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which incorporates the REPLANT Act, for its significant investments in reforestation and forest resilience, advancing equity, combating climate change, and mitigating catastrophic wildfires.

American Forests has championed the REPLANT Act, leading the campaign for climate smart reforestation, said Jad Daley, American Forests president and chief executive officer. Today is a huge win for our national forests and communities across the country. Our forests are feeling the pain of climate change, succumbing to fires, drought and extreme weather that leave them unable to regrow on their own. REPLANT provides our forests and our Forest Service with direly needed funding to prepare our forests for the future.

The REPLANT Act removes a cap on the Reforestation Trust Fund, quadrupling U.S. Forest Service funding to replant millions of acres across the National Forest System. The Forest Service is currently facing a reforestation backlog of more than 4 million acres, largely driven by catastrophic wildfires that have increased in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Without REPLANT, the Forest Service has been able to meet only about six percent of the existing need for reforestation projects. Now, with particular thanks to Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), a principal negotiator of the IIJA, and fellow lead REPLANT sponsors Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), and Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID), resources will at last be provided to meet the crisis.

The IIJA provides many more wins for Americas forests beyond the REPLANT Act. It includes $425 million for post-fire recovery and burned area rehabilitation; $692 million for hazardous fuels management activities; and $200 million for a national seed and seedling strategy to bolster capacity so the right trees can be planted in the right places. IIJA also includes grants for climate smart restoration to historically underserved tribes and private forestry landowners, as well as funding for abandoned mineland reforestation. The IIJA invests $100 million for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to encourage science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes; over $1.5 billion for state and private forestry to support integrated landscape approaches; and $200 million for tribal forest restoration priorities. The IIJA also authorizes a new Healthy Streets program to couple tree planting in urban heat islands with new technologies like cool and porous pavements to improve the health and quality of life of urban residents.

The infrastructure bill is a game-changing step in the right direction in combating climate change, but we are poised to do even more, Daley said. Congress must pass the Build Back Better Act with all forestry funding preserved from the initial framework levels to multiply the benefits of the climate provisions in the infrastructure bill.

Our partners on the ground are ready and eager to implement this transformational funding, which will revitalize communities, protect livelihoods, and save lives, Daley said. Americas trees are critical to the nation as natural infrastructure and as soldiers in the fight against climate change. This unprecedented funding will return dividends for years in lives saved, carbon sequestered, jobs created and forests restored.

To learn more about details of the IIJA and the REPLANT Act, visit https://www.americanforests.org/article/celebrating-the-infrastructure-bill-a-win-for-americas-forests/.

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ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS: American Forests is the first national nonprofit conservation organization created in the U.S. Since its founding in 1875, the organization has been the pathfinders for the forest conservation movement. Its mission is to create healthy and resilient forests, from cities to wilderness, that deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water and wildlife. The organization advances its mission through forestry, innovation, place-based partnerships to plant and restore forests, and movement building.

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Palm City - Margaret Jan Crandall passed away at home on November 14. Her daughter Martha and her husband Robert were at her side. Jan Crandall, nee Schmults, was born on June 2, 1935, in Barrington, Rhode Island. During WWII, the family lived in Newport where her father, Ernest, worked at t
Goshen, IN (46526)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy after some morning rain. High around 50F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 28F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Grand Haven, MI (49417)

Today

A few showers early then mostly cloudy and windy for the afternoon. High around 50F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Windy and partly cloudy this evening. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds after midnight. Low 29F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Recently, Ganfeng Lithium and its wholly-owned subsidiary GFL International Co., Limited signed a product supply contract with Tesla, Inc. and Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for a three-year supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide products to Tesla.

The teem of the contract runs from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024

The actual purchase volume and amount will be determined by purchase orders issued by Tesla.

The deal comes following a 91% increase in lithium hydroxide CIF Asia prices this year to $19,250 a tonne, according to Benchmarks Lithium Price Assessment.
Californias SunLine Transit Agency has awarded New Flyer a contract for five forty-foot fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2 heavy-duty transit buses. The purchase follows SunLines previous 2020 order for five Xcelsior CHARGE H2 buses and brings SunLines total zero-emission fleet to 26 fuel cell-electric vehicles.

The Xcelsior CHARGE H2 is a battery-electric vehicle using compressed hydrogen as an energy source and range extender, requiring only 6-20 minutes to refuel. Fuel cell-electric technology is fully zero-emission and an innovative way to obtain extended-range operation similar to existing transit vehicles.

Built on New Flyer's proven Xcelsior platform, the Xcelsior CHARGE H2 can save 85 to 135 tons of greenhouse gas per year from tailpipe emissions compared to a diesel bus.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Commercial Appeal.
Greensburg, IN (47240)

Today

Cloudy with rain ending for the afternoon. High near 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 23F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
GREENWICH  2021 was a major milestone in Greenwich politics.

In the first month of the year, Greenwich Democrats celebrated when they claimed a majority of registered voters in town, taking the lead over Republicans for the first time in the towns history. The Democratic majority among voters was taken as a sign by numerous observers that the political landscape was shifting.

On Election Day Tuesday, however, Republicans won town-wide political contests by a large margin, holding the office of first selectman against a Democratic challenger, as well solidifying control over other elected offices. While other once-powerful Republican strongholds have fallen into decline across the Northeast and New England, with voters increasingly dropping away from Republican affiliation, Republicans in Greenwich have shown success at the ballot box in the recent election.

Joe Angland, chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, said he sees a number of factors in the discrepancy between losses in local races and Democratic advantages in other contests.

Democrats do have a registration advantage for the first time, he said, but that advantage was not as clear-cut as it seemed.

According to the latest voter rolls released at Town Hall this week, there are 12,547 registered Democrats compared with 12,007 registered Republicans  and 16,196 unaffiliated voters.

When you look at that advantage, you realize that some of it comes from people who were registered Republicans (and) have re-registered as unaffiliated, presumably because they were offended by (President) Donald Trump. Theyre technically unaffiliated, but lean Republican, he said. Angland said he did some research on registrations several years ago when Trump was president, and it appeared a non-trivial number of local Republicans became independents. My surmise is that they didnt change their general views on politics, but they didnt want to be associated with Donald Trump, he said.

Just over two decades ago, Republicans enjoyed a more than two-to-one advantage over Democrats and a strong lead over independents or unaffiliated voters. But a substantial majority of Republicans began to drop off the rolls in the 2000s.

President Joe Biden won Greenwich by a wide margin in 2020, with 61.42 percent of the vote compared with Trumps 36.63 percent. In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton outpaced Trump among Greenwich voters, winning 56.49 percent of the vote to 39.14 percent for the Republican candidate. And three of the states most prominent and visible Democrats  Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal  all call Greenwich home.

But the trend toward Democratic party dominance in national elections has not proven to be a factor in local elections, as Greenwich voters demonstrated this week. Republicans won handily in local contests, with First Selectman Fred Camillo, a Republican, winning re-election by a wide margin, demonstrating the party continues to hold a strong grip on local offices and elections.

Camillo said the growing numbers of Democrats in Greenwich was not a major concern for him as an elected leader.

You cant control that. But what you can control is how you engage people, Camillo said. You only have your record and your vision. I think people like the direction that the town is heading, they like the fact that we listen.

I worry about doing my job. If you do your job, and youre honest, and you communicate, that takes care of itself, he said. We have lots of new residents here. We dont want to brag about the past, we want to show them things are getting done.

Greenwich Republicans have a long tradition of dominating local politics. The last time a Democrat was elected to the towns top office was 2001, when Richard Bergstresser won.

Democrats also made a strong showing in 2018 when the party captured a number of statewide seats, and Camillo spoke publicly about the political landscape starting to trend blue down here in Greenwich. Historic victories were earned by Democrats state Rep. Stephen Meskers and state Sen. Alex Kasser, although Kasser resigned her position in 2021, citing family concerns. Political observers said at the time that opposition to Trump had an impact on Greenwich, giving Democrats an edge that year.

In the most recent contest, Republican incumbent Camillo won 69 percent of the vote over his Democratic challenger William Kelly. Janet Stone McGuigan, a Democratic candidate for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, won the third highest vote total among the four candidates for the board. The other Democrats running for positions at Town Hall all lost, and Republicans racked up significant margins of victory in vote totals for members of the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Many newcomers to Greenwich, moving to the Connecticut suburbs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, lean Democratic and helped boost the partys number locally, Angland said. But the DTC the chairman said newcomers to Greenwich are often disinterested in local issues while focused on national causes.

The number of Democrats in town has increased, in part, because of the Democratic leanings of new people who have arrived in town moving in from New York City and elsewhere. They arrive here as ardent Democrats on national issues  they subscribe to general Democratic ideals on issues relating to social welfare, immigration, climate change, etc., Angland said. But when you get to local issues in Greenwich, as newcomers, theyre probably not even aware of what the issues are here.

Understanding Greenwichs somewhat arcane form of government, the Democratic party leader added, tended to be off-putting to recent arrivals, as well.

Finally, Angland said, Camillo and his administration earned public approval from a rally-around-the-flag effect prompted by the coronavirus, one that benefited Republicans in Greenwich overall.

In some ways he had the benefit of COVID being such a big issue. In a world where some Republicans did not take it seriously, he took it seriously. For that he was to be commended, Angland said. He did a responsible job, and given that was the biggest thing happening in the past two years, its not surprising to me people would say, He got the big one right.

Dan Quigley, chairman of the Republican Town Committee, said Camillo made a strong effort to appeal to independent voters and members of the opposition party.

Republicans, Democrats, independents, I think people gave him big kudos for what he did with COVID, Quigley said. And I think the backdrop has changed, from Trump to Biden, and thats a tailwind for Republicans.

Quigley said he was concerned about the rising number of Democrats in Greenwich, but he did not see it as an inevitable path to electoral success for the opposition.

I think our party has to reposition itself a little bit.  But I think our party made a statement in this election, that the way Fred is doing it  which is to be center right in a center right town, to reach across the aisle to compromise when you can, to treat colleagues on the other side with respect  I think thats what people in a local election want, the Republican chairman said.

Greenwich Republicans solid showing echoed Republican wins in other parts of the state in local contests.

An expert on Connecticut politics wondered if the results of the local elections across the state werent part of a wider trend.

Professor Gary Rose at Sacred Heart University said its a truism that all politics are local, but in some instances, local politics can mirror national issues and a broader mood among the electorate. Republicans defeated Democrats and flipped seats in Bristol, Colchester and Windsor Locks. In Danbury, Darien, New Britain and Westport, Republicans held off challenges in top elected positions.

Rose said he sensed that Republicans were gaining tailwinds boosting Republican candidates in local contests due to apparent dissatisfaction with Bidens administration.

I may be out on a limb on this, Rose said. I do feel in some races where Republicans did well  despite the fact Biden carried the area  some of it is the politics of Washington are starting to show up in our local races. Theres some resistance among voters to some of the developments that have occurred under this president. I do feel some voters went to the polls who are pretty distressed over what they see in Washington, D.C.

He cited concerns about infrastructure development, apparent high levels of illegal immigration on the southern border and the withdrawal by U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer that appeared haphazard.

You put it altogether, and I do feel there has been a visceral reaction to Biden showing up in local races, said Rose, chair of the Department of Government at Sacred Heart.

I think some affiliated voters might have stayed home, he said, as a result of national trends.

But am I saying all politics are national? Of course not, Rose added.

In local races in particular, the professor said, there are a mix of factors involving personalities, management styles and other highly local variables that determine who wins and who loses on election night.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
The popular playground in Bruce Park just got an upgrade, courtesy of the Department of Public Works.

The Bruce Park Playground is now more accessible, and the pedestrian safety in the area was improved by extending the walkway and installing a new sidewalk that leads from Steamboat Road to the playground parking lot and entrance.

Improvements were also made to increase the accessibility, with the installation of new ramps that are compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

The parking lot was also reconstructed, regraded and repaved, with three new parking spaces added and the drainage improved.

We are thrilled that the new improvements will benefit the thousands of families who visit the Bruce Park Playground, and we thank the Department of Public Works for their help in this project, said Joseph Siciliano, director of the town Department of Parks and Recreation.

The project was a quick one, with work beginning in September and wrapping up in October, he said.

Work continues on a curb and sidewalk project on Indian Harbor Drive from Museum Drive to Orchard Place. That work will include addressing a sight line issue on Indian Harbor Drive by moving all the street parking there to the westerly side of the road.

Byram

In a celebration that will also mark its 130 years of service to the community, the Byram Volunteer Fire Department will cut the ribbon on its newly renovated station Nov. 14.

The festivities will kick off at the station at 266 Delavan Ave. at 11:30 a.m., with the ribbon-cutting ceremony set for 12:30 p.m.

The fire department has been a part of this community for 130 years, and we hope people will come out to enjoy such a momentous day for us, said Joanne Arnone, a member of the volunteer company. We love serving this community, and the firehouse is such an important part of Byram.

The community is invited to the family-friendly event to tour the renovated fire station. Also, Sparky the fire dog will be on hand, hot dogs and soda will be served, and plastic fire hats will be handed out. Fire prevention equipment will also be handed out.

Kids and adults are invited to check out and even sit in the volunteer fire departments trucks, which will be in the nearby library parking lot. Firefighters will also demonstrate the equipment they use during a fire and explain how the trucks work.

Thats something the kids always get a kick out of, Arnone said.

The renovations were long overdue in the nearly 70-year-old fire station, which has housed both volunteer and career firefighters and is located in the heart of Byram.

The building retained its classic appearance, but the more than $3 million project upgraded the station to meet the needs of todays firefighters.

Western Greenwich

The Greenwich United Way is offering to help people, who are seeking jobs in the field of child care, to put together the information they must provide to a prospective employer.

It is teaming with 2-1-1 Child Care Partner at the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood to provide free digital fingerprinting services for child care providers. Appointments are available Nov. 15 and Dec. 13 at the Greenwich United Ways office at 500 W. Putnam Ave.

The service is for child care provider staff, volunteers and household members who are required to complete the comprehensive background checks as part of their employment. The fingerprints are collected digitally and sent directly to the Connecticut State Police for use in the required background checks.

We are happy to provide this critical service for child-care providers in our area, said David Rabin, CEO of Greenwich United Wayd. OECs mission of helping families and children to thrive is directly in line with ours, and we are proud to do our part to help with the states background checks for those caring for children.

To make an appointment, visit https://resources.211childcare.org/fingerprint/.

Downtown

A popular local restaurant is offering a special in November to support the work of the Transportation Association of Greenwich, a private, not-for-profit transportation service.

Marc Penvenne, owner of Bistro V restaurant and bar, Versailles Patisserie and Meli-Melo Creperie & Catering, said he will raise money for TAG with the sale of Grab and Go items at Meli-Melo. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of prepackaged items, which include soups, salads, sandwiches, quiche, brownies, yogurt and more, will go to TAG throughout the month.

Penvenne credited the partnership to town resident Jen Danzi, a local Realtor and a member of TAGs board.

The fundraiser comes at a busy time for TAG, which has collaborated with Neighbor to Neighbor to deliver food to 2,000 local families in need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In August when the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit, Regal Care rehabilitation center on King Street lost power and experienced flooding in patient areas. TAG came to the rescue, helping to evacuate the residents and providing the transportation needed to get many of them to safety.

In addition to its emergency work, TAG also provides regular transportation services to local seniors who need rides to medical appointments.

Also, Penvenne and Danzi collaborated on a special cocktail at Bistro V called Celebrating Greenwich in TAGs honor in October. Sales of the cocktail that month benefited TAG. Danzi also served as guest bartender at Bistro V Bar Takeover night to support TAG.

I was invited to join the board about 15 years ago and have remained an active member ever since, Danzi said. I quickly learned how critical the services that TAG provides are to our community and how underfunded the organization is.

TAGs work was praised during recent hearings before the Board of Estimate and Taxation, which provides some funding for the service. TAG also depends on private fundraising from the community and from businesses for support.

I am so amazed at all the work were able to accomplish with so little, said Debra Vetromile, TAGs executive director. Our work is essential. There are so many seniors and people with disabilities in Greenwich that rely on TAG to receive food and transportation to critical appointments. Were so thankful to have local businesses show their support, and we encourage the community to support these businesses.

TAG is also seeking drivers with CDL licenses. To volunteer, donate or learn more about TAG, visit www.ridetag.org.

Bistro V will hold its next bar takeover event on Nov. 18 to support Neighbor to Neighbor.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
NAUGATUCK  Two people were arrested after a pursuit Thursday that led to an officer being hit by the suspect vehicle and suffering leg fractures, according to police.

It began around 4 p.m. when officers were dispatched to Walmart at 1100 New Haven Road for a report of a shoplifting.

An officer responded and interrupted an alleged suspect trying to get into a vehicle in the area, police said. The individual, later identified as 49-year-old Francis Joseph Ibell, led the officer on a foot pursuit, but was quickly apprehended, police said.

He was charged with first-degree robbery, sixth degree larceny, interfering with an officer and possession of drugs, police said. His bond was set at $500,000.

While the officer apprehended Ibell, the getaway vehicle  a gray 2006 Honda Ridgeline  fled north on New Haven Road, police said. Police said the vehicle approached Naugatuck Police Lt. Mark Pettinicchi who was working an extra duty traffic post near 561 S. Main St.

After Pettinicchi signaled for the driver to stop, police said, the Honda accelerated and hit the lieutenant. Witnesses later described the act as intentional to investigating officers, police said. The officer called for help, and additional units responded to the area and began a pursuit with the driver, who refused to stop, police said.

Police said the driver led officers on a pursuit that went from Route 8 to Waterbury, Wolcott, back through Waterbury, and Interstate 84 west, before being taken into custody in Middlebury near the South Street overpass.

Throughout the pursuit, police said, the occupants of the vehicle tossed out drugs, money and a pistol. All were recovered and seized as evidence.

Naugatuck, Waterbury, Middlebury and Connecticut State Police helped in the arrest of the driver, identified by police as 29-year-old Stanton Ragar Trent, and the passenger, identified as 25-year-old Asia Shynise Paulin.

The Naugatuck Valley Collision Investigation Team responded to the traffic duty scene to process evidence where the officer was hit by the vehicle.

Police said Pettinicchi, who has been with the department for 19 years, was taken to Waterbury Hospital. The lieutenant had a shattered ankle, a fractured right tibia and a fractured right ankle and underwent extensive surgery, police said.

Incidents such as this highlight the dangers that police officers face every day and the danger of trying to apprehend suspects that jeopardize public safety, police said.

Trent, of Daggett Street in New Haven, was charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, two counts of possession of drugs with intent to sell, second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, engaging police in a pursuit, carrying a pistol without a permit, weapon in a motor vehicle and sixth-degree larceny. His bond was set at $1 million.

Paulin, of Division Street in Waterbury, was charged with two counts of conspiracy at possession with intent to sell and carrying a pistol without a permit. Bond was set at $300,000.

Police said when Trent was presented for arraignment, officers used Pettinicchis handcuffs.
West Haven officials spent tens of thousands of dollars in federal COVID relief funding on Christmas decorations, payments to a city councilmans business  and a marching band that performed at the citys Memorial Day parade, according to records reviewed by the CT Mirror.

All of those expenditures were paid from the more than $1.1 million in federal CARES Act funding that West Haven received last year, according to city invoices, receipts and payment vouchers.

West Havens use of that federal relief funding is already at the center of an ongoing financial scandal. Two West Haven employees, including former state Democratic lawmaker Michael DiMassa, were arrested by the FBI in the past month for allegedly funneling more than $636,000 in federal aid to a shell company they controlled.

The records, which The Mirror obtained through a request under the states Freedom of Information Act, document how the city spent the remainder of its CARES Act money.

West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi did not return a phone call or respond Friday to an emailed list of questions for this story. Her recent reelection bid is under review  a recount is scheduled for Sunday. Unofficial results show Rossi won by 29 votes.

But Barry Cohen, her Republican opponent for mayor, called some of the citys CARES Act expenditures highly suspect. I seriously question whether marching bands and holiday decorations are appropriate uses, he said.

The CARES Act funds were approved by Congress in early 2020 to assist municipalities that were faced with unexpected costs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. And the federal rules surrounding that funding set up broad categories for how the cash could be used by towns and cities.

Those categories included things like public safety measurers, public health expenses, COVID testing costs, telemedicine services, disinfecting public buildings, setting up temporary medical facilities, paid sick leave for public employees, buying masks and other personal protective equipment, and other costs brought on by the pandemic.

The invoices reviewed by The Mirror this week totaled more than $500,000. Most of those expenses seem to fall within the federal guidelines, but other expenses paid out of West Havens CARES Act fund dont have clear connections to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, West Haven spent $7,674 to hire a 20-person marching band to perform at its Memorial Day parade. The documents show the city hired the Patriot Brass Ensemble, a group out of New York City.

In the expense reports, city officials noted that the money for those performers specifically came out of the CARES Act fund. And they explained that they had to spend $7,000 on the musicians and another $674 on their round-trip tickets from Grand Central Station because other bands were not available to play in the parade.

The state Office of Policy and Management, which disbursed the CARES Act funding to Connecticuts 169 towns and cities, recently hired the auditing firm CohnReznick to inspect all of West Havens federal expenditures over the past year.

Chris McClure, a spokesman for OPM, could not be reached for comment on Friday afternoon, but officials with the state agency said this week that the auditors from CohnReznick were already collecting financial documents from the city.

Those records also show the city paid more than $13,000 to two West Haven companies  Ferrie Brothers and Reliable Fence  for reportedly fixing property damage caused by storms in August of 2020. City officials also spent hundreds of dollars for new trees to be planted, Halloween preparations and new Christmas lights, according to the financial documents.

The city also spent $200 on vaccine T-shirts, $1,500 on videographers who recorded celebrations for Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and another $1,000 for a design company that created a West Haven COVID Logo. All three of those companies are based in West Haven.

Beth Sabo, West Havens human resources director, also spent $8,404 on specially made coins that were given out as employee recognition awards. She purchased 2,000 of them from West Shore Associates, another West Haven company, according to the documents.

The citys records also show that a trucking and towing company owned by Robert Bruneau, a West Haven city councilman, got paid from the federal funds.

That company, Chips Wrecker Service Inc., was paid at least $19,600 out of the federal relief funds through three separate invoices to reportedly deliver food to people, maintain generators and set up, take down and cleanup after COVID-related events, according to the city documents.

Bruneau, a Democrat who was re-elected to the city council last week, said he, his sons and several other employees at his company put in a lot of time during the pandemic providing those services to the city, and in most cases, he said, they did so on a volunteer basis.

I was asked to perform a service, and thats what we did, Bruneau said on Friday. We were called in by the city to handle it. I did exactly what they asked me to do.

There was a whole lot more time donated than was billed, he added.

He said he didnt know how or why his company was chosen, but he said his businesses have contracted with the city in the past.

Any questions about the procurement process, Bruneau said, would need to be answered by Thomas McCarthy, West Havens Public Works Director.

On Friday, McCarthy told the Mirror that he never saw the invoices submitted by Bruneaus company and claimed he was not privy to that information.
It seems like Oppo is just deliberately trying to confuse everybody at this point. As we are currently waiting on the Reno7 series to drop sometime this month, the smartphone giant clearly has no intention of slowing down its constant rebranding and tiny specs iteration efforts, this time adding yet another member to the Reno6 family. A leaked promo video showcases a Reno6 Lite, apparently headed to Europe shortly and outlines most of its specs. In a hardly surprising development, the Reno6 Line is basically a rebranded Oppo F19. A device that has been selling since April in India, which is pretty much identical to the Oppo F19s - a phone that has also been on Indian shelves since September. OK, so Oppo just decided to bring the phone to Europe under a different brand then? Well, it did indeed, but it also decided to bring essentially the same device to the Old Continent back in April, as the Oppo A74 and is apparently planning to release the Oppo A95 shortly as well, with pretty much the same hardware both inside and outside. Talk about a shotgun approach to phone sales.

[Exclusive] OPPO Reno6 Lite commercial for Europe, confirming design & key specs of the phone.



-AMOLED FHD+ Display with Punch-Hole

-5000mAh Battery

-33W Fast Charging

-In-Display Fingerprint Scanner

-Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

-6GB + virtual 5GB RAM, 128GB ROM

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/A5hMRpmadz  Sudhanshu Ambhore (@Sudhanshu1414) November 6, 2021

Anyway, the video covers most of the specs of the Reno6 Lite, essentially only missing to mention the exact model of its Qualcomm chipset. We can fill in that gap with a fair bit of confidence - the Snapdragon 662. It is paired with 6GB of actual RAM, with an additional 5GB of virtual RAM and there are 128GB of storage on board. Hopefully expandable via microSD, though not necessarily so, since the SD slot is one of the few things Oppo dropped going from the F19 to the F19s.

The Reno6 Lite will have a FHD+ AMOLED display with a punch hole selfie cam and in-display fingerprint reader. Again, the video fails to mention the panel's diagonal, but we have you covered - 6.43 inches. There is a 5,000 mAh battery on board with 33W charging. The camera setup consists of a 48MP, f/1.7 PDAF main snapper and two supplementary 2MP units - one for macro shots and the other a depth cam.

The video showcases the Reno6 Lite and its "Reno Glow Design" in a single color, though there will likely be more options to choose from. We still don't have any info on pricing or availability, but the Oppo A74 is currently selling on Amazon Germany for just shy of EUR 200, which is a fair bet to make.

Source | Via
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A young calf trots by another cow resting in the shade of a nearby tree in Malesso on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.
Atkins Kroll donates a Toyota Venza to The American Red Cross for the upcoming Red Ball. Left to right: Ernie Galito, AK Director for Business Development; Jim Herbert, ARC Board Member and Manager, Five Star Wholesale; Trina Cruz, AK Director for Marketing; Jeffrey Cook, First Gentleman and ARC Board Member; Robert Marks, ARC Board Member; Marcos Fong, ARC Board Chairman and President, Glimpses group of Companies; Chita A. Blaise, Red Cross CEO; Ed Ilao, ARC Board Member and President JMI Group of Companies; Jimmy Hau, ARC Board Member and President Exxon Mobil Guam.
Under Guam law, people with disabilities are supposed to make up 2% of the workforce of government departments and agencies. But the law is not enforced, and anyone trying to get certified as disabled under the law faces bureaucratic hurdles, according to Marie Libria, program coordinator at the Guam Developmental Disabilities Council.

There are instances, because the process takes so long, it makes individuals with disabilities frustrated with getting employment  this leads them to sometimes lose interest, said Libria.

Libria said Bill 219, recently introduced by Sen. Amanda Shelton, would streamline the process.

Currently, applicants have to get a disability certification from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation at the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities.

The bill would instead have a licensed medical professional conduct the certifications.

In addition, the bill would require accountability on the part of the government, so the public would know what percentage of each agencys workforce was made up of disabled people.

Current process

At the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, residents have to go through an orientation process followed by an assessment, to determine if they qualify. If and when they do, they have to return to see their counselors who are sometimes not available.

Certification is based on knowledge of the job site, job description, nature of work and ability, and skills needed to perform the specific job position based on the medical professional.

Under the proposed bill, a Guam-licensed medical practitioner would determine whether an individual has a physical or mental impairment which ... results in a substantial impediment to employment.

The bill expands the law so that individuals can get the certifications that they need to obtain employment, Libria said.

Right now, if someone with a disability goes on their own to apply for a government of Guam job without going through the registration process at the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, they are not counted in the 2% group.

Libria said some government agencies may have 2% or more of employees who are disabled, but with no current enforcement, there may not be compliance in every department.

Some individuals dont like to reveal their disability because that hinders their chances of obtaining employment, although, with the government of Guam, there are preference points if you are someone with a disability and have a document saying you have a disability, said Libria.

Compliance

In addition to simplifying the certification process, the bill would require agencies and departments to provide data on compliance with the law.

After the close of each fiscal year, the Department of Administration will have to prepare a report in consultation with DISID including:

The number of people with severe disabilities employed by the agency.

The total number of employees working for the agency.

The number of people with a disability hired by the agency within the year.

Types of jobs these individuals perform.

Length of time these individuals were employed in each agency.

The bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Tina Rose Muna Barnes, Telena Cruz Nelson, Mary Camacho Torres, Telo T. Taitague, Frank Blas Jr., Joanne Brown and Anthony Ada.
The latest report of how much of the most recent batch of American Rescue Plan funds has been given to government of Guam departments and agencies has been released by the governors office.

Of the $553 million made available to Guam in July from the plan, about $135 million has been distributed according to the latest funds report by the Bureau of Budget and Management Research as of Oct. 31.

The report is a summary of where the $135 million has been allocated by the governor to provide emergency relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how much has been spent by the department or agency.

The balance is what is still available for the department or agency to spend from the amount they were allocated. When the allocated funds are the same as the balance, no funds have been spent. This is the current balance and request from GovGuam departments and agencies.

Balance

Of the approximately $135 million batch, about a $30 million balance is still available.

The All-RISE Act funds balance is approximately $2 million from an allocation of $38 million.

The largest allocation to departments or agencies is under the category of public assistance.

Quarantine facilities have a balance of $4,623,077 out of a $23,843,492 allocation and the balance for isolation facilities was $1,970,546 out of an allocated $1,970,544.

COVID-19 bereavement grants had a balance of $340,000 out of an allocation of $850,000.

The Guam Economic Development Authority received money from the plan for several of its initiatives and programs including an $8 million balance for business economic support out of a $20 million allocation. The Economic Diversification Initiatives received a balance and allocation of $5 million. The Rent Relief Program balance is $411,640 out of a $1,800,000 allocation.

The Guam Power Authority for its rate offset has used all of its $15 million in allocated funds.

A credit card fees balance was $3,604,530 from $6,400,000 in allocation.

General government departments and programs like the Safe Haven Program for homeless housing by the office of the governor has a balance of $98,000 from an allocation of $1.5 million.

The Department of Revenue and Taxation for IT and contractual needs used all of the $110,902 allocated funds.

The Civil Service Commission had a balance of $135,752 out of an allocation of $160,874.

A balance of $358,311 is available for the Guam Solid Waste Authority from an allocation of $784,792.

The Department of Integrated Services for People with Disabilities has not yet spent the $700,000 it was allocated.

Guam Memorial Hospital spent its full allocation of $7,267,089. Guam Regional Medical City also spent its entire $7,800,000 allocation.

The Commission on Chamoru Language had a balance of $69,000 of a $165,000 allocation.

The University of Guam has not spent its allocated $48,668.

The Judiciary of Guam has a balance of $3,651,383 of an allocation of $4,500,000 and the Public Defender Service Corporation has not used its allocated $580,070.
Amanda Shelton has intriduced Bill 219, which would expand certification for people with disabilities who want to get hired with Government of Guam agencies.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Petion-ville : Dominican Consulate closed

Since Friday, November 5, the Dominican Consulate in Petion-Ville has been closed "The administration of the Dominican consulate informs you that the consulate is closed until further notice" indicates 2 posters on the facade of the Consutate.



Gonaive : La Providence hospital is reducing its services

Due to the fuel shortage, the administration of the Providence des Gonaives hospital has decided that from Friday 5 November only medico-surgical, pediatric and obstetrical emergencies will be admitted, except the antenatal clinic.



No American soldiers to escort the tankers

On Friday the new US Charge d'Affaires in Haiti Kenneth Merten declared that Washington does not intend to send American sodat to escort the tankers in Haiti thus clearly specifying the American position following the interpretable statements at the end of October by Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the White House who had announced that the United States would help deliver petroleum products to the Haitian market and would accompany the PNH in order to secure the roads https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35103-haiti-flash-the-usa-will-intervene-in-the-delivery-of-fuel-in-haiti.html



Strict control of Haitians in Dajabon

Friday, binational market day, many Haitians thronged around the Massacre River and on the border bridge between Ounamainthe and Dajabon wanting to enter the Dominican Republic to stock up on fuel, food, medicines and other items ... The Dominican soldiers did not. allowed entry only to those who presented valid travel documents.



DR : Daniel Supplice special envoy for the PM

Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked sociologist and former Haitian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Daniel Supplice to be his special envoy to Dominican President Luis Abinader. A request accepted by Supplice which should meet the Dominican President next week.



OEA : Leon Charles presented his credentials

On Thursday, November 4, the former Director General of the PNH, Ambassador of Haiti Leon Charles, Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), presented his credentials to Secretary General Luis Almagro.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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Published on 2021/11/06 | Source

Korean-Japanese documentary "I Am Chosun People" added to HanCinema database

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"I Am Chosun People" (2020)

Directed by Kim Cheol-min

Synopsis

In October 2002, a South Korean documentary film director Kim Cheol-min attends an event hosted at Mt. Geumgang: National Rally for Reunification by Students and Youths from South and North Korea and Abroad. It was influenced by the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration. In the hope of contributing to the nation's reconciliation, unity, and reunification, around 500 students and youths from South and North Korea and abroad attended the event. Here, Kim encounters the Korean Japanese (Zainichi) for the first time. To get to know them better and deeper, he grabs his camera and heads to Japan. The Korean Japanese are neither 'South Korean' nor 'North Korean'. They refer to themselves as 'Chosun people'. Many people find the term difficult and awkward because the word 'Chosun' cannot be defined simply. Multiple discussions intertwine the word. In Japan, 'Chosun' is consciously and unconsciously connected with North Korea, making the word a form of hate speech. When the Korean Japanese say "I Am Chosun People", they are making a declaration or pledge to proactively rescue the word that is engraved with a history of oppression and ordeal. LEE Jong-chan

Diaspora Film Festival 9

Release date in Korea : 2021/12/09
Mary Lou Montgomery, retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this regions foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author include but are not limited to: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri," and "The Historic Murphy House, Hannibal, Mo., Circa 1870." She can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com
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The party organization that works to elect Republicans to the U.S. House has added U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, to the list of 70 Democratic congressmen it's targeting for defeat in 2022.

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the Republican electoral victories Tuesday in Virginia, along with polls showing Republican chances to retake the House are improving, spurred the NRCC to expand its original list of 57 targeted candidates.

"In a cycle like this, no Democrat is safe," Emmer said. "Voters are rejecting Democrat policies that have caused massive price increases, opened our borders, and spurred a nationwide crime wave."

Mrvan is the only Indiana Democrat being targeted by the NRCC. Republicans consider Mrvan to potentially be vulnerable because Mrvan won last year with only 56% of the vote, compared to the 65% of district voters who supported former U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Gary, in 2018.

In addition, records show Democrat Joe Biden only won Mrvan's 1st Congressional District by an 8.8% margin over Republican Donald Trump in 2020, a drop from the 12.6% margin Democrat Hillary Clinton had over Trump in 2016  suggesting Northwest Indiana may be trending Republican.

So far, two Republicans have filed to run in the May 2022 primary election: Jennifer-Ruth Green, of Crown Point, an Air Force Reserve member and chief information officer for the Indiana Air National Guard; and Tom Madden, of Valparaiso.

They're likely to be joined by, among others, perennial GOP nominee Mark Leyva, a Highland carpenter; and possibly a former state official under Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

Mrvan said Wednesday he's not concerned about being on the targeted candidate list because "the voters of Indiana's 1st Congressional District determine who represents their interests in our nations capital, not the NRCC."

"That is why I have and will continue to remain focused on engaging with constituents, learning about their priorities, and doing my very best to be a district-centric member of Congress," Mrvan said.

Specificially, the former North Township Trustee said he's working to advance the causes of organized labor as co-chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, and he's delivered COVID-19 relief to local businesses, cities and towns, schools, and residents by backing the American Rescue Plan.

"As we move forward, I will continue to remain relentless in my efforts to grow our regional economy with improved educational and career opportunities for everyone," Mrvan said.
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A proposed project to improve the dam at Lake Houston to alleviate flooding in the Kingwood area will likely be scaled back in scope after preliminary design estimates came in over the budget the federal government had allocated for the project.

Were in the process of reevaluating the proposed improvement that was originally estimated, said Stephen Costello, chief recovery officer for the city of Houston. The proposed project is one of a number of flood improvement projects being launched by the city, county and federal governments in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

In its preliminary phase of the analysis of the project, engineering firm Black & Veatch had proposed adding several modern floodgates to the aging structure that would run for about 1,000 feet along the top of the dam.

Currently the dam has four small gates, which combined can release 10,000 cubic feet of water per second. This compares with the much larger gates on the Lake Conroe Dam, which can release 150,000 cfs.

However, the engineers found that making that much of an improvement to the Lake Houston Dam would require a great deal of reinforcement work in order to maintain the structural integrity of the concrete dam, which was built in 1953. The cost of this work would push the cost of the new gates beyond the $48 million earmarked for the project by a substantial amount, Costello said.

He said city officials had learned of the likely cost overrun two to three weeks ago and had instructed Black & Veatch to come up with a new preliminary design that will be more in keeping with the projects budget.

The dam spillway improvement project is being funded through a Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant, in which FEMA puts up 75 percent of the funds, with the remaining 25 percent divided equally between the city of Houston, which owns Lake Houston, and the Harris County Flood Control District.

Gary Bezemek, manager of feasibility studies for the county Flood Control District, said the Black & Veatch engineers are reexamining the proposed project from two perspectives.

Can the dam structure be modified to put the gates in with the spillway changes and other modifications theyll be looking at? Then theyre simulating to see if that were to be done, how would it operate and function during storm events? he said.

Bezemek said the Flood Control District is not directly involved in the preliminary design of the project but would assume the role of funding partner for the construction phase once the initial plans for the dam improvements are approved.

Our main role is as a future funding partner, and were also providing technical support, he said. We have it on our bond project list, where we have funds that were allocated and approved by the voters.

The revised preliminary engineering report will likely call for a smaller gate structure than the engineers had initially envisioned. In a town hall meeting in Kingwood in July, Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin said the dam improvements then being considered would allow the release of 4 feet of water from Lake Houston within 24 hours, four times the rate of release from the existing gates.

Costello said that the original intent was to lower the lake levels in advance of a flood and also provide some additional flow-through capacity during a flood.

One of the challenges faced by the engineers in preparing the revised preliminary design is ensuring that the project maintains a favorable cost-to-benefit ratio, a metric that FEMA uses in deciding whether to fund a project.

When we go through with a smaller gate structure, we would reduce the construction cost, but we would also reduce the benefit, Costello said. We hope to come up with a plan that is fundable and that provides the benefits that we hoped it would.

Bezemek said once a preliminary plan is decided upon, it will be up to the Flood Control District to examine how that plan would result in flood reduction benefits upstream of the project while not resulting in a negative impact to downstream residents and businesses. He said the presence of the existing dam structure poses a significant challenge to the engineers that would not be present if they were designing a flood control project from scratch.

Theres already a dam structure. They have to look at how that structure was built he said. In conjunction with that, they have to determine, if a structure is to be modified, how do those modifications function, and do they create the benefits?

He said design revisions are fairly typical for large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Lake Houston Dam project. As questions come up or new data comes in, there are always going to be modifications, he said.

Officials hope to begin construction on the project by the end of 2022.
Noodle Master manager Tha Yang wants people to know that the Pasadena restaurant is focused on authentic Chinese cuisine made in a traditional way.

This is real Chinese food, its not Americanized, he said of the restaurant, which had its official grand opening on Aug. 26, compete with traditional Chinese lion dancing.

The restaurant is part of a family owned company, 1919 Lanzhou Beef Noodle, that has restaurants in Australia, Los Angeles, and Miami, but the Noodle Master in Pasadena is the first in Texas.

The companys original restaurant, 1919 Lanzhou Beef Noodle, created its menu based on traditional recipes from the northwest part of China and specializes in beef broths and noodle soups.

The noodle soup is a light soup, and it looks clear, but the taste is very rich, said Paul Fan, co-owner of the Pasadena restaurant and one of four partners in the international chain.

Noodle Master in Pasadena is part of the companys expansion in the U.S. market and the first in Texas. The company chose Pasadena, the largest city in Harris County, because of its cultural diversity, said Fan.

Noodle Master What: A restaurant serving cuisine based on traditional recipes from the northwest part of China, with handmade noodles. Where: 6823 Spencer Highway, Suite A, Pasadena Website:https://bit.ly/2WcIvmI Facebook:https://bit.ly/3ANsK4W See More Collapse

Said Yang, Theres no one around here that serves handmade noodles like we do, and people dont have to drive an hour across town in Houston to get good authentic Chinese food.

Its menu specialty is made-to-order noodles and dumplings, and its the process that makes this restaurant more than just another fast-casual Asian eatery.

Customers may have to wait a few more minutes for their orders, but thats what makes Noodle Master standout, Fan said.

People come in to order, and then we make it fresh, and everything is handmade, he said. The dough and broths are prepared every morning.

Menu items like Xiao long bao, spicy wonton soup, several types of ramen and traditional stir-fry dishes  like Generals Tao, sweet and sour, Kung Pao chicken, Mongolian beef, and a variety of tofu  may sound familiar, but the Noodle Master does things the traditional way.

The restaurant has been gradually building its brand through word of mouth.

When Americans get a taste of real Chinese food, Fan said, they want more.

When Americans travel to China and eat Chinese food, they always say, How come we dont have this in America? - and thats why we wanted Americans to know what Chinese really eat, he said.

yorozco@hcnonline.com
In its 20th year, the Sugar Plum Market attracted people ready to shop and help the Fort Bend Junior Service League raise money for area charitable organizations.

The 2020 market was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so vendors and attendees alike were excited for this years in-person event held Nov. 4-6 at the Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre & Convention Center.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend ISD ready to showcase its student-run businesses at Nov. 13 event

Since the markets start, it has raised more than $3.3 million for area charities. Some of last years recipients included Access Health, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Houston, Brazos Bend Guardianship, Catholic Charities and Child Advocates of Fort Bend.

The total amount of funds raised from each market is usually released in December when checks are presented to the organizations.

FBJSL is beyond excited to celebrate the 20th Sugar Plum Market anniversary with our community partner and title sponsor, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, said FBJSL President Heather Allen. We want to thank our sponsors, volunteers, vendors and market patrons for their continued support which allows us to better serve the citizens of Fort Bend County.

There were more than 100 vendors, including 44 that were new to the event.

Sam Wallace owns Custom Cape Shop and had childrens superhero capes of many varieties and colors. Her now 13-year-old oldest son inspired the venture when he wanted to have matching party favors for his fifth birthday party. When she couldnt find well-made capes in stores at reasonable prices, she decided to sew them herself. After the party, friends urged her to sell them.

This was Custom Cape Shops fifth appearance at the Sugar Plum Market. Wallace explained she keeps returning because when a kid puts on a cape, they become a superhero. And it makes them stronger, and it makes them more confident. We love inspiring imaginary play.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Lamar Consolidated ISD leaders mull districts rapid growth, staffing shortages and more

Pet products business Asleep in the Boat was first marketed by its owner, Vicki Lynn, in April. Lynn would walk her dogs and take them places but sometimes struggled to manage the dogs and the things in her hands, like her phone, poop bags and credit cards. She created her signature walker vests that have lots of pockets and carabiners to attach leashes, if desired, for a hands-free effect. Lynn said business at the market had been good.

ShannieGirl owner Shannon Palmer has been selling her womens capes, wraps and scarves for 17 years. She designs the new unique pieces, which are then manufactured in Ecuador. Palmer said their quality and design and the variety of style options keeps business strong. She likes to sell at the Sugar Plum Market because it supports FBJSL and the vendors are treated well.

Teen brothers Grant and Ben Mize work alongside one another in their two businesses. Grant, 17, owns Sweetwater Candle Company which offers hand-poured soy candles. Ben, 16, sells all-natural bath products in his business Soshen. Grant donates 20 percent of his profits to Freedom Service Dogs of America, an organization that trains rescue dogs to be service dogs for wounded veterans. Ben donates 20 percent of his profits to Texas Childrens Hospital. They package the products together in gift sets.

Sugar Land resident Emily Murphy estimated this was her fourth Sugar Plum Market. She appreciates visiting all the vendors and that the market is a smaller setting than the Nutcracker Market, held each year in Houston.

For Murphy and many others around the Fort Bend area, the Sugar Plum Market begins to ring in the Christmas spirit and gets the holiday season going.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Nearly 100 years in, Girls Scouts raise funds to support programs for area girls

On Friday morning, Richmond resident MacKenzie Shimek was making her second visit to the market this year. She was just getting started but had purchased some Christmas decorations, candles and items for her children at the preview night on Wednesday.

Theres lots of good vendors, and we like to support the Junior League. I have a lot of friends on the committee, Shimek said.

The last day of the Sugar Plum Market runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre & Convention Center, located at 10505 Cash Road in Stafford. General admission tickets are $15. For more information, visit www.sugarplummarket.com.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Lamar Consolidated ISD Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens and Board President Joy Williams spoke on the districts rapid growth, local control, staffing shortages and more during a Nov. 3 luncheon.

The Fort Bend Chamber of Commerces Education Division hosted the event that drew stakeholders from the Fort Bend County community to hear about whats going on in Texas fifth fastest-growing school district.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Nearly 100 years in, Girls Scouts raise funds to support programs for area girls

The district covers 385 square miles, or about 43 percent of Fort Bend County. More than 39,000 students attend Lamar CISD schools from 15 municipalities, including Rosenberg, Richmond, Katy and Fulshear. More than 5,000 employees support the students at 46 campuses. More campuses are being added each year.

Demographers project the district will add more than 41,000 new homes over the next decade, serving more than 64,000 students by 2030. The district is projected to need 12 additional schools over the next decade.

While Lamar CISDs rapid growth is a sign of thriving schools and an engaged community, it also presents its own set of challenges, Williams said. As we continue to open new schools to keep up with our rapid growth, it is also important for us to maintain and update our existing facilities to ensure that all of our students have access to high-quality learning environments.

The availability of buses, technology and other resources is a challenge, Williams said. The district was transporting around 11,000 on buses at the close of the 2020-21 school year but is now transporting more than 16,000 students.

Williams reported that the district has one of the areas lowest tax rates and a track record of financial transparency and accountability. She said it has offered its employees salary increases each year for the last 10 years.

The districts strategic plan, Williams said, focuses on five priorities: adapting the process for student learning, preparing students to be successful in an evolving world, fostering a safe and healthy environment, planning for rapid growth while maintaining the districts culture and centering in on talent.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Missouri Citys Stuff the Squad Car & Fire Truck event slated for Nov. 20

She stressed the need for local control for the board to make decisions for its students and communities, giving the example of responding to the pandemic. We appreciate the ability to make decisions that are specifically tailored to our own community. When the state presents unfunded mandates, Williams said it poses challenges.

As education faces staffing shortages, Nivens noted a trend that began years ago where fewer students were majoring in education. He attributed it, in part, to societys devaluing the role of educators and said with fewer students, colleges of education lower their standards for the students they do have. Some teachers, Nivens said, lack proper preparation while others have fallen back on teaching when their corporate careers did not pan out.

He said the district is currently down about 50 staff members and began the school year down about 50 bus drivers and child nutrition staff members. Some classes are doubled up, and some bus drivers run double and triple routes, leaving some students to be picked up 60 or 90 minutes late.

The district is working to recruit student teachers and maintain great relationships with colleges and universities that will send students its way. Nivens said he takes no issue with begging talented people to come and stay because they lead to the best outcomes for students.

Lamar CISD also works to support current teachers through employee assistance programs because the pandemic has worn down everyone, Nivens said.

He struggled to read and write until a sixth grade teacher recognized what was going on and intervened. He said the district must make every effort to reach at-risk students, so it partners with groups like the George Foundation that financially support their social-emotional needs.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend ISDs new agriculture barn set to open in spring

Conversations about funding the districts rapid growth are unending, Nivens said. Earlier in the day, he had held a meeting with mayors and city managers from the 15 municipalities it serves to discuss plans. I always say, Whats best for the city is best for the school, and whats best for the school is best for the city. So we just have to make sure weve become strong partners in that and clearly communicate, have two-way communication so we can make sure that were doing the best thing we can for students.

Nivens said as he was researching to become superintendent of Lamar CISD, he was drawn to the district because he could see in online board meetings that the seven board members were all focused on students. In todays challenging climate, school board members can encounter personal attacks, keyed cars, slashed tires and even death threats. But they join to serve students and communities, Nivens said in thanks.

Theyre here now, and they all have jobs. They all have families and things they need to be doing, but theyre here right now supporting the school system in their volunteer job.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP)  A judge on Thursday found a Hawaii woman not guilty of murder in the death of a 3-year-old foster child she was caring for, West Hawaii Today reported.

Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie opted to go to trial before a judge instead of a jury. She pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Fabian Garett-Garcia.

A 911 call on July 25, 2017, brought firefighters to a Waimea home where the boy was found lifeless and lying face down beside a pool of his vomit on a bed.

No parent should have to lose a child, and it may be easy to place blame, but the state has failed to provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Judge Wendy DeWeese said.

There was reasonable doubt as to when the child was injured and while very rare, an accidental fall could have caused his death, she said.

Alcosiba-McKenzie reported the toddler fell from a bench while wearing virtual reality glasses. According to her, the boy didn't show any symptoms other than vomiting until she found him unresponsive hours later. She said she thought he was coming down with a flu like his sister had.

Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen said his office was disappointed in the verdict.

The Hawaii Police Department and Prosecutors Office will continue to do its part to be the voice for those not here to speak for themselves, like 3-year-old Fabian, and will continue to protect our keiki, he said, using the Hawaiian word for children.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the boy's parents is pending against the state Department of Human Services, Alcosiba-McKenzie and others.
MACHIAS, Maine (AP)  Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a teenage boy from New York in Down East Maine, officials said Friday.

Police received a report of potential gunfire after midnight on Thursday, and the 17-year-old's body was hours found later on a lawn, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Hurricane Ida has left so much debris along Louisianas eastern coast that shrimpers there may limit trawl times rather than using escape hatches for sea turtles, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.

A NOAA Fisheries investigation found that the debris is impeding effective use of turtle excluder devices, also known as TEDs, along more than half of the coast, the agency said.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  Police fatally shot an armed man who apparently threatened a worker at a Walmart store in North Carolina, authorities said Friday.

The man was later pronounced dead at hospital, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a Twitter post. No officers were hurt, according to the tweet.

A security guard at a Walmart store on Charlotte's east side told police officers that a man pointed a firearm at him and that he also threatened to shoot officers if they responded, according to a police news release.

As officers approached the man, they perceived a lethal threat"" and shot the man, according to the police statement. It said officers attempted lifesaving measures on the man until emergency medical personnel arrived. Police also said a firearm was recovered at the scene.

The names of the officers involved and the deceased man were being withheld pending family notification, police said.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation has taken charge of the investigation of the shooting, police said.
Houston-area leaders on Saturday called for an investigation into how a crowded crush of concert-goers at the Astroworld Festival late Friday led to the deaths of eight people and more than a dozen injuries.

"Nobody should ever expect for a loved one to go to a concert and not return," Harris County Judge Lina Hildago said in a Facebook post. "I'm calling for an objective and independent investigation into what happened."

"We're not going to leave any stone unturned," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday during a TV interview with CNN. "We want to look at every single detail to determine what led up to it and what additional steps that need to take place to keep it from happening again, especially in this city."

Local and state leaders expressed shock and sorrow Saturday as Houston police began reviewing camera footage and talking with concert promoters and witnesses to investigate the deadly concert crush at NRG Park.

ASTROWORLD TRAGEDY: 'It was like watching a Jenga tower topple:' At least 8 dead at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival

Eight people died and 17 people were taken to the hospital Friday evening after a crowd of about 50,000 concert-goers surged toward the stage during rapper Travis Scott's performance. Attendees reported that people fell and found it hard to breathe as the crowd overwhelmed security personnel. Houston Police said many of those hospitalized were in cardiac arrest.

Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

Concert-goers who died ranged in age from 16 to 23, said Turner, who called for a "detailed briefing" from concert organizer Live Nation, Harris County, NRG Park, Houston Police and Fire and the Office of Emergency Management, explaining how the event got out of control. Festival fans also stampeded the concert entrance earlier on Friday.

Harris County's District Attorney's Office on Saturday said that it was assisting local police with their investigation.

"The HCDAO is deeply shocked and saddened over the 8 lives lost at the Astroworld tragedy," the District Attorney's Office tweeted. "Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & injured as they face the days ahead."

Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday said he directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to make state resources available to support the investigation into the deadly concert.

"What happened at Astroworld Festival last night was tragic, and our hearts are with those who lost their lives and those who were injured in the terrifying crowd surge," Abbott said in a statement Saturday. "I ask Texans to join Cecilia and me in lifting up in prayer those affected by this tragedy."

Concert organizers said they are focused on supporting officials in their investigation, and encouraged concert attendees to reach out to Houston Police if they have any relevant information into the surge. The two-day festival, held annually since 2018, was created by rapper Travis Scott and named after the former Six Flags Astroworld amusement park.

"Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight -- especially those we lost and their loved ones," Astroworld Festival said on social media early Saturday.

"I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival," Scott tweeted Saturday. "Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love you all."

SAFETY VIOLATIONS: Astroworld Festival concert producer has history of OSHA violations, safety woes

Reactions to the Astroworld tragedy poured in from across the state and country.

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Democrat who represents Harris County, tweeted: "I am heartbroken over the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who died and with the many who were injured, and I am grateful to the first responders on the scene."

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican who represents Harris County, tweeted: "As a father of five, I am heartbroken for the parents who lost a child in last nights incident at Astroworld Festival. This was an awful and horrific event. Please join me in praying for the family and friends of the victims."

Beto O'Rourke, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Texas, tweeted: "My thoughts are with Houston and each of the families impacted by last night's tragedy at Astroworld."

Author and activist Marianne Williamson, a Houston native, tweeted: "Houston has gone through so much in the last couple of years. Prayers for my hometown."

Includes reporting from Joey Guerra, St. John Barned-Smith and Joel Umanzor.
Rapper Travis Scott has released a statement regarding the "mass casualty event" that left at least eight people dead and dozens more injured after a sold-out crowd of roughly 50,000 surged during rapper his performance late Friday at the Astroworld Festival outside NRG Park.

"I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival," he wrote. "Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love you all."

The Astroworld Festival began in 2018 as a celebration of both the iconic amusement park and the city itself. It continued in 2019 but was canceled in 2020 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This year's festival was expanded to two days, with an expected crowd of 50,000 people. Tickets sold out in less than an hour when they originally went on sale, with no artist lineup revealed.

Scott, whose full name is Jacques Bermon Webster II, grew up in Sunnyside and Missouri City, where he attended Elkins High School. Even as his fame grew exponentially, he frequently returned home for community and charity events. Missouri City declared Feb. 10 as Travis Scott Day. Mayor Sylvester Turner designated Nov. 18 as Travis Scott Day in Houston.

Now Playing: Eight people were killed and dozens more injured after a sold-out crowd of roughly 50,000 surged at Astroworld Festival 2021. Video: Laura Duclos, ABC13 Houston, Eric Daniels

He reunited with his high school counselor, Sarah Fuller Luna, in the Netflix documentary "Look Mom I Can Fly."

"I couldn't graduate school unless it was for this girl right here," Scott said in the film. "Oh, my God, she saved my life in high school. Like, real life."

Luna, who taught English literature for six years and spent six years as a counselor, told the Chronicle in 2019 that Scott "had a spark in him that made him move through the world with great, boundless energy, motivation, creativity and genius."

I love seeing him perform because it reminds me of how one never really loses their spirit and energy even as people grow and change. Its really a beautiful thing for me to watch. I am proud of him," she said.

The Astroworld tragedy is particularly tragic in the wake of a week of events meant to celebrate Houston, including the openings of Cactus Jack Gardens at Young Elementary School and Cactus Jack Designs inside TXRX Labs, a multi-use workspace off Navigation in the East End; the unveiling of a new Sunnyside basketball court; and a charity softball game at Minute Maid Park.

"Where you are right now is not the end all, be all. You have a future to come. Maybe when y'all get older this all might be something you understand. I love you guys so much," Scott told a cafeteria full of Young Elementary students. "Let's make some amazing things."
UPDATE: At least eight people are dead and dozens more injured after a sold-out crowd of roughly 50,000 surged during rapper Travis Scott's performance late Friday at the Astroworld Festival outside NRG Park, overwhelming security forces and resulting in one of the deadliest concerts in U.S. history.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Fans who gathered to attend Houston native Travis Scotts Astroworld festival stormed into NRG Stadium on Friday afternoon as the gates opened.

According to officials, fans pushed back the barricades bypassing metal detectors and security. Some of those involved in the mayhem were detained by security and mounted officers of the Houston Police Department who stored the entrance.

Festival goers were anticipating this years two-day festival which is the third since it began in 2018 and the first since the pandemic struck. Rapper Travis Scott  a native of the South Park neighborhood in Houston  named the event after the former Six Flags Astroworld.

The week leading up to this years Astroworld has involved smaller events and venues across the city of Houston.

This years festival will feature acts such as Roddy Rich, Bad Bunny and SZA.

ASTROWEEK: Everything Travis Scott did leading up to Astroworld

joel.umanvor@chron.com
Harold D. Caldwell, the stern, no-nonsense police chief who helped revolutionize the Houston Police Department and lead it out of a turbulent, scandal-ridden period in the late 1970s, died Thursday. He was 90 years old.

Friends and former colleagues remembered Caldwell as an early innovator who was determined to try to restore faith in a department reeling from accusations of police brutality after the murder of Joe Campos Torres and corruption, after other officers planted guns to try to justify several other killings.

He commanded respect, recalled Charles A. McClelland, another former chief. He had this deep, heavy, voice. You could tell he was a very intelligent and educated man.

Born in Robertson County, near Franklin, Texas, Caldwell graduated from Franklin High School and in 1948 joined the United States Marine Corps. He served in the Korean War and for a short time, was on General Douglas MacArthurs security detail. After the fighting ended, he spent part of his time working as a drill instructor.

Caldwell joined the Houston Police Department in 1953, shortly after mustering out of the Marine Corps. After graduating from Academy Class #10, he spent more than 20 years rising through the ranks, working assignments as a patrol officer and other divisions, and then as a supervisor in, among others, the Crime Prevention, and Homicide Divisions and the police departments jail. It was his time as chief, from 1977 to 1980, that would become the defining moment in his law enforcement career.

A stickler for rules -- Caldwell was legendary for making sure officers wore their department hats, for example -- the chief didnt shy from making decisions that werent popular with the rank-and-file.

He liked for his cops to look sharp, McClelland said, chuckling. If your shoes were not shined, he was going to let you know about it. Any time you got out of your car, you put your hat on.

Seeking recognition: Family, friends seek marker for veteran killed by officers in '77

He made some calls officers chafed at -- forbidding them to wear cowboy boots during the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, for example. He instituted the first set of general orders, started Spanish classes for officers, toughened the departments use-of-force policy, and formalized the creation of the Internal Affairs division. And for the first time, he hired psychologists to screen incoming officers to make sure they were mentally fit for the rigors of the job.

He had his soft spots, too, friends recalled. Every Christmas Eve, he would go to the departments now-defunct jail and ask those working who had the most kids. Then, he would take that persons shift so they could go home to be with their children.

The biggest challenges he faced were the police brutality cases. Just months before Caldwell was tapped to lead the department, several HPD officers beat a U.S. Army veteran -- Joe Campos Torres -- and dumped him into Buffalo Bayou. His body was discovered days later.

Two officers charged with murder were eventually convicted -- receiving a sentence of a year probation and a dollar fine. The sentence infuriated the citys Hispanic community and on the anniversary of Campos death, the city erupted in riots. Fifteen people were injured during the Moody Park Riot, including three police officers and two television reporters.

Caldwell would later say the riots were "caused by the most atrocious betrayal of public trust we can imagine.

During that same period, the department was grappling with several shootings by police which officers had tried to cover up misconduct by planting weapons to justify the killings.

He had to confront throwdown guns, and controversial shootings, said Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, a former Houston police officer who got to know Caldwell during his time as a city council member and sheriff.

All these things we are working hard to improve today, a lot of that was put in place by him way before it was chic -- and he was doing it when it was most resented internally.

TRAFFIC SEARCHES: Texas police search thousands of drivers and find nothing. Here's where that happens the most.

Caldwell faced the challenge head on.

He brought in some of the departments toughest critics -- including members of The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC -- to listen to their demands, then hired Mamie Garcia to serve as a community liaison to the citys Chicano community.

Before Harry Caldwell there werent meetings with neighborhood police officers with the community, Garcia would later tell a reporter. This all came through Harry Caldwell.

During the late 70s, the city started seeing an increase in killings in the citys Latino community, prompting the department to create the so-called Chicano Squad, a group of Spanish-speaking detectives who were tasked with solving murders of the citys Latino residents.

At the time, the Homicide Division was mostly staffed with white detectives, recalls Jim Montero, who would become the Chicano Squads first supervisor.

When white officers balked at the department picking Latino officers over them, Caldwell didnt flinch, Montero recalled.

If any of you were able to speak Spanish, I would shortly promote you, he remembered Caldwell telling them. But they were English-speaking only.

While Caldwells successor, Lee P. Brown, would become famous for his philosophy of community policing, Caldwell was the original police reformer, said McClelland, HPDs top cop from 2009-2016. He was the one who got us our first meaningful community relations department off the ground, building more trust with the Hispanic and minority communities.

Said Brown: He planted the seed for a lot of what we were able to carry out.

RACIAL PROFILING?: Virtually everyone a Fort Bend police officer stopped was Hispanic. His bosses shrugged.

Caldwell retired in 1980 -- but soon took on a different challenge. In 1982, on the Saltgrass Trail Ride, he met Joan Burton, a young single mother with three children. They became friends. Eventually they started dating -- then Caldwell told her he wanted to get married.

I tried to talk him out of marrying me, she said. I told him, This town is full of women who dont have any children. ... He just had a very big heart.

He refused to be put off, and they married in 1988.

He took to married life, again, with glee. He took them fishing, and camping, and spent hours holding court with his family.

We took over his life, said Elizabeth Vardaman, Caldwells stepdaughter. He was a servant for his family in a big way. And just a really great dad, helping me with my homework - providing for his family.

As he aged, Caldwell continued to watch developments at the police department. When C.O. Bradford became chief, he called Caldwell. The man who had sworn him in as a rookie so many years before swore him in again, this time as the departments leader.

He mentored other police leaders, fielded questions from the citys highest leaders, and continued working for police causes, helping city officials select new police and fire chiefs.

FLORIDA DRAMA: Former HPD Chief Acevedo's leadership style won Houston over. What happened in Miami?

Joan recalled walking downstairs in the early 90s some mornings to find then-Mayor Bob Lanier sitting at her kitchen table, waiting for Caldwell to wake up to talk about some emergency that had occurred the night before.

I never did figure out how he got a key to the house, she said, chuckling.

The former chief continued to teach and worked as a security consultant and an expert witness for prosecutors and defense attorneys. And he liked to volunteer at the Holocaust Museum Houston and at the San Jose Clinic.

He died early Thursday morning, at home, at about 1:30 a.m., Joan by his side.

She had kept watch for weeks, making sure she would be with him at the end.

I was holding his hand, she said. It was really beautiful.

Caldwell is survived by Joan, step-children Garland Pinson, Catherine Pinson, and Elizabeth Pinson Vardaman and her husband, Stuart. He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Sloane Romano, Leah Caldwell, Kendall Pinson, and Wrenne, Knox, and Macaslin Vardaman, and his great-granddaughter, Kayla Parsons.

The former chief is predeceased by his beloved son, Harold Dwane Caldwell, Jr. and his brothers, James and Dale. A viewing is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 9, from 5pm to 7pm at the Jasek Chapel and Parlor at Geo H. Lewis & Sons on Bering Drive. Caldwells funeral is set for 10am on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Jasek Chapel.

st.john.smith@chron.com
Wearing a bird feather headdress fashioned for going into battle, Txai Surui, a young Indigenous woman from the Brazilian Amazon, stood at the podium at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow on Monday delivering a message that met the moments gravity.

The Earth is speaking, Surui said. She tells us that we have no more time.

At 24 and delivering an eloquent speech that could shame most politicians, Surui powerfully demonstrated the urgency and moral clarity so many young people bring to the climate crisis, recognizing as they do that the planet their children will inherit is in peril.

Equally powerful was the example set by those who are not at the summit, which runs through Friday. They include leaders from some of the most powerful countries in the world  including the presidents of China, Russia, Mexico and Suruis native Brazil.

Yet Surui and other young activists such as Mexicos Xiye Bastida and Swedens Greta Thunberg are far better climate change messengers than these absentee leaders. They represent the generation on whose shoulders it will soon fall to advocate for and eventually implement new policies and investments that delay, mitigate and adapt to climate change by the G-20 nations  which contribute roughly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Together they also represent a hopeful undercurrent of the worlds climate response, which is making progress but at a pace scientists continue to warn is too slow to avert disaster. If the pace of that response is ever to increase, it will likely be as much due to these young people as to leaders now in office.

Even resolute calls for action by leaders at previous climate summits have been met back home with backsliding, temporizing and delay.

Despite President Joe Bidens restoring climate policy to the top of the American agenda after taking office in January, he still arrived in Glasgow all but empty-handed when it comes to major climate change legislation. The presidents now-$2 trillion economic plan that would spend $555 billion on climate programs  the largest clean energy investment in U.S. history  is still languishing in Congress, even after compromises have scaled it down from $3.5 trillion.

One large reason? Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee who also raised $400,000 from the oil and gas industry in the third quarter of 2021 alone.

Still, negotiations over the bill continue, and there are other, broader reasons for optimism.

Bidens first statements in Glasgow trumpeted his reversal of the foolish decision by his predecessor to pull out of the 2015 Paris climate accords, which, for the first time, required every country to submit a plan for curbing emissions.

The president has already made headway by announcing strong new Environmental Protection Agency regulations curbing methane emissions and launching a Global Methane Pledge  to slash such emissions by nearly 30 percent by the end of the decade  with commitments from nearly 100 countries. Biden also signed on to a pledge to reverse deforestation by restoring nearly 500 million acres of forest and other ecosystems by 2030.

Scientists say that to avoid disaster, the world needs to slow global warming so that the average temperatures wont rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level by the end of the century. Before the Paris climate accord, temperatures were on track to rise 4 degrees. Clean energy, and even the shift from coal to natural gas made possible by the Texas-centered fracking boom, have helped put the world on pace to warm by just 3 degrees Celsius.

Thats not good enough, but its proof that public pressure and market demands have worked to bring about changes in nations such as the United States where government intervention has lagged.

Even Texas, a world capital for oil and gas and Americas largest carbon emitter, has staked its claim as the nations leader in wind energy. There is now enough wind and solar capacity in Texas to power nearly 10 million homes with a total of about $72 billion invested in clean-energy projects in the state as of the end of September.

Thats good news for the next generation.

Long after the Glasgow summit ends, it will fall on its members to hold world leaders accountable for preventing the worst of the predicted consequences should we fail to slow global warming to within the 1.5-degree window experts now say is all we have. To succeed, young activists such as Surui, Bastida and Thunberg must continue to demand our attention and remind people across the globe of our collective promise to leave the world a better place than we found it.

Its an unfair burden  to ask young people who were not responsible for imperiling our planet to lead the charge in saving it. But, given the denial and inertia among older generations, theyre the best hope weve got.
Regarding Texas wants to demolish an old warehouse. They just need to figure out what to do with 750,000 bats first, (Oct. 29): There is no dilemma at all. First of all the old former Texas Department of Criminal Justice cotton warehouse, now bat house, has been and still is the perfect habitat for the bats. The dilemma was artificially concocted.

If TDCJ doesnt want to have to deal with the building or the bats, a simple interagency transfer could take place in which the building is turned over to the Texas Historical Commission or Texas Parks and Wildlife with the caveat that prisoners would be able to volunteer to care for the building and protect the bats from harm. An alternative could be for the state to sell the building to Bat Conservation International for $1 with the blessing of the Legislature.

As a potential Texas Historic Landmark eligible to be on the National Register of Historic Places, the building  along with its amazing bats  would automatically be a tourist draw that could bring millions of dollars into our local economy. It is estimated that the bats in Austin generate at least $8 million in tourism revenue.

Leave the bats alone, otherwise there will be serious problems all over Huntsville, especially in our Museum District just a block away from the cotton warehouse, where the desperate bats would seek shelter if their current home is senselessly and needlessly destroyed.

As a former preservation specialist on the Walker County Historical Commission, I would be more than happy to impart my 48 years of historic building preservation experience as a pro-bono advisor.

George H. Russell, Huntsville

This article never raises the question of why did the TDCJ own a cotton warehouse? The building was likely part of the Texas prison systems work-to-death torture and murder of Black prisoners for the profit of the system. This grisly history is not critical race theory but a well documented fact profoundly more horrific than bats in the belfry.

Britt D. Davis, Katy

Leading through example

Regarding Countries pledge to cut heavily polluting coal, with caveats, (Nov. 4): The hypocrisy is on full display at the global climate conference. Our president rides in with an 85-gas-fueled-car entourage, John Kerry flies in on a private jet, and our leadership is asking OPEC to produce more oil, while restricting what we can produce here in the United States. Countries and corporations are pledging to get to net zero by buying carbon credits to offset emissions while not offering to reduce any emissions or doing so minimally, all while China, India and Brazil, which lead in pollution, are insufficiently contributing to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. Was this just all for show?

Brian Binash, Houston

So, our leaders flew to Glasgow in over 100 private jets to tell the rest of us that we need to stop putting so much carbon in the air or we are all going to die. Until they start walking the talk, Ill continue to assume that this is a fabricated emergency designed to transfer wealth from one group of people to another and Im not going to worry about it.

Chris Alba, Spring
When it comes to neighborhood well-being, is failure the inevitable cost of success?

Consider this familiar story from Providence, Rhode Island. In its salad days, the neighborhood of Olneyville was home to a thriving textile industry. But the looms went quiet long ago, and for much of the 20th century it was one of the most distressed places in the state. In 1978, the Providence Planning Department found that over half of Olneyvilles houses needed immediate attention, were in a state of advanced deterioration or were heavily deteriorated and dilapidated.

Today, people reach for different words when they describe Olneyville: Hip. Trendy. Chic. Neighborhood nonprofits converted a sprawling, toxic dump into a prize-winning park. A community development corporation replaced scores of vacant lots and abandoned buildings with below-market rate housing. School officials remade a local elementary school into a treasured neighborhood anchor.

But the victories that low-income residents and their allies worked so hard to achieve brought the neighborhood to the attention of an entirely new demographic. Olneyville in the 21st century has also become whiter, significantly more unequal, and substantially more expensive. Gentrification now threatens the Latinx community that has called Olneyville home since the 1990s.

Of course, what is happening in Olneyville is happening across the country, including in Houston. In a 2018 ranking of the 20 fastest gentrifying zip codes in the country, two were in Houston. No other city except Brooklyn had more than one. In one of those 20, the zip code for the Washington Avenue Corridor, home values climbed 107 percent, household income increased 114 percent and the number of people with at least a bachelors degree rose 188 percent.

The same forces also threaten the historically Black Third Ward. In 2010, nearly three in four residents of Third Ward were African American. Today, the figure is less than half. In eight short years between 2010 and 2018, the non-Hispanic white population in Third Ward increased by 150 percent and the percent of the population with a college degree more than doubled. And in just half that time  from 2010 to 2014  average home prices in Third Ward increased by 85 percent.

The lesson is that Americas current approach to neighborhood well-being can transform places like Olneyville or Third Ward but cannot protect them. This poses morally urgent questions: Do the ploughshares we use to improve a neighborhood become the swords that destroy it? In the wealthiest country on earth, can it really be that the poor only get to live in wretched places? Is it simply impossible to create a low-income neighborhood that is also safe, healthy, vibrant and sustainably affordable?

I spent four years studying Olneyvilles transformation  research that started quite by accident. I went to Providence in 2017 to learn about its police department, which was said to have transformed from a corrupt, brutal, paramilitary organization in the 20th century to a national model of community policing in the 21st.

The neighborhood where the new department had made the biggest impact was Olneyville, where crime rates plummeted and residents forged a new link to the police. In talking to residents and activists about the shift, however, I realized that policing was only part of the story. Olneyville also needed affordable housing, ample green space, healthy food and good schools. Yet, paradoxically, as Olneyville residents and their allies tackled these vexing problems, their home became both more livable and more vulnerable.

Like in Third Ward, average rents in the neighborhood climbed over 54 percent between 2000 and 2018, more than twice the citywide average. Thats not transformation for the neighborhood, longtime Latina advocate Delia Rodriguez-Masjoan told me of the new restaurants and coffee shops popping up around her. Its not gonna be the same neighborhood.

There are no villains in this story. At least, none with blood and bones. The people and organizations that serve Olneyville residents dont want to be agents of destruction. But they are part of a system beset by two fundamental problems.

First, policymakers hew to the neoliberal notion that social problems are better solved by the private sector than by government (which cannot solve social problems because it is too inefficient, bloated, and sclerotic, the thinking goes). So the principal role of government in a distressed neighborhood like Olneyville is to create opportunities for private investors. Take housing, for instance. The federal government has not added meaningfully to the nations store of housing owned by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for decades. Instead, it uses vouchers and tax breaks to create financial incentives for landlords and developers to provide shelter for some (but nowhere near all) of the people who cannot afford housing at market rates. Responsibility for housing these people has shifted from government itself to private actors, including nonprofits, who are paid by the government to create housing at below market rates.

Most of the new homes and apartments built in Olneyville were financed through such programs. But this public funding is not remotely enough to house all who need shelter, or to stabilize rents at levels that are affordable to the lowest-income residents. Even rents set at 50 percent of the area median income are beyond the reach of most Olneyville residents, where one in five households survives on less than $10,000 per year.

The second fundamental problem is equally serious but more pernicious. The current approach to neighborhood well-being empowers a small army of nonprofits and community development corporations that tend to be managed, staffed and funded by well-intended and comparatively well-heeled whites who typically do not live in or come from the neighborhoods they serve.

As a result, outsiders, rather than low-income residents, decide how to spend the money that flows into the neighborhood. Outsiders establish connections with politicians and funders throughout the region, and reap the social and political capital that comes from these connections. Outsiders become leaders; residents become supplicants.

In short, the tools available in a neoliberal age will never prevent capital from overrunning a place like Olneyville and will never equip its victims to fight back.

The solution is to fund and empower the poor rather than the wealthy. Give low-income residents ownership and control of neighborhood assets, including the money that flows in from outside. Place the assets in trust for the permanent benefit of low-income residents, and deploy them to make property sustainably affordable. Pair investment with state or federal tax credits to augment those assets, but only on the explicit condition that money that flows into the neighborhood be controlled entirely by low-income residents and their chosen allies.

Community land trusts offer one tool to keep housing affordable. In the classic CLT, the purchaser owns the home, but the land is held in trust for the long-term benefit of local residents. Because the purchaser only owns the structure and not the land beneath it, she can buy it at an affordable price. In exchange, she gives up the right to sell the home for whatever price the market could demand. Instead, she agrees to sell to another low-income purchaser at a price which preserves neighborhood affordability while still providing her a modest profit on her investment. In this way, CLTs protect low-income neighborhoods by removing property from the speculative frenzy of a gentrifying area.

Some complain that CLTs deprive a homeowner of the chance to cash in on gentrification. But no one is forced to buy a house in the trust; those who can afford to buy on the open market are free to do so. For those who cant, the CLT provides most of the benefits of home ownership, allows the owner to build her credit so she can qualify for a conventional mortgage down the road, and preserves neighborhood affordability for the next low-income owner.

Houston has a community land trust. Its new and as of 2020, only included 21 homes. But it has a goal of bringing 1,000 homes within the trust by 2028, which would be a great contribution to sustainable affordability.

A healthy neighborhood is more than the places we live and shop. Its also fresh food, ample green space, well-funded after-school programs, secure child care, cutting-edge job training and a host of other initiatives. In Olneyville, as in most cities around the country, these needs are provided by nonprofits that are funded and staffed by outsiders. That has to change.

All of the programs that now lace through a distressed neighborhood like Third Ward should be controlled by the low-income people who live there, and all the assets should be held in trust  one that meets the overlapping needs of the whole neighborhood.

I call this solution a neighborhood trust  and several organizations have begun to implement and improve upon my idea. The Kensington Corridor Trust, the first of its type in the country, is acquiring real estate assets along a commercial corridor in a badly distressed neighborhood in Philadelphia and removing them from the market for the benefit of the residents and small business owners in the neighborhood.

The organization plans to create a vibrant, sustainable mix of affordable residential and commercial rental units along Kensington Avenue, the commercial heart of the neighborhood  with culturally desirable businesses that provide affordable goods and services and create secure, high-paying jobs at the street-level and affordable apartments on the floors above. Keeping these assets in the trust ensures permanent affordability and guarantees that the neighborhood captures any increases in the lands value.

Another model is taking shape in the Midwest. Trust Neighborhoods, based in Kansas City, helps distressed neighborhoods set up and run trusts themselves, finding outside capital for funding, getting existing neighborhood organizations involved in operations  and, again, removing assets from the private market to hold within the trust for the permanent benefit of low-income neighborhood residents. They call their model a MINT, for mixed-income neighborhood trust. Market-rate tenants live in units owned by the trust, and the rent they pay subsidizes low-income tenants renting at below-market rates nearby  perhaps upstairs in a duplex, or next door. The hope is that a mix of low-income and market-rate tenants, all renting from the trust, will protect the entire neighborhood.

Neighborhoods in Tulsa and Kansas City have already created MINTs. Trust Neighborhoods expects another five neighborhoods will do so by the end of 2021, and is in discussions with representatives from more than 100 other low-income neighborhoods across the country.

Is a neighborhood trust possible in Houston? I believe it is. Third Ward has all the ingredients to make it happen, if they can lock in sustainable affordability at scale and give the poor ownership and control of neighborhood assets.

By itself, a neighborhood trust will not solve all the problems that confront a place like Olneyville or Third Ward. It will not stop climate change, revive the manufacturing sector or make people tolerant. It will not end racism, classism or xenophobia. But it will give poor residents ownership and control of the wealth that flows into their neighborhoods. It will let them permanently capture increases in the value of land, invest and manage their capital, and deploy assets as they see fit. It will restore some of the wealth and social capital that have been drained away by decades of disinvestment and neglect. And that, in turn, will give the poor something they have never had in this country: power.

Joseph Margulies is a professor of law and government at Cornell University, and the author of  Thanks for Everything (Now Get Out): Can We Restore Neighborhoods Without Destroying Them?  This piece was adapted from an essay published by Zocalo.
Life Is Good cruised to a 5 3/4-length victory in the $1 million Dirt Mile, giving jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his third Breeders Cup victory of the weekend at Del Mar
Archeologists in Pompeii have discovered a room that officials say offers a very rare insight into the daily life of slaves in the ancient Roman city
FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2019, file photo, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-South Carolina, talks with students in Florence School District Four in Florence, S.C. Rice says that he hopes his vote in 2021 to impeach President Donald Trump wont be enough to overshadow his other accomplishments as he seeks a sixth term.
On November 3, Nazim Jokhios body was found at the farmhouse of a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker in Malir, after publishing a video of a foreign guest poaching an endangered species. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemn the brutal murder of Nazim Jokhio and demand that the Pakistan government administer justice.

On November 2, Jokhio was abducted from his home and taken to the farmhouse of Jam Awais, a member of the provincial assembly (MPA) of the ruling party, sources told the IFJ. According to a local police officer, Khalid Abbasi, Jokhios tortured body was found at the property on November 3. Awais was arrested by authorities on November 5. He and two other suspects, Haider and Mir Ali, were booked under Section 302 and 34 of the Pakistan penal code.

Jokhio published a video on social media of one of Awais foreign guests hunting the houbara bustard, a critically endangered migratory bird, the killing of which is banned under international nature conservation laws.

Before his death, Jokhio made a video statement alleging that he was attacked and threatened. Jokhio claimed to receive calls demanding that he delete the footage or face repercussions. I am not afraid but this video statement of mine should be kept on record. I am receiving threats and I will not seek an apology, he said in the video. Jokhio made a formal complaint with police following the incident.

Jokhios relatives incited protests after delays registering Awais in an FIR, blocking the national highway connecting Karachi to Thatta. Opposition leader, Haleem Adil Sheikh, criticised authorities for stalling the investigative process, calling the delays in the post-mortem and registration of the FIR shameful.

The IFJ said, We strongly condemn the murder of Nazim Sajawal Jokhio and call on Pakistan authorities to investigate the crime swiftly and with due diligence.
Right now, every company is trying to figure out whether to bring their employees back to the office, and if so, how. Companies like Amazon have said they want to get as many people back to the office as possible, as soon as it's safe to do so. Google, Microsoft, and Apple have all said they want to get back to the office, though they've pushed those plans back in the last few months.

For the most part, companies seem to be moving towards a hybrid approach where employees work remotely part of the time, and come to the office the rest of the time. The thing is, many employees don't want to come back. Many people have become accustomed to working remotely and the idea of going back to an office just isn't very exciting.

A good number of people have decided they would rather resign than be stuck in a cubicle for eight hours a day.

If anything, the last 18 months have shown that a lot of the work we thought required having everyone together in an office, simply doesn't. It's been bumpy, for sure, but companies big and small have shown that they're able to adapt to the massive challenge of staying productive even if you can't be together in the office.

Now, as the world continues its hopeful march to some version of a return to normal, the reality is, a lot of companies and employees realized that the office isn't all it was cracked up to be. Figuring out what work requires being in the office, and what is just as well suited to remote work is a real challenge.

That's what I love about Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy's perspective. "Instead of specifying that people work a baseline of three days a week in the office, we're going to leave this decision up to individual teams," Jassy wrote in an email that the company shared on its blog.

Those last seven words are worth a closer look. Jassy says Amazon plans to "leave this decision up to individual teams."

Honestly, that's not even that profound. It makes sense that the people who would be best able to determine whether work can be done remotely or in an office setting, are the people closest to that work.

Especially at a company the size of Amazon, there's no way a one-size-fits-all approach could possibly work. Team leaders and managers have a far better read on what makes for the best work environment based on the people on their team, and the work they do.

The thing is, in so many cases, companies have tried to dictate that employees return to the office for a certain number of days each week. The most popular number seems to be three. Both Google and Apple had previously announced that they expected that most employees would be back in the office that many days this fall, though Google has sense said that it would reevaluate.

Apple has faced pushback from its employees, and has moved its plan back to January at the earliest, but still seems to expect that there will be a point where everyone comes back at least part of the week.

Figuring out the best return to work plan requires balancing the needs of the business with the individual circumstances of your employees. Amazon's approach recognizes that different teams have different needs based on the work they do. Even more importantly, employees have different needs and circumstances.
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In any official gathering or meeting we see dignitaries sitting in a specific sequence. In every country each office holder is considered of higher rank than others. This order might not indicate the power a position holds. However, it represents the ceremonial rank of people holding positions in a country.

Every country has an "Order of Precedence," which is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance. Many organisations and governments utilise it in the context of people, especially for extremely formal and official occasions. It can also be applied to awards, medals, and decorations.

The position of a person in a chain of command does not always indicate functional importance, but rather ceremonial or historical significance; for example, it may determine where dignitaries are seated.

BCCL/Representational image

What is the order of precedence in India?

The Order of Precedence in India is a protocol list in which the Government of India's functionaries and authorities are listed by rank and office. It's designed for State and Ceremonial events. It has no application in the government's day-to-day operations. The President of India issues the order, which is upheld by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to the Ministry of Home affairs, The order in this Table of Precedence is meant for State and Ceremonial occasions and has no application in the day-to-day business of Government.

Persons in the Table of Precedence will take rank in order of the number of the articles. The entries in the same article are arranged alphabetically. Those included in the same article will take precedence inter se according to date of entry into that article. However, where the dignitaries of different States and Union Territories included in the same article are present at a function outside their States or Union Territories and there is difficulty in ascertaining their dates of entry, they may be assigned precedence inter se in the alphabetical order of the name of States and Union Territories concerned after those whose precedence is determined according to date of entry into that article.

Following is the order of precedence in India according to Home Ministry:

1 President 2 Vice President 3 Prime Minister 4 Governors of States within their respective States 5 5. Former Presidents

5A. Deputy Prime Minister

6 Chief Justice of India

Speaker of Lok Sabha 7 7. Cabinet Ministers of the Union. Chief Ministers of States within their respective States Former Prime Ministers Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha 7A. Holders of Bharat Ratna decoration 8 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and High Commissioners of Commonwealth countries accredited to India Chief Ministers of States outside their respective States Governors of States outside their respective States 9 9. Judges of Supreme Court 9A. Chairperson, Union Public Service Commission Chief Election Commissioner Comptroller & Auditor General of India 10 Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chief Ministers of States Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha Ministers of State of the Union (and any other Minister in the Ministry of Defence for defence matters) 11 Attorney General of India Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Governors within their respective Union Territories 12 Chiefs of Staff holding the rank of full General or equivalent rank 13 Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary accredited to India 14 Chairmen and Speakers of State Legislatures within their respective States Chief Justices of High Courts within their respective jurisdictions 15 Cabinet Ministers in States within their respective States Chief Ministers of Union Territories Deputy Ministers of the Union 16 Officiating Chiefs of Staff holding the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent rank 17 Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal. Chairman, Minorities Commission Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Chief Justices of High Courts outside their respective jurisdictions 18 Cabinet Ministers in States outside their respective States Chairmen and Speakers of State Legislatures outside their respective States Chairman, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission Deputy Chairman and Deputy Speakers of State Legislatures within their respective States Ministers of State in States within their respective States Ministers of Union Territories and Executive Councilors, Delhi, within their respective Union Territories. Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories 19 Deputy Ministers in States within their respective States. Deputy Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories 20 Deputy Chairman and Deputy Speakers of State Legislatures, outside their respective states Ministers of State in States outside their respective States 21 Members of Parliament 22 Deputy Ministers in State outside their respective States 23 Army Commanders/ Vice-Chief of the Army Staff or equivalent in other services Chief Secretaries to State Governments within their respective States Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Members, Minorities Commission Members, National Commission for Scheduled Castes Members, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Officers of the rank of full General or equivalent rank Secretaries to the Government of India (including officers holding this office ex-officio). Secretary, Minorities Commission. Secretary, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. Secretary to the President. Secretary to the Prime Minister. Secretary, Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha Solicitor General Vice-Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal 24 Officers of the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent rank 25 Additional Secretaries to the Government of India. Additional Solicitor General Advocate Generals of States. Chairman, Tariff Commission Charge d Affairs and Acting High Commissioners a pied and ad interim Chief Ministers of Union Territories outside their respective Union Territories Chief Secretaries of State Governments outside their respective States. Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Deputy Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories outside their respective Union Territories. Director, Central Bureau of Investigation Director General, Border Security Force. Director General, Central Reserve Police. Director, Intelligence Bureau Lieutenant Governors outside their respective Union Territories. Members, Central Administrative Tribunal Members, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission Members, Union Public Service Commission Ministers of Union Territories outside their respective Union Territories. Principal Staff Officers of the Armed Forces of the rank of major General or equivalent rank Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories 26 Joint Secretaries to the Government of India and officers of equivalent rank. Officers of the rank of Major-General or equivalent rank

With positions having same order, it is notified which position shall acquire which position.
One German officer said: the advance is measured in corpses, not meters.



This is a quote from a Netflix documentary World war II and perfectly describes how we access or look at wars. The war for most of us is fighting between two sides for some particular reason, with their weapons and where soldiers and people get killed. But an important aspect we completely ignore is the consequences of wars on the environment. How the environment suffers when two sides take on each other with their full military might. And this can be due to the fact that in such a situation when defeating the other side is paramount and human lives are being lost like some pawns, why would someone even think about the ENVIRONMENT.

Unsplash/Representational image

Nature or natural resources have always been in some way a part of a conflict or a war. Almost every time there is a conflict or a war, adverse effects on the environment are accompanied. In many instances, natural resources are the reason behind new conflicts and wars. Wars or conflicts in many instances have been driven by the lust for natural resources. According to the United Nations website, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war. Water wells have been polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed to gain military advantage.

Furthermore, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources, whether high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold, and oil, or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse. Keeping this in mind, the United Nations General Assembly on 5 November 2001 declared 6 November as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of Environment in War and Armed Conflict.



Natural Resources, the reason for conflict

Access to more resources in a particular region has been a major reason for wars throughout history. The colonization by European powers was primarily driven by the wealth a particular colony possessed in the form of resources available. The British, for example, exploited the Indian subcontinent of its rich resources for 200 years. Spices, tea, coffee, and indigo are just a few examples of it.

Even before that, in medieval history, a rulers primary motive of invading another state would be resources possessed in that region in the form of gold, fertile land, and rich crops, or in many cases even animals like horses and elephants. This sort of trend continued throughout medieval history with endless instances available in history.

Modern history proved to be no different. With European countries colonizing countries with different resources throughout Asia, America, Africa. Prominent among such extreme unapologetic exploitation of resources are British loot in Asia and French imperialism in Africa. History is filled with exploitative examples of England bringing home rich cash crops from India which most Indian farmers were forced to grow, and the French laying their hands on African natural resources.

Unsplash/Representational image

The world witnessed two great wars in the first half of the twentieth century and the role economics played in them is well known. While the role ideologies and other factors played in these wars is there, the want for expansion and keeping industries running cannot be undermined. How in the first world war all countries wanted more colonies. In the second war, everyone was after more resources. These wars werent enough for humans to learn a lesson. Resource-driven conflicts continue post-second world war. The Suez Crisis, Vietnam War, French-Indonesian Conflict are just a few examples. Such conflicts escalated post the end of the twentieth century with conflicts in the Middle East mainly over oil.



Conflict's toll on environment

The effect of wars and armed conflicts on the environment should not be difficult for one to understand. One could even ignore such effects in medieval times when most battles were fought with swords. But with more and more explosives coming into the scenes, the environment had to suffer more and more. Add to that the unimaginable advancement in technology, with the magnitude of explosions increasing to extreme levels and the techniques to blast them from anywhere to anywhere. In todays world, a normal jet in any Air force can pollute air considerably, one can imagine what the whole of the armed forces and their equipment is capable of doing.

As such when they go all out in any war the toll environment will have to suffer is unimaginable. World war I for example caused tremendous landscape changes due to trench warfare. Enormous trenching during the war caused trampling of grassland, crushing of plants and animals, and churning of soil. The second world war was very harmful to the environment due to the technological advancements till then.

Unsplash/Representational image

The war caused the destruction of many acres of forests, the release of many harmful gasses in the air, destruction of the habitat of many animals. And what everyone remembers from the war, two atom bombs over Japan and unthinkable loss of lives along with almost complete destruction of the natural environment. The environment has till date been a sufferer of wars and conflicts. With bombs, missiles, and other military gadgets having some toll on the environment every time they are fired. Be it the almost decade-long Iran-Iraq war, the Kuwait invasion, or war in the Cheechnaya environment has suffered equally alongside the humans.



Humans with some time and effort return to their lively routines after a war, however, the damage to environment in most cases are almost irreversible.
Social media is a powerful tool and we should use it to its maximum capacity. A video of an elderly man from Kanpur selling unique and healthy chaat which is quite different from the usual chaat offerings has been shared online.

While we have heard about chaat made out of potatoes, paapdi, and curd, an elderly man named Gopilal is selling a sprouts chaat in the city of Kanpur.

Screengrab/Instagram

In the now-viral video which was uploaded on an Instagram page called YouTube Swad Official, an old man can be seen preparing the lip-smacking and healthy chaat with different kinds of sprouts.



To make the dish, he used boiled black chana, sprouted chana, sprouted moong, sprouted methi seeds, boiled peas, and roasted peanuts in the making of the chutney. These wholesome ingredients were then sprinkled with grated radish leaves, green chillies, lemon juice, spices and some mint chutney.

Oh, don't miss his smile though. That's as good a smile as you would ever see.

Screengrab/Instagram

'Kaka ji ki best Chaat in Kanpur, read the caption of the post.



People loved the interesting and unique chaat prepared by the Kanpur man. Many appreciated his welcoming smile as well.

The smile on his face is the best thing in the video," one user commented. "Uncle ki smile priceless hai," another commented.

Several also complimented the idea of creating such a healthy preparation rather than deep-fried goodies. "Healthy and pure," wrote one user.

"Saste me sehat baant rahe hai chacha ji," another said.
Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Ravi Bhalla was re-elected Nov. 2 to his second term in office. The Indian American official is shown here on Election Day with his wife Nanveet, his daughter Arza, and son Shabegh. (Twitter photo)
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Two men have been arrested following the seizure of 140,000 worth of cocaine from a taxi in Cork last night.

As part of the ongoing Operation Tara, gardai from the Cork Divisional Drugs Unit and Gurranabraher District Drugs Unit stopped a searched the vehicle on the M8 in Glanmire yesterday evening.
Pfizer has announced that its facility in Ringaskiddy, Cork will play a key role in supporting the global manufacturing of its new experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19.

A trial of the antiviral pill was stopped early after it was shown to cut the risk of hospitalisation and death in adults at risk of developing severe illness from the virus by 89%.

In a statement this afternoon, the company said it had already been investing in the manufacturing of the pill in Ringaskiddy to help bring this potential treatment to patients as soon as possible.

It said the site has an established and successful history of contributing to manufacturing efforts.

The firm employs around 650 people at its Cork plant, out of a total Irish workforce of about 4,000.

A Pfizer spokesperson also said its Newbridge site would be supporting production from 2022.

The pharmaceutical company is currently in a race to bring the first easy-to-use medication against coronavirus to the US market.

Currently, all Covid-19 treatments used in the US require an IV or injection.

Competitor Mercks Covid-19 pill is already under review at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after showing strong initial results. On Thursday, the UK became the first country to OK it.

Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorise its pill as soon as possible, after independent experts recommended halting the companys study based on the strength of its results.

Once Pfizer applies, the FDA could make a decision within weeks or months.

Study results

Researchers worldwide have been racing to find a pill against Covid-19 that can be taken at home to ease symptoms, speed recovery and reduce the crushing burden on hospitals and doctors.

Pfizer released preliminary results on Friday of its study of 775 adults.

Patients taking the companys drug along with another antiviral had an 89% reduction in their combined rate of hospital admission or death after a month, compared with patients taking a dummy pill.

Fewer than 1% of patients taking the drug needed to be admitted to hospital and none died.

In the comparison group, 7% were admitted to hospital and there were seven deaths.

Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorise its pill as soon as possible. File Picture: Mark Lennihan/AP

We were hoping that we had something extraordinary, but its rare that you see great drugs come through with almost 90% efficacy and 100% protection for death, said Dr Mikael Dolsten, Pfizers chief scientific officer, in an interview.

Study participants were unvaccinated, with mild-to-moderate Covid-19, and were considered high risk for hospital admission due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.

Treatment began within three to five days of initial symptoms, and lasted for five days.

Pfizer reported few details on side effects but said rates of problems were similar between the groups at about 20%.

An independent group of medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early, standard procedure when interim results show such a clear benefit.

The data has not yet been published for outside review, the normal process for vetting new medical research.

Top US health officials continue to stress that vaccination will remain the best way to protect against infection.

But with tens of millions of adults still unvaccinated  and many more globally  effective, easy-to-use treatments will be critical to curbing future waves of infections.

Pedestrians, some of them wearing face coverings, cross a road near Athens Syntagma square, Greece (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

The FDA has set a public meeting later this month to review Mercks pill, known as molnupiravir.

The company reported in September that its drug cut rates of hospital admission and death by 50%.

Experts warn against comparing preliminary results because of differences in studies.

Although Mercks pill is further along in the US regulatory process, Pfizers drug could benefit from a safety profile that is more familiar to regulators with fewer red flags.

While pregnant women were excluded from the Merck trial due to a potential risk of birth defects, Pfizers drug did not have any similar restrictions.
Greta Thunberg has declared Cop26 a greenwash festival as she addressed thousands of young climate activists in Glasgow.

The environmental campaigner told the crowd that the climate summit has been a failure.

Following a march of thousands of protesters from Kelvingrove Park to George Square, passing the Cop26 venue at the SEC on the way, Ms Thunberg said world leaders are fighting to maintain business as usual.

She said: This is no longer a climate conference.

This is now a global north greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah.

The most affected people in the most affected areas still remain unheard and the voices of future generations are drowning in their greenwash and empty words and promises.

But the facts do not lie. And we know that our emperors are naked.

Ms Thunberg added: The question we must now ask ourselves is, what is it that we are fighting for? Are we fighting to save ourselves and the living planet? Or are we fighting to maintain business as usual?

Our leaders say that we can have both, but the harsh truth is that that is not possible in practice.

Branding world leaders shameful, she continued.

They continue to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, open up new coal mines, coal power plants, grant new oil licences and are still refusing to do even the bare minimum, like delivering, delivering on the long-promised climate finance for loss and damage to the most vulnerable and least responsible countries.

Demonstrators march through Glasgow (Danny Lawson/PA)

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate said: Once again, we are faced with another Cop event. How many more of these should they hold until they realise that that inactions are destroying the planet?

Outlining some of the environmental disasters occurring in her home country, she said: Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions and yet Africans are suffering some of the most brutal impacts fueled by the climate crisis.

But while the African continent, while the global south is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, theyre not on the front pages of the worlds newspapers.

Weve seen activists from the most affected areas being erased from pictures, from conversations and removed from rooms.

But how will we have climate justice if people from the most affected areas are not being listened to?

She added: We need to continue holding leaders accountable for their actions, we cannot keep quiet about climate injustice.

Demonstrators in George Square take part in the Fridays for Future Scotland march (Jane Barlow/PA)

Your actions matter. No action is too small to make a difference and no voice is too small to make a difference.

Let us keep the faith for the future. Faith will give us hope for the world not yet seen, but the world that we can imagine.
Guest Column Myanmars Military Regime Has Weaponized Public Health

A police officer points his gun at a medical worker during the crackdown on anti-regime protests in Yangon.

Since the military overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar in February 2021, the situation in the country has continued to deteriorate and people live in a state of terror that deeply affects their right to health, as well as many other human rights. At the time of writing, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners rights group has reported that more than 9,800 people have been arrested and over 1,200 people killed since the first reported fatality, Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, a 19-year-old woman shot dead by a sniper at a rally near the city of Naypyitaw in February 2021.

Nine months of resistance is taking a toll on society, with many people reporting feelings of anger, anxiety and helplessness, and the young despairing over their lost future. Affected families are overwhelmed by the loss of relatives to disease and violence. Insomnia, depression and suicide are on the rise in this context of indiscriminate violent repression.

Healthcare professionals have not remained neutral. They were among the first to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), going on strike to pressure the junta to return power to the elected government for the well-being of the country and its people. The military regime responded by announcing that they would revoke permission to provide services from any health facility employing or supporting health workers involved in the CDM, and would prosecute anyone helping those on strike.

Violent repression of public health professionals involved in the anti-coup resistance movement is but one of the ways in which the junta has weaponized public health in order to crush the civilian opposition, regardless of the wider public health, human and social costs of pursuing this strategy. The military has arrested and detained doctors and nurses simply for treating civilians who had been injured in anti-coup protests.

In their strong condemnation of the juntas action, the World Medical Association stated that, the violence of the security forces is intolerable. Private clinics, medical personnel carrying out emergency treatment and ambulances have been shot at without any reason. We have reports of doctors being arrested and others fleeing from their homes to hide from the military regime. These reports have been confirmed by the Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights Network and corroborated by the World Health Organizations (WHO) Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care, which now considers Myanmar one of the deadliest places on earth for healthcare workers, with 260 documented attacks this year alone, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the global total.

This has happened in the context of a catastrophic third wave of COVID-19 that peaked in July 2021, with the population and volunteer medics having to fend for themselves to find oxygen and treatment places amidst attacks. The increasing number of people arrested by the junta has worsened prison overcrowding, thus compounding the risks of transmission of COVID-19, and there is a lack of information about what treatment, if any, prisoners may have received, especially political prisoners. Released detainees told Human Rights Watch that masks were often not available and sanitary conditions were abysmal.

People stand by the side of the health professionals since they all share the same motivation of seeing the coup fail as soon as possible. Many people do not trust the military and refrain from seeking healthcare for fear of being targeted. This even when concerned that they might have been exposed to COVID-19 infection or would wish to get vaccinated.

While doctors and nurses continue to assist people outside of government structures at great risk, the junta has accused them of genocide for leaving their jobs. But who is committing atrocities? The violence of the junta has spared no-one, not even children, and during the first two months alone after the coup at least 43 were reportedly killed by regime forces. Sexual assault is also rife. In a country where the military is known to use rape as a tool of war against ethnic minorities, women who are bravely standing in the frontline of protests have been exposed to sexual violence, especially when in custody. LGBTI activists involved in the resistance movement have also suffered the same violent fate and experienced humiliation compounded by entrenched prejudice.

Restoration of health and wellbeing requires a strong condemnation of the junta for the appalling violations of basic human dignity that they have committed and continue to perpetrate, of which the weaponization of health is only one tragic and inexcusable example. As global health professionals we fail our ethical imperative to do no harm if we remain passive observers of this situation.

We believe that the military junta must be denied any form of recognition and legitimacy. It is time for organizations responsible for global health governance to take a firm stand and exclude the junta from their bodies, an action that should be taken first and foremost by the WHO. We welcome the decision to exclude the junta from the recent 74th Annual Assembly and we await more decisive and permanent actions against the military government in order for WHO to provide leadership, uphold its own principles, and realize its rights-based mandate. We echo Sarli, DApice and Cecchis call for the global health community to take a stand and support the health professionals and the people of Myanmar in their CDM because democracy means health, and health means democracy. They are intrinsically linked, mutually becoming one precondition of the other.

Fabio Saini and Marc van der Putten are with the Global Health Program at Thammasat Universitys Faculty of Public Health and Rosalia Sciortino heads SEA Junction

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Ithaca, NY (14850)

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A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by some light rain this afternoon. High near 50F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
To see how Christmas has changed over the last century, Stacker explored how popular traditions, like food and decorations, emerged and evolved from 1920 to 2020. Click for more.
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Today

Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 71F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 46F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Betty Jean Pulley, 95, passed away November 4, 2021, at Windridge Nursing Home, Miami, Oklahoma. Betty was born September 7, 1926, at home in Riverton, Kansas, to Albert Petty Cutright and Alta Elizabeth (Newkirk). She graduated from Riverton High School Class of 1944, and attended Joplin Ju
Opinion Columnist

Chris Powell has worked for the Journal Inquirer since 1967, first as a reporter, then as an editor, and now as a columnist. He was managing editor from 1974 until retiring from that position in 2018.
Kaiser Permanentes operating margins in the third quarter were meager because it weathered labor turmoil and the surge in COVID-19 patients.

The Oakland, California-based integrated medical system generated $38 million in operating revenue for the quarter ended September 30, with revenue of $23.2 billion. Non-profit companies disclosed on FridayThis corresponds to a profit margin of 0.2%, compared with a profit margin of 2.1% in the same period last year, when the companys operating income was US$456 million and revenue was slightly less than US$22 billion.

Tom Meyer, the corporate treasurer of the health system, said that margin compression is the result of increased costs for COVID-19 patients.

As an integrated system, Kaiser Permanentes patients are also the insured persons of its health insurance.

Literally, all our facilities are staffed and so on, and then in the case of utilization due to members coming in, we will bear the cost of taking care of them, Meyer said.

Meyer said that the companys health plan membership renewal was carried out near the beginning of the year, so the premium income was determined very early, but the annual cost continues to rise. In the third quarter, spending increased by 7.5% year-on-year to $23.1 billion, while revenue increased by 5.5%.

Its not uncommon for profit margins to fall during this year, Meyer said. Due to the delta variant COVID-19 surge and the continued incremental cost of related expenses, this year has worsened a bit compared to the third quarter a year ago.

Meier said that Kaiser Permanentes profit margins may be lower in the next quarter, and then rebound in 2022.

Half of Kaiser Permanentes expenses are related to labor. Meier said that, like other health systems, the company was forced to pay more for traveling nurses and contract workers during the surge in patients, which increased labor costs.

Union employees in the health system have also experienced severe turmoil.Nearly 32,000 Kaiser workers in California, Oregon and Washington Announced on Thursday that they plan to strike November 15th. The union opposes Kaiser Permanente providing new employees with lower wages than existing employees, etc.

Kaiser Permanente was also in trouble in the third quarter, as more of its 12.5 million health plan members transitioned from the more profitable business policy to the Medicaid program, which is another factor in reducing profits. Some of these changes are the result of people losing their jobs during the pandemic.

In the third quarter, the health system spent US$878 million on capital projects, significantly lower than the US$964 million a year ago. Meier said that as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Kaiser Permanente is reconsidering its capital plan to ensure that funds are allocated to the right projects.
On Friday, more than 20 Republican-led states filed lawsuits to challenge President Joe Bidens vaccine requirements for private companies, triggering a high-risk legal showdown that pitted federal authorities against the rights of the states.

The requirements issued by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday apply to companies with more than 100 employees. Their workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and tested weekly by January 4th or before face mask requirements. These lawsuits require the court to decide whether the governments efforts to contain the pandemic represent the seizure of federal power and usurp the states power to formulate health policies.

At least 26 states filed lawsuits Challenge the rules.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt said in a court document filed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in St. Louis on behalf of 11 states: This authorization is unconstitutional, illegal and unwise.

The Biden administration has always encouraged widespread vaccination as the fastest way to escape the pandemic. A White House spokesperson said Thursday that the authorization is designed to prevent the spread of a disease that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States.

CMS requires healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID before January 4

The government expressed confidence that its requirements, including a fine of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges, partly because its safety rules take precedence over state laws.

The government clearly has the right to protect workers, and the actions announced by the president are designed to save lives and stop the spread of COVID, White House spokesperson Karin Jean-Pierre said at a briefing on Thursday.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown Universitys Law Center and director of the World Health Organizations Health Law Center, said that the half-century-old law that created the Occupational Safety and Health Agency gave it the power to establish minimum workplace safety measures.

I think Biden has a rock-solid legal basis, he said.

Critics targeted certain aspects of the requirement, including that it was passed as an emergency measure rather than after the agencys regular rulemaking process.

What the federal COVID vaccine authorization means for companies and workers

This is a real emergency, said Godin, who spoke with the Biden administration about this request. In fact, this is a national crisis. Any delay will result in thousands of deaths.

The Republican attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming also joined the Missouri lawsuit. Also participating in the lawsuit was the office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who was the only Democratic attorney general to participate in legal challenges to the authorization.

Miller said in a statement that he submitted it at the request of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds: According to the law, I have a responsibility to prosecute or defend any behavior in court when the governor requests it.

Other state leagues also filed lawsuits with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on Friday: Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Utah; and those in the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati Kansas, Kentucky, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia; and Alabama, Florida, and Georgia in the 11th tour in Atlanta.

The industry has questions and concerns about CMS vaccine authorization

It is not clear whether different judges will decide on these challenges separately at the beginning, or whether they will merge the cases into a single court early in the process.

Some companies, associations and religious groups have also joined the petitions of the states, and some have filed their own lawsuits.

These include a conservative media company, two manufacturers in Wisconsin, companies in Michigan and Ohio, owners of 15 grocery stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a group of remote workers in Texas. All are represented by conservative law firms.

In the past 20 months, my employees have appeared in their communities in the face of COVID and hurricanes to work and serve their communities. Now the government tells me to include myself in their private health decisions? Has about 500 employees The employees grocery store owner, Brandon Trosclair, said in a statement. Thats wrong, I wont stand it.

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The Daily Wire media company objected in several areas, including the idea that employers must track which workers are vaccinated and treat vaccinated and unvaccinated employees differently.

What the government is asking us to do is to discriminate against our own employees because of their personal healthcare decisions, said Ryan Boring, the companys co-CEO.

Shannon Royce, chairman of the Christian Employers Union, stated that the organization has not challenged the anti-vaccination rules and pointed out that some members of the organization provide employees with incentives to vaccinate. Instead, they oppose being used as a tool of the federal government.

Albert Mohler, dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that workplace regulations have also changed the relationship between religious organizations and their employees.

Moeller said: I believe this is a form of government coercion-turning religious institutions into a form of government coercion that we must resist.

So far, the courts have allowed companies to require employees to be vaccinated. But Michael Elkins, an employment lawyer in Florida, said that these decisions do not necessarily mean that judges will rule in the same way when it comes to federal government requirements.

Elkins said: You might see a federal judge, or a group of them, say,This is just too much.

New York labor attorney Benjamin Noren (Benjamin Noren) said he believes the rule may be repealed because OSHA is designed to deal with workplace hazards, such as chemicals, rather than viruses. He said that OSHA has enacted 10 emergency rules in the past five years. Of the six challenged, only one was intact.

Nolan said: This is an innovative use of the Biden administration to find a certain way of compulsory vaccination in the private sector. I hope it works. I have questions.

Before the OSHA rules were issued, some states had passed laws or issued executive orders to prevent or restrict employer authorization related to the virus.

In Arkansas, Governor Asa Hutchinson approved such a bill Become law without his signatureIt will take effect early next year and will allow employees to opt out of the vaccine requirement if they undergo weekly virus tests or can prove that they have antibodies to COVID-19 from a previous infection. Health officials said that antibody tests should not be used to assess immunity to the virus, and people who have been infected with the virus should still be vaccinated.

However, Hutchinson pointed out that if both the law and federal requirements (which do not allow antibody testing to replace vaccination) are in effect, then the opt-out law in his state will create difficulties for companies.

We have placed our business under Rule 22, he said. You violated someones law here.
As the infighting between progressives and moderates once again deviated from the pillars of President Joe Bidens domestic agenda, the top Democrats abruptly postponed on Friday the expected House of Representatives 10-year, $1.85 trillion social settlement Voting for environmental measures.

In order to bring him the necessary victory, the leader is still ready to try to send the supporting $1 trillion highway and other infrastructure projects through the conference hall and to his desk. But even this popular bill, which is expected to create jobs in every state, has its fate in question.

Progressives threatened to vote against it and continue to demand that the two bills be voted together to force moderates to support larger and broader social measures. Since the Democrats could only lose three votes and win in the divided House of Representatives, California Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would move on anyway and said she had a very good feeling for support.

Pelosi has refused to vote on bills for years, unless she is almost certain that they will pass to avoid embarrassing failure.

House bill requires the largest increase in GME slots in decades

These messy plans have cast a new shadow on a party that has been trying to use its control of the White House and Congress for weeks by advancing its priority tasks. This is difficult, partly because of the weak majority of the Democratic Party, which has forced the House of Representatives leaders to miss several self-set voting deadlines due to unresolved internal differences.

Welcome to my world, Pelosi told reporters.

Democratic leaders had hoped to see the House of Representatives approve these two measures on Friday, in order to win a double victory for the president and the party that are eager to rebound from this weeks sluggish year-end elections and show that they can govern. The partys candidate for governor was defeated in Virginia and defeated in two bluer states, New Jersey.

However, after several hours of talks, the six moderates insisted that unless the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office first provided a cost estimate for the measure, they would vote against the huge health, education, family, and climate change plans. It fell through.

Democratic leaders have said that this will take a few days or more. Due to Fridays postponement and lawmakers planning to leave town for a week off, this may mean that budget estimates will be ready when the vote is held.

Pelosi readjusted the partys timetable to finally pass a $1.85 trillion measure to reflect political reality. He said that once the CBO data is provided, we will prepare a Thanksgiving gift for the American people.

In a letter to her colleagues announcing the new voting schedule, she wrote: The agenda we are pushing forward is transformative and historic, so it is challenging.

With the support of both parties, including the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), infrastructure measures passed the Senate easily in August. The package will provide each state with huge amounts of funds for highways, railroads, public transportation, broadband, airports, drinking water and wastewater, power grids, ports and other projects.

But it has become a pawn in the long-term struggle for influence between the progressive and moderate Democratic parties. Progressives say that they will support infrastructure legislation only if the two measures are voted together.

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapar, who leads the 95-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, resumed time contact on Friday, saying that the White House and Congresss joint nonpartisan taxation committee has provided all the financial information needed for the broad bill. Legislators.

If our six colleagues still want to wait for the CBO score, we will agree to give them that time-after that we can vote on the two bills together, she wrote. This strongly suggests that at least some progressives will vote against the infrastructure bill on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Biden said in a meeting with reporters to promote the strong monthly employment report that he would return to the Oval Office and call the lawmakers. He said he would ask them to vote for these two bills immediately.

The passage of Bidens larger measures by the House of Representatives will send it to the Senate, where it will face certain changes and more Democratic drama. This is mainly because Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona requested to control the cost of this measure and to contain or abandon some of its measures.

But the House of Representatives approved smaller bipartisan infrastructure measures to be sent directly to the White House, where Biden is sure to win.

Pelosi met with Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday night, hoping to take greater measures to help immigrants stay in the United States as much as possible, but their prospects for bold action are restricted by strict regulations of the Senate. DN.Y. Representative Adriano Espaillat (Adriano Espaillat) said on Friday that they have discussed this issue in other bills and see Pelosi as an ally.

Pelosis strategy seems to focus on passing the strongest social and climate bill in her House of Representatives, and then letting the Senate adjust or delete parts that its members would not agree to. In subsequent adjustments to the bill to determine votes, the House Rules Committee approved amendments to state and local tax relief and other issues.

The bill is half of Bidens original $3.5 trillion package, over 2,100 pages, and supports progressive lawmakers, even though it is smaller than they wanted.

Republicans opposed the measure as too expensive and harmful to the economy.

The package will help a large number of Americans to pay for medical care, raising children and caring for the elderly at home. The cost of prescription drugs will be reduced because for the first time medical insurance can negotiate lower prices for certain drugs with pharmaceutical companies, a priority that the Democratic Party has long sought.

The package will provide approximately US$555 billion in tax relief to encourage clean energy and electric vehicles. The Democratic Party has added key provisions in recent days and restored a new paid family visit program and immigration work permits.

Most of the cost of the package will be paid by higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large companies.

Manchin questioned the new family leave plan, which is expected to provide 4 weeks of paid leave, less than the 12 weeks originally envisaged.

The senator may also cancel the newly added immigration clause, which will allow the countrys 7 million immigrants without legal status to apply for up to two five-year work permits.
Loyola can regain some bargaining power and increase the referral rate by adding hospitals to its network. CEO Shawn Vincent did not rule out this possibility.

Can you have three (hospitals) in the local area like we do now? Yes, he said. But it doesnt mean you stop looking. You can always choose the right person.

Currently, Loyolas goal is to compete by increasing digital and family health services and opening multi-specialty outpatient care centers that treat patients in a cheaper outpatient environment closer to where they live. But the strategy itself is not cheap. It is not unique to Loyola either.

Chicago has enough hospital beds. The question is where healthcare is heading, and whether you are responding to the needs of the community in areas where healthcare is expanding, said Mike Slubowski, CEO of Trinity. We have invested a lot of money in digital health, family health, home monitoring, and creating accessible clinic locations-everything from emergency care to multi-discipline group practice.

Vincent said that as part of this strategy, Loyola is consolidating its smaller clinics into large multi-specialty outpatient care centers.

Loyola Plan to spend $70 million The construction of such a center in Tinley Park, a southwestern suburb, awaits national approval. The nearly 72,000-square-foot center is designed to serve more than 15,000 patients receiving treatment at the Loyola site in the area, as well as others currently traveling to further areas for treatment.

The project was launched nearly a year after Northwestern University acquired Palos. Due to the union, Loyolas lease at Palos Health South Campus will end on April 1, 2022.

Since many of the patients treated at the campus historically have been Loyola patients, Vincent said he hopes to maintain a strong patient base in the area. But industry observers say that if patients with complex needs are willing to go to the Northwest Memorial Hospital near Chicagos Streeterville, Loyola may lose a referral from Dr. Palos.

If they dont find a way to build a partnership to support their primary care feed system, thereby increasing referrals, or find a way to expand their reach and push more patients into the system, consulting firm Lumina Health Said Dan Marino, managing partner of Partners. Marino suggested that Loyola could seek cooperation with another faith-based hospital chain in the area.

Loyola has shown willingness to make acquisitions in the past. It acquired McNeill Hospital in Berwyn in 2018 and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park 10 years ago. Merger negotiations with Palos Health in 2019 It ends without a deal.

If Loyola is looking for a deal, Plan to break up A joint venture between two out-of-state chain stores in the Chicago area may create opportunities. Amita Health includes 15 local Catholic hospitals owned by Ascension in St. Louis and four Chicago area hospitals owned by AdventHealth in Florida. Any of these hospitals could be Loyolas target.

A growing Catholic chain like the 15 hospitals OSF HealthCare represents another possibility.Peoria-based chain Enter the local market Last year it merged with the small company of the Queen Mary Hospital in Changqing Park in the southern suburbs. If OSF is looking for more hospitals in the Chicago area, Loyola can be an attractive merger partner.

We have been exploring potential opportunities to expand our mission and provide the highest quality care to our patients and the communities we serve, but we are not actively engaged in dialogue with local faith-based chain hospitals, Wen Sente said.

Representatives from Ascension and AdventHealth Chicago Regional Hospital did not respond to requests for comment. OSF stated that it is always open to collaborative discussions when it makes sense.

It is unlikely that short-term financial pressures will force Loyo to pull out. The chain is profitable, with operating income of nearly US$2 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30 and net income of US$199 million.

Whether Trinity wants to develop in this market is a question, Classen said. This is a unique market with many academic medical centers, so compared to Trinitys other markets, profit margins may be somewhat challenging.

Trinity has shown that it is unwilling to suffer losses in this market.it Sale of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center After the state rejected an application to close the historic safety net hospital, it was sold for $1 earlier this year. Trinity plans to open a US$13 million outpatient center in Bronzeville under the Mercy brand.

We are very committed to Illinois, Slubowski said, and vowed to expand Loyola to the entire continuum of carenot just emergency care.

This story first appeared in our sister publication Crains Chicago Business.
From being a teen actress in "The King and I," Park Bo Young grew up to be one of the beautiful faces in Hallyu and not to mention a sought-after leading lady.

Through the years, the 31-year-old actress captivated the fans with her undeniable charm and impressive portfolio of Kdrama.

Officially debuted in 2006, she first starred in the EBS youth series "Secret Campus" with now Hallyu star Lee Min Ho and was followed by a series of supporting and main roles both in drama and movies.

However, the actress went on hiatus for seven years but came back with a bang after starring as the lead cast in "Oh My Ghost" with Jo Jung Suk, which also marks her first on-screen kiss.

With a slew of notable series under her belt, one of the most remarkable was the 2017 Kdrama "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" opposite Kim Ji Soo and Park Hyung Shik.

Amid her intense success and popularity, the 31-year-old beauty was also surrounded by dating rumors.

Here is Park Bo Young's dating history throughout her 15-year career in showbiz.

Song Joong Ki

The "Abyss" star was once rumored to be dating Song Joong Ki.

In 2013, both actors were cast in the movie "Wolf Boy," and during one of their promotions, the Hallyu star joked about saying that the actress is his, adding, "I wish I could be in a romantic scandal with her."

Of course, this sparked romantic rumors causing fans to think that they might be dating.

However, she explained that their relationship was like "brothers and sisters. The same goes for the actor who vehemently denied the issue.

Park Hyung Sik

Another co-star that was linked to the South Korean beauty is Park Hyung Sik.

Park Bo Young's dating rumor with the actor sparked at the height of their Kdrama "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon."

Their on-screen chemistry was one of the main reasons the rom-com series is among the top-rated dramas of all time.

Interestingly, the chemistry goes to real life as well as Park Hyung Sik once confessed his feelings for her.

"Park Bo Young noona, I really loved you. You were that lovable. You were truly Bong-soon. Because you were the perfect Bong-soon, it was so natural for me to love you. I wanted to love you more, but I'm sad it's over," said the actor.

Amid their closeness off and on cam, neither of them has confirmed the dating rumors.

Kim Hee Won

Back in 2020, online communities posted photos of the "Doom at Your Service" star, and Kim Hee Won was spotted dining together on several occasions.

With this, others believe that the two are dating.

However, Park Bo Young addressed the issue in her fan cafe and clarified that there is no romantic relationship between them.

The actress explained that she became close with the actor "while working on "Hot Young Bloods" and "Collective Invention," adding "regardless of age, we are good friends and have a good senior-junior relationship."

Park Bo Young also got honest and said that she dislikes writing issues without confirming the truth and warned regarding possible legal actions if things "get too extreme."

IN CASE YOU MISSED: Korean Drama 'Doom at Your Service' Drops Enchanting Official Poster Featuring Park Bo Young and Seo In Guk

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
WASHINGTON, DC  After a brief segue into the issue of illegal marijuana grows in southern Oregon during a US House Judiciary meeting with Atorney General Merrick Garland last month, Congressman Cliff Bentz followed up with a letter to the nation's top law enforcement officer on Friday, urging him to put federal resources on the issue.

"At least four counties in this area are suffering from Mexican, Russian, and Chinese cartel activity," Bentz wrote to the Attorney General. "According to local law enforcement officials, these cartels are producing cannabis 'grows' farmed by thousands of undocumented people brought across our southern border."

Rep. Bentz met with law enforcement and elected leaders from Jackson and Josephine counties on October 14, where they briefed him on the extent of the illegal marijuana issue. Hours earlier, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners had declared a local state of emergency for the problem.

In his letter, Bentz referenced a DOJ memo that established federal resources woud avoid crackdowns on cannabis in states like Oregon that have legalized its use. Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, but enough states have legalized the plant in one form or another that federal law enforcement has largely de-prioritized its pursuit. An unintended consequence is the flourishing of black market marijuana.

"Oregon does not have the means to control the hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal cannabis 'grows,'" Bentz continued. "Likewise, Oregon cannot stop the influx of immigrants, many pressed into forced labor, necessary for the cartels to operate."

The Congressman pointed the finger at both the federal government's marijuana policies and the Biden administration's "lax border policies" for a humanitarian crisis.

"To put it bluntly, Oregon needs the Federal Government's help," Bentz continued. "Specifically, we need teams of up to 20 people for each affected county, to assist local law enforcement in identifying illegal grows, eradicating those grows, and then prosecuting the criminals conducting the illegal grows."
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today welcomed House passage of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, which includes essential priorities for Oregon and the West. The bill now goes to the President's desk to be signed into law.

"Ive said for a long time, you can't have a big league economy with little league infrastructure. And today Oregon and the American West will finally get the significant investments needed to deal with catastrophic wildfires and severe drought, build back hard-hit rural economies, improve access to public transit and make sure clean drinking water is a right for everyone," Wyden said. "And while now we can put people to work to build a more resilient and stronger Oregon, my work isn't over to deliver on equally-important priorities in the Build Back Better package."

Key measures include:

 $5 billion for provisions of Wydens Disaster Safe Power Grid Act to secure the power grid from extreme weather and natural disasters to prevent severe wildfires;

 $5 billion to help farmers, ranchers and communities respond to drought;

 $162 million for Klamath habitat restoration work through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service secured by Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley;

 $250 million for Wyden's Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act to help improve drinking water quality and services for tribal communities in Oregon and nationwide. This will help address the emergency water situation on the Warm Springs Reservation.

 Three additional years of funding ($290 million per year) for the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, which dedicates funding for rural communities facing budget shortfalls to address essential needs like schools and emergency services, totaling $870 million nationwide;

 $6 billion for wildfire risk mitigation and forest health treatments, including an additional $100 million secured by Wyden for the Collaborative Forestry Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), as well as a Wyden provision to clarify that CFLRP funding can be used for existing projects. The provision will ensure existing collaboratives, like the Lakeview Collaborative that has been facing the Bootleg Fire, can get access to $100 million of additional Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program funding;

 $65 billion to connect every American to high-quality, reliable broadband internet access, including in rural and mountainous Oregon communities, with Oregon expecting to receive a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 136,600 Oregonians who currently lack it.

 An estimated $747 million over five years allocated to the state of Oregon to improve public transportation options across the state.
We moved to Wisconsin with a vision of living in a state that shares our values for the love of the outdoors, fairness and caring for our neighbors.

After hearing about what happened in the 2011 redistricting, behind closed doors with a blatant goal of locking-in an unfair playing field, we couldnt help but feel we should have done more homework.

We were disappointed to find we moved to a place that rigged maps 10 years ago, and now the GOP-led Legislature wants to do it again. This despite overwhelming support for a nonpartisan process (boards in 55 counties passed resolutions and 32 counties passed referendums in favor of a nonpartisan process  by large majorities).

On Oct. 28, the Legislature held just one hearing on GOP-proposed voting district maps that are similar to the old maps and lock in gerrymandering for the next decade. Over 200 people registered opposition. Many waited hours to testify. Not one expert was produced to promote the maps and other than the two party bosses who benefit most. Not one person testified in support!

Robin Vos said the reason Democrats don't win elections has nothing to do with maps  it is because they are out of touch with the people of Wisconsin (except for the ones that showed up to oppose the GOP-maps of course). If that is so, why not have fair maps? By his logic it won't effect election results anyway, right? It seems more likely he is afraid to play fair.

In other states Democrats used gerrymandering. It's time to end it for all parties. Call your legislators to vote no on SB 621/AB624.

Yvonne Besyk, Salem

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Hopkinsville, KY (42240)

Today

Rain likely. High 53F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 29F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Hopkinsville, KY (42240)

Today

Periods of rain. High 53F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 29F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Ketchikan, AK (99901)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 49F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain and wind. Low 41F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected.
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An excerpt from Love Your Child More Than You Hate Your Ex: What Every Divorced Parent Needs to Know.

As an experienced clinical child psychologist, I believe the ultimate goal of any parent is to rear an independent, responsible child. While at first glance this may appear obvious yet if we observe most parents in action on a day-to-day basis, it becomes evident that many parents have no idea how to achieve this objective.

Most parents never take a course on parenting or even read a book or two on the topic. Ask many parents, How do you foster independence and responsibility in your child? and you are likely to get a blank stare.

Our nations future rests in the hands of our youth. It is the job of todays parents to properly raise these children. I contend that being an effective parentand an effective spouseare probably the two most important tasks that an adult can achieve.

Many parents believe that independence in our children occurs, more or less magically, when the child turns 18. For example, I had a case in which the father of a 17 year-ten-month-old daughter insisted that she maintain a 10:30 pm curfew. This girl, my client, was upset with her Father because this early curfew interfered with her active (and appropriate) social life. When I met with Father he argued that the curfew was in placeand would remain soto keep his daughter safe.

After listening to Father, I noted that his daughter, a senior in high school, would soon be attending the University of Arizona, one hundred miles away in Tucson, living in a dorm, where she would have no curfew at all. Moreover, since she would be living in a coed dorm she could have a boy in her room, if she chose. I advised Father that for his daughter to learn to become independent, like any complex skill, she needed the opportunity to practice such behavior, and he was not providing her that opportunity.

Is it any wonder why many freshmen go crazy when they go off to college? If the adolescent has no previous practice in behaving independently, how can we expect them to suddenly sleep right, eat right, exercise right, and make good decisions simply because they moved into a college dorm and now have no supervision?

With regard to developing responsibility, many parents mistakenly assume their task is to coerce the child to do the deed until it is complete. This process does not generate responsibility; it produces resentment and dependence in being made to do something. As I have said throughout my 40-plus year career in mental health, If you have to make a child be responsible; theyre not!

Once I had a mother in my office yawn and apologize for being tired because she stayed up most of the previous evening completing her sons sixth-grade social studies project, which he had left to the last minute. When I asked her why she did the project for him, since he chose to procrastinate, she answered, I couldnt let him fail!

This parent thought she was teaching her son to be responsible by getting the job done for him. Living what he learned, I assume this preadolescent is likely to continue to mismanage his time and this Mother is destined to have many more late nights rescuing her son.

In my many years in practice, I have had dozens of cases where a freshman in college dropped out because in high school he/she was made to do their work or was rescued by their parents. In this process, the teen did not learn to manage their freedom when they got to the university.

So, how do parents foster independence and responsibility in their children?

1. Reinforce independent, responsible behavior specifically and immediately.

Parents tend to operate according to the Sleeping Dog philosophy: If the dog is quiet, leave it alone; or, if the kid is behaving appropriately leave him/her alone. What results from this skewed parenting philosophy is that the child receives essentially no parental attention for good behavior yet receives extensive parental attention for negative behavior. Then we wonder why our kids misbehave! Parents must reverse this perspective and become attuned to when their children exhibit responsible, independent behaviorand attend to it.

Most parents understand that reinforcement is intended to reward good behavior. Many parents, though, are unaware that reinforcement is also designed to educate children as to what they can do when in a similar situation to earn that reinforcement again. Telling a child good job, way to go, or Im proud of you, are complimentsnot reinforcement. To qualify as reinforcement the verbal praise must specifically detail exactly what the appropriate behavior looked like: Billy, I like the way you brushed and flossed your teeth this morning without having me remind you. Im proud of your independent, responsible behavior. Lets play a board game together. In this manner, Billy knows exactly what he can do to get reinforced.

Reinforcement is only effective when it closely follows the targeted behavior. If an overweight person ate a reasonable meal tonight and immediately following their dinner weighed themselves and saw that they had lost two pounds, it would be easy to continue to eat in that manner. Proper eating was not that difficult because the reinforcement was immediate. Unfortunately, weight loss does not occur quickly so it is quite challenging for most people. If delayed reinforcement stymies most adults, it certainly will be problematic for children. Expecting a child to behave well on Tuesday, for example, for some reward that may occur next Saturday, is likely to be ineffective. The reinforcement must be administered immediately.

2. For nearly one hundred years research has shown that the best way to change an undesirable behavior is to reinforce the alternative desired behavior.

Often when I speak in public during the question and answer segment I am asked a question which takes the form of: My child does so and so, which I dont like; what should I do about it? The question portends some form of punishment.

My response to that type of question is always, What would you prefer the child to do instead? When I get the answer to that question, I always respond with, Then reinforce that.

For example, if the children are squabbling in the backseat of the car while you are driving, you could scream at them to be quiet or, instead, distract them and say, Lets play a game. The first to find five yellow VW bugs wins. In this manner, the kids learn alternative ways to behave responsibly for parental attention.

3. Ignore mild to moderately inappropriate behaviorusing extinctionand allow logical/natural consequences to occur.

Most inappropriate behaviors that children exhibit is mildly to moderately inappropriatelike whining, procrastinating, forgetting, complaining, etc. This kind of negative behavior is done primarily for parental (negative) attention. Since most of the inappropriate behavior kids exhibit is for attention, then clearly the best response to that kind of behavior is no response. Behavioral psychologists refer to this as extinction. When I tell parents in my office to ignore these behaviors in their children, they often look at me like Im crazy. However, if they follow through with this concept, parents are amazed at how powerful doing nothing is.

I have recommended this experiment to parents for decades: The next time your kids start to bicker, simply get up, leave the room, say nothing, go into your bedroom, leave the door open, and sit on your bed and wait. When I suggest this to parents, I often hear: Youve got to be kidding! Therell be blood on the floor! Someone will be seriously injured!

However, what, in fact, always occurs is within 30 seconds the kids are in the parents bedroom bringing the fight to them: Hes mean! Shes not playing fair! He/she started it! What this experiment clearly demonstrates is that, for the most part, siblings fight not because they want to maim each other but because they have learned arguing is an excellent attention-getting mechanism.

When using extinction it is imperative that parents be consistent. Dont make the mistake of ignoring the initial inappropriate behavior for a time but then later respond to it. It is predictable that when you initially ignore some behavior it will escalate briefly. Be steadfast in your extinction. If you respond to escalated behavior, you will have taught your child to become more obnoxiously persistent. If the parent is consistent, it will not take too long before the child understands the message of extinction and ceases their inappropriate behavior.

By using extinctiondoing nothinglogical consequences are allowed to come into play. For example, siblings who fight and argue are left to work it out amongst themselves. The child who chooses not to complete their homework (or project) is left to be confronted by the teacher (who has received an email or a phone call from the parent saying the child behaved irresponsibly and the teacher is empowered to apply any appropriate consequence). The child who says he/she refuses to eat what is being served for dinner is simply and calmly told to leave the table. (The child is not asked, once again, How do you know you dont like it until youve tried it, or worse yet, is made something else to eat.) The teen that gets a speeding ticket is not screamed at and grounded from driving for 60-90 days; instead, the teen is required to work off the $120.00 by doing household chores to pay for the driver re-education class he will have to attend on Saturday.

The basic components of logical consequences are that the child does not receive negative attention (and gets their parents goat) for misbehavior; the child learns through outside factorsnot their parents wraththat misbehavior has its own logical/natural consequences; and, lastly, with no hysteria the child is not distracted from their misbehavior and is forced to confront their own guilt.

4. State the task once, clearly and specifically, and allow the child to respond. Depending on the childs response, follow through with the appropriate consequencereinforcement, extinction, or (rarely) punishment.

Parents cheapen themselves. Without exaggeration, I have heard at least a hundred times some parent say: I have to tell my child at least five times before he/she will do anything. When I hear a parent say that I usually ask, What do you think youve taught your child about your first request?

Parent must state their request one time and allow the child to respond. Once the child has respondedgood or badthe parent applies the appropriate consequence. One of my favorite responses when one of my sons chose to ignore a task was to do that task at the same time they wanted something or needed to go somewhere. It was a great natural/logical consequence.

The parent must expect that the child will make some irresponsible choices. Which child doesnt? Its to be expected. Its part of the learning process. Consequent that poor choice and move on. Behavioral management works when the child behaves positively and is reinforced and when the child misbehaves and is appropriately consequenced.

5. It is not the childs behavior but the parents response to the behavior that matters.

Most parents mistakenly believe they must control their childrens behavior and must make them behave. This is impossible and, moreover, puts much undue pressure on parents. Moreover, as I have said for decades: If you have to make your kid be responsible, theyre not! An effective parent is one who systematically provides appropriate consequences to their childs behavior.

Using these five rules parents enable their children to become independent, responsible adults.

Larry Waldman is a child psychologist and author of Love Your Child More Than You Hate Your Ex: What Every Divorced Parent Needs to Know.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House passage of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation has been welcomed by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

The bill now goes to the President's desk to be signed into law.

"Ive said for a long time, you can't have a big league economy with little league infrastructure," Wyden said. "And today Oregon and the American West will finally get the significant investments needed to deal with catastrophic wildfires and severe drought, build back hard-hit rural economies, improve access to public transit and make sure clean drinking water is a right for everyone. And while now we can put people to work to build a more resilient and stronger Oregon, my work isn't over to deliver on equally-important priorities in the Build Back Better package."

Leaders say millions of good-paying jobs to rebuild and strengthen our nation's crumbling infrastructure will be created. This includes roads, bridges and airports -- as well as addresses the climate crisis by expanding access to public transit and electric vehicles, ensures clean drinking water is available for every community and makes our infrastructure more resilient against extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency.

Below are a list of key measures to the package.

 $5 billion for provisions of Wydens Disaster Safe Power Grid Act to secure the power grid from extreme weather and natural disasters to prevent severe wildfires;

 $5 billion to help farmers, ranchers and communities respond to drought;

 $162 million for Klamath habitat restoration work through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service secured by Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley;

 $250 million for Wyden's Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act to help improve drinking water quality and services for tribal communities in Oregon and nationwide. This will help address the emergency water situation on the Warm Springs Reservation.

 Three additional years of funding ($290 million per year) for the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, which dedicates funding for rural communities facing budget shortfalls to address essential needs like schools and emergency services, totaling $870 million nationwide;

 $6 billion for wildfire risk mitigation and forest health treatments, including an additional $100 million secured by Wyden for the Collaborative Forestry Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), as well as a Wyden provision to clarify that CFLRP funding can be used for existing projects. The provision will ensure existing collaboratives, like the Lakeview Collaborative that has been facing the Bootleg Fire, can get access to $100 million of additional Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program funding;

 $65 billion to connect every American to high-quality, reliable broadband internet access, including in rural and mountainous Oregon communities, with Oregon expecting to receive a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 136,600 Oregonians who currently lack it

 An estimated $747 million over five years allocated to the state of Oregon to improve public transportation options across the state.
CHARLESTON, Ore.  A man accused of kidnapping and brutally beating his ex-girlfriend was arraigned in court on Friday.

Robert Danford, 46, of North Bend now faces a total of 17 criminal charges, including attempted murder and assault.

Authorities said they arrested Danford after an hours-long manhunt thanks to a tip that led to his location.

MORE: PUBLIC PLAYED VITAL ROLE IN ARREST OF COOS COUNTY SUSPECT, AUTHORITIES SAY

The sheriff's office first learned of the incident just before 11 p.m. on Oct. 27 when dispatchers received an emergency call from someone at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve who had found a woman covered in blood and bruises.

Danford is accused of kidnapping the woman shortly following her shift at work in North Bend. Authorities said he was under a restraining order prohibiting him from getting within 150 feet of his ex-girlfriend.

RELATED: COURT DOCUMENTS REVEAL DISTURBING DETAILS ABOUT COOS COUNTY ATTEMPTED MURDER CASE

The woman escaped into the woods where she hid for several hours. She had sustained significant injuries to her face, eyes, neck and brain and was taken to Bay Area Hospital and then flown to a local hospital.

Below is the list of his charges:
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration's sweeping new COVID-19 mandate will apply to 84 million workers at mid-size and large companies.

President Joe Biden described the rules issued Thursday as urgently needed to get more Americans inoculated. Though confirmed viral cases and deaths have fallen sharply since the start of the year, they remain dangerously high, especially in some areas and industries. Average case numbers have leveled off at about 70,000 new infections a day and confirmed viral deaths at more than 1,200 a day.

Too many people," Biden said, remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good.

Yet several states with Republican governors have vowed to challenge the Occupational Health and Safety Administration regulations in court, calling them an unconstitutional power grab by the federal government.

Here is a closer look at the new COVID rules and what they mean for companies and their employees:

WHAT DO THE NEW RULES DO?



Private-sector companies with 100 or more workers must require their employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. These requirements will take effect Jan. 4 under an emergency temporary standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

A separate rule requires workers at health care facilities that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. This rule, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will apply to 17 million workers at 76,000 health care facilities, including hospitals and long-term care facilities. But doctors offices with fewer than 100 employees will be exempt because they dont fall under the center's health and safety regulations.

Employers must give workers paid time off to be vaccinated and to recover from any side effects. Vaccinations will be paid for by the federal government, though employees may have to pay for testing. The federal government says the rules supersede state laws that conflict with the standards. Still, some states have threatened to sue.

WHY DID THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IMPOSE THE MANDATE?



About 70% of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated. Yet that rate of vaccination hasn't been nearly enough to stop the spread of the virus, especially the highly contagious and now dominant delta variant.

Biden noted that businesses that have already imposed mandates on their employees, along with requirements for the military and federal contractors, have cut the number of unvaccinated Americans over age 12 from 100 million in late July to about 60 million.

Even so, more than 750,000 Americans have died from the virus, and tens of thousands of new cases arise daily. OSHA estimates that the new requirements will save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations in the six months after the rules take effect.

Workplace exposures have played a central role in driving the pandemic, said David Michaels, a former OSHA chief who is a professor of public health at George Washington University. Exposed at work, workers bring home the virus. They infect their children, they infect their parents, they infect their community.

Michaels called the rules an important step toward stopping virus transmission and gradually suppressing COVID.
EUGENE, Ore. -- November is Native American Heritage Month, and indigenous community members are celebrating and reflecting.

"It falls within Thanksgiving, which is also a reminder of what happened," said Chief Jason Younker of the Coquille Indian Tribe. "It was a gift giving and savings meal and celebration, and what followed was a horrible, genocidal, ugly part of our history."

Younker said Native American Heritage Month is about recognizing some of the tragic parts of history and seeing how parts of history impact their lives today.

Oregon State University professor and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde member David Lewis said there's systemic issues within their community.

"There's this idea in U.S. society that if you work hard, you'll make it somehow," Lewis said. "We've had generations of Native Americans who've worked and worked and have had almost nothing to show for it. We never had opportunity to own land for more than a century or have any kind of long-term generational wealth in history."

They said some issues being highlighted and given national attention to are problems they face on a daily basis.

"Some of the issues we face every single day, every once in a while they pop up as some huge issue," Younker said. "Missing and murdered women has been happening for a long, long time. It was a blip. The things that happened in South Dakota, it was a blip. And if you look back at our history, all of these things have been happening continually."

RELATED: DAUGHTER OF MISSING INDIGENOUS PERSON IN OREGON SPEAKS OUT

An Oregon State Police report from 2020 highlights the problem of missing and murdered indigenous people in the state. It finds 13 missing women were Native American, many under the age of 18 years old. In addition, there were 22 missing women listed as "unknown race" who could be Native American.

The report also concludes that the actual number of missing indigenous women may be greater based on current data.

Recent national attention on the disappearance of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie had many questioning why missing and murdered indigenous people aren't given the same attention.

MORE: A TIMELINE OF 22-YEAR-OLD GABBY PETITO'S CASE

"There was a national manhunt to find where she went, where he went," said Lewis. "It was all over the news and we never hear anything like that about our people."

This month, tribal members are encouraging everyone to learn about Native American history.

"I want to invite people to learn about tribal nations, wonderful histories, languages, cultures," said UO Indigenous Studies professor Michelle Jacob.

They hope their issues come to light.

"A lot of people criticize us and say these are issues of the past, you have to get over it," Lewis said. "But what I'm trying to say is we're still living through what I like to call the post-apocalyptic period."

The Museum of Natural and Cultural History located at the University of Oregon is celebrating Native American Heritage Month and is inviting guests to come in and learn.

"Tribal members and Native Americans are still here," said the museum's education coordinator Robyn Anderson. "They are still a part of our community and they are a vibrant part of our community."

Tribal members said to look around in the community to see a piece of history.

"I would challenge everybody to see the Willamette Valley as a place that was tremendously cared for by the Kalapuya," said Younker. "The Willamette River was the life blood of the area."
AUSTIN, Minn.  A Mower County man is sentenced for threatening to kill family members.

Griffin Amson, 25 of Austin, was arrested in January and charged with two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of terrorist threats, three counts of domestic assault, and one count of drug possession.

Court documents state Austin police officers were called to a home in the 200 block of 3rd Avenue SW on January 19 and spoke to three women. Police say all three reported being threatened by their male relative, Amson, who allegedly threatened to kill them while holding a large kitchen knife.

One of the women told officers Amson acts like this when he uses methamphetamine and investigators say Amson was found in possession of a meth pipe when he was taken into custody.

Amson pleaded guilty to two counts of terroristic threats. All other charges were dropped. He was sentenced Friday to five years of supervised probation.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Top Democrats abruptly postponed an expected House vote Friday on their 10-year, $1.85 trillion social and environment measure, as leaders' long struggle to balance demands from progressives and moderates once again dogged the pillar of President Joe Bidens domestic agenda.

In a bid to hand him a needed victory, leaders still prepared to try pushing an accompanying $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects through the chamber and to his desk.

But even that popular bill's fate was in doubt. Progressives threatened to vote against it, continuing their demand that the two measures be voted on together to pressure moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure. It seemed possible that Democrats might delay the infrastructure vote as well to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

The scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over a party that's tried for weeks to find middle ground on its massive package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives. That's been hard, in part because Democrats' slender majorities mean they need the support of every Senate Democrat and can have no more than three defectors in the House.

Democratic leaders had hoped to see the House approve both measures on Friday, producing twin triumphs for a president and party eager to rebound from this week's deflating off-year elections and show they can govern.

But those plans were dashed when, after hours of talks, a half-dozen moderates insisted they would vote against the sprawling social and climate bill unless the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office first provided its cost estimate for the measure.

Democratic leaders have said that would take days or more. With Fridays delay and lawmakers' plans to leave town for a weeks break, that could mean the budget estimates would be ready by the time a vote is held.

In order to make progress on the presidents vision, it is important that we advance the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and the Build Back Better Act today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to her colleagues, using the White House names for the two measures. She added, The agenda that we are advancing is transformative and historic, hence challenging.

The infrastructure measure cleared the Senate easily in August with bipartisan support, including the backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The package would provide huge sums for every state for highway, rail, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and waste water, power grids, ports and other projects.

But that bill became a pawn in the long struggle for leverage between Democrats' progressives and moderates. Progressives said they'd back the infrastructure legislation only if the two measures were voted on together.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who leads the 95-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, revived that timing link Friday, saying the White House and Congress nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation had provided all the fiscal information lawmakers needed for the broad bill.

If our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time  after which point we can vote on both bills together, she wrote. That strongly suggested that at least some progressives would vote Friday against the infrastructure bill.

That would sink the infrastructure measure unless enough Republicans backed so that it passed anyway, which seemed unlikely. That could mean Pelosi, who's long refused to have votes on any bills unless she knows Democrats will win, would choose that path again and decide against allowing an infrastructure vote until both bills are ready to go.

Earlier Friday, Biden, meeting reporters to tout a strong monthly jobs report, said he was returning to the Oval Office to make some calls to lawmakers. He said he would ask them to vote yes on both these bills right now.

Democrats are eager to quickly notch accomplishments days after a gubernatorial election defeat in Virginia and disappointing contests elsewhere.

House passage of Biden's larger measure would send it to the Senate, where it would face certain changes and more Democratic drama. That's chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measure's costs and curb or drop some of its initiatives.

But House approval of the smaller, bipartisan infrastructure measure would send it directly to the White House, where Biden would be certain to take a victory lap. That bill is projected to create mountains of jobs.

Pelosi met late Thursday with Hispanic lawmakers wanting the larger measure to go as far as possible in helping immigrants remain in the U.S. Their prospects for bold action are limited by strict Senate rules, though. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., said Friday that they'd discussed moving on the issue in other bills and considered Pelosi an ally.

Pelosi's strategy seemed focused on passing the most robust social and climate bill possible in her chamber and then leaving it to he Senate to adjust or strip out the portions its members wont agree to. In late tweaks to the bill to nail down votes, the House Rules Committee approved revisions to a state-and-local tax deduction and other issues.

Half the size of Biden's initial $3.5 trillion package, the bill exceeds 2,100 pages and has support progressive lawmakers, even though it is smaller than they wanted.

Republicans oppose the measure as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide large numbers of Americans with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. There would be lower prescription drug costs as Medicare for the first time would be able to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices for some drugs, a long-sought Democratic priority.

The package would provide some $555 billion in tax breaks encouraging cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added key provisions in recent days, restoring a new paid family leave program and work permits for immigrants.

Much of the package's cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

Manchin has panned the new family leave program, which is expected to provide four weeks of paid time off, less than the 12 weeks once envisioned.

Senators are also likely to strip out a just-added immigration provision that would let 7 million immigrants in the country without legal standing apply for up to two five-year work permits.
Im a comic book reader old enough to remember when Marvel and DC produced very different sorts of super-hero comics. Readers of a more recent vintage, the few of you there are, may find that an odd concept because all super-hero comics today are basically the same. But a Superman story used to be different than a Spider-Man story. A tale of The Avengers used to be different than a Justice League of America adventure.

The difference is Marvel comics used to at least try and have an internal logic to what occurred and how people behaved. DC super-hero books, on the other hand, were like fairy tales. Anything a story needed to happen just happened. There was actually an issue of Superman where he gained the ability to shoot a mini version of himself, costume and all, out of the palm of his hand. This Mini-Superman had the same power to fight crime and stop disasters and Superman actually became murderously jealous of his mini-me. If you ever wonder why comic readers in the 1960s went gaga over Peter Parker worrying about paying his rent, thats why. The stuff Stan Lee and company put out felt so much more real and meaningful.

"Hey! We've got all that great MCU action you've come to expect! Like standing!"

Well, this edition of KIMTs Weekend Throwdown takes a look a low-budget horror flick with the heart of a Marvel comic and a $200 million Marvel Studios blockbuster that makes as much sense as Mini-Superman. Its He Never Died (2015) vs. Eternals (2021) is a battle between all the bells and whistles modern Hollywood can conceive and the simple act of taking your story seriously.

He Never Died is about a guy named Jack (Henry Rollins) who sleeps most of the day and night away when hes not walking to play Bingo or to eat at his local diner. Jack has all the social skills of a turnip. Hes not a misanthrope. Hes able to minimally converse with Cara (Kate Greenhouse), the diner waitress who obviously like him, and hospital intern Jeremy (Booboo Stewart), who brings Jack the same sort of unmarked package every morning. And when Andrea (Jordan Todosey), the daughter Jacks never met, turns up, hes even able to show her a little paternal protectiveness.

"And walking!"

But Jack is a weird guy. The human equivalent of a burnt out roman candle. When a couple of two-bit hoods show up at his apartment looking to collect some money owed by Jeremy, Jack beats and disarms them like a horse lazily flicking his tail at some flies. Because Jack isnt merely a weird guy. Hes an immortal who has wandered the earth for thousands of years and seen every variation and extreme of human behavior until its all the same to him. When he gets shot, Jack just hopes its a big enough caliber bullet to go all the way through him so he doesnt have to fish it out before his body heals around the slug.

And when Jacks encounter with those two-bit hoods eventually leads to a criminal organization declaring war on him, Jack has to try and rouse whatever is left of his spirit to try and keep Cara and Andrea safe.

Ohand he also eats people.

He Never Died is a wonderfully off-kilter little film that mixes ruminations on the realities of religion and the practicalities of living forever with delightful dollops of awkward human interaction. Writer/director Jason Krawczyk does an excellent job taking immortality to its inevitable end result. Millennia of existence have left Jack numb. He doesnt care about money or food or sex or companionship or anything. When Jack doesnt lie to people its not due to morality but an unwillingness to make the effort. When Jack has to fight someone, he doesnt employ any martial arts picked up over the centuries. When youre really strong and nothing can kill you, you dont need to be fancy. One of Jacks go-to moves is to let the other guy hit, stab, or shoot him so they can see it has no effect.

"And more standing!"

The best scenes in the movie are when Jack is opposite someone who is trying to act like a normal human being. Andrea using youthful humor to connect with her absent father. Cara as a woman who has already been around the track once and desperately hopes Jack picks up on the signals shes throwing at him. And Jack offers back as much human interaction as a busted animatronic gopher at a kids pizza place.

He Never Died is a true modern equivalent to the cult classics of the past. Neither has the money to afford lots of fancy stunts or realistic-looking movie violence. But while yesteryears cult films made up the difference with sex, gore and transgressive subject matter, He Never Died mines the cinema gold out of treating an immortal superhuman as realistically as possible. If a Methuselah is out there, hes probably more like Jack than most other fictional representations.

Except for the eating people thing. At least I hope so.

"And even more walking!"

Eternals is about as far at the other end of the silver screen spectrum as you can get. While Henry Rollins carries his film on his shoulders, Eternals has not four, not six, but 11 major characters. Take any random three minutes out of Eternals and it probably cost more to film than the entirety of He Never Died. And while the little movie produces comedy and pathos by being as smart as it can, the sprawling blockbuster cant be bothered to make much sense.

Eternals is about immortal beings sent to Earth by a giant space-god named Arishem (David Kaye) to protect the human race from monsters called Deviants. And to start with, it seems like these characters were all written for different movies. The matter-transmuter Sersi (Gemma Chan) is straight out of a rom-com. Kryptonian stand-in Ikaris (Richard Madden) is a refugee from the best DC movie ever made in some alternate dimension. Warrior woman Thena (Angelina Jolie) feels like the performance Jolie was saving up for a third Tomb Raider movie. Healer Ajak (Salma Hayek) is like someone out of a Hallmark Channel franchise. Fingerbanger Kingo (Kumail Nanjani) is basically the taxi driver from Deadpool (2016) after a steroid overdose. And yes, I know its two different actors. Weve got every gay character on Netflix in machine master Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and every emo-dude from teen angst flicks in mind controller Druig (Barry Keoghan). Illusionist Sprite (Lia McHugh) got mindwiped after running away from a MUCH darker sci-fi flick about never ending childhood. Speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) should have to pay royalties to every super-hero show on the CW. And strongman Gilgamesh is like they took the non-threatening black guy character in so many movies today and made him Asian.

"We wear funny hats! You know, like Loki sometimes!"

Im not going to go too much into the plot of Eternals because, honestly, this motion picture isnt so bad I feel the need to warn you off of it. The acting is quite good in places, its funny enough, and theres an adequate amount of action even with some significant pacing problems. Youll probably be marginally entertained if you watch it. But Im pretty comfortable in stating that Eternals is the least engaging MCU movie so far. Its definitely below Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and it even falls short of Black Widow (2021) because its simply so stupid in so many ways and on so many levels.

I dont want to get into too much detail or give too many examples because for Eternals to be enjoyable, most of the spoilers need to be unspoiled. There is one particular scene, however, that almost perfectly embodies the lack of intelligent thought that went into this movie. As I mentioned earlier, the space-god Arishem sent the Eternals to Earth to protect Humanity from the Deviants. Well, at the end of the movie, Arishem shows up again {in a way that proves the people who made this movie dont understand how gravity works} and sucks the Eternals off the planet and into space with him.

"And fighting CGI monsters! Lots of fighting CGI monsters! Well...not that much, to be honest."

But if Arishem can zap people off the surface of the Earth like thatwhat did he need the Eternals for in the first place? Why didnt he just suck the Deviants into space? Now, you may respond to that with Cmon. Youre making a big deal out of a little problem with the script. And that might be true if there werent so many of these little stupid problems. Most of this story doesnt make sense, whether physically, emotionally, or intellectually, if you think about it. There are some big philosophical issues at play in Eternals and it is crystal clear the four people who wrote the script thought they didnt need to worry about the little details because Its just a super-hero movie.

Avoiding the attitude of Its just a super-hero movie is what made the Marvel Cinematic Universe so popular and successful. Avoiding that attitude toward super-hero comics is what made Marvel Comics so popular and successful. Writing super-hero comics where any silly thing could happened with no reason or rationale is what landed DC in second-place behind Marvel. I cant think of any scene in He Never Died where the filmmakers didnt work out the logical implications of what was going on. Theres maybe two or three scenes where they did that in all of Eternals.

Besides, if there's a monster after you, you'd be better off calling THIS guy.

Thats why this Throwdown goes to He Never Died. If it had been made in the late 1970s, thered still be fans talking about it today. But it came out in 2015 and quietly drowned in the streams flooding our pop culture consciousness. I think itll still leave more of a mark than Eternals, which seems destined to be that one MCU movie nobody can ever remember.

He Never Died (2015)

Written and directed by Jason Krawczyk.

Starring Henry Rollins, Booboo Stewart, Kate Greenhouse, Jordan Todosey, Steven Ogg, David Richmond-Peck, Don Francks, Walter Alza, and Tamara Almeida.

Eternals (2021)

Written by Chloe Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo.

Directed by Chloe Zhao.

Starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-seok, Haaz Sleiman, Harish Patel, David Kaye, and Bill Skarsgard.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Court hearings have been set for November 12 for two Iowa teens charged with murder in the death of high school Spanish teacher Nohema Graber.

Her family was left pondering what could have prompted such a violent act against Graber. Her daughter Nohema Marie Graber said in a Facebook posting that she and her two brothers "had the wonderful fortune of growing up in a home filled with such an abundance of warmth and love.

Court documents indicate Willard Noble Chaiden Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale, both 16-year-old students at the high school where Graber taught, have been charged as adults with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Pandemic relief funds are helping Rochester Public Schools rebound and keep students and staff safe amid the pandemic.

RPS received an allocation of $38.5 million in pandemic relief funds. Interim Superintendent Kent Pekel tells KIMT this is under 10 percent of its annual total budget.

Of the $38.5 million received, RPS has spent just under 11 million dollars toward physical improvements.

Installing new ventilation systems, plexiglass for social distancing, and investing in additional staff all in an effort to help mitigate the virus.

Pekel says the remaining 24 million dollars will be distributed diligently.

We have to be very careful in allocating these dollars for things that are going to really make a difference for kids which includes investments that help staff, but don't bring us to a cliff in 2024 that we then are going to find ourselves having to make major cuts to recover from.

Firstly, to continue improvements to physical infrastructure helping fight the spread of COVID.

There will also be additional support for students to make up for lost academic time during distance learning.

He explains, As great a job as our teachers did, in learning for 18 months via technology, we know in our analysis of our data that we have some ground to make up.

Finally, there will be additional support for staff to help with shortages and mental wellbeing.

The remaining funds need to be spent to help recover from the pandemic by the end of 2024.

It's the old saying, is there light at the end of the tunnel, and is it a train? I think there's good reason to believe it's not a train, we can see where we need to go, but there's some really critical stuff that we need to do - both within our schools and within the community - over the next few months to get there, Pekel says.

With the arrival of vaccines for younger-aged kids, Pekel says the focus in the next months is encouraging families to get their kids vaccinated.

In two weeks the Rochester School Board is set to consider approval of a $700,000 purchase to install HEPA filters in classrooms.
Police in St. Louis County are searching for a 12-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy who went missing Friday night.
Several candidates have already announced their decision to run for city mayor.
A second juror in Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial was dismissed in as many days on Friday due to an issue with her pregnancy. Rittenhouse is shown here as his lawyer gives opening statements to the jury at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis, on Nov. 2, 2021.
China's President Xi Jinping sings the national anthem with other leaders and delegates during the closing session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, in this file photo taken March 11. China said Friday that it will hold those who support "Taiwan independence" criminally liable for life. AFP-Yonhap



Beijing said Friday that China will hold those who support "Taiwan independence" criminally liable for life, provoking anger and ridicule from the democratic island at a time of heightened tension across the sensitive Taiwan Strait.



For the first time China was spelling out the punishment that awaits people deemed to back independence for Taiwan, top officials of the self-ruled island among them, as tension rises over what China regards as one of its own provinces.



China has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, despite the island's claim that it is an independent country that will defend its freedom and democracy.



The Taiwan Affairs Office named Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang, Parliament Speaker You Si-kun and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as being "stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence," as it made public for the first time that it had drawn up a list of those falling into the category.



China will enforce punishment for those on the list by not letting them enter the mainland and its Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said in a statement, also on Friday.



Such blacklisted individuals will not be allowed to cooperate with entities or people from the mainland, nor will their companies, or entities which fund them, be allowed to profit from the mainland, she added.



Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council admonished China, saying Taiwan was a democratic society with rule of law and not ruled by Beijing.



"We do not accept intimidation and threats from an autocratic and authoritarian region," the council said, adding that it would take the "necessary countermeasures to safeguard the safety and well-being of the people".



Zhu said the message China wanted to send to supporters of Taiwan independence was: "Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland and split the country, will never end up well, and will be spurned by the people and judged by history."



In a Twitter post Saturday, Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, wrote, "I've received countless notes of congratulations after being blacklisted and sanctioned, for life, by the #CCP," referring to the Chinese Communist Party.



"Many are jealous for not being recognized; some ask where they can apply for it. To deserve the rare honor, I'll keep fighting for #Taiwan's freedom and democracy."



China believes Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is a separatist bent on declaring formal independence. She says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name. (Reuters)


Gunsan in the early 1900s. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



By Robert Neff



One morning in early November 1880, the residents of Yeondo  a small island off the coast of Gunsan  were surprised to discover a large number of foreigners struggling ashore from a sinking ship. They were the survivors of the Kim Yuen Tae (or Kim Yuen Tye)  a 329-ton Siamese (Thai) barque.



The ship, under the command of Captain Paul Julius Kofoed, had a crew of fourteen Thais, one Hawaiian and at least twelve Chinese sailors. In addition to the crew, there were Kofoed's Thai wife and their child, and the Danish boatswain's Thai wife.



Captain Kofoed, a son of a fisherman, was born in Bornholm. Denmark on July 6, 1828. At some point  at least by 1861  he made his way to Siam (modern Thailand) where he served as captain on a number of ships. It would be safe to assume that Kofoed was a very experienced captain  especially in the southern part of Asia.



On October 27, 1880, the Kim Yuen Tae sailed out of the Chinese northeastern port of Newchwang (modern Yingkou) bound for Hong Kong. Things went well for the first couple of days; the weather was good but cold, and the ship made slow but relatively good progress. However, things changed on November 1. The Kim Yuen Tae encountered "fearful weather" and sprung a leak. Kofoed deemed the situation dire enough that he set course for the coast of Korea  the peninsula had the reputation as being unfriendly towards foreigners, including shipwrecked survivors  hoping to make it before his ship sank beneath the waves.





Seoul in the late 19th century. Robert Neff Collection



On November 3, the Kim Yuen Tae arrived off the small island of Yeondo (known on the British charts as St. Helen's Island) and made "every endeavour" to repair the leak. One account claims that they struggled for two days but in all likelihood the ship sank in seven fathoms' of water shortly after its arrival in the early morning.



"The captain and [Danish boatswain] remained onboard till the crew and [the two Thai wives and child] had got into the boat, and then the poor [boatswain], who had exhausted himself in trying to stop the leak and in working the vessel, could not be persuaded to make any further effort. He went down with the ship."



Another crew member was also lost when the ship sank. The survivors "reached the shore in an absolutely destitute condition, and in deadly fear" of the reception they would receive from the Korean islanders, but  much to their relief  they were hospitably treated. According to one report: "The Coreans treated the survivors with the greatest kindness, provided them with rooms, heated k'ans, dry clothes, and good food."



For nearly a month the victims of the shipwreck remained with their Korean hosts. The Korean government offered to send them back to Newchwang, which was readily accepted. It isn't quite clear how this offer was communicated as the Thai sailors were allegedly "unable to understand Chinese, either written or spoken."





Pyongyang in the early 1900s. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



On November 30, the castaways  accompanied by a Korean military escort  began their long journey overland to the Korea city of Uiju, located on the Yalu River which formed the Korean-Chinese border. The men rode on Korean ponies and oxen while the women and the child were conveyed in chairs or palanquins.



The journey was not an easy one as the roads were very rough and it seems doubtful the survivors  who were accustomed to much warmer weather  were acclimatized to the coldness of Korea's winters. The governor of Gyeonggi Province seems to have taken an interest in their plight and provided them with as much comfort as possible.



On December 10, they arrived in the vicinity of Seoul. One person  probably Kofoed  described Seoul as "a city of mud huts situated on hills, near a wide and deep river." They were housed in an inn located in the suburbs of the city as they were not allowed to enter the capital. After resting for about twenty-four hours, they resumed their journey  their next destination was to be "the prehistoric capital of Corea"  Pyongyang.



It seems they arrived in Pyongyang on December 14 and stayed only long enough to regain some energy (they provided no descriptions of Pyongyang) before continuing on to Uiju  arriving there on December 16  where they were handed over to Chinese officials who would escort them to Newchwang.



It was a miserable march through extreme cold and harsh conditions. The temperature ranged from minus 17 to minus 22 degrees Celsius and one Thai sailor perished from exhaustion and the elements. The survivors arrived in Newchwang on January 22, 1882 and several suffered from severe frostbite including one man who had to have both feet amputated. Despite his age and the extreme hardships endured, Captain Kofoed was among the survivors and seems to have fared better than most.





Uiju in the early 1900s. Robert Neff Collection



An English language newspaper in China praised the survivors for the utmost care they took in safeguarding the two women and the small child. It claimed that "even under the most distressing conditions" the women and child "appear to have been well cared for." Oddly enough, the newspaper then stated, "such unselfish conduct in favour of the weaker sex makes the community the more ready to welcome the poor shipwrecked people."



According to a memorial presented to the Chinese government, the Thais and Hawaiian were to be examined by the military authorities and would then be sent home. Whether this happened or not is unknown. As had been "the invariable custom" of the Chinese court, the Korean officials who escorted the survivors were issued a small sum of money.



In closing its article, the newspaper somewhat backhandedly noted that "we must not forget to remark upon the humanity evinced by the Coreans, who, in that respect, approach to the kindly nature of the Japanese."



For several years Korea would remain a land wrongly maligned as being unusually cruel to those unfortunate enough to be cast upon its shore.



My appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance.





Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Rain. High around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 27F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Rain. High 46F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 27F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP)  Two missing Oregon women were found in an Idaho forest Friday, the mother dead from the elements and the disabled daughter alive with their broken down vehicle.

Vancouver police seek help finding 72-year-old man who went missing while driving to Arkansas VANCOUVER, Wash. (KPTV) - The Vancouver Police Department is seeking help locating a man who has not been seen or heard from since September 29.

A hunter discovered the mothers body in the Solitaire Saddle area of the Panhandle National Forest and reported it to the Kootenai County Sheriffs Office at 11:45 a.m. Friday, The Spokesman Review reported.

Authorities then discovered the broken-down vehicle nearby with the other woman still alive.

The sheriff's office said the women were driving to Utah and following a navigation system when they got lost in the northern Idaho forest. When their vehicle broke down, the mother left to find help but died from exposure to the elements while the daughter, who is mentally disabled, stayed behind.

They were reported missing from Pendleton, Oregon, on Wednesday.
The minor child has been located and is with law enforcement in Elko Co Nevada. An arrest warrant has been served on the party believed to have kidnapped the minor child. Read more
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Missouri Senator Roy Blunt made a stop at the Remington Nature Center Friday morning, the first of four stops across the state spreading the word about the "Recovering America's Wildlife Act."

The bill sponsored by Blunt and a New Mexico senator would allocate $1.3 billion towards conservation efforts nationwide. $20 million would come to Missouri alone.

"This would be federal money that comes to support a Missouri plan," Sen. Blunt said.

Local officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation said the funding would help conserve endangered species in the state, as well as endangered habitats.

"There hasn't been anything like this since my career," Bryan Gragg, Northwest Regional Administrator, Missouri Dept. of Conservation said.

"What we're able to do right now as far as wildlife and habitats and community projects and things like that this gives us an opportunity to do so much more."

Sen. Blunt said the bill would help people, by providing more jobs, and would also assist landowners with conservation efforts.

"We've come a long way with wildlife, but we have a long way to go in some areas," Bragg said.

Blunt said there would also be benefits for sportsmen in the state.
According to the report, all of the boosters created an increase in antibody levels.
His job approval numbers have dropped to 42%, down 7% since August.
A campaign created to collect internet accessibility data within Camden County is attempting to bring broadband coverage to Camden County but they need the community's help.

The website (Connect.CamdenMO.org) will forward participants to the official Missouri Broadband Resource Rail website to administer the speed test and complete the data collection. With participation from community members, the data collected could be used to pursue broadband coverage in Camden.

Several community partners are working together to roll out Connect.CamdenMO.org. County representatives, local chambers of commerce, as well as the University of Missouri Camden County Extension are asking the community to take a few minutes and participate in the internet speed test available at Connect.CamdenMO.org. Compared to other states, Missouri ranks low in connectivity and speed, with rural Missourians (including Camden County residents) at a particular disadvantage in accessing vital online services, information, and opportunities.

To be effective in our mission we need heavy participation from both our residents and the businesses community stated K.C. Cloke, Executive Director of the Camdenton Area Chamber of Commerce. Even if you have no internet, we still need you to participate. In fact, its crucial to have those members participate to specifically identify our challenges. Weve got to be able to clearly paint the picture of where Camden County currently stands with internet accessibility so we can work towards improving our broadband service which in return, improves our economy, educational access, and healthcare and well-being. The more participation we receive in our county the more precise our data will be to pursue funding opportunities.

The speed test (Connect.CamdenMo.org) will be administered until the end of the year. To learn more about Connect.CamdenMo.org contact Tammy Mayer at tammy_mayer@camdenmo.org
With deer hunting under way in Missouri, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and A.T. Still University in Kirksville are asking deer hunters to save ticks they find on harvested deer and mail them to the University. The ticks will be used for a scientific research study to help better understand the statewide distribution of tick species and the human pathogens they carry.

During this time of year, we are asking the many Missouri deer hunters around the state to send us ticks they find on their harvested animals, said MDC Ecological Health Unit Science Supervisor Matt Combes. The University needs more samples  especially of deer ticks, also called blacklegged ticks, which are commonly found on deer this time of year.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and A.T. Still University in Kirksville are asking people to save ticks they encounter and mail them to the University. The ticks will be used for a new scientific research study to help better understand the statewide distribution of tick species and the human pathogens they carry.

Ticks are large mites that drink the blood of humans and other mammals. Ticks can also carry and spread pathogens that cause illnesses in people. Missouri is home to three common species of ticks that bite humans: lone star tick, American dog tick, and deer tick. Adult ticks are about a quarter-inch long and grow to nearly double that when engorged with blood. Learn more about ticks from the MDC online Field Guide at nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/ticks.

MDC and A.T. Still University are partnering on a two-year research study to determine the presence of tick species throughout Missouri as well as the pathogens they may harbor. The study will begin in April and conclude in September 2022. During that time, MDC and the University are asking Missourians mail ticks to A.T. Still University to be identified by species and life stage and tested for four species of bacterial pathogens.

We need the help of many Missourians around the state, said MDC Ecological Health Unit Science Supervisor Matt Combes. Participation by many citizen scientists is vital in helping us collect enough data at a scale unattainable by MDC and University scientists alone.

To help with the research efforts, people are asked to place each live tick in a plastic zip-top bag with a piece of damp paper towel or moist cotton ball, then fold the bag and place it inside another plastic zip-top bag with a completed sample-submission form. The sample-submission form is available for printing from the University website at www.atsu.edu/missouri-ticks-and-tick-borne-pathogen-surveillance-research.

People are then asked to place the bag and completed sample-submission form in an envelope and mail it to: A.T. Still University, ATTENTION: Deb Hudman -- Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology, 800 W. Jefferson St., Kirksville MO 63501.

Learn more about the research and submit questions online at atsu.edu/ticks.

University Senior Research Associate Deb Hudman noted the research is not intended to provide clinical diagnosis of any illness someone may have, and study information should not be interpreted as a substitute for medical testing or consultation with a physician.

The resulting research data will be used to determine at the county level what tick species and bacterial pathogens are present for the state of Missouri. This much-needed data will be shared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said Hudman. This data will also help guide outreach and education efforts about ticks in Missouri to help increase knowledge of tick-borne illnesses and precautions people should take when working or recreating in the outdoors.

She added that distribution maps will be provided and updated weekly on the A.T. Still University website at www.atsu.edu/missouri-ticks-and-tick-borne-pathogen-surveillance-research so people can actively follow the progress of the study over the next two years.

Combes added there is a pressing need to increase tick surveillance in Missouri, develop statewide distribution maps of tick species and tick-borne pathogens, and educate the public on reducing their risk of contracting a tick-borne illness based on that data. In addition, this research study could also help determine previously unknown or invasive tick species that are present in Missouri.

There are tick-borne human pathogens in the state of Missouri and yet there is no comprehensive map of where tick species occur, or of the human pathogens those ticks are carrying, Combes said. According to the CDC, Missouri is considered a gap state for knowledge of tick-borne diseases. Many people -- in Missouri and nationwide -- lack a good understanding of tick-borne illnesses common to their area.
An Elkhorn resident has returned to the area to help local residents give their home a new look.

Carly Loobek is in the process of opening a Studio M Interiors location at 300 Sage St. in Lake Geneva, the former site of Indochine Tu Galleria. The business is set to open in early November with a grand opening event planned for Dec. 3.

Studio M Interiors offers products and services to help people remodel and refurnish their home, as well as interior space planning for newly-constructed homes and businesses.

Loobek, who is originally from Burlington, moved to Elkhorn from Minnesota in July with her husband and leased the Sage Street building in September to open the Studio M Interiors location.

Loobek has worked for Studio M Interiors for about seven years and is looking forward to opening her own store in Lake Geneva. This will be the companys second location, as the businesss main store is in Plymouth, Minnesota.

It just felt like the right time for me personally to move home, Loobek said. It was just the perfect opportunity for them to expand and for me to spearhead that here. Weve done a lot of lake properties in Minnesota, so it seemed like a proper transition and fit.

Elizabeth Cohen, general manager for the Plymouth, Minnesota store, said she is excited about her company opening a second location. She said Lake Geneva is an appropriate location for a second Studio M Interiors store.

It looks like us. It feels like us. Carly has made a good impression on local builders and architects in the area, Cohen said. We feel very fortunate to be in that community.

Cohen said she feels Loobek will do a quality job operating the companys second location.

Shes really that good, Cohen said. She made the plan to move back, and we instantly started looking for the right location for us, what we believed we have found on Sage Street.

Since September, Loobek has been working with a local remodeling company to renovate the Sage Street building to prepare for the businesss opening in November. She said she has enjoyed watching the process unfold.

Its been great, Loobek said. The most work on our end is getting the orders in just for inventory. Were focused on making sure we get all the inventory here, so we can install it before November. The crew we are working with has been awesome. We are super excited.

Loobek began working for Studio M Interiors after she graduated college. She said she has enjoyed working for the company and helping people redesign their homes.

Even before high school, I knew I wanted to do something in interior design, Loobek said. Ive always liked architecture and homes. Ive always been drawn to it. I think the way people live and have their spaces designed can really affect how they live.

Cohen said Loobek has been a quality employee for Studio M Interiors, calling her a rising star for the company.

My favorite thing about her is not only her passion, but shes really easy to get along with, Cohen said. Clients find her really easy to work with. All of our vendors are excited that she will be in Lake Geneva too, because shes just a really special person.

Loobek initially will work with a design assistant at the Lake Geneva location but plans to add more staff in the future.

Were looking to grow and have a few more designers on staff and keep our business growing, she said.

Studio Interiors will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and by appointment. For more information about the business, visit www.studiom-int.com.

We have a beautiful profile on there, Loobek said. Were just trying to show people what were doing.

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New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Politics over Chhath Puja in Delhi intensified on Saturday with the AAP accusing the BJP of not letting 'Purvanchalis' prepare 'ghats' required to perform rituals pertaining to the festival.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) urged the BJP to stop playing "dirty politics" over Chhath Puja and let people celebrate the festival in Delhi.

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"And, if they (BJP) continue playing dirty politics over Chhath Puja, Purvanchalvasi (People who hail from Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh) will not forgive them," AAP legislator Sanjeev Jha warned while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here.

There was no immediate response from the BJP over the AAP's allegations.

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The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has prohibited celebrations of Chhath Puja on the banks of the Yamuna this year.

In a recent order, the Authority said Puja celebrations will be allowed at designated sites in the city, except on the banks of the river Yamuna.

Following this, Jha requested L-G Anil Baijal to allow Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the Yamuna, saying ghats (banks) are cleaned before the devotees perform rituals.

"At the behest of the BJP, however, L-G sahab issued an order barring Chhath Puja celebrations at Yamuna banks," the AAP MLA alleged.

"The BJP is now trying to prevent the celebration of Chhath Puja at DDA and municipal corporations' land in Delhi. It's clear that the BJP hates Purvanchalvasi," he charged.

Jha alleged that authorities are not letting devotees prepare ghats for Chhath Puja at various locations in Delhi at the behest of the BJP.

"Preparations for Chhath Puja ghat were underway in Dwarka. The mayor of the BJP-ruled municipal corporation visited the spot and said Puja will not be allowed," he said, adding that the AAP MLA of the area has been sitting on a dharna at the site in protest against denial of permission by the mayor.

Lashing out at the BJP, AAP leader Somnath Bharti claimed that the saffron party is "insulting" 'Purvanchalis' by putting hurdles in their preparations for Chhath Puja.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Panaji, Nov 6 (PTI) The Goa government has set a target of achieving 100 per cent COVID-19 vaccination with the second dose by November 15, a senior official said on Saturday.

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"Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said that Goa will achieve the cent per cent immunisation with the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine by November 15," State Immunisation Officer Dr Rajendra Borkar told reporters.

To accelerate efforts, the Directorate of Health Services will organise mega camps in Goa on November 7 for administering the second dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

Since the number of active cases has reduced significantly, this is the best time to get vaccinated and develop herd immunity, he said quoting experts.

Borkar said the camps will be held at all the government health centres, Goa Medical College and in most of the sub-health centres.

He said there are around 1.50 lakh people in Goa who have not turned up for the second dose even after the period between the first and the second dose has lapsed.

In September this year, Goa achieved the target of vaccinating its eligible population with the first dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) A Delhi Police head constable received a bullet injury in the line of duty during a clash between two groups in Badarpur area of the city on Saturday, officials said.

According to the police, a team including head constable Giriraj reached the spot where some people gathered and clashed, responding to a PCR call around 1.40 am.

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Someone from the gathering fired a bullet which hit Giriraj in his thigh. A civilian, identified as Rohit, also suffered injury in his leg, the police said.

Giriraj was rushed to Apollo Hospital and his condition was stable.

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His statement was recorded and a case under relevant sections has been registered at Badarpur police station and the investigation is underway, a senior police officer said.

It was found during the investigation that members of the warring groups were drunk.

Three people -- Sunny, Mahendra and Rajendra (all residents of Gautampuri) -- have been arrested and one country-made pistol and one live cartridge have been recovered at their instance, the officer said.

According to the police, the incident took place on a very narrow lane. The police team was well equipped, but did not retaliate due to the presence of women and children, they added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amritsar (Punjab) [India], November 6 (ANI): On the occasion of 'Bandi Chhor Divas', Nihang Sikhs demonstrated horse-riding skills in Punjab's Amritsar on Friday.

In the video, people were seen gathered in an open ground for celebrating the occasion and Nihang Sikhs were showcasing their horse-riding skills. Some Sikhs were riding horses by standing on them and some were sitting.

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Bandi Chhor Divas is a Sikh celebration that commemorates the day the sixth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind was released from Gwalior Fort.

Earlier on November 5, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson extended greetings to people for celebrating the festivals of Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas.

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"Namaste, it's Boris Johnson here, sending my best wishes to everyone celebrating this year's Festival of Lights, and after the tough times we've all had, I hope that this Diwali, and Bandi Chhor Divas for our Sikh friends, are truly special," UK PM said in a video posted on his Twitter handle. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, November 6: As India is set to host the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10, two months after the Taliban took control of Kabul, defence expert Major General (retired) PK Sehgal has said that the meeting assumes utmost importance as India is concerned that the Afghan territory does not become a source of terrorism, hence the security of the region is paramount.

Speaking to ANI, Sehgal said, "This meeting is absolutely important for India. India has got deep relations with Afghanistan. They have got economic interests, diplomatic, political and as well as security implications."

The meeting will be conducted at the national security advisor (NSA) level, sources said on Friday. The NSA-level talks will be chaired by India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Taliban Bars Women from Operating as Aid Workers in Afghanistan, Says Human Rights Watch.

"As far as the relationship with Afghanistan is concerned, India does not want Afghanistan, under any circumstance, to carry out any terrorist activities against India," he said underlining the security concerns in the region after the regime change in Afghanistan.

Notably, the invitation for the meeting has been formally extended by India to China and Pakistan and others including Russia, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. According to Sehgal, Pakistan through its media has refused to join the meeting.

According to sources close to the developments, there has been an overwhelming response to India's invitation. Several countries including Russia and Iran have confirmed participation in the meeting, in which, not just Afghanistan's immediate land neighbours are invited but also Central Asian countries are invited.

"This meeting has got very important implications. I am certain that the meeting would be a success. It is a mega initiative by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval," Sehgal said.

Two earlier meetings in this format have been held in Iran in September 2018 and December 2019. The third meeting in India could not be held earlier due to the pandemic. Pakistan: Hidden Cameras Found in Karachi Private School Washrooms.

Sehgal said, "In all the meetings that have been held in Russia and central Asia, as well as middle-East. So, India has now taken the initiative to carry out a similar meeting in India where all the Central Asian Republics, and not only immediate neighbours, will be participating for the first time."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, November 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed grief over the death of 10 people due to fire in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar Civil hospital.

"Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest", PM Modi tweeted. Maharashtra: 10 COVID-19 Patients Killed in Fire at Ahmednagar Civil Hospital's ICU Ward.

Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2021

Ahmednagar District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said a total of 10 people died in a fire incident at Ahmednagar Civil hospital. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered a probe into the fire incident at Ahmednagar district hospital.

Following the incident, Thackeray spoke to district Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif and Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte and asked them to ensure that the victims should not face any problems in getting treatment.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jalalabad [Afghanistan], November 6 (ANI): A total of 25 terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) surrendered to authorities in Jalalabad on Saturday, international media reported citing an official.

According to the head of intelligence agency in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province Mohammad Bashir, the former terrorists were active in Spinghar, Pachiragam and Batikot districts, and the security forces would further stabilize the situation in Nangarhar and its vicinity, Xinhua News reported.

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It further stated that the former terrorist Ziaudin called upon all the members to give up fighting and support peace and security in Afghanistan in his speech at the surrendering ceremony.

According to Xinhua News, this is the second IS group that has surrendered to authorities in Nangarhar province.

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On Friday 55 IS terrorists surrendered to security authorities in Jalalabad city. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], November 6 (ANI): The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in its latest report said that at least 460 children were killed due to relentless violence in the first six months of the current year in Afghanistan.

The report also cited the killing of "nine members of one family, including four girls and two boys," who were reportedly killed on Thursday morning, "when an explosive remnant of war detonated inside a home in Kunduz," reported TOLOnews.

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The report also stated that three other children were injured. It emphasised that the lives of thousands of people in Afghanistan have been affected by the waves of four decades of conflict.

A 6-year-old boy named Hibatullah who lost his leg during the conflict in Nangarhar said that he is now dependent on an artificial leg.

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Hibatullah's father, Abdullah said, "My son was hit with a bullet in a clash in Nangarhar. He was hospitalized for a long time and then his leg was amputated."

He emphasised that the family became hopeless. Further, Abdullah said that the child is now under "treatment by the Red Cross and (they) made an artificial leg for him."

Mohammad Fahim, a therapist, stated that every day, 10 to 15 children who are brought to him struggle with brain freeze.

He termed the situation very dangerous and blamed the war for such incidents.

The UNICEF also expressed concerns over the condition of Afghan children.

"We are also concerned about the number of children killed by explosive devices so far this year. The death of one child is heartbreaking," said Samantha Mort, chief of communication, advocacy and civic engagement for UNICEF, according to TOLOnews.

For years Afghan children have been struggling with poverty and malnutrition, according to UNICEF. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beijing [China], November 6 (ANI): A Chinese spy has been convicted of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets from US aviation, the Justice Department said in a statement on Friday.

"A federal jury convicted Yanjun Xu, a Chinese national and Deputy Division Director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. The defendant is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the United States to stand trial," read the statement.

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"This conviction of a card-carrying intelligence officer for economic espionage underscores that trade secret theft is integral to the PRC government's plans to modernize its industries," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

"But this conviction also serves notice that the United States will not sit by as China, or any other nation-state, attempts to steal instead of researching and developing key technology. Instead, and with the support of our allies, we will continue to investigate, prosecute, and hold accountable those who try to take the fruits of American ingenuity illegally," Olsen added.

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"The jury, by its guilty verdict here today, held Xu accountable for his classic spy techniques," said Acting US Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio.

According to the statement, Xu, who was arrested in Belgium in April 2018, was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison for each count and a fine of up to USD 5 million.

Xu was also convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison for each count and a USD 250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the statement added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, November 6: Joint mission between NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS), Landsat 9, launched on September 27, 2021, has collected its first light images of Earth.

According to a press release by NASA, all the images, acquired on October 31 provide a preview of how the mission will help people manage vital natural resources and understand the impacts of climate change, adding to Landsat's unparalleled data record that spans nearly 50 years of space-based Earth observation.

"Landsat 9's first images capture critical observations about our changing planet and will advance this joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that provides critical data about Earth's landscapes and coastlines seen from space. This program has the proven power to not only improve lives but also save lives. Diwali 2021: NASA Shares A Mesmerizing Picture of Cluster of Colourful Stars Close to Milky Way on The Festival of Lights (See Pic).

 #Landsat 9 captured its first images Oct. 31, and theyre striking! These data-rich images show us glaciers, actively burning fires and more, continuing a 50-year partnership between @NASA and @USGS. https://t.co/oQo45eDPoD pic.twitter.com/FxmmSDmDsB  NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) November 5, 2021

NASA will continue to work with USGS to strengthen and improve accessibility to Landsat data so decision-makers in America - and around the world - better understand the devastation of the climate crisis, manage agricultural practices, preserve precious resources and respond more effectively to natural disasters," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

These first light images show Detroit, Michigan, with neighbouring Lake St. Clair, the intersection of cities and beaches along a changing Florida coastline and images from Navajo Country in Arizona that will add to the wealth of data helping us monitor crop health and manage irrigation water.

The new images also provided data about the changing landscapes of the Himalayas in High Mountain Asia and the coastal islands and shorelines of Northern Australia, said the press release.

Landsat 9 is similar in design to its predecessor, Landsat 8, which was launched in 2013 and remains in orbit, but features several improvements. The new satellite transmits data with higher radiometric resolution back down to Earth, allowing it to detect more subtle differences, especially over darker areas like water or dense forests.

For example, Landsat 9 can differentiate more than 16,000 shades of a given wavelength color; Landsat 7, the satellite being replaced, detects only 256 shades. This increased sensitivity will allow Landsat users to see much more subtle changes than ever before.

"First light is a big milestone for Landsat users - it's the first chance to really see the kind of quality that Landsat 9 provides. And they look fantastic. When we have Landsat 9 operating in coordination with Landsat 8, it's going to be this wealth of data, allowing us to monitor changes to our home planet every eight days," said Jeff Masek NASA's Landsat 9 project scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center.

The release informed that Landsat 9 carries two instruments that capture imagery: the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2), which detects visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared light in nine wavelengths, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2), which detects thermal radiation in two wavelengths to measure Earth's surface temperatures and its changes.

These instruments will provide Landsat 9 users with essential information about crop health, irrigation use, water quality, wildfire severity, deforestation, glacial retreat, urban expansion, and more. NASA Unveiled a Spacecraft That Will Target a Double Asteroid.

"The data and images from Landsat 9 are expanding our capability to see how Earth has changed over decades. In a changing climate, continuous and free access to Landsat data, and the other data in NASA's Earth-observing fleet, help data users, including city planners, farmers and scientists, plan for the future," said Karen St. Germain, Earth Science Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA's Landsat 9 team is conducting a 100-day check-out period that involves testing the satellite's systems and subsystems and calibrating its instruments in preparation for handing the mission over to USGS in January. USGS will operate Landsat 9 along with Landsat 8, and together the two satellites will collect approximately 1,500 images of Earth's surface every day, covering the globe every eight days, according to the release.

"The incredible first pictures from the Landsat 9 satellite are a glimpse into the data that will help us make science-based decisions on key issues including water use, wildfire impacts, coral reef degradation, glacier and ice-shelf retreat and tropical deforestation.

This historic moment is the culmination of our long partnership with NASA on Landsat 9's development, launch and initial operations, which will better support environmental sustainability, climate change resiliency and economic growth - all while expanding an unparalleled record of Earth's changing landscapes," said USGS Acting Director Dr David Applegate.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], November 6 (ANI): Pakistan's cries of 'give them time' on the Taliban sounds pitiable as Imran Khan has been working overtime to pump prime the illusion that the group will become a modern political entity if given 'time', according to a news piece published in Al Arabiya.

Pakistan seems to have self-appointed itself as the spokesperson of the ruling government in Afghanistan, relentlessly pleading for international recognition of the Taliban-led government in Kabul. Ironically, Pakistan itself has not accepted the Taliban government, according to the news piece in Al Arabiya.

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The fact stands that the few countries that have taken a sympathetic view of the Taliban, namely Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and Muslim countries in Central Asia have also yet not recognised the Taliban government. China which the Taliban calls their "greatest friend" and Russia which is eyeing Afghanistan's mineral wealth have not given recognition too, according to the news channel.

Pakistan appears desperate to claim the credit for the recognition of the Taliban government with a view to taking a "firmer grip" over the war-torn country as and when it does happen.

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Imran Khan has long been reiterating 'give them time' to the Taliban.

"How much 'time' should be given to the bearded Mullahs and Islamists, who control the destiny of the hapless Afghans?" said the news piece.

The answer to this question is however not known to Pakistan or the Taliban itself.

The reports have continued to pour in showing the brutalities on women and minorities particularly the Shia Muslims, putting a big question mark on the 'more time for Taliban' campaign.

"The Taliban and other Afghan militants nurtured by Pakistan do not accept women into their fold. It is, therefore, difficult to see women finding representation in a Taliban government," said the news piece.

Therefore, Imran Khan's call for the inclusion of women in the new Afghan government is more like a PR exercise to present Pakistan in good light. Pakistan's main concern is seeing that the Taliban government is dominated by ISI-backed militant groups like Haqqani Network.

"If the world or some big powers are foolish enough to extend recognition to the regressive fanatic rulers in a hurry, the Taliban will use the opportunity to milk the world while continuing with their unacceptable ways," said the news piece. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Paris, Nov 6 (AP) Hundreds of activists gathered at Paris City Hall on Saturday to protest the inaction about climate change by the 10 top climate-polluting nations in the world.

They deployed large portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, US President Joe Biden, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga along a banner reading climate inaction = crime against life.

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The protest in the French capital was one of many across the world marking the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice as the COP26 climate talks are taking place in Glasgow.

The crucial UN climate summit opened last Sunday, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway. (AP)

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(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sacramento (US), Nov 6 (AP) A man suspected of raping women near Sacramento freeway interchanges several years ago has been arrested after investigators used DNA technology and genealogy websites to zero in on him.

JD Wallace Simien, 40, was taken into custody on Thursday and booked for investigation of felony kidnapping, rape, oral copulation and robbery charges, according to jail and court records.

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Sacramento County prosecutors and sheriff's officials said in a joint statement that investigators had linked an unspecified number of violent sexual assaults between 2013 and 2014 to the "Cloverleaf Rapist", because the crimes happened near freeway entrances and exits that resemble a cloverleaf pattern.

The investigation went cold until detectives used the same DNA genealogy techniques to identify and capture Joseph DeAngelo, dubbed the Golden State Killer, and Roy Waller, the so-called "NorCal Rapist" who was convicted last year of raping nine women in their homes.

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"DNA technology is a great tool in our criminal justice system," District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said in the statement. "DNA can not only be used to exonerate the innocent, but it is a powerful investigative tool for violent crimes that have grown cold because traditional investigative methods are unable to solve the case."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Rod Norgaard declined to release further details of the case, including the number of victims and the dates of the crimes, citing the ongoing investigation. A complaint was expected to be filed on Monday, when Simien is scheduled to make his first court appearance.

It is not known whether Simien has retained a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

DeAngelo, a former police officer who committed 13 murders and dozens of rapes, evaded capture for decades before the district attorney's crime laboratory used DNA from crime scenes to compare to DNA provided to a genealogical website. He was convicted and sentenced last year to life in prison without parole.

Waller was sentenced last year to 897 years in prison -- the maximum allowed by law -- for raping nine women during a 15-year crime spree that started in 1991. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Singapore, Nov 6 (PTI) Responding to global calls to spare an Indian-origin Malaysian from the gallows next week, the Singapore government has said that the death row convict knew what he was doing when he committed the crime of heroin trafficking.

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, 33, is to be hanged at Changi Prison for drug trafficking on Wednesday.

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He was 21 when arrested for trafficking drugs at Woodlands checkpoint on a causeway link between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia with a bundle of drugs strapped to his thigh.

Nagaenthran was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010 for importing 42.72 grams of heroin in 2009.

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The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death sentence where the amount of heroin imported is more than 15 grams.

The case came under the spotlight late last month when the Singapore Prison Service wrote a letter to Nagaenthran's mother on October 26, informing her that the death sentence on her son would be carried out on November 10, according to the Straits Times report.

The family was expected to travel from Ipoh, a major city in northern Peninsular Malaysia, to be with Nagaenthran at Singapore's Changi Prison. The prison's letter said the family would be allowed extended daily visits till November 10. The letter was circulated on social media.

The issue of whether Nagaenthran's mental responsibility for his actions was substantially impaired at the time he had committed the offence was considered by the High Court, The Straits Times reported, citing a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement.

The ministry made these points in the statement responding to further media queries on the case, which has gained international attention as human rights groups and others call for a halt to Nagaenthran's upcoming execution, citing intellectual disability, according to the Singapore daily report.

The statement added that the High Court had assessed the evidence of psychiatrists that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled.

This included the evidence of a psychiatrist called by the defence, "who agreed in court that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled".

Citing findings from the High Court and the Court of Appeal in its statement, the MHA said, "The High Court considered the facts, expert evidence from four different psychiatric/psychological experts, and further submissions by the Prosecution and the Defence. The High Court held that Nagaenthran knew what he was doing, and upheld the sentence of death."

He appealed to the Court of Appeal against his conviction and sentence, and his appeal was dismissed in September 2011.

In 2015, he filed a resentencing application to set aside the sentence of death imposed on him, and to substitute it with life imprisonment.

The High Court dismissed this application in 2017, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in 2019. His petition to the President Halimah Yacob for clemency was also unsuccessful.

A petition calling for him to be pardoned from the death sentence, started on October 29, has since garnered over 56,134 signatures as of Saturday morning. It argued that Nagaenthran should be spared from death because he had committed the offence under duress, and had been assessed to have a low IQ of 69.

At 75,000 signatures, the petition becomes one of the top 1 per cent on Change.org in the UK.

The execution of a mentally ill person is prohibited under international human rights law, as well as under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), according to Change.org.

Furthermore, any execution for drug offences contravenes international law and standards. Singapore is a signatory of the UNCRPD.

On Friday, the MHA said the High Court had found that Nagaenthran was able to plan and organise on simpler terms, and "was relatively adept at living independently".

The court also noted that his actions relating to the offence revealed that he was "capable of manipulation and evasion".

For example, when he was stopped at the checkpoint, he tried to forestall a search by telling the Central Narcotics Bureau officers that he was "working in security", and thus appealing to the social perception of the trustworthiness of security officers.

He was also noted to be "continuously altering his account of his education qualifications, ostensibly to reflect lower educational qualifications each time he was interviewed", said the MHA.

Further, the Court of Appeal noted that Nagaenthran knew it was unlawful for him to be transporting drugs, and attempted to conceal the bundle by strapping it to his left thigh and then wearing a large pair of trousers over it.

These actions, along with his motive to commit the crime, paying off his debts, showed a "deliberate, purposeful and calculated decision", and "the working of a criminal mind, weighing the risks and countervailing benefits associated with the criminal conduct in question."

"Nagaenthran considered the risks, balanced it against the reward he had hoped he would get, and decided to take the risk," the Singapore daily quoted the MHA as saying.

The ministry added that Nagaenthran was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process.

The MHA said the penalties, including the death penalty, for the illegal trafficking, importation or exportation of drugs are made clear at Singapore's borders, to warn traffickers and syndicates of the harsh penalties they potentially face.

It added, "The approach Singapore has taken has resulted in it being one of the safest places in the world to live, relatively free of serious crime, and without the scourge of drug related crimes and homicides, which take thousands of lives, and destroys countless young people and families, in some countries."

A group of Malaysian lawyers, activists and human rights groups also rallied outside Parliament in Kuala Lumpur this week, demanding government intervention. They said in their petition that it was incredibly excessive to hang Nagaenthran given his disability and that he was being punished for a non-violent crime.

Nagaenthran's lawyer in Singapore M Ravi said Nagaenthran could possibly have a mental age below 18 and that the disability doesn't allow him to understand or appreciate deterrence.

Therefore, we contend that the execution is irrational and a capricious act of the state, he wrote on Facebook.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Punjab advocate general (AG) APS Deol, who resigned from his post on Nov 1, in a statement said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu is obstructing the functioning of the government and the office of AG." ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2021

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Ottawa, November 6: Children under the age of 12 now account for over 20 per cent of Canada's daily new cases coronavirus cases, health authorities have confirmed. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said Friday that Canadians under 12 represent 12 per cent of the country's population of 38 million. There are about 4.3 million children under 12 who are not vaccinated in the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

The over-representation is not unexpected, given the high level of vaccination in other age groups, the country's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said at a press conference here on Friday.

Canada has ordered 2.9 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine for children. But it is still awaiting for approval from the Health Ministry. More than 58.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered across Canada since vaccination began last December, according to the latest data from PHAC. Alpha COVID-19 Variant Detected in Dogs, Cats With Severe Myocarditis: UK Scientists.

This means over 89 per cent of the eligible population -- those 12 and older -- have received at least one shot, while more than 84 per cent of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated.

The latest PHAC data shows 4 million people have not yet received a single dose, while 1.5 million people are only partially vaccinated. There have been some outbreaks in schools and daycares in Canada. Tam said they have generally been small in size. She said Covid-related deaths among young children happen rarely.

Over the past month, Tam said Canada has made good progress in slowing the growth of Covid-19 across Canada, but the rate of decline has "slowed somewhat". Over the past week, an average of 2,230 new cases were being reported daily.

"This means we are about halfway down from the peak of the fourth wave when over 4,400 cases were being reported daily," Tam said.

Tam said the country could see some "bumps" in the trajectory of the pandemic in the months ahead, and noted that severe illness trends are "still elevated".

"This virus has proven time and time again that this virus could go through evolutions," she said. "It's possible that we could get different variants -- and we have to monitor that."

Since October, vaccination efforts and public health measures have helped to bring the fourth wave of the pandemic under control along the reduced transmission trajectory previously forecast, said PHAC.

The latest PHAC modeling shows if Canada continues along the path it is on now and maintains current levels of transmission, Canadians could expect to see around 1,000 new Covid cases daily by early December.

However, Tam warned that it's "still too soon to fully ease public health measures". "Now is not the time to let our guard down. We may still be in for a challenging winter and maintaining a cautious approach can help keep us safer as we move indoors for the arrival of colder weather," she added. Canada has so far reported a total of 1,726,671 Covid-19 cases, with 29,126 deaths.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 06, 2021 09:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
When Secret Service Agent Matthew Britsch began trawling for major counterfeiters in the shadowy marketplaces of the dark web, he acted like any smart consumer on eBay  he studied the reviews.

Britsch knew he had struck gold when he found Billmaker, the online moniker of an anonymous counterfeiter who promised a high-quality $100 bill and a money-back guarantee. He even had a loyal fan base who praised his work and customer service with scores of positive reviews.

Very good quality and got here quick, one gushed.

All passed with no issue whatsoever, another wrote, approvingly. FRESH CLEAN BILLS! agreed a third.

Advertisement

Billmaker was a five-star guy, said Britsch. He wanted those five-star reviews to help him sell more bills. That was clearly his goal.

The agent clicked buy and in September 2017 purchased four fake $100 bills for $120 in bitcoin, the online cryptocurrency. The counterfeits arrived on time and were as good as promised.

An analysis by Secret Service experts linked the fraudulent bills to thousands of others that had been passed with a total face value of $4.1 million. That made Billmaker the nations most prolific domestic counterfeiter.

Britschs buy sparked a nine-month investigation into the murkiest corners of the dark web, where cyber-savvy criminals use online bazaars to anonymously buy and sell goods ranging from firearms and illegal drugs to fake identification and stolen cars.

Its all there for sale, said Glen M. Kessler, the special agent in charge of the Secret Services five-agent Savannah office. Right in the open. But while it provides anonymity to criminals, it also provides anonymity to law enforcement. They cant tell who they are selling to. And so we went fishing.

::

The Secret Service, best known for protecting presidents, was formed in 1865 to fight an epidemic of counterfeiting that was strangling the U.S. economy.

Today counterfeit U.S. bills are only a tiny fraction of currency in circulation. Even so, the Secret Service made more than 1,580 counterfeiting-related arrests last fiscal year, seizing $204 million in phony bills. Banks and retailers collected an additional $107 million.

Once dominated by artisans who minted carefully forged greenbacks on large offset presses, domestic counterfeiters now typically rely on computers, scanners and laser printers. And some use the dark web to sell their high-quality fakes online.

The dark webs backbone is a system called the Onion Router, known as Tor, a network of software and online connections that mask those who use it. Tor has attracted both criminal and legitimate users  political dissidents overseas, for example  seeking to avoid government surveillance.

In 2017, Kessler turned an office supply room into a hub for dark web counterfeit investigations. He had two rules: Targets had to be real players  Not your guy printing $2,000 off on an inkjet at home, Kessler said  and live in the United States.

We thought it would be too difficult to catch the ones operating in South America or overseas, he said.

Agents used the customer reviews as a guide and quickly came across Billmaker. In addition to the bitcoin-backed guarantee, Billmaker offered free tracking of his packages through the U.S. mail.

That was a mistake. Secret Service agents were able to track Billmakers shipment to Britsch from the Oklahoma City area, a crucial starting clue.

They were impressed when the red-and-blue envelope arrived. The fakes  reproductions of $100 bills phased out in 2013 in favor of a harder-to-fake currency  had been printed on high-quality laser printers and specialty paper. The bogus Benjamins had a decent fake security strip. They even felt real.

Daniel Johnson (Marissa Elliott)

Within a month, thanks to analysis by Secret Service experts in Washington, the agents knew they were chasing Daniel Johnson, a notorious counterfeiter who had been printing and passing fake bills since at least 2015. His last known address was near Oklahoma City.

Johnson, 34, was also considered dangerous. He was a firearms enthusiast and a member of the prepper movement, activists who stockpile food, ammunition and other supplies because they believe a nuclear war or other catastrophe is likely to occur.

Johnson had served three years in federal prison for selling pirated copies of Microsoft Office. But he was arrested again in February 2016 on counterfeiting charges.

Released on bond, he turned down a plea deal offer and vanished. In February 2017, a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of counterfeiting and growing marijuana.

Johnson was so angry at the justice system that his lawyer, M. Michael Arnett, worried he might resort to violence if arrested. Arnett said he consulted legal ethics experts before he passed a warning to federal prosecutors.

I was concerned he was not going to be taken alive if officers tried to arrest him, and that toll would be higher if they were not forewarned, Arnett said.

With that danger in mind, agents in Savannah returned to the dark web in October 2017 to buy more counterfeit bills. But the marketplace had disappeared. Billmakers online trail went cold.

::

Marissa Elliott, a university student and bartender in Norman, Okla., met Johnson when he took a seat at her bar in June 2017 and she caught his big blue eyes lingering on her.

Tall and muscular, he was also quiet and reserved. He didnt even offer his name. But the bartender checked his drivers license before serving him a beer and saw he was Ross Moore, 36, from Florida.

It was the first of many lies.

They soon started dating. They celebrated his fake birthday that July and moved in February 2018 into a converted shed in Noble, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City. The tiny house was hidden in dense woods.

The Secret Service seized fake bills with a face value of $300,000 from Johnsons counterfeiting plant and home. (U.S. Secret Service)

A talented artist, Johnson rendered hand-drawn portraits of relatives and friends. He initially said he worked in information technology and had attended college, majoring in psychology. Elliott found a Harvard diploma and ID card in a drawer; she didnt know they were fakes.

Johnson never used credit cards or wrote checks. He explained to Elliott that he relied on cash because he was an investor in a marijuana business that was prohibited from using banks.

He told her he had been divorced, which was true, and that a screen-saver photo of a young girl on his computer was of his niece, which was false. It was his daughter.

As the months passed, Johnson suffered frequent nightmares and spent time on strange conspiracy websites. Elliott believed his stress stemmed from secret work he claimed he had done for the government.

He told me he had seen horrible things, she said.

When they drove to a cabin where he was preparing for the demise of society, he insisted she put her cellphone in a Faraday bag, a shielded satchel that blocks electronic signals, so they couldnt be tracked.

In the late spring of 2018, he bought tickets so Elliott and her mother could take a bucket-list vacation in Thailand. They spoke daily by phone. But one morning in May, he seemed distant and distracted.

It was like he was in a rush to get someplace, she said.

::

The Secret Service was closing in.

After falling off the map, Billmaker suddenly had popped up on other dark web marketplaces. In January 2018, agents bought four fake $100 bills from him. They did it again in April.

Working with agents in Oklahoma City, the Savannah squad narrowed its hunt to around Norman, about 20 miles away.

U.S. postal inspectors studied Johnsons tracking numbers and examined dozens of bags of mail. They discovered he had mailed his packages from blue post boxes across the parking lot from the Norman Police Department.

After several weeks of surveillance, federal agents determined Johnson was driving a black Ford F-250 pickup. It was registered to Ross Moore of Florida, a real person who had reported his identity had been stolen.

Johnson had bought the truck for $58,000 in cash.

Agents traced him to an apartment in Norman, where he probably collected mail and supplies; a house in the Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, which was his main counterfeiting plant; and his secluded home in Noble.

As he drove out of his gravel driveway in Noble on May 17, 2018, a 10-car convoy of federal and local law enforcement officials led by the U.S. Marshals Service closed in, sirens blaring.

Daniel Johnson was a skilled artist and drew this picture of his girlfriend, Marissa Elliott. (Marissa Elliott)

Johnson swerved to the shoulder, hopped out and began firing an AR-15 rifle. A gun battle raged for nearly a minute before Johnson was killed. No agents were injured.

Searching the house in Yukon, agents found about $300,000 in fake $100 bills, lined up and hanging to dry in neat rows.

Agents also seized several computers protected by encryption, which the Secret Service has not been able to crack.

There are so many questions I would have liked to ask him, said Wesley Gillespie, a Secret Service agent who chased Johnson for a year. How did he learn to make these so well? Who taught him? Where is the bitcoin?

Investigators may have a clue. When they searched Johnsons body, they found a computer thumb drive jammed in an ankle holster. The device contained 50 screen grabs of text messages.

Agents suspect it is a digital key to unlock a bitcoin or computer vault. Even so, they concede they may never crack the counterfeiters dark web of secrets.
Act To Change was featured in The Yappie article earlier this week regarding their recent Changemakers Summit.

The Summit, held last month, was an event designed to educate and inspire the next generation of youth leaders from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the AAPI community still bears the brunt of COVID disinformation and scapegoating that has drastically increased the number of hate crimes experienced by Asian Americans.

In fact, a report by Act To Change found that 80 percent of Asian Americans have experienced bullying online or in-person, exacerbated by COVID-19.

READ NEXT: First Lady Jill Biden, Teen Vogue's Versha Sharma, Activists Amanda Nguyen and Helen Zia Headline Changemakers Summit 2021 for Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth

With the Changemakers Summit, Act To Change - joined by Hate Is A Virus and Stop AAPI Hate - is continuing its mission to fight racism and bullying head on by uplifting AAPI youth and developing them into the leaders and activists of tomorrow who stand up for themselves and others, creating a better world for everyone.

Highlights of The Yappie report:

"Activists, community leaders, and celebrities gathered virtually last month for the first-ever Changemakers Summit as part of an effort to raise the alarm around a sharp increase in bullying against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth."

"First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who gave opening remarks, was the summit's most high-profile speaker. "To the students, educators, and community leaders at this year's Changemakers Summit: You represent the best of who we are as Americans," Biden said in a virtual address. "Through your courage and vision, you are preparing our nation's next generation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander leaders."

"Vi Huynh, a high school senior and Stop AAPI Hate Youth Campaign intern, told The Yappie that presenting her workshop-titled "Sexualizing Asians and Its Impacts"-felt powerful. "By the end of the conference, I felt empowered to not only do better for myself but have the knowledge to help empower others," Hyunh said.

"80% of Asian Americans teens have experienced bullying over the past year, according to a recent Act To Change and NextShark survey of more than 300 youths. The rise, which occurred alongside a surge in physical violence against AAPIs at the start of the pandemic, has alarmed experts and educators alike."

"When Vincent Chin was killed and Asian Americans along with ... the Black community, Jewish community, Latinx community, women's movement, [and] LGBTQs stood together, none of us ever thought, 40 years from now, we're still gonna be talking about this," [Helen] Zia said during a panel.

"AAPI youth, and all young people, deserve to grow up feeling safe and to celebrate their identities," said Maulik Pancholy, the chair and co-founder of Act To Change. "Being able to recognize the signs of bullying and equipping caregivers, teachers, and students with resources to address bullying is vital to make lasting change."

"Act To Change is known for its Homeroom x Tan France series, which offers youth an intimate space to speak with the "Queer Eye" star on issues of identity and bullying, and a new youth ambassador program aimed at equipping AAPI youth with tools to advocate for their community."

"Sponsors of the summit donated over $250,000, the proceeds of which will go toward the three host organizations in their mission to combat anti-AAPI hate."

To read the full article from The Yappie, click here.

READ MORE: Act To Change Commemorates National Bullying Prevention Month and Looks Ahead to Youth Programming Events in October
Federal officials have launched searches at two locations in New York in light of an investigation whether individuals linked to conservative political group Project Veritas were involved in stealing and disclosing parts of a diary belonging to U.S. President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden.

The searches targeted people who had worked with the political group, as well as its leader, James O'Keefe, according to a USA Today report.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents headed the investigation with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, with expertise on public corruption issues.

An FBI spokesperson said that the addresses involved with Project Veritas were in Mamaroneck, New York, and another on E. 35th St. in Manhattan, according to an NBC News report.

Meanwhile, O'Keefe released a video confirming the searches and said that Project Veritas had been involved in discussions with sources about the diary.

READ NEXT: New Video of Hunter Biden Shows the President's Son Saying Russian Drug Dealers Stole His Laptop for Blackmail

Project Veritas and Ashley's Biden's Diary

James O'Keefe noted that the group has recently received a grand jury subpoena and noted that Project Veritas had been discussing with sources about the diary.

In addition, he offered a defense of his group's handling of the diary. O'Keefe claimed that he and his colleagues had been acting as ethical journalists, according to The New York Times report. He said that their actions were done in light of responsible and ethical journalism, adding they turned the diary over to law enforcement after a lawyer for Ashley Biden refused to accept or authenticate it.

Project Veritas did not publish the whole diary but leaked a number of handwritten pages during a time Donald Trump was trying to undermine Biden's credibility through his son, Hunter.

The website where the entries were posted said that they got the diary from a whistle-blower working for a media organization. It also claimed that there was an audio of Ashley admitting that the leaked diary entries were hers.

Trump administration Justice Department, formerly led by Attorney General William P. Barr, had launched an investigation into the matter after a representative of the Biden family reported to federal authorities in October 2020, noting that several of Ashley's personal items had been stolen.

The company that owns the website that published the pages from the diary is owned by Flyover Media, which is registered to the same Sheridan, Wyoming address as former British spy Richard Seddon's company, Branch Six Consulting International. O'Keefe used to be the president of a company that later registered the same address.

Hunter also made the news after his abandoned laptop had made stories about information and emails that Hunter had on his laptop.

Rudy Giuliani got hold of the hard drive of the laptop and gave it to New York Post, which had published stories about it. However, the authenticity and content were hard to confirm as Giuliani refused to share a copy of the hard drive, according to NBC News.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden, a 'Direct Beneficiary' of His Son Hunter Biden's Foreign Deals, Says Head of Government Accountability Institute

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Joe Biden's children Hunter and Ashley introduce him at DNC - from CBS News






A Sinaloa Cartel leader was arrested in a facility at Culiacan city, Mexico that included a laboratory producing millions of fentanyl pills, officials said.

Mexico's Attorney General's Office announced Thursday the October 28 arrest of Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Armando "El Inge" Batiz Camarena, along with four other members.

The five suspects were reportedly taken into custody without firing a shot and charged after appearing before a judge on Tuesday.

According to Daily Mail, El Inge was in charge of the Sinaloa Cartel's monthly production of 70 kilos of fentanyl paste converted into 70 million blue fentanyl pills. This volume of fentanyl pills is reportedly enough to kill as many as 30 million users a month of the addictive drug.

READ NEXT: Sinaloa Cartel Official' El Jaguar' Arrested, Gulf Cartel Leader 'El Tigre' Killed by Mexico's Army

Mexico Officials Raided Sinaloa Cartel's Fentanyl Laboratory

The Ministry of Defense said the army, National Guard, and Attorney General's Office personnel raided the facility that included five buildings, including a laboratory and a distribution center.

Officials said the bust seized around 118 kilos of fentanyl worth nearly $50 million. It was reportedly the largest seizure of pure fentanyl in Mexico so far, Mexico News Daily reported.

Authorities also confiscated two kilos of Inositol, a drug mixed with the synthetic powder; four bags of fentanyl paste precursor; five firearms and ammo; and two vehicles.

They also recovered around $14,660 in U.S. currency, tens of thousands of pesos, and a small number of Venezuelan bolivars.

Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, has been the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. It is considered to be 50 times stronger than heroin.

Another Sinaloa Cartel cell leader identified as Francisco "El Jaguar" Arvizu Marquez was arrested in Madera, Chihuahua after a shootout with the military on October 23.

El Jaguar, who sustained gunshot wounds, was taken into custody with three other alleged drug traffickers. The Ministry of Defense said last month that seizures of fentanyl have been on the rise in the past year.

The department noted that the government had confiscated 1,225 kilos from the start of the year to September 21. The department said it was a 16.5 percent increase over the same period in 2020.

Sinaloa Cartel and Its Boss 'El Chapo'

The Sinaloa Cartel is considered one of Mexico's most influential drug cartels, with much of the northwest areas as its territory.

The group was founded in the late 1980s and headed by the notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. According to BBC, "El Chapo" or "Short" was once ranked as one of the world's richest men.

Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel earned its reputation through violence and outfought several rival groups.

Officials said the Sinaloa Cartel became the biggest supplier of illegal drugs to the U.S. during El Chapo's reign. Its revenue from drug sales ranged from $3 billion to $39 billion annually.

In 1993, El Chapo was arrested and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. However, various reports said he continued to be the key figure in the Sinaloa Cartel, even gaining full control of the group in 1995.

El Chapo escaped from prison in 2001 and was apprehended again in 2014 in Sinaloa, Mexico. He again escaped from prison through a tunnel the following year.

In January 2016, Mexican officials announced that El Chapo had been captured again. He was extradited to the U.S. the next year.

El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the ADX Florence "supermax" prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019.

READ MORE: Clashing Mexican Drug Cartels Leave 2 Police and 7 Others Dead in Mexico

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: A Secret Look at a Mexican Cartel's Low-Tech, Multimillion-Dollar Fentanyl Operation - From PBS NewsHour
The attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie on Wednesday said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has all the information it needs to complete the investigation into the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito's fiance.

In a text message to ABC7, Steven Bertolino said the FBI informed him that "they have all the information they need for this investigation."

He then told the outlet to ask and confirm with the FBI "if the matter is closed." He also said that Laundrie's remains have not yet been returned to the family.

READ NEXT: Brian Laundrie - Mystery Gun Found in Florida Park Where Dog the Bounty Hunter Searched for Gabby Petito's Fiance

Police Hope Brian Laundrie's 'Digital Footprint' Will Provide 'Clues'

Police were hoping that Brian Laundrie's "digital footprint" and phones would provide clues or contain never-before-seen information about his and Gabby Petito's death.

North Port Police Department spokesman Josh Taylor said Laundrie's social media profiles would be included in the investigation.

"Everything that's been gathered in digital information, the digital footprint that's never been revealed that will certainly be a part of [the FBI's] entire case," he noted.

The couple was reportedly active on social media, documenting their cross-country road trip on various platforms. The two were traveling to Oregon when Gabby Petito stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

Laundrie was named a person of interest by the police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family.

On September 19, Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

The coroner also said that Petito was not pregnant at the time of her death, and her body was left in the wilderness for three to four weeks.

Brian Laundrie's Death

Brian Laundrie has been the subject of a manhunt as investigators searched for clues in Gabby Petito's death.

The month-long chase for Laundrie came to an end after the FBI announced that the skeletal remains discovered in a Florida park belonged to him.

The remains found at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20 were confirmed to belong to Laundrie after a "comparison to known dental records."

Bertolino said the initial autopsy of Laundrie's remains did not uncover a cause or manner of his death. He noted that the autopsy by the Sarasota County medical examiner did not produce concrete results on Laundrie's death.

Bertolino said the remains of Petito's fiance were already sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination. He noted that the results of the forensic anthropologist's examination of Laundrie's remains are expected this month.

Forensic anthropologists analyze human remains, conduct DNA tests and look for signs of weapon evidence to help determine how a person died, whether accidental, suicide, homicide, or natural.

READ MORE: Brian Laundrie Family 'Furious' at Woman Claiming to Be Ex-Girlfriend of Gabby Petito's Fiance

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Brian Laundrie's Parents Remove Laundry Baskets From Front Yard - From FOX 13 Tampa Bay
A federal jury has convicted a Texas nightclub magnate in a case he was accused of allowing cocaine sales in the bathrooms of his clubs to keep profits high.

According to The Dallas Morning News, a Dallas federal jury on Friday convicted Alfredo Navarro Hinojosa of managing drug premises, conspiracy to manage drug premises, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine following a six-week trial and four days of deliberation.

Texas Nightclub King Arrested for Drug Crimes

Prosecutors reportedly revealed the lucrative business strategy of Alfredo Navarro Hinojosa that prompted the jury to convict him on charges related to drugs.

The prosecutors said the Texas nightclub king has allowed drug dealers to openly peddle cocaine in the bathrooms of his clubs across Texas..

Aside from the nightclub magnate, the jury also convicted Hinojosa's general manager, Miguel Casas, and a promoter, Martin Salvador Rodriguez, on similar charges.

A lower-level bathroom dealer, Cesar Mendez, was also convicted of possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute. The four men were taken into custody pending hearings.

In a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas, it said the overall case included more than 30 defendants, all of whom have been convicted, including former Dallas police officers Eddie Villarreal and Craig Woods, who handled security for the clubs.

Hinojosa, Rodriguez, and Casas face 10 years to life in prison, while Mendez faces a minimum of 10 years. Sentencing dates have yet to be scheduled.

The case started almost a decade ago when the investigation launched in 2012. Hinojosa was arrested in December 2017. The trial began in late September.

The 59-year-old Texas nightclub king initially agreed to plead guilty shortly after his arrest. But he later changed his mind and decided to go to trial, despite giving federal authorities a confession.

According to Hinojosa's lawyer Chris Lewis, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on 17 of the 20 counts against his client. He said 16 of those counts were for managing a drug premises, and one was for structuring.

READ NEXT: More Than $50M of Methamphetamine Being Smuggled Into U.S. Seized by Texas Border Protection Officers

Bathroom Cocaine Sales in Alfredo Navarro Hinojosa's Nightclubs

During the trial, the prosecutors presented evidence of 17 controlled drug buys at the OK Corral Dallas, OK Corral Fort Worth, and Far West nightclubs, owned by Hinojosa, between 2013 and 2016.

The prosecutors said half a dozen informants, all under the supervision of FBI agents, bought bag after bag of cocaine from traffickers operating out of the bathrooms of the clubs.

Court records showed that drug dealers sold as many as 200 baggies of cocaine each weekend. These drugs sales reportedly increased revenue at the clubs between $9 million and $12 million.

At the trial, several security guards who worked inside the clubs testified that Hinojosa, Casas, and Rodriguez knew the drug trafficking inside the clubs and even ordered security personnel to allow it.

Some drug traffickers, previously charged and convicted in the case, also admitted that they could freely peddle cocaine in the clubs.

FBI agents had installed court-ordered microphones and a camera in Hinojosa's office. They also sought and obtained more than a dozen wiretaps in the case.

In one of these recorded calls, the FBI said the Texas nightclub king was heard saying, "we can't really clean it because then we lose business," adding that they "need cocaine."

READ MORE: Drug Kingpin Admits Owning 4,000 Kilos of Cocaine Causing $24m Drug Empire Reaching Alabama and Texas to Crumble

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: His Nightclub Empire Made Millions Because You Could Buy Cocaine in the Bathrooms - From Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The prosecutors in Georgia have shown the full footage of the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery during the trial of three white men accused of his murder.

BBC reported that the prosecutors in the case argued that the 25-year-old Black jogger was attacked by the three men who allegedly pursued him because of racial bias.

On the opening day of arguments on Friday, the court was shown a video from the first police officer on the scene. Defendants Gregory McMichael, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35; and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., 52, denied all the charges and said they only acted in self-defense.

Prosecutor Says Ahmaud Arbery's Death Was Based on Assumptions

According to Aljazeera, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said in her opening statement that the suspects had no reason to follow Ahmaud Arbery or even to suspect him of any wrongdoing when they chased him in their neighborhood in Brunswick.

Dunikoski noted that the three white men only assumed that Arbery must have committed a crime that day. She said the suspects have no evidence that Arbery had done anything wrong.

She noted that the only thing that Arbery did was to run away from these "total strangers, who had already told him that they would kill him and then they killed him." Dunikoski said Arbery was "under attack" by the three men "with the intent to kill him."

However, lawyers for the three suspects described Arbery as an "intruder" and said their clients had probable cause to suspect the victim that he had committed a crime.

Travis' lawyer Robert Rubin said his client was acting in self-defense as Arbery reached for his shotgun. Rubin said Travis, who shot Arbery three times, has no choice but not to let Arbery gets his gun because "he's dead or his dad's dead."

A leaked video showing the killing of Arbery last year sparked outrage across the U.S., fuelling the racial justice protests in connection with the murder of George Floyd, another Black man who died in the hands of a cop. The video footage of the incident was played on Friday in the courtroom.

READ NEXT: California Nurse Faces Involuntary Manslaughter Charge After Walking Away From an Inmate Who Collapsed, Died in Front of Her at County Jail

The Death of Ahmaud Arbery

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation months after the video leaked. Authorities eventually arrested the three suspects and were charged with murder.

Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot and killed while out for a jog in Brunswick City on February 23, 2020. He was accused of being one of the burglars in a series of local break-ins.

Reports said Gregory and Travis, armed with guns, confronted Arbery, prompting him to run. Arbery ran past the truck of another suspect, Bryan, who struck the victim with the side of his vehicle.

After seeing the McMichaels pursuing Arbery in a pick-up truck, Bryan joined the chase. Eventually, the three men caught up with Ahmaud Arbery, and three shots were fired. The McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault in May 2020.

Bryan, who has recorded the killing, has been charged with felony murder and a criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. The three suspects pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges last May.

The assembly of a 12-member jury that will decide the outcome of the case was finalized on Wednesday. However, the prosecution questioned the composition of the jury because it only included one Black person.

READ MORE: Pregnant Nurse's Unborn Child Dies After a Patient Shoves Her Against a Wall in Florida Hospital

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Takeaways from 1st day of Ahmaud Arbery murder trial - From ABC News
Portland, TN (37148)

Today

Rain likely. High 54F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

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A mother-of-two who posted a photo online of one of the boys convicted of the murder of Ana Kriegel thought it was wrong they are protected when she [Ana Kriegel] was not protected, a court has heard.

Hazel Fitzpatrick (25) posted a screenshot on Facebook of a photo that identified Boy A on the day after both juveniles were convicted of the murder that took place in Dublin in May 2018.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard this week that there was no premeditation, that Ms Fitzpatrick acted out of pure anger and that at the time she had become almost reliant and addicted to social media.

The court heard the accused woman describes the offence as the biggest mistake she has ever made in her life.

Ms Fitzpatrick of Easton Green, Easton Road, Leixlip, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to posting a picture on her Facebook account which includes a picture of Boy A in contravention of the Children's Act 2001 within the State on or about June 19, 2019. She has no previous convictions.

Sergeant David O'Neil told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that on the day after two juveniles commonly referred to as Boy A and Boy B were convicted of the murder of Ana Kriegel in June 2019, a picture identifying Boy A was published on the Facebook account of the accused.

The court heard this post contained a picture of the boy, as well as the words Name and shame the c*nts, justice was served but they should not be allowed to see daylight again.

The post also called the two convicted juveniles sickos and said that everyone should see who did it.

Sgt O'Neil said the presiding judge of the trial had made an order that nothing could be published that would identify or tend to identify the two convicted juveniles. He said the trial and this order was extensively reported by media outlets.

Snapshots of certain posts made on social media sites were brought to the attention of gardai, including the post made by Ms Fitzpatrick. Gardai were satisfied the image shared was a clear breach of the order and identified the accused's address.

The sergeant said that when gardai attended at her address in July 2019, Ms Fitzpatrick said she had been expecting them, invited them into her home and agreed to an interview, stating that she had nothing to hide.

In interview with gardai, Fitzpatrick said she had followed the case online, that people were talking about it and she was from the locality. She said she was also a mother and this formed a part of her interest in the case.

Ms Fitzpatrick told gardai she could not understood how two juveniles could do something like that. She said she had heard about the judge's order and that people could be brought to court and fined.

She admitted to sharing the material on Facebook, saying she had screenshotted the photo from someone else's page and then shared it. She said she took it down two or three minutes later because people were texting her.

When asked by gardai why she had shared the photo, Ms Fitzpatrick said she questioned why the boys were being hidden when their actions were not the actions of juveniles and that the girl did not get a say in anything.

Ms Fitzpatrick said she thought it is wrong they are protected when she [Ana Kriegel] was not protected. She said she was sorry for the boys' families, but was not sorry for them.

The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) initially directed a summary disposal in the District Court and that jurisdiction was accepted by a District Court judge, only to later be refused by another judge.

Sgt O'Neil agreed with Kevin Roche BL, defending, that his client posted a screenshot of a photo and she was not the original person who uploaded the photo to Facebook.

He agreed with counsel that there was no premeditation, that it happened out of pure anger and his client was not part of a greater conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He agreed her admissions were important as the case would have been very difficult to prove otherwise.

The sergeant agreed Ms Fitzpatrick was previously of exceptional character who was suffering from anxiety and depression at time. He agreed he did not expect to see her come to garda attention again.

Mr Roche said his client was suffering from post-natal depression at the time of the offence. He said she became almost reliant and addicted to social media, particularly Facebook.

Counsel said that anger within his client's local community led her to make a mistake that is going to follow her around for the rest of her life. He said his client knew her actions were illegal, but did not fully ascertain their severity.

He said the offending behaviour was spontaneous and represented an utterly misguided foray into criminality. He said she describes the offence as the biggest mistake she has ever made in her life.

Mr Roche said a report from the Probation Service describes his client as being at a low-risk of reoffending. He said his client has two small children.

Counsel asked the court to consider utilising Section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. This section allows the court to impose a fine and defer the passing of a sentence of imprisonment for the offence.

Judge Karen O'Connor remanded Ms Fitzpatrick on continuing bail and adjourned the matter for finalisation to November 18, next.
A Laois secondary school has made it four in a row to win a prestigious award from Trinity College Dublin.

Portlaoise College has won the Schools of Distinction Award from TCD's Trinity Access, recognising their work to create a college-going culture in their school.

Portlaoise College was picked out of nearly 100 other secondary schools who partake in the Trinity Access programme each year to win the prestigious award.

It is to acknowledge the effort by the Laois LOETB school to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

The judges were hugely impressed with Portlaoise Colleges adoption of virtual opportunities during the 2020-21 restricted school year. They also commended the schools 1st year induction programme, mentoring programmes and the targeted promotion of STEM and ICT.

Principal is Noel Daly.

Portlaoise College continues to shine as an exemplar of a Schools of Distinction school as this is the fourth year that the school has won the award by creating student-centered, innovative learning environment.

Guidance Counsellor Daryl Egan said they are delighted.

We are delighted to be part of a nationwide movement to promote the importance of post-secondary education. Winning the School of Distinction: Transformation award recognises the ongoing work of our staff and students.
The Irish Heart Foundation is urging Laois people to know the signs of stroke and to be aware of the vital action to take in the event of witnessing one.

It says there were 26 stroke or stroke-related deaths in Laois in 2020  12 men and 14 women - according to Central Statistics Office data.

The Foundation voiced concern at the shockingly low awareness of stroke as a medical emergency as it launched a new Act F.A.S.T. campaign nationwide.

Broadcaster Mark Cagney, who suffered a stroke in January, is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the key time factor.

It's like having a first aid box at home  it's just one of those things that you should know because a stroke could happen to anyone, said the former Ireland AM host, who has returned to work on Newstalk radio.

The father-of-four said he had to choose whether to go on or go under and is urging the public to become as familiar with F.A.S.T. as they are with the alphabet or counting.

He collapsed in his local supermarket in North Dublin and soon afterwards, returned home and collapsed again, at which point he was advised to go to Dublins Beaumont Hospital.

Tests confirmed he had had an acute ischaemic stroke and a clot on his lung.

This can happen to anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter if you are Superman or Superwoman. If a vessel pops or it clogs, it will drop you, so if you don't know the signs then you're in even bigger trouble than you were to start with, said Mr Cagney, 65.

He said he felt incredibly lucky to escape relatively unscathed from his stroke, despite losing some of his vision, being unable to drive and having ongoing difficulties with spatial awareness.

A high proportion of death, severe disability and misery for families caused by stroke in Ireland, could be avoided just by knowing what those four letters mean, said Chris Macey, the Foundations Head of Advocacy.

Facial weakness (can the person smile and has their mouth or eye drooped?), Arm weakness (can the person raise both arms?), Speech problems (can the person speak clearly and understand you?) and Time (call for an ambulance if you spot any one of these).

Stroke is one of the few conditions where your own actions will determine your outcome. Treatment has improved dramatically but doctors still rely on people getting to hospital as soon as possible after experiencing symptoms to give them the best possible chance of recovery.

The average stroke destroys two million brain cells every minute  and its estimated that every 60 seconds saved between having a stroke to getting effective treatment, saves one week of healthy life for a patient.

Unfortunately, the survey, conducted earlier this month, found that 43% do not know any of the F.A.S.T. signs and just 10% know them all, even though they are among the most vital signs.

Mr Macey called for the urgent publication of the HSEs long overdue National Stroke Strategy, which includes provision for a fully funded rolling annual F.A.S.T. campaign that will improve the recovery rate and reduce the cost of treating severe stroke.

An estimated 7,500 people in Ireland are hospitalised due to stroke each year, with younger age strokes becoming more prevalent, an average of 1 in 4 strokes affecting those under 65.

An Ipsos MRBI poll for the charity reveals that just 20% know the T stands for the importance of time to call 112 or 999.

The Foundation says research conducted nationally has found that only one in five people know the most important steps to take in the event of a stroke - with 43% unaware of any of the four key signs, new research shows.

The IHF adds that xperts warn that the worrying figure of 41% of patients failing to get to hospital within 4.5 hours to receive thrombolysis (clot-busting treatment), could be much higher.

Visit irishheart.ie for more information on stroke.
The following deaths have occurred in Leitrim and the surrounding areas:

Ena Fox (nee O'Reilly), Corrick, Aughamore, Leitrim / Gowna, Cavan



The death has occurred of Ena Fox (nee OReilly), Corrick, Aughamore, Leitrim/Formerly of Loch Gowna, Cavan on 4th November 2021. Peacefully in the gentle care of St Patricks Hospital,Carrick-on-Shannon in her 93rd year, surrounded by her family. Predeceased by her husband Paddy, grandson Myles and brother Pheilim. Sadly missed by her loving children Donal, Colum, Noelin, Eithne and Eimear, grandchildren, sister Eithne, brother Ciaran, sons and daughters-in-law, brothers and sisters in-law, nephews, nieces, neighbours and a wide circle of friends. Reposing at St Patricks Hospital, Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday, 6th November, from 2.00pm to 4.30pm. Leaving from her home on Sunday, the 7th of November 2021, for a funeral mass of celebration at St Marys Church, Annaduff at 1.00pm, with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. In line with public health guidelines, we request that the house remains private please. Family flowers only please. Ena's family wish to thank you for your understanding at this enormously difficult time. Donations, if desired, to https://in-memory.concern.net/myles-mc-donagh?fbclid=IwAR1cF_pMnISnVdQITDcUPBAKKN-ypPuCkF-B1XQE-50zm5Fx1aII-CYENSw

Pat McElroy, Farangarriffe, Arva, Cavan



Peacefully in the excellent care of college View Nursing Home, Cavan. Loving husband and best friend of Roisin and beloved father of Miriam, Eileen, Kevin and Edel. Pat will be remembered fondly and sadly missed by his sister Liz Cahill (UK), his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sons-in-law, nephews, nieces, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, his many kind neighbours and good friends. House Private Please. Funeral Arrangements Later

Bernadette (Berny) Conlon (nee Staunton), Ballintogher, Sligo / Glenade, Leitrim



Formerly of Glenade, Co. Leitrim. Peacefully, after a long illness at her residence, surrounded by her loving family. Berny, predeceased by her parents John and Mary, son baby Vince and sister Breda. Beloved wife of Vincent and lovig mother of Clarissa and Johnny. She will be sadly missed by her loving husband, daughter, son, brothers Sean, Aidan, Padraic, Michael, Thomas and Desmond, sisters Maureen, Margaret and Nora, son-in-law Anthony, grandchildren Nicole, Sophia, Ryan and Leah, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Reposing at The Foley and McGowan Funeral Home, Market Yard, Sligo on Sunday from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. Funeral will arrive to St. Theresas Church, Ballintogher, Co. Sligo on Monday morning at 11:00am for requiem mass, with funeral proceeding to Carrowcrin Cemetery, Ballinagar, Co. Leitrim for burial after. You can stream Bernys Funeral Mass live by following this link - https://www.facebook.com/Parish-of-Killenummery-and-Killery-267409810120938/ House strictly private please. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu of flowers to a charity of your choice in Bernys name.

May they all Rest in Peace
Since the onset of Covid-19, The Ireland Funds, the global philanthropic network, has provided 11,000 in funding to two charitable causes in Co Leitrim through The Ireland Funds Covid-19 Response Fund, its emergency fund that provided immediate interventions and The Ireland Funds Heart of the Community Fund, which provides critical and timely funding to a wide range of not-for-profit organisations.

Leitrim Calling has received support through the Ireland Funds Covid-19 Response Fund while Glenfarne Community Development Trust Ltd and Leitrim Calling have also received support through the Ireland Funds Heart of the Community Fund.

Through its extensive global network, The Ireland Funds has harnessed the generosity of the Irish diaspora to assist charitable causes and communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The organisation is strategically embedded in the Irish charity sector and as a result donations were swiftly dispersed.

With limited resources and collapsing fundraising streams, many charities have struggled to deliver their services over the past 18 months. The Ireland Funds is strategically positioned within the non-profit sector and was able to swiftly identify and prioritise vital areas of impact including food distribution; disability support; domestic and child abuse; elderly services; access to education; mental health and community support. As the country begins to recover from the pandemic, The Ireland Funds continues to support a huge variety of non-profits in the face of unprecedented challenges.

Marion Quigley from Leitrim Calling said: Support from The Ireland Funds supports Leitrim Calling, a confidential friendly telephone call service available to elderly and vulnerable people experiencing isolation and loneliness. Operated by a team of highly trained volunteers, funding from The Ireland Funds is ensuring that the line can remain open and that new volunteers can be trained to accommodate the rise in number of clients availing of the service.

Darren Ryan, Vice President and Director Ireland of The Ireland Funds, said: The Ireland Funds is proud to support the Leitrim non-profit community with funds of 11,000 over the past 18 months through our Covid-19 Response Fund and the Heart of the Community Fund. The global diaspora has responded incredibly to the need in Leitrim and also throughout Ireland. Despite not being able to travel to Ireland, it has stepped up to support great Irish causes through our global network.

"This generosity highlights the network of people around the world that are supporting Leitrim and Ireland when we need it most. We are extremely grateful to the donors who have supported us. Much like the rest of the world, Ireland has faced unprecedented challenges over the past 18 months. Non-profit organisations on the island of Ireland have responded incredibly to the extreme challenges they have faced, continuing to provide essential services to those in need.

Organisations across the island of Ireland that The Ireland Funds has supported during the pandemic include ALONE, Barnardos, DePaul, FoodCloud, The Irish Wheelchair Association, Jigsaw, Age NI, FareShare NI, Kinship Care NI and Fighting Words NI. The Ireland Funds has also supported a number of regional non-profit organisations based in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Longford, Leitrim, Belfast and Derry.
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STAFF at Regeneron's Limerick facility participated in the company's fifth annual Day(s) for Doing Good initiative which took place between October 20 and 29.

The annual event sees staff across the company volunteer to carry out variety of tasks designed to support local communities as well as global organizations.

In Ireland, workers at Regenerons sites in Limerick and Dublin participated in more than 29 local volunteer projects benefiting 22 non-profit and community organisations. Around 1,400 people work at the company's facility in Raheen.

They assembled more than 1,350 care kits and play packs for children, families and individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities; provided more than 280 students with a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning experience or Career Connection Session experience across seven schools; provided 12 business support sessions for local and regional charities to help them build operational capacity.

"At Regeneron we have a longstanding tradition of doing well by doing good  its what we commit to every day through our work discovering, developing manufacturing and commercializing life-saving medicines and through our efforts to strengthen our communities. Our fifth annual Day for Doing Good unites our 10,000 employees in the shared goal of making a meaningful difference in our world, said Leonard S. Schleifer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Regeneron

Niall OLeary, Senior Vice President and Site Head of Regeneron Ireland Industrial Operations and Product Supply Regeneron commented. Im especially proud of how our employees came together during our annual Days for Doing Good this year despite the challenges of Covid-19. From assembling personal care kits for people in need to holding virtual STEM events and sharing our expertise with local non-profits, the Regeneron Ireland team is always ready, willing and eager to support the communities where we live and work, he added.

Amy Woods, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Volunteer Ireland has thanked staff at Regeneron for their efforts.

Volunteer Ireland is proud to, once again, partner with Regeneron for their fifth annual Days for Doing Good. Our partnership demonstrates how volunteering can build connected, resilient communities by providing local charities with the people power needed to accomplish their mission. Regeneron is a leader in giving back to the community and Volunteer Ireland is delighted to support their efforts.
GARDAI have issued a warning following the brazen theft of a car in broad daylight.

The owner of the car - a lady in her mid-thirties - was standing next to the vehicle at Plassey Park Road, Castletroy when a man walked up to her, snatched the keys from her hand, jumped into the car and drove it away.

"The lady was very shocked but did manage to give a good description of the man to gardai, unfortunately the car has not been

recovered to date. It would appear that the man saw the car keys in the ladys hand and took his chance," said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch.

"I want to highlight this theft, as I had never come across this before in my service. I think it shoes we must be more aware of our surroundings and what we have of value that might attract a thief. I know that in future I will keep my car keys out of sight until I am ready to open my car door and drive away," she added.

The incident happened at around 5pm on Wednesday, October 27. Gardai at Henry Street are investigating.
LIFE in Glenroe came to a standstill on Wednesday, October 6 when everybody came together to bid farewell to a man who, through his lifetime, was a titan of the local GAA club and the community, a force for good and an inspiration to all those around him. The firmament was grey and overcast reflecting the mood of those assembled below.

David Martin McCarthy had passed away the previous Sunday after a short and brave battle with a terminal illness.

Dave left an indelible legacy and imprint on his community which he loved, led and served so faithfully until the Almighty decided it was time for him to go and that his recent suffering should be brought to an end.

A man of innate charisma, Dave McCarthy was born to lead and his first involvement was as chairman of the first Youth Club established in the parish in the 1970s.

He was a leading member of the drama group and his ability for spontaneous laughter was infectious as was his ability to make others laugh with the various roles he was cast in over the years. His favourite parts were in John B Keane plays where he portrayed, with distinction, the musings of the legendary Kerry scribe.

One of his proudest moments on stage was in recent years when he was able to pass on the acting baton to his namesake son David and they appeared in the same cast.

He had a lifelong love for the GAA and it was no surprise that it found expression in involvement in Glenroe GAA where he was chairman for 13 years, 2003-2016.

We all have dreams but most hope others will fulfil the dream. Dave was a dreamer with a difference, he led from the front to make his dreams happen and that is what spawned the wonderful facilities that Glenroe GAA and the community have as his eternal legacy.

His approach to providing the GAA pitch, the dressingrooms and other facilities at the grounds was creative and innovative in that he sought to do it by voluntary labour and spectacularly pulled it off.

Dave cajoled and charmed people into getting involved in something many had no notion of doing, and did not want to, but such was his persuasive way, he could not be refused and people felt good about helping him out. He was able to inspire those around him, it was his second nature, he was a perfectionist who steadfastly refused to accept second best in anything.

Dave differed with people along the way but always sought consensus, he never claimed a monopoly of knowledge on anything and was always happy to take on board the ideas of others and infuse them with his own.

One of Daves proudest moments in the GAA was he sitting with the rest of his family in the stands in Semple Stadium, Thurles watching his son David playing a starring role as Limerick were crowned 2015 All-Ireland Under 21 Hurling champions.

On the morning of Wednesday, October 6 last, the cortege left Kilcruig to make the three mile trip to Our Lady of Ransom Church in Daves beloved Glenroe. On the way it detoured to the GAA grounds where it was met at the start of the short drive from the road to the grounds by flag bearers Veronica Farrell and Colette Frewen who flanked the hearse on the last leg of the journey to the citadel that is Glenroe GAA grounds, Daves dream and forever a shining shrine to his memory.

At the grounds, members of the GAA club, people who worked with Dave in different organisations and members of the community turned out in force, forming a guard of honour in dignified silence and struggling to grapple and understand that someone who was such an integral part of the club and the community was gone and taken so quickly.

The hearse moved slowly through the guard of honour around the spacious car park before stopping in front of the clubhouse which was Daves dream and which he inspired to become a reality.

In a poignant moment, the three flags - the Tricolour, the Limerick, and Glenroe flags which stand imposingly in the middle of the car park were lowered to half mast in unison by the three McCarthy brothers, Daithi, Eamonn and Pajo, first cousins of Dave.

Immediately, well-known intercounty referee, Johnny Murphy, a club colleague of Daves, sounded his whistle for a moment of reflection, the silence only broken by the tweet of the birds and the rustle of the leaves.

At the sound of the second whistle, the pall bearers prepared to take the club chairman of 13 years, the man who spearheaded the provision of the state-of-the-art facility he was now leaving for the last time. In relays of six, Dave was carried on the final 600 metres to the local church for a solemn requiem.

Mass was concelebrated by local Parish Priest, Fr Michael OShea along with Fr Anthony Bluett, Fr Richard Davern, Fr, Chris ODonnell, Fr Tom Ryan and Fr Dan Lane.

At the end of the requiem his son Diarmuid, in a moving eulogy, recalled his fathers love of family, his late brother and two sisters and how close they were and how he handed that down to his own family.

Diarmuid said his Dad and Mam were a wonderful team throughout their lives. He recalled how his home was always a hive of activity having a young family growing up and involved in many aspects of the community. Dad was external but Mam, who fully supported his community involvement, worked tirelessly in the background; even GAA-wise, Mam was doing a lot of work, the two of them really worked well together.

He recalled his fathers involvement in drama and the roles he played in John B Keanes The Field and The Hiker

Dad was a brilliant teacher Diarmuid said, At home, he was always interested in whatever we were doing school-wise or project-wise. Dad was excellent at analysing a problem and guiding us through the process. In the GAA club, he was a good teacher of people, he would help and nurture new committee members, he was great to bounce ideas off and put you on the right track.

Diarmuid recalled how his father dealt with the news that he was terminally ill, he was accepting of it and at peace with it and he made everyone around him more at peace because of the way he dealt with it. He was thankful for the life he had and did not reflect on the serious illness he had as a young man. Reflecting on how he could have died at 19 but didnt, he said I have a wife and five kids and grandchildren, I have had a great life.

Dave was a loving husband to Mary, father to Diarmuid, Justin, Stephen, David, and Maria, grandfather to Rebecca, Liam, MJ and Alex, brother to Mary and Brid, father in law and uncle and friend to the entire community.

David McCarthy was laid to rest in the family plot in Glenroe cemetery, a puck of a ball away from the wonderful legacy that he has left behind.

I never will forget him

For he made me what I am

Though he may be gone

Memories linger on

And I miss him, the old man
WHEN Mike O' Donoghue was 59 he was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Twelve years later he has helped to donate over 54,000 to the Irish Cancer Society. It started in 2015 when the Pallasgreen man opened his house to one and all for a coffee morning. It became the longest coffee morning in the county as it would start before 7pm and end after midnight!

Every year the numbers kept getting bigger just like his band of volunteers. But when Covid arrived on our shores in 2020 an indoor event like this was out of the question.

But Mike wasnt going to let a year go by without raising money for the Irish Cancer Society. They thought up a 24-hour sleep-out and fast on the grounds of Nicker church. A total of 13,135 was donated online and in person.

Mike and his team of Saoirse Corbett, Tara Campbell, Aine Looby, Sarah Dillon, Maurice Barrett, Ellie Phelan, Sarah Phelan repeated the sleep out and added in a fundraising walk this year. They incorporated a beautiful Mass celebrated by outgoing parish priest Fr Pat Burns for those who have lost loved ones to cancer.

Mike said they only drink tea or water during the fast and sleep out, get a tiny bit of sleep but they have plenty of craic and chats.

The Pallas bar and bistro sponsored eight dinners and desserts for us at the end and it was very welcome! said Mike.

All their efforts were rewarded with a cheque for 15,518 being handed over to the Irish Cancer Society. It bring the grand total to 54,400 in the seven years.

Whats raised in Limerick comes back to Limerick. It goes to night nurses, pays mileage of volunteer drivers who take people to hospital for appointments and research, said Mike.

They are already thinking about next year. As successful as the sleep-out and fast has been, a plan is in place to return to their tea and coffee making roots.

Well see what next year brings with Covid but were hoping to do our coffee day in June with a marquee on the lawn. It is a lot more personal, said Mike. Now 71, he shows no sign of slowing down in his fundraising efforts.

If I said to them over the weekend thats it, no more Id be shot! They would continue on. Saoirse said in an interview with Tipp Mid-West that as long as Im able Ill continue it. It is going ahead with or without Mike ODonoghue so I better hang in there! he laughed.

Mike said his teeth are worn down from praising Saoirse, Tara, Aine, two Sarahs, Ellie and Maurice. They devote a lot of time not just on the day of the fundraiser but in planning it.

They are an absolutely amazing bunch. You couldnt get a nicer crowd. We work as a team, said Mike, who thanked everybody who has generously donated money, people who have helped them along the way and the families of the team.
TOKYO : As neighbor China sticks to zero-Covid policy, Japan aligns itself closer with U.S., Europe

Japan said it would allow short-term business travelers and foreign laborers to enter the country, responding to calls from companies that said they feared falling behind the West.

The decision followed a sharp fall in new infections in Japan, which is reporting only a few hundred new Covid-19 cases a day. More than 70% of the population is fully vaccinated.

The loosening up puts Japan closer to the rules in the U.S. and Europe, while heightening the contrast with China, which has stuck to a zero-Covid policy and severely restricted entry by foreigners.

Since last year, Tokyo has barred most businesspeople from making routine trips into the country and refused entry to tens of thousands of students and foreign workers who were otherwise eligible for residence in Japan. The government said those restrictions would be lifted Monday.

Some limits remain. Japan will still restrict the total number of international arrivals a day. Short-term visitors must have a host organization such as a company or school that takes responsibility for managing their stay and submits an activity plan to authorities. They must be vaccinated with an approved vaccinethose sold by Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLCand isolate themselves for three days, after which they need a negative test.

Students and workers face a longer isolation period of two weeks. And tourists continue to be banned, extending the blow to hotels, tourist shops and other businesses.

The government had held off from changing its rules until national elections Oct. 31, which returned the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party to power with a solid parliamentary majority.

The countrys largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, has been advocating since September that vaccinated people be permitted to enter the country without a quarantine to reinvigorate the economy. Japanese people must currently undergo a quarantine of 10 to 14 days when they return from abroad.

Kengo Sakurada, the head of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives and chief executive of insurer Sompo Holdings Inc., said the various rules had made it hard to hold in-person meetings with his companys overseas partners.

I hope the quarantine period will become zero soon," he said.

The U.S. is set to lift travel restrictions for fully vaccinated international visitors, whether for business or leisure, also starting Monday. These visitors will still have to test negative before departure but dont need to quarantine after entering the U.S.

Other nations such as Australia and Thailand have recently relaxed restrictions.

Before the pandemic, Japan was increasingly relying on foreign workers, including those on internship programs lasting several years.

A nonprofit called Katsumi-kai operates a dozen homes for the elderly in an area near Tokyo and had expected that three caregivers from Indonesia would start working as trainees in April. But the border closure has prevented them from coming until now, said Shigeki Ito, an executive at the group.

Im actually really grateful. It has finally come," Mr. Ito said.

He said existing staff has had to work overtime and the operator had to fill gaps with more costly temporary workers dispatched from job-placement firms.

In one farming area in Gunma, north of Tokyo, farmers have been forced to idle their fields owing to a labor shortage, said an official at the local farm cooperative. Before the coronavirus, the area had employed 200 to 300 foreign workers from countries such as China and Vietnam on internship programs.

The border opening for international students should also be a relief for Japanese-language schools. In a July survey, a majority said they would go out of business within a year if the entry ban stayed in place.

However, the Japan Medical Associations president, Toshio Nakagawa, said he feared relaxing restrictions could undo the progress the country has made in nearly wiping out the Covid-19 virus, perhaps by introducing new variants.

I wonder whether the virus which were getting under control in Japan and the virus that is once again spreading overseas in many countries are the same thing," Dr. Nakagawa said. We need to be careful about border control."

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At least eight people were killed and hundreds more injured Friday night following a crowd surge during Travis Scotts set at the rappers Astroworld festival in Houston.

More than 300 people were treated for injuries following the incident, Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said during a Saturday morning press conference, with 23 people taken to area hospitals, 11 in critical condition, including a 10-year-old boy.

While the officials didnt announce the victims of the tragedy at a Saturday afternoon press conference, they revealed the ages of those who died: 14 years old, 16, 21, 21, 23, 23, 27 and one of unknown age. Six of the eight victims families had been notified at the time of the press conference.

The incident occurred around 9 p.m. during Scotts set, with the crowd compressing toward the stage, causing total chaos, KHOU reported. The crowd for whatever reason began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed, Pena said. They were unable to escape that situation.

Scotts set at the sold-out festival was streamed live on Apple Music. According to CNN, Scott briefly paused his performance as ambulances streamed into the venue.

Developing situation as fire trucks and ambulances responding to incident at Astroworld Festival at @nrgpark @KHOU pic.twitter.com/1FVwbKVl2f  Zack Tawatari (@zacktKHOU) November 6, 2021

The concert was ultimately stopped by organizers and authorities, but by then the damage had been done, Pena said. The Saturday lineup of the two-day festival was also canceled.

Scott said in a statement Saturday morning, Im absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continues to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love you all.

Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight  especially those we lost and their loved ones, organizers said in a statement. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind, the festival will no longer be held on Saturday.

Organizers continued, As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to Houston Police.

Investigators will next look into what caused, one, the issue of the crowd surge, and two, what prevented people from being able to escape that situation, Pena added. While medical units were already stationed at the festival as a precaution, the available units were quickly overwhelmed following the incident.

Im sending investigators to the hospitals because we just dont know, Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner said. Were going to do an investigation and find out, because its not fair to producers, to anybody else involved, until we determine what happened, what caused the surge. Finner added that they had not yet identified all of the deceased.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told the New York Times Saturday morning, We had more security over there than we had at the World Series games, he said, noting that the event took place on county property, with security organized by the city of Houston. The Houston Police Department provided hundreds of officers, in addition to what Im told were 240 or 250 non-police security that were there. By Saturday morning, Houston Police Department updated that number, stating there were 528 HPD officers on scene in addition to 755 private security officers provided by Live Nation.

As for allegations  brought forth by TMZ  that someone injecting the crowd with drugs started the surge, Turner said, Im going to hold any sort of conclusion pending a thorough review and investigation I dont even want to go to drug overdoses. We are looking at all potential causes of this incident or what caused the cardiac arrest. Were not taking anything off the table.

Finner acknowledged Saturday afternoon that one security officer was given Narcan and revived after being pricked by something that medical staff said was consistent with a needle. At the time of the press conference, police were still trying to identify and locate the security officer.

Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, who was near the front of the crowd at the time of the surge, said it happened all at once. Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode, Satterwhite said (via the Associated Press). And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then, and thats when I went and met with the promoters, and Live Nation, and they agreed to end early in the interest of public safety.

I witnessed someone unconscious, struggling to get him out, like his friends were trying to get him out and just people werent caring enough to make a path, festivalgoer Stephen Gutierrez told KHOU. Im a 400-pound guy. I jumped in because thats just my instinct, and I just made a path for him. Another attendee told KHOU, In the front, there was a lot of jumping. If you didnt jump, you would fall and get trampled on, definitely. The crowd is pushing back and forth. If you were even a little tired, you were going to fall.

On the Travis Scott Reddit page, numerous users posted social media video of festival-goers attempting to stop the concert  including chants of Stop the show!  as well as fans who climbed the riser where the cameras were to plead with the cameramen to communicate the need to pause the concert. Those pleas were either ignored or, in one video, mocked.

Video also emerged of Scott witnessing at least one unconscious fan being carried out of the area near the side of the stage; at one point during the concert, Scott looked into the crowd and stopped the music. Somebody needs help, somebody passed out right here, he said in video posted on Reddit. Can somebody help jump in real quick, cmon cmon. However, soon after, the concert continued.

Earlier in the day, video captured the crowd creating a stampede-like environment when hundreds of people attempted to rush through a VIP security checkpoint at the entrance of the festival  held outside at Houstons NRG Park  trampling others in front of them. Some were detained and arrested, KPRC 2 reported, but many flooded into the crowd, which reportedly had at least 50,000 people. We do know that we had people jump the fence, Pena said.

Fans just broke through the fence to get into #AstroWorldpic.twitter.com/mpi70ZzTOs  XXL Magazine (@XXL) November 5, 2021

Officials set up a reunification center at a nearby hotel for family members who had not been able to attendees of the fest, as well as provide counseling to those impacted by the incident. Fridays festival lineup included artists like SZA, Master P, Yves Tumor, Toro y Moi, Roddy Rich, Lil Baby and the headlining set from Scott.

Our hearts are broken, Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County said at the news conference. People go to these events looking for a good time. Its not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities.

Finner added at the Saturday afternoon press conference that there were 25 arrests in total at the festival, 23 of those were trespassing, one for possession of marijuana and one for public intoxication.

The city of Houston extends our condolences to the loved ones of 8 people killed & several injured at [Astroworld Fest] Turner tweeted. Organizers held the event to bring people together for music, but it sadly ended in tragedy. Thanks to police, fire & other agencies that responded to assist.

The incident is reminiscent of a pair of concert tragedies that resulted from crowd surges: In 1979, 11 people were killed prior to a show by the Who in Cincinnati after fans attempted to rush into the arena. In June 2000, nine fans were trampled to death in the mosh pit of Pearl Jams concert at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.

This year marked the third annual Astroworld Fest; in 2019, three people were trampled and hospitalized with leg injuries at the Houston fest during the rush to get into the festival grounds.

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Haaz Sleiman says he was close to tears when he learned of Disneys response to Eternals being banned in several Middle Eastern countries because of the MCU films LGBTQ+ content.

They stood their ground and said, Nope, we are not going to compromise the integrity of our film, Sleiman told me Friday afternoon. It made these Arab countries looks so ignorant and pathetic.

Variety confirmed Thursday that the film has been banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar ahead of its release across the Gulf region on Nov. 11. Movies containing LGBTQ+ content are often cut to appease international censors around the world, but Disney refused to alter Eternals.

I have no respect for those governments, Sleiman said. They have displayed to the world that they are not only a disgrace to humanity, but to God. Hopefully this will inspire the Saudi people, the Kuwaiti people and the people in Qatar to fight back.

In the Chloe Zhao-directed movie, Sleiman plays Ben, the husband of Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). Not only is Phastos the MCUs first gay superhero, but he and Ben are married and fathers to a young son.

Sleiman, who was raised in a Muslim family in Lebanon before moving to the U.S. when he was 21, came out as gay in 2017 after first gaining attention playing Tarek, an undocumented Syrian immigrant in 2007s The Visitor.

At the Eternals world premiere last month, Sleiman spoke passionately about how much representation and visibility matter. Beyond a dream come true, its lifesaving, he told me. I wish I had that when I was a kid, to see this. My god. I wish! Can you imagine how many lives this is going to be saving  kids, young queer folk, who are being bullied, committing suicide and not seeing themselves being represented? And now they get to see this  its above and beyond.

When we talked Friday, Sleiman recalled how it was his idea to have his character speak some Arabic in the film. That moment shows the love between me and Phastos and its a statement on its own that you hear someone speak like that, he said. I never thought I would see that, let alone that I got to do it.

Sleiman is also confident that Eternals will be seen, even in countries where its banned. Theyre going to find a way to watch it, even if its illegal, he said. And then they can give their two middle fingers to their governments. Because even when its banned, theres a way.

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Its more than a coincidence that Jamie Dornan took on the role of Pa in Belfast. Having been born in the Northern Ireland town, Dornan jumped at the opportunity to take on this deeply personal story, a semi-autobiographical take on Kenneth Branaghs childhood.

Dornan even grew up with a picture of his own father and Branagh in his house. It seems as if Dornan was waiting for the two to finally meet his entire life. On this episode of Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, Dornan emotionally reflects on Belfast being the first film to open following his fathers passing in March 2021.

Speaking about honoring his spirit through this film, and his work moving forward, he also talks about his infectious turn in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. That film led Dornan to find some unread texts from his father, commenting on his work in the hit comedy. Finally, he gives hints to the screenplay hes been writing and when that could see the light of day.

Listen to the full interview with actor Jamie Dornan in the latest edition of Varietys Awards Circuit Podcast below!

Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, Belfast tells the semi-autobiographical story of Buddy (Jude Hill), a young boy who lives in Northern Ireland during the tumultuous late 1960s. Alongside his working-class family that includes his parents (Jamie Dornan and Balfe) and grandparents (Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench), the family faces life lessons and decisions that could break the family apart. The film has received critical acclaim after premiering at the Telluride Film Festival and has won multiple audience prizes on the festival circuit. At the moment, Belfast is one of the leading contenders for the Oscars in multiple categories including supporting actor for Dornan.

In case you missed Thursdays episode: We also spoke with actress Dakota Johnson about her performance in Maggie Gyllenhaals The Lost Daughter, which has had her cross paths with her former co-star, Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) on the awards circuit. And the Awards Circuit Roundtable came together to discuss the openings of Pablo Larrains Spencer with Kristen Stewart and Chloe Zhaos Eternals with Gemma Chan, and what their prospects for awards could be this season. We also discussed the race for best cinematography that is robust with female cinematographers including Alice Brooks (tick, tickBoom!), Claire Mithon (Spencer) and Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog). After 93 years, could we see the second woman nominated at the Academy Awards for cinematography, following Rachel Morrison (Mudbound) in 2017?

Varietys Awards Circuit podcast is hosted by Clayton Davis, Michael Schneider, Jazz Tangcay and Jenelle Riley and is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in movies. Michael Schneider is the producer and Drew Griffith edits. Each week, Awards Circuit features interviews with top talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every week.

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Crush Ventures, the investment arm of Crush Music, home to management clients Green Day, Weezer (pictured), Lorde, Sia, Panic! at the Disco, and Miley Cyrus, among others, has invested in the company 237 Global, which offers tech and services related to VIP ticketing that connects artists, athletes, influencers and celebrities directly with their fans virtually and in-person. The 237 roster includes Shawn Mendes, Weezer, 24kGoldn, Trippie Redd, Train, Green Day, Alanis Morissette and the SmartLess podcast.

Also as part of the deal, Crush Ventures joins the advisory board of 237 Global. Financial terms were not disclosed.

We are thrilled that Crush Ventures has invested in 237 Global, said Mark Weiss, CEO of 237 Global. They have been incredibly supportive for many years. We are thrilled to expand our relationship with these incredible people.

Added Crush Ventures Andrew Kahn: We are excited to invest in Marks vision for a soup-to-nuts platform that will bring fans and artists together into tighter, more direct relationships now and into the future.

In providing this round of funding for 237 Global, the companies endeavor to expand its offerings via tech, product, and marketing teams tasked with adding additional features to a suite of app platforms.

Weezer, Green Day and Fall Out Boy, all Crush clients, recently wrapped the North American leg of the Hella Mega tour, which creative director Bronski of Tawbox describes as, A big party night of rock music with three of the most insane bands altogether in stadiums, with all fans of all bands just getting a ridiculous show.

It next heads to the U.K. and Europe in summer 2022.

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Madonna made a surprise appearance at the star-studded amfAR Gala Los Angeles to present her longtime friend and collaborator Jeremy Scott with the Award of Courage in recognition of his work with the organization and his commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The eleventh edition of the annual event was held in an elaborately decorated tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood on Thursday night after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The gala, which was sponsored by Cadillac and FIJI Water, raised more than $1.8 million for HIV/AIDS research.

Shortly after an Ellen Von Unwerth photograph of Madonna was auctioned off for $70,000, the Queen of Pop herself took the stage and paid tribute to the Moschino creative director with a heartfelt speech, in which she also recalled how she was drawn into the fight against the devastating epidemic.

In 1991, I stood on the amfAR stage and I was forced to clear up rumors that I had AIDS, Madonna said. I recall many journalists sticking microphones in my face, asking me, attacking me even, and saying Madonna, Madonna is it true? Are you HIV positive? And of course my reply was no, I just want to help people who are.

She continued, That was an extremely eye-opening experience. I understood then that there was and there still is so much fear. That people thought if you stood next to a person with AIDS, or of course, hugged a person with AIDS, that you could get it. I witnessed how damaging it was. The hatred, the shaming, the fear, the misinformation that surrounded those suffering from this disease and unfortunately that fear still exists today. Im sure that you are aware of it. I knew in that moment that my fight had just begun.

The superstar acknowledged that the battle against HIV/AIDs is ongoing, noting that 1.5 million people had been infected with the disease in last year. The fight is still not over, Madonna said. We can never be too complacent when it comes to the silent killer that continues to wreak havoc in peoples lives across the globe.

Madonna went on to laud Scotts work to raise funds for HIV/AIDs research from his involvement with the 1999 Life Ball in Vienna to his partnership with the Keith Haring Foundation, (RED), the Trevor Project and amfAR to carrying on the legacy of late Moschino founder Franco Moschino, who passed away from complications due to AIDS in 1994.

You use your platform, and your platform shoes, to change the way that people look at others who are different, who are unique, who are extraordinary and often marginalized, Madonna said. I would say that you are destined for greatness but you are already great.

Scott was visibly touched as he embraced Madonna and accepted his award. He recounted being bullied in his teenage years and thinking to himself, One day, Im going to be friends with Madonna.

He said, Its hard for others to even understand a time before social media and TikTok and having glimpses into other peoples lives and before a time when Ryan Murphys programs proliferated the airwaves with gay characters and cast, and way before Lil Nas X was topping the charts about bottoming, even before there was the term ally.

There was only one word that represented a safe haven for young gays boys like me and that word was Madonna, Scott said to cheers and applause from the audience.

He continued, On behalf of all the gay boys and gay girls who you made feel seen, appreciated and loved, I am so humbled to accept this honor from the most courageous woman I know.

On the red carpet, Scott, who was clad in a colorful suit that he said was inspired by nursery rhymes and stuffed animals and all things cozy and cute, described how he felt about receiving the award from Madonna.

He told Variety, Im beside myself. Out of body experience. Someone who literally when people were afraid to shake the hands of people with HIV and AIDS, she was out there fighting, bringing awareness, shes lost so many friends. So for someone who has been so much in the fight for so long to come and honor me, its just, I dont have words, I really dont.

The social media platform TikTok was also honored at the gala with influencer Addison Rae presenting TikTok Philanthropy and Education Lead Brett M. Peters with the Visionary Award in recognition of the companys work to educate young people about HIV/AIDS.

During the night, celebrities including Alessandra Ambrosio, Garcelle Beauvais, Ashley Benson, Bobby Berk, Jenna Dewan, Diplo, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Paris Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Meg Ryan and Bella Thorne enjoyed performances by Bebe Rexha and OneRepublic.

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Tragedy struck Travis Scotts Astroworld Festival as crowd surges during his Friday night headlining set left 8 dead and over 300 injured, according to Houston officials.

50,000 fans attended the show, which led to a surge during Scotts performance at the festival outside NRG Park, the Houston Chronicle reports. At a press conference following the concert, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena clarified the timeline. He said that at 9 p.m. the crowd began surging forward during Scotts set as there was panic and people running for safety. At that point, Scott paused the show several times to ask security to help out fans, and members of the fire department were sent into the dense crowd to rescue the injured.

At 9:38 p.m. a mass-casualty incident was triggered, at which time CPR began to be administered to several unconscious fans. Meanwhile, social media posts like the below show the frenzied scene as officials tried to rescue concertgoers.

It happened all at once, Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said. It seemed like it happened over the course of just a few minutes.

A source close to the festival confirmed to Variety that the quick response from Astroworld security and staff on site undoubtedly saved more people from being hurt, and teams are working to provide police with drone and ground footage for investigation. The source also confirmed that police are looking into a drug spiking incident in a targeted area of the festival, which could account for the 11 cardiac arrest incidents that Pena confirmed during the press conference.

An eyewitness, Variety staffer Emanuel Okusanya, said that fans began moving en masse toward Scotts stage, one of two on the stadium grounds, at least two hours before his performance was scheduled to begin. As his set time approached, a countdown clock began counting down, which caused the already-boisterous crowd to surge toward the stage. Once the set began, multiple mosh pits broke out and people began falling, causing a domino effect, Okusanya said. People began pushing to get out of the overcrowded area, but virtually the entire stadium floor was packed with people. Additionally, around 250 people had been crowded just outside the entrance earlier in the evening and may have contributed to a bottleneck at the exits, he said.

People were rushing to get out, it was hard to find security  it was bad, he said.

Our hearts are broken, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. People go to these events looking for a good time. Its not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities.

Many accounts from festival-goers said that security and emergency staff were difficult to find and communicate with as the tragedy unfolded. However, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said there was more security than at the World Series, and Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said in a news conference that 367 police officers and 241 security officers had already been assigned to Astroworld before the incident occurred.

Families of victims are encouraged to call the numbers provided by the Houston Office of Emergency Management: If you have not been able to contact your loved one who attended #ASTROWORLDFest please call 832-393-2991 or 832-393-2990.

A statement from the festival posted on social media reads in part, Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight  especially those we lost and their loved ones. it thanks emergency workers and states that authorities are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. It asks that anyone with relevant information reach out to @HoustonPolice.

Promoter Live Nation said in a statement Saturday: Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night. We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation.

Day 2 of the festival has been canceled. Saturdays performers would have included Bad Bunny and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Scotts Friday night set was broadcast live on Apple Music, and featured his usual high-energy performance, along with an extended appearance from Drake.

The Astroworld Festival was founded by Scott in 2018.

Watch the Houston Fire Department press conference about the tragedy, via ABC13 Houston, below:

While most music festivals take place without major incident, deaths are not uncommon, usually due to substance abuse or accidents. But overcrowding and crowd stampedes are a recurring problem. In 2010, ten people were trampled to death at the Love Parade dance-music festival in Germany as fans rushed toward an overcrowded exit. In 2000, nine people were trampled to death during Pearl Jams performance at Denmarks Roskilde festival. In 1979, 11 people died before a concert by the Who in Cincinnati as fans rushed toward an entrance.

Variety will have more on the Astroworld tragedy as it develops.

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RICHMOND, Va (AP)  Republican Glenn Youngkin spent months talking to voters about his plans to roll back Democrats' left, liberal, progressive agenda." When he takes office in January as Virginia's next governor, he'll need to talk to Senate Democrats about that.

Youngkin's victory was part of a Republican sweep that saw the GOP retake Virginia's two other statewide offices and Democrats concede control of the state House. But in the Senate, where no one was up for election this year, Democrats will still have a narrow majority.

Were the Senate Democratic Alamo, said one Democratic member, Scott Surovell.

Days after Youngkin's defeat of Terry McAuliffe, a former governor and longtime Democratic Party fundraiser, conversations in Richmond pivoted from campaign rhetoric to rosy talk of bipartisanship, with elected officials in both parties expressing hope that next years legislative session will provide opportunity to find common ground. Youngkin is reaching out by phone to Democrats and Republicans and planning to meet with Senate lawmakers at a finance retreat later this month, according to Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment. He also joined outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam for lunch, and gave public remarks suggesting he might turn to the Democrat with questions.

He said during the campaign he was going to govern in a bipartisan manner. His campaign was all about unifying Virginians under a specific vision for the future, and he intends to fulfill that promise, said Devin OMalley, a Youngkin spokesman.

Youngkin did position himself during the campaign as a unifier who would transcend the nation's partisan rancor. But he also selectively engaged with the news media, sought to avoid specifics on controversial issues such as abortion and gun control and spent months refusing to acknowledge that President Joe Biden had been legitimately elected, drawing sharp criticism from Democrats.

In a statement Friday, the state's Democratic Party chairwoman, Susan Swecker, said the fight for Virginia's future has begun.

Youngkin has made a handful of appearances in the news media  including with Fox News host Tucker Carlson  but has not held a formal news conference to take a wide range of questions. In a statement after election night, he struck a conciliatory tone, thanking his supporters and saying to those who voted differently, "Thank you for fighting for what you believe in. I look forward to coming together and earning your support over the next four years.

The former private equity executive and first-time candidate campaigned on what he called a Day One game plan, most of which cannot be enacted on his first day because it will need legislative approval.

It includes a wide range of tax cuts, including the elimination of the state's grocery tax, a 12-month suspension of the gas tax and one-time rebates. His platform also calls for boosting funding for law enforcement, raising teacher pay, opening new charter schools, restoring the requirement to show a photo ID to vote, and banning critical race theory, which holds that racism is systemic in Americas institutions. It is not being taught currently in any of the U.S.'s K-12 public schools, according to the The National School Boards Association.

Youngkin, who is independently wealthy and has pledged to donate the salary he receives as governor to charity, set up a transition office in a state government building this week. He told a conservative radio host that Jeff Goettman, a top campaign staffer and former official in the Department of the Treasury under President Donald Trump, would chair his transition. Inauguration Day is Jan. 15.

OMalley said Youngkin visited a food bank and a mosque Friday and was making his way through an extensive, bipartisan call list. He declined comment on whether Youngkin had been in touch with Dominion Energy, a powerful player at the state Capitol that drew the candidate's ire after it backed a secretive anti-Youngkin political action committee.

No other details about key staffers or Cabinet members were immediately announced.

Dick Saslaw, the Senate majority leader, said he had a very nice, friendly call with Youngkin that didn't veer into policy.

There could be a common ground on education, there could be a common ground on the environment. There could be a common ground on so many things. Well just have to wait and see, Saslaw said.

With just a 21-19 majority in the Senate  where newly elected Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears will cast tie-breaking votes  Democrats can't afford a single defector if they want to block a bill.

That reality has sharpened a focus on two Democratic members, Joe Morrissey  a Catholic who personally opposes abortion  and Chap Petersen, a moderate from northern Virginia. The two not infrequently vote against their caucus on a range of issues. But the GOP also has a few members who buck party-line votes.

The field may lend itself to bipartisan cooperation," said Republican Sen. Richard Stuart, who sometimes votes with an independent streak of his own.

Morrissey and Petersen have drawn comparisons to U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have forced cutbacks to President Joe Biden's sweeping policy initiatives. But several Democrats said that comparison was overblown and the caucus would stick together. Saslaw was adamant there would be no outright party-switching.

Morrissey said he would not vote for a Texas-style abortion law and sees the Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a womans right to an abortion as part of the fabric of the country. But he also said there has to be middle ground, implying that he would consider some restrictions.

He also expressed some skepticism about how long the post-election honeymoon period would last.

At the beginning of every session, everything is kumbaya, everyone holding hands, then it often takes about one week for the bipartisan divides to be created, Morrissey said. Its important for moderates on both sides to bridge those gaps.

Todd Gilbert, the House minority leader and a contender for speaker, said in a news conference that his caucus's priority will be education. While The Associated Press has not yet called each contested House race, Democrats conceded control Friday night.

He said Republicans will be focused on tweaking, not scrapping, a recently enacted marijuana legalization bill. Asked whether the GOP will seek to reinstate restrictions on abortion that Democrats rolled back when they were in full control of state government, he suggested that issue wouldn't be a focus.

Gilbert predicted the House and Senate might actually have a smoother relationship than when the Democrats controlled his chamber. The two groups of Democrats often spoke disparagingly of one another, and the House routinely pushed through bills, only for the more moderate Senate to spike them.

I think were going to get along fine from an institutional standpoint, Gilbert said.
BERLIN (AP)  A knife attack on a high-speed train in Germany left three people severely wounded, the Bavarian Red Cross said Saturday. Police said a man has been arrested in connection with the morning attack.

The train, one of Germanys high-speed ICE trains, was traveling between the Bavarian cities of Regensburg and Nuremberg at the time of the attack. A spokesperson for the Bavarian Red Cross, which had 110 responders at the scene, said the organization processed three severely injured people.
Lockport, NY (14094)

Today

Cloudy with occasional light rain during the afternoon. High around 50F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

A steady light rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Lockport, NY (14094)

Today

Partly cloudy skies during the morning will give way to cloudy skies and light rain late. High around 50F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Light rain transitioning to a few showers by morning. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 77F. Winds light and variable.

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy early, then afternoon sunshine. High 68F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
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(TNS) More than 1 in 10 people in North Carolina are living without health insurance. Theyre working in construction, retail or manufacturing. Theyre cooks and nursing assistants, janitors and truck drivers. From the Nantahala Forest to the Outer Banks, the uninsured are our neighbors and community members.

North Carolina has been talking about Medicaid expansion for more than a decade, but Democratic initiatives to get more people insured have been repeatedly blocked in the Republican-led House and Senate.

Even though it looks like the state budget could possibly include expansion this year, N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said last week that Republicans will not approve the state budget if it includes Medicaid expansion.

But not all Republican officials agree with Moore.

While 11.3% of North Carolinians are uninsured, the rate hovers closer to one in four uninsured people in parts of the state. Dale Wiggins, a Graham County commissioner, says he sees it every day. Twenty-six percent of working-age Graham County residents lack health insurance, according to a Georgetown analysis.

I think its really easy, sometimes, for people that have the health insurance to think that everybody does, Wiggins says. It just comes down to what youre exposed to.

For Wiggins, it also comes down to his personal experiences and morals. Wiggins, a Republican, is a cancer survivor. Because of this, he says he cant fathom how someone could ignore Medicaid expansion as a fundamental need. He is also a devout Christian; he recited John 13:34 from memory on a call, a verse where Jesus calls on folks to love each other as (he) has loved you.

Moore is also a Christian, according to his website. In spite of these beliefs, he has vocalized his opposition to Medicaid expansion for years. In 2019, he told WRAL: The best thing that folks can do is to get a job.

This, of course, was pre-pandemic, before an estimated 257,000 people lost their employee-sponsored insurance. Wiggins also notes that some people with jobs still dont have health insurance.

All these people that are out here working in construction, we need them to be healthy, he says. They need to be healthy. They have families, just like I do. When you take away all the rhetoric, and you get it down to the men, women and children: How can you say no?

Five other red counties in western North Carolina have passed resolutions supporting Medicaid expansion, as have some municipalities. Kevin Corbin, a Republican and the state senator for almost all of these counties, has also tried to lead the way on Medicaid expansion.

As the state weighs the coming budget, the federal government is doing the same. President Bidens Build Back Better Act has a provision that would temporarily extend Medicaid tax credits to uninsured folks in the 12 states that havent implemented an expansion. Wiggins doesnt see this as the best solution.

Its a one size fits all when it comes to the federal government, he says. Everybody has to play the same way. We have an opportunity right now to do it in a way that will be best for the people of this state.

If the state fails to pass Medicaid expansion but the federal government succeeds, it would be easy for Republicans to condemn the overreach of the federal government for doing something they could have taken control of. In the end, the people who will still lose are the uninsured in Graham County, Moores Cleveland County, and other rural areas in the state.

As we sit on a budget surplus, as we receive federal incentives to do so and as we see a pandemic take more than 18,000 lives in our state, we see the necessity of Medicaid expansion and the financial ease with which it could be implemented. Republican leaders need to listen to the people in their party who spend their day-to-day lives around the uninsured, and ask themselves who theyre serving.
Hello Manistee County! I hope you have been enjoying the beautiful, crisp weather.

I told you I was going to sneak off one day and enjoy some quiet time. Well we did, we took off to Wisconsin to our favorite little town and just hung out, slept, watched TV and enjoyed some great food with no phones, no computers and no stress.

Wow, sometimes you just need to recharge and relax. During the last two years things have been tough for everyone. I hope you are able to find a way to rewind and keep moving forward as the days come. I was so pleased that while we were in Wisconsin. The majority of people wore their masks, which was awesome. It was nice to see people keeping each other safe when it isn't mandatory.

We are looking forward to getting back to normal at the Wagoner Community Center or as back to normal as we can with COVID-19 numbers rising. Even though Manistee County had more cases, we're planning to bring people together again, still masked, still separate but still together. I want us to all stay safe and sound.

This week all activities will resume so we are looking forward to lots of fun, we have the foot clinic with Jean the RN and Attorney Services with Michael Herring on Monday. These are by appointment only but if you need to see either person just give us a call or stop in and make an appointment for next month.

Tuesday we have toe tapping Tuesday with the 3Ds. Stop by and enjoy some great music and great guys. Wednesday we have Anita Shaffer doing some wonderful and relaxing chair massages. This program is also by appointment but give us a call just in case there's an opening. Please check out the entire schedule or give us a call for everything going on this week at the Wagner Community Center.

Thursday there is the veterans dinner at the Wagoner Community Center. Jerry Zupin is cooking, be sure to stop by to pick up your tickets. The dinner is open to the public, veterans eat free, but you must have a ticket to pick up a meal.

I hope you have a great week and remember to try something new!

CONGREGATE MEALS

The congregate meal site at the Wagoner Community Center is currently operating on a curbside pickup only. Reservations for meals must be made by noon, the day prior. Call 231-723-6477 to make your reservations. The congregate meal site in Wellston will be passing out lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to noon, curbside as well. The Onekama meal site at the Farr Center are handing out meals on Mondays and Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. (curbside).

FOOD BANK

The senior center food bank takes place on the third Friday of the month from 9-11 a.m. Seniors from Manistee County who are 60 years of age and older are eligible to participate. If you are picking up for another senior, be sure you have a proxy note, along with their name, address, birth date and household information. Monetary and non-perishable food item donations are always appreciated. Next food bank is from 9-11 a.m. on Nov. 19 at 260 St. Mary's Parkway.

EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE

If you are a Manistee County senior and are in need of emergency food assistance, please call the senior center at 231-723-6477 and speak to a staff member. We have an emergency food pantry that we use to help prevent food insecurity in our senior population during these times.

SENIOR REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM

The MCCOA has a program designed to help seniors remain independent, by reimbursing qualifying expenses. If you are a senior from Manistee County, you could receive reimbursement for payments you have made for house cleaning, yard work, snow removal services.

For current clients in the Senior Reimbursement Program, all receipts must be current, no more than 30 days old. Income requirements apply. New clients must fill out a registration form. Please mail all receipts to 260 St. Mary's Parkway, Manistee, MI 49660. Please call the senior center at 231-723-6477 ext. 214, for more information. Once a senior has moved out of their home, they are no longer qualified for the reimbursement program.

SIT & GET FIT and OTHER EXERCISE OPPORTUNITIES

Sit and Get Fit Tuesday & Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Wagoner Community Center. Cardio drumming classes, Thursdays at 5:45 p.m. Yoga classes are Tuesdays at 3:30 (chair yoga), and Thursdays at 4:30 (regular yoga). Tai Chi Mon., Wed & Fri. at 9 a.m.; Zumba Mon., Wed. 2 p.m. All classes are free to all seniors, and donations accepted for those under 60.

DEMENTIA SUPPORT GROUP

The dementia support group will meet the second Thursday of the month. The group is a supportive, friendly gathering for caregivers, family members or anyone interested in learning more about and supporting our senior dementia community. The next meeting will be Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. Contact Jacki Krolczyk at 231-883-1341 for more information.

PARKINSON'S SUPPORT GROUP

The Parkinson's support group meets at 11 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month.The next support group meeting will be on Nov. 18 at the Wagoner Community Center. Please call Linda Nickelson at 231-690-5048 for more information.

MEDICATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

The Manistee County Council on Aging has started a medication management program. Jean Anderson, the RN on staff, is available to assist in this area. Please feel free to call with your questions, 231-723-6477, ext. 215

SENIOR NUTRITION MENU Nov. 8-12 (congregate meals are curbside for now, and by reservation only)

Monday: BBQ chicken, winter blend vegetable, hubbard squash, sliced pears, dinner roll

Tuesday: Sliced baked ham, scalloped potatoes, steamed peas, applesauce, bread

Wednesday: Cod nuggets, garlic parsley potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, roll

Thursday: Homemade goulash, wax beans, root blend veg, sliced peaches, garlic toast

Friday: Cheeseburger on a bun, french fries, corn, banana

Menus are subject to change.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday

9 a.m. Tai Chi

1 p.m. Pinochle

1 p.m. Mah Jongg

2 p.m. Zumba

Tuesday

12:30 Bridge

3:30 p.m. Chair Yoga

10:30 a.m. TOPS

1:30 p.m. Genealogy group

2 p.m. Zumba

6:30 p.m. AA Women's group

Thursday

10 a.m. Cribbage

11 a.m. Bunco

1 p.m. Chess group

4:30 p.m. yoga

5:45 p.m. Cardio drumming

Friday

9 a.m. Tai Chi

Nov. 11

3 p.m. Dementia support group

Nov. 12

NWMHS counseling

Nov. 16

10 a.m. Cards & Coffee

10 a.m. PNC Bank/Scams

6 p.m. Authors Series

Nov. 18

11 a.m. Parkinson's Support Group

Dec. 4, Holiday Craft Show

Dec. 10, Jingle Bell Ball
Mankato, MN (56001)

Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. Morning high of 38F with temps falling to near 25. Winds NW at 25 to 35 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 18F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel with the COVID-19 global pandemic thanks to Pfizer, who announced the creation of a treatment to fight the virus. After the announcemnt of a 90% effective pill against death and hospitalization was announced by the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer's shares surged 11% on Friday.

The idea of a treatment you can actually take home to fight the virus is arguably one of the best news in the fight against the global pandemic the world has waited for nearly two years.

Pfizer decided to make this news public today after Merck got the greenlight from the British Government to start supplying their own pill against COVID. This treatment is not as effective as the one Pfizer claims to have as trials in a COVID critical British hospital reduced hospitalizations only by half.

However, any treatment that can start rolling out at this stage of the pandemic is welcome. Keep in mind that COVID-19 is by far the deadliest pandemic in modern history with nearly 5 million confirmed defunctions.

When can the FDA approve Pfizer's pill?

During a candid talk with CNBC, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla offered details about the groundbreaking treatment developed by the pharma giant. He confirmed that the patients who took the placebo were the ones who suffered the biggest adverse effects by a large margin.

When asked when this pill could be approved by the FDA in the United States, Bourla was optimistic by saying he expects it to be approved by Thanksgiving. It's no coincidence that Pfizer's stocks rose to the sky after today's events.
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After being cooped up at home over many months, beaches have become the perfect getaway as travel opens up again. Travelers are looking forward to soaking in the sun and enjoying the sea this festive season. In fact, 33 percent of Indian travelers want to plan a relaxing trip to a beach destination to get away from it all. If you are on the lookout for beaches that are off the beaten path to catch a wave, Malvan, Ganpatiphule, Digha, Udupi, and Kannur are among the top 5 beach destinations endorsed by travelers.The never-ending question of one's preference for beaches or mountains is here to stay. Compared to beach destinations, an almost similar number of Indian travelers (32 percent) have revealed their preference of travelling to the mountains, showing travelers' desire to be able to escape reality even for just a few days. The quest to explore and experience the mountains and their mesmerizing views will prevail this festive season. Travelers looking for a mountain getaway can plan a trip to Gangtok, Katra, Panchgani, Chikmagalur, or Kalpetta which are the top endorsed, lesser-known mountain destinations.Often the best way to see a destination is on foot, interacting with locals and reaching remote vantage points for far-reaching views. The platform's research shows that 28 percent of Indian travelers are looking to celebrate this festive season by hiking up long trails and working up a sweat. If you are looking for an uphill climb, Kasol, Manali, Munnar, Rishikesh, and Mcleod Ganj are the top endorsed hiking destinations. Get in tune with nature and disconnect from the world for a while by exploring these family-friendly hiking destinations.As tourism opens up, travelers want to indulge in newer experiences while travelling. Going on a safari holiday is the fourth emerging trip type this festive season with 27 percent of Indian travelers wanting to experience our incredible wildlife up close. Whether it's spotting tigers in Ranthambore or watching the wild elephants in Periyar, delving into the untamed and enjoying the astounding world of animals and birds in their natural habitat are memorable experiences travelers are looking forward to during the upcoming holiday season.The excessive time spent at home during lockdown has made us realize the impact our actions have on the environment. The pandemic is not only changing our travel behavior but also influencing our choice of destinations. 27 percent of Indians wish to take a trip to unexplored destinations this festive season. Some of the unexplored destinations like Kotagiri (Tamil Nadu), Jibhi (Himachal Pradesh), Munsyari (Uttarakhand), Coonoor (Tamil Nadu) and Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) not only offer novel experiences and untouched natural beauty but also a chance to soak up the magic before everyone else catches on.Source: IANS
Rohit Shettys Sooryanvanshi released yesterday and fans are going crazy over the action stunts and entry scenes of the stars in the film. Since the cop drama stars the ultimate action hero and Khiladi of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar, it is obvious that the stunts are as invincible and savage as the actor himself.



 Instagram/Akshay Kumar

The Sooryavanshi team including Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Rohit Shetty appeared recently in a special episode of the Indian game show Kaun Banega Crorepati 13 which is hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.



 Instagram/CricBollyBuzz

They discussed one particular scene where Akshay was supposed to hang from a chopper, leaving his bike behind. However, the khiladi took the stunt up a notch and did it without the harness.



 Instagram/Amitabh Bachchan

The clip of the shot was shown on the show after which Amitabh Bachchan praised the actor for the thrilling scene. However, the director Rohit Shetty revealed that the stunt done by Akshay was completely unplanned.



He said, If you watch the film you will realise. What we did was, we harnessed the bike because it would fall otherwise. His (Akshay Kumars) job was to hold the ramp of the chopper. The chopper will take off a bit and then we will cut the shot, harness him and then take the next shot.

 Twitter

We were shooting in Bangkok, I have no idea when he had a word with the pilot. He left the bike, held onto the ramp and the chopper took off (with Akshay hanging right there without a harness.). He is without a harness in that shot. Hum sab dekhte reh gaye kya ho raha hai (we were left wondering what was happening), he added. He then said that the scene in the film is a real shot where there is no harness.



 Instagram/Rohit Shetty

Here is the video.

Akshay said, I would just say not to try. Bewakoofi thi kaafi (it was stupidity). Amitabh was impressed but warned him to not do it again as it is dangerous, Sir, do not do it again, ever. Ye bahut hi mushkil hota hai (It is very difficult). He also recalled doing a similar action sequence in his 1980 film Dostana that he pulled off without a harness.

 Yash Raj Films

Sooryavanshi also stars Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif and another action hero Ajay Devgn whose grand entry scene is already creating a buzz. Apparently, he appears Singham-style in the last 20 minutes to culminate the movie in a full-blown, action packed entry.



 Rohit Shetty Picturez

Watched the movie yet?


After Diwali, the virtual celebrations continued for film buffs as everyone deliciously indulged in photo dumps of celebrities, taking a sneak peek into how filmy was their Diwali. The Bachchan family also called in a quiet affair and lots of family pictures of the members decked up in Indian outfits were shared. However, things took an interesting turn when some people pointed out an innocuous observation. Apparently the painting in the background of the Bachchan family photo resembles that of the famous Majnu Bhais painting from Welcome movie, and desis are convinced it is the art of that famous artist only.



Yeh painting majnu Bhai ne bnayi h?? pic.twitter.com/ofzBPiAzH2   (@Vritika385) November 5, 2021

 Twitter

 Instagram

However, jokes apart, like theres one intelligent student for every jocular kid in class, someone on social media also decrypted this painting and explained the logic behind hanging the painting of a bull in the house.

Hey guys. #Bull painting symbolises power, strength, speed and optimism. By placing this in the abundance corner of the office or house helps to bring the Bull Run in ones financial situation. It symbolises ultimate gain, success and incremental prosperity..  Madhu (@Sudhana2302) November 5, 2021

When placed in the house, in the living room or in the office, it helps to protect you from ill intentions of other for you. It protects you from people with negative energies  Madhu (@Sudhana2302) November 5, 2021

Diwali 2021 was different in a lot of ways for all of us after the horrible second wave of Covid the country had to endure. Heres hoping we continue to stay safe and healthy.
Meridian, MS (39302)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 72F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain. Low near 50F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
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In summer 2020, The New York Times coordinated a nationwide project to document the lives of Americans out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved collaborating with 11 other local newsrooms around the U.S. The Messenger-Inquirer was the only newspaper from Kentucky in the collaboration. The resulting collection of stories was published Oct. 23, 2020, in the New York Times print edition and at nytimes.com/outofwork. The following list is the Messenger-Inquirer's local unemployment coverage from that time period; read more by clicking the "New York Times Project" header. Click on "Out Of Work In America" to go to the full
Ambassador of Belarus A.Metelitsa meets the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Commerce and Investment

On October 29, 2021, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Andrei Metelitsa met with Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Commerce and Investment, co-chairman of the Joint Belarusian-Pakistani Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation Abdul Razak Dawood.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and also discussed preparations for the sixth meeting of the Joint Commission.

A special attention was paid to the events planned in the near future, including the organization of a National Belarusian exposition and a business forum within the framework of the industrial exhibition in Karachi on November 16-18, 2021.

The interlocutors reaffirmed their mutual interest in promoting bilateral trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Pakistan.

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Miami, FL (33127)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 80F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Service line replacement work begins next week in City of Benton Harbor

Water distribution continues for city residents; over 127,000 cases provided to date

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 5, 2021

CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - As part of an accelerated, across-the-board effort to reduce the risk of exposure to lead in drinking water in the City of Benton Harbor, excavation work on an initial 100 suspected lead service lines will begin next week as part of a plan to replace all the city's lead service lines.

Last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for the replacement of lead service lines in Benton Harbor in 18 months and the Whitmer-Gilchrist Administration has provided just under $20 million to Benton Harbor to speed up their service line replacement timeline. Governor Whitmer also signed an executive directive that implemented an all-hands-on-deck, whole-of-government approach to move forward with urgency and ensure that every parent can give their kid a glass of water with confidence.

"We need to get the lead out of Benton Harbor ASAP," said Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad. "My focus is on protecting the residents of my city and removing old lead service lines on an aggressive timeline of 18 months is critical."

Next week, residents can expect to see construction efforts within the city as Meeks Contracting Services begins to replace lines funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant.

Service lines are the underground pipes that deliver water from the water main to a home. Each service line or connection may consist of multiple plumbing material types including lead, copper, galvanized iron and plastic. Replacement of lines means that both the public (water main to curb) and private (curb to home) portions of the service line along with connections are all replaced.

"The replacement of lead service lines and connections is imperative," said Liesl Clark, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy director. "EGLE very much appreciates the city's leadership on the removal of all service lines, and we are committed to providing technical and financial support as we partner with the city to meet the 18-month goal established by Governor Whitmer."

To assist with assuring the work can be completed as soon as possible, residents are encouraged to complete the Water Service Line Replacement Agreement available online. Contractors cannot begin work on any property without property owner authorization. Completed forms can be returned to Abonmarche, 95 West Main Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 or emailed to bvasher@abonmarche.com.

The state, city and the city's engineering firm, Abonmarche, are also working quickly to secure additional contractors to conduct service line replacement with the goal of having multiple contractors working throughout the city at the same time. While exact dates for work to occur will be weather dependent, the city is maintaining an online dashboard to keep residents up to date on the status of the project.

Distribution of free bottled water continues with MDHHS and volunteers providing127,816 cases at community distribution sites and through deliveries to residents who are homebound or lack access to transportation. Free bottled water is being provided by the state as residents are being encouraged to use bottled water for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, rinsing foods and mixing powdered infant formula. This action is part of an accelerated, across-the-board effort to reduce the risk of exposure to lead in drinking water while the city replaces all lead service lines.

To arrange water delivery to homebound or residents without transportation in the city of Benton Harbor, contact 211, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The upcoming schedule for bottled water pickup is:

Saturday, Nov. 6

Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor, 600 Nate Wells Sr. Drive, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Harbor of Hope Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 769 Pipestone Street, 4 - 6 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 7

Abundant Life Church of God, 693 Columbus Avenue, 3 - 5 p.m.

Brotherhood of All Nations, 1286 Monroe Street, 4 - 6 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 8

Southwest Community Action Agency, 331 Miller Street, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Self-service)

Abundant Life Church of God, 693 Columbus Avenue, noon - 2 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 9

Southwest Community Action Agency, 331 Miller Street, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Self-service)

Abundant Life Church of God, 693 Columbus Avenue, noon - 2 p.m.

Ebenezer Baptist Church, 214 E. Britain Avenue, 4 - 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 10

Southwest Community Action Agency, 331 Miller Street, 3 - 6 p.m., (Water loaded into vehicles by volunteers)

The ongoing response in Benton Harbor includes the city, Berrien County Health Department, local community organizations, MDHHS and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

Additional dates and locations for bottled water pick up will be added to make sure community needs are met. Information will be posted on Michigan.gov/MiLeadSafe.

To ensure the continued success of bottled water distribution locations in Benton Harbor and to recognize the city residents who have been stepping up to donate their time and talent, the State of Michigan has partnered with local agencies and will begin paying city residents who work at state-supported bottled water distribution sites. Individuals who want to serve as community ambassadors to help distribute water should connect with an established distribution site. Individuals or groups who want to serve as unpaid volunteers can sign up on the United Way's online platform.

MDHHS is engaging in a long-term effort to eliminate lead action level exceedances, educate communities on the effects of lead in drinking water, and remove lead service lines. These efforts also include recently approved funds to remove lead from homes in the city. Families living in Benton Harbor can apply for this service by filling out and mailing in an application that is available online. Residents also can call 866-691-5323 to obtain information.

For questions about lead, MDHHS can be reached at 866-691-5323 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

# # #
As the fall temperatures set in and the mood changes around the office for some, it was time to boost the spirits with some good homestyle cooking.

My love for the cooler weather has presented some challenges to the newsroom. I have no shame exerting control over the thermostat and will often dial the heat down to the mid 60s, when my coworkers would mostly prefer a more balmy mid 70s.

After hearing Tribune reporter Mark Birdsall chatter his teeth most of the morning, I decided to drag him along on my latest Grabbing Grub adventure, this time only a stones throw from the Tribune office.

File Photo

I was in the mood for soup, and Birdsall was in the mood for a company-paid meal, so I punched soup near me into Google and low and behold, one of the first options was Peppermill Restaurant in Bad Axe.

Now I have frequented Peppermill before, but as an all-day breakfast option, so today was the day to expand my horizons.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

While I chose the Peppermill for soup, my plans quickly changed. When I looked over the extensive trifold menu, the home-style roast turkey jumped out from the entree section. I am a sucker for a good turkey dinner, and the promise was tender pulled turkey, topped with gravy and served with stuffing and a choice of potato  as if there is any proper choice but mashed.

Meanwhile, Birdsall was a bit slower to decide on his options. I anxiously waited while he flipped the menu over again and again before I prompted him and suggested the slow roast beef dinner, which would have been my other choice.

When the waitress returned and took our orders, she pointed out some fine print that I had overlooked. "All dinner entrees include our famous house-made soup and salad bar." This was a major score for the home team and allowed me to try the Peppermills soups after all.

While Mark was over picking out his rabbit food, I went to check out the soup selections and mulled over my choices before realizing I could actually have all three. On that particular day the Peppermill was serving potato, beef barley, and chicken noodle.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

The potato soup was thick and had good flavor but limited texture, which was easily remedied by some saltine crackers. The beef barley soup was also a thicker consistency, chock full of barley and had a good beefy flavor. However, my favorite soup was easily the chicken noodle, which was a true homestyle soup with thick noodles, rich broth and pulled apart chunks of chicken.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

When Mark returned to the table I saw that in addition to his salad, he hit up the salad bar and took a different approach with the potato soup by doubling back for some shredded cheese and bacon bits, essentially making his own loaded baked potato soup.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

It didnt take long for our dinners to arrive, which immediately reminded me why I chose what I did. Before me was a turkey dinner that could have rivaled my own. The first thing I noticed is instead of taking the easy way by serving turkey slices, the turkey dinner did indeed feature chunks of pulled apart turkey. The turkey was moist and flavorful, while being tender enough to cut with the fork. The mashed potatoes were perfect, and featured the traditional yellow poultry gravy. Perhaps the winner of the show was the corn bread stuffing that had a gentle sweetness that balanced perfectly with the savoriness of the dish.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

After relishing my dinner for a few minutes, I turned my plate around and decided I should share a bite of the turkey with Birdsall in hopes he would reciprocate with his roast. Birdsall paused on his salad and snagged up the offered morsel before pointing to the untouched roast on plate.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

The first thing I noticed with the roast was it had an excellent crust, or bark, which proved it was indeed roasted. The chunk of meat was soft and flavorful with or without the rich brown gravy that accompanied it. Birdsalls meal also came with the potatoes and stuffing, which he seemed quite pleased with.

I made pretty quick work of my turkey dinner, eating far more than I should have on a workday. Meanwhile, I noticed Birdsall was a little bit slower and even packed some up for later. After fighting heavy eyes the remainder of the day, I realize in this case older indeed meant wiser and he made the right choice.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP)  Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the killings of a civil society activist and three other women whose bodies were found in a house in northern Afghanistan last week, a senior Taliban security official and a co-worker of the slain activist said Saturday.

The suspects confessed to luring the women to the house in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, Sayed Khosti, the spokesman of the Taliban-run Interior Ministry, said in a video statement posted on Twitter.

He did not say whether the suspects also confessed to the killings. He did not offer a motive for the killings or identify the victims. The case is being referred to a court, he said.

One of the victims was Frozan Safi, 29, according to a local cultural center where she worked. Safi had been desperate to leave Afghanistan because she feared for her future under restrictive Taliban rule and because she wanted to join her fiance, also an activist, who fled the country previously, said Sayed Azim Sadat, director of the Zainuddin Mohammad Babar Cultural Center.

Safi left her home close to three weeks ago to meet someone who claimed he could help her get out of Afghanistan, Sadat told The Associated Press. Khosti said the suspects confessed during interrogation that they had invited the women to the house.

Some activists have reported receiving phone calls and emails from suspicious people who claimed they could help those wanting to leave Afghanistan. The activists were asked to share their personal details and were invited to come to certain locations, according to posts in reporters' WhatsApp groups.

Since the Taliban overran the capital of Kabul on Aug. 15, tens of thousands of Afghans have left the country. Most managed to get out during a chaotic airlift overseen by U.S. and NATO troops before their departure from Afghanistan at the end of August.

The Taliban have since reassured the international community that they would not block the departure of Afghans and foreign citizens with valid passports and visas. Hundreds of people have left Afghanistan on flights and by land since the end of August.

However, those without passports or visas don't have an immediate departure option.
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP)  An oil tanker truck exploded near Sierra Leone's capital, killing at least 98 people and severely injuring dozens of others after large crowds gathered to collect leaking fuel, officials and witnesses said Saturday.

The explosion took place late Friday when the tanker collided with another truck as it was pulling into a gas station near a busy intersection in Wellington, just east of the capital of Freetown, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Both drivers came out of their vehicles and warned community residents to stay off the scene while trying to address a leakage emanating from the collision, the agency said.

In this deeply impoverished country, however, crowds still rushed in to scoop up the fuel, witnesses said. It was not immediately known what caused the leaking fuel to ignite but a massive explosion soon followed.

Video obtained by The Associated Press showed a giant fireball burning in the night sky as some survivors with severe burns cried out in pain. The charred remains of some victims lay strewn at the scene, awaiting transport to mortuaries.

Nearly 100 injured people were taken to area hospitals, officials said. About 30 severely burned people at Connaught Hospital were not expected to survive, according to Foday Musa, a staff member in its intensive care unit.

Injured people whose clothes had burned off in the fire that followed the explosion lay naked on stretchers as nurses attended to them Saturday. Hundreds of people milled outside the main gates of the mortuary and near the hospital's main entrance, waiting for word of their loved ones.

Osman Timbo, said his 13-year-old brother, Mohamed, was among those who had died.

He left home and said he was going to buy bread for us to eat, Timbo said. "When I heard about the explosion, I went to the scene and I saw my younger brother lying down and he was burned all over. I felt so bad. I loved him so much!

Hospital officials called in as many doctors and nurses as they could overnight to tend to the wounded. The country's health care sector is still recovering from the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, which killed many of the West African nation's doctors and nurses.

President Julius Maada Bio, who was in Scotland attending the U.N. climate talks Saturday, deplored the horrendous loss of life.

My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result, he tweeted.

Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh visited two hospitals overnight and said Sierra Leones National Disaster Management Agency and others would work tirelessly in the wake of the emergency.

We are all deeply saddened by this national tragedy, he said on his Facebook page.

___

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Komba Morsay in Freetown, Sierra Leone contributed.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  Two police officers serving in North Carolina's largest city have been placed on administrative leave while the circumstances of a fatal shooting of an armed man outside a Walmart are investigated, authorities said on Saturday.

The State Bureau of Investigation is looking at Friday's shooting by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers. The police department identified on Saturday the armed man who died as 23-year-old Derrell Lamar Raney.
Ron Chapple / Getty Image

GLASTONBURY  A Glastonbury woman has been charged with attempted murder after hitting another woman several times on the head with a hatchet during an apparent domestic dispute, police said.

The Glastonbury Police Department went to a home on Newell Lane around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a family violence incident.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Jake Corman, the ranking Republican in Pennsylvania's state Senate who is widely expected to run for governor in next year's election, has begun inviting donors and others to an announcement next Thursday night.

The event is billed as a special announcement in Corman's hometown of Bellefonte.

Corman's entry into the race would swell an already big field of Republicans running for governor that's double-digits deep and growing, as the party searches for a nominee to potentially succeed outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.

Corman, 57, who represents a swath of central Pennsylvania surrounding Penn State's main campus, is the Senate's president pro tempore and has served in the chamber since 1999  controlled by Republicans the whole time  after taking over the seat his father held.

For weeks, Corman has been expected to enter the race, meeting with donors and the Republican congressional delegation. Corman has said he would discuss his political plans after Tuesday's election, but neither he nor a political adviser have returned messages about it.

He has served in GOP leadership since 2009  including as majority leader from 2015 through last year  and is well known to party donors.

But his impending candidacy is not clearing the field of Republican rivals.

On Friday, Charlie Gerow, a Harrisburg-area marketing consultant, launched a new cable TV ad campaign and state Sen. Doug Mastriano began fundraising for a gubernatorial campaign.

On Saturday, seven gubernatorial hopefuls were expected at a Tioga County Republican Party dinner, while in Delaware County, Dave White, who runs a large plumbing and HVAC firm, is formally announcing his candidacy.

The field's best-known candidate is perhaps Lou Barletta, a former four-term member of Congress who was the Republican nominee in his 2018 loss to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and a prominent loyalist of former President Donald Trump.

Corman's standing with Trump loyalists is mixed, at best.

Over the summer, Trump and his allies in the baseless quest to prove that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election had held up Corman as an obstacle, before Corman embraced it.

Im a hundred percent on board with this," Corman declared on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's War Room online broadcast.

With Wolf in office since 2015, Corman has been part of a Republican leadership that sent more than 50 bills to certain veto on the Democrat's desk, including legislation on abortion, elections, guns and to strip some of the authority Wolf wielded during the pandemic.

Republicans have rejected many of Wolfs highest-profile priorities, including multi-billion-dollar tax increases, although Corman-led Senate Republicans compromised on raising the minimum wage and imposing a severance tax on Pennsylvanias huge natural gas industry. Both died in the House.

Top Democrats in the Senate have generally viewed Corman as congenial, respecting the Senate as an institution and playing within its rules, even if they had had disagreements, said Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia.

But that changed in the past year, Williams said, as the politics of the 2020 election drove bare-knuckled partisan fights, including Republicans' election audit that Democrats are now challenging in court.

Corman also has a long voting record that could be picked apart, including bipartisan measures that aged poorly and have become grist for primary attacks from the right against various Republican lawmakers.

For instance, he voted in 2005 for a broad government pay raise  rammed through without public hearings in the middle of the night  that stirred such a backlash that lawmakers three months later voted to rescind it.

In 2013, he voted along with Republican leaders for an increase in the gas tax and motorist fees to fund highway construction projects, a measure backed by business groups and labor unions. The law made Pennsylvanias gas tax the second-highest in the nation.

Then in 2019, he and nearly every other Republican lawmaker voted for sweeping election legislation that, among other things, authorized no-excuse mail-in voting, mere months before Trump mounted a campaign to tar mail-in voting as rife with fraud.

Many Republicans have since soured on mail-in voting, with candidates on the gubernatorial campaign trail calling for the law's repeal.

On the Democratic side, two-term state Attorney General Josh Shapiro's candidacy has thus far cleared the field of rivals.

Wolf is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.

___

Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/timelywriter.
NEW YORK (AP)  Insurers for several current and former Boeing board members will pay more than $230 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the directors of failing to address safety warning signs before two of the companys Max jetliners crashed.

Boeing and the directors did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which was filed Friday in a Delaware court. The deal still needs a judge's approval.

The shareholder lawsuit was filed by administrators of New York state employee retirement funds and a Colorado pension fund for firefighters and police officers. They sued after crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.

The lawsuit accused the directors of failing to properly look out for the interests of shareholders in overseeing then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg and development of the Max. Boeing tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge rejected the move in September.

Insurers for the directors will pay $237.5 million to Boeing, minus fees and expenses, according to documents filed Friday. None of the directors  nor Boeing  will be required to pay anything.

Boeing agreed to add a board member with a background in aviation or aerospace engineering or product safety and create a safety ombudsman's office for at least five years.

Boeing fired Muilenburg in late 2019 and replaced him with David Calhoun, who was on the board at the time. Both are defendants in the shareholder lawsuit, along with several other current and former directors.

Eight of the 13 directors who were on the board when the crashes occurred will have left by January. Six new directors have been added.

In January, Chicago-based Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecution for misleading regulators about safety of the Max. Most of the money will go to airlines that bought the jets.
Catalytic converters are being stolen off cars around the country and in Connecticut. But what is a catalytic converter? And what makes them such a sought-after item?

From where they are stolen and how to protect your car from being targeted, heres what you need to know about catalytic converter theft.

What is a catalytic converter?

According to Farmers Insurance, a catalytic converter is a filter bolted to the underside of gas-powered cars. It's part of the car's exhaust system that reduces harmful emissions.

How do I know if my catalytic converter was stolen?

Allstate Insurance notes that starting the engine of a car will often indicate whether the converter is missing. If it is missing, the car will make a loud roaring sound that will get louder as you push the gas pedal, according to information Allstate attributes to The Spruce. The car could also make a sputtering sound as you change speed or not drive smoothly, Allstate notes.

Why are catalytic converters stolen?

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau president David Glawe, the motivation to steal these car parts  which has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic  might be connected to supply and demand.

As the value of the precious metals contained within the catalytic converters continues to increase, so do the number of thefts of these devices, he said in a statement. There is a clear connection between times of crisis, limited resources, and disruption of the supply chain that drives investors towards these precious metals.

Farmers Insurance notes that the metals contained in catalytic converters are more precious than gold, making them especially desirable by thieves.

Where are they typically stolen?

According to NICB, catalytic converters tend to be stolen from anywhere cars are parked.

Weve seen them stolen from fleet yards where there are a lot of vehicles in one spot and thieves can steal many in very short order, according to a statement provided by NICB to Hearst Connecticut in an email. Weve seen them stolen from in front of homes, right from the driveway and even just cars parked on the street.

Where have catalytic converters been stolen in Connecticut?

Individuals and organizations have reported thefts of catalytic converters across the state over the past year, including:

Are certain types of vehicles targeted more often than others?

According to NICB, converters tend to be stolen from larger vehicles, such as pickup trucks or delivery vehicles, due to their higher clearance and easier access to the underside of the car. Additionally, the Toyota Prius tends to be a major target of catalytic converter theft, NICB notes, since they contain two catalytic converters as well as the fact that as a hybrid, these converters tend to see less wear (corrosion) than those of other vehicles with equal miles, and therefore more valuable to thieves.

Farmers Insurance also notes that SUVs can be targeted because of their higher clearance; all-electric cars do not have catalytic converters and are considered safe from this type of theft.

How much does it typically cost to replace a catalytic converter?

According to auto parts retailer Auto Zone, direct-fit replacement converters can cost between $300 and $2,500 for the cost of the part, depending on the model necessary for the car. Labor costs can also range from $70 to $130 per hour to install the part.

What metals are in catalytic converters that make them a target for theft?

Information provided by the National Insurance Crime Bureau lists platinum, palladium and rhodium as the three valuable metals used in catalytic converters. These metals also come with high price tags per ounce. Rates available on KITCO.com, an online retailer of precious metals, showed that prices for rhodium had a 2021 high between March 19 and March 22 with a rate of $27,000 per ounce, according to NICB.

In the first week of November, KITCO.com showed rhodium prices at $13,250 per ounce, according to NICB, while palladium was $1,934 per ounce and platinum was $1,028 per ounce. Palladium reached its 2021 peak price on May 6 at $2,890 per ounce, according to NICB, while platinums 2021 peak came on Feb. 19, totaling $1,266 per ounce, prices on KITCO.com showed.

Is catalytic converter theft on the rise?

According to a report by NICB, data does show an increasing trend toward stealing the car parts nationwide.

In 2018, there were 1,298 catalytic converter thefts reported. In 2019, it was 3,389 reported thefts, the report notes. In 2020, reported catalytic converter thefts jumped massively to 14,433, with December leading the way with 2,347 thefts, or roughly 16 percent of the yearly total  in just one month.

However, the report provided a snapshot of the national trend based on claims data, not a number of total thefts, according to information provided by NICB to Hearst Connecticut Media.

The reason for this is in our look at thefts, we realize that the reported thefts  in other words, thefts for which an insurance claim was filed  would be significantly underreported, and they are underreported, NICB information states in clarifying that the report does not show the total number of catalytic converter thefts.

Why is there not a total number of catalytic converter thefts available?

While auto insurance does cover the replacement of stolen catalytic converters, NICB states that there are some caveats. Liability insurance  which covers damage to another car in an accident caused by the policy holder  is mandatory in all states, but collision coverage (for damages in an accident) or comprehensive coverage (for theft or damage not caused by an accident) is not required, according to NICB. This means those driving older cars, for example, may not opt for comprehensive coverage, NICB notes, while those leasing cars or with car loans might have comprehensive coverage.

But even if they did have coverage for stolen converters, a drivers deductible then comes into play.

If the deductible was $1,500, and the cost to repair was less than the deductible, there would be no coverage, according to NICB. Even if slightly above, the victim may decide it isnt worth filing a claim to recoup $100 to $200 or so. Lastly, some victims even with coverage may treat the problem as a mechanical issue and just pay for it themselves and never notified their insurer.

How can I protect my car from catalytic converter theft?

According to Farmers Insurance, there are three ways to protect a vehicle from converter theft:

Etch the license plate number on the converter to make the part easily identifiable to police.

Park in well-lit areas and set a vehicle alarm. Adding bright motion-sensor lights to outdoor areas where possible can help deter thieves, as well.

Install an anti-theft metal shield to the car frame to cover the catalytic converter.

NICB also notes that any fleet vehicles  such as those belonging to a rental car company  should be parked in an enclosed and secure area that is locked, well-lit and alarmed.

What do I do if my catalytic converter was stolen?

NICB recommends notifying local police and contacting your car insurance company to report the catalytic converter theft.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A week after abruptly canceling plans to attend the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, California Gov. Gavin has receded from public view to deal with with unspecific family obligations.

When the surprising announcement was made Oct. 29, a spokesperson said Newsom planned to participate virtually in the conference this week. But the California delegations schedule at the meeting this week, released by the governors office, did not include Newsom.

Instead, the schedule included in-person appearances by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who Newsom tapped to lead the state delegation in his absence; Sam Aseffa, director of the Governors Office of Planning and Research; David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission and California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot.

After the federal government late Tuesday authorized Pfziers coronavirus vaccine for emergency use for kids 5 to 11, California implemented what state officials deemed a robust vaccination program. Its the kind of announcement that Newsom typically makes in-person in front of TV cameras.

But the governors office announced the plan with an emailed news release. His last public appearance was Oct. 27, when he received a coronavirus booster shot.

Newsoms office did not respond to questions Friday about what the governor has been doing this week.

Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said the governor will appear virtually at the U.N. conference next week.

The Governor will participate in a couple events next week focused on global efforts to advance zero emission vehicles and to move beyond oil, she said Thursday.

Newsom submitted some prerecorded remarks to a transit conference earlier this week and his office announced some appointments to state agencies and boards. He also posted a photo on his Instagram account with his wife and four children, aged 5 to 12, dressed as pirates on Halloween.

His Twitter account went dark from Oct. 28 until Tuesday, when he tweeted Election Day support to fellow Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, who were seeking reelection. As the week went on, Newson's Twitter account was more active.

It's rare, but not unprecedented, for Newsom to go a whole week without some type of appearance. Such absences are usually explained, including when Newsom leaves the state for vacation.

In this case, the only statement from Newsom's office came Oct. 29 and referred to unspecified family obligations. No additional information about the family's circumstances has been released.

It's a relatively slow time in Sacramento as the state Legislature is not in session and won't meet again until January. Recent storms mean no major wildfires are burning out of control, as has been the case in recent years.

Kounalakis returned from Scotland on Thursday. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon will lead a second delegation of state lawmakers to Scotland next week for a series of meetings with world leaders and a tour of off-shore wind energy in Aberdeen, Scotland.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim.

The House passed the measure 228-206, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats' farthest left members  including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri  opposed it.

Approval of the bill, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, whisked it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose nervous party got a cold shoulder from voters in this weeks off-year elections.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks made party leaders  and moderates and progressives alike  impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. Democrats can ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could result in Republicans regaining congressional control.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger bill until later this month.

That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the sprawling measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates later agreed to back that bill if CBO's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, stood as a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st Century," Biden said in a written statement early Saturday.

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Biden even called her mother in India, though it was unclear why.

This was not to bribe me, this is when it was all done," Jayapal told reporters. The lawmaker said her mother told her she just kept screaming like a little girl."

In a two-sentence statement, the five moderates said that if the fiscal estimates on the social and environment bill raise problems, we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies" to pass it. The five included Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., leader of a group of centrists who this summer repeatedly pressured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule earlier votes on the infrastructure bill.

In exchange, progressives agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which they'd spent months holding hostage in an effort to pressure moderates to back the larger bill.

The day marked a rare detente between Democrats' moderate and progressive wings that party leaders hope will continue this fall. The rival factions have spent recent weeks accusing each other of jeopardizing Biden's and the party's success by overplaying their hands and expressed a deep distrust of each other.

But Friday night, Jayapal suggested they would work together moving forward.

Let me tell you, were going to trust each other because the Democratic Party is together on this. We are united that it is important for us to get both bills done," she said.

The agreement came together after the White House issued a statement from Biden explicitly urging Democrats to support both bills. I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act, he said.

When party leaders announced early in the day that the social and environment measure would be delayed, the scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over the party.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their top priorities. Thats been hard, in part because of Democrats slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

Welcome to my world, Pelosi told reporters, adding, We are not a lockstep party.

Progressives had long demanded that the two massive bills be voted on together to pressure moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure.

Democrats day turned tumultuous early after a half-dozen moderates demanded the CBO cost estimate of the sprawling package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives before they would vote for it.

Party leaders said that would take days or more. But with Fridays delayed vote and lawmakers leaving town for a weeks break, those budget estimates should be ready by the time a vote is held.

The infrastructure measure cleared the Senate in August with bipartisan support. The package would provide huge sums for highway, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and waste water, power grids and other projects.

But it became a pawn in the long struggle for power between progressives and moderates. Early Friday, Jayapal said the White House and Congress nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation had provided all the fiscal information lawmakers needed for the broad bill. She suggested that progressives would oppose the infrastructure bill unless the two measures were voted on together.

But that changed after the two Democratic factions reached their agreement.

House passage of the social and environment package would send it to the Senate, where it faces certain changes and more Democratic drama. Thats chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measures costs and curb or drop some of its initiatives.

Moderates have forced leaders to slash the roughly 2,100-page measure to around half its original $3.5 trillion size. Republicans oppose it as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide large numbers of Americans with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. The package would provide $555 billion in tax breaks encouraging cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added provisions in recent days restoring a new paid family leave program and work permits for millions of immigrants.

Much of the packages cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Alexandra Jaffe, Mary Clare Jalonick and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
BAGHDAD (AP)  One protester was killed and scores of people, mostly members of Iraqi security forces, were injured Friday when scuffles between supporters of pro-Iran Shiite militias who had camped outside Baghdads Green Zone and anti-riot police turned deadly, officials aid.

The protesters reject the results of last month parliamentary elections that saw the pro-Iran militias as the biggest losers.

The health ministry said the injuries in early Fridays scuffles were mostly from smoke inhalation and rock throwing. Most of the injured were members of the riot police.

It was not clear what sparked the clashes later Friday.

There were reports of an exchange of fire erupted after dark Friday following a day of tense rallies and scuffles between the Iraqi forces and the protesters who have been camped out outside the Green Zone for over three weeks.

Iraqs Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into Fridays violence to determine what sparked the clashes and who violated orders not to open fire, a statement from the joint security operations room said.

About 300 protesters marched, apparently trying to storm the heavily protected Green Zone, and used rocks to pelt the security forces. The anti-riot police responded with batons, tear gas and water cannons to push them back.

At least 27 civilians and 98 members of the security were injured, the health ministry said. Then clashes erupted, killing at least one protester, two security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Following the vote, militia supporters had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence unless their demands were met.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters is also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraqs newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraqs affairs through Iran-backed militias.

The militias lost popularity since the 2018 vote, when they made big election gains. Many hold them responsible for suppressing the 2019 protests, and for challenging the states authority.

The biggest gains were made by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who won the largest number of parliament seats, 73 out of 329. While he maintains good relations with Iran, al-Sadr publicly opposes external interference in Iraqs affairs.

The protests appear to be aimed at pressuring al-Sadr to ensure that Iran-aligned factions are part of the next Cabinet. As the winner, al-Sadrs bloc will seek coalition partners and name the prime minister.
MILFORD  Police arrested a Milford man after they found possible explosives.

On Sept. 21, Milford Police went to Railroad Avenue because a man was threatening to harm himself and blow up the apartment he was in, police said.

Officers negotiated with the man, 33-year-old Zachary Gallipoli, for seven hours until he came out of the apartment. Police then took Gallipoli to the hospital for an evaluation, the police department said.

While looking in Gallipolis apartment, police found possible explosive components. The Connecticut State Police Bomb Squad later gave the all-clear that the apartment was safe.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Gallipoli and he was taken into custody Thursday. He was charged with possession of an assault weapon, criminal intent illegal possession, possession of a high capacity magazine and failure to report address change for pistol permit.

Gallipoli was released on $75,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 1.
PUERTO MORELOS, Mexico (AP)  The shooting of two suspected drug dealers at a resort on Mexicos Caribbean coast is part of a fight among about a dozen gangs to carve up the lucrative market of selling drugs to tourists and locals, an official said Friday.

The chief prosecutor of the coastal state of Quintana Roo said that two main gangs are fighting for control of Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun. Thursdays shooting occurred on a beach just yards from luxury hotels.

But about 10 gangs are fighting over street-level drug sales in Tulum, a beach town further south. A California woman and a German tourist were killed in the crossfire of a gang shootout two weeks ago, and three other tourists were wounded.

In Tulum we have about 10 groups of drug dealers and here in Puerto Morelos there are two groups fighting each other, prosecutor Oscar Montes de Oca, told the Imagen Radio station.

Montes de Oca said the commando of about 15 masked drug gang gunmen arrived in vehicles and stormed the beach in Puerto Morelos by entering through a hotel parking lot  not coming by boat, as Gov. Carlos Joaquin had said the evening before.

Montes de Oca said Friday that they fled in a boat they commandeered after the attack.

The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the beach in front of the Azul Beach Resort and the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun.

Montes de Oca said the presence of over 20 million tourists every year in the coastal state provided a strong draw for retail drug sales. We are facing an issue of supply and demand for drugs, he said.

Cartels fighting for the areas lucrative retail drug trade include the Jalisco cartel and the a gang allied with the Gulf cartel.

Montes de Oca said one of the men targeted in the attack fled into one of the hotels before dying. The other was killed on the beach. One person suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack, but authorities could not immediately determine whether that person was a hotel employee or a guest.

Joaquin called the attack a serious blow to the development and security of the state ... putting the image of the state at grave risk.

Antonio Chaves, the leader of Maya Riviera Hotel Association, told The Associated Press the shootings would impact the state's tourism industry, which is recovering the the coronavirus pandemic.

Clearly, we are going to suffer setbacks in the very short term, Chaves said, adding that, even though it causes suffering, it's unlikely to deter drug gangs.

They are criminal groups that don't care about the place, the time, the surroundings, and that affects the tourism zone," he said.

The shootings were the latest chapter in drug gang violence that has sullied the reputation of Mexicos Caribbean coast as a once-tranquil oasis.

Guests at both resorts posted social media images of tourists hiding or nervously milling in the lobbies.

Keith Jackson, a tourist from London, England, left the beach just before the shooting. But he said Friday, Were not sure we would come back. Were not sure we would come back after this.

The two women that were killed in Tulum, you know, in the crossfire, you know, this is what happened, Jackson said. So we all kind of worried that something will happen while were there and well get caught in the in the action.

Just before they left, Jackson and Marie Hitches, also of London, said they saw about five masked men walking down the beach before the shooting, asking questions even of a lifeguard and security staff, apparently looking for the rival drug dealers, who had masqueraded as trinket vendors.

They climbed up into the lifeguards' tower and they threatened and they were asking for information and they threatened him with a gun, asking him, you know, if Id seen the the two new guys walking up and down the beach, Jackson said.

And he (the lifeguard) radioed in, and thats when the security came out at that point, Jackson added, saying that while the security people spoke to the suspected cartel members, "nothing happened. It was about two hours later when the shooting happened.

Rival cartels often kill other gangs' street-level dealers in Mexico to eliminate competition and ensure their drugs are sold first. It is not the first time that tourists have been caught in such battles.

The Puerto Morelos shooting comes two weeks after California travel blogger Anjali Ryot of San Jose, California, and German citizen Jennifer Henzold were killed by crossfire during what prosecutors said appeared to be a clash over street-level drug sales in Tulum.

Three other foreign tourists were wounded in the Oct. 20 shooting at a street-side eatery right off Tulums main strip. They included two German men and a Dutch woman.

Montes de Oca said eight suspects in the Tulum attack had been detained in possession of firearms.

The German Foreign Office issued a travel advisory about the violence, advising its citizens, If you are currently in the Tulum or Playa del Carmen area, do not leave your secured hotel facilities.

There have been signs that the situation in Quintana Roo state, where all the resorts are located, was out of control months ago. In June, two men were shot to death on the beach in Tulum and a third was wounded.

And in nearby Playa del Carmen, police staged a massive raid in October on the towns restaurant-lined Quinta Avenida, detaining 26 suspects  most apparently for drug sales  after a city policewoman was shot to death and locked in the trunk of a car. Prosecutors said Friday they have arrested a suspect in that killing.

The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pinned tourism hopes on the so-called Maya Riviera, where it has announced plans to build an international airport and a stop for the Maya train, which will run in a loop around the Yucatan Peninsula.

___

AP Reporter Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this report
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)  Washington state senators and staff will have to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or submit to regular testing when on campus when the new legislative session starts in January, under a proposal approved by a Senate committee Friday night.

Under the new regulations, senators will conduct their work through a mix of virtual committee meetings and on-site votes. For days when lawmakers are on the chamber floor to vote, daily testing for all senators and staff  regardless of vaccination status  will be required.

The Democratic-majority Senate Facilities and Operations Committee met Friday morning to discuss the COVID-19 protocols for the 60-day session that begins Jan. 10.

Unlike last year, when a limited number of lawmakers were allowed in the Senate chamber during floor votes, under the plan approved by the committee, all 49 senators can attend floor sessions and the two galleries above the floor will once again be open to the public, with a limit of up to 12 people on each side. Masking and public distancing will be required.

A vote on the plan was initially delayed so Republicans on the committee had a chance to present it to their caucus. The final vote was 4-3, with all three Republicans on the committee voting against it.

Under the new rules, Senate committee hearings will remain remote, with public participation. As before the pandemic, hearings and floor votes will continue to be broadcast or live streamed by TVW, the states government affairs channel.

The House hasnt finalized plans for what that chamber will look like, but with double the number of lawmakers compared to the Senate, leaders this week said there is likely to be a hybrid situation of in-person and remote floor votes.

Its also not yet been decided whether the House will extend into the session an interim rule that took effect in October that requires House members and staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to access House facilities.

While the Capitol was closed to the public during the last legislative session, it has been open since July 1 with a requirement for visitors to wear masks while indoors.

Lawmakers are encouraged to hold meetings remotely, but under the new guidelines, in-office meetings will be capped at three people per meeting. Members of the public who meet with senators at their office will not be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test but will be asked COVID screening questions by Senate security.

Senate officials estimate they will need to spend $100,000 a month to hire private security to assist Senate security with the flow of the public in the Senate office buildings and in and out of the galleries at the Capitol.

Remote work will continue to be encouraged or required for many staffers, including session aides and interns.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter late Thursday rescued seven people who had been iced in since last week at a cabin about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of the Yukon River community of Emmonak in western Alaska, the Alaska State Troopers reported.

The group was adequately supplied with food, water, shelter, and necessary supplies" before they were rescued Thursday night, troopers said.

U.S. Army helicopters had been expected to extract the individuals Friday morning, troopers had said. But a Coast Guard helicopter was able to make the trip from Nome after overcoming mechanical issues and getting a weather window, said Petty Officer 1st Class Ali Blackburn, a Coast Guard spokesperson.

Safely extracting the group as quickly as possible was a top priority for all of the agencies involved in this operation, said Austin McDaniel, a troopers spokesperson.

Blackburn said no injuries were reported at the time of the rescue. Blackburn said the individuals were taken to Nome.

KYUK Public Media reported the group was composed of hunters from Pilot Station that got stuck outside Emmonak on their way home. Hunters from lower Yukon River villages traditionally travel to the coast in the fall to hunt for seal, without problems. But as they were making their way back, ice began forming on the water.

Four of the hunters are volunteers with the Pilot Station search and rescue team and contacted Emmonak Search and Rescue with an emergency communication device. According to Emmonak Search and Rescue, the hunters provided their location and were directed to the nearest fish camp, KYUK reported.

McDaniel had said the group stopped at the fish camp cabin for the night on Oct. 28. While they were there overnight, the river iced over. So the ice on the river is too thick to run a boat, and its not thick enough to run snowmachine there, and theres no overland route to get to this spot, he said Tuesday.

Troopers said they were notified the individuals were stuck at the camp around 5:15 p.m. last Friday and that a supply drop of food and needed medications was made on Sunday.

Authorities had been pursuing use of a helicopter to pick the individuals up, McDaniel said. Weather conditions between the area and some hub communities, however, had previously hampered efforts to reach the site, he said earlier this week.

Blackburn said the Coast Guard also dropped supplies, including a radio, to the group before the rescue.

Paul Fancyboy, head of the Pilot Station search and rescue group, had told KYUK he was concerned with how long it was taking for the individuals to be rescued, calling it unacceptable.
Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Maj. Lauren Harrison is a visiting military analyst and Ryan Brobst is a research analyst. FDD is a nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy. Follow Bradley on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman.

The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

Israeli and Saudi fighter jets participated in the same patrol mission (albeit at different times) on Oct. 30, accompanying a U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber circumnavigating the Arabian Peninsula and attempting to send a deterrence message to Tehran.

Riyadh's willingness to join a military mission involving Israel is the latest indication that the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran are incentivizing some Arab capitals to tiptoe toward overt security cooperation with Israel.

The B-1B is a bomber capable of carrying a larger payload of conventional weapons than any other aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory. The aircraft's flight path makes clear the mission's purpose: assuring America's allies and partners in the Middle East while sending a deterrence message to Tehran.

The bomber flew in or near the airspace of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, while skirting along almost the entire southern maritime border of Iran. It flew over the strategic Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea, Suez Canal, Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman. These waterways mark some of the world's busiest shipping routes and have been plagued by numerous Iranian-sponsored attacks on oil tankers and nearby refineries.

Admittedly, U.S. bomber flights in that region are not uncommon. The U.S. Air Force headquarters responsible for the Middle East said the bomber flight was the fifth so-called "presence patrol" in 2021, following a series of flights in 2020. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have used the bomber flights to reassure Washington's friends and warn Tehran.

While the bomber's patrol through the Middle East was not particularly newsworthy, the participants were. During the five-hour flight, the American bomber was escorted (at different times) by fighter aircraft from Israel and three Arab countries. That includes F-16s from Bahrain and Egypt and F-15s from Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi contribution is the most interesting part. That's because Saudi Arabia -- unlike Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates -- has not normalized relations with Israel. Saturday's flight represented only the second time that Riyadh has participated in a U.S. bomber patrol mission that included Israeli aircraft. In March, two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers flew a similar patrol in the Middle East and were accompanied at different points by Israeli, Saudi and Qatari aircraft.

The flight follows last month's Israeli-hosted Blue Flag 2021 exercise, which featured a landmark visit to Israel by the chief of the UAE Air Force.

The main reason for this growing Israeli-Arab security cooperation is a shared concern regarding Tehran's aggression toward its neighbors and region-wide efforts to sow instability and terrorism.

The bomber flights may be a necessary measure against Tehran, but they clearly are insufficient. To be certain, the flights demonstrate American strike capability and remind decision-makers in Tehran that a large-scale conventional military conflict with the United States likely would not end well for Iran. The flights also reiterate that the United States has the means to devastate Tehran's nuclear program. At the same time, the bomber flights clearly have not persuaded Iran to stop exporting terrorism, building its missile and drone arsenal, or inching toward a nuclear weapons capability.

The Oct. 30 flight comes as the Biden administration is pushing Iran to return to the negotiating table to revive the now-defunct Iran nuclear agreement. The country's top nuclear negotiator announced Wednesday that Iran agreed to resume negotiations on Nov. 29. An Iranian desire to achieve sanctions relief, not the B-1B's flight, likely explains that announcement.

While the involvement of Saudi and Israeli fighters in the same mission is significant, that development does not necessarily mean normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel is imminent. In its press release regarding the patrol mission, Riyadh failed to mention Israel, actually referring to the multilateral mission as a "bilateral exercise" with the U.S. Air Force. On Oct. 31, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan al-Saud, said a Palestinian state is a precondition for Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel.

Yet this position may reflect transient politics more than long-term policy. Indeed, an Israeli commercial jet landed in Riyadh in late October, reportedly marking the first time an Israeli public flight has landed in the Kingdom. That first occurred a day after a Saudi jet landed at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.

Regardless, to defend common security interests in the face of growing Iranian aggression, Saudi Arabia and Israel would be wise at least to continue tiptoeing toward increased security cooperation.

-- The views expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or the Air Force.
The Reds announced this afternoon that southpaw Justin Wilson has exercised a player option to return to Cincinnati in 2022. Hell lock in a $2.3MM salary.

Wilson signed a fairly complex deal with the Yankees last offseason. Guaranteed a $2.85MM salary for 2021, Wilson could either opt-in to next years $2.3MM salary or decline the option. Doing so wouldve forced the team to decide whether to exercise a $7.15MM option or buy him out for $1.15MM.

Theres no chance the Reds  who acquired Wilson alongside Luis Cessa in a midseason deal  wouldve exercised their end of the pact. Not only has Cincinnati signaled a clear desire to shed payroll, Wilson is coming off the worst season of his career. The veteran southpaw hadnt posted an ERA higher than 3.66 during any year from 2017-20, but that mark spiked to 5.29 as Wilsons swing-and-miss plummeted. After consistently punching out close to or more than 30% of opposing hitters over the past half-decade, he fanned just 19.5% of batters faced this past season and generated whiffs on a tiny 8.6% of his offerings.

To his credit, Wilson did post a 2.81 ERA in sixteen frames with Cincinnati after the trade. Thats obviously far better than his 7.50 mark in pinstripes, but his peripherals were generally unimpressive with both clubs. The 34-year-old will try to right the ship and again cement himself as a trustworthy high-leverage arm in a return run at Great American Ball Park.
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Waverly student, alum team up for charity fashion show

Photo provided Waverly sophomore Ashlen Croft (right) modeled clothing designed by Waverly alum Jaimie Hand (left) in last months Runway for a Cause fashion show in Elmira.

WAVERLY  In October, Waverly sophomore Ashlen Croft modeled in the second annual Runway for a Cause fashion show, held in the Arnot Mall Event Center in Elmira, wearing the designs of Waverly alum Jaimie Hand.

Hand graduated from Waverly High School and GST BOCES in 2017, and has been working as an associate designer for a company in Los Angeles, California for three years now.

Hand explained that Runway for a Cause is a not-for-profit that was founded by two of her fellow BOCES alumni  Katie Hardiman and Emmi Saufley, both of Elmira  and that she got connected to the organization by her connection to the founders.

I have been friends with both of the founders for a couple years, Hand said. Emmi and I have been friends for 10 plus years now.

Croft said she got involved with the event because of her own connection to Hand, who is a family friend.

According to Hand, Runway for a Cause does various fundraisers throughout the year on top of their fashion show, with all proceeds being donated to various charities.

This year we donated all the profits (from the show) to Habitat for Humanity, Hand said.

When asked what the highlight of the show was for her, Croft had a hard time picking just one thing.

It was all around very fun, Croft said. I think show day was very fun because everyone was just very positive.

Croft went on to say the experience was enlightening for her in determining what areas of the fashion industry she might be interested in.

I do really like runway, but it was a lot for show day, said Croft. Id much rather just stick to photoshoots and things like that where it isnt so high intensity.

Croft went on to say that the show was also a big boost for her confidence.

The models and the designers and the instructors were very uplifting and they were positive, Croft said.

For Hand, being able to come home and participate in an event like this means a lot.

Being able to give back to my community through my career is definitely huge for me, said Hand. I live so far away, but its nice to be able to go back to my roots and work with people Ive known and really see how were making an impact on the community.

Hand went on to credit growing up in a small town for giving her the confidence and motivation necessary to advance her career.

Growing up in a town where there wasnt a lot of fashion really encouraged me to be different, Hand said. It taught me how to be OK with being different and be OK with standing out  I think thats definitely pushed my career farther than I wouldve gone had I grown up somewhere else.

She also gave a shoutout to BOCES for giving her career a jumpstart right out of high school.

While shes not sure where her career will be taking her in the future, Hand said she looks forward to future opportunities to come home and show her work with Runway for a Cause.

I loved working with the organization and it was a very good experience overall, said Hand.
Dayna Beth Adams was last seen on October 5 in Tifton following a brief stay in Moultrie. She is presumed to have gotten off in Atlanta. She is described as being 5'2'' and weighing approximately 110-120 pounds with naturally blonde hair and blue eyes. She has been known to dye her hair. She has a tattoo on her right hip as well as a "belly of tattoo stars" and a homemade star tattoo on her left ankle. She is known to have piercings in an eyebrow, her tongue and two ear piercings.
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Elon Musk 's company SpaceX may once again work with NASA to get astronauts to the Moon. The federal judge who was handling the case of Blue Origin , Jeff Bezos ' aerospace company, against the United States government for the contracts with Musk's firm, agreed with the aerospace agency. This means that Starship will continue its plan to bring humans to the Moon.

Faced with the judge's ruling, Jeff Bezos commented through his Twitter account: "It is not the decision we wanted, but we respect the judgment of the court and wish NASA and SpaceX full success in the contract."
From her home in Illinois, Asma Yawari has built a relationship with her younger cousin in Afghanistan thats made the geographic distance between the two teenagers' worlds seem, well, not quite so distant.

They never met but have bonded over phone calls and messages -- swapping family photos and language lessons, sharing hair routines and future dreams. But after the Talibans return to power, the cousins worry that the space between their worlds may grow in new ways. Already, some shared experiences, like going to school or dressing up, are fading, replaced by the fear that the cousin, and others like her in Afghanistan, may be left behind.

We have similar goals and aspirations, the 17-year-old Asma says. The only difference is that Im able to achieve those goals and aspirations.

As a wary world watches to see the Talibans policies for women, many older girls in Afghanistan already face disrupted dreams, worried for their future, afraid of missing out on big career goals as well as little freedoms and hobbies that helped connect them to far-flung families. And perhaps none are more worried for them than the faraway women who could have been them - the sisters, the cousins, the friends.

The cousin, 13-year-old Bahara, tells Asma shes upset that boys in her age range have been called back to school, but not girls above the sixth grade. And even if shes allowed to return, she questions what dreams of hers may no longer have a place under the Taliban.

Her hope of one day becoming a fashion designer? Im just going to give up on that, she says. Its very sad for me.

Asma, who has helped organize protests in Chicago in support of Afghans scrambling to leave the country after the Taliban takeover, worries over the safety of her family in Afghanistan and the future of her female cousins.

I always think that could have been me, she says.

___

The status of Afghan women, at times used to help garner support for the U.S. war after the 9/11 attacks, has once again taken center stage after the recent rise of the Taliban who face international pressure to ensure womens rights.

During their previous rule between 1996 and 2001, the group severely restricted women in the public sphere, largely confining them to their homes. That track record looms large even as they promise more rights and freedoms this time.

Throughout decades, Afghanistan has been used as grounds for competing powers to play out their proxy wars, and the status of Afghan women is often at the heart of it, says Nura Sediqe, lecturer at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Changes over the last two decades brought opportunity for the women in Sediqes family in Herat province but then fatalities continued in more rural parts of Afghanistan, so I felt this guilt.

That diversity of experiences of Afghan women is often overlooked, says Mejgan Massoumi, an Afghan American historian.

Some girls and women worked to seize the opportunity of going to school and getting a job; others faced social and economic burdens holding them back, she says.

In bigger cities, like Kabul, women may have more visibility and rights than in the many rural areas of the vast country.

Girls education has been a battlefield with uneven progress.

Even before the recent Taliban takeover, multiple barriers -- including cultural norms, familial disapproval, security fears, financial pressures, the long distance to some schools and shortages of female teachers -- have kept significantly more girls than boys out of school, especially when the girls reach adolescence, according to a 2019 UNICEF report.

Still, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi told reporters that the number of children enrolled in schools increased from one million in 2001, when the Taliban were ousted from power, to almost 10 million, including 4 million girls. Despite this progress, 4.2 million children are out of school, including 2.6 million girls, he said.

The education gains of the past two decades must be strengthened and not rolled back, said Abdi, who added he urged the Taliban to let all girls resume learning.

Speaking in mid October, he said girls were allowed to attend secondary school in only five of Afghanistans provinces. Talibans education minister, Abdi said, told him they were working on a framework which they will announce soon that will allow all girls to go to secondary schools.

The Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law during their earlier rule, but many Afghans are skeptical.

The Taliban is taking their personal, unique interpretation of Islamic law and fusing it with their cultural understanding of womens rights and womens access to the public sphere, says Ali A. Olomi, an assistant professor of Islamic and Middle East history at Penn State University, Abington, stressing that Islam strongly encourages education.

___

Masouma Tajik worries her younger sisters may not have access to the same opportunities that have allowed her to become a data analyst in Kabul.

The 22-year-old, career-minded Tajik graduated from the American University of Afghanistan, where she studied on a scholarship.

She recalls feeling scared shortly before the Taliban seized Kabul. The first reason that I was afraid was my right to live as a woman, she says. I put so much time and effort on my career."

After the Taliban takeover, Tajik left Afghanistan for Eastern Europe. Shes been applying for scholarships or refugee programs in different countries.

Her sisters stayed behind in Herat with the rest of the family.

One of her sisters' answers became shorter when they talked: No, she doesnt go to school (their youngest sister does). The sister, who used to tell Tajik that she wanted to join the army, didnt complain but her voice betrayed her sadness, Tajik says. More recently, that sister started sharing that she has been going out, including to the park, and studying English at home.

Tajik has no idea how to help; her own life is in limbo.

Im just like giving hope for them, Tajik says. I have nothing, no plan in my hands for them. She understands this.

Nazia, 30, is also missing a younger sister who is in Afghanistan. The two were separated two years ago, when Nazia moved to America and Hena remained in Kabul.

Hena is growing hopeless about what the future holds.

At times, Nazia, who didn't want her last name used to protect the identity of relatives in Afghanistan, tries to cheer her up; at others, she joins her in crying.

Since she was a child, Hena has dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Everything has been taken away from us, she says, speaking on Zoom as Nazia translates. She helps her mom with chores at home and, sometimes, reads her textbooks, unsure whether or when she will be able to use them in a classroom again.

And Nazia feels helpless: I cant do anything for them.

___

In Afghanistan, Bahara says she had been counting the days since boys beyond the sixth grade have been allowed back to school, but not the girls.

Before, time would fly by as she juggled going to her school and doing her homework with taking outside courses in English and her favorite hobby  sewing.

She scoured Instagram for fashion design inspiration; her family felt it would be inappropriate for her to post photos of herself, but she could browse. Her mother gave her a sewing machine and she made dresses for herself and her sisters.

Now, her world has shrunk. A close friend with whom she had planned a fashion design project left the country. The courses she used to take are no longer meeting. She tries to keep a low profile, wearing a loose, long black gown when she goes out and a tightly wrapped black headscarf that frames her face; she deleted from her phone cherished photos of herself wearing dresses she made.

A sister says she doesnt want to return to school even if allowed back, worried about potential Taliban harassment, Bahara says; but not her.

I miss my teachers, my books, my friends, she says. I wake up every day and when I see the clock, I think that that was the time that I should be in school.

Bahara's family is among the many who are hoping to leave the country for multiple reasons.

Talking or texting with her cousin Asma provides some relief.

Bahara holds onto the good memories, like her birthday party, shortly before Kabul fell to the Taliban. She didnt have anything to wear. In one night, I tailored a beautiful dress.

In her new dress, surrounded by childhood girlfriends, she laughed, played games and blew out the candles.

I think that was the last day for me that I was happy, she says. After that ... there is no day to spend without worries.

Meanwhile, Asma recently attended her schools homecoming, but hesitated before posting photos online of herself, dolled up in a sparkling baby blue dress and posing with friends. She didnt want her cousin or other family to think she was flaunting her freedom.

If I do go hang out with my friends, I feel guilty, she says. I just feel guilty, like, talking about it.

___

Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Texas Pension Review Board states in an intensive actuarial review that the Midland Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund is currently projected to run out of assets in 22 years.

And during a meeting last week in Austin, one board member said that the plan could be out of business in 10 to 12 years  and thats assuming we dont have a bear market.

The Texas Pension Review Board shared concerns during the meeting and in the review about the Midland Firemens Relief and Retirement Fund and its boards investment, governance and transparency practices.

At the meeting, it was said that the production and presentation of review was six months in the making and not without obstacles, specifically multiple comments from board officials about having difficulty getting information from the Midland Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund board and staff members.

At the same time, Midland Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund (also referred to as Midland Fire in the report) officials, specifically longtime board member David Stacy, told TPRB board members there was more to the story than what the TPRBs report showed, that Midland Fire was doing what it had to do over the last decade to accomplish the things we needed and while the MFRRF board agreed to actions being proposed in the study  including a forensic audit of the Midland Firemens Relief and Retirement Fund  he didnt expect they would show me anything that I do not already know.

--

An examination of the executive summary of the Texas Pension Review Boards intensive actuarial review shows that the forensic audit should include a reconstruction of investment performance, fees, compliance review and risk assessment to provide a solid foundation to create a funding soundness restoration plan (FSRP) and monitor progress. They should also conduct a governance audit to review best practices and increase transparency of board operations.

The review of pensions across the state was a legislature initiative and the Texas Pension Review Board stated it intended to assist Midland Fires board of trustees and the city of Midland with assessing the funds ability to meet its long-term pension obligations, according to the introduction of the intensive actuarial review. The Pension Review Board (PRB) encourages the fund and city to review the findings and conclusions of this report and jointly adopt a forward-looking plan to address these issues. The PRB can provide technical assistance in formulating the plan.

In the overview of the intensive actuarial review, the Texas Pension Review Board states the Midland Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund is currently projected to run out of assets in 22 years.

Under the Key findings part of the report, it states, Midland Fire faces many serious issues ranging from limited to no investment governance; inconsistent and insufficient investment performance; and large, unexpected increases in benefit payments. All of these factors increase the risk the fund will run out of money in as little as 10 to 12 years.

The report also included five key findings

Midland Fire lacks fundamental governance practices to administer its investment program, including portfolio monitoring and defining roles and responsibilities.

Transparency and accuracy concerns with Midland Fires investment program limit members and stakeholders abilities to evaluate their benefit security.

Over the last decade the funds investments have underperformed their assumed rate of return by more than 2 percent

Among the highest in the state, Midland Fires investment expenses have grown considerably since 2013, and the fund has no fee monitoring process.

Midland Fires asset allocation appears to be a poor fit for their size and liability constraint.

Midland Fire faces significant risk of near-term exhaustion.

Between 2000 and 2019, the fund went from a stable funded ratio of 93.7 percent to 51.1 percent, according to the intensive actuarial review. Investment underperformance was the primary contributor to an increase in unfunded actuarially accrued liability (UAAL) since investments have underperformed their assumed rate of return of 7.5 percent by more than 2 percent, only achieving a 10- year compounded return of 5.1 percent over the last decade, despite a strong bull market during that same period. Inadequate contributions and assumption changes also exacerbated the UAAL increase since the reliance on investment returns to pay benefits increases as the funded ratio declines, which compounds the negative effects of underperforming assets.

--

The Midland Firemens Relief and Retirement Fund is there for firefighters as they dont pay into social security, it was said during the Texas Pension Review Board.

There are five members of the board as listed on MFRRF website -- www.midlandfrrf.com. They are Brian McGary (chairman), Stacy (vice chair), James Martin (secretary/treasurer), Mayor Patrick Payton and Mark Mason, the citys new director of Finance. It was stated by Payton and Stacy at the meeting that the two city officials didnt have much experience with board activities.

Payton told the Pension Review Board, he received phone calls a couple months ago about the severity of this urgent situation were seeing today.

Payton and City Manager Robert Patrick both told the Pension Review Board they are committed to doing everything from the citys side to making sure the pension fund works. Patrick told the Reporter-Telegram that the city can help in one of the five key findings and that measures already have been put into place or committed. They include raising the citys contribution rate to the pension from 21.7 percent to 22.2 percent.

I believe it is shown in the review that the contribution rate, along with that our firemen are putting in are above average to other peer pension funds, Patrick told the Pension Review Board, so that portion of it doesnt appear to be the largest issue with the fund.

Patrick said the city also has offered recently to help pay for consulting services or actuarial services and with other administrative costs to help get this resolved.

We're committed to our firemen, Patrick said. We're committed to make sure that this pension fund works. And we're looking forward to the future.

--

The Reporter-Telegram reached out Friday to the MFRRF for additional comments about the intensive actuarial review and this weeks meeting with the Pension Review Board. An MFRRF official responded the board wanted to engage with the Reporter-Telegram at a future date because of our long-standing history with the Pension Review Board and our on-going commitment to work with the city of Midland.

It was during the Stacys comments to the board that it became apparent that he and the Pension Review Board were not on the same page.

Stacy, who was first elected to the MFRRF board, didnt share their concerns about the MFRRFs move to an endowment model. He believed the MFRRF had provided ample documentation about its meetings and discussions about investment policy. He also didnt share the concerns of the Pension Review Board on investment strategy, including the amount the MFRRF invested in real estate.

Stacy added that formal meetings had been held with MFRRFs members and there was documentation to address many concerns the Pension Review Board had.

He told the Pension Review Board members that their report didnt take into account the cyclical nature of the oil industry in Midland, which forced the city to pay more overtime and cost-of-living adjustments to firefighters that werent experienced elsewhere.

Stacy said he was optimistic that the MRFFR can work with the city to correct funding issues, adjust the benefit structure and ultimately that would help reduce the likelihood of a chance for this to occur in the future.

He also said he would take Payton and Patrick at their word that they will act in good faith and they intend to do what needs to be done.

--

More information from the Texas Pension Review Boards intensive actuarial review of the Midland Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund. The following are notes included in the intensive actuarial review. They are listed as key metrics that showed concerning trends between 2000 and the end of 2019 when the fund was selected for review:

 The funded ratio decreased from 93.7 percent in 2000 to 51.1 percent at the end of 2019;

 The unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL) increased from $3 million in 2000 to $87 million at the end of 2019;

 The UAAL as a percent of payroll is the ninth highest in the state.

 Its non-investment cashflow as a percent of (Fiduciary Net Position) FNP, which shows the strain on system assets to perform after contributions, expenses and benefits are netted out, was in the lowest quartile in the state.

 The fund reported a total expense ratio of 1.89 percent in 2019, the highest of any plan in the state.

Additionally, the fund was significantly past due on several required reports and evaluations, according to the review. Those included:

 2019 Investment Returns and Assumptions Report (form PRB-1000): due July 31, 2020;

 Investment Practices and Performance Evaluation (IPPE): due June 1, 2020;

 Written funding policy: due Feb. 1, 2020;

 Funding Soundness Restoration Plan (FSRP) to be developed jointly with the city: due August 2019.
79, formerly of Muskogee left us November 15, 2021 in Nebraska. Her Service of Memory will be on Tuesday, 12pm at Worship Community Center 820 E. Okmulgee. Keith D. Biglow Funeral Directors, Inc- Muskogee
SPRINGFIELD  Lincoln Land Community College dedicated three newly installed outdoor sculptures Monday on its Springfield campus, in the process honoring Dr. Terry Travis of Springfield, who donated them to the college, and the sculptors who created them.

These extraordinary pieces, along with Michael Dunbars Stele Head and Barry Tinsleys La Terra sculptures nearby, create a haven of inspiration on our campus, said Dr. Charlotte Warren, LLCC president. Gratitude is a theme at the college these days. It gives me great pleasure to recognize and express grateful thanks to Dr. Travis for his generous donation.

Paradigm Shift is a 22-foot-tall sculpture by Bruce Chaban that first was exhibited at Chicagos Navy Pier. Immigrant, sculpted of steel and concrete, was created by Mike Baur; and Take Five is a steel-and-wood sculpture by Pat McDonald. All now grace the lawn in front of Menard Hall on the LLCC-Springfield campus.

Dr. Vern Lindquist, vice president of academic services, said it is rare for a community college to have such prominent works of art on display.

These artworks exist not in a gallery but in a public space  works on view that become part of the calling card and first impression of the institution, Lindquist said. It is wonderful to have sculptors here with us today to see how their work has changed the landscape of our campus and enriched our daily experience.

LLCC alumnus and prominent sculptor Michael Dunbar praised Travis.

Over the years, I have come to realize that Terry Travis has a highly tuned, intuitive sense of visual acuity, Dunbar said. He sees things that others fail to notice. He has whats called in the art world a good eye. As a result, he has assembled an exceptional collection of outstanding sculptures for his home and placement in numerous public art collections.

Also recognized during the event were LLCC construction students who assisted in laying the foundations and installing the sculptures; art professor Thom Whalen, who advised on the location of each sculpture; and Karen Sanders, vice president of advancement and executive director of the LLCC Foundation, who facilitated the gift.

Tinsleys La Terra was installed on campus in 2006 as part of the Illinois Art in Architecture program, first coordinated by Dunbar. Dunbars Stele Head, which Travis donated to LLCC in 1993, was moved to another campus location in 2009 when the college broke ground for the A. Lincoln Commons student center but now has returned home in front of the Commons.
The captain of Jacksonvilles Salvation Army branch and his wife are gearing up for the organizations busiest time of the year  the holiday season.

At Christmas, we have raised a third of our income, Capt. Chris Clarke said.

Clarke and his wife, April, have been in Jacksonville for six months, though hes been with The Salvation Army for 14 years.

Chris Clarke is excited to be in Jacksonville, he said, noting that he appreciates its size and how the community comes together to volunteer time.

Its almost like I have time to step back and focus on other things, he said of his role as captain.

Previously, the Clarkes were stationed in Sioux City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Hillsdale, Michigan; and now Jacksonville  averaging about four years in each location.

I like the smaller towns, Clarke said. I love the community feel, he said, adding that its harder to find volunteers in large cities. Now, I request to be in smaller towns.

The Jacksonville Salvation Armys smaller staff means fewer salaries so more of its funds are going to help people in need, Clarke said.

We help with things like paying utilities, he said.

The Salvation Army at 331 W. Douglas St. also offer free lunches Monday through Friday, food distribution Wednesday evenings and a church service at 11 a.m. Sundays that follows Sunday school.

I like having the ability to help people, Clarke said.

Now the Christmas season is around the corner and the Clarkes are ready to ramp up their volunteer base, especially with red-kettle bell-ringing season starting Thursday.

This year, the Battle of the Bell will be a competition among service clubs whose members volunteer their time to ring the bell. The club that raises the most money will receive a trophy.

So, if Kiwanis loses, a member would have to go to Rotary and present them with the trophy, Clarke said.

In addition to the bell-ringing season, the organization also will have its Angel Tree program, through which people can adopt a child or children for whom to buy Christmas gifts.

To adopt a child up to the age of 18, people can sign up at the Salvation Location on Douglas Street or pick an angel hanging from trees that will be displayed at several locations in Jacksonville.

Toy donation collection bins also will be available at County Market, 1255 W. Morton Ave., and Dollar General, 1417 S. Main St.
FREDERICK  A Rushville man treated for minor injuries after two trucks crashed and overturned Saturday on Illinois Route 100 in Schuyler County.

Illinois State Police said Christopher D. Klitz, 52, of Rushville was driving a box truck north on Illinois 100 about 10 a.m. and slowed to turn into an Archer Daniels Midland Co. grain elevator. Kevin J Searle, 39, of East Peoria was driving a semi-trailer truck behind him and state police said he failed to slow down, hitting the rear of Klitzs truck.
The artists featured in the November exhibit at the Art Association of Jacksonvilles David Strawn Art Gallery both use fiber in their art, though thats about where the similarities end.

While Eureka, Missouri-based mixed-media artist Amy Koch focuses on paper in her whimsical works, which often take on a shadowbox form, Anna Winette Repke of Chillicothe is all about wool.

There are so many different names for it, Repke said of her art. The technical name for it is watercolor felting, but I dont think anybody knows or uses it. Because its emerging  its an art form thats really coming out  right now its called by a lot of different things.

Felting is a process that causes natural fibers, like wool, to fray and fuse to other fibers around it. The process can involve wetting and massaging the wool or using a sharp, barbed needle to encourage the fibers to mesh in a process known as needle felting. Repke primarily uses the wetting-and-massaging process, though she also uses needle felting and a bit of machine sewing to get just the look she wants.

In her case, the results resemble the oil painting she once created.

I have painted ever since I could hold a pencil in my hand, Repke said. Oil paint was my go-to. I quit in the middle of a painting. I was so frustrated, I said Im never doing that again.

While part of the problem with that particular painting was that it just wasnt working for her on a creative level, she now thinks she may have been allergic to her tools.

You can be allergic to the paint, the paint thinners and turpentine, she said. I think it was really bothering me. (At the time) I thought it was my kids.

More Information If you go ... The Art Association of Jacksonville will have an opening reception for an exhibit of wool art by Anna Repke and mixed-media art by Amy Koch from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the David Strawn Art Gallery, 331 W. College Ave. A gallery talk by the artists will be at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. Gallery hours are from 1 to 3 p.m. Sundays and from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. See More Collapse

Stepping away from her art, she focused on raising those 10 children and the family farms sheep and border collies. When she later sold a border collie to a fiber artist and spent some time teaching her how to work the dog to herd sheep, the artist taught Repke how to make a felted purse.

Repke then wanted to try to create a purse featuring one of the landscape scenes she had favored as a painter.

My sheep (farming) friends were going crazy over my purses, Repke said. One said it was too pretty to use as a purse and she was going to hang it on a wall. I thought, I just want to paint; why make a purse?

Repke now creates a range of felted art, mostly landscape paintings that tend to run on on the larger side, she said.

My husband made a 4-by-8-foot table that I can lay them all on while creating them, Repke said, noting that the process requires layering wool roving. The top layer is the actual picture with colors. You get it soaking wet and massage it flat. You massage it until it turns into fabric.

Yep, fabric.

Its the most ancient way of creating fabric there is, she said. Weve always had sheep. If you have wool you can make fabric.

Sheeps wool, which Repke dyes herself to get just the colors she wants, is Repkes primary medium, though fibers such as llama and alpaca also have their appeal.

Ive picked up yak and buffalo that Im going to integrate into my work, she said.

Sometimes the breed of sheep can affect the texture of its wool and influence how Repke uses it in her art.

Some you cant tell if theyre different, Repke said. Some, you definitely know. If you add curly locks, for example  the special tight curls at the back end of a sheep  I will use them in clouds. When you add (bamboo and silk) fibers to the wool, they have a ruffle effect and they shine more, so that gives it a whole different effect. Ill have some yarn in there. There are other natural fibers.

Repke, who downsized away from the farm and the sheep and the border collies last year, remains hooked on felting as her artistic medium.

Theres something about felting, she said. Felting and doing my artwork with the wool checks all the boxes for me. (Its a landscape) but its also very tactile.  Im into the fiber and texture.

Unlike many art forms, watercolor felting also isnt harmed by a bit of touching, Repke said.

When you see it in person, theres so much more depth and character to it, she said. I tell people to feel free to pet them, touch them. In my estimation it doesnt hurt them. Its OK. And its a therapy boost to be able to interact with the picture, to touch it.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The United States is ordering non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Ethiopia and urging other U.S. citizens that they should depart now as the countrys war escalates and fighters approach the capital of Addis Ababa.

Incidents of civil unrest and ethnic violence are occurring without warning, a statement on Saturday says, and it warns of possible communications blackouts and supply chain shortages.
Camp Fire - Wood Burning View Photo

Sonora, CA The Bureau of Land Management(BLM) is lifting most seasonal fire restrictions, effective immediately to allow campfires and target shooting on public lands managed by the Bishop, Central Coast, Mother Lode, and Ukiah field offices in Central California. Central California District Manager Chris Heppe tells potential nature enthusiasts.

Please use caution when lighting a campfire on public lands and ensure the flame is dead out before breaking camp.

For people looking to enjoy the great outdoors, BLM does wish to issue a reminder that public lands that have been burned in wildland fires are still places that should be avoided. The Mother Lode field office has closed the Rocky Bar Road, located west of Grizzly Flats in El Dorado County, due to the impact of the Caldor Fire. The public is reminded that while the ground may look flat, burned trees roots can give way potentially causing dangerous holes. Burned soil is also sensitive to erosion and the landscape needs time to heal.

To obtain a valid California campfire permit click here.
Libyas ruling council says FM suspended, barred from travel View Photo

CAIRO (AP)  Libyas ruling presidential council said Saturday that it suspended the countys chief diplomat, accusing her of not coordinating foreign policy with the council.

The three-member body, which serves as Libyas president, also barred Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush from traveling abroad pending an investigation into what it described as monopolization of foreign policy, according to a decree by the council.

A spokeswoman for the council did not elaborate circumstances behind the decision.

There was also no immediate comment the minister.

Saturdays decision came more than six weeks before planned elections, and a few days ahead of an international conference in the French capital to push for holding elections as scheduled Dec. 24.

The vote still faces other challenges, including unresolved issues over the countrys elections laws and occasional fighting among armed groups. Other obstacles include the deep rift that remains between the countrys east and west and the presence of thousands of foreign fighters and troops.

Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. He was captured and killed by an armed group two months later.

The oil-rich country was for years split between rival governments, one based in the capital, Tripoli, and the other in the eastern part of the country. Each side is backed by different foreign powers and militias.

The interim government now in charge was appointed in February after months of U.N.-backed negotiations to lead the country through elections. It includes the presidential council and a Cabinet of ministers that runs day-to-day affaires.
Joseph is a bright and athletic teen boy. He does well in school and especially enjoys science.

The 16-year-old is always on the go! He loves spending his time outdoors playing baseball, basketball, or swimming.

When hes ready to relax, youll find Joseph inside watching TV, building things with Legos, or playing video games. He also likes to attend church on the weekends.

Just like any teenage boy, Joseph has a great appetite. Hell never turn down homemade enchiladas or a good ol PB&J.

Joseph absolutely loves animals! He aspires to be a veterinarian one day.

Joseph has a sweet and caring side and values the bonds he makes with others. He is currently making strides in his emotional development and is more than willing to talk things through when things are amiss. But more than anything, Joseph dreams of a forever home with someone that will love him unconditionally. Can you make Josephs dreams a reality?

---

Joseph is among the children listed on the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TARE) website. Visit https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Application/TARE/Home.aspx/Default for more details.

Saint Francis Ministries is a nonprofit organization and a community-based care provider for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services Region 1. This region includes 41 counties across the Panhandle and South Plains.

To learn more about fostering or adopting, those interested are encouraged to attend one of the monthly virtual meetings hosted by Saint Francis Ministries and other child placing agencies. The meetings provide information about how to get started, the basic qualifications and more, in addition to providing opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

Those interested can visit Saint Francis Texas on Facebook @SFMtexas to register for the online meetings, which can also be found below:

The meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of the month (Lubbock area  https://lubbock-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com) and the third Thursday of the month (Amarillo area  https://amarillo-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com).

For more information, please contact Erin Baxter at (806) 317-5631 or email texasinfo@st-francis.org. Visit Saint Francis Ministries online at https://saintfrancisministries.org.
JERUSALEM (AP)  A confidential Israeli dossier detailing alleged links between Palestinian human rights groups and an internationally designated terrorist organization contains little concrete evidence and failed to convince European countries to stop funding the groups.

The 74-page document appears to have been prepared by Israel's Shin Bet internal security service and shared with European governments in May. The Associated Press obtained the document from the online +972 Magazine, which was the first to report on it, along with the Hebrew-language Local Call. Israel may have additional evidence that has not been made public.

Last month, Israel designated six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups, saying they were tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, leftist political movement with an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis. Israel and Western countries consider the PFLP a terrorist organization.

But Israel has yet to take further action against the groups, which operate openly in the occupied West Bank. The Defense Ministry and the Shin Bet did not respond to requests for comment.

The six groups, some of which have close ties to rights groups in Israel and abroad, deny the allegations. They say the terror designation is aimed at muzzling critics of Israel's half-century military occupation of territories the Palestinians want for their future state.

The designated groups are the Al-Haq human rights group, the Addameer rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Womens Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.

The dossier relies almost entirely on the interrogation of Said Abedat and Amru Hamudeh, who worked as accountants for the Union of Health Committees, a separate group which was outlawed in January 2020. Both were reportedly fired in 2019 for embezzling funds, and were later detained by the Shin Bet. Their lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Neither appears to have ever worked for the six organizations outlawed last month.

In redacted excerpts from their interrogation by Israeli authorities, they allege that the six organizations are PFLP branches but do not provide any evidence beyond naming a handful of alleged PFLP members employed by the groups. They suggest that some of the employees forge receipts to siphon away donor funds, but do not provide proof or say where the money went.

Speaking about the Union of Agricultural Work Committees  one of the six  Abedat is quoted as saying, as far as I know, this organization affiliates to the PFLP." His "estimation is that the same printing company that helped him forge invoices also helped the other group.

Even when describing his own work in diverting funds to the PFLP, Abedat makes no mention of militant activities. We funded PFLP activities such as university activities, funding of the injured and sick for the PFLP, funding of families of martyrs and prisoners from the PFLP, he is quoted as saying.

Israel says the PFLP and other armed groups use such activities to recruit and indoctrinate members, and to provide financial support to militants and their families.

The dossier also details several forged invoices, all from the Union of Health Committees. In one instance, Abedat says: I estimate that this money went to PFLP activities." In the others, it's either unclear where the money went, or Abedat says it was used to cover the UHC's debts.

Several European officials have expressed skepticism about the allegations.

In a letter to Dutch lawmakers on May 12, caretaker Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag said new Israeli information on two Palestinian organizations that were indirectly funded by the Netherlands offers no concrete evidence of links with the PFLP."

Kaag acknowledged that two former employees of the UAWC who had received salaries from a Dutch-funded project were suspected in a deadly August 2019 bombing in the occupied West Bank that was blamed on the PFLP. She said the government had already suspended funding for that project pending an independent investigation.

Belgium's development minister told a parliamentary commission in July that her government also investigated Israeli information received in May but found "no concrete material evidence for possible fraud at the partner organizations.

The minister, Meryame Kitir, said the government had also examined annual audits of the groups carried out by international firms like Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers without finding any irregularities.

"I therefore see no reason today to freeze funds, nor to have additional external investigations carried out," she said.

Last month, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney expressed concern about the terrorism designation, saying previous allegations against Palestinian civil society organizations supported by Ireland and the EU have not been substantiated.

Shin Bet officials traveled to Washington last week to brief U.S. officials on the terrorism designation. They shared a summary of their presentation with the AP that largely matched the dossier, including excerpts from the same interrogations, but may have shared other evidence that was classified. State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to comment on those discussions or say whether the United States shares Israels assessment of the Palestinian groups.

NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel group that researches Palestinian nongovernmental organizations, says it has identified 13  including the six targeted with the terror designation and the previously outlawed UHC that together have employed more than 70 individuals with PFLP ties.

Gerald Steinberg, the head of NGO Monitor, said Israel trained its attention on the purported network after the August 2019 attack, which killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl, and appears to be building its case.

The HWC was the first one. Theyre looking to see where the money comes from," he told the AP. We identify organizations with sometimes 10, 11, 12 individuals in senior positions, in many cases the accountants, the treasurers, the board members."

Critics say pro-Israel groups aim to discredit Palestinian rights activists in order to shield Israel from criticism in world bodies like the International Criminal Court, which opened an investigation in March into alleged Israeli war crimes. Israel is deeply opposed to the investigation, and views the ICC and other international organizations as biased against it.

Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli lawyer who often represents Palestinians, said the dossier amounts to absolutely nothing" when it comes to the six organizations. He is providing legal representation to one of the six, Al-Haq, a human rights group founded in 1979 that gets only a passing mention in the dossier.

Sfard said the two detainees cannot be considered reliable witnesses, and that even if their statements are taken at face value, they don't prove anything.

Its all guilt by association. Even if it is true that people who work in certain organizations are PFLP operatives, it does not follow that the organization itself is part of the PFLP," he said.

"On all levels, this document in fact shows how weak the whole case against these six organizations is, he added.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.
BANGKOK (AP)  Testimony by prosecution witnesses on Friday in the case of Danny Fenster, a U.S. journalist who has been detained in Myanmar for more than five months, established that official records did not accurately reflect where he was employed, his lawyer said.

The point may be crucial because it appears that Fenster is being prosecuted for alleged offenses by a news outlet at least seven months after he stopped working for the outlet. Authorities have not clearly described what Fenster is accused of doing and his trial is closed to the media and the public.

Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport May 24 as he was about to board a flight to go to the Detroit area in the United States to see his family. He is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an online news magazine based in Yangon, Myanmars biggest city.

He has been charged with incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information, an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.

Fenster was also accused of violating the Unlawful Associations Act for contacting opposition groups that were declared illegal by Myanmars military-installed government. The offense carries a penalty of two to three years' imprisonment.

An additional charge of violating visa conditions that is punishable by six months to five years' imprisonment was added this week.

Fensters lawyer, Than Zaw Aung, said prosecution witnesses, including police officers, testified under cross-examination on Friday that a letter from the Information Ministry declared that the publishing license of Myanmar Now, another online news site, contained Fensters name in its list of editors. The license was originally valid for a period lasting from 2015 to 2025.

Both Myanmar Now and Frontier Myanmar have issued statements saying that Fenster worked as a reporter and copy editor for Myanmar Now until July 2020 and that he joined Frontier Myanmar the following month.

The witnesses said that Danny is in charge of Myanmar Now according to a letter from the Information Ministry. They testified in this way as Dannys name is included in a letter sent by the Information Ministry. I dont know why his name is on the list, Than Zaw Aung told The Associated Press.

Last month, the judge said Fenster had been sought in connection with activities by Myanmar Now together with its chief editor, Ko Swe Win, according to Fensters lawyer.

The judge also told Fenster that after Myanmar Now's license was revoked in March of this year, the news outlet defied authorities by continuing to post stories about organizations opposed to the military takeover, Fenster's lawyer said.

Fenster is among about 100 journalists who have been detained since February, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. About 30 remain in jail.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price urged Myanmars government on Thursday to immediately release Fenster.

"His detention, the detention of so many others, its a sad reminder of the continuing human rights and humanitarian crisis facing the country of Burma, facing the Burmese, but also facing foreign nationals, including Americans, who happen to be in Burma. Price said, referring to Myanmar by its old name.



This version corrects that the visa violation charge was added this week, not last month.
HOUSTON (AP)  The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms and killing eight people in the chaos.

The pandemonium unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. As a timer clicked down to the start of the performance, the crowd pushed forward.

As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire," concertgoer Niaara Goods said. "All of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someones arm in your neck. Youre trying to breathe, but you cant.

Goods said she was so desperate to get out that she bit a man on the shoulder to get him to move.

The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized Saturday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. He called the disaster a tragedy on many different levels and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong.

It may well be that this tragedy is the result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldnt possibly have been avoided," said Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris Countys top elected official. "But until we determine that, I will ask the tough questions.

Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density  too many people packed into a small space. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.

G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the United Kingdom's University of Suffolk, has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds. He said he usually does not look at eyewitness reports in the early stages of analyzing an incident because emotions can cloud the picture, and witnesses can see only whats immediately around them.

Based on fire codes, the venue could have held 200,000 people, but city officials limited the attendance to 50,000, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said.

It was the crowd control at the point of the stage that was the issue, especially as the crowd began to surge toward the stage, Pena said.

The deaths called to mind a 1979 concert by the Who where 11 people died as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnatis Riverfront Coliseum. Other past crowd catastrophes include the deaths of 97 people in an overcrowded Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 in Sheffield, England, and numerous disasters connected with the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.

People in the Houston crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scotts set.

Then when Scott took the stage, the crowd seemed to rush to the front, trying to get closer to the stage, said Nick Johnson, a high school senior from the Houston suburb of Friendswood who was at the concert.

Everyone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldnt move. You couldnt do anything. You cant even pick your arms up, Johnson said. It just got worse and worse."

Johnson said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd.

Scott seemed to be aware that something was going on in the crowd, but he might not have understood the severity of the situation, Johnson said.

On video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert at one point and asking for aid for someone in the audience: Security, somebody help real quick.

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was absolutely devastated by what took place last night." He pledged to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.

Amy Harris, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press, described an aggressive crowd atmosphere throughout the day because of the way fans were behaving  pushing and rushing the stage barricades and prohibited VIP and admission areas.

It was definitely the most chaotic festival environment that Ive been in, Harris said. I felt uneasy all day.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said his department noticed attendees going down at 9:30 p.m. and immediately notified concert organizers. The event was called off 40 minutes later after discussions that included the fire department and officials with NRG Park.

Finner defended the amount of time it took for the event to be canceled.

You cannot just close when youve got 50,000  over 50,000  individuals, OK? Finner said. We have to worry about rioting  riots  when you have a group thats that young.

At one point, Gerardo Abad-Garcia was pressed so tightly into the crowd that he could not move his arms off his chest. During the performance that came before Scotts, he started getting concerned for his safety.

I just couldnt breathe. I was being compressed, he said. A security guard helped him and others climb a fence and get out.

He described the crowd during Scott's set as a wave that was going forward and backward." He said some people tried to help those who were passed out on the ground, while other concertgoers seemed to ignore them and continued watching the show.

Some audience members said barricades erected near the stage and to separate different sections of ticket holders prevented fans from escaping.

Billy Nasser described an area created by a stage barricade as a closet that people were thrown into and the door was shut. Joshua Robinson said the barricades created an area that was just way too small and compact for the number of people there.

Part of the investigation will include reviewing how the area around the stage was designed, the fire chief said.

Authorities did not disclose the causes of death, and the dead were not immediately identified.

The police chief said authorities were investigating reports of suspicious activity in the crowd, including a security officer who told police that he felt a prick in his neck during the chaos and lost consciousness while being examined by first responders. He was revived by the opioid antidote Narcan.

Scott, one of musics biggest young stars, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018. The 30-year-old Houston native has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. He has a 3-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that shes pregnant with their second child.

Drake joined Scott on-stage at the concert, which was livestreamed by Apple Music.

___

Associated Press writers Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Stan Choe in New York, David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Desiree Seals in Atlanta contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Travis Scott is 30 years old, not 29.
Everybody deserves at least a small gift on Christmas.

That was the mindset Joy Driver had when she shared her idea with Florence Carlisle to provide shoeboxes filled with gifts to area nursing and assisted living facilities.

Looking back, Carlisle said she cant remember what year it began but the concept was something she very much wanted to carry on when she took over after Driver moved to Lubbock.

Carlisle helped Driver quite a bit with the now-annual Shoebox Christmas Drive in its first few years. She kept it alive and thriving for about 20 years before stepping back about three years ago. The now-86-year-old said she felt it was time to pass the program on to somebody who could continue the physical work at a little bit of a quicker pace.

This year, the program is being handled by Beverly Wall and shes excited to have Carlisle back to help  at least as much as she can.

The drive is ongoing with organizers collecting toiletries like Kleenexes, socks, aftershave and perfume, lotions and other items covering basic needs that are small enough to fit into shoe boxes (though these items will actually be placed into sacks this year). The sacks will be distributed to residents in local nursing and assisted living facilities across Plainview, Hale Center and Lockney, Wall said.

Drive organizers will collect through the end of November with the intent of making deliveries in December. The goal is to distribute the gifts in time for each facilitys holiday celebration.

Organizers are in a bit of a time crunch, though.

Right now, theyre also encouraging monetary donations. Those interested can make donations by visiting High Plains Concrete at 3200 Canyon Street. They can also be mailed to: Attn: Beverly Wall, Shoebox Christmas, 720 FM 400, Plainview, Texas, 79072. Call (806)292-7640 for additional information.

Carlisle, who grew up in Littlefield and moved to Plainview in about 1970, said in all her years as a local realtor, shes come to love Plainview and its people. Thats part of what motivated her to keep the Shoebox Christmas program going. Though she cant do as much as she used to, shes happy to see the program continue to thrive under Walls care and Stephanie Ferguson before her.

Ultimately, they hope to simply spread a little cheer. Recipients are always appreciative.

Its just things like that that keep us going, Carlisle said.
Oct. 26

A theft from a vehicle was reported Oct. 26 at the 4200 block of W. 13th Street. An unknown person broke a drivers side window of a vehicle and took belongings.

Theft from a building was reported on Oct. 26 at the 1200 block of Quincy Street.

A 25-year-old woman was arrested at the 600 block of Denver St. on Oct. 26. The woman was charged with an active out-of-county warrant for an accident involving damage to a vehicle.

Harassment was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. on Oct. 26. A man continued reaching out to a female victim after being told to leave her alone.

Oct. 27

Criminal mischief was reported at the 920 block of Ash St. on Oct. 27. A food trailer parked at the Plainview Roller Rink was damaged. According to the incident report, the suspect attempted to enter the trailer through three different areas. The damages are estimated to be valued at $700.

A theft was reported at the 2800 block of Dimmitt Road on Oct. 27. The shoplifting was caught on cameras at the location.

Theft from a yard was reported at the 600 block of Denver St. on Oct. 27.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 1000 block of W. 5th Street on Oct. 27. Vehicle damage was reported.

Oct. 28

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of E. 5th St. and N. Date on Oct. 28.

A burglary was reported at the 200 block of SE 7th Street on Oct. 28.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 2300 block of Dimmitt Road on Oct. 28.

Theft was reported at the 2700 block of SW 3rd Street on Oct. 28. The victim reported theft of money by deception.

Fraudulent credit/debit card use was reported at the 1600 block of Milwaukee on Oct. 28.

An assault was reported on Oct. 28 at the 2600 block of W. 5th Street.

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 810 block of N. Broadway. The vehicle was reported stolen on Oct. 28 but it was allegedly taken two days before.

Theft of a bicycle was reported at the 1000 block of Jefferson St. on Oct. 28. An unknown person took the victims Mongoose bike worth $200.

Officers responded to a sexual assault on Oct. 28.

A theft was reported at the 700 block of Independence St. on Oct. 28. The reporting party is the trustee of their grandparents estate and, after conducting inventory of the property, discovered two rings missing. The rings are valued at $1,800.

Oct. 29

A 42-year-old woman was arrested at the 600 block of W. 8th Street on Oct. 29. The individual was charged with driving while intoxicated.

A crash involving vehicle damage was reported on Oct. 29 at the 600 block of W. 8th Street.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of 24th and Yonkers on Oct. 29.

A terroristic threat was reported on Oct. 29 at the 300 block of E. 5th St.

Lucy Nicole Cortez, 33, was arrested by Plainview police on Oct. 29 at the 1600 block of Joliet. Officers were called to the location in reference to a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was recovered at the location and Cortez was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, which is a state jail felony.

A crash involving vehicle damage was reported at the 2000 block of W. 16th Street on Oct. 29.

A crash was reported at the intersection of W. 12th St. and Vernon on Oct. 29. Vehicle damage was reported.

A stolen vehicle was reported on Oct. 29 at the 400 block of E. 8th Street.

Oct. 30

Obstruction of police was reported at the 100 block of W. 11th Street on Oct. 30. A known person provided a false name knowing they had an active warrant for their arrest.

An assault was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on Oct. 30. A disturbance was reported after a crash at the location. The assault occurred at that time.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 800 block of N. I-27 on Oct. 30. A man intentionally damaged a womans vehicle.

An assault was reported at the 300 block of SE 5th Street on Oct. 30.

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 1300 block of Travis on Oct. 30.

Oct. 31

Criminal mischief was reported at the 1200 block of S. Broadway on Oct. 31.

Criminal mischief was reported on Oct. 31 at the 3200 block of Lexington St. The reporting party said someone they know caused damage to the victims vehicle at the location.

Officers responded to the 2300 block of CR 215 on Oct. 31 where the reporting party told officers they found a baggie with a leafy green substance, which later tested positive for marijuana.

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 1300 block of Travis St. on Oct. 31.

Officers responded to the 1200 block of Joliet on Oct. 31 in reference to a hit-and-run crash. A known person hit a parked vehicle and fled the scene without giving information.

Nov. 1

Theft was reported at the 1300 block of W. 5th Street on Nov. 1. An unknown person took a cigarette case with money and debit cards inside without the owners consent.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 310 block of E. 4th Street on Nov. 1. A known person destroyed the windows to a vehicle with bicycle handle bars.

A threat was reported at the 800 block of N. I-27 on Nov. 1. Officers took a report regarding a threat made via text message.

Police arrested a 39-year-old man at the 1000 block of N. I-27 on Nov. 1 during a traffic stop. The individuals was charged with driving with an invalid license with a previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

Nov. 2

Plainview police arrested 37-year-old Joe Daniel Luna on Nov. 2 at the 1300 block of Independence. Luna was charged with an out-of-county felony warrant.

A 28-year-old man was arrested during a traffic stop on Nov. 2 at the 4000 block of W. 13th Street. The individual was charged with an outstanding warrant for making a false statement to law enforcement.

Police responded to the 100 block of W. 9th Street on Nov. 2 in reference to a terroristic threat. A known subject threatened to kill an officer in retaliation for being arrested. No arrests are indicated for this incident report.

Officers responded to a sexual offense on Nov. 2.

Officers arrested a 25-year-old man on Nov. 2 at the 1500 block of N. I-27. The individual was observed taking a speaker amp from Walmart then ran into Wendys and was later arrested for theft.

Nov. 3

A hit-and-run crash was reported on Nov. 3 at the 3700 block of Olton Road. Vehicle damage was noted.

An assault was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th Street on Nov. 3.

Fraud was reported at the 3000 block of College Ave. on Nov. 3. The report classifies the incident as fraud by wire.
Walrus leaves Arctic comfort zone for snooze on Dutch submarine Guardian (J-LS)

Who could dogs become without humans in their lives? Aeon (Chuck L)

Elemental haiku Science (Chuck L). From 2017, but still very cool.

Artemis 1 is Launching in February Universe Today (furzy)

A 150-year-old note from Charles Darwin is inspiring a change in the way forests are planted The Conversation (Kevin W)

These portable factories are solving plastic pollution Inhabitat (David L)

Cognition Without Computation Just because a theory is old doesnt mean its correct SpectrumIEEE (David L)

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND THE MYTH OF WILDERNESS University of Melbourne (Micael T)

A deadly parasite that burrows into the body through bare feet could be multiplying in this US community Guardian. Resilc: Texass, our domestic turd world. Moi: First chagas, now this.

#COVID-19

China?

Chinese intelligence officer convicted of stealing secrets from General Electric Financial Times

COP26/Climate Change

Europes Brutal and Illegal Approach to Migration: Our Orders Are Clear. Nobody Gets Through Der Spiegel

Rusty Charley Wolfgang Streck (Anthony L)

Sierra Leone explosion: Scores dead after Freetown oil tanker collision BBC :-(

New Cold War

CIA director dispatched to Moscow to warn Russia over troop buildup near Ukraine CNN. Kevin W: Even the Ukrainians dont see a threat.

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

1/6

Trump

Arrest illustrates how Steele dossier was political dirty trick by Hillary Clinton New York Post

Biden

Glenn Youngkin and Ivy League populism The Economist

Of Course Joe Manchin Drives a Maserati Vice (resilc)

Health Care

PhRMA | Behind the 340B Drug Pricing Program Axios. Resilc: Why isnt there a scam.

Our Famously Free Press

Woke Watch

Latinos graded by skin color in Covid discrimination poll RT. Kevin W: Even the KKK would be too embarrassed to pull a stunt like this.

Theranos bilked elite old-money investors of $400 million, say prosecutors BoingBoing (resilc)

Eric Adams vows to take first three paychecks as NYC mayor in Bitcoin Independent (resilc). Wowsers. Clueless as to what that will take operationally. Gonna cost way way way more than a full year of pay to implement this stunt. Does he want NYCs treasury to be able to handle Bitcoin in anticipation of ransomware attacks? Thats the only possible public purpose.

September Trade Deficit Rises 11.2% to a Record High Angry Bear

Apples New Screen Repair Trap Could Change the Repair Industry Forever Fixit. Dan K: Richest company in the world.

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (Timotheus):

And a bonus:

Planet of the Dogs?  https://t.co/Pt95yFEbw1  Dr. Faris Durmo Biber MD., PhD. (@Dr_FarrisD) November 4, 2021

And a second bonus (Dr. Kevin):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
My position with Nashville Post has evolved since 2000 when I began work with the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister pub in 2008 (when I began some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have worked mainly with the Post since late 2011.

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(Natural News) A single case of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infection forced a primary school in Beijing to quarantine some of its students, magnifying Chinas response to halt transmission of the highly infectious delta variant.

The school principal told the parents gathered outside the school late Monday, November 1, to bring quilts and pillows to join their kids through the two weeks of isolation. The lockdown was triggered after a teacher was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The response was unprecedented in a world hit by the pandemic. Beijing is in the midst of its biggest outbreak since the beginning of the year with 39 symptomatic cases as the virus pops up across more than half of the country.

An infected child of a teacher also forced students at a nearby junior high school to quarantine. Staff members also closed 16 schools in Beijings Chaoyang district because staff members could have been exposed to the pathogen when they got booster shots at the same vaccination site as the infected teacher, just days before she was diagnosed. Altogether, more than 400 people were told to quarantine.

China is fighting tooth and nail against a resurgence of the delta variant, which has spread across the country in just two weeks.

While COVID incursions are becoming more frequent and causing widespread infections, China is hardening its approach to eradicate the virus from, defying a global trend that has seen so-called COVID Zero countries pivot to learning to live alongside the disease. (Related: China seizes factory lines, spurs speculation and fears about second COVID-19 wave.)

Earlier, Chinas Ministry of Commerce urged residents to stock up on necessities. According to a commentary in the state-backed Economic Daily, the move will help them deal with lockdowns and improve readiness for other emergencies.

Countries like Singapore and Australia balked at the economic and societal cost of closing off vaccinated people indefinitely to snuff out transmission of often mild cases, but China still sees a positive cost-benefit ratio.

The stringent steps being taken to quash the virus are less costly than the price the worlds most populous country would pay if it opened up its borders and sparked a surge, one of the countrys top COVID advisers said.

Pulmonologist: Chinese government has no choice but to quarantine people

Prominent pulmonologist Zhong Nanshan, who headed a COVID Task Force after the virus first emerged in 2019, said that the government has no option but to quarantine people because the virus spreads too fast and replicates exponentially.

Zero tolerance or zero transmission, we have no option but to do this. It is indeed costly to adopt the strategy of zero transmission but leaving COVID uncontrolled and opening up will be even more so, he told state broadcaster CCTV on Monday, November 1.

The arrival of delta earlier this year forced many countries in the Asia-Pacific region to abandon the zero-tolerance policies as the suite of measures that once kept them virus-free failed to work as effectively on the evolving disease. Singapore and Australia are now relying predominantly on high levels of vaccination and social distancing to protect against severe diseases and death.

The same experience with COVIDs growing infectiousness and the challenges of containing it had the opposite effect in China. The country has quelled three major delta outbreaks since the variant first emerged in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong in May and is now in the midst of its fourth.

The present situation, however, is proving different. While Chinas success against COVID continues thus far, financial markets may be starting to sour on the approach forcing the government to resort to dramatic restrictions more frequently, resulting in disruptions that weigh on the economy and peoples lives.

Investors are worried that Beijings virus measures may cool down Chinas economic activities and hamper its recovery, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.

Chinas CSI 300 Index fell as much as 1.9 percent Tuesday, November 2, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng China Enterprises Index erased an earlier 2.2 percent gain.

The curbs have reached a level of absurdity and disruption to the daily lives of many, from the lockdown of tens of thousands of guests at Disneyland in Shanghai, to traffic lights turned permanently to red to stop people moving around and repeated testing of babies to ensure the virus isnt gaining a toe-hold.

The current COVID case-fatality rate of two percent amid the growing adoption of vaccines cannot be tolerated, Zhong said. He added that a change in tactics by other COVID Zero countries caused the infections to quickly proliferate. Thats a dangerous event, Zhong said.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

NDTV.com

Reuters.com
(Natural News) This week, Eversource Energy warned that customers could be hit with a 15 percent price hike in natural gas heating prices this winter, which would cost an average of $30 more per month than they paid last year. Eversource provides 4.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut with electricity and natural gas.

The companys executive vice president and chief financial officer, Philip J Lembo, said in a third-quarter 2021 earnings call that the rise in prices following the pandemic, combined with supply issues and the forecasts of a cold winter, are behind the expected rise.

Lembo said that although he understands it is a noticeable increase, alternative heating sources are seeing even greater price hikes. He stated: While a 15 percent increase is significant, it is far less than the more than 30 percent increase that propane heating customers are facing and really a 60 percent increase thats out there for home heating oil as the alternatives for customers.

He said that the bitterly cold temperatures that are expected in December and January could lead to a rise in the cost of natural gas, which could put customers in a difficult position. He said that Eversource has already suggested to regulators that they spread out the recovery of certain charges in our distribution portion of our bill to moderate the potential bill impacts where possible.

He added that they were working with regulators to help customers understand the price situation and the factors that impact natural gas bills and take actions to address it. For example, he said the company is urging customers to take advantage of energy efficiency programs and various payment options being offered.

Eversource is not the only company that is anticipating a price hike; Avangrid has also been advising the customers of its natural gas companies, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, that supply prices of natural gas energy are expected to rise and has offered to help customers manage their natural gas costs and usage.

Natural gas prices rising globally as demand surges

Natural gas prices are climbing around the world as the global supply chain crisis continues and demand surges. It is a stark contrast from 2020, when the cost natural gas hit historic lows. The prices of natural gas had been declining with a rising supply before the pandemic got underway. Prices then dropped even more steeply during the pandemic but are now rising as the economy recovers and global demand rises.

The Biden administration has said that it is concerned about the high gas prices. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that they have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.

She said: I will also note that as it relates to gas prices, we remain concerned about trends we have seen where even as supply has increased at times over the last several months, weve still seen heightened prices. Weve asked the FTC to look into that.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecasting that average household spending on all major home heating fuels will rise significantly this winter due to higher energy use and fuel costs. The average increases will vary by region, type of fuel and weather forecasts. Compared to last winter, they expect heating oil spending to climb by 43 percent, electricity to increase by 6 percent, propane to rise by 54 percent, and natural gas to increase by 30 percent.

Some people are already relying on smart thermostats to help control energy prices, while others plan to bundle up indoors this winter. The U.S. Energy Department has suggested that people replace the filters on their furnaces to save money on heating bills.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

Courant.com
(Natural News) Emergency rooms across the United States are filling up with people suffering from major health issues. Unlike during the height of the pandemic when hospitals were empty and devoid of any human life.

(Article by Mac Slavo republished from SHTFPlan.com)

New Yorks COVID-19 Field Hospital Dismantled After Treating ZERO Patients

Woman BANNED From ALL HOSPITALS In The UK For Proving Hospitals Are EMPTY

The scene being painted is in stark contrast to where emergency departments were at the start of the pandemic. Except for initial hot spots like New York City, in spring 2020 many ERs across the country were often eerily empty. And even in New York City, despite KHNs claims, the hospitals were empty.

COVID isnt overwhelming the health system either. Patients are showing up to the ER sicker than before the pandemic, their diseases more advanced and in need of more complicated care. The mainstream media is blaming it on people putting off care during the hoax scamdemic to avoid getting the common cold they relabeled COVID-19.

Could it be something else though? Could it be:

More COIVD-19 Vax Deaths: Think Theyll Blame This On COVID-21?

A report by NRP even stated that the problem isnt COVID patients. Bloomberg Quint has reported that even though 80% of Coloradoans have been vaccinated, the hospitals are still overrun. But the governor claims its those pesky unvaccinated people filling up the hospitals.

Colorados governor Jared Polis said that the only way to relive the hospitals, is of course, for the 20% who continue to refuse the shots to take them. operative, if everybody was vaccinated. This is particularly tragic now because its essentially entirely preventable, Polis said. The state may soon ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to augment stretched hospital staffing, he said, in addition to employing the crisis standards that set guidelines for rationing care, he said. Colorado has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country as the governor begins to talk of rationing care.

Is this just a coincidence?

Read more at: SHTFPlan.com
(Natural News) Another person who should have been protected because he got fully vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) like the government commanded him to is dead because of the shots.

Pegasus Airlines crew members found the 51-year-old man dead in his seat after Flight 1043 from Istanbul, Turkey, landed in Hamburg, Germany, on October 25. Media reports declared that the man must have died from coronavirus.

According to reports, the Russian-born man had been living in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. His travel occurred on an Airbus 320.

He was found lifeless in his seat by a member of staff after all other passengers had disembarked the aircraft in Hamburg at around 12pm GMT, (1pm German time), according to local media reports, reported the DailyMail Online.

The official cause of the mans death is not clear although local reports have suggested he had suffered from a number of serious prior illnesses, which were not specified.

Forensic pathologists performed a postmortem on the body and determined that the man likely died mid-flight, meaning he was dead in his chair for hours before anybody even noticed. (RELATED: At least eight fully vaccinated Mainers died back in the summer despite having gotten jabbed.)

The mans lifeless body supposedly tested positive for the Chinese Virus, though he did not present any symptoms prior to his death. The only thing that was different about him is that his DNA had previously been altered with Fauci Flu shots.

The clot shots strike again

It was only because of these prior injections that the man was even allowed to fly. He otherwise would have been denied entry onto the aircraft as the prevailing narrative is that it is unsafe to do anything while unvaccinated.

A spokesman for the Hamburg health authority told Focus Online the following:

In general, the provisions of the entry regulations apply, according to which either a test or proof of vaccination must be presented when entering from Turkey. We extend our condolences to the family and neighbours of the passenger.

One week prior to his death, the man had spent time in Istanbul. It is unclear whether he traveled there for business or pleasure. He was also traveling alone, which is partly why nobody seemed to notice that he had died mid-flight.

In Istanbul, 72.4 percent of citizens above the age of 18 are fully vaccinated, as was the man, so he should not have died from covid. Nevertheless, he did, and now the Branch Covidians are struggling to find a narrative to justify this anomaly.

It is apparent that breakthrough cases of infection are hardly rare. So many fully vaccinated people are dying from Chinese Germs that it is becoming painfully apparent that the jabs do not work as claimed.

Instead, the jabs seem to be making people sick, while those who skipped them are living their lives as normal.

The high vaccination rate in Istanbul gives confidence to tourists, announced Nalan Yesilyurt, a board member at the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies.

He died from the death vax, not from covid, wrote one commenter at the DailyMail Online.

Blood clots in people that fly, wrote another. Wait until planes fall out of the sky for no reason!

Numerous others pointed out that this death was obviously caused by the clot shots, which are notorious for causing thrombosis, myocarditis and other cardiovascular problems that for some result in sudden death.

The BS reigns supreme, lamented another. If he was positive, how did he get on a flight? He died from a blood clot, mate. Expect many more of these.

The latest news about the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine genocide can be found at Genocide.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) At least 90 percent of Irelands adult population is now fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). Despite this, Ireland currently leads the pack in terms of new Chinese Virus infections.

How can this be if the jabs supposedly work at stopping the spread? The answer is they dont. If anything, the injections are making peoples health worse than if they had just left their immune systems alone to do the job naturally.

The Irish put their faith in Tony Fauci instead of God Almighty, and now they are paying the price with a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths that can be directly attributed to the shots.

With an adult population that is 92 percent fully jabbed, Ireland currently holds the top spot for injection compliance across the entire European Union. Ireland also has the most hospitalizations for covid out of any other country in Europe.

According to the latest figures, Wuhan Flu hospitalizations jumped from 439 last week to 513 this week, a 17 percent increase. Of these 513 cases, 97 of them, or about 19 percent, are in intensive care (ICU).

Lancet study confirms that fully vaccinated are spreading delta variant to family members

Dr. Anne Moore, a vaccine specialist at University College Cork, is saying that the spread of vaccine-induced illness in Ireland will not subside until, get this: more vaccines are introduced.

She calls these new novel injections transmission-blocking vaccines, meaning they have to correct the damage caused by the first vaccines. Somehow this will flatten the curve and end the plandemic.

We will eventually have to boost the rest of the population  because we are going to see a huge increase in the number of cases, Moore added in a statement.

It was recently reported in The Lancet that people who get vaccinated for the Wuhan Flu are more likely than the unvaccinated to spread the delta variant to their family members.

More than 600 people living in the United Kingdom were tracked for the research. Those who received the full injection schedule for the Fauci Flu were observed to lose their immunity in as little as three months.

The unvaccinated, meanwhile, have lasting immunity that keeps them safe and protected against infection for an indefinite period of time as nature intended.

This is evident on a micro scale in the Irish town of Waterford, which is 99.7 percent fully vaccinated. As we reported, Waterford is now seeing a massive surge in new cases of infection, many of which require hospitalization and result in death.

Waterfords infection rate, it is important to note, is three times the national average, according to The Irish Times. This makes sense as it is also Irelands most vaccinated enclave.

In Singapore, which is not that far behind Ireland with an 80 percent vaccination rate, new cases of the Chinese Virus are likewise soaring. And here in New England, which is Americas most vaccinated region, there is a similar surge in novel coronavirus cases.

Singapore, despite one of the worlds highest levels of vaccination, is battling a big surge in Covid cases, tweeted author and commentator Brahma Chellaney. So, its a bit ironic that it is belatedly easing entry restrictions on travelers from India, which has one of the lowest infection rates, as measured per 100,000 people.

Even so, health authorities all around the world continue to hound people to get injected with these deadly poisons, claiming they are still our best defense against the Chinese Flu.

We know these Mengele Injections are not, nor ever were, so-called vaccines, noted one commenter at LifeSiteNews.

The latest news about how Chinese Virus vaccines are spreading more disease can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Bill Nelson, the head of NASA, said recently that he believes we are not alone in the universe.

In an interview with the University of Virginias Center for Politics, he shared his view about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Speaking to politics professor Larry Sabato, he stated: My personal opinion is that the universe is so big, and now, there are even theories that there might be other universes. If thats the case, who am I to say that planet Earth is the only location of a life form that is civilized and organized like ours?

Are there other planet Earths out there? I certainly think so, because the universe is so big.

Nelson has been an advocate for space programs throughout his political career. He served as a Florida House Representative as well as a Senator and even traveled to space in 1986 on board the Columbia space shuttle.

He also discussed the 300-plus sightings of unidentified flying objects that have been reported by Navy pilots since 2004. Many of these encounters involved mysterious flying objects that maneuvered in extraordinary ways within restricted airspace. He said that we just dont know what these objects were and that these are topics worth exploring.

He said that after speaking to the naval aviators who saw the craft, he is convinced they saw something and their radars locked onto it.

Hundreds of UFO sightings that cant be explained

The U.S. government has become more forthcoming about pilots encounters with UFOs, and it was even the subject of a Pentagon report that was released in June that stated the military cannot explain 143 sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena that were reported between 2004 and 2021. Although it stopped short of saying the sightings proved the existence of aliens, it did not discount the possibility. It also put forth several other possible explanations, such as the UFOs representing advanced technology from countries like China or Russia or some sort of natural phenomenon.

Nelson said: We hope its not an adversary here on Earth that has that kind of technology.

Former CIA Director John Brennan has also speculated that these UFOs could constitute a different form of life, while former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that some UFOs have shown technology that we dont have and cannot defend against. Ratcliffe, Senator Mitt Romney, and several others with access to classified information have ruled out the possibility that these phenomena were the work of foreign powers with great technological prowess or even highly classified American technology.

One video we know the Pentagon has contains 23 minutes of footage of UFOs moving in a highly unusual pattern. According to the former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and a leading UFO authority, Lue Elizondo, the footage circulated within the American intelligence community.

He used terms like extremely compelling and perplexing to describe the video, which was recorded between 2008 and 2012 and shows craft moving in patterns that humans cannot understand. Elizondo said the craft looked large enough to accommodate several beings the size of humans. It has not been released publicly, and he said it would leave viewers rattled if they saw it.

NASA is searching for extraterrestrial life

Nelson said that NASA is searching for extraterrestrial life. What do you think were doing on Mars? Were looking for life. This is a part of NASAs mission, he stated.

He also said that the possibility of intelligent life existing in the universe beyond Earth drives home the importance of caring for our planet. He said he feels his mission is to be a better steward of this planet and be a better citizen of planet Earth.

Sources for this article include:

QZ.com

TheHill.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) American paleontologists recently found the worlds oldest stone tools, believed to be carved some 3.3 million years ago during the Pliocene period.

The Smithsonian Magazine reported that the set of carved tools was discovered at the Lomekwi 3 site in West Turkana, Kenya. Amounting to 149 tools in all, they include hammers, anvils and carved stones. The stone tools were purportedly used for food preparation, such as cracking nuts and tubers and carving fallen tree trunks for edible insects.

Prior to the discovery of the Lomekwi stone tools, earliest similar evidence had been dated from around 2.6 million years ago coming from the Ethiopian deposits which were found close to the fossil remains of the first representatives of the Homo habilis, named for their unique ability to use their hands to produce tools. Habilis is based on a Latin word that means handy or skillful.

The discovery challenges the existing idea of humanitys evolutionary origins. In a May 2015 paper published in Nature, study authors Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis wrote that the finds at Lomekwi 3 predate the Oldowan industry by 700,000 years and marks a new beginning to the known archaeological record. The Oldowan is the archaeological term used to refer to the earliest stone tool archaeological industry in prehistory.

Oldowan tools were used during the Lower Paleolithic period, 2.6 million years ago up until 1.7 million years ago, by ancient hominids across much of Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe. This technological industry was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry. (Related: Innate ingenuity: Ethiopian dig unearths ancient stone tools, some of the oldest ever discovered at more than 2.58 million years old.)

These tools shed a light on an unexpected and previously unknown period of hominin behavior and can tell us a lot about cognitive development in our ancestors that we cant understand from fossils alone. Our finding disproves the long-standing assumption that H. habilis was the first tool-maker, Harmand said.

Lewis added: This discovery challenges the idea that the main characters that make us human  making stone tools, eating more meat, maybe using language  all evolved at once in a punctuated way, near the origins of the genus Homo. The premise was that our lineage alone took the cognitive leap of hitting stones together to strike off sharp flakes, and that this was the foundation of our evolutionary success.

Who made the tools found at Lomekwi 3?

The discovery by Harmand, Lewis and their colleagues in Kenya appeared to revolutionize archaeology and force history to be rewritten. However, it poses two questions: Who made the tools and how are they linked to the Oldowan stone implements?

Anthropologists posited that individuals from the Homo genus, ancestors of the modern H. sapiens, were the first to develop such tools. However, H. habilis  the first hominids to make stone tools  only appeared hundreds of years later.

Harman and Lewis pointed to two possible creators of the Lomekwi stone tools. One is the Kenyanthropus platyops identified by paleontologist Meave Leakey and her colleagues, and the other is an unknown member of the human genus who once lived in the area. (Related: Scientists find new mystery human ancestor whose DNA remains in people today.)

Another question that emerged is the connection between the Oldowan tools and the earlier Lomekwi counterparts. The implements found in Kenya had been hit against once another to detach stone flakes in a process called knapping. You can tell these scars [on the stone tools] are organized, Harmand said.

There are two possible ways the Lomekwi tools were made based on further analysis on the tools scars and attempts to replicate their production. First, the individual might have set the stone on a flat rock and chipped away at it with another rock just like a hammer and anvil. Second, they could have held the stone with two hands and hit it against the flat rock, chipping away small bits.

The Oldowan toolmakers used a different method to make stone implements. They held a rock in each hand and struck both together with the right force at just the right angle  which would have called for more dexterity.

Harmand said: Weve jumped so far ahead with this discovery, that we need to to try to connect the dots back to what we know is happening in the early Oldowan.

Discoveries.news has more articles about the finds at Lomekwi and other archaeological revelations.

Sources include:

HumansAreFree.com

SmithsonianMag.com

Nature.com
(Natural News) The stupid ones are more fearsome than Mafia, the military-industrial complex or the Communist International. Theyre an unorganized group, without a leader or norm, but in spite of that, they act in perfect harmony, as guided by an invisible hand.

(Article by Jennifer Delgado republished from Psychology-Spot.com)

With the smile on his lips, as if he were doing the most natural thing in the world, the stupid will appear on the spur of the moment to spoil your plans, destroy your peace, complicate your life and work, make you lose money, time, good humor, productivity, and all this without malice, without remorse and without reason. Stupidly.

These are the words of the famous professor of economic history Carlo Cipolla, who taught at the universities of Pavia and Berkeley and published academic works in which he analyzed overpopulation throughout history but passed to posterity thanks to his Theory of Stupidity, condensed in his book The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, a treatise on human stupidity with satirical overtones.

The 5 basic laws of human stupidity

1. Always and inevitably, each of us underestimates the number of stupid individuals in the world

That there are stupid people in the world is well known. But Cipolla was convinced that we underestimated their number and influence in our lives and in society. He stated that any numerical estimate would prove to be an underestimate.

Its enough thinking, for example, of those people we classified as intelligent but who suddenly begin to behave in a foolish and obtuse manner. Or its enough going out to the street to see how many people insist on hindering us, for no apparent reason other than stupidity.

2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of the same person

Cipolla was convinced that stupidity was another characteristic, like blond hair or black eyes. Therefore, its distributed in all circles of society in a more or less similar proportion. He cites a study on the level of stupidity in the four large strata that make up universities: beadles, employees, students and teachers. In this analysis it was found that the distribution of stupidity was uniform, no matter how much we ascended in the educational level.

Whether you practice elegant circles or you take refuge among the Polynesian head cutters, you lock yourself in a monastery or decide to spend the rest of your life in company of beautiful women, the fact remains that you must always face the same percentage of stupid people, he concluded.

3. A stupid person is one who causes harm to another person or group without at the same time obtaining a benefit for himself or even damaging himself

Cipolla didnt consider stupidity a matter of intellectual quotient, but rather a lack of relational intelligence. He started from the idea that relating to each other we can obtain benefits for ourselves and for the others or, on the contrary, cause harm to ourselves and to the others. A stupid person is one who harms the others and also himself.

His behavior is irrational and difficult to understand, but its likely that you remember more than one person who blocked your way, generating difficulties, frustrations and prejudices, even if they didnt gain anything at all. According to his theory of human stupidity There are people who, with their unlikely actions, not only cause harm to other people, but also to themselves. These people belong to the superstupid genre.

4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people

According to Cipolla, we continually forget the danger that stupid people represent. He says that Stupid people are dangerous and unfortunate because reasonable people find it difficult to imagine and understand a stupid behavior.

Generally their attack takes us by surprise and even when we suffer it, we find it difficult to organize a rational defense because the attack itself lacks rationality. By underestimating their power, we remain vulnerable and, therefore, at the mercy of their unpredictability.

We can also fall into the error of thinking that a stupid person can only hurt himself, that were immune to his actions, but with thinking this way we confuse naivety with stupidity and, believing ourselves invulnerable, we lower our defenses.

5. The stupid person is the most dangerous person that exists

All human beings are included in four fundamental categories: the naive, the intelligent, the evil and the stupid [] The intelligent person knows that hes intelligent. The evil one is aware to be evil. The naive is painfully imbued with the sense of his own candor. Unlike all these characters, the stupid doesnt know to be stupid. This contributes to give greater strength, incidence and effectiveness to his devastating action. The stupid is not inhibited by self-consciousness, wrote Cipolla to outline the last fundamental law of human stupidity.

Cipolla represents in this graph the 4 types of people taking into account who benefits or harms their behavior:

And he also warns us that Some stupid people usually cause only limited damages, but therere others that cause terrible damage, not just to one or two individuals, but to communities or entire societies. The ability to hurt of a stupid person depends on the [] position of power or authority he occupies in the society.

How to protect yourself from human stupidity?

Intelligence and stupidity are not the opposite of one another, nor is stupidity the lack of intelligence, but intelligence is the product, more or less unsuccessful, of a continuous series of attempts to dominate, or escape, the stupidity that constitutes everything that is human, wrote Matthijs Van Boxsel.

Beyond labeling people, it is important to understand the risks that represents stupidity. Actually, we can all behave stupidly, if we dont measure the scope of our actions or words. If we dont develop a critical thinking and forget the necessary introspection, we can become victims of stupidity, suffering it or exercising it.

A very interesting study conducted at the Eotvos Lorand University gives us other clues to gain self-consciousness determining the 3 causes of human stupidity:

1. Ignorance or overconfidence. It would be the highest degree of stupidity and appears in people who take risks of any kind, although they lack the skills or knowledge necessary to face them.

2. Lack of control. Its a medium degree of stupidity that corresponds to impulsive people, who lack self-control and act letting themselves be carried away by the first impulse.

3. Distraction. It would be the slightest degree of stupidity, which manifests itself in those who fail to achieve something because they dont pay attention or dont allocate sufficient resources, struggling uselessly.

Sources:

Acze, B. et. Al. (2015) What is stupid? Peoples conception of unintelligent behavior. Intelligence; 53: 51-58.

Cipolla, C. M. (1988) Allegro ma non troppo.Barcelona: Critica.

Read more at: Psychology-Spot.com
(Natural News) The single-dose Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is back in the news after it was revealed that recipients are 3.5 times more likely than non-recipients to develop rare blood clots.

Perhaps not shocking is the fact that taking a J&J injection for the Chinese Virus ups ones risk of deadly blood clots by a whopping 350 percent, a new study has found. And most at risk are women between the ages of 30 and 64.

While the general rate of blood clots in a given population is 2.5 people out of every 100,000, the rate among J&J injection recipients is 8.5 people out of every 100,000. If every life counts, as we were all told last year in defense of the mask mandates, then something must be done to take these J&J injections off the market before any more people suffer cardiovascular events.

Back in April, a temporary pause on the J&J shot was enacted for 10 days while the government supposedly investigated concerns about blood clotting in women. It was learned that the jabs cause cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST, in some recipients.

This was no big deal to the government, though, as the J&J injection was quickly brought back online to be stabbed into peoples arms at warp speed. (RELATED: One of the earliest recipients of J&Js covid injection had his skin fall off because of the jab.)

Despite all this, both J&J and the government claim that deadly side effects are rare and that people should not worry about it. Getting injected, they claim, is still better than risking an ever-dreaded positive test result for the Chinese Virus.

Youre better off relying on your natural immune system rather than vaccines

For their research, scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., collected data on roughly 158,000 people living in Olmstead County, located about 90 miles southeast of Minnesota.

The data covered a period of time ranging from 2001 to 2015 and looked specifically at known CVST cases. This data was then compared to newer data since J&Js Fauci Flu shot was released.

It was clear based on this comparison that post-release of the J&J jab, CVST cases skyrocketed, relatively speaking. A direct correlation between the injection and the disease was established, showing that it is hardly the safe and effective vaccine that government officials claim it to be.

Most vaccine-induced CVST cases appear to have developed within 15 days of injection. The results were published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

According to reports, the J&J injection is the least popular of the three Wuhan Flu shot brands currently available in the United States, the other two being the mRNA (messenger RNA) shots offered by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The J&J shot does not contain mRNA technology and oddly enough has been the jab most targeted with scrutiny for causing negative side effects. The others cause side effects, too, but the government seems to favor people taking those, hence the lack of coverage about the damage they are causing.

J&J presented the FDA with a study on the efficacy of their jabs against severe / critical Delta infection, wrote one commenter at the DailyMail Online. It showed NEGATIVE 6% EFFICACY WITH DELTA. The placebo group had one less severe / critical Delta case than the test group.

And thats just rare blood clots, wrote another about how the J&J injection causes other damage as well. The data from this study doesnt include Bells Palsy, heart attacks, miscarriages, myocarditis, and other life-changing problems.

To keep up with the latest news about injuries and deaths caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, be sure to check out ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) LYNNE, FLORIDA A 41-year-old truck driver and self-described powerhouse progressive and LGBT former Florida congressional candidate is dead after a final month of life filled with vitriol.

(Article republished from TheCOVIDBlog.com)

Mr. Richard Ricky Rowe was already, for lack of better term, an unpleasant personality based on his Facebook and Twitter archives. The injections exacerbated it, providing more evidence that these shots change peoples personalities and psychological states of mind.

Mr. Rowe was a truck driver by trade. But he ran for seats in the Florida House Of Representative and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020. He lost in the primaries in the previous and dropped out before the primaries in the latter race. Mr. Rowe was a Democrat who stressed that he was a progressive, not a liberal. His hatred and vitriol towards non-vaxxed people dates back to early 2021.

Exacerbated vitriol

Mr. Rowe received his first Pfizer mRNA injection on August 12, according to his Facebook page. Its unclear when he received the second injection. But Mr. Rowe was very loyal to the vaxx and all things surrounding it. Further, 92% of self-identified LGBT people follow vaxx schedules loyally, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Thus Mr. Rowe likely followed Centers for Disease Control instructions and got the second shot sometime between September 5 and 12.

He wasted no time with the vitriol, declaring himself morally and intellectually superior to all non-vaxxed people the day of his first injection.

His posts got stranger and nastier after August 12. But well pick up in October.

Mr. Rowe promoted indoctrinating kids with homosexual culture, and posted a strange word-salad about pansexual and bisexual.

The rest of October was spent attacking the non-vaxxed at every opportunity. He said, I really dont give a shit what happens to you to all non-vaxxed people on October 7.

Mr. Rowe mocked non-vaxxed nurses and supported firing them for not getting the shots.

Later that day, he said non-vaxxed people better accept being day laborers like illegal immigrants at Home Depot since nobody will hire them.

Mr. Rowe said non-vaxxed people are the bottom of the food chain on October 18.

He then said Fuck em regarding the death of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The final post well cover here is Mr. Rowe declaring that Joe Biden has the power of a king, can mandate whatever he wants, and everyone must obey.

Death of Ricky Rowe

Mr. Rowes last Facebook post came on October 27, taking digs at Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia. He took his dog for a walk the morning of Thursday, October 29, according to a GoFundMe page that we wont be linking here. Mr. Rowe had an unknown medical episode and was found by the neighbors. He was pronounced dead that morning.

His niece posted an update on his Facebook on November 2, confirming Mr. Rowe passed away unexpectedly last week.

Read more at: TheCOVIDBlog.com
Almost all of the photographs of Pluto's unusually complex surface taken by NASA's New Horizons mission in 2015 were of the side illuminated by the sun. The dwarf planet's other hemisphere was cloaked in darkness. Some of it had not seen the sun in decades, such as the region near the south pole.

However, Pluto's dark side has come into dim view, thanks to the light of the dwarf planet's moon.

Seeing Pluto's Dark Side

Scientists from the expedition have now revealed a blurry image of the dwarf planet's dark side. The researchers detail the photo-taking procedure and what it shows about Pluto's nitrogen cycle and its atmosphere in the Planetary Science Journal on October 20.

The scientists thought that the dwarf planet's biggest moon, Charon, may reflect enough light to reveal the distant world's surface before New Horizons flew past Pluto. As a result, the researchers had the spacecraft return to the sun for a final look at Pluto.

Initially, the photographs showed a ring of sunlight passing across Pluto's thick atmosphere (SN: 7/24/15). "It's like trying to read a street sign while driving toward the setting sun with a dirty windshield," says planetary scientist John Spencer of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "It's tough to see anything in that glare."

Spencer and his colleagues took a few steps to allow features of Pluto's dark side to emerge from the brightness. To begin, the researchers had the spacecraft take 360 brief photos of the dwarf planet's illuminated surface. To avoid overexposing the images, each was just 0.4 seconds long. The crew also took photographs of the sun without Pluto in the frame so that the sun could be removed later.

Related Article: Martian Noises: Perseverance Rover Recorded Sounds from Mars



Initial Response

When Tod Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., received the data in 2016, he analyzed the photos. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to handle such a complex undertaking because the rest of the material from New Horizons was still fresh and took up most of his focus.

But, as Lauer describes it, "it was something that just sat there and ate away at me." So, in 2019, he attempted once again. The photographs were somewhat smeared or blurred since the spacecraft was moving while taking them. To eliminate the fuzz from each individual frame, Lauer used a computer program. The reflected Charon light in each of the hundreds of photos was combined to create a single image.

"We finally saw something emerge in the black there when Tod conducted that arduous study," Spencer says, "offering us a little bit of a view of what the dark pole of Pluto looks like."

Carly Howett, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute who is also on the New Horizons team but was not engaged in this investigation, believes that the team's achievement is outstanding. "It's, challenging to deal with this dataset," she says. "Congratulations to this group. This is not something I would have chosen to undertake."

Understanding Pluto

According to Howett, the image will aid scientists in understanding how Pluto's freezing nitrogen atmosphere changes throughout its decades-long seasons. The amount of nitrogen in the gaseous air and how much is frozen on Pluto's surface control the atmosphere. The atmosphere grows thicker as more nitrogen ice evaporates. On the other hand, the atmosphere might completely collapse if too much nitrogen freezes the earth.

Pluto's south pole seemed darker than its north pole when New Horizons arrived. Even though it was approaching winter, this indicates that there was not a lot of new nitrogen frost freezing out of the sky there. "The last summer ended decades ago," Spencer explains, "but Pluto cools off slowly." "Perhaps it's still too warm for frost to form there, preventing the atmosphere from collapsing."

In the center of the photograph, a bright patch appeared that might be a fresh ice deposit. That's also not surprising, according to Howett. As Pluto advances deeper into its winter, the ice may still be flowing from the north pole to the south pole.

"This has been on our minds for a long time. But, she adds, "It makes sense." "However, it's encouraging to see it happen."

Also Read: Curiosity Rover Captures Stunning Cloud Formation on Mars

For more space related news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Since the first confirmed pangolin seizure in Nigeria in 2010, the black market for the world's most trafficked animal has exploded, with the country becoming Africa's center for the illegal trafficking of pangolin-related products to East Asia.

Pangolin Trafficking in Nigeria

Pangolin scales have been used in traditional Chinese medicine, resulting in a catastrophic decline in Asian species this century.

Now, a group of conservationists headed by the University of Cambridge has published the first data-driven analysis measuring pangolin product seizures in Nigeria in order to estimate the magnitude of the illegal trade.

Between 2010 and September 2021, officials caught and recorded 190,407 kg of pangolin scales collected from at least 799,343 but likely almost a million deceased pangolins.

This sum is comparable to current estimates for the whole worldwide pangolin trade since 2000, indicating that trafficking levels are far higher than previously anticipated.

Following their departure from African coasts, several seizures happened in locations such as Hong Kong. Researchers observed pangolins from countries such as Cameroon and Gabon to Asian countries such as China and Cambodia, sometimes through France and Holland. All had pass through Nigeria.

Also Read: $1.2 Million Worth of Pangolin Scales Seized in Malaysia

Decline in Pangolin Populations

According to academics, despite recent advances and a few devoted cops, general enforcement in Nigeria is low and corruption is rampant. Only four people have been prosecuted in Nigeria for pangolin trafficking in the previous year.

As a result, intercepted shipments are only likely to represent a tiny portion of the pangolin goods currently being transported via Nigeria. Experts cites in the article published in Biological Conservation proposing that identified wildlife seizures are anywhere from 30% - only 2% of the total illicit trade.

All eight pangolin species (four African and four Asian) are threatened species, with three of them classified as critically endangered. Researchers took a random sample of dozens of bags seized by customs and estimated that white-bellied pangolin scales account for 90% of the scales used in trades connected to Nigeria.

White-bellied pangolins are one of the most common African species, however ,conservation groups classify them as vulnerable.

They are historically hunted and sold in local markets. International trafficking, according to researchers, is pushing the butchery of African pangolins to perilous new heights.

Reserchers' Demand For Increased Law Enforcement Efforts

Despite the fact that Nigeria has signed multiple laws prohibiting pangolin hunting and commercial trade, the country has been engaged in more documented trafficking occurrences than any other African nation.

According to analysts, the average mass of reported Nigeria-linked seizures climbed gradually from 2010 to 2017, when Nigeria established itself as the core of Africa's pangolin trade. While Nigeria served as a conduit at first, by 2019, practically all shipments originated in the nation.

Pangolin cargo was transported by land and air, but the bulk - over 65% of all scales - was transported by water, with marine smuggling becoming more common over time.

Some of the seizures took place in warehouses where the means of transportation and destination were unclear, but all of those apprehended in transit were most certainly headed for Asia. Vietnam (over 64 kg), China (over 48 kg), and Hong Kong (over 48 kg) received the most scales of any country or territory (over 21 kg).

The researchers advocate for stronger law enforcement efforts and mandated training for Nigerian customs employees in the identification of illicit wildlife goods, especially at seaports, as well as adequate seizure documentation by Nigeria and its neighbors.

Related Article: Despite Low Seizure Amount, Illegal Wildlife Trade May Boom Because of Covid-19

For more news, updates about pangolins and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Strategies for decarbonizing electricity infrastructure are hot as the globe watches the United Nations COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

On the other hand, Renewables detractors challenge the reliability of systems that rely on intermittent supplies. A recent study headed by the University of California, Irvine experts, confronts the issue of dependability head-on.

The authors, including experts from China's Tsinghua University, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Caltech, recently published a paper in Nature Communications claiming that most of the current electricity demand in advanced, industrialized countries can be met by a combination of wind and solar power. However, that favorable conclusion comes with the warning that further efforts will be required to thoroughly meet the countries' needs.

According to the study, the most dependable systems, which are dominated by wind power, can supply electricity demand 72 to 91 percent of the time in the nations surveyed, even without energy storage. On the other hand, solar power now dominates systems, which can meet demand 83 to 94 percent of the time with 12 hours of energy storage capacity.

Examining Energy Data

The researchers examined 39 years of hourly energy demand data from 42 major countries to see if wind and solar power resources could meet their demands. They discovered that a complete transition to sustainable energy resources is easier for bigger, lower-latitude countries, which can rely on solar electricity availability all year.

Related Article: OPEC Member Calls for Change, Urges Oil Producers to Invest More on Renewable Energy



Germany as an Example

The researchers used Germany as an example of a country with a smaller land mass at a higher latitude, making meeting its energy demands using wind and solar resources more difficult.

"Historical data reveals that nations farther from the equator might occasionally face periods known as 'dark doldrums,' during which solar and wind power supply is highly restricted," said Dan Tong, principal author and assistant professor of Earth system science at Tsinghua University. "In Germany, one recent example of this problem lasted two weeks, requiring Germans to rely on dispatchable power, which fossil fuel-burning facilities often provide."

Capacity

Building up producing capacity that surpasses yearly demand, improving long-term storage capacities, and combining the resources of different nations on a continental land mass are some of the solutions proposed by academics to address this issue.

"Europe is a fantastic example," said Tong, who began her research as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Earth System Science at UC Irvine. "A system that combines solar resources from Spain, Italy, and Greece with abundant wind from the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Baltic area might give a lot of consistency and reliability."

Wind and Solar Power

The researchers discovered that wind and solar power systems could provide around 85% of the US's total electricity consumption. This percentage could be boosted further by overbuilding capacity, adding batteries and other storage systems, and linking with other countries on the continent.

"Europe is a fantastic example," said Tong, who began her research as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Earth System Science at UC Irvine. "A system that combines solar resources from Spain, Italy, and Greece with abundant wind from the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Baltic area might give a lot of consistency and reliability."

Enough to Provide

The researchers discovered that wind and solar power systems could provide around 85% of the US's entire electricity consumption. This percentage could be boosted further by overbuilding capacity, adding batteries and other storage systems, and linking with other countries on the continent.

"There are obvious geophysical restrictions on our capacity to create net-zero carbon power over the planet," Davis explained. "It boils down to the distinction between the difficult and the impossible: it will be tough to phase out fossil fuels from our power generating mix, but we can do so if technology, economics, and socio-political will all align."

Also Read: Study Shows How Urban Experimentation May Help Develop Better Sustainable Policies



For more news about making the environment sustainable, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Weather Alert

...FREEZING FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Visibility less than one mile in freezing fog. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington, Yakima Valley and Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...Until 10 AM PST this morning. * IMPACTS...Hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility and potential frost on bridges. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Current observations through the Lower Columbia Basin, Yakima Valley and Walla Walla region indicate areas of a quarter mile visibility or less and below freezing temperatures. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you. Also, be alert for frost on bridge decks causing slippery roads. &&
NEW CANAAN  It was apocryphal: Stamford Police Chief Timothy Shaw recounted the story of a mother who allegedly told law enforcement her 14-year-old son was going to kill someone.

Six months later, Shaw said, he did.

If he was put in a place prior to and got the resources he needed, Shaw told the audience at a New Canaan Town Hall forum, then he could have been put on a different path.

Shaw and Paul J. Ferencek, the states attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk judicial district, on Wednesday made the case for a new juvenile therapeutic and detention facility in Connecticut. The present juvenile system works for most of the states young criminals, they said, but law enforcement officials believe more is needed for those the system does not help.

And while not accusing juveniles of being particularly vicious, Shaw said he has seen an uptick in assaults and murders. In past years, Stamford Police logged two or three homicides a year, he said. In 2019, there were five; in 2020, six; and this year, there have been five.

Three incidents over the past few years have involved young teens, he said, with children ages 14, 15 and 16 involved in separate homicides.

There has to be a place to get the help they need, Shaw said. We dont want to incarcerate. That is not why we are here. That is not something we believe in.

Ferencek said the type of facility that would be ideal for juveniles does not exist in Connecticut. He thinks the state should invest in centers that are short of being a jail, where it is mandatory that they stay there and are really therapeutic in nature. We dont have it unfortunately, he said. It is an issue of money.

He said the present system only allows that juveniles be kept for up to 30 months in various facilities that are not designed for the purpose of therapeutic rehabilitation.

Shaw said he believes the justice system should rely on specialists to determine how much time this person needs before they can be a value to society.

We hope it doesnt take a tragedy for the state to do something, he added.

New Canaan Chief Leon Krolikowski, who has been reaching out to legislators to change laws surrounding youth crime, argued that the rise in crime is related to no accountability, or very little, for repeat offenders.

If legislators can push through police accountability in a few months, you can push through juvenile accountability in a similar amount of time, he said.

The speakers emphasized that the goal is not only to save victims, but to save the offenders as well.

Krolikowski said he supports therapeutic interventions first.

There should be progressive state resources put in place based on the crime committed and each juveniles circumstances, he said on Thursday.

Certainly repeat juvenile offenders should be placed on intensive state supervision, which could include being GPS monitored, getting behavioral and/or substance use help and educational support, he said. The small percentage of juveniles that commit the most violent offenses, he said, such as murders, shootings, armed robberies and sexual assaults, may need to be in a juvenile facility to both protect and help the juvenile.

Greenwich Police Chief Jim Heavey said even though his town has a very comprehensive plan for juveniles who have committed crimes, he only has jurisdiction over criminals who live in Greenwich. Of the crimes committed in Greenwich, 67 percent he attributed to commuters  who come from out of town, he said.

Heavey touted a juvenile review board, diversionary programs including a board of residents with expertise in various areas to help with restorative justice and restitution. The group works with support agencies in town, including the school system.

We have a very high success rate, he said.

Balancing things like accountability and transparency with the proactiveness of policing are a goal, forum moderator state Sen. Ryan Fazio said. The justice system must balance mercy and compassion and rehabilitation with accountability and deterrents.
For Erin Tridle and her boyfriend, it was love at first sight. They met while the American was traveling in France in the summer of 2019. They said, I love you, on day two. People tell us it's like something from a movie, she said.

When Tridle returned home to Los Angeles, they began a long-distance relationship, spending time together when they could. Then the pandemic hit, separating them indefinitely as countries locked down travel.

The uncertainty of not knowing when we would be together again was one of the hardest things I've even been through, Tridle said.

Travel restrictions that have upended lives will relax Monday, when new rules go into effect allowing air travel from previously restricted countries as long as the traveler has proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. Land travel will require proof of vaccination but no test.

Eirini Linardaki was already in Paris on Friday, making her way from her home in Crete to her partner of seven years in New York City on a series of four flights. The visual artist said the travel restrictions were especially hard on people in nontraditional relationships. But at 45, its not so easy for her to just move to America.

I have kids and a career, and I also have him, she said. I love him, so I have to make it fit into the structure of my life.

Loved ones have missed holidays, birthdays and funerals while nonessential air travel was barred from a long list of countries that includes most of Europe, Brazil and South Africa. Closures at the land crossings with Mexico and Canada have devastated the border towns where traveling back and forth, sometimes daily, is a way of life.

Before the border closure, Montreal junior college teacher Gina Granter and her partner in New York City saw each other at least twice a month. Now, between the closures, quarantine rules and other restrictions, theyve managed to see each other only three times since the beginning of the pandemic.

When her partner finally was able to travel to see them after missing their daughters second birthday, the little girl didnt remember him, Granter said.

I have a brother named Steven, and she was calling her dad other Steven or occasionally Granddad, Granter said. She had no memories of being with him in New York.

With the reopening, Granter, 42, is looking forward to regular weekend visits again, and she plans a long trip to New York around Christmastime.

There were anguished nights, and it was so hard, she said.

For many, one of the most frustrating things about the travel restrictions has been their seemingly arbitrary nature, said Edward Alden, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. The list of restricted countries doesnt necessarily match the places with the worst COVID-19 outbreaks. And Alden sees no logic in restricting land travel but not air travel in North America.

There was a lot of public anger, he said. Many people were willing to accept restrictions, but not the lack of rationale and logic, particularly for couples and families separated for long periods.

There were ways around the restrictions, but they were often difficult and expensive. For instance, the air travel ban didnt restrict citizens of those countries, but rather travel from those countries.

For Barbara Feitoza of Brazil, that meant staying for two weeks in Colombia, where she knew no one and didnt speak the language, so she could travel to the U.S. to be with her boyfriend in March. It was her first international trip, and she said it was terrifying to fly at the height of the pandemic.

The 28-year-old civil engineer from outside of Rio de Janeiro was at work when she learned the U.S. was preparing to drop its travel restrictions. Feitoza said she was euphoric, jumping from her seat as bewildered colleagues looked on.

Some of those separated from loved ones found support in an online group called Love Is Not Tourism. Among them was Linardaki, who said she was impressed by the variety of people's circumstances.

It's not only people in their 20s," she said. "There were people who've known each other for very little time, people who've known each other for years, people who are 65 or 70 years old. People all over the world were united by this difficulty.

As for Tridle and her boyfriend, they hope to get married in a couple of years and live in the same country. But for now, the 30-year-old is just looking forward to him being able to visit at Christmas.

I'm super excited for him to come to the U.S. again so we can spend some good, quality time together here, she said.

___

AP journalists David Biller and Diane Jeantet contributed from Rio de Janeiro.
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  Portugals parliament approved Friday new labor laws on working from home, introducing additional protection for employees who do their job away from company premises.

The new rules are a response to the trend of more staff working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Portugals Socialist government said. It said it sees benefits in working from home but wanted to adapt labor legislation to it.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Rain likely. High 43F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 30F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
+2 Salvation Army ups its game for emergencies Salvation Army captains Elliott and Darlene Higgins just arrived in New Castle last year.

For anyone looking to ring in the holiday season, the Salvation Army has a job for you.

The organizations annual Red Kettle Campaign  its major fundraiser  will kick off the weekend before Thanksgiving, and local captains Elliott and Darlene Higgins are looking for folks to sound the bells that accompany the kettles set up in and around area businesses.

Were looking for local organizations, churches, civic groups, to ring a bell for us, Capt. Elliott Higgins said. They can contact us (at (724) 652-7921). They can pick the time slots they want and the store they want and just ring the bell.

Usually, people tell me after they do it, Wow, that was fun. They had a blast, and all their friends come by and sing Christmas carols and do whatever they want.

But while the Salvation Army is looking for help from the community, it will be dispensing it as well.

Although the deadline to sign up for food and gift assistance is nearly past, Capt. Darlene Higgins said that the Salvation Army is planning make-up dates.

We dont want to turn anybody away, she said. So even if they come at the last minute, theyre going to get something. Well have plenty of food and make sure the kids get taken care of somehow.

The Salvation Army also is involved in outreach programs in connection with Walmart and Sheetz.

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The Army provides names for an Angel Tree at the former, from which shoppers can select a child, then buy gifts that can be brought to the Salvation Army at 240 W. Grant St. They also can arrange to have the gifts picked up.

The Army provides names to local Sheetz stores as well, Darlene Higgins said, and the stores employees shop for them.

Shes also working to plug the Salvation Army into the WTAE-TVs Project Bundle-Up, which provides winter hats, coats and gloves to financially challenged families.

In addition, the Salvation Army will host a community Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday prior to the holiday, but the captains also want to offer such gatherings throughout the year, not just on holidays.

Were working with the city to get a community meal site started here, Darlene Higgins said.

We want to start cooking consistently on Sunday evenings after the Christmas season.

The Salvation Armys kitchen is awaiting a remodeling, but Elliott Higgins said that the cooking can begin even prior to that, as the city has already issued them approval to cook there.

I figure its needed on this side of town, so were going to try it out, he said.

More than once, Darlene Higgins added, weve been told that this side of town has been ignored, so were going to try to address that.
Salvation Army seeking, offering help for the holidays For anyone looking to ring in the holiday season, the Salvation Army has a job for you.

Salvation Army captains Elliott and Darlene Higgins just arrived in New Castle last year.

Now, theyre ready to hit the road.

Theyre not leaving Lawrence County, but they do intend to get around it more, thanks to a new program theyve initiated and the recently arrived service vehicle that goes with it.

The program is called Emergency Disaster Services, but the Higginses hope is that emergencies wont be the only scenes where their new truck will be spotted.

We respond to local disasters and regional disasters, Capt. Elliott Higgins explained. The normal thing would be to respond to a fire, feed and hydrate first responders and victims of the fire and work alongside the American Red Cross to try to give (victims) some emergency assistance.

The captains are preparing to make the rounds of local fire departments to introduce themselves and their program that theyve been putting together for about six months. But theyre not about to sit around waiting for an emergency to arise.

We hope to use it as little as possible for that, Higgins said. That truck can have multiple uses. There could be more homeless feeding off that. It can be used in community events, mobile feeding, things to help the community.

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The Higginses are no strangers to disaster response.

With our past history, thats how we got (the vehicle), Higgins said. Weve got pretty good references because weve done the work before. Weve done the emergency disaster program for 12 years (the couple served in Athol and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, before coming to New Castle in Augusut 2020).

Weve worked alongside all kinds of fire departments, and national disasters like Hurricane Irma and Maria (Category 5 hurricanes that swept through the Caribbean and Florida within two weeks of each other in September 2017). We went to Panama City, Florida, and Fort Myers. I usually serve as logistics chief on those things.

Complementing the Salvation Armys Emergency Disaster Services program is a grant-funded recovery initiative that already is up and running. While first responders and the American Red Cross are usually out in force at the scene of a fire, the Salvation Army is prepared to do its part as well.

When you run out of funding for the Red Cross, you come to the Salvation Army, Higgins said. Well give you thrift store stuff and something just to start out with. Well help them recover lost documents, help them purchase new items for when they move into a new place, try to get them a cell phone.

We started the program about six months ago, and so far its been pretty successful. I think weve helped 15 to 20 families with the recovery program now.

Residents will be able to catch a glimpse of the Emergency Disaster Services vehicle in New Castles Hometown Holly Days parade on Nov. 20. That likely will be one of its less-challenging duties.

Youve really got to like doing this kind of work, because sometimes its 2 oclock in the morning, Higgins said. But weve got a pretty good team of volunteers ready to respond.
State police divers have found the wreckage of the small plane that went down in the ocean off the coast of Cape Cod last weekend, but the pilot remains missing
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GREENWICH  The towns registrars of voters completed a recount Friday afternoon in the race for a seat on the Board of Education and declared Republican Cody Kittle as the winner by only one vote.

The results sent out by the town  determined after the two-day recount was completed  said Kittle had received 8,357 votes, one more than fellow Republican Megan Galletta, who got 8,356 votes.

I want to thank (moderator) Sharon Vecchiola and all the recount workers for their thorough review the last two days under difficult circumstances, Kittle said in a statement after the results were announced.

I am glad the election is finally over, and I am very excited to join the Board of Education, he said. The real win will be when our new BOE can meaningfully improve our schools for all kids. I hope everyone remembers this election when they ponder if their vote actually matters.

In a statement Saturday morning, Galletta said, As an active and engaged public school mother who is not a politician and was a first-time candidate, I am proud of the work we have done.

Galletta said she had some outstanding questions about ballots for election officials.

Were looking forward to resolving our questions soon and concluding the election, she said.

Galletta did not respond to further questions.

The recount was forced after the initial results of Tuesdays election found that Kittle had only a 36-vote advantage over Galletta. That tally was Kittle with 8,336 votes and Galletta with 8,300 votes, according to the town and the secretary of the states office.

The two candidates, along with Republican Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony, ran for two open seats on the school board. Mercanti-Anthony had a significant lead, with 9,276 votes, over Galletta and Kittle on Tuesday night.

The new school board members are scheduled to be sworn in on Nov. 17.

In a statement, Republican Town Committee Chair Dan Quigley supported Kittles win.

I want to thank the office of the registrar of voters and their staff for doing an incredible job ensuring that the outcome was fair to the candidates, Quigley said. Their hard work and diligence to the task at hand embodied our democracy at its best. Cody Kittle has been declared the winner and now we have to move forward and let our Board of Education get down to the business of making our schools the best they can be for our students and children.

Long process

The recount was a long process, starting Thursday morning in Town Hall and continuing throughout the day. After ballots were counted again in nine of the towns 12 voting district on Thursday, the work continued Friday to finish the job.

On Friday afternoon, an initial error was found in the tabulation for the recount, which Republican Registrar of Voters Fred DeCaro III attributed to the states software that was used to total the votes.

The first set of results gave Kittle a nine-vote margin of victory, but it was quickly determined an error had been made because every candidates vote total jumped from the 8,000 range to more than 11,000, DeCaro said.

The Town Clerks Office then completed another round of tabulations, which gave Kittle the one-vote victory.

There were no changes or adjustments to tallies after observers left, DeCaro said in an email. There were discrepancies in the state reporting system due to their programming errors, but no data entry needed to be changed on our end. We have contacted the state, and they fixed their system.

Vote totals

After the recount, there were changes from Tuesday in every candidates vote total, not just in the totals for Kittle and Galletta.

Mercanti-Anthony remained the top vote-getter in the school board race, with 9,306, up from the 9,276 he received in the initial count Tuesday night.

In the Democratic race, which was not contested, board Vice Chair Kathleen Stowe and Laura Kostin ran for two seats. The recount found that Stowe had 8,364 votes, up from 8,328, and Kostin had 8,095, up from 8,065.

Write-in candidate Kara Philbin received 1,883 votes, up from the 1,493 votes on Tuesday. Philbin, who campaigned with Galletta during the final days of the race, was an observer at the recount, which was open to the public, on Thursday and Friday.

Other observers included Galletta, Quigley, state Rep. Kimberly Fiorello, outgoing Republican Board of Education member Peter Sherr, outgoing Town Clerk Carmella Budkins, Town Clerk-elect Jackie Budkins and Jackie Homan, founder of the advocacy group Greenwich Patriots.

Dispute over ballot

Some observers raised their voices Thursday over a ballot that was disallowed for Galletta, according to re-canvas official Howard Richman.

At the table where he was working, a ballot was viewed that had been marked for Galletta, Kittle and Mercanti-Anthony as well as for Philbin, Richman said.

The voter also wrote Philbins name in Gallettas space on the ballot, and Richman said a determination, after consultation with the head moderator Sharon Vecchiolla, was made that the voters intent was to cast a ballot for Philbin.

The decision resulted in what Richman called a heated discussion with Gallettas supporters. The discussion did not escalate, but the registrar of voters office asked for a Greenwich police officer be assigned to monitor the rest of the recount.

If that vote had been allowed in for Galletta, it would have resulted in a tie.

The standard for (a decision like that) is the intent of the voter, said Gabe Rosenberg, general counsel for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. In an election this close, the recourse would be in court, and I guess you could challenge individual ballots that were or were not.

The recount is the final step in the process for the town, Rosenberg said. It would be Gallettas choice if she wanted to pursue the matter further, given the slim recount.

Really the only recourse is in court, said Rosenberg, who declined to comment further because he said he was not familiar with the case.

Greenwich saw a one-vote victory in the famous 1977 race for first selectman that resulted in the election of Democrat Ruth Sims over Republican Rupert Vernon.

Sims was the initial winner over Vernon by six votes, but a recount two days later put Vernon ahead by only one vote. Sims then challenged the counting of the absentee ballots, and a second recount put her ahead by one vote.

According to town resident Ed Dadakis, a judge ultimately threw out a vote, resulting in a tie, and ordered a new election, which Sims won by a large margin.

Editors note: This story has been updated to add comments from Megan Galletta.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
NEW MILFORD  Deep in the heart of town is a food service organization that focuses on children.

Now in its fourth year, Camellas Cupboard, which is based out of New Milford Public Schools Central Office building at 50 Main St., gives out a free food bag to each child registered with the program.

We give each child a bag with multiple days worth of food items, said Angela Chastain, founder of the nonprofit.

Items in the bag are geared specifically for children, and include fruit cups, waffles, juice boxes and frozen pizza  things that a child can eat with little to no assistance. That was our goal to begin with  to feed those kids, Chastain said.

Additionally, during the pandemic, Camellas began to give away family boxes. These 75-pound boxes consist of bread, fresh produce such as meat, eggs and milk, and a baked good item from a local grocery store that donates their excess.

Qualification, registration

Camellas is open to anyone, year round, who feels they need the service.

The need is self-identified, Chastain said. The only requirement we have is youre a New Milford resident.

Residents get a referral through social services and schools, as well as counselors at New Milford Hospital.

She added, however, most of the time, people hear of Camellas through word of mouth.

Registration is required for everyone in the program. Residents can register at any time.

Food bag pick-up is weekly behind East Street School.

Its a complete drive-thru service. They pull up behind the school. To remain confidential, we ask the last four digits of their phone number and the food is placed inside the trunk, she said.

Camellas uses about 100 volunteers a month  to pick up boxes and distribute all the food. New volunteers are always welcome.

Chastain said because the nonprofit focuses on children, many children want to volunteer to help.

We started monthly kids and teens nights where young people volunteer their time to pack bags and other tasks, she said. That gives kids an opportunity to understand what we do and why we do it.

Funding, ongoing need

Camellas Cupboard is supported by grants such as by the United Way, Dunkin Donuts and No Kid Hungry.

Additionally, they receive items through the Connecticut Food Bank, anonymous foundations and individual contributions.

The service never closed during the pandemic  it served more people than ever during that time.

Prior to the pandemic, we were serving 200 children each week, Chastain said.

During COVID, that number peaked to about 800 children a week.

We have leveled off since early spring, and now we are serving about 300 children each week, consistently, Chastain said.

She said many pantries, including Camellas, are struggling.

The crunch is now, she said. People were overwhelmingly generous during COVID. Everyone assumes that now, we are doing OK. However, we are really down with our individual donations at this point.

Camellas Cupboard accepts individually packaged items, as well as cash donations.

The nonprofit is collecting for families for Christmas Eve  and is asking for donations of hot cocoa mix, sugar cookie mix, microwave popcorn, pancake mix and pancake syrup.

There is very little overlap with the services offered through the towns social services department, Chastain said.

Only about 12 percent of our people also receive Social Services, she said. Social Services is very income based and offers a lot more services than just food.

She added 85 to 88 percent of those who use Camellas services dont qualify for any other kind of service.

These are people who are in the middle, Chastain said. They make too much to get public assistance but really dont make enough to live comfortably. They are in that middle bracket  the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population.

She added Camellas serves as a stopgap for a lot of families, as temporary assistance while they get back on their feet, such as a loss of a job, Chastain said. Some families come to us for two or three weeks while others remain for much longer.

Going forward, Camellas Cupboard is looking to expand its reach to help families in other towns.

Camella

Camellas Cupboard was named after Chastains mother Camella, who was one of seven children born in the 40s in rural Indiana.

My mother grew up very poor. She went to bed hungry. She watched other kids in school eat their lunch and she had nothing to eat. So, growing up with that knowledge that there are hungry children  I wanted to help.

She said in rural Indiana, it was very obvious who was poor, based upon the status of peoples cars and homes. However, when Chastain moved to Connecticut in 2006, she realized the signs of poverty are a lot more subtle.

Everybody looked like they were doing just fine, she said. Hunger is very, very easily hidden here. You have a home and you can maintain a facade but you can come home and your fridge is completely empty and you have no food for your kids and nobody knows that.

She added hunger affects many more people than the public may realize and even what statistics show.

No one should be going hungry and its important to get that word out to make sure, she said.

For more information on Camellas Cupboard, visit camellascupboard.com.

Additional food services programs in New Milford

The New Milford Food Bank, run by the towns Social Services department, offers multiple programs and emergency assistance. It can be reached on the town of New Milford website, newmilford.org.

The Methodist Church has a food pantry called Our Daily Bread. It can be reached by visiting http://www.newmilfordumc.org/our-daily-bread.html.

Connecticut Food Share is a mobile food pantry that is housed at Faith Church. For more information, visit ctfoodbank.org.

Loaves and Fishes Hospitality House serves daily meals. It can be reached at loavesandfishesnewmilford.org.
In 1997, my husband and I had the best jobs of our lives. He was a registered contractor renovating Art Deco buildings on South Miami Beach (SoBe) and I worked for a global business at Miami International Airport in the former Pan Am building. I was the assistant and do-it-all for the president.

My husband was overseeing a project on a hotel near the mansion of Giovanni Versace, although my husband wouldnt know that the man walking on Ocean Drive to get his morning papers was one of the top fashion designers in the world. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur and many other celebrities, Versace was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world.
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Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
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Titin is a "titanically large" protein  the largest in the human body  which enables elastic movements of our muscles, including the heart. Mutations in the titin gene (TTN) that impair this function are the most frequent cause of a heart muscle disease known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is characterized by a weak pump function. However, it had not been known why TTN mutations cause the disease, that is, which pathomechanisms underlie DCM. A team of experts headed by Prof. Wolfgang Linke, Director of the Institute of Physiology II at the University of Munster, has gained ground-breaking insights into the pathomechanisms of DCM due to a TTN mutation, which have now been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

DCM can have various causes but the most frequent one is a special type of TTN mutation called truncation. In patients with such a TTN-truncating variant or TTNtv, one of the two TTN alleles is shortened, whereas the other allele usually is healthy." Wolfgang Linke, Project Leader

Although TTNtv have been known to cause DCM for nearly a decade, it took until now to uncover the key pathomechanisms of the disease, "in what has easily been some six years of intense research on the topic", Wolfgang Linke says.

Collaborating with the Heart and Diabetes Centre in Bad Oeynhausen, the team studied over 100 tissue samples from endstage failing human DCM hearts and discovered about 20% with a TTNtv. By measuring the content of normal titin proteins, the scientists found that patient hearts with a TTNtv contained less normal titin than both DCM hearts without a TTNtv and nonfailing hearts from organ donors. The loss of normal titin protein caused a reduction in the number of contractile units, explaining the reduced contractile force of TTNtv-DCM hearts. "Although the healthy TTN allele produces even more normal titin than usual, it cannot compensate for the lack of a second healthy allele," Wolfgang Linke explains.

For the first time, the team was also able to demonstrate that TTNtv patient hearts contain truncated titin proteins. Wolfgang Linke adds: "We showed that these truncated proteins are useless, because they are not incorporated into the contractile units of the cardiac muscle cells." Instead, the truncated proteins are collected in intracellular blobs or aggregates. "Just as in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, these aggregated proteins could be toxic." Fittingly, the research team also discovered that the heart muscle cells of patients with TTNtv-DCM have a problem with the intracellular protein quality-control system, which usually "cleans up" defective or aged proteins. This system appeared to be overwhelmed by the large amounts of truncated titin protein, and so did not function properly.

Wolfgang Linke is convinced that the "study breaks new ground in this field". Next to elucidating the pathomechanisms, his team also suggested possible treatment strategies for affected patients. To this end, they used human cardiac muscle cell cultures obtained from TTNtv patient tissue reprogrammed into stem cells. "With the help of our collaborators in Gottingen, we could show that the cultured cells with a TTNtv displayed the same pathomechanisms as the TTNtv patient hearts, and that inhibition of the protein quality-control system worsened the situation. Importantly, cell cultures with a TTNtv developed less contractile force than healthy controls but gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 repaired the mutation and rescued contractile force. Although genetic editing is not yet possible in this form in patients, our study shows that patients could, in principle, be cured using this approach", Wolfgang Linke explains.

The study was produced in close cooperation with the Cardiology Department at Munster University Hospital, the Heart and Diabetes Centre in Bad Oeynhausen and the Gottingen University Medical Centre, where Linke holds a guest professorship. The work was supported by two funding lines of the Faculty of Medicine at Munster (IZKF and MedK), the German Research Foundation (Collaborative Research Centre 1002) and the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (Deutsches Zentrum fur Herz-Kreislaufforschung).
Blending experts from molecular genetics, chemistry and health sciences, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a rapid diagnostic technology that detects SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The new SENSR (sensitive enzymatic nucleic acid sequence reporter), described in a paper published in the journal ACS Sensors, is based on CRISPR gene-editing technology that allows speedy detection of pathogens by identifying genetic sequences in their DNA or RNA.

Currently, many human pathogens are detected using a method known as real-time polymerase chain reaction. While highly accurate and sensitive, such diagnostics are time consuming and require specialized laboratory equipment, limiting their use to health and specialized facilities. SENSR is designed to simplify the SARS-CoV-2 detection process with a goal of eventual adaptation for in-home use.

While the Cas9 enzyme has been used extensively in CRISPR genetic engineering research, scientists have recently employed other enzymes such as the Cas12a and Cas13a for the development of highly accurate CRISPR-based diagnostics. Developed in a similar vein, SENSR is the first SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic to leverage the Cas13d enzyme (specifically a ribonuclease effector called "CasRx").

The researchers believe that in order to maximize CRISPR's capabilities and expand the genetics-based diagnostics pipeline, any Cas enzymes that can complement or supplement existing systems should be explored.

CRISPR has significantly advanced our capabilities for rapid identification of infected individuals and offers point-of-care testing in low-resource settings that previously wasn't possible. SENSR further opens the toolbox for CRISPR diagnostic systems and will help detect emerging pathogens before they become pandemics." Omar Akbari, Study's Senior Author, Biological Sciences Professor, UC San Diego

In developing SENSR, Akbari's molecular genetics lab worked in conjunction with Professor Elizabeth Komives' lab in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Division of Physical Sciences) to purify SENSR proteins and Rob Knight's lab in the Department of Pediatrics (School of Medicine and Center for Microbiome Innovation) to test SARS-CoV-2 samples.

SENSR is one of the latest developments in UC San Diego's innovative approach to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The university's nationally recognized science-based Return to Learn strategy for campus safety includes Knight's groundbreaking wastewater screening program that enabled early detection of 85% of COVID-19 cases on campus. With nearly 10,000 students on campus in the current academic year, the Return to Learn program's strategy, which includes high vaccination rates, has led to a COVID-19 case rate of less than 1%, becoming a model for other academic institutions.

Early tests in SENSR's development demonstrated SARS-CoV-2 detection in less than an hour. The researchers note in the paper that further development is needed, but the technology has the potential to become a "powerful molecular diagnostic with numerous applications."

Eventually, Akbari envisions SENSR becoming important in locations such as airports so that passengers can quickly determine whether they might be carrying a virus.

"We need to keep innovating in the detect-and-protect arena to come up with more tools so when there is another pandemic, we will have scalable point-of-care diagnostics systems in place for rapid distribution," said Akbari.

The paper published in ACS Sensors brought together a mix of UC San Diego graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, project scientists and faculty members. They include: Daniel Brogan, Duverney Chaverra-Rodriguez, Calvin Lin, Andrea Smidler, Ting Yang, Lenissa Alcantara, Junru Liu, Robyn Raban, Pedro Belda-Ferre, Rob Knight, Elizabeth Komives and Omar Akbari. Igor Antoshechkin of CalTech is also a coauthor.

Funding for the research was provided by: the UC San Diego Seed Funds for Emergent COVID-19 Related Research; a Directors New Innovator award from National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) (DP2 AI152071-01 and R21 (1R21AI149161); a DARPA Safe Genes Program Grant (HR0011-17-2-0047); a Director's Pioneer Award from National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (DP1 AT010885); the Molecular Biophysics Training Grant from NIH (T32 GM00832); the UC San Diego Return to Learn program via the EXCITE (EXpedited COVID-19 IdenTification Environment) lab; and the Molecular Biophysics Training Grant, NIH Grant (T32 GM00832).
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $17 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address disparities in cancer research, treatment and outcomes in underrepresented populations. The research, funded through the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Moonshot program, will focus on African American patients with colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, as well as patients of any race or ethnicity with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the bile ducts.

The researchers want to engage directly with patients and survivors for help in designing studies, attracting participants and building a genetic understanding of these cancers in patients who, historically, have not had their genomes sequenced. And importantly, if patients decide not to participate in this medical research, the investigators will seek to understand the reasons why.

The goal of the research program, called the Washington University Participant Engagement and Cancer Genomic Sequencing Center (WU-PE-CGS), is to fill gaps in knowledge to help reduce the disparities seen in rare and understudied cancers that affect underrepresented groups.

We're interested in improving care for underserved communities and maximizing the potential of team science, bringing together a diversity of skills, to address these problems. We're hoping to develop or refine strategies for improving care that are applicable beyond the specific cancers we're focused on for this project, especially in regard to engaging populations that are underrepresented in genomic research. We also would like to determine how best to deliver genetic results to patients in ways that are accessible and useful to them and their care." Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, Principal Investigator, the Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery, Washington University

Colditz, also director of the Division of Public Health Sciences in the Department of Surgery, explained that the program includes three major units led by investigators with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. They are cancer biologist Li Ding, PhD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Oncology and a professor of genetics; cancer epidemiologist Bettina F. Drake, PhD, a professor of surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences; and surgical oncologist Ryan C. Fields, MD, the Kim and Tim Eberlein Distinguished Professor in the Department of Surgery.

Fields will lead the participant engagement part of the project, identifying patients with the targeted cancer types and determining who might be interested in participating. To aid these efforts, the researchers have established a patient engagement advisory board that includes patient advocates for rare diseases, as well as members of The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation; Fight Colorectal Cancer; the Myeloma Research Foundation; and Rare and Black, a health advocacy group focused on supporting Black patients with rare diseases.

Two cancers that are more common and not studied enough among Black populations, including in the St. Louis region, are colorectal cancer in African Americans under age 50 and multiple myeloma in African Americans of any age. While cholangiocarcinoma is rare, Washington University has expertise in this cancer and provides care for patients who come to St. Louis from across the country. For each of the three cancer types, the investigators are seeking 300 patient volunteers to participate in the research program. Patients will have their cancer genomes sequenced and compared to their healthy genomes to determine what led to their tumors' formations. The genomic data could help inform how their cancers are treated.

"When we look at cancer genomic studies, most of the participants have been white male patients, so a lot of the treatment decisions we make are based on that data, and it may not be applicable to women and people of color," said Fields, also chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery and co-leader of the Solid Tumor Therapeutics Program at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. "We're hoping this project can begin to address some of these disparities."

Ding, director of computational biology for oncology, leads the genome sequencing portion of the project. Her team will work to provide conventional genomic sequencing of the cancers and also advanced single cell, protein and imaging analyses of the tumors, processes that are more typically part of research activities and not yet commonly integrated into patient care.

"We have known for a while that genome sequencing can have an impact on patient care, but what is unique here is that we will have the ability to do clinical sequencing for 900 patients in a systematic fashion," Ding said. "With this funding, we will continue to enhance our clinical sequencing pipeline while improving care for hundreds of patients with these cancers. We are excited that we will use novel technologies in single cell omics, proteomics, and imaging for deeper investigations of these patients' tumors, and develop a much better understanding of these diseases. We believe this will translate into novel insights for how best to treat individual patients."

Drake, who is also associate director of community outreach and engagement at Siteman Cancer Center, is leading what is called the engagement optimization part of the project. Rather than simply educate patients about the study and ask them to participate, Drake's team will seek to understand the patients' concerns, values and the sort of information they would like to receive after having their tumors sequenced. In collaboration with the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD), researchers will work with a patient engagement advisory board, which includes survivors and patient advocates, to help guide the investigators in how they design the research studies and engage with potential participants.

"We hope to learn from the patients about what's important to them in their decision-making," Drake said. "We will conduct interviews with patients to understand their concerns and to find out what they're interested in surrounding genomic testing and whether it's something they would consider participating in."

The researchers are using a web-based tool called the Genomics Adviser, tailored to the three cancers, to ask patients many questions about preferences and values. The tool walks patients through an overview of genomics research and the kind of information it can reveal. It also surveys patients about what types of genomic information they're interested in receiving.

The researchers also plan to interview people who decline to participate. If investigators can understand why some people choose not to enroll in a study, perhaps future trials can be designed in ways that address some of those concerns.

"As we're learning from those who decline, we can bring those concerns back to the whole team and try to implement strategies to improve on the design of these types of studies in the future," Drake said.

This work is supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant number U2C CA252981.
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

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Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

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(Newser)  If you saw it in a movie, you might think there's no possible way it could happen in real life. But as ABC News explains in a story about now-imprisoned serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, it did indeed happen. And newly obtained police interview tapes shed new light on how detectives were fooled. In 1990, a woman in Portland named Laverne Pavlinac told police that boyfriend John Sosnovske murdered 23-year-old Taunja Bennett. Pavlinac kept changing her story, however, and eventually she said she knew Sosnovske did it because she helped him. She was very convincing, and even though Sosnovske denied it all, both were convicted and sent to prison.

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There they remained for about five years until Jespersonaka the "Happy Face Killer"confessed to multiple murders, including Bennett's. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were then released from prison, and the true story emerged. Pavlinac had been in an abusive relationship with Sosnovske, and she wanted him imprisoned. But in the course of trying to falsely implicate him, she also falsely implicated herself. She fooled detectives with her knowledge of the murder, including where the body was found, simply by reading newspaper accounts and police records. Both she and Sosnovske have since died.

"The greatest human tragedy is that Laverne Pavlinac derailed the investigation in 1990, and in four years, Keith Jesperson killed more women," says Oregon prosecutor Jim McIntyre. That is undeniably true, but when Jesperson turned himself into to authorities in 1995, he cited the couple as one of his reasons for coming forward. "To come clean get it all over, the record straight," he said at the time. "I had been worried about this for a long time. I wanted to get those two people out of prison." (Read the full story.)
(Newser)  Update: Add James OKeefes home to the list of properties associated with Project Veritas that have been searched by the FBI. Federal agents searched the apartment in suburban New York where OKeefe lives early Saturday morning, the New York Times reports. A spokesman for the agency confirmed that they performed law enforcement activity at the building. One of OKeefes neighbors, Brent Mickol, heard the agents arrive around 6am. I ran to the door and looked out the peep hole and clearly saw an FBI raid, he said, adding,  it was just out of a movie. Our original story from Saturday follows. fdsa

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Locations associated with the right-wing media group Project Veritas were searched by federal agents Thursday in connection with a diary reported to belong to President Joe Bidens youngest daughter. The New York Times broke the story that an apartment in New York City and a house in nearby Westchester County, New York, were searched, and the FBI confirmed it. Project Veritas is a group that presents itself as a journalism nonprofit exposing liberal bias in the media. They were reportedly behind the suspension of ABC News journalist David Wright after a conversation with an operative was recorded on a hidden camera. Project Veritas also tried to plant a false story about Roy Moore in the Washington Post.

James OKeefe, founder of the organization, said it had recently received a grand jury subpoena. He said the group obtained the diary from a tipster but could not authenticate it and did not publish it. He said he turned it over to law enforcement after a lawyer for Ashley Biden refused it. He said that the FBIs assertion that the diary was stolen smacks of politics, WaPo reports. Another right-wing organization published pages from the diary, claiming that they had received it from Project Veritas. OKeefes organization is currently suing the Times, the Hill reports. (Read more Project Veritas stories.)
(Newser)  The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim. The House passed the measure 228-206, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats' farthest left membersincluding Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush of Missouriopposed it, the AP reports.

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Approval of the legislation, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, whisked it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose party got a cold shoulder from voters in this weeks off-year elections. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger measure until later this month. That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family, and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the sprawling measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, dashing hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden.

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, the moderates later agreed to back that bill if CBO's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. In exchange, progressives agreed to back the infrastructure measure. The White House issued a statement from Biden on Friday night aimed at reinforcing the accord. "I am urging all members to vote for both the rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act and final passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill tonight," he said, using the administrations names for the two measures. "I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act."

(Read more Biden infrastructure plan stories.)
(Newser)  Update: This file has been updated to add information about the victims.

At least eight people died and numerous others were injured in what officials described as a surge of the crowd at the Astroworld music festival in Houston while rapper Travis Scott was performing. Officials declared a "mass casualty incident" just after 9pm Friday during the festival, where an estimated 50,000 people were in attendance, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told reporters at a news conference. "The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries," the fire chief said, per the AP. "People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic."

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The show was called off shortly thereafter. The fire chief said "scores of individuals" were injured. The people killed included two teenagers, 14 and 16 years old, and three people in their 20s, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday afternoon. At least 25 people were taken to hospitals; 11 of them were in cardiac arrest, Pena said. The mayor said 13 were still hospitalized Saturday afternoon, per CNN. Many people were also treated at the scene at NRG Park, where a field hospital had been set up. Event promoters had arranged for medical units to be on scene at the festival; however, once the crowd surge began, those units were "quickly overwhelmed," Pena said. Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite was near the front of the crowd and said it seemed the surge "happened all at once."

"Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode," Satterwhite said. "And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then, and that's when I went and met with the promoter and Live Nation and they agreed to end early in the interest of public safety." Pena said officials didn't immediately know the causes of death for the eight people who died. A medical examiner will investigate. The deceased were not immediately identified. No one was reported missing, the mayor said.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters that Scott and the event promoters cooperated with police. The deadly surge was the most deaths at a US concert since the 2003 Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people in Rhode Island. Eleven people died and about two dozen were injured in 1979 at a concert for The Who as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnati's riverfront coliseum. Astroworld is a two-day music festival that was scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday in Houston. The event was sold out, according to the Astroworld website. Saturday's performances have been canceled.

(Read more Travis Scott stories.)
(Newser)  For Laurel-Rose von Hoffmann-Curzi, her Lake Tahoe vacation home has been a refuge during the pandemic, especially since she has stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is particularly vulnerable to COVID. But the 66-year-old retired doctor says she won't be going back to the cabin anytime soon after a black bear got into the residence and mauled her last weekend, leaving her with several injuries. CNN reports the attack took place early on Oct. 30, when von Hoffmann-Curzi was awakened by "thumping sounds" coming from the downstairs kitchen area. Thinking it was her son, von Hoffmann-Curzi went to check things outand was shocked to see a bear going through her freezer, dumping items on the floor.

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"About the time I recognized that he was a bear, he recognized, I guess, that I was a person and came charging at me," von Hoffmann-Curzi says. "I remember seeing his big paw right on my face and basically nothing else. And I started feeling my body being ripped apart." She says she was "screaming and screaming and screaming" as the attack went on, though at one point she was able to throw a robe and quilt on the bear's head. Her husband and son finally came rushing in, the bear ran outside, and von Hoffmann-Curzi was rushed to the hospital. Her face was scratched up to the point that she needed stitches, with lacerations, bites, and other injuries on her neck, arms, back, and near one of her breasts. She also sustained a deep puncture wound on her abdomen.

Von Hoffmann-Curzi tells KTVU she's seen bears on her property in the past, but this is the only time one has entered the cabin. She tells CNN the attack happened before her family had even cooked or eaten any food there (they'd just arrived the night before); she suspects that some avocados they'd brought may have attracted the bear. The deadbolt on the cabin's door hadn't been locked, and the animal apparently used its paws to open the door and walk right in. "These bears are super-smart," von Hoffmann-Curzi says.

As for when von Hoffmann-Curzi, who's now on antibiotics to fend off possible infection, plans on heading back to the cabin, it won't be in the near futureunless the bear is caught. Capt. Patrick Foy with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says a trap has been set at the cabin, and that if the bear is captured, it will be euthanized. Officials have taken DNA from von Hoffmann-Curzi's wounds that they'll use to make sure they have the right bear. "I am so incredibly lucky to be alive, I mean, no question," von Hoffmann-Curzi tells KPIX. (Read more bear attack stories.)
(Newser)  A teenage girl used a hand signal popularized on TikTok to signal for help. The 16-year-old from North Carolina had been missing for days when she was rescued Thursday, USA Today reports. James Herbert Brick, 61, of Cherokee, North Carolina, was arrested in Laurel County, Kentucky, and charged with unlawful imprisonment. Authorities say Brick and the teen were traveling from Ohio in a silver Toyota when another driver saw her use the signal and called 911. The caller stayed on the phone while following the car until it exited I-75 South and deputies took over, WKYT reports. Investigators say Brick had a phone with material on it that allegedly portrayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner, Laurel County Sherriff John Root said, per NBC News.

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Deputies say the girls family knows Brick but did not say how the two wound up in a car together. The girl had left her home in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday and had been with Brick for days. She said they had driven through Tennessee as well as North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. The gesture, which starts with a raised hand with the palm out and the thumb tucked in, then the fingers folded over the thumb, was introduced by the Canadian Womens Foundation. The organization has posted a video demonstrating it, and diagram of it online. (Read more child abuse stories.)
(Newser)  A knife attack on a high-speed train in Germany left three people severely wounded, the Bavarian Red Cross said Saturday. One man has been arrested in connection with the morning attack at the train station in Seubersdorf, police said. Police said multiple people were wounded but were unable to provide a specific number. The train, one of Germanys high-speed ICE trains, was traveling between the Bavarian cities of Regensburg and Nuremberg at the time of the attack.

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A spokesperson for the Bavarian Red Cross, which has 110 responders on the scene, said the organization processed three severely injured people. In addition, 200 to 300 people were removed from the train and were being taken care of at a nearby location. Local police told the AP they received a call about the attack around 9 a.m. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the background behind the terrible attack was still unclear. He said people in Seubersdorf, a municipality 473 kilometers (294 miles) south of Berlin, faced no acute danger.

I hope that those injured and those who witnessed this will recover quickly and completely, Seehofer said. A spokesperson for the German railway network confirmed that the station in Seubersdorf was closed and that train travel between Regensburg and Nuremberg was suspended. Long-distance train service has since been rerouted via the nearby city of Ingolstadt. (Read more knife attack stories.)
(Newser)  Update: One day after nationwide protests over a new restriction in Poland's abortion law, health officials have told doctors they may legally end a pregnancy when the life or health of the mother is in danger. The Health Ministry made the announcement in the form of instructions to obstetricians, the AP reports. "It should be clearly stressed that doctors must not be afraid to take evident decisions stemming from their experience and the available medical knowledge," the instructions say. The document suggests steps in the event of premature loss of the amniotic fluid, which was the case in the death of a woman who went into septic shock. Our original story from Nov. 6 follows:

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Protesters turned out in Warsaw and in many other Polish cities Saturday to decry the country's restrictive abortion law, which they say has led to the death of a young mother during a pregnancy that had medical problems. The protesters held portraits of the woman, 30-year-old Iza, who died in a hospital in Pszczyna, southern Poland, of septic shock. She died in September, but her death just became known in the past week, the AP reports. Doctors at the hospital held off terminating her 22-week pregnancy despite the fact that her fetus lacked enough amniotic fluid to survive, her family and a lawyer say. The doctors have been suspended, and prosecutors are investigating.

Women's rights activists say the woman was a victim of Poland's newly restrictive abortion law. They say doctors in Poland, a heavily Catholic nation, now wait for a fetus with severe defects to die in the womb rather than perform an abortion. Participating in the protest in Warsaw, under the motto of "Not One More" woman to die, was Donald Tusk, the former European Union leader who now leads Poland's opposition. The protesters gathered before the Constitutional Tribunal that ruled last year that terminating a pregnancy involving congenital defects is against the constitution. They then marched to the Health Ministry. Those in favor of the restriction say it's not clear that it led to the womans death. (Read more anti-abortion laws stories.)
Shamokin, PA (17872)

Today

Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain this afternoon. High near 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 39F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.


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Im just barely older than womens ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. As a priest myself, I know how hard it is to lead a faithful community through change. This last year has brought to my attention that changing social practices is hard work. Often theology grows up around social practices rooting them even deeper in our common life.

In preparation for All Saints Day (Nov. 1) I took a few minutes to get to know people in Episcopal Church history whose names are unfamiliar to me. All Saints Day is about remembering the faithful people who have gone before us. We remember them because they remind us of the greatness of God; they demonstrated with their lives what it means to love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself.

Although the Episcopal Church does have a Calendar of Saints, the calendar is hardly all-encompassing. Furthermore, our definition and requirements for sainthood are different than the Roman Catholics. For example, we dont require a certain number miracles. So, when I talk about saints, I recognize the small liberties I am taking in determining a persons sainthood.

The Rev. Paul Washington (1921-2002) is someone that I want everyone to know about because his life directly affected mine. He was a priest and civil rights activist in Philadelphia. He served as Rector (head pastor) at Church of the Advocate from 1962-1987. For 25 years he dedicated himself to ministry among the marginalized of Philadelphia, working for transformative justice.

This was remarkable because Washington had grown up in a middle class, educated household in South Carolina. The privileges with which he was born, along with his hard work, set him on a path for stability and comfort. But Washington had experienced the radical love of Jesus, made known in the power of Jesus Resurrection, and felt called to be a maker of peace by being an advocate for justice. The Church of the Advocate proved to be a perfect place for this service.

He was quoted in www.episcopalarchives.org/church-awakens/about

I decided to give myself  my soul, my time, my resources  to everyone who came to see me. Every person was Christ: Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, Jesus said, you have done it unto me. So I instructed my family: When someone rings the doorbell and asks to see me, dont come to tell me and describe him  clean or dirty, drunk or sober, white or Black. Just tell me, Someone is at the door to see you.

This spiritual conviction and groundedness is what fueled his willingness to enter into the hard places, creating a space for people to try to make the world a better place. A student organizer working with gangs asked Washington if The Advocate might be a place for outreach with the community. Washington, after some hesitation, agreed. Doing the radical work of The Gospel of Jesus Christ meant that authorities might get upset because he was relating to the least of these. But what else did the Gospel call Christians to do?

Washington continued to grow in his capacity to make space for Gods grace to be made known. On July 29, 1976, the Feast of Saints Mary and Martha, Washington and The Advocate hosted the first ordination of women to the priesthood. It was considered an irregular ordination since Womens Ordination had not yet been approved by the larger church. The women who were ordained priests, amidst supporters, protesters and threats, were known as The Philadelphia Eleven.

The Rev. Paul Washingtons willingness to enter into the troubled areas and find Gods presence there continued to make possible things that people thought were impossible. The impossible made possible through Gods grace sounds like a miracle to me. I thank God for saints like Paul Washington, whose intimate experience of the Grace of God cleared the path for my ministry, allowing the Episcopal Church to see Gods grace in me, ordaining me to share Gods grace with others.

The Rev. Whitney Altopp is the rector at St. Stephens Episcopal Church. She can be contacted at waltopp@ststephens-ridgefield.org, 203-438-3789 or St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 353 Main St.Ridgefield, CT 06877.
TORONTO (AP)  The Canadian government announced Friday it will fully raise Canadas national flag again at all federal buildings, ending a nearly six-month period when the banner has been flown at half-staff in honor of children whose remains were buried at Canadas Indigenous residential schools.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked that flags flown at half-staff in May after more 200 children's remains were found buried at what was once Canadas largest Indigenous residential school.

The raising of the flag at sunset on Sunday will come just before Canada honors war veterans on Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.

As the paramount symbol of our nation, the act of flying the national flag of Canada at half-mast for the longest period of time in Canadas history speaks to the extraordinary sense of loss, Canadas Heritage Department said in a statement.

Raising the flag at this time will allow us to honor and remember important moments in Canadas history. Many discussions were held between Indigenous partners and the Government of Canada to seek guidance on how best to honor the victims of residential schools and ensure they are never forgotten in the future."

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society. They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died.

The Canadian government apologized in Parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recalled being beaten for speaking their native languages. They also lost touch with their parents and customs.

Perry Bellegarde, who was chief of the Assembly of First Nations in May, said then while it is not new to find graves at former residential schools, its always crushing to have that chapters wounds exposed.
RIDGEFIELD  The rector at St. Stephens Episcopal Church is calling on the community to combat hatred after she was condemned by an individual over the churchs Pride-themed sign.

On the morning of Nov. 1, the Rev. Whitney Altopp was walking on the sidewalk between the churchs sanctuary and office building on Main Street when a man came up beside her inquiring about the rainbow sign. The man questioned why the church was promoting pride, but when Altopp tried to explain he hurled an expletive at her, she said.

I know that there are people that dont agree with that  I am not surprised by that, she told Hearst Connecticut Media. I was really surprised by the starting point of the conversation being an expletive.

Altopp detailed the incident in a video message posted to Facebook on Monday. She responded by saying communities are strengthened when people accept each others differences, to which the man yelled back, Youre pushing an agenda, she said.

I said, I would like to make room for you too but youre making this very hard, and then he hurled another expletive at me across his shoulder, Altopp said in the video.

The rainbow sign, which reads Celebrate Pride, has been hanging on a row of bushes outside St. Stephens since June 2020. But this was the first time Altopp was personally confronted about it, she said, noting that she did not call the police.

The incident follows an unrelated string of recent LGBTQ+ intolerance in the area.

In April, a pride flag displayed on the fencing outside a Bethel coffee shop was burned, prompting a police investigation. And in June, Deborah Anns Sweet Shoppe received a customer complaint regarding its Pride-themed ice cream flavor; the individual was critical of the offering, telling the shop not to promote the lifestyle.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he was saddened by the incident at St. Stephens, but noted this problem is not exclusive to Ridgefield.

Ive personally brought up situations that have occurred that are not normal with the 18 municipalities in our (Council of Governments), and everyones on the same page, he said. How do we return to a friendly environment of civility and respect for one another?

Altopp believes this starts by actively confronting hatred.

As people have spoken with me about that incident, it has generated conversation about how to be intentional about interrupting hate, she said. We have to rehearse that in our own rooms, and become familiar with our words so when the moment surprises us  like it did me  we douse it so that something good can grow from the moment.

The full comments from Altopp can be found on Facebook at https://bit.ly/2ZZMSE0.

alyssa.seidman@hearstmediact.com
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The head of the U.N. body investigating the most serious crimes in Myanmar said that preliminary evidence collected since the military seized power on Feb. 1 shows a widespread and systematic attack on civilians amounting to crimes against humanity.

Nicholas Koumjian told U.N. reporters Friday that the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which he heads, has received over 200,000 communications since the army takeover and has collected over 1.5 million items of evidence that are being analyzed so that one day those most responsible for the serious international crimes in Myanmar will be brought to account.

In determining that the crimes against civilians appear to be widespread and systematic, he said investigators saw patterns of violence -- a measured response by security forces to demonstrations in the first six weeks or so after the military takeover followed by an uptick in violence and much more violent methods used to suppress the demonstrators.

This was happening in different places at the same time, indicating to us it would be logical to conclude this was from a central policy, Koumjian said. And, also, we saw that particular groups were targeted, especially for arrests and detentions that appear to be without due process of law. And this includes, of course, journalists, medical workers and political opponents.

Myanmar for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyis rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.

The Feb. 1 military takeover followed November elections which Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party won overwhelmingly and the military rejects as fraudulent. Since the takeover, Myanmar has been wracked by unrest, with peaceful demonstrations against the ruling generals morphing first into a low-level insurgency in many urban areas after security forces used deadly force and then into more serious combat in rural areas, especially in border regions where ethnic minority militias have been engaging in heavy clashes with government troops.

Christine Schraner Burgener told The Associated Press shortly before her 3  year term as the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar ended on Oct. 31 that civil war has spread throughout the country.

The U.N. investigative body was established by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council in September 2018 with a mandate to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since Jan. 1, 2011.

Koumjian, an American lawyer who served as an international prosecutor of serious crimes committed in Cambodia, East Timor and Bosnia, was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as its head in 2019 with instructions to prepare files that can facilitate criminal prosecutions in national, regional or international tribunals to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Koumjian said his team has been collecting evidence from a wide variety of sources including individuals, organizations, businesses and governments, and the evidence includes photographs, videos, testimonies and social media posts that could be relevant to show that crimes happened and who is responsible for those crimes.

The investigative body has received information from social media companies, which he wouldn't name except for Facebook because it had made its cooperation public.

We began engaging with Facebook as soon as we were created in 2019, and they have been meeting with us regularly, Koumjian said. We have received some, but certainly not all, that we have requested. We continue to negotiate with them and actually I am hopeful that we are going to receive more information.

He said the Human Rights Council specifically instructed the investigators to cooperate with the International Criminal Court's probe into crimes committed against Myanmars Rohingya Muslim minority and the case at the International Court of Justice brought by Gambia on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya.

So we are sharing documents with those proceedings, Koumjian said.

The court actions stem from the Myanmar militarys harsh counterinsurgency campaign against the Rohingya in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes.

Koumjian said: All were doing is collecting evidence of the very worst violence, hopefully sending a message to perpetrators: `If you commit this, you run the risk that you will be held to account.
GLASGOW, UK, Nov. 6, 2021 /CNW/ - Climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically connected, which is why a coordinated approach to tackle them both is essential. Nature-based solutions, such as conserving carbon-rich natural areas and restoring wetlands, can help countries tackle both these challenges.

To address these interconnected crises, Canada will allocate at least 20 percent of its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment to nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity cobenefits in developing countries over the next five years. This represents more than CA$1 billion. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced at COP26 that Canada would provide $15 million in support for the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs. This funding will help developing countries build domestic capacity to take climate action, build resilience, and advance adaptation efforts while also increasing biodiversity.

As part of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and the Global Ocean Alliance, Canada is leading the way to build support for an international target to protect 30 percent of our lands and oceans by 2030.

Canada's climate finance commitments have already helped countries take nature-based action through initiatives such as the Pacific Initiative for Biodiversity, Climate Change and Resilience (Kiwa Initiative). This initiative is helping to make Pacific island ecosystems, economies and communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Canada has been clear that we cannot solve the climate crisis without nature, nor solve the nature crisis without stabilizing the climate. Canada is championing the development of an ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework with clear targets and actions as a way of focusing the world's collective efforts to stem the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of nature. Canada will continue its work with international partners towards a new Global Biodiversity Framework to be finalized at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 next spring in Kunming, China.

Quotes

"Canada's new commitment to nature-based climate solutions in the poorest and most vulnerable countries makes it explicit: the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together. A nature-positive, net-zero future is the key to the fight against climate change. By all working together, we can provide nature with the support it needs for our collective survival."

 The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

"Nature is our ally to combat both climate change and biodiversity loss. Nature-based climate solutions are particularly important for developing countries that are at the highest risk yet are the least resourced to act. That's why, when Canada stepped up and doubled its climate pledge to $5.3 billion over five years, it also increased its support for nature and nature-based solutions for those who need it most."

 The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada

"Canada was privileged to play a leading role in international climate finance, focusing on the twin crises or climate change and biodiversity. We have a responsibility to support the developing world in building a carbon-neutral, nature-positive world, and Canada, along with many international partners, is stepping up."

 The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources

Quick facts

At the 2021 G7 Leaders' Summit, the Prime Minister announced a doubling of Canada's international climate finance commitment to $5.3 billion over the next five years.

international climate finance commitment to over the next five years. Recent global assessments highlighted that biodiversity is declining at a rate unprecedented in human history, with up to one million species at risk of extinction. Climate change is one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss.

Domestically, Canada is investing over $4 billion through the Natural Climate Solutions Fund to plant two billion trees and restore and improve the management of forests, grasslands, wetlands and agricultural lands. These actions will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, while providing a host of biodiversity, climate change adaptation and human well-being co-benefits.

is investing over through the Natural Climate Solutions Fund to plant two billion trees and restore and improve the management of forests, grasslands, wetlands and agricultural lands. These actions will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, while providing a host of biodiversity, climate change adaptation and human well-being co-benefits. As part of its naturebased solutions, the Government of Canada has also committed to promoting the rights, knowledge, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples in conservation, including by supporting Indigenous-led stewardship initiatives. These initiatives provide important cultural, health, and physical benefits for Indigenous communities, while supporting healthy ecosystems that provide conservation and climate benefits for all Canadians.

Associated links

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page

SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

For further information: Joanna Sivasankaran, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-790-1907, [email protected]; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ec.gc.ca


VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 5, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The Government of Canada is committed to fighting anti-Asian racism and ensuring inclusion and representation through policies and concrete actions.

Today the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, attended the opening of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in Vancouver. This marks her third visit to the centre since 2019, when she announced the Government of Canada's $500,000 investment to help make this initiative a reality. Minister Ng was joined by the Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia; the Honourable Melanie Mark, B.C.'s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport; Kennedy Stewart, Mayor of Vancouver; Chief Janice George; Carol Lee, Chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation; and other community representatives.

The Minister highlighted the significant contributions Asian Canadians have made, are making, and will continue to make for generations to come to building this country. She also drew attention to the fact that anti-Asian racism has risen dramatically during the pandemic, and she re-emphasized the Government of Canada's commitment to fighting racism and discrimination while working with allies across Canada. She underscored the government's work in this area, such as the $11-million investment through Budget 2021 to support racialized communities directly impacted by the rise of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, including to help establish a national coalition to support Asian Canadians.

The Minister thanked Carol Lee for her leadership and recognized the importance of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre as a hub for the celebration of Chinese Canadians' experiences and contributions to this country. She encouraged all Canadians to visit the centre and learn about this important history.

Quotes

"The Chinatown Storytelling Centre is a highly anticipated hub for celebrating the many ways Chinese Canadians have shaped our country, and it will help preserve and breathe new life into Vancouver's Chinatown. Fighting anti-Asian racism and increasing Asian Canadian representation in leadership roles are priorities, both for our government and for me, personally. Through concrete actions, our government will continue to work hard to fight racism in all its forms and make our communities more inclusive."

 The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Development, Small Business and Economic Development

Quick facts

In 2020, the Government of Canada reiterated its commitment to fighting racism in all its forms by providing $50 million , starting in 20212022, to deliver on the government's anti-racism objectives.

reiterated its commitment to fighting racism in all its forms by providing , starting in 20212022, to deliver on the government's anti-racism objectives. The Canadian Race Relations Foundation is a Crown corporation created in 1996 as part of the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement.

The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat at Canadian Heritage leads a whole-of-government approach in addressing racism and discrimination while driving Building a Foundation for Change : Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 20192022.

: Anti-Racism Strategy 20192022. The anti-racism strategy is a $45-million investment to foster long-term changes in support for communities and to improve policies, initiatives and practices in Canada's federal institutions.

investment to foster long-term changes in support for communities and to improve policies, initiatives and practices in federal institutions. Through Canada's anti-racism strategy, the government is taking action to support Indigenous peoples; racialized communities, including Asian communities; and religious minorities in three principal ways: demonstrating federal leadership, empowering communities, and building awareness and changing attitudes.

Associated links

Stay connected

Follow @CanadaBusiness on social media for business-related news: Twitter, Facebook

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

For further information: Alice Hansen, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, 613-612-0482, mailto:[email protected]; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/home


Earlier in October, Pakistan had rejected reports about an agreement with the United States on the use of its airspace for intelligence operations in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

At the weekly media briefing of the Foreign Office on Thursday, the FO spokesman refrained from giving a detailed response on the issue of airspace to the US. To a query about the status of the existing understanding with the US i.e. Air Lines of Communications (ALOCS) and Ground Lines of Communications (GLOCS), last updated in 2008, the spokesman said, You would also appreciate that there is a new situation on the ground in Afghanistan, that means a different context in which things have to be seen, reported The News International.

Earlier in October, Pakistan had rejected reports about an agreement with the United States on the use of its airspace for intelligence operations in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Foreign Office (FO) issued a statement in response to media queries regarding the news report alluding to the formalisation of an agreement between the two countries to conduct military and intelligence operations against Afghanistan. The FO statement read: No such understanding was in place. The spokesperson, however, stressed that Pakistan and the US had longstanding cooperation on issues of regional security and counter-terrorism and the two sides remain engaged in regular consultations.



In June in an interview with Axios, Prime Minister Imran Khan had categorically said that Pakistan would absolutely not allow any bases and use of its territory to the US for any sort of action inside Afghanistan.
In the run-up to the Party Congress in 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to be facing power struggle between him and powerful factions amid the ongoing economic breakdown, said media report. An exclusive white paper by the Jamestown Foundation claims that the powerful figures arraigned against the President include former Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and current Vice-President Wang Qishan, The Hong Kong Post reported. According to The HK Post, rumours of in-fighting were reported in semi-official NetEase and Sohu websites, adding that several senior officials in the political-legal apparatus, which includes the police, the secret police and the courts, had plotted sinister and treacherous actions against a top party leader, generally thought to be Xi. However, the foundations claim that the reports have been deleted.



The factionalism at the top, which was reported to be impossible considering Jinpings total control over the party, government, and the PLA, is said to have worsened lately. In the wake of the near-bankruptcy of Evergrande Group, one of the largest real estate conglomerates in the world, more property and financial firms are reportedly unable to service their multi-billion yuan debt burdens. The total national debt reached 335 per cent of GDP at the end of last year, while external debt alone has breached the USD 2.68 trillion mark, the newspaper quoted the Foundation report as saying. While the infrastructure sector is debilitated, the report said local government investment vehicles are steeped in debt. On the foreign-policy front, trade talks with the U.S. have yet to be reopened, and the Biden administration is persevering with efforts to build a coalition of like-minded nations to counter Chinas increasingly aggressive behaviour in areas including in the Taiwan Straits, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, reported The Hong Kong Post.



According to the Foundation report, the punitive actions that followed against certain people are the result of the clam down by the government against the patrons of such people which refer to the Chinese journalist Hu Shuli, founder-editor of the liberal online magazine, Caixin.com who got away scot-free for her sarcastic comments against Jinping for his policy failures, according to the HK Post. Over the past 20 years, Hu has written and edited many controversial stories exposing the wrongdoings of powerful officials and princelings (offspring of party elders). Her courageousness is attributed to the protection provided by Wang Qishan, who was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) and Secretary of the Central Commission for Disciple Inspection  the partys highest anti-graft body  during Xis first term (2012-2017). Wang is considered by many to be one of Xis closest allies, he was given the highly respected title of Vice-President in 2013, and that he was once considered Xis main advisor on relations with the US. However, Wang has gradually fallen out of favour with the supreme leader since leaving the Politburo in 2017, the newspaper quoted the report as saying. The other leader who is believed to be taking on Jinping is former Vice President Zeng Qinghong who is believed to be a close associate for former president Jiang Zemin and a major leader of the so-called Shanghai Faction. Zeng is believed to be the protection umbrella behind several multi-billion enterprises. One of these enterprises, Fantasia Holdings, which is headed by his niece Zeng Baobao, was recently downgraded to default status by rating agencies due to failure to pay interests on bonds and promissory notes. As of the middle of this year, Fantasia had current liabilities  those that have to be repaid within a year  of nearly 50 billion yuan (USD 7.5 billion), the newspaper reported.



Jinpings supporters feel that he may purge his critics in the future. Former Executive Vice Minister of Public Security Fu Zhenhua was investigated as well. Even though Fu played a key role in the investigation of Zhou Yongkang in 2013 and 2014, he is believed to have lost Xis trust due to his close association with other Zhou proteges such as Wang Like. Most of the disgraced former senior police cadres have been accused of forming cliques and factions within the internal security system, the newspaper quoted the report.

The 20th Party Congress would clear the picture of the in-fightings. President Xi Jinping would hope that the Congress would confirm his ability to retain his status as party General Secretary, State President and Chairman of the partys Central Military Commission for a decade, according to the HK Post.
HAMDEN  A new police commission. A revived, revised charter. A team of social workers handling emergency calls that traditionally have elicited a police response.

Those are just a few of the changes residents might expect from Mayor-elect Lauren Garrett, who also hopes to extend the sewer line along the northern section of Whitney Avenue, push forward with a town animal shelter and rethink Hamdens plans for repurposing the abandoned middle school property on Newhall Street.

Garretts win on Election Day affirmed the success of the Hamden Democratic partys left-leaning wing, the rise of which has manifested in a changed Democratic Town Committee, divisions on the Legislative Council and public squabbling between party officials and incumbent Mayor Curt Balzano Leng, a Democrat who positioned himself as a moderate.

After a failed bid for mayor two years ago, Garrett not only won the party endorsement this year but easily defeated Leng in the September primary, leaving one last obstacle between herself and government center: the general election.

She crossed that bridge Nov. 2, beating Independent write-in candidate Albert Al Lotto and Republican mayoral hopeful Ron Gambardella.

Changing of the guard

The news is sure to bring personnel changes to Government Center, which has not seen a stark change in administrations in at least 15 years.

Garrett was not yet ready to announce her incoming team, she said, but indicated some department heads will remain in place while others will change. (State statute protects certain top employees, such as the chief of police, from termination in most cases.)

At the start of her term, Garrett also will have the opportunity to appoint the police commission, she said, and she plans to start with a clean slate.

In other words, the board will be made up entirely of new commissioners.

Longtime commission member and current Chairman Michael Iezzi said he hopes the new members will continue to work to diversify the police force. He said he has long been committed to hiring more women and officers of color, noting department statistics reflect a marked change over the last 15 years.

As of January 2021, white males made up 70 percent of the police force, down from 90 percent in 2007.

Iezzi also hopes the new commission will follow the charter, he said.

The commission has very distinct responsibilities, and theyre very important, Iezzi said. The police commission hires police officers, they promote police officers, they discipline police officers, and we approve policy. We dont create it, we dont make it, we approve it.

New priorities

But with Garretts win comes a strong possibility the charter will change.

The mayor-elect plans to reconvene a Charter Revision Commission, which in 2020 began a monthslong process of drafting a new governing document for Hamden.

The revised charter included provisions geared at amping up civilian oversight of the Police Department and fostering diversity and inclusion on town boards. It also would have established four-year mayoral terms and a finance board tasked with advising the budgetary process.

To the shock of many involved, the Legislative Council in August declined to forward the charter to a referendum, and a petition to get it on the ballot also failed.

Garrett said she wishes to bring the revisions back from the dead, picking up where the town left off.

Members of Garretts slate, which ran on a promise of change and was mostly victorious with a few close calls, said they are excited for whats ahead. Two successful candidates specifically mentioned reviving the charter as a bright spot on the horizon.

To not have it pass at the last minute, that was disappointing to me - very disappointing,  said council member Jeron Alston, D-2. We worked on it for weeks as a council and ... the committee (worked) on it for months and months. ... It just seemed like that was a bit wasteful as far as time and resources.

Councilman Justin Farmer, D-5, who helped lead the petitioning effort to get the charter on the ballot, also said he was looking forward to a new charter.

Further, he was hopeful well have honest conversations with the community and if theres developments, right  like the middle school, where most people are uncomfortable with the project  that well go back to the drawing board, he said, referring to the abandoned middle school site on Newhall Street, which long has been slated for development via a contract with NeighborWorks New Horizons.

The nonprofit proposed putting a community center and apartments on the site, including market-rate and affordable housing units. But with the contract up for renewal, some have questioned whether the plan is the best way forward.

Garrett favors holding community discussions before making any decisions, she said.

The mayor-elect also said she wants to push to extend the sewer line along the northern end of Whitney Avenue. It would promote economic development, she said, because many businesses require or prefer sewer access, she said.

The availability of federal aid money should help the town pursue that and other infrastructure repairs, Garrett said. Hamden is receiving millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, and more aid could be in the pipeline if Congress passes the pending infrastructure bill.

Opportunities to collaborate

Farmer, Garrett and other members of the Democratic slate said the new make-up of the administration and council will make for more productive governing.

Theres a lot of excitement about opportunities to collaborate, and so Im excited for that, Im hopeful for that, Farmer said. I think more work is going to get done.

Cory OBrien, who won an at-large council seat, shared a similar view.

First and foremost, he said, there will be an actual functioning government with collaboration between the council and mayors office.

He noted there is a lot of work ahead, especially when it comes to Hamdens budgetary issues, and that there always will be disagreements.

We anticipate debate, but its gonna be respectful, productive debate, OBrien said.

Alston said he is hopeful the council will look past politics and push ahead.

I again think that its wonderful that we did as well as we did, Alston said. We have a full slate ahead of us of the initiatives that we talked about, and I cant wait to  (try) to implement those things.

Trepidation

Those on the losing side of the election were much more skeptical about Hamdens future.

Gambardella, Garretts Republican opponent, was not optimistic about the new council.

I think theyll rubber-stamp whatever (Garrett) proposes, he said. Theres no opposition or balance on the Legislative Council, and thats the worst form of government as far as I can see. ... I dont see any checks and balances in the process. The only thing the Republicans can do is voice their opposition but they dont have any power to change anything.

Both the current and future councils have three Republicans and 12 Democrats, but Gambardella said the new council is losing its traditional Democrats.

Garrett, on the other hand, pointed out that the make-up will remain when it comes to party affiliation.

Hamden could really use a functioning council and administration that is interested in working together, she said. Im not expecting everybody to agree with me all of the time, Im just expecting that we will be able to work together and respectfully disagree.

Others are worried about what the changing government will mean for policing and crime.

Im concerned about the funding of the police, the tone that is out there now as it relates to that and what consequences that will bear for Hamden residents, said at-large Councilwoman Berita Rowe-Lewis, a Democrat who lost the primary.

She said talk in progressive circles about defunding the police makes her nervous and concerned about Hamdens future when it comes to crime.

Gambardella, too, said he hopes Garrett succeeds but fears she will take a tact thats gonna hamstring police from doing their job.

Garrett hopes to prove those fears wrong.

What she really is advocating for, she said, is a broader approach to crime prevention.

A lot goes into crime prevention  making sure that we have enrichment and programming for our youth, jobs, opportunities, mental health supports  and thats what really drives down crime statistics, she said. I want to prevent crime from happening in the first place.

Garrett also has promised to fill all the Police Department positions the town is required to fill under a recent agreement with the police union, which is meant to ensure a 105-member police force.

Regardless of what happens, there is one thing even the two former political opponents can agree on: an animal shelter.

Both promised to prioritize a town animal shelter, a project that has stalled for years.

With a new administration, Gambardella said, hes optimistic it will come to fruition.

I think thatll get done, and Im glad it will get done, he said. She might not have the same vision for an animal shelter that I had, but something is better than nothing.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
TACOMA, Wash. (AP)  Three Black women who work for the Pierce County Sheriffs Department have filed a lawsuit against the county alleging a long-standing pattern of discrimination, harassment and retaliation against minority employees.

The News Tribune reports Lt. Charla James-Hutchison and Sgts. Dione Alexander and Sabrina Braswell-Bouyer are the highest-ranking African American women in the departments 168-year history.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium says it has filed its formal appeal of the loss of its most important accreditation and will retain the accreditation during the appeal process.

The zoo said Friday that the executive committee of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums must decide within 45 days to grant the zoo's request to appeal the decision of its accreditation commission. If granted, the zoo's appeal would be heard by the association's board of directors at its January meeting.

The zoo said it would share the outcome of the process publicly but would withhold detailed information about the content of its appeal to maintain the integrity of the process and because some elements are confidential to the Zoos internal operations about the safety and security of the animals, staff, and guests.

The decision announced last month by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, considered the nations top zoo-accrediting body, was a major blow to an institution once widely admired in its industry and by the general public. If the appeal is denied, the zoo cannot apply for accreditation again before September.

Zoo officials said earlier that the ruling would not affect operations or the experience of visitors, but the lack of accreditation would bar its participation in species survival and breeding programs, which will impact species conservation programs.

The accrediting group cited concerns about the zoos animal programs department and inappropriate businesses practices by its former leaders. Investigations and reviews by the Ohio attorney generals office and the Ohio auditor are pending.

The accrediting body also voiced concerns about the zoos acquisition of ambassador animals. A recent documentary, The Conservation Game, raised questions about how celebrity conservationists, including the famous Jack Hanna, acquired exotic animals. The zoo has since cut ties with animal vendors who dont meet certain standards of animal care.

The zoo said accreditation group staff members hailed changes already made following a recent visit but officials said they wanted to see that the changes can be sustained. The zoo suggested tabling the accreditation issue for a year.
A state task force has recommended that lawmakers consider abolishing the Psychiatric Security Review Board, which supervises people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity, because it favors public safety over patient treatment.

While members of the CVH Whiting Task Force did not agree on how to replace the PSRB, they encouraged legislators to consider proposals that would better respect the rights of patients while balancing public safety concerns. Connecticut is one of only three states that has an entity like the PSRB.

The proposal was among the task forces recommendations the group approved Friday in a meeting televised on CT-N, during which members discussed the measures in a shared screen over Zoom. They took a vote to convene in two weeks to approve the wording of an executive summary, after which they will send their recommendations to members of the Public Health committee.

We should reach out to the leadership of the committee, the chairs and ranking members, and ask them how they would like to proceed, and encourage them to consider drafting legislation, said Michael P. Lawlor, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven and co-chair of the task force.

Task force members were split on whether to get rid of the PSRB entirely or reform it, but all were concerned about the lengthy periods for which people are committed to the boards supervision. In August, a 20-year-old man was committed to the PSRB for 120 years for stabbing his grandparents to death.

The stated purpose of the PSRB is to protect public safety; these lengthy commitments do little to further that end, the recommendations read. Rather, they seem to be more a mechanism to reassure the public that an individual will never get out of an institution.

The task force indicated some support for a 2018 bill that would have reformed the PSRB. The bill, which did not make it out of committee, would have required the PSRB to balance public safety with patients rights to receive treatment in the least restrictive environment and expanded opportunities to be released from commitment to the board or from the hospital. In Connecticut, people who are declared not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the PSRB are sent to Whiting Forensic in Middletown, the states only maximum security hospital.

Task force members also agreed that the two years patients must wait for a review of their commitment is too long, suggesting that a review be conducted every six months unless a patient waives that right.

Notably, Lori Hauser, a forensic psychologist and the only member of the task force who works at Whiting, disagreed. Hauser cited concerns for victims rights, saying the cases are still tied to the justice system. She agreed that patients should be allowed to petition for less strict levels of supervision, but said the decision should still be an adversarial process where state and defense attorneys weigh in before the PSRB decides.

Formed in the wake of an abuse scandal that resulted in 10 state employees being charged with harming a patient at Whiting, the task force has been meeting since April 2019. Over the past two years, its members have met with patients at Connecticut Valley and Whiting Forensic hospitals, discussed the results of an employee survey and the low morale among their workers, and suggested legislators start planning to replace the dreary surroundings and stark primitive conditions  including rats  at Whiting Forensic Hospital.

All those discussions showed up in their recommendations. They suggested the legislature consider a new maximum-security facility with a design that promotes recovery and healing and is more conducive to creating diverse environments and security that better fit patients needs, unlike the existing hospital, which has a diamond-shaped structure that the task force determined is not ideal for patients.

Task force members also proposed that something drastic must be done to address staffing shortages. An investigation of Whiting conducted by the state Department of Public Health found that staffing shortages compromised patient and staff safety, a finding backed up by the chief medical officers courtroom testimony that he was so gravely concerned about staffing levels that officials shut down a hospital unit to compensate for shortages.

The task force called on the highest levels of state, like the Department of Administrative Services, to reconsider its hiring practices and staffing requirements at the hospitals in an effort to replace employees who have left. They also said both hospitals should be exempted from state hiring freezes.

Emphasizing the overlap between the criminal justice system and the psychiatric hospitals, the task force recommended lawmakers expand diversionary opportunities for those who are arrested and in need of competency restoration. State data suggest there is a growing concentration of criminal cases that involve defendants with serious mental health conditions who do not seem able to understand the charges against them or assist in their own defense.

Recognizing that people charged with low-level crimes can end up at the maximum-security psychiatric hospital, which they wrote seems counterproductive and punitive, the task force proposed conducting competency restoration on an outpatient basis for those who do not need to be in a secure facility to have their competency restored.

Lawlor encouraged task force members to quickly submit the report to lawmakers, who could forward the recommendations to bill-drafters in the Legislative Commissioners Office.

I think I speak for everybody when I say I hope that the legislature takes up these recommendations during the 2022 session, which begins in February, but I think it would be helpful to get the ball rolling, said Lawlor.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A group of former coal company officials will go on trial in Kentucky next week for allegedly skirting federal rules meant to reduce deadly dust in underground mines.

The four men, who worked for now-bankrupt Armstrong Coal, ordered workers at two Kentucky mines to rig dust-monitoring equipment to pass air quality tests, federal prosecutors said. The inhaling of dusty air in mines can lead to an incurable and fatal disease called pneumoconiosis, or black lung, which has killed tens of thousands of coal miners.

The rare prosecution of coal company officials over safety violations is similar to a case brought against a former West Virginia coal executive in the wake of a 2010 coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners.

The defendants in the Kentucky case include Glendal Buddy Hardison, a former high-ranking Armstrong official who ran all of the companys western Kentucky mines. Hardison was added to the case in 2019, a year after the original indictment charged eight Armstrong supervisors and safety officials who worked at the companys Kronos and Parkway mines.

Hardison met with two Armstrong subordinates in 2013 and ordered them to make sure the mines' dust monitoring equipment stayed in compliance, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. One of those subordinates, Ron Ivy, who was a safety director at the Kronos mine, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in 2019.

Along with Hardison, former Parkway mine superintendent Charley Barber; the Parkway mine's former safety director Brian Keith Casebier and Dwight Fulkerson, a section foreman, are facing conspiracy charges at the trial. Each is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A misdemeanor conspiracy conviction in 2015 led to a one-year prison sentence for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who led the company during the worst American mining disaster since the 1970s. The April 5, 2010, explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia killed 29 miners. Blankenship was not accused of direct responsibility for the deadly blast, but prosecutors were able to prove that he had conspired to skirt mine safety rules.

There were no deaths or mining accidents involved in the Armstrong case. The former Armstrong officials are accused of relocating dust sampling equipment to cleaner portions of the mine to get better readings, or moving workers who dont wear dust monitors to the dirtiest jobs, prosecutors said. The incidents occurred between 2013 and 2015, prosecutors said.

Three of the original nine men charged in the case have reached plea deals, and two more received pretrial diversion, meaning their charges can be dropped if they stay out of trouble.

The issues came to light when a trio of Armstrong miners fed up with the dusty conditions met with a Kentucky mine safety lawyer, Tony Oppegard, and later were quoted in a press story about the miners that attracted the attention of federal authorities.

Oppegard said prosecutions of high-ranking mining officials are rare, but dusty conditions and rigging monitors are common in underground coal mines.

It is rampant in the industry, Oppegard said. Its not just illegal, its immoral to knowingly expose miners to a disease that basically strangles them to death.

Defense attorneys for Hardison and Barber did not return messages seeking comment.

Jury selection begins in U.S. District Court on Monday. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP)  Two women were sexually assaulted within a short time of each other at a Rochelle senior citizen apartment complex during the spring of 2001.

Police had no leads, no suspects, and we didnt know if the offender was going to stop, said Rochelle Police Chief Eric Higby, who was a young detective at the time.

Authorities did have a fingerprint recovered by Joe Rangel, a state crime scene investigator, who submitted the print to the state crime lab in Rockford.

Within two hours, forensic scientist Ed Rottman identified a potential suspect using the states automated fingerprint identification system and handed that persons name over to Rochelle police.

A short time later, Rochelle police had Philbert Pendleton in custody. The then-25-year-old was charged with home invasion and aggravated criminal sexual assault and later convicted. Pendleton is now serving a 75-year prison sentence in the Big Muddy River Correctional Center.

Rottman, who was recently recognized as the Illinois State Polices 2020 Forensic Scientist of the Year, said the 20-year-old case is still memorable to him because of the severity of the crimes, the urgency of the case and because police had so little to work with, the Rockford Register Star reports.

That case is one of many the latent fingerprint analyst has has worked on across his 31-year career.

I think the most rewarding part of this job is giving the answers to the investigating officers, so that they can give answers back to the victims, Rottman said Tuesday from the fourth-floor of the E.J. Zeke Giorgi Center in Rockford where the Illinois State Police houses one of six crime labs.

Typically, when police turn evidence into the lab, they have a suspect or suspects in mind, Rottman said. The scientists job is to either confirm the persons identity and their connection to a crime or exonerate them.

Theres times that exonerating people from crimes, at least with the evidence that we have, is just as rewarding as trying to identify somebody, Rottman said.

Testifying in court as an expert witness remains a challenging part of the job, Rottman added.

Even after all these years it still gets you a little nervous going in there, he said. But the man who trained me and other examiners who I have nothing but respect for said if you dont get a little nervous going in there, then you know that somethings not quite right.

Rottman, 57, of South Beloit, said his interest in law enforcement stems from his fathers career as a 23-year officer retired from the Des Plaines Police Department.

The 1987 Southern Illinois University grad said he was hired by the ISP in January 1990 and trained for two years in Carbondale before landing a job in Rockford.

Im fortunate that Im working at a job that I really enjoy, he said. The people in this lab have been phenomenal to work with ever since I got here in 92.

While his latest recognition as Forensic Scientist of the Year speaks to the quality of his work in 2020, the medallion just as easily could have been substituted with a lifetime achievement award.

Throughout his career, Mr. Rottman has been a model of professionalism, knowledge, and service, said Beth Hundsdorfer ISPs chief public information officer.

Rottman has been lauded by police agencies throughout northern Illinois for his role in solving crimes from the Lee County Sheriffs Department, which was able to solve a string of car burglaries last year in Ashton, and the DeKalb County Sheriffs Department, who linked an individual last year to a double homicide.

Mr. Rottman has consistently been a highly productive analyst and his commitment to providing high-quality services to the criminal justice system has been exceptional, Hundsdorfer said.

Rottman also is vice president of the South Beloit School Board.

He and his wife, April, are parents to two adult daughters, Meagan Walker and Sara Rottman.
PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona's largest community college system, acting under a new state law, has released a slate of planned four-year degrees in education, health care, information technology and other fields.

The Maricopa County Community College District announced Wednesday that the planned degrees would be offered as soon as fall of 2023," pending approval by the district's board and the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accrediting agency.

Gov. Doug Ducey in May signed a bill approved by the Legislature to allow community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees. Before the new law, community colleges have been able to only offer degrees under programs running no more than two years, along with vocational certifications.

The community college district's planned offerings, spread out over eight of the district's 10 colleges, include bachelor degrees in programming and data analytics, information technology, public safety administration, behavioral health science, nuclear medicine technology and imaging, early childhood education and dual certification in elementary and special education.

The district said teams identified programs that meet the new law's intention to expand the state's higher education opportunities.

These programs will support many students that MCCCD serves, who would not typically transfer to a university after earning a two-year degree," the district said in a statement. Now, students in these programs will have the convenience and affordability to continue after their associates degree with one of MCCCDs colleges."

The next step in the process will be creasing courses and requirements for each degree over the next year, said the district, which currently serves about 100,000 students.

The district looks forward to continuing to offer additional baccalaureate degrees in high-demand industry sectors in the years to come, such as nursing and respiratory care ...," the district's statement said.

Supporters of proposals for allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees pointed to higher tuition costs to get four-year degrees at Arizonas three public universities and the possibility of providing higher education closer to students' homes.

Critics cited the potential for duplication with the universities, which have an array of satellite campuses apart from their main campuses, They said community college students can transfer to a university to get four-year degrees.

Ducey, in signing the legislation, said it would help train the state's current and future workforces and provide new options for students, including those in populations historically underrepresented in higher education.

Arizona is a school choice state, and todays action is school choice for higher education," Ducey said in a statement.
NEW HAVEN  Mayor Justin Elicker was never looking for, nor did he expect, an easy job.

But having won election to a second term with 79.35 percent of the vote, he said he is hoping to move forward in a focused way over the next two years to create new programs to help the most vulnerable, hopefully without having his agenda forced or hijacked by the pandemic as it was in his first term.

Im not sure that its a foregone conclusion that the next couple of years are going to be easier than the last two, Elicker said.

Theres still just a lot of volatility in our world right now and theres really no way to know whats going to happen in the world in the next couple of years, he said.

But reelection, coupled with a nearly $50 million increase in state Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, reimbursements from the state, and $110.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds, puts us more in a position of strength to choose our path, Elicker said.

In addition to the additional funding, I have, and my team has, more experience now, Elicker said, in the days following Tuesdays election.

I was new to being mayor when the current term began, so theres a learning curve to that. he said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

As he heads toward his second term, which begins Jan. 1, I have more knowledge about how things work in City Hall that will make it easier to get things done, Elicker said.

The overwhelming support by the city is also helpful because it also endorses the direction were heading in, he said.

Elicker, a Democrat, defeated Republican John Carlson by a 9,999-1727 tally, with Carlson taking 13.71 percent of the vote, according to results on the Secretary of the States Office website that are still listed as unofficial. Independent candidate Mayce Torres received 166 voters and write-in candidates Gabriela Campos and Roger Uihlein received 34 votes and 1 vote, respectively.

Fiscal matters

New Havens PILOT funds  money intended to help fill the hole left by sites in the city that are not subject to property tax  more than doubled this year, rising $49.6 million from a previous formula that would have provided $41 million, to a total of more than $90 million.

That in itself, while it may seem like a lot, wont give the city all the flexibility and additional resources it needs to move forward in directions the mayor would like to go in. According to Elicker, what it does do is fill what had been a chronic hole in the citys budget  and the American Rescue Plan funding, which lasts for four years, will help New Haven do more while it lasts.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Unfortunately, its not too much easier, because PILOT helped us plug a budget hole caused by systemic underfunding, Elicker said. He pointed out that his first year in office he faced what at one point was a $45 million shortfall and the second year he faced a $66 million shortfall.

That said, Elicker has a number of things hes hoping to get done over the next two years.

I think theres a number of categories  making sure we continue the work that we are already doing to create new programs to help the most vulnerable and allow all of the citys residents to thrive, Elicker said.

Violence

Mary E. O'Leary / For Hearst Connecticut Media

At the top of the list to get done is the remaining work to fully implement New Havens newly-created Community Crisis Response Team and the new Community Resilience Department, which Elicker proposed  and the Board of Alders have approved  to beef up and better focus efforts to respond to street violence, mental health issues, prison reentry issues and other related issues.

The city recently partnered with with anti-violence organization CT Against Gun Violence to plan the future Office of Violence Prevention that will work to help safeguard residents against the continuing violence that affects life for many in the city.

As of Thursday there had been 96 shootings and 23 homicides so far in 2021; there had been 95 shootings and 19 homicides at this point in 2020, according to Acting Chief Renee Dominguez.

The Police Department also has seized 172 firearms and made 166 associated arrests so far in 2021, up from 125 seized and 134 associated arrests at the same time last year, according to Dominguez.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Housing and education

Elicker said he also plans to continue efforts efforts to provide more affordable housing in the city.

City zoning ordinance changes to allow and encourage the construction of accessory dwelling units that make it easier for homeowners to carve out apartments in existing attics, basements and garages within their houses recently won approval from the City Plan Commission and the alders.

Additional changes to encourage inclusionary zoning  including incentives for developers to include affordable housing in new apartment construction  are still pending, and were optimistic that theyre going to be supportive, Elicker said.

Right now, over 800 affordable and deeply affordable units are in the pipeline, Elicker said.

Elicker said his efforts for the second term include both following up on what weve already started and making sure that our city grows inclusively.

Among other things, we intend to expand our down payment assistance program as part of a broader effort to encourage wealth creation in the city, he said.

Elicker also hopes to invest more and expand our opportunities for vocational and technical training. The latter falls partly on the state, but I think is New Haven Public Schools and the citys responsibility, as well.

Elicker pointed out that the city and he are not alone in those efforts.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

The benefit we have here is we have some pretty significant potential partners, he said. Weve already started a construction trade program with our union partners, and the city is working with the hospitals, Science Park and District New Haven, among others.

The latter includes a non-profit arm that is interested in working with public school students, Elicker said. Theres a lot of potential there. The state (vocational technical system) is helpful but theres more that we can do.

Kids need to know that they can go to college if they want to, but not everyone is going to go to college, Elicker said.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media

Finally, Elicker plans to focus on efforts to better adapt to and address climate change, he said.

New Haven has done a lot of work to implement initiatives to reduce the impact of climate, including around transportation issues, but theres much more work that needs to be done, Elicker said.

Among other things, the city needs to have a Climate and Sustainability Office with a new director, and thats one of the things Elicker plans to propose during over the next two years.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media

Beyond that, he plans to work to continue to create a customer-facing, customer friendly, well-functioning city government, Elicker said.

One of the things I hear around the city is the citys not always good at responding quickly, answering the publics calls, he said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
WEST HAVEN  A member of the state Municipal Accountability Review Board, which currently has oversight over the citys finances, summed up the panels frustration over allegations that money was fraudulently diverted from federal pandemic relief funding: Its getting a little tiresome.

The MARB is a state board that has had approval power over the citys finances since 2017 and it now is considering pulling the plug on restructuring funds.

The board was put into place after years of reported poor fiscal management placed the city in dire financial straits. The board since then has picked over nearly all expenditures the city authorized, haggled over ins and outs of annual municipal budgets and taxes, and has in past budget cycles criticized city actions and proposals for the financial outlook and considered tightening the reins on the city over time instead of loosening them.

The board, which has a representative working in City Hall, also has the ability to offer additional funding to the city so it can implement structural changes to accomplish fiscal stability.

Now, amid a financial scandal that has to date led to the arrest of two West Haven employees for allegedly submitting fraudulent invoices to the city to divert federal CARES Act funding to their personal bank accounts, the MARB says there are areas where the city is out of compliance with its agreement with the state.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

For the state panel, which has indicated its patience is waning rapidly as the latest financial issue unfolds, members said the alleged fraud reflects poorly on oversight and a number said they would support withholding funding from the city until changes are made.

Theres too many balls in the air and you cant catch them at once, and thats where these problems stem from, said board member Stephen Falcigno.

Its basic issues weve been talking about for the last two years; its getting a little tiresome, he said.

City employee John Bernardo was arrested Thursday and presented in court as the second person charged in the federal wire fraud case that previously caused former state Rep. Michael DiMassa to resign his elected office and his City Hall job. DiMassa, D-West Haven, also is charged with wire fraud.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

The MARB members have not discussed the allegations in detail, both because of an ongoing federal investigation that led to the arrests and because of a forensic audit commissioned by the states Office of Policy and Management. OPM wants outside auditors to review how West Haven officials spent pandemic relief funding, including using money for compensatory payments to employees.

Board member Thomas Hamilton said the MARB should withhold any restructuring funds until the conclusion of the investigation; several members concur, including OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw.

The contractual language says unless they meet the requirements of (the Memorandum of Understanding) the funds will not be provided, McCaw said of the city.

Hearst Connecticut Media /

McCaw said West Haven is out of compliance in several areas of its MOA with the MARB, including making hires in the citys purchasing department. The board did not yet make a decision on withholding funds from the city, pending the outcome of the audit ordered by OPM.

West Haven Finance Director Frank Cieplinski, who has not responded to repeated requests for comment from the Register, told the MARB this week that there have been issues for years around the purchasing procedures here in the city.

This years budget will address the lack of staffing in the purchasing office, he told the board.

He said that only since December have new vendors been entered into the citys purchasing system without an associated tax ID. He said he gets resistance from some department heads on implementing new procedures.

When asked by MARB board member Robert White what are the reasons for anyone to obstruct something that is fundamentally proper procedure, Cieplinski said it is not direct pushback but more of a deference to the way weve always done it.

I dont get how a directive can come from the top brass of the executive branch and its just disregarded. It really leaves me scratching my head, said board member Patrick Egan.

Board members said that, should the audit that OPM commissioned show significant deficiencies that the MARB may step up its control of the city and its finances.

If in fact that forensic audit does show significant deficiencies where there needs to be intervention by us, we should be prepared to take some, said board member Mark Waxenberg.

Mayor Nancy Rossi said she did not know that Frank was (having) an issue with a few employees before this week.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

There will be a meeting next week with the department heads and I will address their noncompliance, she said.

Rossi said she has plans to address the citys staffing shortfalls with the City Council. McCaw noted that Cieplinski said the city was looking at a $1.4 million positive fund balance, so the city should have the resources to make hires.

Barry Cohen, a Republican councilman and mayoral candidate who trailed Rossi by 29 votes as of Election Day prior to a mandatory recount this Sunday, said the MARBs remarks are a condemnation of this administration. He said the comments note the city is not following mandated requirements per the MOA, as well as the lack of transparency.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

This mayor must stop the finger-pointing and take responsibility. Instead of leading, she is making excuses, he said.

Ron Quagliani, chairman of the City Council, said the city will need some time to heal from the arrests of DiMassa and Bernardo in connection to the alleged wire fraud.

It is upsetting that this is the current narrative for our community, but while these are clearly difficult days for all of us we cannot let this issue define who we are as a community, he said. The good that is done each and every day by the hardworking people of West Haven is what will continue to shine through even in the darkest times.

Rossi has said about the compensatory time paid to workers out of federal pandemic fund is for working above and beyond their hours.

Theyre entitled to it and it follows the union contract, she has said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Rossi said some employees accrued compensatory time that they were unable to take because of the constant demands of responding to the pandemic, so the compensatory time was paid out to them. DiMassa and Bernardo both were among those receiving such a payment, documents show.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
Ron Chapple / Getty Image

A Wallingford man was sentenced to five years in prison after he downloaded hundreds of child sex abuse images from the internet, federal prosecutors said.

Eric Rundstrom, 47, of Wallingford pleaded guilty in March 2020 to one count of receipt and possession of child pornography. After his prison sentence, he is required to serve five years of supervised release, according to the office of Leonard Boyle, the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by some light rain this afternoon. High 49F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy with light rain this evening. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Voters in Polling Unit 002, Enem Hall, Otolo Ward 2, Nnewi North Local Government Area have stopped the commencement of voting, saying origi...





Voters in Polling Unit 002, Enem Hall, Otolo Ward 2, Nnewi North Local Government Area have stopped the commencement of voting, saying original result sheets were not brought by INEC officials.

Mr China Christian, a PDP supporter who spoke to newsmen said, We have refused the commencement of accreditation/voting at PU 002, Enem Hall, Otolo Ward 2, Nnewi North LGA because the INEC officials did not come with original result sheet.

Until we sight the election result sheet, voting will not commence. Those preparing to write election results in their hotel rooms will meet their waterloo today, he said.
Chukwuma Soludo, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra, says he will win even if only 100 peopl...

Chukwuma Soludo, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra, says he will win even if only 100 people vote in the election.

Speaking with journalists on Saturday after voting at his polling unit in Aguata LGA of Anambra state, Soludo said his aim is to win the election with a wide margin.

The APGA candidate said it is the people who urged him to contest the election and that he only wants to be a servant leader.

I always say that I am an incredible optimist and I always believe that somehow it (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) will come through. When we were in court after the primaries, I did make a statement that the judiciary will always come through and that went to the appeal court and the Supreme Court. They actually came through, he said.

Today, I was very upbeat and optimistic. I know that APGA is Anambra and Anambra is APGA. Even if only a 100 people vote within the state, we will still win.

It is not just winning, but winning with a mass movement because this is a journey that has been propelled by the people  self-funding support groups with over half a million members that compelled me to contest.

They were the ones who urged me to come and run in the first instance and I was expecting that we are going to break the jinx of over a million votes to victory, but when we had these glitches I was feeling very worrisome.

The worries are still there and as mentioned by the REC in his release, some of them, especially in the places where votes could not take place today, will do so tomorrow. We look forward to the completion of the process.

Im more interested in the legitimacy of the process, because for me, the mandate I seek is a peoples mandate to be their servant leader and that is satisfactory to me.
The Senator representing Gombe Central Senatorial District, Danjuma Goje, has appealed to all citizens in Gombe State to be peace-loving, sa...





The Senator representing Gombe Central Senatorial District, Danjuma Goje, has appealed to all citizens in Gombe State to be peace-loving, saying they are all brothers who should live in harmony with one another.

He addressed a mammoth crowd that thronged his residence on Friday evening in the aftermath of the crisis that started at noon where his convoy was allegedly blocked by political thugs and miscreants while on his way from the airport to the wedding venue of his granddaughter.

In a video, the former governor was seen appealing to the crowd who were on solidarity visit to him to be calm and law abiding.

Goje, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Marine Transport, told the people that, As a man of peace, I will not use my hand to destroy what I have built over the years in Gombe State, recalling how he was attacked at Deba LGA, sometime ago by suspected thugs loyal to governor Inuwa Yahaya.

You all witnessed what happened on my way from the airport to Gombe town when I was attacked by some aides of the governor including his ADC and Chief Security Officer, he said.

It was reported that there was crisis in Gombe State where suspected thugs loyal to the State governor blocked the ex-governor in a political protest.

But reacting in a statement by Gombe State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Julius Ishaya Lepes, the state government accused the ex-governor of hiring thugs from the entire Local Government Area of the State to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens.

The statement also vowed to punish those responsible for Fridays violence in the State where one person was feared dead.
There was drama in Osun State University (UNIOSUN) on Friday as some workers of the institution staged a mock funeral ceremony as a farewell...

There was drama in Osun State University (UNIOSUN) on Friday as some workers of the institution staged a mock funeral ceremony as a farewell to the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof Labode Popoola who they described as a tyrant administrator.

Recall that Prof Popoolas tenure ended on November 4, 2021, and the Governing Council appointed Professor Adefemi Afeez Bello as Acting Vice-Chancellor.

The workers in their celebration swept the premises of the Vice-Chancellors office to the school gate and later ate the bean cake as a sign of good-bye to Popoola amid dancing, singing and frying of bean cake.

They hung a banner on the Senate Building of the campus bearing the picture of Popoola and the inscriptions read: With gratitude to God, the entire staff of Osun State University celebrate the inglorious exit of a mischievous tyrant, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Labode Popoola.

Addressing the workers, the Chairman of NASU, Comrade Isaiah Fayemi, alleged that the former VC interdicted workers for protesting against his alleged corrupt practices, adding that the Chairman of Joint Action Committee of the university, Comrade Lekan Adiat and five others are currently interdicted.

Popoola is a VC that came and used his position to victimise us, to withhold our salaries, and that is why we are celebrating his exit. We are happy that he is gone and gone forever, Fayemi said.

However, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Ademola Adesoji berated the action of the staff, adding that majority of the staff and students of the UNIOSUN love the former VC.

Adesoji recounted that Prof Laboode with his exceptional performances earned him life patron honour from Students Union, gifts from the alumni association and commendations from the staff of the institution.

He said, Students and staff of UNIOSUN love Pro Labode. The student union gave him an award and made him their patron, the Alumni also gave him gifts and lauded him for performing excellently.
No fewer than 15 suspected hoodlums on Saturday were arrested by Ebubeagu security outfit for allegedly terrorising citizens of Abakaliki me...





No fewer than 15 suspected hoodlums on Saturday were arrested by Ebubeagu security outfit for allegedly terrorising citizens of Abakaliki metropolis and involvement in other various crimes in the state.

The suspects were arrested during a stop and search operation carried out by the Ebubeagu security outfit in various streets of Abakaliki metropolis.

Speaking to journalists in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Internal Security, Eze Ikechukwu Patrick said the suspects were arrested with locally-made gun and have been handed over to the Commissioner of Police Ebonyi State Command for further investigation and action.

According to him: Those boys are the major suspects that are terrorizing the state and we apprehended them yesterday night with a locally made rifle.

You can see, we handed them over to the police for further investigation. They are fifteen in number but we still have others left, we took to the venue of the crime for investigation, we will equally hand them over to the police.

We arrested some of them at Gariki the burying ground, while other ones are arrested at the centenary city. Noon of them are students. Most of them are cultists.

We arrested some of them during our stop and search operations. There is peace already in Ebonyi since the arrest of the suspects.

They are the major Talibans that are disturbing the people of the state and we have peacefully handed them over to the police he states.

When contacted for confirmation, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ebonyi State Command, DSP Loveth Odah, said she was not aware of the development.

I am not aware that Ebubeagu handed over suspects. They may have arrested and handed over to the police but Im not aware as the spokesperson of the police command, she stated.
Kwara State doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners, NAGMDP, are to suspe...





Kwara State doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners, NAGMDP, are to suspend their 7-day warning strike action at 6.00p.m on Saturday.





The state Chairman of the body, Dr. Saka Agboola, announced this in a statement in Ilorin, the state capital on Saturday.





He said the decision was taken after an emergency congress of members of the association.





Recall that the association members, on Monday embarked on the warning strike action to press home their demands for improved welfare and remuneration by the state government.





The chairman said the decision to call off the strike action, was based on the favourable response of the state government to negotiate with the association, just as it acknowledged the sufferings of the patients due to the strike action.





Agoola said contrary to insinuations from certain quarters, the association was not intimidated to suspend the strike action.
An American vlogger, Sabbatical has described the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos as extremely corruption. ...

An American vlogger, Sabbatical has described the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos as extremely corruption.

Real name Tommy El Forastero, he said the facility and the activities going on perfectly detail corruption.

Sabbatical tours the world and shares experience with followers. He lamented how airport staff requested money at different points.

Forastero posted the video he made within the airport on his YouTube page.

I have been around the world and I have never seen anything like this. I mean, its extremely corrupt. Picture corruption.

The Nigerian airport, the Lagos airport is that very definition of corruption that would pop up in a dictionary. Literally everywhere, he said.

Sabbatical looked worn out and was sweating which again confirms the minimal cooling system at the airport.

Nigerians and foreigners repeatedly complain they get hot, while having to endure workers that beg for money using delay tactics.

The criticism by Sabbatical came weeks after another American, Alina Oliver accused the workers of graft.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said N100 billion is not enough to conduct the 2023 general elections. Pro...

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said N100 billion is not enough to conduct the 2023 general elections.

Prof Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman said the N100 billion proposed for the 2023 general elections in the next years budget is inadequate.

He disclosed this while appearing before the Senate Committee on INEC to defend INECs 2022 budget estimates on Friday.

Yakubu recalled that N189bn was appropriated for in the 2019 general elections; and that N100 billion for 2023 is insufficient.

The INEC boss said the proposed N100bn was the first tranche for the 2023 general elections.

According to Yakubu, INEC is making efforts with the Ministry of Finance to increase the proposed sum for the 2023 general election.

According to Yakubu: We are already in touch with the Federal Ministry of Finance on the additional requirements for the 2023 general elections.

Either we come to the National Assembly to defend the budget before the committee or we would do what we did in 2019 when the executive just submitted the proposal to the National Assembly and we came to defend it.

We would need more money because weve expanded our polling units and we are introducing new technology for elections among many other new innovations. The number of registered voters will increase beyond the 84 million for the 2019 general elections.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional showers during the afternoon. High 48F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low near 35F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Although 28 people managed to cram into a Mini Cooper a few years ago to set a new Guinness World Record, I bet even Guinness would be astonished at how many people New Orleans families manage to fit inside a single mausoleum in one of our famous above ground cemeteries.

If youve ever traipsed about a cemetery and read the inscriptions on the tablets, you may have wondered how its possible for so many family members to keep each other company in eternal slumber. And keep this in mind: Not all those interred in a tomb always have their name inscribed on the tablet. There may be even more than it appears.

Such is the case at one of New Orleans most storied tombs, that of Marie Laveau in St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery on Basin Street. But Laveau biographer Carolyn Morrow Long feels she has a handle on how many are in the tomb of the Madame Widow Paris, as the revered Voudou practitioner was known after the death of her husband Jacques Paris around 1925.

There are 84 in the tomb, Long stated definitively. There are 25 family members, seven family friends, and six close neighbors. As for the others.

Long, a resident of Washington, D. C., is in town for a book signing today at the 1850 House state museum from 2-4 p.m. A few days earlier, she presented her research into Marie Laveaus tomb at an event sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Longs 2007 biography A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau is just one of the writers New Orleans-centric works. More recently, she wrote a biography of the infamous Delphine Lalaurie, titled Madame Lalaurie: Mistress of the Haunted House, which is now being released in soft cover. And the story she wrote for Cultural Vistas Magazine, The Cracker Jack: A Hoodoo Drugstore in the Cradle of Jazz, won first place in the feature writing category from the Press Club of New Orleans this year.

Unlike the wretched Lalaurie woman, known for torturing her slaves, Long described Laveau as extremely caring and charitable. She ministered to the sick. She comforted prisoners on death row. She sponsored an orphan. She was a devout Catholic. So when someone died, she was all too willing to either lease space in her family tomb (likely built in the 1830s) or lend a spot to someone awaiting placement elsewhere.

Not every person interred in the tomb was an adult when they died, Long explained. There are a number of babies.

More remarkable than the number of individuals that Long has identified as having been interred in the tomb is the process she used to establish that number.

I got permission from the archdiocese to look through the cemetery archives. Starting in late 1859, they included detailed information which includes name, color, age, cause of death, where they died, the attending physician, and where they were buried. I went page by page, she said. After 1919, there was much less information and accounts were sketchy.

Despite the meticulous research, Long says there are still questions she cant answer. One is why a wall vault in St. Louis No. 2 seems to have attracted the same kind of attention as the Famille Paris tomb in St. Louis No. 1.

Marie did own a wall vault in St. Louis No. 1 on the Basin Street side, but there is no record whatever of her owning one in St. Louis No. 2 or of her remains having been moved there. There is always a notation in the archives when that happens, Long explained. If her remains were moved, it was done secretly, without notifying the archdiocese.

The second unanswered question has to do with the origin of the tradition of marking the tomb with a trio of Xs.

Because of Maries abiding faith and close relationship with the Catholic church, I wonder if those marks werent originally simple crosses that were turned on their sides over time? she said.

The Xs were damaging enough to the fragile brick tomb coated in lime wash, but after a vandal coated the entire tomb in pink latex paint, action was taken to stop the ritual. The archdiocese partnered with Save Our Cemeteries to restore the tomb, a $10,000 undertaking. Then, to ensure the tombs preservation for the future, the archdiocese closed the cemetery to the public, except for licensed tour guides and their charges.

So, how many people can fit inside an empty tomb? The answer is one: After one, it isnt empty any more.
The dining rooms at Upperline Restaurant only seemed empty until proprietor JoAnn Clevenger started sharing her stories.

Moving from room to room across the converted Uptown house, she talked of the artists who created the paintings covering the walls and the old regulars who created memories at the tables beneath them. She pointed to their preferred seats, as if directing a reenactment of evenings gone past.

I can see them still, she said, gazing over a quiet, sun-drenched parlor, where tables were set for service with linens and candles.

Every painting has a story to tell, she said. But so does every table.

Those stories have an intense new resonance now.

Upperline has been closed ever since March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, except for a handful of private events along the way.

Now, Clevenger and her family have decided not to reopen, and she is speaking publicly about it for the first time.

It marks the end of the line for a New Orleans institution that has generated wide renown and deep-running loyalty through nearly 40 years in business.

Clevenger is 82. That is a big factor in the decision.

If I was 62, I would definitely be reopening, but Im not, she said.

Theres also Clevengers own regard for what the restaurant means, to herself and to others. Shes unsure she could rekindle that during this time of hardship and upheaval for hospitality businesses.

What finally made up my mind was when I realized I could not recreate what I had loved so much and that gave so many other people such happiness, Clevenger said. To try to do it, to get the money together, to bring back employees, to finally get back open and have it not be as satisfying as it always was? I couldn't stand that.

Whats next?

Clevenger owns the restaurant with her son, Jason Clevenger, and her husband, Alan Greenacre. They plan to put the real estate up for sale, and, if things work out just right, perhaps also sell the business. That means a new version of the Upperline could emerge, though Clevenger only discusses that possibility with caveats.

We would sell Upperline with the name and the recipes but I only want to sell to someone who is not going to damage what we built here; they could change it, but I have to trust they wont damage it, she said.

If that doesn't happen, we'll just sell the property.

After grappling with the decision for many months, Clevenger said shes finally ready to let go of a restaurant that has been much more than a business for her. It has been her realm.

Since opening in 1983, Upperline has spanned decades of change in the restaurant business. It has seen a progression of different chefs, including an increasingly rapid succession of them in later years. Yet it always retained its own unique role in the citys dining scene.

The restaurant has been Clevengers vehicle for expression  both her conduit to the world and the way shes tried to make her mark on it. Her goal, through each aspect of Upperline, has been to connect people.

Thats what a restaurant does. It's a shared space, youre breaking bread with people who are different than you, she said. They're together, they're sharing this experience. The restaurant gives me a way to have some influence on them, through the food, the art, through empathy, hope and respect. Maybe when they leave they feel better, and better able to face whatever is next.

A classic distilled

The ongoing tumult of the pandemic has brought vexing questions and hard appraisals of the future for many in the hospitality industry, and New Orleans has seen both famous names and neighborhood standbys close or sell.

Given its standing and longevity, the news from Upperline is the most consequential since the permanent closure last year of the French Quarter landmark K-Pauls Louisiana Kitchen, founded by the late Paul Prudhomme.

Clevenger is a native of Alexandria. She came to New Orleans as a teenager when her mother fell ill and sought care at Charity Hospital.

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In the 1960s, she steeped in the bohemian culture of the French Quarter, working as a waitress and bartender before opening her own businesses. That included the bar and music hall Andys on Bourbon Street (long gone) and the Abbey on Decatur Street (which changed hands many years ago and remains open). She had flower vending carts in the Quarter and opened a vintage clothing store, Matildas.

She was initially looking for a second, Uptown location for Matildas when she discovered an available restaurant space. It had long been home to the neighborhood joint Martins on Upperline Street, just off Prytania.

She saw a new opportunity in the emerging interest in regional cuisine. Her son, 23 at the time, was head chef at Cafe Sbisa in the French Quarter. Bringing him on board gave her the confidence to open the restaurant. Clevengers husband and her daughter, Morgan Clevenger, would also play their own roles in the family-run restaurant through the years.

From its debut in 1983, Upperline evolved from a trendsetting new bistro to an Uptown institution.

Its known for its particular lens on Louisiana cuisine, blending a great deal of Creole, a good bit of Southern, a touch of Cajun and a sprinkling of other influences, both historic and contemporary.

Gumbo, turtle soup, duck etouffee, trout meuniere, roasted duck with garlic port and grillades with grits are all signatures. Clevenger herself created one essential  fried green tomatoes topped with shrimp remoulade, combining a Southern staple with a Creole standard for dish that has been endlessly copied since.

The restaurant is known for an art collection that covers each of its three dining rooms, a small museum's worth of work displayed amid vintage fixtures and whimsical pieces. Most have a New Orleans association.

One big question ahead is the future of the art collection. Clevenger said there are a few pieces she knows shell never part with, though its possible many could accompany a sale of the business.

Another route shes exploring is to have the work on public display elsewhere. Its important to her that people still be able to connect with the art.

What endures

Perhaps most of all, Upperline is known for Clevenger herself. Never a chef, she has long been the embodiment of her restaurant, the host for the diners who came to her door and an impresario for the joys and richness of her city.

She is forever recommending other restaurants to her patrons. Early in the pandemic, with Upperline closed, she even used the glass menu board by the door outside to promote others nearby that were back open.

Upperline's first chef, Jason Clevenger, later left the restaurant business and today works at Washington University in St. Louis.

He was succeeded in the kitchen by the late Tom Cowman, who introduced many dishes that would endure on the menu, including the roasted duck. Cowman was followed by Richard Benz, who later started the bistro Dick & Jennys, which for a time became an Uptown fixture in its own right.

The restaurants longest-tenured chef was Ken Smith, who worked at the restaurant for 20 years. Smith left in 2010 to enter the seminary. Hes now chaplain at East Jefferson General Hospital.

Upperline has garnered plenty of hospitality industry honors through the years. Clevenger has been a perennial finalist for the James Beard Foundations Outstanding Restaurateur award. In 2015, the regional food culture group Southern Foodways Alliance honored her with its Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award, joining past recipients including Leah Chase, Ella Brennan and John Folse.

Contemplating nearly four decades in the often-grinding restaurant business, Clevenger said recognition like that kept her going, though it was the everyday interactions that replenished her spirits one evening to the next.

Many people have come and gone here, the people who worked here, the customers, she said. Many, many came back and many who worked here have gone on to do important things for the community and themselves. Thats part of the connection through restaurants that is so important. We are all connected through Upperline.

+24 Ian McNulty: At Upperline, now closed, how a maestro of New Orleans dining says goodbye The kitchen was quiet at Upperline, and the shelves behind the bar were bare. No one was cooking gumbo or mixing Sazeracs.

+17 Ian McNulty: At Mosca's, a false alarm, a timely reminder of what matters, a lot of garlic If any restaurant in the world has no need for a sign, its Moscas. Yet, when its sign went missing, it sparked an urgent need for me to return.

+3 Ian McNulty: As tensions rise, customers need to bring some hospitality to the table too Hospitality is always a two-way street. You set yourself up to have a better time at restaurants, bars or anywhere people serve you when you s
Hospitality is always a two-way street. You set yourself up to have a better time at restaurants, bars or anywhere people serve you when you show up with a sense of hospitality yourself.

Keep a good attitude, realistic expectations and a sense of empathy for the people around you, and youre bound to have a more gratifying experience.

That is always good practice. Right now, its an imperative, one small acknowledgment that we are all stuck in a crisis and need each other to get out of it.

Just a few weeks ago, it felt like we were rebuilding and getting ready for a fantastic fall season in this town.

But we gave the delta variant a lot of room to run with so many people not yet vaccinated, and it is on a rampage. Calling off the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was a high-profile consequence. But the ripples of this latest, self-inflicted phase of the crisis have been hitting everyone every day.

In the hospitality community, there is the struggle to keep people safe and the dread that lockdowns or capacity limits could return. For small businesses hanging on by a thread, many fear that could be the final cut.

So far, all we have is a mask mandate. A small but growing number of businesses and individuals in New Orleans have taken it a step further, adopting their own proof-of-vaccination requirements.

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Both moves have brought what is diplomatically called push back. What this really means is people taking out the frustrating burden of misinformation theyve absorbed on people whose only intent is to keep their doors open, keep people working, keep people safe and keep serving you.

Steep in the cesspool of social media angst, and the divide can seem beyond repair. But put yourself back in the real world again, where people are working to climb out of this crisis, and you might see something different.

What I see when I actually visit these places are people striving to keep going.

Ive also seen people showing up using masks without anyone having to ask and with their vaccination cards ready at the places where they will be asked. I see an appreciation that none of this is normal but is simply part of how were trying to carry on right now.

Thats what it looks like when we return just a bit of care to the people taking care of us. Its not difficult and its not divisive. It's about gratitude and generosity.

In New Orleans, that should be second nature. It is called hospitality.
The St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is among New Orleans most popular tourist haunts and, before it was shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic, would
The Louisiana Department of the Treasury announced Friday that $5.63 million in uncashed state income tax refunds is owed to 22,000 people and businesses  and some of it may be your money.

The good news is there's a fairly easy way for you to both find out if you're owed it and to claim it.

Basically, the state collects money that they call unclaimed property. This can include leftover dollars from payroll checks, old savings accounts if you transferred banks, stocks, dividends, insurance proceeds, utility deposits on behalf of residents, and more.

You can search Louisiana unclaimed property on this website by searching your name. You may need to provide:

State issued ID such as a driver's license or passport

Proof of Social Security number such as a W-2 or SS card

Proof of current or previous address, such as a pay stub or utility bill

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City erroneously collected more than $460,000 from expired FQ sales tax, and now can't spend it The city of New Orleans collected $466,671 through a special French Quarter sales tax in the first six months of the year, even though the tax

It may take a few weeks for everything to process, but there's a chance you'll get a checkagain: of money that is already owed to you, but you might not know itin the mail.

Every year, we put uncashed income tax refunds into our Unclaimed Property Program. This year, that list includes almost 22,000 Louisiana residents and businesses, State Treasurer John M. Schroder said in a statement.

If you havent checked your name in our database in a while, theres no better time than today. In fact, the amounts received in income tax refunds this year range from a few dollars to up to six figures.
Lakeview Regional Medical Center has partnered with Baptist Community Ministries to establish the facility's first Spiritual Care Program to provide patients and caregivers with nondenominational guidance and support during medical treatment at the 163-bed hospital in Covington.

The program will be led by the Rev. Phineas Marr, who has almost 35 years of experience as a pastor and teacher of religious studies and, most recently, served as a staff chaplain at University Medical Center and the Maison Orleans and Covenant Nursing Home in New Orleans. He holds master's degrees in divinity and science, with a counseling emphasis, and he is seeking board certification from the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Spirit is that part of you that lifts your awareness above the autopilot we live on most of the time," Marr said. "Everybody has spirit, regardless of religion. It can be underdeveloped or very developed, but it is there in all of us.

Services provided by chaplains include listening to patient concerns about their health and care, being present with patients and family during times of crisis, and contacting the religious community and its leaders on behalf of a patient. Chaplains also advocate for patient concerns, provide religious literature and perform religious rituals.

For many reasons, personal and professional, the last 18 months has challenged all of us in different ways, said Hiral Patel, Lakeview Regional CEO. The need for spiritual care and connection is even more important today. I am excited to have the Rev. Phin join our team; he will help complete the circle of care we provide all patients and our employees.

According to the American Hospital Association, in 2015, 70% of the nearly 5000 hospitals surveyed provided pastoral care services, up from 53% in 2002.

Lakeview Regional, a campus of Tulane Medical Center, announced the new partnership during Spiritual Care Week, which is marked annually in late October. Lakeview already offers a chapel for prayer, meditation or quiet time on the first floor near the visitor elevators.

Marr moved to Louisiana in 2018 to marry his wife, Missy.
The 246th birthday of the United States Marine Corps will be celebrated locally with a Marine Corps Ball on Nov. 13 in Mandeville, and the public is invited.

The Marine Corps Ball is a formal event in which Marines wear their dress blues and their awards for an evening of tradition and camaraderie. Although usually reserved for Marines, their spouses or dates, dignitaries and special invited guests, League Detachments such as the 778th can open up the event to the community.

As a Marine Corps League Detachment, we can invite the public to experience this unique display of tradition and Marine Corps ceremony, Detachment Commandant Matt Cole said.

This years Birthday Ball, scheduled from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Mandeville Lions Club, is the first hosted by the newly formed LCPL Justin D. McLeese Fireteam. The ball was originally planned for next year, but Hurricane Ida accelerated that plan.

After Hurricane Ida, I felt that we could not wait any longer to begin fundraising, Cole said. My idea is to use the (ball) as a community fundraiser because some members of the veterans community do not have the money to repair their homes, nor do we want to see the local Toys for Tots programs suffer a lack of funding.

Founded in 1923 by Major General John A. Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps and a Louisiana native, the Marine Corps League promotes and preserves the traditions of the Marine Corps. The League serves Marines and Navy FMF personnel and seeks to bolster Americanism within their community.

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The mission of the new detachment is to provide community service from Mandeville to Sun.

We will administer aid and assistance to veterans in need, perform military honors at funerals, and initiate League programs for local Boy Scouts and Young Marines, as well as support and expand the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, Cole said.

The detachment is named after Covington's LCpl. Justin D. McLeese, who was killed in action when he walked into a booby-trapped building in Fallujah in 2004. The date of the ball is also the anniversary of the 19-year-old's death, and Justins parents, Daniel and Sharon, will be honored guests at the ball.

This means the world to us, said Sharon McLeese. It is a huge honor that our sons memory will live on through people who he considered brothers.

The general admission ticket covers the cost of the ball, with some funds left over for the detachments mission. To help increase the amount available for the mission, the fireteam is seeking sponsors. Sponsors should email mattcole_usmc@yahoo.com. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/246th-marine-corps-birthday-ball-tickets-185059466847.
When 7-year-old Trebor Smith Jr. sat down for his COVID-19 shot Friday morning, he knew what to expect. His big sister, 13-year-old Trinity, told him and their other sister, 11-year-old Taelyn, that it felt like a little pinch.

It didnt hurt, Trebor confirmed.

Was he nervous? Nope. Excited, he said.

Now, the entire family is vaccinated. That means getting back to team sports, traveling and a sense of ease around elderly family members, their parents said.

Drive-thru COVID and flu shot event in Marrero offers $100 gift cards to newly vaccinated Free COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and flu shots will be available at a drive-through event Saturday held by Jefferson Parish and the Louisia

This was a day weve been waiting on for a long time, said their dad, Trebor Smith Sr. This gives us an opportunity now to start back doing the things that we enjoy doing as a family.

The first shots for 5- to 11-year-olds are well underway in Louisiana. At Childrens Hospital New Orleans, 295 appointments were filled on the first day of availability. The hospital received 800 doses in its first shipment and expects more in the coming weeks.

And although initial uptake is high, its too soon to tell how many kids in this age group might get vaccinated.

Its uncharted territory," said Dr. Mark Kline, the physician-in-chief at Childrens who specializes in infectious disease. Im hoping that rather than having us peter out and smolder, in terms of vaccines, people will be motivated by what they see and hear  other kids came and got the shot and didnt have a bad reaction.

+2 Louisiana COVID hospitalizations fall to lowest level of pandemic. 'We're all very hopeful.' There are fewer coronavirus patients in Louisiana hospitals now than at any point in the pandemic, a dramatic decline from a few months ago an

About 48% of Louisianas population is fully vaccinated, but the likelihood of vaccination skews higher with age. Among people over 65, 88% are inoculated in Louisiana. That drops to 61% among adults ages 18 to 64 and to 40% among kids ages 12 to 17.

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According to a national poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 27% of parents are like the Smiths  first in line for the shots, saying they will definitely get one. Another 33% are in the wait-and-see camp. Three in ten said they would definitely not get their kid vaccinated, with 5% saying they would only if required.

Parents have more concerns the younger their children are, said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department.

Kid COVID vaccines in Louisiana available now; here's how to get an appointment The Louisiana Department of Health gave the go-ahead Wednesday for medical providers to start inoculating kids between the ages of 5 and 11 wi

Avegno predicted an initial rush due to the holidays  kids need to be vaccinated by mid-late November to gain full protection by Christmas  but also said the uptake would be slower because most kids will get the shot at a pediatrician's office rather than a mass vaccination site or pharmacy.

Trebors mom, Demetrice, couldnt get her kids vaccinated fast enough. But as a nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife, she hears from a lot of parents who arent as sure about the vaccination.

They've expressed the same concerns for their kids that shes heard about adults: Theyre unsure about how quickly it was developed and worried about side effects. She does her best to reassure them that its safe and well vetted, and tells them that kids, who receive one-third the dose of adults, have reported fewer of the mild side effects like headache and fatigue following the shot.

I remind them you have to be vaccinated for school with all these other vaccines, so it kind of falls in the same boat with keeping your kids safe, said Demetrice.

The Smiths knew family and coworkers who died of COVID before the vaccine was available. Theyre currently staying with Demetrice's 84-year-old grandmother because their home flooded after Hurriane Ida, and her kids worry about protecting her.

This is like a light that you can see, said Demetrice. This is something tangible, that I can do my part in addition to wearing masks and social distancing.
A Jefferson Parish grand jury on Thursday handed up an indictment charging a New Orleans man in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old in Terrytown, Jefferson Parish court records said.

Maurice Lumar, 20, was charged with second-degree murder, accused of being the getaway driver when Kardell Preston was gunned down May 2, according to authorities.

Lumar pleaded not guilty Friday. Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office investigators said four other suspects have been taken into custody in the investigation.

Preston was walking in the 2900 block of South Monterey Court when a car abruptly stopped near him, according to authorities. Two men got out of the vehicle and shot at Preston, striking him several times. The gunmen got back into the car and sped off.

Deputies responding to reports of gunfire found Preston lying wounded in a driveway. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

+2 2nd suspect booked with murder in fatal shooting of Terrytown 18-year-old: JPSO Jefferson Parish Sheriff's detectives have arrested a second suspect in the death of an 18-year-old gunned down in May in Terrytown.

Detectives arrested Lumar July 20 after he was identified as the man who drove the getaway car by another person taken into custody in connection with the investigation, according to Detective Kurt Zeagler with the Sheriffs Office homicide division.

Zeagler testified during an Oct. 5 preliminary hearing in Lumars case. Though he did not say who named Lumar, he told the court there were six people in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. Five, including Lumar, have been identified and taken into custody, Zeagler said.

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Joshua Williams, 18, of Shreveport, was the first suspect to be booked in Jefferson Parish in connection with Prestons killing, according to Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriffs office spokesperson.

+2 In Terrytown shooting death of 18-year-old, suspect from Shreveport booked with murder Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives has made an arrest in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old in Terrytown earlier this month.

Though booked May 20 with second-degree murder, the Jefferson Parish District Attorneys Office later refused the charge. Williams was, instead, charged with obstruction of justice, accused of tampering with evidence in the case, court records said.

Williams pleaded guilty Oct. 19. Judge Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court deferred a 15-year prison sentence and placed Williams on three years of active probation, court records said.

Two other suspects in the homicide were also taken into custody in Shreveport, according to the Sheriffs Office. David Young, 22, was arrested May 15, and Matthew Bluford, 21, was arrested June 28, Caddo Parish Correctional Center records said.

Both suspects are from Shreveport and were being held at the Caddo jail as fugitives from another jurisdiction, according to state records. Neither has been booked in Jefferson Parish, and its not clear what charges they might face.

The fifth suspect identified in the homicide investigation is a 17-year-old boy, Rivarde said. The teen was arrested June 9. His charges were not available.

The Sheriffs Office has not divulged the alleged motive in Prestons killing or the connection to the Shreveport suspects in the case.

Lumar was being held Friday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on a $750,000 bond.
Norbert Housey was riding in a car east on Interstate 10 near New Orleans Crowder Boulevard exit when gunfire struck him the night of Oct. 20.

First responders found the 28-year-old former Walter L. Cohen Senior High School athlete about two miles away, after he wound up in a three-car crash at I-10 west and Morrison Boulevard. They brought him to University Medical Center in an attempt to save him, but he was pronounced dead there. His killer hasn't been found.

Ever since that life-shattering night, Houseys parents and three siblings have been trying to figure out who would hurt him and why. Theyve also struggled to grasp how Housey, who made his living cutting grass, could be gunned down on a busy, well-lit highway like I-10.

"Norbert, to me, didn't have any enemies," Housey's mother, Charmaine, said recently.

Highway shootings like the one that cost Housey his life have been rising at a frightening pace.

Entering the first weekend of November, the 26 attacks on the New Orleans stretches of Interstate 10, Interstate 610, and elevated portions of U.S. 90 so far this year are already nearly 50% higher than the total for all of last year.

At the current pace, the city is on track to end 2021 with more than five times as many highway shootings as in an average year, according to an analysis by The Times-Picayune.

2 men killed in separate Wednesday night shootings on I-10 and St. Claude identified On Friday, the New Orleans coroner identified the victims of two homicides by shooting that took place on Wednesday night.

Attacks on the highway make up a relatively small percentage of all the shootings in the city. Even in 2016, the most violent year on the highways before the current uptick, the 10 gun attacks only represented about 2% of all the shootings in New Orleans. But over the past three years, they've become increasingly common.

From 2011 through 2018, the city averaged about six shootings on an elevated highway each year. In 2019, 16 highway shootings were reported. The next year, 18 occurred.

But the highway shootings this year are an outlier both in their raw total  about one every week-and-a-half on average  and the proportion of all shootings. They now represent roughly 1 in every 20 shootings in the city.

The vast majority of the highway shootings occur on I-10, and among those, two clusters stand out: the stretch of highway near the High Rise Bridge over the Industrial Canal, and the stretch of I-10 cutting through Treme.

In the last decade, there have been 15 shootings between the Louisa Street and Chef Menteur Highway exits  a staggering 12 of which have occurred since the start of 2019.

There have also been 13 shootings on I-10 between Esplanade Avenue and Canal Street over the last decade, with around half being reported during the last three years.

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Online commenters often wonder if one person or a small group hellbent on terrifying the community is to blame for the surge. After all, many people remember the horrors that Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad inflicted on the Washington, D.C., area during the Beltway sniper attacks in 2002.

But a New Orleans police spokesperson said Friday that there is no indication a single actor or a small group is driving the increase. Investigators believe many of the cases are simply chance interactions between random motorists that devolve into road rage. Others appear to be pre-existing feuds that escalate when those at odds encounter each other on the highway.

Multiple law enforcement sources who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity said they have also found evidence that people wanting to shoot someone else have figured out that highways offer strategic advantages.

Mainly, the predictably-spaced exits offer quick getaways, and for significant stretches, drivers can mostly only go in the same general direction.

The sources said there are key differences among many of the individual cases to conclude they are not the work of the same person or group. Police have identified many different vehicles, types of weapons and physical descriptions of attackers.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell also suggested the shootings weren't connected in an interview last month. Touting the $1 million the city plans to spend on license plate readers that can alert police to specific vehicles, Cantrell said plans called for many of the new cameras to be deployed near I-10 with the goal of getting a better foothold when it comes to violent crime on the interstate.

Nonetheless, Cantrell said, the police were finding that more often than not, interstate attackers had planned to make their move on an intended target on the highway.

Statistics on how many highway shootings the police have solved weren't immediately available. But, as of Thursday, investigators had identified suspects in 53% of the more than 175 total homicides reported in New Orleans for the year, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said, drawing from internal agency figures.

That figure was 37% for nonfatal shootings, Ferguson said.

Recent incidents have put some drivers on edge. One of the highest-profile highway killings of this past summer was that of Ceyonne Riley, who was driving on U.S. 90s Pontchartrain Expressway to deliver food for Uber Eats when someone shot her twice. Riley left behind a 6-year-old daughter.

Last year, in the days leading up to Halloween, three people were shot on I-10 in separate cases, with all saying they got relatively good looks at who fired at them  and all saying they had been shot by strangers.

Whatever the reasons for the increase, the mother of Norbert Housey  the man slain on I-10 last month  said she wanted the public to realize there is a real, human cost. And she hopes police and policymakers take whatever steps necessary to cut down on the bloodshed.

That was my baby boy, Charmaine Housey said. And he was taken from me too soon.
The early voting period ends Saturday in New Orleans, and so far voters have turned out early in greater numbers for the 2021 primary than in other recent primaries featuring a similar slate of citywide races.

Nearly 6% of registered voters had cast ballots as of Friday morning with two days left of in-person early voting in advance of the Nov. 13 primary for Mayor, New Orleans City Council, Orleans Parish Sheriff and a host of other offices.

While early votes are down sharply from last year's presidential election, with an average of more than 3,000 voters per day, New Orleans was on pace to surpass comparable primaries in 2017 and 2014 both in terms of both raw numbers and proportion of registered voters.

The difference in 2021 is the increase in mail-in voting. Although in-person early voting is slightly outpacing the 2017 primary, absentee votes are running farther ahead of previous years.

Absentee ballots are up 150% from 2014, the last time a city primary featured an incumbent mayor, and this voting method is becoming much more institutionalized, much more habitual, said University of New Orleans political scientist Ed Chervanak.

UNO poll: Voters racially divided in City Council at-large contest, with many undecided Less than two weeks before the election, nearly 40% of voters have not decided on a candidate for an open at-large seat on the New Orleans Cit

Mayor LaToya Cantrell is at the top of the local ticket. She faces 13 mostly unknown candidates and is widely expected to win reelection. But the strength or weakness of her victory will be seen as a measure of the durability of her support, particularly with her handling of Hurricane Ida fresh on voters minds.

Also up for grabs are all seven City Council seats, along with the offices of sheriff, assessor and criminal district court clerk. Like Cantrell, Division 1 Council-at-Large incumbent Helena Moreno appears poised for reelection against opponent Kenneth Cutno.

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The Division 2 Council-at-Large race, meanwhile, has been heated, with former state Sen. JP Morrell and District C Council member Kristin Gisleson Palmer trading increasingly bitter attacks. Another candidate in that race, District D Council member Jared Brossett, suspended his campaign after his third drunk-driving arrest. Green Party candidate Bart Everson is also in the race.

Another lively race has unfolded in Council District B, with incumbent Jay Banks facing critics Rella Zapletal and Lesli Harris, along with Independent Party-candidate Rosalind Thibodeaux.

The District C seat that Palmer is leaving has attracted seven hopefuls; twice as many are running for Brossetts vacancy in District D. Joseph Giarrusso is running for reelection in District A against two contenders.

Long-time incumbents Marlin Gusman and Erroll Williams are running again for sheriff and assessor, respectively, and three candidates are running to replace Criminal District Clerk Arthur Morrell, who is retiring.

Several amendments to the Louisiana Constitution are also on the ballot, as is the renewal of a sales tax in St. Tammany Parish.

Saturday, Nov. 6 is the last day of early voting in New Orleans. Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at five locations:
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Saturday hailed Congress' passage of his $1 trillion infrastructure package as a "monumental step forward for the nation," after fractious fellow Democrats resolved a months-long standoff in their ranks to seal the deal.

"Finally, infrastructure week," a beaming Biden told reporters. "I'm so happy to say that: infrastructure week."

The House passed the measure 228-206 late Friday, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation, while six of Democrats' farthest left members - including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri - opposed it.

In the Louisiana delegation, the one Democrat, Troy Carter of New Orleans, voted for the bill. The five Republicans voted against it.

Approval of the bill, which promises to create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, sends it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose nervous party got a cold shoulder from voters in this week's off-year elections. Democratic candidates for governor were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks made party leaders - and moderates and liberals alike - impatient to produce major legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. Democrats can ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could result in Republicans regaining congressional control.

The infrastructure package is a historic investment by any measure, one that Biden compares in its breadth to the building of the interstate highway system in the 20th century or the transcontinental railroad in the 19th.

Stephanie Grace: Every Louisiana district would benefit from infrastructure bill. But will GOP members support it? In size and ambition, the $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill that made it through the U.S. Senate last week is dwarfed by a separate $3.

"This is a blue collar blueprint to rebuilding America," he said.

His reference to infrastructure week was a jab at his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, whose White House declared several times that "infrastructure week" had arrived, only for nothing to happen.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger bill until later this month.

+2 Cassidy treads carefully as he weighs in on Port Nola's expansion plans U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy weighed in on the Port of New Orleans' controversial expansion plans on Thursday, voicing concern for the issues raised

That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the sprawling measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates later agreed to back that bill if the budget office's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, stood as a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

"Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st century," Biden said.

The president and his wife, Jill Biden, delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Biden even called her mother in India, though it was unclear why.

"This was not to bribe me. This is when it was all done," Jayapal said. The lawmaker said her mother told her she "just kept screaming like a little girl."

In a two-sentence statement, the five moderates said that if the fiscal estimates on the social and environment bill raise problems, "we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies" to pass it. The five included Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., leader of a group of centrists who this summer repeatedly pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule earlier votes on the infrastructure bill.

In exchange, liberals agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which they'd spent months holding hostage in an effort to press moderates to back the larger bill.

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The day marked a rare detente between Democrats' moderate and progressive wings, and party leaders hope it will continue this fall. The rival factions have spent recent weeks accusing each other of jeopardizing Biden's and the party's success by overplaying their hands and expressed a deep distrust of each other.

But Friday night, Jayapal suggested they would work together moving forward.

"Let me tell you, we're going to trust each other because the Democratic Party is together on this," she said. "We are united that it is important for us to get both bills done."

The agreement came together after the White House issued a statement from Biden explicitly urging Democrats to support both bills. "I am confident that during the week of Nov. 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act," he said.

When party leaders announced early in the day that the social and environment measure would be delayed, the scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over the party.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their top priorities. That's been hard, in part because of Democrats' slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

"Welcome to my world," Pelosi told reporters, adding, "We are not a lockstep party."

Liberals had long demanded that the two huge bills be voted on together to pressure moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure.

Democrats' day turned tumultuous early after a half-dozen moderates demanded the budget office's cost estimate of the sprawling package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives before they would vote for it.

Party leaders said that would take days or more. But with Friday's delayed vote and lawmakers leaving town for a week's break, those budget estimates are likely to be ready by the time a vote is held.

The infrastructure measure cleared the Senate in August with bipartisan support. The package would provide huge sums for highway, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and waste water, power grids and other projects.

As for the social and environment package, House passage would send it to the Senate, where it faces certain changes and more Democratic drama. That's chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measure's costs and curb or drop some of its initiatives.

Moderates have forced leaders to slash the roughly 2,100-page measure to about half its original $3.5 trillion size. Republicans oppose it as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide many people with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. It would provide $555 billion in tax breaks encouraging cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added provisions in recent days to restore a new paid family leave program and work permits for millions of immigrants.

Much of the package's cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Alexandra Jaffe, Mary Clare Jalonick and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
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Harrisburg, Pa.  Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday revealed his wife, First Lady Frances Wolf, dropped his mail ballot off for him, a violation of Pennsylvania election law.

State law currently prohibits, in most cases, anyone other than the voter from returning a mail ballot, an act punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

On the KDKA Radio Morning Show, host Kevin Battle asked Wolf if he visited the polls to vote in person during Tuesdays municipal election.

I didnt show up in person at the polls. We voted a couple weeks ago, actually, Wolf said. My wife actually dropped it off personally two weeks ago, so its there.

Wolf did not say where his wife dropped off his ballot. Elizabeth Rementer, a spokesperson for Wolf, said only it was an honest mistake.

Pennsylvania law does allow voters with disabilities who arent able to return their own ballot to designate someone else to do it for them. A voter can also designate a representative to return an emergency absentee ballot.

But in all other cases, voters have to mail or bring their ballot to an elections office, satellite location, or drop box themselves.

Kyle King  a spokesperson for the district attorney in York County, where Wolf lives  said as a general policy, the office does not comment on the existence of an investigation. He also would not say whether the office had received a complaint about how Wolf voted.

The violation came to light after state Rep. Seth Grove (R., York), who leads the state House committee that considers election issues, pointed the interview out on Twitter.

This is illegal under the election code, Grove tweeted, BUT would have been legal had [Wolf] signed HB 1300.

Wolf in June vetoed HB 1300, a wide-ranging election reform package introduced by Grove. It would have allowed members of the same household to return each others ballots. Inspectors of election from the two major parties would have been required to verify the identity of each person dropping off a ballot and ensure the voter signed and dated it.

The bill would have also implemented stricter voter identification requirements, allowed in-person early voting, and required signature verification of mail ballots. Wolf vetoed the bill, in part, because of the ID rules.

In an interview with The Inquirer, Grove was understanding of the mistake. This happens, he said. No one is an election law expert, right? Average citizens arent.

We wanted to make the change to allow that interaction because we get it: It is convenient for a spouse to drop off your ballot, said Grove, who has reintroduced similar election legislation.

Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA and Jonathan Lai of The Inquirer contributed reporting.

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Williamsport, Pa. A Philadelphia man was captured after a short chase with Detectives from the Lycoming County District Attorneys office.

According to an affidavit, Hafiz Jahleel Durbin, 30, of Philadelphia fled from authorities after an attempted traffic stop. Durbins vehicle had dark window tint along with a brake light out.

As officers attempted to stop the vehicle, Durbin allegedly fled west on West Third Street before he headed north onto Walnut Street. During a portion of the chase, Durbin pulled into a parking lot at UPMC, nearing striking several cars including an undercover police vehicle with detectives inside.

Once out of the parking lot and near High Street and Hepburn Street, Durbin ran from the vehicle with detectives in pursuit, according to the affidavit.

According to a source close to the investigation, Durbin discarded several baggies of heroin as he ran from detectives. The source said two rocks of crack, multiple cellphones, and large amounts of cash were also discovered after Durbin was taken into custody.

A court summary released Tuesday shows Durbin will face charges of felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, third-degree fleeing or attempting to elude officers, and second-degree misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person.

Durbin is being held at the Lycoming County Prison on $85,000 monetary bail and will face Judge Aaron Biichle on Nov. 18 for a preliminary hearing.

Docket sheet
OnePlus is bringing another limited edition product to market, having recently released a Harry Potter-themed smartwatch. The smartphone is likely a Pac-Man branded OnePlus Nord 2, albeit one that may have a Snapdragon 778G SoC instead of the Dimensity 1200 found in the original version.

4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Human 2.0 , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker

Last month, Oxygen Update discovered numerous Pac-Man references in OxygenOS code. Additionally, Max Jambor teased that OnePlus planned to release a Nord 2 Pac-Man edition, having previously sold McLaren-branded smartphones.

While there have been no more leaks since, OnePlus Germany has started teasing the smartphone on social media. Unsurprisingly, the company has led with Pac-Man related teasers, which we have included below. Based on last month's leaks, the OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man edition has a Snapdragon 778G SoC, rather than the Dimensity 1200 with which the regular OnePlus Nord 2 ships.

So far, only OnePlus Germany has mentioned the limited smartphone, of OnePlus' social media channels. However, it seems that OnePlus is sending out teasers to press in other regions, so the device may make it out of Germany.
Samsung is rumored to launch a new version of the Galaxy Tab A8 before the end of 2021. Now, it has allegedly leaked onto Geekbench with specs to match the cost-effective looks of the potential tablet's most up-to-date renders. Should they prove accurate, it seems the slate derives its processing power from an unusual source.

4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Human 2.0 , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker

The famous tipster Evan Blass has posted renders of what might be the (profoundly bezel-ridden) front panel of a new Android tablet to Twitter. As he did so in response to a GSMArena article about the alleged Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 2021 that is slated to appear on the market by the end of the year, as its name suggests.

This putative Galaxy Tab A7 successor is thought to have a ~10-inch display of 1080p in resolution at the least. Now, according to a new Geekbench leak, it might be driven by a processor of what would be an unusual choice for Samsung. The OEM normally goes with silicon from Qualcomm when it does not use its own first-party Exynos chipsets; however, it seems the Tab A8 2021 may stand out with a CPU from Unisoc instead.

Its specs suggest the processor in question might be a Tiger T618 from the emerging chipmaker. It is an octa-core processor with a top clock of 2GHz. It might be paired to 3GB of RAM in the Galaxy Tab A8 2021 (or SM-X20x), which might have SKUs with 4G/LTE (SM-X205) or Wi-Fi-only (SM-X200) connectivity. On the other hand, Samsung has yet to acknowledge any of these rumors with an official announcement.

Buy a Galaxy Tab A 8.0 on Amazon
George Bowers is the Senior Pastor of Antioch Church of the Brethren and has authored sixteen books including Blessings Volume 3 which is a collection of these articles. It is available at Four Star Printing and Shenandoah Stuff. He can be reached through www.georgebowersministries.com or at gabowers@shentel.net.
They're expected to generate $2 billion in private investment, creating up to 7,000 new jobs.

Visions of these projects go all the way back to the 80s. Were finally bringing $1.5 billion dollars worth of projects to northwest Indiana and were just about to put shovels in the ground, Noland said, according to the news release. Its so much fun to change the conversation to not if but when.

William Sheldrake, president of Indianapolis-based Policy Analytics, said the South Shore Line projects should generate a $310 million state sales tax increase and a state income tax increase of $192 million.

Weve seen a lot of great, high aspirations in many of the communities surrounding these developments. These are huge, huge investments," he said, according to the news release. "The encouraging thing about these is that theyre happening now. Not just the rail projects, but the community planning and engineering around them. The communities seem to really be responding well."

Northwest Indiana's economic growth rate has been near zero over the last decade as real income per person has been flat. Jobs have declined 4.4% in Northwest Indiana over the last four years.
CROWN POINT  A judge accepted an East Chicago man's plea to voluntary manslaughter Friday and sentenced him to 17.5 years in prison, but not before grilling attorneys about their negotiations.

Mark J. Halliburton, 38, admitted in a plea agreement filed in September he fatally shot his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Monica J. Mills, 43, as they sat in a car April 11 outside a private school in Hammond.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez told Halliburton he had "half a mind" not to accept the plea agreement after hearing from Mills' daughter.

"The question is how much time is enough when you kill someone," Vasquez said. "You caused a lifetime of pain because of your actions."

Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Tara Villarreal said she spoke with Mills' daughter during a break in the hearing and the daughter agreed to accept Halliburton's plea deal.

"Words can't even explain how unfortunate it is that it got to this point," Villarreal said, referring to the volatile relationship between Mills and Halliburton. "

Mills' daughter ultimately was satisfied with Halliburton's plea because of evidence the state may not have been able to bring in if the case were to go to trial, she said.
CHICAGO  A police dog aided in the arrest of two suspects wanted for a homicide that happened in Calumet City.

At 12:13 a.m. Friday, the Illinois State Police Emergency Response Network broadcasted information about a suspect vehicle that was being sought by Calumet City police.

Calumet City officers initially located the suspect vehicle, which led a pursuit before the vehicle sped out of sight. Calumet City Police Department Chief Kevin Kolosh said the search stems from a homicide that happened at 5:50 p.m. Monday in the 1400 block of Lincoln Place.

Police were called to the area for shots fired and found a 17-year-old male with several gunshot wounds. Officers immediately attempted life-saving measures and the victim was taken to Franciscan Health Hammond where he died from his injuries.

The victim was later identified as Mickael Cook, of Calumet City, according to a report from Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey.

Authorities were able to track the vehicle as it began heading north on I-94 at 130th Street.

An Illinois State Police Air Operations unit that was assisting police in the area updated officers with the vehicle's location.
LANSING  A teen who was fatally shot Halloween weekend has been identified by coroner's staff.

Tramaine Jackson, 17, of Lansing, died at Community Hospital in Munster, according to a report from Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey. He was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m. on Oct. 30.

The Lansing Police Department dispatched officers to the 17500 block of Walter Street at about 9 a.m. Oct. 30, according to police. Someone had phoned in a report of shots fired.

When officers arrived in the area, they found a wounded male with gunshot wounds to the body, said Detective Lt. Scott Bailey with the Lansing Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division.

Lansing paramedics treated and transported him to Munster Community Hospital, where he died. Lansing Police and Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigators recovered evidence from the scene of the fatal shooting.

The Lansing Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the homicide along with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.

Anyone with information about the fatal shooting or what happened is asked to contact the Lansing Police Department at 708-895-7150.
Bob is a U.S. Navy veteran, and Dawn said the truck serves to make sure veterans and their sacrifices aren't forgotten.

"We wouldn't have our freedoms today if it wasn't for the veterans," Dawn said.

Victor Rodriguez is a battalion coordinator for the Hammond Central High School JROTC and attended with about 40 other members from the school.

The high school senior said letting the community know about the group that plans to help families in need with food this Thanksgiving is just one good reason for their participation.

"I believe it shows appreciation to the people that actually took their time and part of their years out of their life to help us," Rodriguez said.

Rocco Carioto directs the Bishop Noll marching band and said it is has been a participant in the parade for years.

"I thought it was very important for the kids to understand the importance of this day and that the reason why they can use Twitter and Instagram and all that stuff is because of what the veterans fought for us for," Carioto said.
Balch used the term plate carrier, which he explained means body armor. He gave a detailed explanation of the differences between full metal jacket bullets and hollow points and talked about ensuring the armed citizens in Kenosha that night worked in pairs to protect each other.

According to testimony, Rosenbaum, 36, was unarmed and did not hurt anyone that night. During the clash with Rittenhouse, Rosenbaum threw a clear plastic hospital bag that he had been given to hold his toiletries.

Rosenbaums fiancee testified that hours before he was killed, she told him not to go to downtown Kenosha because of the unrest.

When he left, he said that he would see me in the morning and he was all excited and I love you. It was a pleasant visit, Swart said.

After getting a call from the medical examiner that Rosenbaum had died, Swart said, she fell to her knees and cried and then found a video online showing him dying: I broke down and I cant get that image out of my head.

In the morning, Swart said, she went to the spot at a car dealership where Rosenbaum lay on the ground after being shot. And I put my hand in it and my hand was wet with his blood," she said. "And thats again when I collapsed on the ground.
Over the past few decades, Sarah, 50, a nurse from Birmingham, England, has grown up alongside the climate justice movement. Ive been fighting for this since I was about 15, she said at a protest outside the U.N.s global climate summit, COP26. And for 30 years, it felt on the periphery. Now its all front and center.

An estimated 25,000 people marched across Glasgow today in the largest protest in the city since the conference started. The protest was led by the international climate movement Fridays for Future, drawing a crowd of youth, Indigenous activists and veteran environmentalists like Sarah, who attended with her 19-year-old daughter.

Seeing the crowd made Sarah really hopeful, even as activists speaking onstage at the protest demanded more from world leaders. Greta Thunberg, whose 2018 climate strike inspired Fridays for Future, described the climate talks in Glasgow as a failure, adding, We cannot solve a crisis by the same methods that got us into it in the first place.

This week, governments and corporations have made pledges to reduce emissions, move away from coal, eliminate deforestation and deliver money to help poor countries adapt. Activists at the protest today dismissed the commitments as part of a two-week-long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah, Greta said. Vanessa Nakate, a 24-year-old Ugandan activist, told the protesters, We need to continue holding leaders accountable for their actions.

The kids have every reason to be frustrated, John Kerry, President Bidens special envoy on climate change, said at the New York Times Climate Hub after the protest. We will get to a low-carbon economy  we will get there. The only issue is, will we get there in time?

Having watched COPs for decades, Sarah said she had to hope change would come out of this much better attended and much better publicized conference. Although in previous COPs, countries might have sent junior members of staff and delegates, she said she was grateful that Biden, Boris Johnson and European heads of state had attended. That wouldnt have happened 10 years ago.

Clare Toeniskoetter, our producer, explains the significance of their attendance. This is the one moment where the Davids and Goliaths are together, face to face, at the same table, Clare said. I think we represented that in the episode, hearing from Biden and Boris, but also the leaders of Fiji and Barbados.
Vintage enthusiasts argue that reclaiming old materials saves a homeowner money and keeps the integrity of a house intact. Design trends come and go, but a 1949 bathroom will still be a 1949 bathroom long after shiplap walls have faded from fashion.

Talk to a homeowner like Ms. Carver, whose garage is full of vintage tiles in various hues, and you soon learn that the itch isnt just about money or nostalgia. Its about the hunt.

A certain thrill is derived from finding that exact shade of Ming green to patch a spot in your 1924 shower stall, or the pink tub thats an ideal mate for a console sink. Sometimes, the fun is in the chase, scoring a find on eBay or at a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or driving hundreds of miles to claim an item before it heads to the junkyard.

Ms. Carvers garage now houses not only the lilac tiles (which she describes as art deco purple), but other vintage materials shes collected, including 500 Ming green tiles, 50 in yellow, about 100 pink ones. Theres also a random assortment of classic sinks, including two purple pedestals from 1928 that she found before she bought her current home but are too large for the 15-square foot powder room.

What will she do with all these materials? Shell probably sell them at some point, since the other two original bathrooms in her 2,400-square-foot house are still in good condition. But does it really matter? Throughout this past summer, friends are gutting their bathrooms and Im like, Just bring the sinks over here. I know someone will need them, said Ms. Carver, who has become a keeper of the bathrooms other people no longer want. My family, not my immediate family, but the rest of my family, think Im crazy, she said. For my parents, they grew up with bathrooms like this. Its not cool to them.

But for those who find few things cooler than some midcentury steel cabinets, no distance is too far to travel. Molly Evans, a nurse anesthetist from Quincy, Ill., was so excited about two sets of cabinets shed found online that she drove them 1,800 miles in a Penske truck from Quincy to her vacation house in Palm Springs, Calif. The ranch-style tract house was built in 1958 and had a kitchen that had been updated sometime in the 1990s, and Ms. Evans wanted to lean into its midcentury bones.

The cross-country drive was a slog. Going through the mountains of Arizona was tedious, said Ms. Evans, 55, who made the trek with a work friend who didnt want her traveling alone for such a distance in such a vehicle. You just keep going. You say, OK, Ive got a vision.
Budget analysts have already assessed the costs of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which got a House vote late Friday and passed. That bill, which moderate Democrats supported, is estimated to increase the deficit by $256 billion over the next decade.

At the time, both Senate Democrats and Republicans were quick to point to other estimates and data points that provided alternate summaries of how the bill was paid for. (Theyre kind of crazy anyway, right? Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, said of C.B.O. estimates.)

The demand for a score on the social spending bill caused Democrats to delay the planned Friday vote on both measures. Because Republicans are unanimously opposed to the bill, Democrats can afford to lose only three votes in the House. And Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a key centrist in the evenly divided Senate, has said he will not vote for the bill if it does not pass certain fiscal tests.

As frustrations spilled over, some Democrats warned that it was a sign that their broader agenda was in jeopardy.

Its obvious where this is headed, grumbled Mike Casca, a spokesman for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the chairman of the Budget Committee, on Twitter. House mods are going to use the C.B.O. score  no matter what it says  to vote against the B.B.B.

The Build Back Better measure presents particular challenges. In addition to its sheer magnitude and ever-changing details, it aims to establish several brand-new federal programs, such as paid leave and child care subsidies. The office has less experience to draw upon when considering such policies than it does in assessing more familiar changes to the funding formulas for existing programs.

The constant negotiations can make that process even more difficult. In addition to its public, official scores, the office provides confidential advice to committees and leadership in Congress. In recent months, its analysts have been focused on assessing many different versions of policies. Those requests have been numerous and time-consuming for the offices economists.
WASHINGTON  Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official involved in former President Donald J. Trumps frenzied efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, refused to cooperate on Friday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, leading to a sharp rebuke from the committees chairman.

The standoff between Mr. Clark and the committee is the second such confrontation since Congress began investigating the circumstances surrounding the Capitol violence, seeking information on Mr. Trumps attempts to subvert the election. The House has already voted to find one Trump ally, Stephen K. Bannon, in criminal contempt of Congress for stonewalling the inquiry.

Mr. Clarks complete failure to cooperate today is unacceptable, said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee. As prescribed by the House rules, I have considered Mr. Clarks claim of privilege and rejected it. He has a very short time to reconsider and cooperate fully. We need the information that he is withholding, and we are willing to take strong measures to hold him accountable.

Mr. Clark appeared before the committee on Friday but delivered a letter saying he would not answer substantive questions. He cited attorney-client privilege protecting his conversations with Mr. Trump.
By any normal standard, this should have been the end of the case. After all, what was left to litigate? But it wasnt the end  not even close. In 2018, after Judge Kaplans judgment had finally been affirmed, the company brought another case against Mr. Donziger. Among other things, it wanted him to turn over his computer and other electronic devices. Judge Kaplan agreed. But Mr. Donziger refused to comply, saying it would give the oil company backdoor access to confidential attorney-client communications.

In 2019, the judge took the extraordinary measure of bringing in a private law firm to prosecute Mr. Donziger for criminal contempt of court. This case was presided over by another district court judge, Loretta A. Preska, who quickly ordered that he be placed under house arrest and wear an electronic ankle monitor. After a short trial earlier this year, she found Mr. Donziger guilty, and sentenced him to the six months he is now serving. He was also disbarred.

Along the way, something surprising has happened: Outside the courtroom, it was as if the ghostwritten report and the alleged bribe of the Ecuadorean judge had never happened. Mr. Donzigers victory in Ecuador was praised as legitimate, and he was widely viewed by progressives as an environmental hero. Sting, the musician, helped raise money for his defense. Greta Thunberg offered her support. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and several of her Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking him to review the case. The Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson rallied to his cause. Campaigns have been started to #FREEDONZIGER. A group of experts from the United Nations said in a report that his pretrial detention was arbitrary and therefore illegal. And on, and on. To them, this was a classic example of a fossil fuel company using its might to punish someone brave enough to stand up to it.

This phenomenon of seeing controversial figures as black or white  saint or sinner, hero or villain  is one of the plagues of our polarized age. It has become nearly impossible for people to acknowledge that sometimes their heroes can do something wrong, and their foes can get something right. Donald Trump is the most obvious example of this, but you see it all the time in politics, and in business as well. Are C.E.O.s rapacious greed-heads, or are they stewards of capitalism? Are oil companies supplying the fuel that the world needs to function, or are they outlaws, as the environmental activist Bill McKibben calls them? Too many people are unwilling to hold both ideas in their heads at once.

This failing is especially glaring in the Donziger case. If he had played by the rules in litigating the case in Ecuador, he might have come away with a judgment that a U.S. court would have upheld. Chevron would have had to pay billions to his impoverished clients. To put it another way, by using the tactics he did, Mr. Donziger did his clients an enormous disservice. That his allies refuse to see this suggests their hatred of Big Oil has blinded them to some of Mr. Donzigers inconvenient actions.

But then there is Chevron. Companies are supposed to make rational risk and reward calculations. The companys push to prevent the Ecuadorean judgment from going into effect was rational, and showing that Mr. Donziger had violated the rules was an appropriate way to do that. But punishing Mr. Donziger beyond that may ultimately have been a mistake. He has been turned into an environmental martyr, which is the last thing Chevron should want. Hes no longer the lawyer who broke the rules to win a case. Instead, hes the lawyer who stood up to Big Oil.
When the commission reviewed the Winthrop Center project in mid-September, when it was roughly halfway done, only 32 percent of the hours worked had gone to people of color. Other downtown projects have similar shortfalls. In September, even a project to renovate City Hall  the building where the targets were written and the Employment Commission meets  was shy of the mark.

We should be going higher, Mr. Watson said. This is a floor.

Boston is one of the nations most solidly Democratic cities. It just elected Michelle Wu, an outspoken progressive, as mayor by a resounding margin. She campaigned heavily on a promise to expand opportunities for minority businesses and to empower workers and communities of color with the sort of policy proposals that led to the creation of the Employment Commission  proposals aimed at ensuring that lucrative opportunities are fairly distributed. But the projects underway in Boston show how much harder it is to deliver on goals of racial equity than to set them.

In Boston and beyond, building is one of the last American industries offering good jobs to workers without a college degree. The prospect of trillions of dollars of new federal funding for infrastructure projects under Mr. Bidens Build Back Better program is raising hopes that roads, bridges, railways, wind farms, electric grids and water mains could provide millions of good construction jobs for a generation or more.

The shortcomings of Boston and Massachusetts in meeting minority hiring requirements in construction have been reported by GBH News and other news organizations. What infuriates Mr. Watson is that, as he views it, unions for the building trades are the main impediment keeping people of color from building sites. He recalls one of his appearances before Bostons City Council: A councilor got up to say this is a union city, he said. For me, he was saying this is a white city, a city for white workers.

This tension has opened an uncomfortable rift between elements of the nations traditional Democratic coalition. Prominent advocates of racial equity push for Black and Hispanic contractors, whose operations are often small and nonunion but hire a lot of workers of color.
I never expected this sort of Columbus crusade, said Bricia Lopez, a Oaxaca native whose Los Angeles restaurant, Guelaguetza, stocks more than 100 mezcals.

Ms. Lopez cringes at hobbyists or investors who talk about discovering the spirit. She said she liked the way El Silencio, owned by two Mexican citizens, was growing: sustainably and in a way that aimed to create wealth for the region.

You cannot buy tradition, and thats what people who are getting into the mezcal business today are trying to do, she said. Theyre trying to position themselves next to someone who looks like an Indigenous person, take a picture and be like, Im authentic, too.

Ms. Lopez added, They start these brands, and they think theyre coming up with a story thats unique to them, but its the same freaking story: Im a white guy who went to Oaxaca and, like, I fell in love with the people.

You can see why they would try, given the case of Mr. Clooney. In 2017, Casamigos, the tequila brand he co-founded, was acquired by the beverage company Diageo for an estimated $1 billion. That sale prompted this whole rush of people to get into the industry, said Susan Coss, the co-founder of the website Mezcalistas. Like, Look, theres so much money to be made. But its difficult to build a mezcal brand.

The most common species of agave takes seven years to mature. Mezcal is traditionally produced in small batches, the smoked agave mashed to a pulp by a donkey and distilled in copper stills. According to one report, tequila had global revenues of $9.4 billion in 2020. Mezcals revenues: about 4 percent of that. While tequila is technically a type of mezcal, Jalisco, the state that produces the majority of the worlds tequila, has infrastructure that Oaxaca cant yet match.

The biggest brand of mezcal is not even at 100,000 cases, said Harry Kohlmann, the chief executive of Park Street Companies, which helps fledgling spirits brands expand. But you have to think about 10 years from now, he said. There are going to be several brands who are over 100,000 cases. One will be over one million cases.
GLASGOW  The week began with more than 130 presidents and prime ministers posing for a group photo in a century-old Baroque museum crafted from red sandstone. Fewer than 10 were women. Their median age, as their host at the climate summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reminded them, was over 60.

The week ended with boisterous protests of thousands on the streets of Glasgow. A march on Friday was led by young climate activists, some barely old enough to vote in their countries. They accused the world leaders of wasting what little time remains to safeguard their future.

These bookends to the first week of this watershed international climate summit in Scotland reveal a widening divide that threatens to grow larger in the weeks and months ahead.

Those with the power to make decisions about how much the world warms in the coming decades are mostly old and male. Those who are angriest about the pace of climate action are mostly young and female.
The death of Eric Garner has reverberated with unanswered questions and fresh developments over the seven years since a New York police officer placed him in a banned chokehold.

But on Friday, the case reached what is expected to be its final major milestone as the judicial inquiry into the 2014 killing of Mr. Garner concluded after two weeks.

The process  ordered under a rarely used provision of the City Charter  was not intended to discipline the officers involved in Mr. Garners death. Rather, it was intended to fill in lingering gaps in the public record regarding the killing of Mr. Garner, a 43-year-old from Staten Island, and the multiple investigations that followed.

Even with the hearing now over, Mr. Garners case is unlikely to fade from public view. His killing became emblematic of the tensions between Mayor Bill de Blasio and some members of the public over police issues. And his final pleas of I cant breathe are still chanted by protesters of police violence nationwide.
Theres also some truth in what Representative Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Virginia Democrat in a tough re-election battle, told The Timess Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns about the president: Nobody elected him to be F.D.R., they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos.

Biden has pursued his two bills with Captain Ahab-like zeal; he pines to be F.D.R. and eclipse Barack Obama, who pushed him aside for Hillary.

Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hail the bills as transformational. But what are you transforming into? The election cratering showed that such overweening efforts are putting off many voters who are still struggling just to get by, as they move beyond the degradation wrought by Trump and Covid.

While the Democrats wallow in a family food fight, Americans are still stressed and exhausted from the whole Covid ordeal, confronting high gas prices and stymied from getting the appliances and Christmas toys they want.

I used to advise mayors, you can be as visionary as you want, but just make sure you take the garbage out and fill the potholes, said David Axelrod, who oversaw messaging for Barack Obama.

Republicans have not lost their talent for coming up with boogeymen to scare white voters, and thanks to a dumb comment by Terry McAuliffe in a debate, they have succeeded in turning parents rights in schools into a wedge issue.

Some in the G.O.P. see Glenn Youngkin as a template for moving beyond Trump. The members of my family who voted for Trump are eager to see their party move back to a more palatable and recognizable form of conservatism.
Star systems come in all shapes and sizes. Some have lots of planets, some have larger planets and others have no planets at all. But a particularly unusual system about 150 light-years from our own has scientists scratching their heads.

In 2016, astronomers discovered two planets orbiting the star HD 3167. They were thought to be super-Earths  between Earth and Neptune in size  and circled the star every one and 30 days. A third planet was found in the system in 2017, orbiting in about eight days.

Whats unusual is the inclinations of the outer two planets, HD 3167 c and d. Whereas in our solar system all the planets orbit in the same flat plane around the sun, these two are in polar orbits. That is, they go above and below their stars poles, rather than around the equator as Earth and the other planets in our system do.

Now scientists have discovered the system is even weirder than they thought. Researchers measured the orbit of the innermost planet, HD 3167 b, for the first time  and it doesnt match the other two. It instead orbits in the stars flat plane, like planets in our solar system, and perpendicular to HD 3167 c and d. This star system is the first one known to act like this.
A nasty cold hit New York City and much of the country this summer.

It arrived just when life seemed good again. Or at least when life seemed like it maybe could become good again. It was that halcyon window of summer  after vaccine second doses but before breakthrough and Delta variant had fully entered the lexicon.

Remember? When gathering on streets and in warehouses and at bars seemed like it was permissible, maybe even emotionally healthy? When, as this publication put it, New York Felt Alive Again? Oh, how young we were 20 weeks ago.

Vaccine optimism led to celebrations; celebrations led to gatherings; and gatherings led to a bunch of us getting summer colds (not to be confused with what later was identified as the Delta variant surge in the United States).

Of course, nobody likes to get a cold.

Well, actually, thats not entirely true: I did come across some online forums devoted to coughing and sneezing filled with people who seem to like cold symptoms. Like, they really like them.
He worked stocking shelves at Walmart and Piggly Wiggly. He loved cars, but he allowed more than eight years of traffic tickets for infractions like driving without a seatbelt spiral into a crisis, including a suspended drivers license, a misdemeanor for not showing up in court, thousands of dollars in fines and potential jail time, according to court records.

Mr. Mifflin stole $265 from the Piggly Wiggly when he was 26, about the same time he lost his job there, records show. And Walmart later terminated him.

On that fateful Sunday in May 2017, he drove from Columbus to Phenix City to pick up a friend at the Frederick Douglass Homes, a public-housing complex with mostly Black residents.

The officers decision to pull him over appeared to be a pretextual stop, when the police stop drivers  often people of color  for an infraction and then look for a more serious offense, two policing experts said.

The officers seemed to be looking for a reason to stop him because they felt that he was up to no good  he plays loud music, he doesnt have a seatbelt, said Michael Gennaco, a former federal prosecutor who works with police departments to improve accountability and reviewed the case for The Times.

Why did Mr. Mifflin drive off? Maybe because of the suspended license. Maybe because of a story his stepbrother liked to tell: Mr. Grier had been a passenger in a car pulled over after the driver initially didnt obey commands to stop. The Phenix City officers had aimed their weapons at him and dragged him out of the vehicle and across a parking lot.

Whatever the reason, instead of complying, Mr. Mifflin sped across a busy road. The police chased him. At that point, he was just four minutes from the Georgia line. He only needed to make it to the corner near Eds barbecue, take a couple of turns and cross a bridge.
Mr. Maynes and Mr. Mickol said the F.B.I. agents were at the apartment for several hours.

In his video statement on Friday, Mr. OKeefe offered a lengthy defense of his groups handling of the diary, saying that he and his colleagues had been operating as ethical journalists, had turned the diary over to the law enforcement authorities last year and had sought to return it to a lawyer for Ms. Biden.

It appears the Southern District of New York now has journalists in their sights for the supposed crime of doing their jobs lawfully and honestly, Mr. OKeefe said in the video statement. Our efforts were the stuff of responsible, ethical journalism and we are in no doubt that Project Veritas acted properly at each and every step.

Project Veritas did not publish Ms. Bidens diary, but dozens of handwritten pages from it were posted on a right-wing website last year a week and a half before Election Day, at a time when President Donald J. Trump was seeking to undermine Mr. Bidens credibility by portraying his son Hunter as engaging in corrupt business dealings. The posting was largely ignored by other conservative outlets and the mainstream media.

The website said it had obtained the diary from a whistle-blower who worked for a media organization that refused to publish a story about it before the election. It claimed to know where the actual diary was located and that the whistle-blower had an audio recording of Ms. Biden admitting it was hers.

Ms. Biden, 40, is Mr. Bidens youngest child. She has maintained a low profile and attracted far less attention than Hunter Biden, her half brother.

The Trump administrations Justice Department, then led by Attorney General William P. Barr, opened an investigation into the matter shortly after a representative of the Biden family reported to federal authorities in October 2020 that several of Ms. Bidens personal items had been stolen in a burglary, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. OKeefe said in the video that tipsters had reached out to Project Veritas in 2020 to alert them to the existence of the diary, saying that they had stayed in a room that Ms. Biden had recently been in. But Mr. OKeefe said that his group could not authenticate the diary and made an ethical decision to not publish it.
In his final efforts to assemble votes for the infrastructure bill, he had asked skeptical members of his party on Friday to trust that he had cut quiet deals that would assure passage of some form of the social policy bill the week of Nov. 15. That is when Congress is scheduled to be back from a weeklong recess.

Asked on Saturday whether he had gotten assurances from moderates in the party that they would also vote for the sprawling social policy bill  with its funding for universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, paid family leave, child-care tax credits and extensive climate change programs  Mr. Biden refused to give details.

Im not going to get into who made what commitments to me  I dont negotiate in public. But I feel confident.

To win over votes later this month, Mr. Biden added some elements intended to appeal to Democrats in parts of the East Coast and California  including wealthier taxpayers. Changes enacted during the Trump administration made it impossible for taxpayers in those states to deduct from their federal taxable income more than $10,000 paid in state and local taxes. The new deduction, at least as the legislation stands now, would raise that limit to $80,000.

Before the House will take that up, however, moderates are demanding an independent assessment of the bills true cost. That will take until at least the middle of the month  and may well decide its fate, or whether it would be even further scaled back.

Once the Build Back Better act is passed  or not  there is a third element of Mr. Bidens economic revival effort that he has spoken about rarely in recent months  but is perhaps the most radical in its vision of how the government invests in future technology. It is the so-called China bill, essentially a package of industrial-policy investments, including more than $50 billion in the semiconductor industry, research in quantum computing and artificial intelligence, and a series of other technologies that essentially mirror Beijings Made in China 2025 initiative.

But when asked about the bill on Saturday during a speech that had turned into a lengthy news conference, Mr. Biden declined to say when it would come up in the House. It has already passed the Senate by a strong bipartisan majority, a testament to how competing with Chinas military and technological investments is one of the few issues that brings Republicans and Democrats together. But the bills focus on technology does not give it the same political appeal, for Mr. Biden or members of the House, that rebuilding bridges and roads holds.
[Follow our live coverage of President Biden signing the infrastructure bill.]

WASHINGTON  Infrastructure funding has traditionally been a broadly bipartisan issue on Capitol Hill, but on Friday night President Bidens sweeping infrastructure bill passed mostly along party lines.

Only 19 members of Congress broke with their parties on the bill, which passed 228 to 206 with Democrats largely supporting the legislation and Republicans mostly opposed.

So who were those 19 lawmakers  13 Republicans and six Democrats  who bucked their parties? They can be broken down roughly into three camps: Republicans who consulted with negotiators on the bill; Republicans who maintain the partys traditional view that funding infrastructure is more important than fighting a president of a different party; and members of the liberal group known as the Squad.

The Squad

Six Democrats who are part of the progressive group known as The Squad  Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan  voted against Mr. Bidens plan to spend $550 billion in new funds over 10 years to shore up roads, bridges and highways, improve internet access and modernize the nations power grid.
Each and every one of my votes here in D.C. has been in the interest of saving lives, Representative Cori Bush, an activist-minded freshman from St. Louis, proclaimed of her dissent. And tonight was no different.

Two squeamish centrists, Representatives Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Jared Golden of Maine, withheld their signatures from a key statement that secured enough liberal votes for the infrastructure bill. That statement, using Mr. Bidens name for the social welfare and climate bill, declared, We commit to voting for the Build Back Better Act, in its current form other than technical changes, as soon as the signers obtain an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office consistent with White House figures showing that the measure is fully paid for. With those two signatures withheld, it appears Ms. Pelosi can afford only one or two more defections to save the sprawling bill from defeat.

On the other side of the aisle, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia sicced her social media followers on the Republicans who dared vote for spending vast sums of money, some of it for projects in their districts: These are the 13 Republicans who handed over their voting cards to Nancy Pelosi to pass Joe Bidens Communist takeover of America via so-called infrastructure, she wrote on Twitter before listing their names and office phone numbers.

Although 19 Republican senators, including their leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, had voted for the bill in August, Republican leaders in the House pressed their members to oppose the measure, to further the image of a rudderless Democratic majority. And the vast majority of House Republicans did just that, hoping to deny Mr. Biden and Democrats a victory ahead of next years midterms  even though the legislation would bring big projects and jobs to many of their states and districts.

Ms. Pelosis mobilizing of the Black Caucus was deft. House leaders figured the liberals of the Progressive Caucus would be more receptive to African American members than them  even though most of the group of Black members who carried the compromise forward were also members of leadership or Ms. Pelosis lieutenants.

The C.B.C. wants to land the plane because the C.B.C. represents communities that have the most to gain, said Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic Caucus chairman who was also part of the Black caucus group that brokered the compromise. Its no more complicated than that.
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  A Navy captain who as head of a jury in a war-crimes court wrote a damning letter calling the C.I.A.s torture of a terrorist a stain on the moral fiber of America said his views are typical of senior members of the U.S. military.

Capt. Scott B. Curtis, the jury foreman, said it is just that he had the opportunity to express his thoughts in a letter proposing clemency for the prisoner Majid Khan, a Qaeda recruit who pleaded guilty to terrorism and murder charges for delivering $50,000 from his native Pakistan to finance a deadly bombing in Indonesia.

But before he started writing, the eight-officer jury sentenced Mr. Khan to 26 years in prison.

There was no sympathy for him or what he had done, said Captain Curtis, who agreed to reveal his identity in an hourlong interview last week. The crime itself, everyone thought that was an evil act and he should be accountable for that. It was the torture that was a mitigating factor.

On the eve of his sentencing on Oct. 29, Mr. Khan, 41, offered a graphic account of his physical, sexual and psychological abuse by C.I.A. agents and operatives inflicted on him in dungeonlike conditions in black-site prisons in Pakistan, Afghanistan and a third country. He described how he went from graduating from a suburban Baltimore high school in 1999 to becoming a courier and would-be suicide bomber for Al Qaeda to, since 2012, a repentant cooperator with the U.S. government.
RINCON, P.R.  The turtle, presumably, had no way of knowing it would become a symbol of protest when it got stuck for hours in a construction site on a beach in western Puerto Rico, unable to return to the sea.

But the endangered hawksbill had wandered onto the site of a swimming pool being built so close to the oceans edge that a swimmer could practically step from the pool into the waves. A photo of the struggling turtle, its front flippers digging out of the sand, turned this summer into a symbol of defiance for Puerto Ricans alarmed at what is happening to their beloved coast.

Erosion and overdevelopment threaten Puerto Ricos beautiful beaches. On an island that has struggled with bankruptcy, crumbling infrastructure and the emigration of a substantial part of its population, the pristine sand and abundant wildlife that have made Puerto Ricos beaches famous around the world are both a point of pride and an important tourism draw.
HOUSTON  Panic and then desperation spread through the crowd of 50,000 mostly young people just as the popular hometown rapper they had come to see, Travis Scott, took the stage Friday night. It came like a wave, an unstoppable movement of bodies that could not be held back.

Some collapsed. Others fought for air. Concertgoers lifted up the unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and surfed them over the top of the crowd, hoping to send them to safety. Others shouted out for help with CPR and pleaded for the concert to stop.

It kept going.

In the end, eight people died, ranging in age from 14 to 27, according to city officials. Hundreds more were treated for injuries at a field hospital at the concert venue, the NRG Park in Houston, or at local hospitals. Among those treated at a hospital was a 10-year-old child.

By Saturday, officials in Houston were at a loss to explain how the concert, part of the two-day Astroworld music festival organized by Live Nation and Mr. Scott, had transformed in an instant from a celebration to a struggle for life. So too were those who had been at the outdoor concert, who described a thrust of the crowd that would not let up as Mr. Scott took the stage around 9 p.m.
Mr. Bah, who is the communications director of Sierra Leones National Disaster Management Agency, said that one house and the tires of the sand truck were still burning, and that his agency and others were trying to clear the area.

In one video of the aftermath, a man walked gingerly away from the site of the explosion, a few rags  all that was left of his clothes  hanging from his badly burned skin. He appeared to have been among those who tried to collect fuel.

Satan called me. Let us pray. There is no other god but Allah. Let us pray, he repeated to himself as he walked.

In another video circulated on WhatsApp, survivors of the explosion lay on the floor, tried to sit up, or moved about groaning in a room of Freetowns King Harman Road Satellite Hospital. Staff members tended to them and handed out sachets of drinking water.

The explosion also set fire to a nearby gas station, Mr. Bah said.

A student who lives nearby said he had heard the blast and felt its felt its heat in his home, and then rushed to the scene.

We removed our shirts and wrapped our hands to lift bodies from the burning scene and took them to a safe place, said the student, Abdul Waheed Kamara, 26.  I personally rescued 16 people, the last of them was a woman. Me and another man helped her to a safe area. She was still alive but badly burnt.

He said he had counted more than 100 bodies, and that the fire service had arrived about 30 minutes after the explosion. There were no soldiers there, and police officers were standing well back from the fire, he said.
A federal appeals panel on Saturday temporarily blocked a new coronavirus vaccine mandate for large businesses, in a sign that the Biden administration may face an uphill battle in its biggest effort yet to combat the virus among the American work force.

The stay, issued by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana, doesnt have an immediate impact. The first major deadline in the new rule is Dec. 5, when companies with at least 100 employees must require unvaccinated employees to wear masks indoors. Businesses have until Jan. 4 to mandate Covid vaccinations or start weekly testing of their workers.

But Saturdays move provided momentum for a wide coalition of opponents of the rule, who have argued that it is unconstitutional. A group of businesses, religious groups, advocacy organizations and several states, including Louisiana and Texas, had filed a petition on Friday with the court, arguing that the administration had overstepped its authority.

It was unclear whether the stay would be a procedural blip for the Biden administration or the first step in the unwinding of the mandate.
Since a surge of cases in September, when Costa Rican officials recorded 17,667 cases in one week, weekly cases have dropped steadily, reaching 3,411 last week, according to government data. Officials reported 291 new hospitalizations last week, a decrease of 21 percent from the week prior.

This is not the first time Costa Rica has required a large number of its residents to get vaccinated. In February, health care workers were ordered to get shots. Two months ago, Costa Rica mandated them for all public sector workers. It has also empowered private companies to require their employees to get vaccinated.

Starting Jan. 8, the country will require proof of vaccination to enter places like hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, museums and gyms, according to President Carlos Alvarado Quesadas office. Currently, those establishments can either operate at 50 percent capacity without a vaccination requirement for customers, or operate at full capacity with one.

Costa Rica, whose economy relies on tourism, has opened its borders to visitors regardless of vaccination status, according to the governments official tourism website. Unvaccinated tourists must purchase insurance that covers medical expenses and lodging expenses for quarantine in case of a coronavirus infection.

The health ministry said Covid vaccines were joining a list of other shots that were already mandatory for children in Costa Rica, including vaccines against chickenpox, polio and the human papillomavirus.
Calls for tolerance in the region are increasingly needed.

In Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority country, the government has been taking a tougher stance toward the Tamil, a largely Hindu minority whose grievances led to a three-decade civil war, and toward its small Muslim population. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently appointed a hard-line Buddhist monk to lead an overhaul of the legal system, though he has been accused of stirring hatred against Muslims and jailed for intimidating the wife of a journalist who had disappeared. The panel overseeing the overhaul effort includes Muslim scholars but has no Tamil representation.

In majority-Muslim Pakistan, where the ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch have long been marginalized, increasing Islamist extremism has resulted in vigilante action against the Hindu minority, who make up just 2 percent of the population. They have faced repeated episodes of violence, vandalism of their temples, occupation of their land and an increase in forced conversion of minority girls, according to Pakistans human rights commission. Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken out against the abuses, but to little effect.

Communal violence in one country often becomes fodder for the narrow nationalism of the other. Mr. Khan has blamed Mr. Modi for unleashing a reign of fear and violence against Indias 200 million-strong Muslim community. Mr. Modis supporters frequently splash videos of the anti-Hindu violence in Pakistan and elsewhere in the region as justification for policies seen as discriminating against Muslims.

But such violence and the abuse of minorities is nothing new in South Asia, a region of deep ethnic and religious fault lines that is home to a quarter of the worlds population.

The traumatic partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, and the later war-driven split of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, left sizable ethnic and religious minorities in each country. The domestic policies of one nation inevitably affect the population of another.
Many of the one million or so Uyghurs estimated to be living outside of China cannot freely communicate with relatives back home. In recent years, the Chinese government has stepped up surveillance and targeted people with overseas connections for punishment. Even now, many diaspora Uyghurs do not know how their relatives are doing, whether they are in an internment camp or a prison or even if they are alive or dead.

Mirzat Taher was sent to an internment camp in 2017 for having briefly worked as a guide for Chinese tourists in Turkey, said his wife, Mehray Mezensof. She said she contemplated trying to raise awareness about her husbands plight a million times.

But Ms. Mezensof, 27, an Australian citizen, had heard the stories of other overseas Uyghur activists whose relatives had been detained or imprisoned, sometimes for decades or longer. In some cases, Uyghurs who spoke out had reported receiving messages from relatives, or even the Chinese authorities directly, telling them to stop their activism or to return home.

So she stayed quiet  until one day, when she heard through a contact that her husband had been formally arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of separatism. Since then, Ms. Mezensof has given multiple press interviews, met with Australian politicians and petitioned the Chinese government to release her husband.

As much as it scared me, I thought I have to do this because if I dont, theres no one else left to speak up for my husband except for me, Ms. Mezensof said in a telephone interview from Melbourne, where she now lives with her parents. She said her hair had started falling out from the stress and shed lost interest in food. Additionally, the constant anxiety had made it impossible to continue her work as a nurse.

Im having a really difficult time processing everything and coping with all of the emotions and all of the uncertainty, she said. And on top of all that, obviously Im missing my husband and wanting to be with him and live a normal life but then I think, Will I ever even be able to have that again?
Austria is tightening the rules of a national vaccine pass program starting Monday as it attempts to stem a coronavirus surge that has brought cases to levels unseen in almost a year.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced the changes Friday night, telling reporters after a meeting with state governors: It is simply our responsibility to protect the people of our country.

Austrians will need proof of vaccination or a past infection to be seated at a restaurant, enter a bar, visit a hairdresser or join any gathering of more than 25 people. Up until now, documentation of a negative test was also accepted.

The new federal rules match ones that the capital, Vienna, had planned to introduce a few days later, when it will also begin offering the Pfizer vaccine for children of ages 5 to 11, pre-empting a decision by the European medical regulator.
But despite the poor weather there was an uplifting mood for the most part at Saturdays march, which was the culmination of smaller protests that took place during the week around the city. They included a substantial youth-led demonstration on Friday organized by the group Fridays for Future, an international movement that grew out of Greta Thunbergs solo school strike in 2018. She addressed the crowd on Friday and described COP26 as a failure.

The first week of the climate summit saw new pledges to tackle deforestation and to move away from coal. At least 105 countries signed an agreement to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by 30 percent this decade. Major financial institutions said they would mobilize trillions of dollars to help shift the global economy toward cleaner energy.

Still, experts say that, to avert the worst effects of climate change, temperature rise needs to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, between preindustrial times and the end of this century. And that goal is not within reach even if all countries fulfill their current pledges.

Like many environmental groups, protesters in Glasgow were skeptical of pledges, doubting that such promises would be delivered and arguing that, in any case, they did not go far enough to solve an urgent global problem.

There are going to be communities on the Scottish coast that will be cut off. It is real, said Ms. Bryden, the upholsterer. I cant look my grandson in the eye. I am sorry about what he is going to have to put up with in the future.
05/11/2021 - The OECD and the Government of Viet Nam today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen co-operation over the next five years.





The MoU, the Organisations first with Viet Nam, will frame future co-operation and pave the way for an eventual OECD Country Programme with Viet Nam. It was signed in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and Viet Nam Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in the presence of Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Viet Nam.





The MoU aims to support Viet Nams reform efforts in areas where it is already working with the OECD, such as competition, investment, and tax policy. It will also support country-specific reports like the first OECD Economic Survey of Viet Nam, due in 2022, and can support the follow up of the OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Policy Review of Viet Nam, published earlier today.





The Review finds that Viet Nam has been successful in facilitating high levels of investment in clean energy in recent years. The rapid growth of the solar market, however, has resulted in challenges with integrating variable renewable generation into the grid and changes to renewable procurement mechanisms are emerging sources of investor uncertainty. Adapting standardised contracts to minimise investor risk perceptions would support greater flows of capital and reduce the cost of financing clean energy infrastructure. The Review also outlines recommendations to help Viet Nam mobilise finance and investment to turn the energy sector carbon neutral, a prerequisite to reach its pledge of net zero emissions by 2050, made at COP26 this month.





The clean energy sector will play a crucial role in making Viet Nams recovery sustainable and helping it to achieve its industrial targets, Mr Cormann said of the Review. Effective clean energy policies are increasingly a source of comparative advantage to attract foreign direct investment, particularly in the manufacturing sector, as international companies seek to make their supply chains carbon neutral.





Viet Nam currently participates as a Bureau member of the OECDs Southeast Asia Regional Programme, and hosted the 2016 OECD Southeast Asia Regional Forum in Hanoi.

Note to Editors:





The OECD is an international organisation that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people worldwide. Working with member and partner countries, it provides a forum where governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to economic, social and governance challenges.





The OECDs 38 members are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.





The OECD engages with Viet Nam through country specific projects and the Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP). This engagement takes various forms such as participation in OECD Bodies, country-specific policy reviews, integration of relevant data series in OECD databases, benchmarking exercises, and adherence to OECD instruments.





Over the years, Viet Nam and the OECD have cooperated on a number of country-specific reports and publications including the Multi-dimensional Review of Viet Nam in 2020 and the SME and Entrepreneurship Policy in Viet Nam in early 2021. The former provided inputs to the Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025. In 2018, the OECD published an Investment Policy Review, an Urban Policy Review, and a Peer Review of Competition Law and Policy in Vietnam. In 2015, OECD published the Agriculture Policy Review of Viet Nam and the Science, Technology and Innovation in Viet Nam.

Read more about OECD work with Viet Nam

For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 80 97).

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to preserve individual liberty and improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world

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Paul Dean Hicks, 84, passed away on November 6, 2021, in Las Vegas, NV. Dean was born on August 10, 1937, in Rutledge, MO, first son of Clarence Hicks and Madeline (Ewing) Hicks. Dean graduated from Memphis High School, Memphis, MO in 1956. He married Carol Joan Blackwell (deceased February 
MANISTEE  The Manistee County Community Foundation has opened their Youth Advisory Council membership application for eligible Manistee County high school students.

The primary role of YAC members is to recommend grants from the Manistee County Community Foundations Youth Endowment Fund in order to address the needs and opportunities of Manistee County youth. YAC members provide leadership, learn about philanthropy and actively serve their community.

Each year the YAC works to recruit members with diverse perspectives who are positive representatives of their school and community. This year the YAC is seeking members from the following grades and schools:

 Bear Lake High School - freshman, sophomore and junior representatives;

 Brethren High School - freshman, sophomore, junior and senior representatives;

 CASMAN Academy - freshman, sophomore, junior and senior representatives;

 Manistee Catholic Central School - freshman and sophmore representatives;

 Manistee High School - freshman, sophomore and junior; and

 Onekama High School  freshman and sophomore representatives.

Manistee Great Lakes Virtual Academy and homeschooled high school students who are Manistee County residents are also

eligible to apply.

Interested students are encouraged to contact their school principals or guidance counselors for more information and to be connected with a current YAC member who can share more about their experience.

The application deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 10. It is anticipated that selected applicants will be notified by Friday, Nov. 19. Students may learn more about the YAC and apply online using the YAC Membership Application on the Manistee County

Community Foundations website at manisteefoundation.org.

For questions about the YAC and/or the application process, please contact the Manistee County Community Foundation program officer, Hannah Rodriguez, at hannah@manisteefoundation.org or by calling 231-723-7269.
House Bill 5097, Ban "Critical Race Theory" curriculum in public schools: Passed 55 to 0 in the House

To prohibit public schools from teaching "critical race theory." Specifically, the bill prohibits instructing children that because of their race or gender individuals comprising a racial or ethnic group or gender all act in certain ways, hold certain opinions, are born racist or sexist, bear collective guilt for historical wrongs, or regard race or gender as a better predictor of outcome than character, work ethic, or skills. Also, to ban teaching that the cultural norms or practices of a racial or ethnic group or gender are flawed and must be eliminated or changed to conform; that racism (or sexism) is inherent in individuals from a particular race or ethnic group (or gender); that a racial or ethnic group or gender is in need of deconstruction, elimination, or criticism; or that the actions of some individuals serve as an indictment against their race or gender. Democrats abstained from voting on the bill.

95 Rep. Amos O'Neal D - Saginaw X

96 Rep. Timothy Beson R - Bay City Y

97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

98 Rep. Annette Glenn R - Midland Y

99 Rep. Roger Hauck R - Mount Pleasant Y

House Bill 4920, Require legislator harassment disclosures: Passed 103 to 0 in the House

To establish that if the Senate or House of Representatives enters a legal settlement of a sexual assault or sexual harassment complaint against a legislator, the settlement amount and the lawmakers name must be made public. House Bill 5281 applies this to elected officials in the executive branch.

95 Rep. Amos O'Neal D - Saginaw Y

96 Rep. Timothy Beson R - Bay City Y

97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

98 Rep. Annette Glenn R - Midland Y

99 Rep. Roger Hauck R - Mount Pleasant Y

House Bill 4939, Exclude new car rebates from sales tax: Passed 83 to 20 in the House

To deduct manufacturer rebates from the purchase price of a new car, boat or RV for purposes of calculating sales tax. The bill would require foregone school aid revenue generated by the narrow tax break to be taken from other state taxes and fees.

95 Rep. Amos O'Neal D - Saginaw N

96 Rep. Timothy Beson R - Bay City Y

97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

98 Rep. Annette Glenn R - Midland Y

99 Rep. Roger Hauck R - Mount Pleasant Y

House Bill 4778, Ban state use of deletable message apps that violate open records law: Passed 35 to 0 in the Senate

To prohibit state agencies from using any app, software, or other electronic device technology that allows messages to be deleted, and would thereby violate their duty to maintain a public record as required by the state Freedom of Information Act and other laws.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland Y

House Bill 4501, Refund employer fines levied under unconstitutional unlimited emergency law: Passed 19 to 16 in the Senate

To require state regulators to refund civil penalties they imposed on employers for violating emergency orders issued under a 1945 emergency powers law that has been ruled unconstitutional because it let a governor declare a state of emergency and govern unilaterally with no time limit.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland Y

Source: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Visit www.MichiganVotes.org.
Stick around Downtown Midland after the Midland Santa Holiday Parade on Saturday, Nov. 20 as the Midland Downtown Business Association presents the jolliest after-party youve ever seen: Cocoa Crawl!

After braving the weather to watch the Santa Parade, attendees can join participating retailers and restaurants in Downtown Midland to sample their own spins on delicious hot cocoa recipes. Enjoy a complimentary hot cup while browsing the shops or stopping for lunch. New this year, guests will be able to vote for their favorite hot cocoa. The winning business will win the Golden Cocoa Mug trophy that they will be able to display throughout the holiday season.
A local Midland union leader is frustrated with Dow Chemicals recent decision to eliminate its pension plans, fearing that some employees could lose up to over $400,000 to their retirement security.

After waiting for and combing through documents from Dow, the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 12075 Chapter has a more detailed idea on what affect this change could have on the employees retirement. However, Dow insists this change was made to match what other companies are doing.

Back in March, Dow announced it will freeze its defined pension plans on Dec. 31, 2023, as part of its Total Rewards benefits program. Then starting in 2024, the company will switch all employees to a contribution, 401K savings plan. Employees who currently have pension plans will keep their vested benefits and will be available to them upon retirement, said USW Local 12075 President Kent Holsing.

The changes to pension affect just U.S. employees for now, but Dow's intention is to transition from the defined benefit plans to market competitive savings plans in countries where these plans exist.

After this change was announced, Holsing said the union was waiting on documents from Dow that included existing pension plan documents, proposed plan documents, and any pension changes. This would give the union a better understanding of the affects on employees and to better navigate the negation process with Dow.

However, it took the union many months to get the documents from Dow on multiple USW locations, not receiving them until around July and August, Holsing said. It then took them several months to comb through, but now Holsing has a better understanding how this will affect pension plans.

Overall, he said the unions findings found the plan will significantly reduce employees potential retirement savings, whether they are hourly, salary, union or non-union employees. He thinks this decision was made to save the Dow corporation money.

(A) pension is deferred compensation in exchange for our work, Holsing said. (Dow) wants to stop that and have us go on to this these 401K's with the risk and liability, to the employees. They want to get out from any of those future legacy costs.

Kyle Bandlow, corporate media relations director for Dow, said this change in pension plans is consistent with what the majority of other companies have implemented, so Dow is simply following market trends.

The retirement program changes we are making in the U.S. are largely due to market evolution, a push to provide more portable savings options for all, and enabling people to have more control over their money, Bandlow said. The majority of Dows current employees, and all future Dow employees, benefit from the announced changes to the retirement savings plans.

Holsing has data on USW employees with Dow for workers across the country, including Midland employees. From this data, the union was able to calculate their potential money loss, which depends on the type of pension plan, age of an employee, and how long they have worked at Dow, Holsing said.

They found that moving from legacy pension plans to 401Ks could lose some mid-career employees (those with 10 to 30 years of service) from $300,000, to about $420,000. However, people on Dows PPA cash contribution plan are estimated to see increases of about $218,000. This is assuming employees get all the value possible from the 401K plans.

Holsing said 401Ks are not as secure as a pension due it being tied to the stock market and how well it is doing. Also, how much money someone has in a 401K depends on how much people contribute, with a 6% income contribution to get 4% from Dow. However, Holsing said about half of USW members do not contribute that much to Dows current 401K plan.

If you're a lower paid logistics employee, odds are you are going need that money just to survive, Holsing said.

Here is the full list of projected average changes to Dow USW employee retirement funds, based on years of service and if they contribute 6% of their income:

0 to 5: +$244,200

5 to 10: -$66,569

10 to 15: -$314,331

15 to 20: -$419,451

20 to 25: -$338,522

25 to 30: -$307,067

30 to 35: -$217,955

35 to 40: -$97,317

Bandlow said changes to the Total Rewards plan also includes paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents that includes adoptive and foster parents, a new Healthcare Assistance Program, and a Global Wellbeing portal.

Holsing said the union asked Dow to grandfather in employees with existing pension plans after the company plans on freezing the existing plans in 2023. This means employees with pension plans can still add to them after 2023, while Dow stops issuing them in 2024. However, he said Dow said no to this and now there is a need to figure out a different solution to minimize the hit.

Bandlow said there will be negations with unions the future.

All changes for bargained-for employees are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement and may only be implemented following negotiations and agreement between Dow and Union representatives, Bandlow said. As we approach negotiations with our bargained-for employees at our Michigan operations site, Dow looks forward to open dialogue in the appropriate forum to discuss the modernization and improvement of our Total Rewards offerings again and address any concerns.

Holsing said many union members are angry and disillusioned by this decision. He added that many of these long-time workers went through a previous pension change in 1995, which made some employees have to work longer. These employees were hit twice by pension changes, he said.

He added that Dow recently reported billions in earnings during these recent quarter, with Dow reporting about $14.8 million in net sales.

That is a massive financial hit (for employees), Holsing said Even after increasing the 401K, with all the risks that come with the 401K, that could go right down the sinker if the stock market crashes.
MSU Extension of Midland County and cooperating parent educators sponsor the Parents Corner. Send submissions to Midland County MSU Extension Educator, Lisa Treiber, 220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640

Food Safety Q & A. MSU Extension offers a week 30-minute informational program about food preservation. A short presentation will be shared focusing on a timely topic, leaving plenty of time for Q & A. The next session is: Freezing Meat for Safety and Quality. Join in on this quick free presentation Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. To register, visit www.canr.msu.edu/events/fall-food-safety2021

Investigating Food with Science. Each week, youth will explore the aspects of cooking is an experiment and baking is a science A kid-friendly recipe or experiment demonstration will be presented for youth to try at home with parents assistance. The following week, youth can share their experiences or pictures. All sessions will be presented via Zoom. The Nov. 8 topic will be Temperature Matters. To register visit events.anr.msu.edu/IFWS_Winter/ Any questions should be directed to Kellie Jordan jorda136@msu.edu.

Nature Play. Its time to play outdoors! Whether were making pies in the mud kitchen, pretending to be animals, lounging in hammocks or creating nature art, this hour of play is sure to engage everyone. Caregivers must remain with children during this program and are encouraged to actively play alongside the children in their care. This program will be facilitated by a Chippewa Nature Center staff member on Nov. 9, 10-11 a.m. The program is designed for ages 2-10, (under 18 w/adult). Please meet in The Woods Nature Play Area near Arbury Trail. For more information visit www.chippewanaturecenter.org.

Cooking for Crowds. Is your organization preparing for a food event? Cooking for Crowds classes educate volunteers and groups who offer food fundraisers and events such as dinners and bake sales. Join MSU Extension for this online Zoom class, Nov. 10, 5:30-8:30 p.m., to learn how to keep the community safe and prevent foodborne illness. There are a variety of food safety risks that develop when cooking large volumes of food. Learn to reduce these risks and help prevent the conditions that may lead to a foodborne illness. Educational topics include foodborne illness, safe purchasing, storage, preparation, and service of food. Class will include information based on the Michigan food code and regulations for the state of Michigan. The cost for this three-hour class is $15 with each participant receiving a food safety manual in the mail after registering for the class. www.canr.msu.edu/cooking_for_crowds/events

Preserving MI Harvest Series. Michigan State University Extension will be offering a series of food preservation classes online, these free online classes will be offered on Thursdays, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. The topic on Nov. 11 will be Preserving Wild Game: Venison. These sessions will not be recorded, they will only be offered live. Supporting materials will be emailed to all participants after each broadcast. Join in the fun, sign up for one, some or all these educational sessions. There is time at the end of each program to ask questions. To register visit events.anr.msu.edu/PreservingMIHarvestFall21/
Sanford native Kevin Nilles has only been a firefighter for 52 years, he jokes, beginning his career with the Jerome Township Fire Department in 1969.

I originally got in it to help family and friends, said Nilles.

He was at a local Sanford bar when firefighters rushed by with sirens whaling, he and his friend grabbed six beers to go and went to see what was going on. Within moments, Nilles helped fight the fire for two hours until the blaze was extinguished. The two-hour event led to Nilles joining the department and his first very hot beer after that first fire.

Nilles, 75, is also a retired registered nurse from MidMichigan Health and is certified as a Michigan firefighter and in hazmat operations. He is also a pipefitter by trade.

Jerome Township Fire Chief Jerry Cole said Nilles brings a diverse set of experience to the job.

The most memorable fire he handled was with the now fire chief. It was at Sanfords Coles Garage in 1989. The interior of the building caught fire and Cole thought his sister Denise was inside.

Cole said he couldnt get anyone to go inside with him but Nilles, who remembers the smoke being thick and heavy. Nilles said they had to rely on what they were feeling to guide their way.

They searched each area of the building for Coles sister. Fortunately, Cole said later, she wasnt inside. But in the process of looking and the inability to see, Cole said, I had my bell rang. I could feel something hit my back. It was Kevin and he dragged me out.

Cole said he was twice Nilles size.

Nilles remembers the garage was filled with oil and it was a bit scary.

He is always eager to help, Cole said. He goes and does whatever he can.

Nilles remembers when he started, fire calls would ring into the home on a party line with the fire chief or his wife talking about a fire call. Then they moved to pagers and now they communicate on cell phones.

Ive seen a lot of changes in 50 years, he said, including a new fire department, newer safety equipment and enhanced fire trucks.

Firefighting is not a very safe job, Nilles said, but he noted there have been many changes, and, in some ways, it is much safer than it used to be.

Nilles leans on his family for their support. He said without their support, he couldnt do what he has done for so long.

He has always liked helping people and wants to do it for as long as he can.

Its still worthwhile, Nilles said of his fire duties. When you help people, it helps you feel good.

For my age, Im in good shape, the firefighter said. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy helping people.

That includes going to a crash scene and helping calm people and get them to safety.

I dont climb on roofs anymore, I leave that to the younger guys, he added.

Cole said no matter Nilles age, he always brings assistance to a scene of fire or medical.

In his off time, Nilles enjoys traveling, hunting, and camping, but his true labor of love is at the fire department.

If I had a choice, Nilles said, Id do it all over again.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Andrew Mullin.

Thursday, Nov. 4

10:05 p.m.  Deputies were sent to a Lincoln Township home for a larceny report after an outdoor table was stolen by a neighbor. Contact was made with the suspect and the table was returned. The victim wished for the report to be sent to the Midland County Prosecutors Office for review.

8:45 p.m.  A deputy was sent to a Lincoln Township home for a report of a damage of property report. The suspect knocked over a propane tank, causing it to leak. The damage is valued at $500, and a report is being sent to the prosecutors office for review.

7:41 p.m.  A 47-year-old Larkin Township male called the sheriff's office wanting to report a phone number that was contacting his juvenile daughter. The man only wanted to report the number and did not request any further law enforcement assistance.

6:32 p.m.  Officers responded to a two-vehicle injury crash in the area of Dilloway Driver an Eastman Avenue.

5:32 p.m.  Officers responded to a case of larceny on Jefferson Avenue.

2:05 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Lincoln Township location regarding a damage to property complaint. Unknown suspect/s turfed the lawn and did about $100 in damage.

1:20 p.m.  An 87-year-old Homer Township man reported an attempted fraud. The suspect called advising there were unauthorized charges to the man's Amazon account, and he provided the individual with access to his computer. The suspect attempted to withdraw money from the man's bank account but was unsuccessful. The man, his family and the bank had already taken actions to mitigate further issues. The deputy provided them with an identity theft checklist and discussed other things to protect the man's information and finances.

1:20 p.m.  An animal control deputy dispatched to a home in Lee Township regarding a dog with inadequate shelter. Shelter was adequate but dry bedding must be added to the shelter with our current temperatures. The owner was advised of this requirement.

12:54 p.m.  Deputy dispatched to a Hope Township residence to locate a relative of a patient. No contact was made at the residence, but a business card was left for the resident to call the hospital.

12:47 p.m.  Deputies were on patrol in Porter Township when they observed a vehicle driving over the speed limit. The deputies performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and learned the vehicle did not have insurance. The driver was cited for no insurance.

12:46 p.m.  A 45-year-old Midland Township man advised his garbage container was stolen while it was placed at the end of his private drive. There are no suspects currently.

Noon  Deputies were dispatched to a residence in Ingersoll Township about a 90-year-old female who had fallen and sustained unknown injuries. Deputies arrived on scene and assisted the female until medical personnel arrived on scene. EMS provided medical treatment and transported the female for further treatment.

9:42 a.m.  Officers responded to a case of larceny on West Indian Street.

2:20 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Mount Haley Township neighborhood regarding a report of a vehicle driving without lights. The deputy checked the area and did not locate the vehicle.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday vetoed Republican-backed bills that would have created scholarship accounts for K-12 students to pay for educational expenses, including private school and tutoring, and given tax credits to people and corporations that donate to the program.

The veto, which was expected, came the same week proponents of the legislation preemptively launched a ballot drive that would enable the GOP-led Legislature to enact identical citizen-initiated bills without her signature.

The Democratic governor said the bills would cut state revenue by as much as $500 million in 2022 alone.

Simply put, our schools cannot provide the high-quality education our kids deserve if we turn private schools into tax shelters for the wealthy, she wrote to lawmakers, adding that she has worked to reverse disinvestment in public education.

School-choice proponents such as the Great Lakes Education Project criticized Whitmer saying the funds would have helped more than 1 million kids who fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gretchen Whitmer didnt just veto legislation  she took away tutors, mental health treatment, after-school programs, textbooks, broadband Internet access and reading supports from Michigan kids," executive director Beth DeShone said.

Under the plan, students would have been eligible for scholarships if their family income was no more than double the cutoff to receive free or reduced-priced lunch  $98,050 for a family of four currently  or if they had a disability or were in foster care.

Students attending private schools could have gotten up to 90% of Michigans minimum base per-pupil funding annually, which equates to $7,830 currently. Those in households with incomes at 100% to 200% of the free and reduced-lunch program threshold would have received less on a sliding scale.

Children enrolled in public schools could have gotten a maximum of $500 a year, or $1,100 if they were disabled.

The funds could have paid for school-related expenses: tuition, fees, tutoring, computers, software, instructional materials, summer school, after-school programming, transportation costs, athletic fees, educational therapies and school uniforms.

Democratic legislators and teachers unions likened the proposal to vouchers and said it would be unconstitutional, citing Michigan's ban on providing public assistance to nonpublic schools. The bills' supporters, however, said it would be legal because students would not receive state funds but rather money from individuals and businesses.

Whitmer did not mention the legality of the measure in her veto letter.

Let MI Kids Learn, a ballot committee organizing the initiative to bypass her veto, needs about 340,000 valid voter signatures to send it to the Legislature.

___

Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
New York, US (PANA) - Members of the United Nations Security Council have expressed deep concern about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia
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Binance, the worlds leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider has today announced that Beninese-American Hollywood star and model, Djimon Honsou and famous Nigerian painter, LAOLU will be exhibiting their digital artist series, Time To Heal, on the Binance NFT Marketplace.



This collaboration is for Binance Charitys NFT For Good Campaign, which enables creators to convert their art and creativity into meaningful global action targeting social and humanitarian issues.



Djimon Hounsou who portrayed Korath the Pursuer in Marvel blockbuster movies, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, will be body painted by LAOLU, the Nigerian artist behind the body art in Beyonces Grammy award-winning Lemonade. This photo will then be projected on a physical canvas and subsequently converted to a digital NFT version.



The NFT collection, consisting of five unique portraits, will launch on November 10, 2021 and proceeds will be shared between the artists and the Djimon Hounsou Foundation through the Binance Charity. I feel this compelling need, this inherent obligation to give back to my continent, to my people, and to champion the idea of reconciliation and reconnection. says Djimon.



LAOLU added: There is so much we can do when we come together. Through my work, Ive always sought to connect the world to my Yoruba roots. With this project, were doing that on a large scale by sharing not only our own stories but that of the diaspora within the digital landscape.



On November 9, 2021, Djimon and LAOLU will also join Binance for a live Ask Me Anything chat on Binance YouTube, discussing NFTs, their entrance into the crypto and blockchain space and how NFTs can impact African artists.



Emmanuel Babalola, Director at Binance Africa, said: We are especially excited to host creators of African descent as we see the profound opportunity NFTs and the blockchain bring to the entire continent. As NFTs transform the digital art world, it is important that African creators are provided an even larger platform with optimal solutions to reach a more global audience.



Nearly 4 times as many people live in modern-day slavery than during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We know blockchain is a powerful tool that can be used to help tackle complex and horrific social issues - such as this - from tackling corruption to increasing transparency to promoting financial freedom to providing new fundraising streams such as the recent NFT boom. Cross-industry collaborations such as this one between Djimon, his foundation, Laolu and Binance are essential to help harness this potential and drive forward blockchain for good. comments Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity and Binance NFT.



Binance NFT is an established brand within the crypto community. In just a little over a month after its debut, Binance NFT became one of the fastest-growing NFT platforms in the world, generating 25 million BUSD in sales, selling over 300,000 mystery boxes and onboarding 400 creators globally. Today, Binance NFT has sold over 900,000 mystery boxes and earned 103+ million BUSD in sales in total since launch.



The Binance NFT Marketplace shares the same account system as Binance.com. Existing Binance users are able to access the NFT marketplace and trade with their current Binance accounts. New users simply have to register on Binance.com to create or trade on the Binance NFT platform. Binance NFT has also added multi-chain support for NFT deposits and withdrawals. Users can now transfer their NFTs to and from Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum networks with ease.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









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Ghana's President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has reiterated that the future cost of climate change will be prohibitive and counterproductive to the socio-economic gains made today if Ghana doesnt find rapid actions to address its impact.



In line with this, the President said Ghana has updated its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement from 2020 to 2030, considering its unique circumstances.



The update affirms the country's resolve to address the impacts of climate change on the country's economy and its vulnerable people.



The update was done on the sidelines of the ongoing UN Climate Conference also known as COP26 in Glasgow.



UN COP26



World leaders and environmentalists have gathered in Glasgow to participate in the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN COP26), which ends on November 12, 2021.



Since 1995, global leaders have met annually to firm up plans to tackle climate change. One of the highlights of the summit in Glasgow is to accelerate action towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.



Ghana committed to implementing thirty-one mitigation and adaptation actions across seven economic sectors in its nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015.



Currently, Ghana together with other countries across the globe are in Glasgow- Scotland to discuss the issue of climate change.



Below is the full copy of the Updated Nationally Determined Contributions Under Paris Agreement(2020 - 2030)

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Source: From SAMPSON KWAME NYAMEKYE - Glasgow/UK









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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At the beginning of this month, news broke on credible news outlets of the fourth Ekklesia Roundtable Series, which will bring government and religious stakeholders together to discuss the "The Companies Act 2019 and the Charities Bill".



Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Ansah is the Executive Director of the Kingdom Equip Network; responsible for presenting the much discussed ERS. Speaking to our independent reporter, he threw more light on the role of the church in the state and the need for order. "The Church is part of the state and does not operaterate in a vacuum", he said. However, stating boldly that this does not mean that the state can dictate how "we worship our God".



Dr. Ansah said that there is strength in Churches being seen as legal entities, as organizations are emboldened to perform customary duties and even request state assistance. He explained that the discussions on 11th November 2021 and measures taken after will help people know the status of certain organizations labeled as "as churches". "The scripture says, let all things be done according to order and in decency. There is room for order", Rev. Dr. Ansah postulated.



He noted that the event to be held at the Accra Ridge Church will feature across section of state, church and media, who will gather from 9am to gain knowledge on the Companies Act 2019 and Charities bill, Church-State relations and rights and obligations.

Source: Atiemo Emmanuel/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Asamankese Circuit Court has sentenced a 55-year-old Sales Manager of Galaxy Oil filling station at Akyem-Osenase in the Eastern Region to four years imprisonment for embezzlement.



The Manager, Emmanuel Donkor, embezzled Gh70,725.00 belonging to the company. He pleaded guilty when he was charged for stealing, contrary to section 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act,1960, Act 29.



He will serve his sentence in hard labour.



Inspector Susan Ayaric, the Prosecuting Officer, told the Court that the complainant is Emmanuel Kenneth Dadson, Marketing Manager of Galaxy Oil Ghana Limited, who lives in Tema.

She said in June, 2019, during a stocktaking exercise at the Osenase Galaxy Oil filling station, the Internal Audit team of the company detected that an amount of Gh70,725.00 was not accounted for by the convict.



The Prosecutor said the convict was later invited to the companys Head Office in Tema for further interrogation.



He said Emmanuel Donkor admitted to selling fuel worth Gh70,725.00 to one Ofori whose whereabouts he does not know. The complainant, who was not happy with the response, reported the case to the Police for further investigation.



The Prosecutor said the convict failed to account for the above amount during Police investigation. He was therefore charged, arraigned and sentenced accordingly.





Source: adomonline.com









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The Peoples National Convention (PNC) has called for better telecommunications services from the service providers.

That, it said, would support the government's digitisation of the economy.



In a statement issued by the party and signed by its General Secretary, Ms Janet Asana Nabla, it explained that the provision of quality, affordable and reliable telecommunication services was critical in driving innovation and accelerating economic growth.



It said as a political party with a great interest to ensure Ghanaians live more comfortable lives, the PNC appreciated the digitisation agenda set by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.



It said the party was, however, concerned about the poor communication network and poor internet services in most parts of the country; thus making the realisation of those prospects very difficult.



Generally, Ghanaians are complaining of poor internet and communication services and these must be addressed as soon as possible.



Again, we are asking for judicious spending in the digitisation agenda and to avoid any corruption scandals, it stated.



Reservations



The statement urged critics of the governments digitisation agenda to do so with circumspection, stressing that those of us criticising must do so towards bettering the agenda and making it achievable.



He said making payments for goods and services and renewing National Health Insurance cards from the comfort of ones home or office were commendable.



It said performing such functions also prevented long queues at service centres and helped clients to avoid heavy traffic.



It said it was no wonder that The World Economic Forums global information report estimated that an increase of 10 per cent in a countrys digitisation score fuels a 0.75 per cent growth in GDP per capita.



The statement said the prospects in digitising the economy would put money in the pocket of Ghanaians.



It said a future PNC government should equally prioritise the digitisation of the Ghanaian economy in a much better form.















Source: Graphiconline.com









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The National Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has taken a swipe at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their responses to the governments agenda to use digitalization to transform the economy.



It would be recalled that the Vice President, H.E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia held a public lecture at Ashesi University to delineate an array of digital policies being implemented by the government to drastically reduce the inefficiencies and corruption in public Services delivery; enhance domestic revenue mobilization; improve efficiency in the health sector; provide financial inclusion and a cash-lite economy among other things.



As expected, the NDC has been responding to the issues raised in the lecture by Dr. Bawumia; however, their responses have been scruffy, uncoordinated, conflicting and have drifted into personal attacks on the person of the Vice President according to section of the public.



Reacting to the NDC, Nana B has strongly cautioned the NDC to desist from exposing their ignorance and emptiness on the subject matter in a brazing manner.



Its quite shocking that the NDC that have proven, overtime, to be clueless and bankrupt in knowledge and understanding of digitization and digitalization could gather confidence to speak against the unprecedented digital infrastructure being built by this government to make life very simple and easy for Ghanaians Nana B has said.



He added that its trite knowledge that the NDC is incompetent in the field of digital technology. In 2016 and 2020 elections, they couldnt put up a system to collate their results  such a basic exercise that a first year IT student could have done with such ease, the incompetent NDC couldnt do it.



The Youth Leader of the NPP has thus advised Ghanaians to be weary of the plain lies and fabrications of the NDC directed at discrediting government policies that have far reaching benefits for the ordinary Ghanaian.



This government has been people centered and every single policy we have implemented has brought comfort to the citizenry. Today, Ghanaians can sit in the comfort of their homes to renew their NHIS, open bank account and so on. I entreat Ghanaians to support the government to deliver on its mandate Nana B added.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Two girls operate the Giant Joystick at LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre, March 31, 2007 in Asturias, Spain. The giant video game controller made of wood, rubber and steel by a Dartmouth College professor Mary Flanagan has made it into the Guinness World Records 2022 as the largest joystick. Flanagan created the controller in 2006 to celebrate her childhood experience of playing Atari 2600 video games. (Mary Flanagan via AP)
Conservative MP Dan Albas, whos in Scotland for COP26, poses for a photo with Katherine Fletcher, a British Conservative MP, who was picked to serve as parliamentary private secretary to the president of the international environmental conference.
Logansport, IN (46947)

Today

Rain early. A mix of sun and clouds by afternoon. High 49F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 23F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Logansport, IN (46947)

Today

Rain ending this morning. Breaks of sun in the afternoon. High 49F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 22F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Michael Coard, Esq. can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, and his YouTube channel as well as at AvengingTheAncestors.com. His Radio Courtroom show can be heard on WURD 96.1 FM or 900 AM. And his TV Courtroom show can be seen on PhillyCAM/Verizon Fios/Comcast. The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Philadelphia Tribune.
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The former boss of the National Nuclear Security Administrations nonproliferation program on Thursday applauded South Carolinas long history of work for the Department of Energy as well as a laundry list of efforts ongoing at the Savannah River Site.

You guys are simply amazing, Park said in a speech at the downtown Amentum Center for Performing Arts.

The ex-deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation also lauded Michael Budney, the Savannah River Site manager, and Dr. Vahid Majidi, the Savannah River National Laboratory boss, for their accomplishments, both as individuals and as a pair.

Thats a great partnership right there, Park said, pointing at the two.

Park delivered his remarks, and ran through a few slides of a presentation, at the 30th annual Teller Lecture and Banquet. The major get-together is put on by Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness.

The local nonprofit focuses on education and works to dispel rumors or misconceptions about the nuclear industry.

The faces, names and technology may have changed over 30 years, said Dr. Daren Timmons, the board chairman, but CNTA is steadfast in its commitment to be the voice of truth on nuclear matters.

CNTA honored distinguished scientists and star students during the celebration Thursday. Park cheered the education and outreach efforts.

We have to invest into our next-generation people, he said. Im so happy to have witnessed CNTA recognize all these early career people. Thats a great thing, right?

Park became the the National Nuclear Security Administrations nonproliferation lead in April 2018. In that position, he headed up efforts to secure or eliminate sensitive nuclear materials.

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, then the leader of the NNSA, said Park brings vast technical and policy experience to this position  an expertise that was on display Thursday. His understanding of the complex and multifaceted nonproliferation mission, both domestically and internationally, will be an asset to the department.

Park has a background in physics and worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where he led and managed the science-to-application efforts for national security programs, CNTA said in an announcement.
Industrial development is fueling the growth of wetland mitigation banking in South Carolina, and while environmentalists applaud the conservation efforts and some big wins along the coast, they worry preservation goals aren't always being met and that climate change could erode some of the gains that have already been made.

The Army Corps of Engineers office in Charleston currently oversees 37 active mitigation banks, where wetlands are being preserved, restored or enhanced by landowners for "credits" that can be sold to developers needing to mitigate wetland destruction caused by their projects. For example, a builder might agree to purchase 100 credits in a mitigation bank to offset several acres of wetlands damage at a nearby construction site in order to get a permit to build.

As more building takes place and more wetlands are destroyed, the need to bank them elsewhere has grown. In addition to those already operating, more than three dozen potential mitigation banks are awaiting Army Corps approval. There have been 11 mitigation bank proposals submitted to the federal agency so far this year, matching previous annual highs set in 2017 and 2018.

"Since 2017, we've seen a marked increase in the number of submissions," said David Wilson, a mitigation specialist with the Army Corps. "Before that, we were seeing an average of two or three proposals a year. It coincides with the number of projects and number of (construction) permits we're issuing. As the economy is growing, we're starting to see mitigation banks grow in anticipation of that need for credits."

The concept of wetlands banking began in the 1980s, but South Carolina didn't get its first bank proposal until 1994. The program is seen as a way to achieve the federal government's policy of no net loss of wetlands, which are ecologically important for erosion control, water quality and as a wildlife habitat.

"Wetlands benefit all of us," said Laura Cantral, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League. "They soak up floodwaters, provide a home for wildlife and form the sense of place that makes the Lowcountry so special."

Not all mitigation banks are created equal. Those with large swaths of degraded wetlands that are being restored or enhanced do more to achieve the "no net loss" goal than banks that rely heavily on simple preservation of existing wetlands. After all, 1,000 acres of preserved wetlands in a bank can't replace 100 acres lost to development, but 100 acres of restored wetlands in a bank can.

"Proposed banks that rely heavily on credit for preservation-only should be heavily scrutinized," Cantral said. "One should only get credit for preserving something that has a legitimate threat to its future existence as a functional wetland."

Restoration vs. preservation

One of the most recent applications for a mitigation bank was submitted by Dominion Energy for 1,450 acres near the A.M. Williams Generating Station in the Bushy Park area of Goose Creek. Dominion's proposal would preserve nearly 700 acres of salt marsh, but the utility would first have to get ownership of the marsh from the state through a king's grant. Nearly 660 acres of wetlands would be either enhanced or restored, according to a public notice. The Army Corps is still reviewing the proposal.

"Because most of the surrounding properties are already under a conservation easement, preserving these 1,450 acres was a logical step," said Dominion spokesman Matthew Long. "Obtaining this easement will help restore and protect a critical habitat along the Cooper River."

Chris DeScherer, director of the Southern Environmental Law Center's office in Charleston, said he has concerns about establishing a mitigation bank that preserves salt marsh the bank organizer doesn't yet own.

"My question there is if the wetlands aren't under threat and the mitigation banker doesn't own the wetlands, how is it that they're able to establish a bank there?" DeScherer said. "The concept of mitigation banking can be a good one, but it plays out sometimes in ways the program wasn't meant to be implemented."

Wilson, the Army Corps mitigation specialist, said most mitigation bankers want to have far more restoration and enhancement wetlands in their proposals than relying on preserved wetlands. There is specific criteria that limits the types of preserved wetlands that can be included  they must be under threat of development, for example  and developers can only purchase up to 50 percent of their credit needs through preserved wetlands. Most important to the bankers, wetlands that are restored are worth an average of three or four credits per acre. Preserved wetlands get far fewer credits.

"Typically, preservation is used as a last resort, where the wetland is so good they can't find any ways to improve it," Wilson said.

Of the South Carolina mitigation banks for which documentation is included in the federal Regulatory In-Lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System  or RIBITS  database, nearly 1.6 million potential credits are available to developers. That includes credits that have already been sold and those that are still available, but doesn't include mitigation banks that have not yet received Army Corps approval. Of the nearly 1.6 million potential credits, nearly 75 percent come from wetlands that have either been enhanced or restored.

"Restoration and enhancement are what we're geared toward  that no net loss of wetlands," Wilson said. "But we do recognize the value of preserving particular wetlands that are under threat."

The Audubon approach

Audubon South Carolina owns a roughly 600-acre mitigation bank on land in the Holly Hill area that used to be a Westvaco industrial pine plantation but has been restored to its original landscape.

"It was originally a bottomland hardwood site," said Tim Evans, Audubon's director of land conservation. "We removed the pine, drum chopped and herbicided it to get the vegetation that was there under control, then we planted a bottomland hardwood species mixture back on the site."

Audubon sells credits from the bank and then rolls that money back into the nonprofit's projects, including the purchase of more land for conservation. The group currently owns about 26,000 acres in South Carolina.

There is a wide range of prices for mitigation credits in South Carolina depending on the market, competition among banks and the demand for credit types. A single wetland credit can sell for between $2,500 and $10,000, and developers often negotiate prices.

"The money we generate from mitigation supports the larger mission of Audubon," Evans said. "Being able to identify high-value conservation properties and using mitigation funds to acquire and protect them is an important part of what we do."

DeScherer of the Southern Environmental Law Center pointed to Audubon's mitigation bank as one of the success stories in South Carolina. Another is at Sandy Island in Georgetown County, where 9,000 acres were protected in 1996 to mitigate wetlands destruction at road projects along the coast, such as the Carolina Bays Parkway. Before the property was designated a mitigation bank, its owners had planned a luxury resort on the undeveloped island to be linked to the Waccamaw Neck mainland by a new bridge.

"Sandy Island is a huge conservation win because it was not only a really important ecological area that was permanently protected, but it also helps buffer the development and sprawl of Myrtle Beach," DeScherer said.

Seeing the big picture

Dana Beach, the former longtime executive director of the Coastal Conservation League, worked closely with other conservationists and government leaders to save Sandy Island from development. Businessmen Craig Wall Jr. and Roger Milliken abandoned their resort plans and cut a deal with conservation groups to sell the property for $11 million for preservation.

"Sandy Island was transformative," Beach said. "It has a beautiful ecosystem of mature longleaf pines and a very historic Gullah community that evolved right after slavery on the southern tip of it. That, in my view, is the jewel in the crown of wetland mitigation."

South Carolina has been a leader in convincing developers it's best to preserve large swaths of wetlands rather than simply replacing one or two acres here for one or two acres somewhere else.

Boeing Co., for example, partnered with conservation groups in 2014 to identify three tracts totaling 4,000 acres  half of it wetlands  to preserve in the Francis Marion National Forest in exchange for expansion of its 787 Dreamliner plant in North Charleston on property that included 153 acres of wetlands.

"We're so proud of it because it's such a model for how conservation and commerce can work together toward a common goal," Ashley Demosthenes, president and CEO of the Lowcountry Land Trust, said of the Boeing deal in a video produced by Sustain SC, a coalition of businesses and conservation groups.

In 2015, the State Ports Authority donated $5 million toward the protection of the Cooper River corridor to help mitigate the environmental impact of deepening Charleston Harbor to 52 feet. The money is being used by the Lowcountry Land Trust to purchase property within the corridor, such as the 600-acre Hyde Park Plantation near Huger.

And when Volvo Cars announced plans in 2015 to build a manufacturing campus in Ridgeville, the automaker committed to preserving more than 1,500 acres of nearby wetlands.

Such large-scale projects take a broader ecological approach toward mitigation than typical banks, Beach said, giving conservationists a way to "take the best habitat in the region and protect it in its entirety."

The Army Corps, he said, "has been a very positive actor in this drama of how we stem the tide and make the place better over time by securing these important regions" that don't just preserve wetlands but provide a variety of collateral benefits for humans and nature.

"When jobs come to South Carolina, when corporations can flourish and when the environment can be protected, there are a lot of winners," Bob Perry, senior mitigation specialist for the Palustrine Group, an owner and developer of mitigation banks, said in the Sustain SC video.

Climate change concerns

The Army Corps' guideline for preparing a wetlands mitigation plan spans more than 100 pages, but none of them deal with the impact climate change could have on the future of mitigation banks.

"These resources are meant to be protected into perpetuity, but climate change  particularly along the coast  poses a whole host of threats to the perpetuity of these wetlands," said Jenny Brennan, a science and policy associate with the Southern Environmental Law Center. "We're particularly concerned about mitigation banks in areas that will be inundated by sea-level rise and in areas where we see tidal flooding."

Brennan said those in charge of monitoring existing mitigation banks are not looking for signs that climate change could be affecting their sites.

The law center, in a letter to the Army Corps, has asked that future mitigation banks be established in areas resilient to climate change and that a new credit be established for bankers who leave buffers for marsh migration.

"We don't generally want to incentivize buffers for credit, but there has to be a way to leave room so you're not just getting credit for restoring and preserving tidal marsh that's going to be gone in another few decades," Brennan said.

Army Corps spokeswoman Glenn Jeffries said that while climate change is not part of the current regulatory review, "new guidance will continue to roll out" that could address those concerns. The agency this year announced a climate action plan that will modernize policies to include the impacts from climate change.

"Engineers occupy a unique niche in translating climate science information into usable information for decision makers," Kate White, co-leader of the defense department's Army Corps-led Climate Action Team. "So, it's now actionable information for planning, or engineering design, or construction, or operations or acquisition  all the pieces related to the impacts of climate change and how we adapt to those."
MONCKS CORNER  When St. Clair Pop Orvin first started selling appliances out of the back of his truck in the late 1930s, the opening shots of World War II were still months away and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was considering running for a third term as U.S. president.

In 1945, Orvin moved into a brick-and-mortar building on East Main Street in downtown Moncks Corner and began stocking flooring and furniture along with appliances next door to the towns first Piggly Wiggly.

Orvin's Furniture store has been there ever since.

After more than seven decades in the same location, Orvins Furniture, which has been a staple in this small Berkeley County town, will close its doors for the final time at the end of November.

A perfect storm of events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain snarls and a labor shortage, conspired against the family-owned business that has seen three generations of Orvin men run the store.

You cant fight against a global pandemic, said James Orvin, Pop's grandson, who took over the business in 2005 from this father St. Clair 'Baxter' Orvin. We started to see fluctuations coming out of Asia as far back as 2019 and that was before the pandemic even hit.

"Wed have specialty orders that would take nine, 10, even 11 months to fill. In the past it would normally take a couple of months. We pride ourselves on customer service and because of factors that are really out of our control we just couldnt deliver like we used to.

The store will liquidate its entire inventory and close its doors for the final time on Nov. 30.

Were not going to owe anyone anything when were done, Orvin said. Everyone who is owed a refund will get it. Everyone who has ordered furniture will get it. We will be receiving merchandise throughout the entire month of November. Nobody will be left out.

James Orvin took over for his father  Baxter Orvin  after graduating from The Citadel and spending a couple of decades in the food and beverage industry.

Orvin said he had five employees and the store grossed about $800,000 in annual sales when he first took over as company president. By 2017, the store had 32 employees and grossed more than $3.2 million, he said.

This is not a failure, Im proud of the business we built here, Orvin said. Weve had three generations of customers come through our doors. We still have grandparents and grandchildren that shop here.

Trouble for the small business began to hit during the pandemic. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the closing of all non-essential businesses in the spring of 2020.

Orvin had to let 20 employees go.

One of the toughest days of my life, he said.

As the restrictions from the pandemic began to lift and people started to leave their homes and shop again, Orvin thought the store would survive. But interruptions in the supply chain began to slow business, again.

We pride ourselves on our American-made products, but fabrics and a lot of power used in the chairs and beds we sell come from China or Indonesia, Orvin said. That delayed shipments. Manufacturing companies couldnt find enough drivers and our product would sit in a warehouse for three months. Then the customers would start to complain, and Id lose sleep over a bad review.

It got to be too much and Orvin decided to close down the shop last month.

It was getting to the point where I didnt want to come into work, he said.

The store's closure has hit some long-time customers especially hard. Norma Smalls has been coming to Orvins for nearly three decades. Almost every piece of furniture in her modest three-bedroom home has come from Orvins Furniture.

Weve been loyal customers for a long time, my mother brought me here for the first time in the 1980s, Smalls said. They take care of you, like you were family and you dont get that at the bigger stores. We moved to Summerville almost 15 years ago, but we still keep coming back. This is a sad day for Moncks Corner.

Moncks Corner Mayor Michael Lockliear shared that sentiment.

You dont run a successful business for eight decades without taking care of your customers, Lockliear said. Theyve had such a loyal customer base over the years. Its very disappointing to see a local business, one that has been around for so long, close its doors, especially considering our efforts to revitalize the downtown area.

Orvin said they will either sell or lease the 17,000-square foot building, which the family owns.

Habitat for Humanity has expressed an interest in the building along with a couple of other non-profit organizations, Orvin said. We havent made any final decisions yet.

Orvin admitted that it will be a bittersweet moment for him and his family when the final sale is made, and the last piece of furniture is delivered.

It will be the end of an era.

Its gonna be emotional, he said. I want to get a final photo with my arms wrapped around Mom and Dad. When the sign comes down, when the lights are turned off and the building is empty, itll finally probably hit me.
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The price to rent in Charleston keeps spiraling higher

The cost to rent an apartment in Charleston jumped nearly 21 percent over the past year through October compared to this time last year, according to online firm Apartment List.

The median rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment stands at $1,468 while a two-bedroom unit costs about $1,715.

For context, it's important to note that rents were down 1.7 percent at this time last year as discounts were put in place for pandemic pricing during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak as many renters returned home to live with family members before vaccines were available, according to Apartment List.

The 20.8 percent spike in Charleston comes out to $305 more for a one-bedroom unit and nearly $357 in higher costs for a two-bedroom apartment over the past 12 months.

The price spiked 1.7 percent from September to October in South Carolina's largest city while the national rate jumped 0.8 percent, the smallest increase since February.

In Mount Pleasant, rates fell 0.8 percent last month, but rental costs are up 24.9 percent from October of last year. The median price for a one-bedroom unit in the state's fourth-largest city is $1,921. A two-bedroom comes in at $2,207.

It's a bit cheaper to rent in the state's third-largest city of North Charleston, though prices did climb 1.1 percent in October and the year-over-year rate jumped 19.1 percent.

A one-bedroom unit in North Charleston costs $1,215 while a two-bedroom is $1,415, based on the median price.

Rents are still trending upward, and though the pace has decreased, rent growth is still outpacing pre-pandemic levels for apartment dwellers across the country, according to Apartment List.

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Davis & Floyd, an engineering, planning and landscape architecture firm, plans to relocate from North Charleston in February to The Quin, a new five-story office building on Charleston's upper peninsula. The firm will become the second tenant announced this year for the site off Algonquin Road and Meeting Street.

By the numbers

3: Number of new restaurants opening across the Charleston area.

7: Millions of dollars paid for a 25-acre tract near Cane Bay Plantation in Berkeley County by a homebuilder.

100+: Number of employees across all locations that upscale residential real estate firm Daniel Ravenel Sotheby's International Realty of Charleston will have after a sister firm serving the lower part of South Carolina and Savannah merged with the Charleston-based agency.

This week in real estate

+ Moving out: Roper Hospital plans to move off the Charleston peninsula after treating and caring for patients downtown for the past 165 years.

+ Moving in: Fast-growing furniture industry is setting up distribution sites in 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space near Summerville.

+ No longer bankrupt: The Tennessee-based owner of Northwoods Mall and 176 affiliated businesses emerged from a year-long bankruptcy restructuring Nov. 1.

For nearly quarter of a century, the Charleston Symphony Tour of Homes has showcased some of the finer residences in the upscale, gated community of Kiawah Island, where multi-million-dollar mansions are common, to raise funding for the symphony and scholarships for talented student musicians in the Lowcountry. On Nov. 13, the tour, sponsored by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, returns for its 24th installment.

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COLUMBIA  A Lexington County teacher is facing an assault charge after confronting a middle school student during warmup exercises in a gym class, police said Nov. 5.

Christine Marie Rivers, 51, was charged with third-degree assault and battery and will appear in Lexington County Magistrate Court on Dec. 1, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said.

Video surveillance shows a teacher grabbing a male students hair at Beechwood Middle School and pulling the student to a different spot on the gym floor as he moved on his hands and knees.

A school resource officer got involved after the teacher reported an incident involving a student and reviewed the footage.

Police said the teacher contacted the students mother to apologize, but the mother said she wanted to press charges.

The teacher was cited, asked to leave campus and placed on administrative leave by Lexington County School District One officials, authorities said.
GREENVILLE  The long-discussed move of the Greenville Police Department and municipal court operation could happen, as the city is scheduled to decide whether to buy a new building near Haywood Road.

The Fluor Daniel building at 204 Halton Road will be the subject of a City Council vote on Nov. 8, according to an information packet posted Nov. 5 as part of public notice for the meeting.

The six-story building, which sits across a vast parking lot from where Greenville County recently moved its Family Court as the massive redevelopment of County Square began, would cost the city $27 million  $18.9 million for the property, $8.1 million in renovation, city spokeswoman Beth Brotherton said in a release after the posting.

The building is 126,000 square feet with more than 1,000 parking spaces.

The renovations would begin this coming spring or summer.

For decades, the police department has shared the current law-enforcement center, a fortress-like complex built in 1976, with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

Talk of a new police headquarters took on concrete form in early 2018, when then-chief Ken Miller presented the idea of acquiring something outside the city core. The estimated cost at the time was as much as $33 million.

The police department has had to negotiate space with the sheriff's office over the years as both agencies have grown with booming population growth.

The move of the municipal court would offer the city an opportunity to market a valuable piece of land at the corner of North Main and Academy streets just at the edge of downtown where property values have skyrocketed.

The municipal court building was built in 1946, and this past summer court hearings were held outside in tents after pipes burst and filled the halls with sewage.

The property acquisition has been in the works for at least the past several weeks as the council took discussions of "property in the Haywood Road area" behind closed doors.

The decision comes as the city continues to negotiate on a likely move of administrative operations from its nearly 50-year-old City Hall tower to the former Bowater building at the edge of Falls Park.
Ongoing delays at the Charleston County Register of Deeds office, where changes in property ownership are recorded, could cause some property tax bills to be sent to the wrong addresses, the Charleston County Bar Association has warned.

"Because of this, ownership changes may not have been updated prior to the 2021 tax mailings," the association with more than 2,000 attorney members said in a "special notice" email Nov. 3. "The property tax bill could be directed to the prior owner and ignored."

Significant delays in recording property ownership changes have been an issue at the Recorder of Deeds since 2019 and have continued through 2021. On Nov. 5, the ROD office was closed to the public, a strategy used previously to allow staff more time to work through the paperwork backlog.

Repeated attempts to discuss the issue with the elected Register of Deeds, Michael Miller, were unsuccessful. Miller, a West Ashley hair salon owner, was elected in 2018.

In 2019, Miller said delays in deed-processing were partly due to Hurricane Dorian, and the resulting evacuation that closed his office for an entire week that year.

In February, when boxes of unrecorded deeds were stacking up in the ROD offices and supply closets, Miller said the frenzied real estate market, antiquated technology in the office and staffing shortages were to blame.

Were one of the largest counties in the state that does not allow e-recording of documents, where an attorney can electronically record the document," Miller said at the time.

The COVID pandemic has also played a role, causing child-care issues for employees and, in July, prompting a days-long closure of the office after Miller tested positive for the virus.

All the issues Miller had mentioned previously come with a backdrop of soaring property transactions, with ever more deeds to be recorded.

Residential real estate sales jumped by 16.4 percent in Charleston County in 2020, and in the first nine months of 2021 increased by another 10.1 percent, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. Neighboring counties also saw real estate activity soar, but Charleston County's 10,803 home sales in 2020 were more than in Berkeley, Colleton and Dorchester counties combined.

Delays in recording deeds can cause a disconnect between when the ownership of a property changes, and when it's officially recorded, and that could cause problems with mortgage lenders, insurers and property taxes.

However, the elected Charleston County officials who send out property tax bills and handle the resulting payments  the auditor and the treasurer  both said the backlog at the ROD office didn't cause problems last year, and they don't expect problems this year.

Treasurer Mary Tinkler said with recent home sales, property tax issues between the buyer and seller are often handled during the signing of closing documents, with a real estate attorney. And for about a third of homeowners in the county, it's the mortgage lender that pays the tax bill.

Its a pretty seamless process," she said. I was not aware of any unusual issues last year."

County Auditor Peter Tecklenburg said some properties routinely change ownership after property tax bills are mailed in September, and his office sends out supplemental bills in those cases, usually in November.

"It is a pretty small percentage of the bills we send out but I do think the Bar (Association) has some good advice to their membership in asking them to check in with their clients," he said.

Bar Association officials could not be reached for comment.

Charleston County this year conducted a regularly scheduled audit of the ROD office, but the final report has not been completed, according to county spokeswoman Kelsey Barlow. The Register of Deeds, an elected official, doesn't report to the county administrator but relies on the county for budget approval.
More than a year after the pandemic began its spread throughout the state along with its economic impact upon local businesses, COVID-19 funding assistance is still available for Charleston area employers.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments still has money available from a $560,000 CARES Revolving Loan Fund for tri-county businesses that can demonstrate pandemic-related financial impacts.

As business owners reopen and seek to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are here to assist with funding needs to help create and retain job opportunities in the region via the Revolving Loan Fund program," COG Executive Director Ron Mitchum said.

The RLF was created via an award from the CARES Act by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration and is aimed at stimulating long-term, private-sector investment and employment in the region.

COG has hired a loan administrator to assist applicants throughout the entire funding process.

Eligible businesses seeking assistance should operate in Berkeley, Charleston or Dorchester counties and be able to provide evidence of revenue loss since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Business owners may apply for a loan ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, with the option to defer interest for up to one year. Applications will be accepted through the award end date of July 24 or until the funds are exhausted.

Associated costs include a $25 application fee, 1.5 percent origination fee, and 0.5 percent annual service fee.

So far, local businesses have struggled to get approved for the money. Only one loan has been administered from the fund.

While COG has gotten inquires from over 100 businesses, only around 10 have fully completed applications for the money, said COG Loan Administrator Melanie Pasheluk.

Many employers weren't able to properly show financial impact, Pasheluk said.

Also, loans are considered for those who can show an employee retention plan.

Pasheluk acknowledged the loan process can be a bit overwhelming for small businesses.

"Because it is governmental funding, we do have requirements that we have to cross off," she said. "We're doing what we can to help people along the process."

Money was also more easily obtained elsewhere, she said.

"The PPP loans were easier to obtain than ours," Pasheluk said. "Weve had a little bit of competition."

Local food truck owner and operator LaToya Gardner received funding through the RLF to help with operating expenses and job creation and retention for her business, Gardner Gains LLC. The company, which operates Holy Rolly Charleston Food Truck and Catering, was able to purchase a second mobile food unit.

We were looking to expand our food truck business," Gardner said. "Our loan administrator, Melanie, was responsive and proactive in walking us through the paperwork and the loan was funded in a timely fashion."

Pasheluk can be reached at 843-529-2573 or melaniep@bcdcog.com. To learn more about BCDCOG Cares Revolving Loan Fund or to begin the application process, visit bcdcog.com/bcdcogcares.
NORTH CHARLESTON  Democrats from across the state and country braved a cold, steady rain Nov. 6 to celebrate the Blue Jamboree, the Charleston County Democratic Party's largest fundraiser of the year.

Doug Jones, a former U.S. senator from Alabama, rallied South Carolina Democrats rattled by bruising losses in the off-year elections, including a big win for Republicans in the Virginia governor's race.

"How many times have we heard in the past that, you know, Democrats are dead, we're going to give them a red tsunami, Democrats are panicking," Jones said. "Nobody's panicking. We're just determined. We're not deterred. You're here on this rainy day because you are not deterred."

Jones received a round of applause when he brought up the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. House shortly before midnight Friday.

An important part of President Joe Biden's agenda, the bipartisan bill provides billions of federal dollars to repair the nation's roads and bridges, expand public transit and increase internet access in rural areas.

"Democrats have seized this moment. As has been said, this has not been just another infrastructure week  we got it done," Jones said, alluding to former President Donald Trump's attempt to pass a similar bill. "And we've seized this moment to not only invest in the infrastructure, but to do it in a way that tackles the growing threat of climate change in this country."

Other speakers included Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham and state Sen. Mia McLeod, who's running for governor along with Cunningham.

Greg Perry, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party, said the Blue Jamboree was an opportunity to bring Democrats from across the state together to be empowered and energized.

After some highs and lows this week, Perry said he felt the party was "delayed, but not denied."

"We may not have what we want right now," he said. "But we are surely going to fight, and we're going to get what we need."
The National Weather Services Charleston office has issued a coastal flood advisory for Charleston and coastal Colleton counties.

The advisory will be in effect from 8 p.m. through 11 p.m. Nov. 5, according to an alert.

Up to a half-foot of inundation above ground level is expected along shorelines and tidal waterways before and after high tide occurs around 9 p.m.

The tide is expected to peak at 7.1 feet, placing it in the threshold for minor flooding. The Charleston area was forecast to see rain through Nov. 7, possibly worsening potential flooding.

Tides have been higher than average this week because of a perfect combination of astronomical influences and a storm system passing over coastal waters around the same time as high tide, meteorologist Courtney Maskell said.

Maskell warned residents on Nov. 4 not to drive through standing water. In addition to being unsafe, saltwater is particularly damaging to vehicles, she said.

The advisory comes hours before a coastal flood watch will be in effect through the morning of Nov. 6, according to the weather service.

Major coastal flooding is anticipated during the morning high tide of 8.6 feet at 9:40 a.m. Flooding could occur for five or six hours. Rainfall is also forecast during the morning and evening high tides that day, potentially exacerbating effects, according to the weather service.

Charleston police officers and firefighters were preparing Nov. 5 for the flooding event by pre-positioning barricades and ensuring high water vehicles were staffed, city spokesman Jack O'Toole said in a news release.
Iris Howe is filled with emotion as she etches her grandfather's name in stone.

Manuel Lifchez died October 2020 at age 93. A year after his death, Howe didn't expect his passing to still impact her in this way. But there's something about carving her grandfather's name into his tombstone that reminds Howe of his presence.

Howe, a student at the American College of the Building Arts in downtown Charleston, felt similarly when the gravestone, a 3-inch Welch slate, was unveiled during a ceremony in Columbia. There, Howe and her family installed the tombstone at her loved one's final resting place.

"I felt really connected to my grandfather," she said.

The centuries-old art of hand carving gravestones became a dying practice after the Civil War, when new technology was introduced to mass-produce headstones in response to the war's massive death toll.

While many of those committed to preserving the art practice live in New England, there are a handful of sculptors in South Carolina committed to hand carving memorials, finding it a more meaningful and personal way to honor the dead.

Nationally, cemeteries have become more homogenized and have used granite headstones with sandblasted letters.

This is done not only to produce more grave stones in shorter time spans, but also for the structures to withstand the the impact of yard-maintenance tools, such as weed trimmers, said professor Joseph Kincannon, who teaches stone carving and masonry at ACBA.

Some cemeteries have taken it a step further as to use metal plaques to mark graves.

"They're eliminating stones altogether," he said.

Uniformed rows of grave markers have replaced specially crafted stones. This is unfortunate because, in Kincannon's experience, the cemeteries that receive the most preservation attention are those populated with gravestones produced by hand.

Kincannon worked previously in Texas, where there had been a concerted effort to preserve African American cemeteries. Here, handcrafted stones marking graves of the enslaved were overshadowed by overgrown weeds.

The cemeteries that draw the most attention and therefore the community efforts to restore them, are the ones that have sculptural carving and are lettered by individuals," he said. "Some of them are not professionally great lettering jobs. But they draw so much interest because it's something we can relate to. It's something we all feel we can do. Thats the beauty of it.

In the Upstate near Greenville, David Gillespie started Pumpkintown Primitives in 2000, a businesses that specializes in hand-carved slate tombstones. Gillespie's fifth-great-grandfather was a stone carver in the 1780s. The ancestor never passed the skill on to his descendants, Gillespie said, so the Upstate resident learned it himself.

Gillespie does about eight to 10 stones a year, using chisels and mallets. The gravestones will last 300 to 400 years, he said. Most of his clients are families who appreciate history, he said.

I think there's a lot more artistry that comes out in the in the hand-carved stones versus the machine-produced," he said. "Not to take anything away from those who do machine-carved stones. Its a livelihood. You can't fault them for that.  But I think the end result is of a much higher caliber, as far as the artistry goes.

Gillespie has a special affinity for the Charleston area because the city has, in his opinion, the greatest collection of slate gravestones. He pointed out the cemeteries at Circular Congregational Church and St. John's Lutheran.

It was a during a childhood visit to Circular when Gillespie was first inspired by the art.

"That right there hooked me," he said.

Gillespie said he is only one of two individuals he knows of who does this work full time in South Carolina. There are about a dozen or so nationwide, he said.

Gillespie works to inspire others. He's done several lectures at the college on stone carving, along with live demonstrations at events in Summerville.

"I just praise the Lord for the privilege," he said. "The Lord has given me a gift. I just want to praise him with it."

Howe intends to pursue the work after college. This summer, she hopes to get some professional experience. She intends to work as a stone carver at a cathedral in York, England.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
A year after federal officials gave Joseph Floyd Manor a failing grade, conditions have not improved.

There are several questions that need to be answered regarding the 13-story apartment building.

How was the 2006 $1.4 million loan allocated?

How much money does the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provide to the apartment building annually?

Why did it take 17 months to hire a new permanent executive director?

Did they install an updated heating system? If not, why and where are the funds that were allocated for this purpose?

Has the authority sold the 18 housing units, known as the scattered sites, and raised $2.4 million? If not, whats the timing?

Who oversees the buildings budget and can the public access this financial information?

Why hasnt the building been condemned?

Someone needs to answer these questions to help us understand what is happening.

DARRAH CATHERMAN

Charleston

Dr. Stuart is a hero

I appreciate Mondays Post and Courier article about Dr. Robert Stuart.

Dr. Stuart is a hero who has helped and cared for so many South Carolina residents with his work at Hollings Cancer Center.

As I approach my 3-year anniversary of a bone marrow transplant done under the guidance of Dr. Stuart, I was delighted to reflect on his diligent efforts to create a world-class treatment center in Charleston.

When the staff at Hollings informed me and my family of the need for a bone marrow transplant, Dr. Stuart gave us courage and confidence that we could overcome the disease.

He took time to explain the

procedures to me and my wife,

Laurie. He also shared his experience going through his wife Charlenes diagnosis and subsequent recovery.

Dr. Stuarts research and experience is the main reason I get to celebrate my 3rd birthday.

Dr. Stuart has the ability to connect with the sickest patients while addressing their concerns.

His quick wit and his great outlook gave my family and me the stability, courage, hope and comfort to work and live through the challenges of battling cancer.

I thank Dr. Stuart for his dedication to the thousands of families throughout our state in establishing a world-class treatment center.

Enjoy your travels, Dr. Stuart.

KEITH MAYFIELD

Charleston

More UFO disclosure

It can be argued that the media has not devoted enough space to the subject of unidentified flying objects.

Only recently, the government has disclosed more information than it did over the last half of the 20th century.

Leslie Kean, author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record, has been helpful in clarifying the information and the mystery as well as urging the government to provide better disclosure.

The observations and quotes of reliable people give the reader a splendid source in providing background on the subject.

JOHN WINTHROP

Charleston

Cash for immigrants

So the Democrats want to pay $450,000 to illegal immigrants? Emphasis on the word illegal. How do you like your president now? Fail. Big fail.

LEISA LAWRENCE

Charleston

Editors note: A previous edited version of this letter did not reflect the full extent of Ms. Lawrences views.
Across two spending packages being offered by the federal government, Guam could stand to receive anywhere from $1.5 billion to nearly $2 billion. Read more
Does anyone recall the good old days of 2020, before the price of gasoline rose some 50 percent? We were maximizing the production of energy in the United States as a matter of national policy. Something happened in January 2021.

Biden Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm addressed the rising cost of gasoline yesterday in a Bloomberg interview (video below). Is there anything to be done? That is hilarious, she said and showed just how funny she found it. She seems to have taken a lesson or two from Kamala Harris in the department of fake laughter.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm laughs when asked about Biden's plans to bring gas prices down. "Ha ha ha. That is hilarious!" pic.twitter.com/0V0XCsVqDc  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 5, 2021

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journals James Freeman took up the Grahnolm hilarity in his Best of the Web column yesterday:

[I]t wouldnt take a magic wand to encourage more production in the U.S., which is blessed with vast untapped reserves of oil. Step one for Team Biden might be to stop urging Congress to spend more than half a trillion dollars to discourage the use of fossil fuels in favor of alternative energy sources. A strategy might also include approving pipelines instead of cancelling them, and approving rather than suspending oil leases on federal land in Alaska. Surely Ms. Granholm has figured out by now that the more global market share U.S. oil producers take, the less power OPEC has to set prices. During Fridays interview, perhaps Ms. Granholm simply couldnt help but laugh at the contradictions in her energy agenda. When she wasnt on camera lamenting that OPEC wouldnt agree to pump more oil, she was proposing costly schemes intended to offset such production [citing this Reuters story quoting Grahnolm about poison[ing] of the atmosphere by carbon dioxide]. In the meantime, she and Mr. Biden are urging petro-dictators to make even more poison. Come to think of it, maybe this nonsensical policy really is kind of hilarious.

Freemans column fleshes out the point I was trying to make above.
To the extent that wokeism was a significant factor in Tuesdays electionwhich it was, but not the only major factorit was not thanks to national Republican leaders, with a few notable exceptions. Much of the agitation against the racism-all-the-way-down narrative that now defines the Democratic Party arose from the grassroots, and the substantive work above all of Christopher Rufo. DC Republicans and Beltway conservative institutions were comparatively supine and ineffectual throughout.

It would be good if the GOP nominee in 2024 makes this Democratic derangement one of the centerpieces of the general election campaign. Right now, too many Republicans, still gun-shy of being called a racist, are content to sit back and let the left overreach. This is insufficient for the showdown that is necessary. Im reminded of the old joke from the late 1960s and early 1970s, where a liberal cleric in church told about having been mugged, but that despite the experience, he was still a liberal with compassion for the downtrodden. From a pew in the back of the congregation, an elderly woman called out, Mug him again!

Democrats need to get mugged several more times at the ballot box before they will begin to shed their toxic doctrines.

Second, the progressive left is clearly going to double down on all-racism-all-the-time. Im starting to think that Ibram X.Kendi (ne, Henry Rogers), Robin DiAngelo, and the CRT virus were engineered in a secret leftist-gain-of-function laboratory run by Steve Bannon. Lots of liberals actually agree with this, but remain too cowardly to do anything about it, which would start with firing most of the staff of the diversity, equity, and inclusion offices in our universities. (Prediction: at some point, perhaps several years or more from now, universities will slowly start changing the name of these divisions, and then slowly start to shrink them by attrition.)

Third, it should not be overlooked that another significant factor in this election was a reaction against the governments COVID overreaction. Some day this will all end (I think), and Republicans will need to fight anew to hold on to some of the swing voters who defaulted to them in this election. As Glenn Reynolds likes to say, dont get cocky.
Tonight (Friday), the House passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure that the Senate passed months ago. It will now go to the White House and Joe Biden will sign it into law.

The vote was 228-206. According to this report, 13 Republicans voted in favor of the bill. Six leftist Democrats  Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib (the four original squad members), Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman  voted against it. Had the Republicans stood unanimously against the bill, six Dem defections would have defeated it.

However, it seemed almost inevitable that, with this much Republican support, the infrastructure bill would eventually be enacted. Leaving more than a trillion dollars on the table when there was a clear path to appropriating it struck me as an implausible scenario. Im surprised it took so long to get it done.

The key to getting it done was, I assume, the election on Tuesday. Thats the Washington Posts view:

[I]t was the Democratic Partys unexpected struggles in two key elections Tuesday that provided the most resonant catalyst for action. A loss in Virginias gubernatorial race, and a tighter-than-expected victory in the fight for the governors mansion in New Jersey, left Democrats reeling and ready to forge ahead on their long-stalled priorities.

In the cold light of these results, many Democrats also must have figured out that the strategy of holding the infrastructure bill hostage to getting their way on a reconciliation package wasnt going to work. Joe Manchin calls the shots on reconciliation, and he simply wasnt going to be held hostage.

As for reconciliation, the radical House Dems received a fig leaf from the less radical members of their caucus. In exchange for their votes in favor of the infrastructure bill, they were promised a vote on reconciliation by November 15, providing the spending plan does not add to the deficit.

I may be missing something, but this promise seems almost meaningless. For one thing, its far from certain that, by November 15, an objective analysis by the CBO will show that the spending plan in question wont add to the deficit.

More importantly, House passage of a reconciliation package would, itself, be meaningless unless Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are on board in the Senate. Theres no reason to believe that promises to that effect were made.

Nonetheless, given what happened on Tuesday, the conditional promise of a vote by November 15 was enough to win over most of the progressive caucus.

A discussion of the infrastructure bill itself is beyond the scope of this report. However, I think this part of the Posts discussion is worth highlighting:

The bill includes more than $110 billion to replace and repair roads, bridges and highways, and $66 billion to boost rail, making it the most substantial such investment in the countrys passenger and commercial network since the creation of Amtrak about half a century ago. Lawmakers provided $55 billion to improve the nations water supply and replace lead pipes, $60 billion to modernize the power grid and billions [note: $65 billion, according to this report] in additional sums to expand speedy Internet access nationwide.

These are the components that legitimately constitute infrastructure. Add them up and, if my math is correct, you account for only about one-fourth of the total amount being appropriated, and only a little more than half of the new spending ($550 billion).

UPDATE: The 13 Republicans who voted in favor of the infrastructure bill are: Brian Fitzpatrick, Don Bacon, Don Young, Fred Upton, Adam Kinzinger, Jeff Van Drew, John Katko, Tom Reed, Andrew Garbarino, Nicole Malliotakis, Chris Smith, David McKinley, and Anthony Gonzalez.
Sometimes, Stan Evans liked to say when conservatives scored a big win, you just have to take the sweet with the sweet. And Tuesdays election results were pretty sweet indeed. And the lefts reaction on MSNBC and in the rest of the media remind me of the New Yorker cartoon of the two dogs at the bar, where one dog says, Its not enough that dogs succeed; cats must also fail. In this case, it is not enough to win just about everything; we also must get the treat of watching the left freak out and double down on racism, etc.

Headlines of the week (starting with, please never change MSCBC):

And finally. . .
Dataphyte Limited, a research and analytics company and publishers of Nigerias leading data journalism platform, says it has signed a content cooperation partnership with global data firm, Statista Ltd.

The partnership gives Statista access to data and reports made available by Dataphyte through its acknowledged data portal and socio-economic reporting platform. The partnership will expand Statistas commitment to providing real-time insightful data from Africas largest economy to the global audience.

The agreement is part of Statistas series of cooperation agreements targeted at increasing data about Africas social, economic and political ecosystem on its global online business platform, the firm said.

Dataphytes mission to increase access to socioeconomic data of Nigeria and beyond connects with this vision of Statista of offering real-time data to support businesses and researchers with neatly curated data and actionable insights. This partnership coincides with the time Dataphyte itself is launching the first of its kind data merchant platform to reach beyond the shores of Nigeria.

Dataphyte brings valuable insight into Nigeria to the Statista platform. As we expand our coverage on Africa, we look to great partners like Dataphyte to keep our readers informed about the state of the nation in numbers. Together, we look forward to sharing more insights and facts on the topics that take us deeper into Nigerias story of development, said Christopher Ekwuruke, Strategic Data Partnerships, Statista, said.

Dataphyte has a vast database of socioeconomic and development focused data from Nigeria which it updates regularly. Some of the data is sold on its data merchandise website and explanatory articles published on its news website, Dataphyte.com.

Dataphyte is Nigerias niche media, data and analytics organisation with the tripartite mission to provide access to Africas socio-economic and development data, to offer data-driven insights and analyses that support public and private sector decision making, and to train the next generation of data service professionals through its data science education.

The data journalism platform provides data insights and analyses of the Nigerian economy, security and socio-political and development themes.

The website also provides data-driven solutions, fact-checking and advocacy content through compelling conversations, visualisations and other multimedia communication. Dataphyte also runs Dataplex and Open store as web platforms dedicated to offering paid and free socioeconomic and financial data.

With more than one million statistics, Statista is one of the worlds leading data platforms for strategic market analysis, statistics and editorial research results.

Statista.com offers direct access to data on 80,000 topics and 170 industries from over 22,500 sources. 1.5 million registered users get access to reliable, quantitative facts, which are compiled according to scientific standards from aggregated data, exclusive secondary sources and own surveys.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has said that legislative autonomy is no licence for the House of Assembly speakers to misappropriate state funds and divide the people of the state.

Mr Lalong said this on Friday in Calabar during a valedictory session organised in honour of the late speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Mike Ogar.

He said the autonomy being enjoyed by about 15 legislative and judicial arms of government today was fought for by some speakers, including the deceased.

Today, there is autonomy for some state legislatures and judiciary but it is not a licence for arrogance or embezzlement of funds.

And when the people ask for accountability you start running to one civil society organisation or the other to defend you.

Everybody blames the governor but there is a limit to what the governor can do in ensuring that bills are passed because he does not sit in the House with the members, he said.

Mr Lalong, who is the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, said late Mr Ogar did his best to promote good governance, democracy and development.

He described him as a reliable politician.

The governor announced his adoption of Mr Ogars last son, promising to sponsor his studies at the University of Calabar as his support to the bereaved family.

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State called on Nigerians to reflect on their lives as everyone would leave this world someday.

Our wealth should not be measured by the amount we have in our bank accounts but the number of lives we have touched positively.

We should all learn from Ogar and apply moderation in all aspects of our lives, the number of our degrees does not matter but the degree of our souls at the end.

His death calls for the renewal of our faith and goodness of our souls.

The perfection of values to mankind is the ultimate value of our lives.

We should reflect on Ogars lifestyle and let humanity be our ultimate religion, Mr Ayade said.

In a remark, the Speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, said it was the first time the state would lose a presiding officer of the house in office since the return of democratic rule.

Mr Williams said the House would always remember the deceased for the unique, purposeful and dynamic leadership style he introduced in the legislature.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Mr Ogar, who died on August 30 at the age of 63, presided over the House between 2000 and 2003 and represented Bekwarra State Constituency.

(NAN)
Election officials and voters in the ongoing Anambra governorship election have largely ignored precautionary measures against COVID-19 despite warnings by Nigerian health agencies for compliance.

PREMIUM TIMES observed that most voters in Dunukofia, Awka North, Awka South, Anambra East, Anambra West, Onitsha South, Onitsha North, Aguata and many other local government areas were not adhering to the prescribed two metres physical distancing rule by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Most of the voters gathered in large clusters without wearing facemasks as they contended with the several cases of malfunction of the Biomodal Voters Authentication System (BVAS).

Also, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were mostly not wearing facemasks too and they did not use infrared thermometers to check voters temperature which part of the COVID-19 measures for such public gathering.

Hand sanitiser were also barely used as observed by our reporters.

At PU 005 in St. Peters Primary School 2, Amawbia 2 in Awka South LGA, voters could be seen struggling to get accredited without face masks.

It is the same situation in many other polling units where elections on Saturday in the state.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 in Nigeria continues to spread as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria shows over 212,000 confirmed cases.

More than 2, 900 people have also died from the disease.
Today, residents of Anambra State will go to the polls to elect a governor in what promises to be a very competitive election.

The November 6 governorship election is the first state-wide election to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2021.

Security in the state has deteriorated over the past few months, threatening the election in a manner unseen in the region and the country in general. Political parties said their campaign activities have been virtually nonexistent as a result of the fear of violent attacks from the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

On Thursday, IPOB announced that it has cancelled its one week sit-at-home earlier declared in Anambra State. Despite the cancellation analysts said the fear is still palpable as IPOBs sit-at-home order has been so successful that even when the group lifts the ban, residents still sit-at-home either out of solidarity or to err on the side of caution.

PREMIUM TIMES in partnership with its sister organisation, PTCIJ, will bring you a comprehensive coverage of the election.

Here are 10 major things to know about the election:

1. New Polling units

Saturdays governorship election is the first state-wide elections to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since the expansion of voter access to polling units by INEC.

According to INEC, the expansion of voter access to polling units resulted in the creation of 1,112 new polling units from the existing polling units in the state, making balloting more accessible to voters and less likely to be encumbered by lengthy queues.

This, the electoral Commission said, is to improve citizens access and participation in the electoral process.

Such innovations, as well as INECs introduction of online voter registration, have partially aided in reassuring the public of the commissions preparedness to conduct credible elections.

But despite the initiative, Yiaga Africa, a non-profit civic hub, said it is concerned that there are 963 polling units with between 750 and 1,000 registered voters. With the likely shortfall in the number of polling officials, the high number of registered voters in these polling units may pose a major challenge for crowd control and effective management of the polling units on election day, the organisation said.

2. Declining Turnout of voters

Since the restoration of democracy in 1999, governorship elections in Anambra have never witnessed up to 50 per cent voter turnout except in 2007 which was massively rigged, according to the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).

PREMIUM TIMES review of the previous elections shows a progressive decline in voters turnout since 2007.

Of the 1.84 million registered voters in Anambra state for the 2010 governorship election, only 302,000 voted, a miserly 16 per cent voter turnout. In 2013, a total of 1, 770,127 were registered, but only 465,891 voted, representing 24 per cent.

Less than a quarter of the total number of registered voters participated in the 2017 election. Out of 2,064,134 residents registered as eligible voters for the election, only 457, 511 voted, representing 21 per cent.

Aside from Anambra, voter turnout keeps declining despite millions of money spent on elections in Nigeria.

3. Massive Deployment of Security Agents

Following President Muhammadu Buharis order, the security agencies assured INEC and citizens of adequate security for the election.

Last week, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, deployed two deputy inspectors-general of police (DIG) and five assistant inspectors-general of police (AIG) to Anambra to help ensure adequate security for the Saturdays election.

He said 14 commissioners of police, 31 deputy commissioners of police, and 48 assistant commissioners of police have also been deployed to the state.

Based on the outcome of their analysis, the IGP also said we have developed a strategic election security operation plan which will involve the mobilisation of 34,587 police personnel.

4. 2.5 million registered voters

In early October, INEC said it had registered a total of 2,525,471 voters for the Anambra governorship elections.

INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, said the commission arrived at the new figure after removing 62,698 persons from the total of 138,802 new registrants recorded at the end of the first quarter of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise on 5 September.

While the number of the new eligible CVR registrants stands at 77,475, Anambra State, as of the 2019 General Election, accounted for 2,447,996 registered voters.

INEC further said that 50.3 per cent are females while 49.6 per cent are males. Also, the highest voting population are students who make up about 48 per cent of registered voters while Idemili North Local Government Area has the highest number of registered voters.

5. Logistics arrangements especially in Riverine communities:

The electoral umpire, INEC, was widely lauded for its conduct of last years governorship elections held in Edo and Ondo states. The commission has historically battled significant logistical challenges in Anambra, raising concern about the potential credibility of the electoral outcome.

In its pre-election report, Yiaga calls the attention of INEC and security agencies to notorious blind spots and riverine communities that could pose a logistical challenge and undermine the integrity of the election.

To ensure the early commencement of polls in those areas, Yiaga said INEC should ensure timely deployment of its officials and materials and improved security to safeguard election materials and officials.

Improved oversight is required to ensure consistency in the application of election guidelines.

6. Potential threats to the safety of voters, observers, election officials and materials:

As mentioned above, the Anambra election will be held under unusual circumstances. The activities of so-called unknown gunmen and IPOB could affect the conduct of the election, according to CDD.

The series of attacks by unknown gunmen, often attributed to IPOB and seemingly targeting the key state institution involved in conducting elections, CDD said, will sustain a heightened level of apprehension among INEC staff and the general public in the election.

Yiaga noted in its report that the pre-election period was fraught with violence emanating from inter-communal conflicts, activities of assailants/cult groups and increased activities of secessionist groups in the geo-political zone.

The organisation urges security agencies to be non-partisan and professional in the discharge of their duties and ensure a safe Anambra State for voters to exercise their civic right in choosing the next governor of the state.

Yiaga Africa also expects that the deployment of security in Anambra will be distributed across all polling units and not limited to selected locations.

7. Deployment of New Technology

INEC will be deploying the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a replacement to the Smart Card Reader. The BVAS is a voter accreditation technology that uses both fingerprints and facial recognition.

INEC expects that the BVAS will add to the credibility of the accreditation process and reduce the number of instances where a voter is disenfranchised due to the failure of the SCR to scan a set of fingerprints.

8. Political Parties and Candidates

There are 18 registered political parties participating in the November 6 Anambra election, according to INEC.

The final register of voters was presented to the 18 registered political parties participating in the election, the commission said in October.

The published list shows that Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), along with 15 other candidates  all male  are vying for the governorship position.

There are, however, seven females vying for deputy governorship positions, INEC said.

9. Intra-Party Crisis

Since the build-up to the governorship race, there has been controversy among political parties, with possible implications for the conduct and outcome of the elections. APGA, the ruling party in the state, until recently had three candidates  Chukwuma Soludo, Chukwuma Michael Umeoji, and Jude Okeke  claiming to be the partys rightful flag bearer in the upcoming election, after each won separate primaries conducted by different factions of the party. Following a series of court suits and countersuits, the Supreme Court in October affirmed Mr Soludo as APGAs gubernatorial candidate.

Also, PDP, which dominated Anambra State politics until 2006, held two factional primaries producing two separate candidates : Valentine Ozigbo, and Ugochukwu Uba. The dispute within the PDP has also resulted in several court hearings, with the courts ultimately permitting INEC to recognize Mr Ozigbo as the rightful PDP candidate.

Similarly, the APC, the ruling party at the federal level, had controversial primaries  with Andy Ubah emerging as the winner of direct primaries, only to be challenged in court by his closest rival, George Moghalu, before INEC ultimately affirmed the formers victory.

Barring any last minute surprises, it appears that Mr Soludo of APGA, Valentine Ozibo of the PDP and Andy Uba of the APC will be the leading contenders in Saturdays election.

10. INEC Preparedness

Aside from creation of the new polling units and introduction of new technologies, INEC appears to have recovered from direct attacks to its offices and the commission has said it is in a position to organise the polls.

The CDD said this is fairly conceivable given previous experience gained in 2015 and 2019 by INEC and security agencies in holding elections in highly volatile regions, including in parts of Borno and other North-eastern states threatened by insurgent groups.

The fact of this being an off-cycle election will also make possible the substantial deployment of Civic and Election observer groups from elsewhere in the country, which will contribute to reinforcing the integrity of the polls. While the ongoing training of electoral officers and ad hoc staff will also contribute to shaping the conduct of the elections.

The group added that INECs wider record of preparations suggests that the commission is likely positioned to carry out, at least, moderately credible poll.
No fewer than five people have died while several other persons sustained varying degree of injuries as a kerosene-laden tank exploded at popular Kubwa Village Market in Abuja.

The incident happened, Friday night, at the junction leading to the L.E.A Primary School, Jaji Street, and few metres away from St Luke Catholic Church.

When the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) arrived at the scene, bodies of the victims were being evacuated by the combined team of officers of the Nigerian police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire Service, among others. The inferno, which gutted the adjoining shops in the area, had been extinguished by the officials of the fire service.

A witness, Chima Nnamdi, told NAN that the sad event occurred at about 7:15 p.m.

Mr Nnamdi said he had, so far, counted at least five bodies, some of which were burnt beyond recognition.

He said several other people, who sustained injuries, had been taken to Kubwa General Hospital.

He said that the kerosene might be an adulterated product.

Another witness, who simply called herself as Jennifer, said the kerosene seller and her two children also died in the fire incident.

The Kubwa Police Area Commander, ACP Mohammed Shebe, who confirmed the incident, debunked the rumour that it was a bomb explosion.

You can see it yourself, he said as he flashed a torchlight to the kerosene tank which allegedly caused the explosion.

According to him, it was a kerosene surface tank that exploded.

That is what brought the inferno, he added.

He said though he could not tell if the kerosene was adulterated, four bodies had so far been evacuated from the scene.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, told NAN in a telephone interview that she was yet to be briefed about the sad occurrence as of the time of filing the report.

(NAN)
On November 6, a new governor would be elected as the successor to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State.

Since electioneering began in the state, candidates of the various political parties have been making promises to win the hearts and votes of the people of the state.

Today, Anambra is the only state in Nigeria not being governed by the two major political parties in the country, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is controlled by the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

In the last few months, the major political parties whose candidates have been campaigning include Young Progressive Party (YPP), APGA, PDP, APC, Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and African Democratic Party (ADC).

The governorship race of the state has been made quite dramatic amid keenly contested primaries, serious security issues compounded by the threats by secessionist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and the historical rivalry among bigwigs in the state.

Unlike most other states in the country, Anambra observes a stand-alone, off-cycle, governorship election due to the peculiarity of its governance history and the roles of the influential politicians who wielded power and ruled the state in the past.

Historical Insight

Godfatherism is an integral part of Anambra politics. Since the return to democracy in 1999, the state has been under the grip of sundry political godfathers who called the shots either directly or by proxy. Over the years, political actors and their estranged political godfathers have always struggled for the control of the states political, and by extension, governance architecture.

Between 1999 and 2003, the godfather-godson political kerfuffle began with Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Emeka Offor, a businessman who sought to control the politics of the state at the time. In 2003, Chris Ngige took over the mantle of leadership as governor and was locked in a war of survival with his godfather, Chris Uba.

Between 2006 and 2011, Governor Peter Obi ruled the state with the support of political figures, notably Emeka Ojukwu. Although Mr Ojukwu died in 2011, Mr Obi remained a notable force in the politics of the state both as governor and as one whom many analysts thought would provide political direction after the demise of Mr Ojukwu. In 2014, upon the expiration of his tenure, Mr Obi supported Willie Obiano as governor but things fell apart between the duo shortly after Mr Obiano was elected governor. When he sought re-election in November 2017, Mr Obiano of APGA had parted ways with Mr Obi, who had defected to the PDP.

Meanwhile, closely related to godfatherism is the peculiar nature of governorship elections in Anambra State. In many states across Nigeria, guber elections are held alongside presidential elections on a four-year interval. Since the inception of the fourth republic, general elections have been held in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011,2015, and 2019.

But in Anambra (and other states with similar peculiarities like Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Bayelsa and Edo), elections into the seat of the governor have been held as stand-alone since 2010.

Why Stand-alone?

First off, it must be noted that in Nigeria, Anambra State is the only state that paraded five governors under controversial circumstances between 1999 and 2007, including one who spent just 14 days in office.

Chinwoke Mbadinuju governed from May 29, 1999, to May 29, 2003, under the banner of the PDP. In May 2003, Chris Ngige of the PDP was elected governor and was in office until March 17, 2006. Mr Ngige had a running battle with his godfather, Mr Uba, culminating in his removal from office afterwards.

On March 17, 2006, Mr Obi of APGA was declared governor by the courts. He governed the state until November 3, 2006, when he was impeached by the state assembly for alleged misconducts.

Virginia Etiaba would later govern Anambra between November 3, 2006, and February 9, 2007. She was appointed to replace Mr Obi. She transferred her powers back to Mr Obi three months later after the appeal court nullified Mr Obis impeachment by the state assembly.

Mr Obi would rule again from February 9, 2007, to May 29, 2007.

Quite dramatically, on May 29, 2007, Mr Uba was sworn in as governor of the state, having been elected some months prior. But on June 14, 2007, Mr Uba was removed from office by a Supreme Court decision after governing the state for 14 days.

Finally, Mr Obi returned as governor and governed until March 17, 2014, when his anointed successor, Mr Obiano, was sworn in as governor.

Mr Obiano will thus complete his two terms on March 16, 2022, when he will leave office and be replaced by the winner of Saturdays election.

The dramatic twists and turns in the political and electoral history of the state account for why Anambra conducts stand-alone elections for the governorship seat.
Despite the deployment of over 34,000 police officers to Anambra for Saturdays governorship election, many of the polling units in the state were without police presence as of 9:30 a.m. PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Apart from the police announcing the deployment of 34,58q17 operatives to Anambra, the civil defence (NSCDC), the army, SSS and other security agencies also deployed thousands of officers to the state.

However, many of the over 5,000 polling units in the state, including those in Aguata Local Government Area, had no police presence Saturday morning.

PREMIUM TIMES visited polling units in Umuona, Ekwulobia, and Isuofia, all of which had the same issues despite a significant turnout of voters.

At PU 002, Ofiyi Square, Isuofia, Aguata LGA, where APGA candidate Chukwuma Soludo is expected to vote, there was no security official at the unit as of 9:30 a.m. Officials of the electoral commission, INEC, were, however, present.

The Presiding Officer of the polling unit, Idris Hassan, told PREMIUM TIMES that he and his team were not accompanied by any officer while transporting election materials from the RAC to the PU.

Observers from this newspaper have visited not less than 12 PUs within Isuofia and none was manned by security officers as of 9:30 a.m.

However, the INEC centres, RACs, as well as INEC LGA headquarters were filled with security officers, suggesting that the problem was how to get vehicles to convey the security officials to their units.

More details will be provided later.
Voters in Anambra State, Nigerias South-east, overcame their initial fear and came out to cast their vote in the crucial governorship election.

The election has been peaceful so far.

Apart from voting being delayed in some areas because of logistics challenges, there have been technical hitches at some polling units, with the INECs Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) not functioning properly.

BVAS is INECs new introduction to help eliminate voters impersonation in the Anambra election.

In some other areas, the voters cast their votes smoothly and the numbers counted.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters are in the different local government areas in Anambra State to bring to you the election results from the various polling units.




A Nigerian diplomat and a lawmaker have both criticised INECs handling of the Anambra governorship election, especially the use of the Bimodal Voters Authentication System (BVAS).

The two men, who spoke in separate interviews, are members of rival political parties.

Dozie Nwankwo, who represents Njikoka/Anaocha/Dunukofia federal constituency of Anambra State in the House of Reps, is a member of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and a staunch supporter of its candidate, Charles Soludo.

On the other hand, Elijah Onyeagba is the Nigerian ambassador to Burundi and also the leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Njikoka Local Government Area.

Both men are from Enugu-ukwu town in Njikoka local government.

Speaking shortly after casting his vote in his polling unit 004, Ward 3 of Enugu-Ukwu town, Mr Onyeagba said the slow and malfunctioning of BVAs is not acceptable as it has resulted in many eligible voters being disenfranchised.

As you can see, many voters who have stood under this scorching sun have grown tired and are leaving and this is not acceptable. Anambra is the guinea pig for this BVAs platform, the ambassador told PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists and observers present.

Mr Onyeagba appealed to INEC to allow manual accreditation as the BVA technology seems to have failed.

He said a lot of work needs to be done to make the BVA efficient for subsequent elections.

In his reaction, Mr Nwankwo, the lawmaker, said it is sabotage on the part of INEC not to rectify any issue that will cause hitches during the election despite repeated promises to do so.

The lawmaker spoke shortly after casting his vote Saturday afternoon at PU003 Ebe Enuagu Hall, Enugu-Ukwu Ward 001, in Enugu-Ukwu town of Njikoka local government. He rued the long hours he spent on the queue due to the malfunctioning BVAs and network hitches that made him and others try many times before they were accredited.

The process is not going well. The machine is not working. INEC is the one sabotaging the election.

Imagine a polling unit of over 1000 registered voters, only 20 voters have been able to vote, Mr Nwankwo told PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists present.

At the National Assembly, we never voted against electronic voting. Its good but INEC is sabotaging the election, he said

INEC had promised to rectify the challenges witnessed with the newly introduced BVAs at a runoff election in Delta State two months ago.

BVAs are said to be more efficient than smart card readers as it enables human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters.

However, in many polling units observed by our reporters, the machines malfunctioned and did not authenticate many voters fingerprints, as well as facial recognition, making the entire process slow and cumbersome.

Many potential voters returned home due to frustration with the slow pace of voting and accreditation caused by the malfunctioning BVAs.

The commission called for an emergency press conference in Awka, Anambra State capital by 2 p.m. to address the challenges with the BVAs and other issues.
Officers of a faction of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA), led by Camilus Ukah as President, have been restrained by a court from conducting the 40th National Convention of the association as the crisis rupturing the association remains unresolved.

The judge, OA Musa, also barred the executives from parading themselves as elected officials until the matter is heard.

According to the court papers displayed on the ANA National Forum, seven claimants in a suit with No:FCT/HC/CV/2613/2021, filed at the Federal Hight Court in Abuja on October 25, obtained an order of interim injunction against the registered trustees of the association and its 18-member exco from identifying and parading themselves as officers of ANA and from holding the upcoming national convention, which was billed for this week at the Writers Village, Abuja.

Unresolved crisis

Two writers, Ahmed Maiwada and Mr Ukah, are laying claim to the leadership of the association of authors.

The two have engaged in a bitter battle of supremacy over the last few months to shore up their support bases despite attempts by various groups to mediate.

A third group also exists, which does not recognise the two and this has further polarised the association.

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported the genesis and reasons for the crisis and how this has worsened.

This newspaper also reported how attempts by the associations advisory council to intervene were unsuccessful.

Suit

The claimants in the suit are Halima Usman, Anthony Onuga, Eze Collins Ofoma, Friday Onah, Change Msurshima Comfor, Godwin Alapa and Charles Iwuchukwu.

They had pleaded with the court to restrain the Ukah-led exco from holding any public gathering for any matter concerning ANA.

Parallel conventions

This newspaper had reported how both claimants held parallel conventions in 2020.

While the Maiwada group held its convention in Awka, Anambra State, between December 10 and 12, the Ukah group held its earlier between December 3 and 6 in Ilorin, Kwara State, where it said it took decisions concerning its status.

At the Maiwada groups convention, Bode Sowande was reportedly appointed as the new ANA BOT chairman alongside Yaya Dangana and Tracie Utoh-Ezeajugha as members.

But the Ukah faction had dismissed the appointments, insisting the event was an illegal one.

A statement released by the Ukah group signed by Umar Yogiza Jr. (PRO North) and Wole Adedoyin (PRO South), said the convention held in Awka was illegal.

It also reaffirmed the expulsion of Mr Maiwada, NgoziChuma-Udeh, Akogun Tai Oguntayo, Patrick Oguejiofor, Owupele Francis, Usho Smith Adawa, Banma Baba Suleiman, Dada Korede, Moses Joseph, Isa Ibrahim Dan Musa, Stanley Kavwam, and Isaac Attah Ogezi for repeatedly violating the constitution of the Association. Whoever associates them with ANA does so at his/her own risk.

There is only one ANA under the leadership of Mr. Camillus Ukah, it added. There is only one Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Professor Femi Osofisan
The Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, Ben Okolo, on Friday in Yenagoa confirmed the stabbing to death of a police officer by his colleague.

Mr Okolo said he has ordered the detention of the suspect and an investigation into the incident.

The commissioner disclosed this in a statement from the police spokesperson in the state, Asinmi Butswat.

The suspect, identified as Governor Akpoboloukeme, a sergeant, was said to be off-duty when he stabbed another sergeant, Sapele Eyeridideke, to death over a minor misunderstanding

The incident occurred on Thursday at Edepie, Yenagoa, according to Mr Butswat.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the suspect immediately fled the scene and attempted to flee to a neighbouring state when he was arrested on the East/West Road.

A witness who recounted how the incident happened, said the two police officers, who are cousins, attended a marriage ceremony at a popular hotel in Yenagoa where the slain officer made a joke that did not go well with the other officer.

The two were almost engaged in a fight before their friends stepped in to talk to them.

The two cousins left the venue of the marriage ceremony and went their separate ways.

Rather than go home, the suspect was said to have trailed the victim to a secluded place and stabbed him with a dagger on the left part of his rib cage, killing him instantly, the witness said.

The corpse has been deposited at a mortuary.

(NAN)
Despite repeated assurances by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that smart card readers will function optimally and that there would be no recourse to manual accreditation or use of incidence form, the device malfunctioned massively in the ongoing governorship election in Anambra State.

Also contrary to the commissions promise to rectify the challenges of the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at a runoff election in Delta State two months ago, the new technology also failed to capture voters just like the smart card readers.

INEC had explained that BVAs would be more efficient than smart card readers as it enables human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters.

But as both devices largely failed in many polling units in the Anambra poll, many voters were left stranded with some, after several trials and waiting under the sun, left the centres.

At polling units 003 and 004, ward 3 in Uruekwo primary school in Enugu-ukwu, one of the major towns in Njikoka, the smart card readers failed to capture fingerprints of many voters with INEC staff still contemplating on using manual accreditation.

Many of the voters could be seen struggling on the queue waiting for them to be captured by either the card readers or the BVAs.

An elderly voter, Kenneth Eze, was about to leave the centre for home when he was accosted by our reporter.

He said he could no longer wait under the scorching sun, blaming INEC for its ill preparation for the election.

Some INEC staff at the centre said they will call the situation room to confirm the next line of action to take, especially in whether to start manual verification.

Its Everywhere  deputy governor

While casting his votes earlier at Enugu-ukwu, the state Deputy Governor, Nkem Okeke, had hailed the process.

Before, my fingerprints used to have issues with the smart card readers but in this election, it was smooth and everything went seamless, he said.

But upon his arrival at the Uruekwo polling centre where there has been a challenge with smart card readers and BVAs, the deputy governor acknowledged that the challenge is everywhere.

It is affecting everybody and it is happening everywhere, not just here, he told the weary crowd of voters, urging them to remain calm and exercise patience while INEC found a way to sort out the challenge.

Our observers also captured a video of PDP candidate, Valentine Ozigbo, being rejected by the card reader even after several trials.

At PU 005 in St. Peters primary school 2, Amawbia 2 in Awka South LGA, the exercise is currently on hold due to card read failures.

At about 11:55 in PU 04, Ufuma Primary School ward 2, Orumba North LGA, INEC staff are resorting to manual verification with the failure of the card readers and BVAs.

This challenge was also evident in many other polling units we observed in Njikoka, Dunukofia, Awka North and South LGAs, Orumba North and South among other places.
Against the backdrop of a global report confirming a gender equality gap in the traditional news media, a Nigerian politician has observed that women only make news headlines when they are victims or villains.

Ndi Kato, who is also the executive director of Dinidari Foundation, made this observation in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Responding to the fact that women are not featured enough as subjects or sources of news reports, Ms Kato said journalists would rather give platforms to charlatans than report women in their elements.

She said such actions have discouraged many women from speaking when reached out to by journalists, in addition to the fact that women are judged differently when they speak.

Imagine a woman doing the kinds of things the likes of Dino Melaye and Fani Kayode? Her career would have ended.

According to Ms Kato, the media would rather quote women saying inconsequential things than quote them as sources for national issues such as politics or security.

Women are still least likely to appear in political stories in traditional and digital news outlets, a global media monitoring report said. There are no more than two women for every 10 people in political stories in traditional and digital news in Africa.

It is a patriarchal society; we do not see women as leaders, and that is a problem, she said.

Speaking on the availability of women for news stories, Ms Kato urged journalists and media houses to look for women in the same way they look for men who they need for their stories.

Journalists can start by platforming women; build networks that make them accessible for your stories, Ms Kato said.

Her claim is corroborated by the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2020, which notes that in Africa, women are more likely to be seen, heard and read about in crime and violence news, next to the science/health major topic. One in three persons in African crime news is a woman although this level of visibility is common more or less to many regions.

The GMMP notes that the capacities in which people speak or have a voice in the news, symbolise the value placed on their opinion.

What does the data say?

The GMMP 2020 report showed that there has been a slow-paced movement to fill the gender equality gap in news reports globally. It showed that between 2015 and 2020, the needle edged one point forward to 25 per cent in the proportion of subjects and sources who are women. The single point improvement is the first since 2010 and is most visible in broadcast news media.

All things remaining equal, it will take at least further 67 years to close the average gender equality gap in traditional news media, the report said.

According to the report, only Africas media have stagnated as the rest of the regions have improved, adding that Africa falls below the global averages across all media types monitored.

It added that as subjects or the people whom the stories are about, the proportion of women has more or less stagnated in traditional mediums since 2005 when this indicator was introduced into the monitoring, from 23 percent fifteen years ago to 23 percent presently.

Interestingly, in recent years, numerous initiatives to source women for expert opinion have sprouted around the globe, with the compilation of various directories of women experts for use by journalists.

However, media organisations are visibly making efforts to diversify their experts pools, pressured as well by civil society through, for example, the anti-Manels (male only panels) campaigns on social media.
The family of a man allegedly killed by a police officer in Akwa Ibom State, Nigerias South-south, has begged the police to release his corpse for burial.

Emmanuel Dickson, 26, was allegedly shot dead on October 10 by a police officer in their family compound in Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt the police officers left the scene immediately after the incident but later came back and took the corpse away.

The police are yet to issue a statement on the killing, 27 days after.

Nelly Dickson, a sister to the deceased, in a Facebook post on October 31, begged the police to release her brothers corpse for burial.

We are going through a lot because of this silence. Release my brothers corpse for burial because I dont know what police service is turning into in this country. Remember theres God in Heaven, she said in the post.

She had identified the officer who shot her brother as Anwana Jacob, a police sergeant.

Ms Dickson is afraid that the police may be out to victimise her family.

Odiko MacDon, the police spokesperson, did not respond to calls or a text message seeking comment from him.

Mr Dicksons killing happened a few months after a university student, Kubiat Akpan, was tortured to death in police custody in Akwa Ibom.
Chris Ngige, Minster of Labour and Employment, has expressed shock over poor functioning of the Biomodal Verification Machine or Card Reader, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Ngige spoke to journalists at his Nkwoide Alor ward 1, in Idemili South Local Government Area, during the Anambra State governorship election on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the INEC card reader could not capture both facial and finger print of Ngige as at 2.45 p.m. after several attempts.

The visibly-disappointed Minister, who us a former governor of the state, said it was unfair for the electoral body to pack their equipment for a long time which resulted in their malfunctioning.

Like you can see, I am going home, when the machine start working they should call me, he said.

Mr Ngige, who said though he was not blaming INEC, advised that in future elections the commission should test-run their equipment a week before the exercise.

Also, Obiora Okonkwo, the governorship candidate of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), said poor functioning of the machiness and the late commencement of polls would adversely affect the process.

Mr Okonkwo, who voted after wasting more than 30 minutes, said many voters would be disenfranchised due to poor functioning of the machines.

Mr Okonkwo who commended the level of security in parts of the state said there was room for improvement in future elections.

He said he is hopeful that he would emerge winner, but added that his victory would be more beneficial to the people.

I will be more concerned on making the people comfortable by delivering on my promises than dancing that I have won an election, he said. (NAN)
Nkem Okeke, Anambra State Deputy Governor, displayed his ballot paper to other voters after thumbprinting it on Saturday.

He said he did this to dispel the rumour making the round that he had re-defected to his former party, the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA).

I had to reveal my ballot paper because there have been rumours that I had defected back to APGA, but that is not true. You just saw that I voted for my party, APC, he said.

He expressed satisfaction at the new technology, the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), introduced by INEC at the on-going governorship election in the state.

He spoke after voting at the Umueze Awozu, Enugwu-Ukwu Ward 3, polling unit 005.

The high turnout of voters delayed the deputy governor for some time before he could cast his vote.

He commended the use of BVAS, saying it presented a seamless voting process.

This is the easiest that I have had in voting experience ever; the process is unified and as you can see, I have just voted. In previous elections, I have always had problem with fingerprint; but this is different,  he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC has extended voting deadline to 4 p.m.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State, Mr Ukwuchukwu Orji, told journalists in Awka, the state capital, that if the issue of delay because of malfunctioning voting machines was not addressed, the deadline would be extended for another day.

Mr Orji said INEC decided to extend voting deadline because of some glitches in the machines.

He said that the extension would enable voters to participate in the process and assured that INEC would ensure that all registered voters got the opportunity to exercise their franchise.

Earlier on Saturday, a chief of the APC, John Onunkwo, called on INEC to extend the voting deadline by three hours.

He said this was necessary to accommodate the high number of people who were yet to vote. (NAN)
The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the voting period in the ongoing Anambra State governorship election.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the centre observed that there were widespread cases of malfunctioning of voter accreditation devices.

However, it said it was aware of only one incident of violence, which occurred at Ogbaru Local Government Area where gunshots were heard, contrary to earlier fears of widespread violence that had characterised the electioneering process in the state.

It is useful for the countrys election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to note that there have been complaints in almost all Polling Units about utilising the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).

Voting is slow and stalled in some Polling Units because voters are not getting accredited quickly enough. Many officials and voters alike lay blame on the poor connection and inability of the devices to recognise biometric data.

This has severely hampered the smooth running of the elections in many parts of the state, the statement said.

It also said election officials arrived late at many polling units, while party agents flagrantly violated electoral guidelines on wearing of tags and other regalia that are associated with the polls.

The 2021 Anambra Gubernatorial Elections have finally kicked off. As we draw closer to the midday point, here are some observations from the Election Analysis Centre for the Anambra State Governorship Election run by the Premium Times Centre Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ).

The election has mostly been peaceful, contrary to prevalent fears. In the 9 LGAs where observers were deployed, only one incident of violence was observed in the Ogbaru Local Government Area where gunshots were heard. Apart from this, the LGAs monitored have been peaceful. There is a consistent presence of security personnel recorded in most Polling Units observed, which has helped to bolster feelings of safety amongst the electorate.

Additionally, there have been complaints about staff lateness to their units and late deployment of materials. Though the elections were set to commence by 8:30 am, the Election Analysis Centre has observed that the average start time across observed Polling Units was 9:40 am.

It was also observed that many Polling Units in the Ogbaru Local Government Area did not have their Registered Voters list posted on the walls, contrary to usual practice. Additionally, our observers noticed that most party agents were not wearing their tags and other regalia to aid identification.

This goes against the INEC rules that require party agents to wear their pre-uploaded identification tags, which would help observers identify people who may be engaging in vote-buying activities.

At the beginning of the elections, the turnout of voters was low, with a few people seen at most Polling Units observed by 10:00 a.m.

However, reports from the observers have shown that there was an increased number of voters by mid-day. Concrete information on this will be given by the end of the elections. For now, however, it is looking positive. We advise that everyone observe all COVID-19 protocols and keep safe as they go about the elections.

We join numerous voices on the matter to recommend an extension of the voting period to capture all votes. Section 13 of the 2019 INEC voting guidelines states that where there is a prolonged issue with the Smart Card reader (BVAS in this case), it should be changed. And where the BVAS cannot be changed, the voting should commence the next day, the statement read.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has threatened to sue an online medium that claimed that he owns the land upon which the collapsed 21-storey building was built in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.

Sahara Reporters had published that the vice president allegedly owns the land on which the high-rise building was constructed.

The building developer, Femi Osibona, who also died in the collapse, was also said to be fronting for Mr Osinbajo, according to the report.

However, Mr Osinbajos lawyer, Ebun-olu Adegboruwa, on Saturday said the publication was made by some faceless individuals to tarnish the image of his client.

The vice-president had earlier denied the report that he owns the land.

The building along Gerard Road in the Ikoyi axis of Lagos collapsed on Monday afternoon trapping dozens of people in the debris.

Although, there is still no official figure of how many people were in the building when the structure caved in, however, at least 38 bodies have been recovered while nine people have been rescued.

Mr Adegboruwa in the notice seen by PREMIUM TIMES reiterated that Mr Osinbajo has no connection with the collapsed building.

Lawsuit

According to the notice, the lawsuit extends to other online news outlets who have also disseminated the claim without verification.

This notice has thus become necessary, partly to explain the legal consequences of fabricating falsehood and unsubstantiated negative reports, of and concerning our client, Mr Adegboruwa said.

ALSO READ: Osinbajo denies connection with collapsed Ikoyi building

In law, liability for libellous publications is not limited to the original author or publisher thereof, but it also extends to and includes all those who, out of sheer ignorance, mischief or malice, or all, cause any libellous publication to be repeated, reposted or re-published, either personally or through any platform for which they have control.

Accordingly, we have the instructions of our Client to compile and preserve the particulars of anyone found to have published, re-published therefore, endorsed or consented to the publication, distribution or circulation of any libellous material, of and concerning him, for the purpose of commencing civil actions in court, in any jurisdiction where such publication occurs.

The lawyer implored media owners to refrain from using their platforms to disseminate libellous publication of and concerning our client, henceforth.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has commended security agencies for the high level of professionalism they have so far shown in the Anambra State governorship election.

Saeed Husaini, Director, Research, CDD, at a news conference on the Centres election analysis on Saturday, in Abuja, urged them to sustain the humane approach to election security through the voting, collation, and announcement of results.

Mr Husaini observed that although there were pockets of reports indicating the absence or low presence of security officials, there had been no widespread reports of misconduct by security officials deployed for the elections.

He said CDD noted that this was a noteworthy development considering that the expectation of intimidation and abuse from state security officials was a source of heightened concern ahead of the elections.

In spite of threats by non-state armed groups and concerns over the heavy deployment of security agents, very few incidents of intimidation and violence have been reported defying the context of fear and uncertainty that preceded Election Day.

In spite of the heavy deployment of state security agents, observers have noted a surprisingly scanty presence of security personnel in numerous reports from across the state.

Where security agents have been present, reports indicate that they have largely respected rules of engagement and acted with professionalism.

This is highly commendable and we hope that this mode of engagement with voters is sustained till the end of the electoral process.

Mr Husaini said likewise, the withdrawal of the sit-at-home order pronounced by the proscribed IPOB contributed to the opening of the polls and the relatively peaceful atmosphere witnessed.

Failure of BIVAS, other issues

He said the centre observed persistent incidents of the failure of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS), lateness of officials in commencing accreditation and polling, electoral malpractice including vote-buying among others.

He added that the one repeated occurrence that threatened to mar the quality of the election outcome had been the widely reported failure of the BIVAS across numerous polling units in the state.

Low turnout

He said that CDD observers recorded a low turnout of voters across the state, noting that this reflected the climate of uncertainty leading up to the election, as well as the historically high levels of voter apathy that have been recorded in the state.

He said CDD, having observed the elections, therefore, recommended that security agencies to continue to respect human rights and standard rules of engagement and to secure voters as well as INEC staff and infrastructure.

We call on civic and pro-democracy groups to remain vigilant, especially during the collation and announcement of voting results.

We urge INEC and its officials to ensure the diligent accounting of votes, especially since voting collation will likely stretch into the night.

Mr Husaini said that the centre implored voters to remain calm and, where possible, to monitor the outcome of the polls up to the announcement of the results.

The director said the centre called on political parties to remain calm and to do nothing to compromise the integrity of the election.

On his part, Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow, CDD, said the centre expressed gladness that the election did not result to national emergency or security crisis adding that That is an achievement already.

Mr Ibrahim, however, said that CDD urged INEC to properly train its officials in the use of its BVAS devices as the failure or malfunctioning of the device could be linked to lack of knowledge.

Also, Princess Hamman-Obels, Director, The Electoral Hub and an Analyst at CDDs Election Analysis Centre, said so far, so good, the centre was satisfied with the process of the election.

According to Ms Hamman-Obels, elections are about procedures and processes and it is rated based on that adding that so far things are moving in the right direction in spite of failure of the BVAS machine in some cases.

For now, we are satisfied with the procedure, she said.

(NAN)
Ahead of the gubernatorial election in Anambra State on Saturday, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has urged security operatives who would be taking part in the poll to respect fundamental human rights of electorate.

The group, in a statement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, said it is important for security personnel to respect standard rules in the voting process.

It said although the security situation in Anambra had necessitated the heavy presence of security operatives, it was also aware that the security agents had an unfortunate record of heavy-handedness and have been used to intimidate voters and electoral officials in previous elections.

The CDD said such personnel must desist from engaging in acts of intimidation and targeting election managers, party agents, or the electorate.

Amid fulfilling their duty of protecting the democratic franchise, CDD calls on security personnel to respect human rights and standard rules of engagement while allowing INEC to conduct a credible poll and voters to exercise their franchise, the statement said.

Security agents should also ensure that INEC staff and infrastructure are secured. As always, the world will be watching and taking record, it added.

Heavy security presence

The group acknowledged that the deployment of security operatives, especially in Awka, the state capital, would ensure that polls were held successfully.

It said lessened deployments in more provincial LGAs would elevate the risk of armed attacks on polling stations and clashes with security agents.

However, the risk of clashes between state security agents and non-state armed groups as well as the threat of armed attacks on polling stations will remain elevated, particularly in more rural LGAs in the state where security deployments have been relatively scantier, it said.

The CDD noted that voter turnout could be lower than usual due to non-state armed groups threats and the heavy deployment of security agents.

Peaceful process

CDD appealed to all political actors to prioritise peace before, during, and after the polls, noting that there can be no progress without peace.

The group said the task of ensuring that a peaceable and credible election takes place rests on the shoulders of Anambra voters.

While remaining vigilant and keeping safe, we urge the electorate to not be intimidated by threats to their hard-fought democratic franchise.

We also urge relevant state and civic actors to play their role in ensuring that the desires of the electorate are reflected in the ultimate outcome of the polls, it said.
A retired police officers petition on alleged extra-judicial killing of his nephew rattled the defence team representing the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other police officials at the #EndSARS panel in Abuja on Friday.

James Idachaba, leader of the police authorities defence team, accused Mamman Danladi, a retired deputy superintendent of police, of intimidating and harassing his team members.

Mr Idachaba said Mr Danladi took the case to the National Assembly during the panels six-month break where he allegedly claimed that his petition was not being handled properly by the panel.

The move, according to the lawyer, was an abuse of process. He expressed anger that he was made to appear on a number of occasions before the National Assembly.

He said the National Assembly heard and eventually dismissed the petition.

He asked the panel to also dismiss the petitioners case as the National Assembly did.

Danladis case

Mr Danladi had, at the first hearing of his petition in February, told the the #EndSARS panel how his nephew, Kenneth Yusuf, was allegedly killed extra-judicially in Abuja in 2007.

He told the panel, set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe cases of police brutality, that Keneth was arrested by the police on January 10, 2007 on the allegation that he stole two bags of cement.

Kenneth, according to Mr Danladi, was then taken to the police station in Jikwoyi, Abuja, for interrogation, during which he was allegedly beaten to a point of unconsciousness by five policemen.

Mr Danladi said his nephew was left in an unconscious state for hours before he was taken to POGBA Clinic and Maternity in Jikwoyi, where he was allegedly dumped without medical attention.

According to the petitioner, his nephew was not attended to by the hospital because the police refused to deposit money for the commencement of treatment.

By the time Kenneths father, Yusuf Danladi, got the news of the state of his son and paid N3,000 for treatment, it was already too late, the petitioner said. Kenneth died shortly after his father got to know of the case, according to Danladi.

He confirmed getting the information from Kenneths friends, Felix Dabo and Peter Orji, whom he said were present when Kenneth was allegedly subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment by the policemen.

The case was not concluded before the panel went on an unplanned six-month break due to lack of funds in March.

Unhappy that the petitioner took the case to the National Assembly during the panels break, the police defence team on Friday, urged the panel to dismiss the petition.

Panels response

The #EndSARS panel chaired by a retired Justice of the Surpreme Court, Suleiman Galadima, however, turned down the request of the police to dismiss the petition.

Garba Tetengi, who acted as the chair in Mr Suleimans absence on Friday, asked for evidence showing that the National Assembly dismissed Mr Danladis case.

We are here to investigate and we cant make decisions without evidence.

In response, Mr Idachaba said he had written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) secretariat for its registry to formally request and collect the records from the National Assembly as evidence.

Unwilling to end the case prematurely, the panel adjourned for the police to open their defence.

The panel will adjourn the case for definite defence, Mr Tetengi said.

The panel also admitted as exhibits, the additional documents tendered by the petitioner, through Olawole Afolabi, a member of the panels legal team.

The documents were two letters addressed to the chairperson of the panel dated May 16, and June 12, 2021.

The panel, after admitting the documents as exhibits, adjourned till November 22 for defence.

Officially referred to as the Independent Investigative Panel on allegations of human rights violations by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other units of the Nigerian police, the panel was set up by the NHRC in the aftermath of last years #EndSARS anti-police brutality protest.

The setting up of the panel, commonly referred to as #EndSARS panel, and which was replicated in 28 states, was in response to one of the five demands of the protesters last year.
A non-governmental organisation, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), has deployed 200 persons with disabilities as observers for the governorship election in Anambra State.

Jerry Grace, the executive director of the association, disclosed this in Awka on Friday at a news conference.

The news conference was organised by the United States Agency for International Development, Access Nigeria, IFA and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Mr Grace said the conference was organised to discuss the importance of persons with disabilities to the electoral process and to engage the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sustain organised voting during the election.

Chidimma Ajemba, a representative of another NGO, the Joint Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Anambra chapter, called for special attention to be given to persons with disabilities to take part in the electoral process.

Ms Ajemba said that such special attention would reduce physical, attitudinal and institutional barriers that made it difficult for persons with disabilities to freely participate in the electoral process.

In his remarks, Francis Madugu, the deputy country director of NDI, charged INEC to ensure that Persons Living with Disabilities were provided a friendly election environment, including written instructions on voting materials.

Mr Madugu said such a step would encourage more persons living with disabilities to be more politically active and be able to have a say in the election process in the state.

He said people with disabilities were interested in who becomes their governor, and would like to vote for their choice after reading the political manifestos of the candidates.

Mr Madugu commended the Anambra government under Governor Willie Obiano for its friendly policies toward persons with disability and expressed the hope that the succeeding administration would do more.

(NAN)
A former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has said that the outlawed pro-Biafra group, IPOB, has proved that it is not a terrorist organisation, for it to have cancelled its earlier sit-at-home order that could have disrupted the Anambra governorship election.

Mr Okupe, who stated this in a Facebook post on Friday, described IPOBs action as heartwarming and said it is now time for the federal government to open a window of opportunity for peaceful negotiation with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB.

This decision of IPOB is a very reasonable one, coming from an organisation whose major concern is justice, equity and self-determination for its people.

By this singular act of compassionate and progressive civility, in furtherance of our Democracy, IPOB, to my mind has proved unequivocally that it is not a terrorist organisation rather it is one that can be called to a round table to reason with, Mr Okupe said.

Mr Okupe said peace talks and negotiations can resolve in weeks what violence, war and its attendant bloodshed may not achieve in several years.

He called on Nigerians to persuade the government to open talks with IPOB.

May God help and guide our leaders to lead us aright in Jesus Name, he said.

The agitation for Biafra, championed by IPOB, has led to several killings and destruction in Nigerias South-east region.

Facilities belonging to the police, Independent National Electoral Commission, and other public institutions have been attacked and set ablaze by gunmen suspected to be IPOB members.

IPOB, which had used force to enforce its earlier sit-at home protests in the South-east, had declared the sit-at-home in Anambra to discourage residents from taking part in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra.

The sit-at-home, which had been condemned by political leaders in the South-east, was meant to commence on Friday, a day to the election.

IPOBs spokesperson, Emma Powerful, said the group decided to cancel the sit-at-home order because of the genuine intervention of our elders, esteemed traditional Institutions /Rulers and Religious Leaders.

The IPOBs leader, Nnamdi Kanu is in detention in Abuja where he is standing trial for alleged treason.
The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, has cast his ballot in the ongoing governorship election in the state.

The governor arrived at his polling unit at around 9:28 am. at Eri Primary School, Unit 004, Otuocha 1, Aguleri, Anambra East LGA.

Mr Obiano, who arrived alongside his wife, Ebelechukwu, went straight to join the queue of voters for about five minutes before his aides asked him to join the podium to exercise his franchise.

Despite the low turnout at the centre, Mr Obiano commended the large voter turnout he met on the ground. He also described the process as fair while commending INEC for the process.

He also urged all Anambra voters to come out en masse to exercise their franchise.

I am very happy to have exercised my civic responsibility. I want to ask all Anambra citizens wherever they are to come out en masse and vote, the governor said. We can see everywhere is peaceful, and that is the way it is across the state.

In her remarks, Mrs Obiano called for a peaceful voting process.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that on Saturday, 6 November, the electoral umpire, INEC, would be conducting the governorship elections in Anambra State, a state in South-East Nigeria.

Eighteen candidates are participating in the election.

Some of the frontline candidates Andy Uba of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC); a former CBN governor, Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Valentine Ozigbo of the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

The poll, however, comes against the backdrop of heightened insecurity posed by the secessionist agitations group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Although the outlawed group had declared a sit-at-home order to discourage residents from taking part in the elections, it later backtracked on its decision on Thursday evening in a statement issued by its spokesperson Emma Powerful, saying the sit-at-home had been cancelled.

Anambra, with over four million population, consists of 21 local government areas. There are 5,720 Polling Units (PUs) across the state.
The Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke, at about 10:10a.m. on Saturday cast his vote at the Ward 3, polling unit 4 of Enugu-ukwu town, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Okeke is not seeking re-election as deputy governor because his tenure ends with that of Governor Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) after their eight-year two terms in office.

However, the deputy governors defection from APGA to APC few weeks ago has become a major talking point in the election.

After casting his vote, Mr Okeke said he was satisfied with the process, describing it as the smoothest he has ever experienced.

Before, my finger prints use to have issues with the smart card readers but in .this election, it was smooth and everything went seamless, he said.

He also said he was impressed with the turnout of voters considering the security tension in the state ahead of the polls.

The deputy governor said the federal government was able to restore confidence in the people to come out and vote by ensuring adequate deployment of security personnel.

But despite the deployment of over 34, 000 security operatives, there was not enough security at different polling units in many parts of the state including that of the deputy governor. This is largely because poor deployment logistics.

Mr Okeke acknowledged the poor deployment of security officials. Even the police we are talking about are not here but the thing is that people are peaceful and going about the business of voting in an orderly manner so am impressed, he said.

So far, in my unit, things are going well. If what Im seeing here is what is happening all over the state, it means INEC has fulfilled its promise to deliver free, credible and safe election, he told reporters.

Meanwhile, a brief altercation had ensued between his loyalists and those of the APGA earlier.

Mr Okeke led a bout of defections which saw many APGA lawmakers defect to the APC. It is said that the outcome of todays polls in Enugu-ukwu is a litmus test on his popularity in the town which is largely considered an APGA stronghold.

He appears to be under pressure to prove his mettle to his new party by winning his LGA.

Mr Okeke is from Umu Ezu-Awo village in Enugu-ukwu.
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Valentine Ozigbo, has cast his vote in the Anambra governorship election.

Mr Ozigbo arrived at PU 010, Social Centre, Amesi, Aguata Local Government Area, at 10:40 a.m., in the company of his family members and supporters.

Speaking with journalists after casting his vote, the PDP candidate expressed disappointment in the tardiness of the Biomodal Voters Authentication System (BVAS) but praised INEC for introducing the machine into Nigerias electioneering process.

It took Mr Ozigbo and his wife over 20 minutes to cast their vote as network and biometric verification initially proved a challenge.

For me, it is a mixed feeling. On one hand, I am thankful to God that I have been able to vote and the smooth sailing. However, I am a bit worried about the number of minutes it took us to get the voting done.

It took a while to try all the biometrics. We tried the first thumb, second thumb, then the picture and came back failed. At some point, the network failed. We had to hotspot and eventually it worked.

It took me more than 20 minutes to cast my vote, Im worried, he told journalists.

He commended INEC for introducing the machine which he said will curb rigging but requested for an extension of voting time if electorates are going through similar voting challenges across the state.

Details later
Chukwuma Soludo, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has expressed shock over the technology breakdown of the Bimodal Verification Accreditation (BVA) system.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been experiencing technical challenges in the use of the BVA device to capture voters in some parts of the state.

Mr Soludo, who arrived at the Polling Unit 002 ,Ward 13, at Ofiyi Square, Isuofia in Aguata Local Government Area, at about 12:15 p.m., could not be captured by the BVA system.

He said, This BVA technology is a complete failure, and by almost 1.p.m. in the day, voting is yet to start in most of the polling units in the state.

And in places where it is working, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to capture a voter. With this crowd, even if the device starts working now, it is not possible to finish up within record time.

It raises fundamental questions because Im quite shocked to hear that this technology breakdown is happening all over the state.

Maybe we will still be optimistic that the challenge will be fixed. I have been here for over 20 minutes, yet no way.

Inadequate number of INEC staff members

Mr Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), also decried the inadequacy of INEC staff and security personnel in some polling units.

For example in Uke, there is a ward with 17 polling units but only five have INEC officials. The other 12, no officials.

There is also the security issue, here in my polling unit, no single policeman.

 In Ihialla, I got a report that materials up until now have not left the local government. It is a very unfortunate situation. INEC should do the needful and make this process successful,  he said.

Mr Soludo, while urging INEC to fix the technology breakdown, said he was optimistic that the challenge would be addressed soon.

The INEC chairman assured us that things will get better. So we are hoping the machines start working soon.

The APC candidate commended voters for turning out in large numbers to cast their votes.

Before 8 a.m., people have turned out in large numbers, even before the arrival of INEC officials, it is very commendable.

I urge our supporters to exercise patience and ensure they cast their votes whenever the machine starts working.

(NAN)
The Anambra State Police Command has denied reports that personnel on election duty were protesting non-payment of allowances.

There were reports trending on social media alleging that some police personnel were chanting solidarity songs, demanding their duty allowance for election coverage.

Police authorities, however, dismissed the claim as unfounded, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Mr Aderemi Adeoye, a deputy commissioner of police in charge of Operations in Anambra State, said every police personnel mobilised for election duty had been deployed and reported at their various posts.

He said the allowances of the concerned personnel were paid via the IPPIS platform and electronically through the banks.

The police chief also said some officers, including the senior ones, had not received their pay but assured that every personnel on duty would get their pay, as the delay was from the banks, the NAN report highlighted.

The alleged video of police officers protesting for non-payment is not true as has been portrayed in the clip.

The morale in the force is high. All personnel deployed for this assignment have reported at their duty post.

The police remain focused and committed to protecting the sanity of the electoral process in Anambra state, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the police deployed over 34,000 operatives in Anambra State.

This newspaper reported that despite the relatively huge police deployment for Saturdays governorship election, many of the polling units in the state were without police presence as of 9:30 a.m.

Aside from the police, the civil defence (NSCDC), the army, SSS, and other security agencies also deployed thousands of officers to the state.

However, many of the over 5,000 polling units in the state, including those in Aguata Local Government Area, had no police presence Saturday morning.

PREMIUM TIMES visited polling units in Umuona, Ekwulobia, and Isuofia, all of which had the same issues despite a significant turnout of voters.

At PU 002, Ofiyi Square, Isuofia, Aguata LGA, where APGA candidate Chukwuma Soludo is expected to vote, there was no security official at the unit as of 9:30 a.m.

Officials of the electoral commission, INEC, were, however, present.
A civil society organisation, Policy Alert, has accused the Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel of failing to disclose the N171.2 billion derivation refund his administration received from the federal government.

Akwa Ibom State, in Nigerias South-south region, is among the top oil producing states in the country.

An Abuja Federal High Court, in June, ordered the federal government to pay over $3.3 billion to Rivers and Akwa Ibom States as share of recalculated oil derivation revenue.

The state received the derivation refund from the federal government during the third quarter of 2021 but failed to disclose this, Policy Alert said.

Tijah Bolton-Akpan, the executive director of Policy Alert, said in a press release that the organisation was disappointed with the state government for not disclosing the fund to the public.

Mr Bolton-Akpan said the non-disclosure of the fund to the public leaves a huge gap on transparency.

We are delighted that the Federal Government has obliged to the refund ruling. This development explains why the State government recently reviewed their expected revenue on exceptional income: 13% derivation revenue arrears from N61.1 billion to N193 billion which is a 315.9 percent increase.

However, Akwa Ibom people were not informed about this development during the presentation of the supplementary budget even after the state had received the fund.

This leaves a huge gap on transparency. We were disappointed that the Governors 2022 budget speech was silent on this development when he reviewed the performance of the 2021 budget, especially given that N137.9 billion refunds from the Federation Account was proposed as capital receipts, Mr Bolton-Akpan said.

He advised the government to channel the bulk of the fund into the development of oil producing communities in the State.

Mr Bolton-Akpan further called on the state government to consider creating a commission for the oil producing communities.

We should not forget that this N171.2 billion coming into the coffers of the state seeks to address an injustice on 13 per cent derivation which was originally designed to ameliorate the impact of oil exploration in oil producing communities.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Akwa Ibom State fought and got justice at the centre. Back home, the oil producing communities deserve justice as well.

The state needs to begin taking the needs of oil producing communities seriously. Over the years, the states coffers have been enriched on account of these communities and as such, it is only fair that a legal framework be established to guide the targeted development of the goose that not only lays the golden eggs but also bears the brunt of oil extraction.

Many states do this through the Oil Producing Areas Development Commission. It is high time Akwa Ibom State put in place a similar structure to enable the orderly, fair and targeted re-channeling of a percentage of oil and gas proceeds to extraction-affected communities, he added.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Ini Ememobong, the state commissioner for information, he said the state commissioner for finance was the appropriate authority to speak on the issue.

Linus Nkan, the state commissioner for Finance, did not respond to calls or a text message seeking comment from him.
Vote buying and low turnout of voters charaterised the governorship election in Anambra State that was held on Saturday, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has said.

The election observer group stated this in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

This paper had earlier reported how unidentified party agents were seen giving money to voters in exchange for their votes.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters also observed low voters turnout in some parts of the state, which many said was borne out of fear of attacks by secessionist groups.

The CDD said the widespread incidents of vote-buying may affect the credibility of the election.

Observers reported numerous not-so-discreet cases of see-and-buy in pollings units across the 21 LGAs of the state. In many reported cases, police officers have been alleged to have looked the other way, likely as a result of having themselves been compromised.

This practice, which appears to cut across party lines, has been an increasing feature of Nigerian elections and requires more concerted remedial efforts by INEC and other critical stakeholders, the statement read.

The group said the low turnout of voters reflects the climate of uncertainty leading up to the election, as well as the historically high levels of voter apathy that have been recorded in the state.

CDD also lamented the persistent failure of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) across polling units, which it said impaired the smooth conduct of the elections, and will likely disenfranchise some intended voters.

It said lateness of officials in commencing accreditation and polling left many voters frustrated, necessitating INECs extension of the voting period till 4 p.m.

On security situation across the state, the group noted that despite concerns over the heavy deployment of security agents, very few incidents of intimidation and violence have been reported  defying the context of fear and uncertainty that preceded election day.

It also said security agents were absent at the commencement of accreditation in several pollings units, which likely heightened uncertainty among voters and officials.

Where security agents have been present, reports indicate that they have largely respected rules of engagement and acted with professionalism.

This is highly commendable and we hope that this mode of engagement with voters is sustained till the end of the electoral process.

Likewise, the withdrawal of the sit at home order pronounced by IPOB has contributed to the opening of the polls and the relatively peaceful atmosphere we have witnessed. We noted that as the hours progressed, more voters began to show up at the polls, as information spread that accreditation and voting were proceeding largely peacefully.

Recommendations

CDD therefore urged security agencies to continue to respect human rights and standard rules of engagement and to secure voters as well as INEC staff and infrastructure.

While the group called on civic and pro-democracy groups to remain vigilant, especially during the collation and announcement of voting results, it urged INEC and its officials to ensure the diligent accounting of votes, especially since voting collation will likely stretch into the night.

We urge INEC to properly train its officials in the use of its BVAS devices. We implore voters to remain calm and, where possible, to monitor the outcome of the polls up to the announcement of the results.

We call on political parties to remain calm and to do nothing to compromise the integrity of the election, it added.

Voting has since ended in polling units across the state and collation of results is underway. The exercise is expected to run into the early hours of Sunday.
As deliberations continue at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP26, young African climate activists and campaigners have called on leaders of developed countries to take action and not let this years gathering become a mere talk show.

Africa has been identified as one of the vulnerable spots of climate change and according to a recent World Banks new Groundswell Africa report, the continent will be hit the hardest, with up to 86 million Africans migrating within their own countries by 2050.

Following the evidence of vulnerabilities from the continent, the young African voices on climate change urged world leaders to listen to them and secure their future.

Voices

Adenike Oladosu, a Nigerian climate activist, eco-feminist, and the initiator of the Fridays For Future movement in Nigeria, said she will like to see African leaders place their people over politics or profit and speak the truth to the developed countries.

She said the commitment of $100 billion climate finance to support developing countries towards cutting carbon emissions, and to minimise the impact of climate change and adapt developing economies to deal with its impact must be seen to be achieved.

She said: It will be an injustice to us in Africa if Article 6 of the Paris agreement that has to do with counting, transparency, and accountability in order to reduce emissions (especially to the largest polluters) is not completed at the course of this conference.

Ms Adenike said any commitments taken in COP26 by leaders should not remain at the conference. Such commitments should become a reality back home post COP26 in order to close the gap between actions and words.

Adding his voice, Nyombi Morris, a Ugandan climate activist, expects that this years COP26 is seen as a do or die matter.

In August the world was attacked by climate change impacts, some saw it as news but we activists and scientists have been warning the people about this before now.

Mr Nyombi said todays destruction and human suffering has been fueled by companies from the global north who compromise African leaders with money in the name of investment and development.

Yes we know that we are underdeveloped but these people are finishing our natural resources in gold mining, coal, copper, and iron.

Its time for climate action. African leaders who have been invited to COP26 should make sure all their negotiation is in favour of their citizens who are at the receiving end of climate disasters, he said, adding that; We need to set up structures that are going to support those communities which are already struggling with climate change impacts.

Speaking on the intersection between climate change and gender and the need for prioritisation of gender issues at COP26, Fatou Jeng, a climate activist from The Gambia, said; Gender is a cross-cutting issue due to how women and girls continue to be one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. As such, I expect our COP26 negotiations to put climate justice in the heart of our negotiations because there is no climate justice without gender justice and social justice.

Ms Jeng is the policy operations co-lead on gender and climate change of the UNFCCC Youth Constituency.

Africas sad reality

According to Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, the Groundswell report identifies priorities for climate action that can help countries move towards a green, resilient and inclusive development and generate opportunities for all African people.

From pastoralists traveling to the Sahel to fishermen braving the seas, the story of West Africa is a story of climate migrants. As countries are experiencing rises in temperatures, erratic rainfall, flooding, and coastal erosion, Africans will face unprecedented challenges in the coming years, Mr Diagana said.

Across Africa, many countries are battling sea-level rise which is threatening their coastal regions, a key source of revenue.

In West Africa, coastal areas host about one-third of the regions population and generate 56 per cent of its GDP but this region loses about $3.8 billion yearly due to coastal zone degradation.

Several other countries are plagued by variable rainfall patterns that affect crop yield and agricultural productivity, also fuelling drought and the consequent conflict that arise as a result of resource clashes.

Southern Africa witnessed extensive drought in 2019 while the Greater Horn of Africa and the Sahel, dry regions, experienced flooding in 2019 as a result of heavy rainfall.

Most African countries still rely heavily on rain-fed agriculture. Disruption in rainfall patterns leading to drought or flooding, therefore, have significant impacts on agriculture and food security in respective countries.

Exposure to climate shocks and their lack of adaptive ability makes African countries very vulnerable to climate change.

Almost all sectors are vulnerable to climate change. Extreme heat has dire impacts on health and morbidity while rising flooding increases the risk of waterborne disease. Climate shocks often affect the economy too as well as the livelihood of the people at the grassroots who mostly suffer from these challenges.

Meanwhile, as negotiations and climate talks advance in the next couple of days, ONE Campaign has pledged to remain on ground to further escalate the voice of young people.

Akintunde is a climate activist from Nigeria based in the United Kingdom. He is currently in Glasgow as ONE delegate alongside other ONE climate activists and will be tweeting activities from cop26 via his Twitter handle @olorunwababs while also reporting on COP26 for PREMIUM TIMES.
President Muhammadu Buhari says the sympathies of the entire nation are with the government and people of Sierra Leone, following the fuel tanker explosion in Freetown, the countrys capital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured as a result of the disaster.

The tragic incident happened late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, and many people rushed to the scene to siphon petrol.

The Nigerian leader said: Im anguished by the unfortunate loss of lives and injury to so many.

He offered condolences on behalf of the government and people of Nigeria to the bereaved families, the government and people of Sierra Leone and wished the injured an early recovery.

(NAN)
May the best man yet win. May Indigbo find the path to her glorious destiny. May Nigeria weather these trying times on the wings of truth, justice, equity and wisdom.

In a high disruption Fourth Republic that seems to thrive on high stakes socio political altercations, the Anambra governorship elections campaign season has played out on a knifes edge tension across all definable parameters.

Just as nocturnal horse trading and rumoured wild orgies of inducement shenanigans have precipitated carpet crossing at levels that have threatened to surpass the much reported First Republic benchmarks of hypocrisy and shame, the ominous reality of a promised thirty thousand strong law enforcement deployment now also coexists with the tense relief of an eleventh hour cancelation of the much dreaded IPOB sit at home order.

Never has electoral peace been at a greater premium.

In the high octane, adrenalin soaked lead up to this moment, a power packed constellation of Anambra heavy weight gubernatorial candidates have managed to throw up inordinate quantities of vision blinding clouds of dust, as gladiator upon gladiator, conveyed in gleaming convoys of high price motorcades, have stormed and stumped across the anxiety soaked climes of Anambra.

If you were not into Nigerias polity as an invested stakeholder, whose life purpose or sustenance is derived, as it were, from our fractious and noisome political market place, and if you were not, by some fortuitous design of genealogy, to be numbered among the Ndi Anambra, you probably had paid but cursory attention to all of these.

But the much awaited governorship elections of the 6th of November is such a hugely significant event, not only for the precious folks in Anambra, but indeed for the entire Nigerian project

It is why, purely as a public observer, I have increasingly been drawn to the political high drama that must now culminate in the affirmation of one person, in whose hands the future of this much promising commercial hub of a federating unit will now lie for the next four years.

I stand on the considered premise that the next governor to call the shots at government house, Awka  whoever God has destined that to be  will carry much more than the burden of bringing the promise of Anambra to its critical inflection point. Given the historic role and symbolism of Anambra in the entire Igbo collective journey and psyche, the new governor is hugely important to helping harness Ndi Igbos energies, aspirations and resurgence, especially as it relates to resolving the vexing national question around Ndi Igbos deep discontent and her largely and palpably traumatic engagement with the larger Nigerian entity.

Associated with these dire imperatives, there is the whole wearying quest for a new paradigm of governance that draws its potency at the intersection of clear strategic literacy, actionable breadth of policy experience and a clear grasp of global dynamics. Amidst a daze of unprecedented new disruptions, leaders that will knowledgeably comprehend the development exigencies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, would posses the navigating knowhow to successfully pin point where and how Nigerian human capital assets can find their most elevating path within those rapidly unfolding and radically disruptive ramifications.

In sum, a deeply internalised obsession with assiduously finding ways to address the appalling state of the human condition in our climes is what has largely been lacking in sufficiently addressable quantity in all of Nigerias sixty plus years. Whether the human we refer to here is Igbo, Tiv, Hausa, Fulani, Ijaw, Yoruba or is of hundreds of other identities  that lion-hearted and self-directed focus on driving governance that truly brings edification to people is the urgent demand across board.

While I do not remotely claim to know this Chukwuma Soludo, however, and while I therefore lack the personal experiential authority to project him as the quintessential showpiece of the kind of moral rectitude that has been pathetically lacking in Nigerias public life, I am sufficiently immersed in the key structures of development thinking to know, just listening and reading this sometimes tempestuous man, that not one single opponent is remotely close to Soludos strategic literacy heft.

Gripped in the vice like and suffocating embrace of a largely intellectually bankrupt and mainly rent seeking pseudo leadership class for much of its 60 plus years, Nigeria desperately needs ambitious, passionate, driven and energetic leaders who have requisite navigating and policy implementation competence.

The tragedy is that in the evil grip of stomach infrastructure mercenaries and totally clueless demagogues, our election often gets stolen by brazen impostors who peddle their own toxic variant of paracetamol where a fast metastasising pathology requires the indepth knowhow of a seasoned clinician and master surgeon.

This is where I see a dire need for the Soludos of this world to begin to seize the mantle of leadership.

One is equally intrigued by the curious amity between the incumbent, Governor Obiano and Soludo. One needs not say a word in favour of the outgoing Anambra governor. The usual retinue of image makers do not remotely appear to be lacking in capacity.

But in a political culture in which corruption crazed lame duck leaders often seek out spineless boot lickers as successors, the fact that Obiano would stake his all on a stormy petrel and fiercely independent minded fellow like Professor Soludo is an instructive rarity to deeply contemplate. This, alas, is that feisty transformer who dared to turn our erstwhile feckless banking sector on its head in defiance of powerful vested interests. Governor Obianos resolute support for such a man hopefully indicates that over and above what other subterranean parameters may indeed endear Nigerian political leaders to their favored successors, consideration of demonstrable competence somehow played a part in the Obiano  Soludo resilient synergy. Hopefully, this also says something about Governor Obianos burden for the Anambra promise, post his imminent exit from office. Hopefully.

To be said, the gentle man Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP also does show actionable promise, if only judging by the spirited articulation of his thoughts across speaking events. Still, Soludos deep, integrative and holistic grasp of the imperatives have brooked no comparison.

Importantly, and inspite of the testy waters in which President Muhammadu Buharis tortured administration seem to now be quagmired, the last thing this deeply perplexed nation needs at this point is a PDP electoral victory that would add the conquest of Anambra, a sacred geography, to its political brag book. Point blank, only the undiscerning, and the tragically inattentive would root for PDPs return to Aso Rock in 2023.

Now, this is not cheap politicking. I carry not a single party card. Purely on the merit of Muhammadu Buharis loudly and perennially avowed moral rectitude and professed burden for substantive governance, did some of us passionately canvass for the towering general from Daura in 2015 and 2019.

Indeed, many incorrigible pro-PDP friends of mine still lambast me for the long series of pro-Buhari essays I had authored and posted on my face book page in the tense days leading to the 2019 presidential election.

But while even Mr President must privately admit to certain glaring missteps, one remains a staunch believer in the progressive promise that brought APC and the General to power in 2015 and 2019. While deep pains linger across the national landscape,, and while one must reiterate the urgency of redemptive re-evaluation of approaches, one stands to be corrected by those who implacably insist that this same Muhammadu Buhari, who wept for Nigeria on national TV few years ago, is now only obsessed with organising one ingenious heist or the other by which he now wishes to acquire ill gotten wealth. Or that the inspiring patriarch who so loudly disdained corruption in his younger years, when the wine of youth often made people to be machiavellian in their quest for material realisation, is now at near age 80, alas, the cynical champion of sleaze, as the PDP media propaganda machine would want us to believe.

So it is, that one remains stoically unbending as a believer in the ultimate good of APC. Which speaks volumes for why one would muster the resilient conviction to speak in favour of Charles Chukwuma Soludo as candidate of choice for Anambra governor.

May the best man yet win. May Indigbo find the path to her glorious destiny. May Nigeria weather these trying times on the wings of truth, justice, equity and wisdom.

Omotayo Suleiman, a public affairs analyst wrote from suleiman.tayo@gmail.com.
On Friday, October 29, some heavily armed persons suspected to be security operatives, invaded the official resident of Hon. Justice Mary Peter Odili, located along Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja. The raid was carried out Gestapo style, not minding that Mary Odili (JSC, CFR) is the second most senior justice of Nigerias apex court and the wife of a former governor of Rivers State. The magistrate who issued the controversial search warrant reportedly revoked it later that day, stating that he was misled.

In the aftermath of the show of shame, what Nigerians witnessed was a flurry of denials by the Police, DSS, EFCC. None among Nigerias hydra-headed security agencies claimed responsibility. From available report, however, one Lawrence Ajodo, a chief superintendent of police, had applied for and obtained a search warrant at Wuse Zone 6 magistrates court in Abuja. Mr. Ajodo claimed to have acted on behalf of a certain joint asset recovery team allegedly coordinated by Abubakar Malamis Ministry of Justice. As Nigerians await the findings of an investigative panel on the raid, we are reminded that this would not be the first or second time the Attorney-Generals name would come up in such controversial circumstances.

On July 6, 2020, Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of Nigerias Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since November 2015 was arrested for corruption bothering on embezzlement of public funds. Specifically, be was accused of failing to properly account for the N431 million naira security votes released to the office of the Executive Chairman of EFCC between November 2015 and May 2020 and was taken into custody.

Later that week, an investigative panel led by Justice Ayo Salami was convened by President Buhari to look into the allegations. Magus trouble started when Attorney-General Malami sent a letter to President Buhari, alleging Flagrant abuse of public office and other infractions committed by Mr Ibrahim Magu. In the letter, he accused the spy chief of corruption, official misconduct and insubordination. I have no idea what the outcome of the presidential investigation was and harbor no interest in defending Mr. Magu, but if he was guilty as charged, he shouldnt be left to enjoy billions of ill-gotten money. The question remains, was it really about the AGF doing his job or just a plot hatched in pursuit of a personal vendetta? Before then, the two had been at loggerheads on how to handle some seized assets. It was alleged that Malami authorized a private company with a shady past that included theft allegation, to auction several seized sea vessels holding crude oil and diesel, an attempt that officer Magu vehemently opposed.

The House of Representatives held a hearing on the issue of those recovered funds and assets and at one point said it uncovered the illegal payment of N2 billion made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Attorney General of the Federation as legal fees for the prosecution of some terrorism suspects. You wonder if these were the same terror suspects, some of whom were identified by The Emirates but whose identity the AGF refused to disclose for the reason that naming and shaming suspects in the Nigerian context must be rooted in constitutionalism. Such provision of course, does not apply to the accused sponsor of Oduduwa Republic who he alleged is a member of the National assembly.

Peoples Gazette earlier this year, secretly obtained an eight-page memo of May 4 where AG Malami was urging the President to declare a nationwide state of emergency. He reportedly cited widespread insecurity which he blamed on the activities of separatist agitators like Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu. AGF Malami had also on October 6, threatened that the Buharis government would impose a state of emergency in Anambra if the security situation did not improve. God forbid that Boko Haram in the Northeast and widespread banditry in the northwest should pose any security problem to this country. The irony of Nigeria is that those in the political echo chamber of an indivisible, non-negotiable entity are also the ones totally consumed by bigotry and regional politics.

The whole idea of setting aside the constitution and ruling by Martial laws was to get around the constitutional and legal bureaucratic bottlenecks in matters of National Security with particular regards to fundamental human rights. Just to be clear, what is at play here is that the one whose job is to protect the Nigerian constitution at all cost, allegedly wanted a crucial aspect of that constitution to be suspended. Bizarre.

In all the cases described above, Abubakar Malami, the man who superintends over the Federal Ministry of Justice denied any culpability and washed his hands clean. What is not clear, is why Buharis Attorney-General continue to feature in every major controversial issue plaguing this administration, whether its the unceremonious exit of Magu from EFCC, the raid on the home of Justice Odili, asset recovery scandal or the extra-ordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu. To his staunch supporters, especially from the north, there is also the human side of the AGF which is not known to so many.

We were told that a charity Malami co-founded called The Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative (KJDI) has been instrumental in providing basic social amenities especially in the rural communities of his native Kebbi state. Aside from distributing foodstuffs and medical supplies, his foundation was reported to have secured credit facilities worth billions of dollars to thousands of people in all the 21 local governments of Kebbi state as part of COVID-19 palliative. Malami was also alleged to have made a personal donation of 16 million naira to the flood victims of Kebbi State. Obviously that kind of money is not coming from his savings as a salaried federal minister. We have to assume that the man was swimming in wealth, way before joining Buharis supposedly austere government.

An investigative report carried out by Sahara Reporters however, suggested otherwise. They detailed how Malami and his family accumulated huge fortune since his becoming Nigerias Attorney-General. The privileged family was even reported to have flown on chartered private jet while attending a wedding event in Birnin Kebbi sometime ago.

There is no doubt that very few people in this administration have the power and clout that match that of AGF Malami. He is regarded as one of the untouchables in Buharis kitchen cabinet who literally can get away with murder. The quickest way to fall out of favor with the Aso Rock cabal is to cross an imaginary line drawn by their hatchet man. Imagine if such enormous power and influence is deployed to quench the inferno swallowing up what is left of this country.

Few days ago, I chanced upon an interesting list making the round in social media. In that list were the political juggernauts and gladiators of the second republic including President Shehu Shagari, Vice President Alex Ekwueme and the 19 Governors. Interestingly, only the duo of Auwal Ibrahim and Jim Nwobodo, none of whom are relevant in the current political dispensation are still alive. The rest, like the way of all flesh, have since joined their ancestors. That should serve as a sobering lesson to those who today are in control of the levers of power. Regrettably, many in this part of the globe continue to carry on as though they have conquered death.

Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: Eagleosmund@yahoo.com
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a loose cannon. Any time he fires or misfires, it is better to take cover. He fancies himself a warrior from the Ottoman Empire days galloping everywhere in imaginary battles to conquer the world or overcome his adversaries who he imagines are the enemies of his country and humanity. In almost all cases, he labels his political opponents either as terrorists of coup plotters.

Usually dressed in well-tailored suits, which gives the impression of a perfect gentleman, that is, until he erupts in outbursts like molten from an active volcano. His latest eruption, which again, questions his state of mind, was his theatrical decision on October 23 to expel envoys of ten Western countries: the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland and New Zealand.

Their alleged crime was calling for the trial of Turkish philanthropist, Osman Kavala, who has been in detention without trial for four years. The European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, had ruled in December 2019 that there was no substantial case against the detainee and that Erdogans actions were an attempt to silence him.

Erdogan had erupted last week: The Turkish judiciary doesnt take orders from anyone, and is not under anyones command. Our intention is absolutely not to create a crisis but to protect our law, honour, interests and our sovereign rights.

Turkish authorities were in a quandary; if Erdogans threats are carried out, the affected countries were bound to retaliate and other Western countries especially in the European Union, EU were certain to stand in solidarity with those countries. Also, Turkey has not given up hope to join the EU.

So the Turkish bureaucracy worked out a face-saving way for Erdogan; get the affected embassies to issue an identical Tweet that they would not interfere in the host countrys domestic affairs.

A joyous Erdogan then announced that the envoys new statement: shows they have taken a step back from the slander against our country. They will be more careful now. On that basis, he rescinded his order declaring the envoys persona non grata.

The West while not admitting Turkey into its EU fold, exercises a lot of restrain in dealing with Erdogan because each time there is an altercation, he threatens to open the borders with Greece and allow the over four million refugees in Turkey, including 3.6 million Syrians, to flow into Europe.

With Erdogan, you dont know what to expect as his words and actions can be confounding. For example, he came out to Africa a fortnight ago visiting Angola, Nigeria and Togo to sign bilateral agreements in areas like energy, mining, defence and hydrocarbon.

In meeting President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Erdogan made the unsubstantiated claim that there is an international Turkish terrorist group, called the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation, FETO, operating in Nigeria and running 17 schools. He wants Nigeria to fish out the owners whom he claims are terrorists, and hand over the schools to the Turkish Maarif Foundation, a rival foundation the Erdogan gang established on June 17, 2016 with a Professor Birol Akgun as head.

If Erdogan has any respect for Nigeria or its President, would he have asked us to involve our country and security services in the internal politics of his country? In assuming Nigeria is not well informed, Erdogan told President Buhari: Turkey has been fighting against terrorist organisations for many decades, such as the PKK, PYD, FETO, DASH and other terrorist organisations.

The perpetrator of the heinous failed coup of July 15, FETO, is still illegally active in Nigeria, and we are continuously sharing our intelligence with the Nigerian interlocutors and authorities. I hope and pray that our Nigerian brothers will forge a closer solidarity in this field with us, the Republic of Turkey.

Let us examine his claims on the four terrorist organisations. First is that Erdogan was a well-known Islamic fundamentalist who employed violence especially in dealing with secular Turks, to this extent, he was or is, a terrorist.

As candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party, Erdogan was in 1994, elected Mayor of Istanbul, but was later removed, imprisoned for four months and banned from political office, for inciting religious hatred.

He founded the Justice and Development Party, AKP in 2001 and became Turkish Prime Minister two years later. He then teamed up with Fethullah Gulen and his Gullen Movement. Yes, the same Fetullah Organisation, FETO he today calls terrorists. They carried out a reign of terror in the Turkish public life.

With Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen as leaders, they purged the public service and the military of all those who refused to accept Islamic fundamentalism. Later, both men had disagreements, and the latter went into exile. Erdogan then declared his former partner, Fetullah as a terrorist organisation and accused it of organising a 2016 attempted coup.

It is his former partners, Erdogan wants Buhari to fish out and seize their schools in Nigeria. The vengeful Erdogan told Buhari: We continue to share necessary information with the Nigerian authorities about FETOs illegal activities in Nigeria. The truth is that there is no shred of evidence that FETO is carrying out illegal activities in Nigeria, if there is, the Turks should produce them. It is an insult for Erdogan to assume that his enemies must be Nigerias enemies.

The second group Erdogan mentioned is the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, which is fighting for the recognition of Kurds in Turkey as citizens with equal rights like the majority Turks. The PKK is a liberation, not terrorist organisation. If anything, it is the Erdogan government which aborted peace talks, that is terrorising the Kurds.

The third group he mentioned was the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, PYD, which is a Syrian party struggling to control Northern Syria. Although, I do not support the PYD because I believe that neither Turkey nor the West has a right to dismember Syria, but the PYD is not a terrorist organisation. Why Erdogan claims it terrorist, is because this party with the Syrian military, has stopped Turkey from annexing Northern Syria.

The fourth group Erdogan mentioned to Buhari is the DASH or Daesh which is the derogatory word for the Islamic State, ISIS. Yes, ISIS, the parent body of the ISWAP terrorist group in Nigeria, is a terrorist organisation. But the Buhari government must be quite careful entering into any relationship with Turkey on the ISIS or terrorism.

This is because when Islamic terrorists in Europe poured into Syria and Iraq in 2014 to help establish ISIS, it was Turkey, under this same Erdogan that granted them free passage through its airports and borders. Any wise country, will keep Erdogan and his government at arms length.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
The National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP), Kwara branch, has suspended its seven-day warning strike.

The Chairman of the association, Saka Agboola, told journalists in Ilorin on Saturday that the suspension of the industrial action would take effect by 6 p.m.

He said that members are expected to resume regular duties Saturday evening.

According to him, the association had an emergency congress where members agreed to suspend the strike to give room for further negotiations with the state government.

Mr Agboola said suspending the industrial action resulted from the understanding reached between the association and the state government.

Considering the effect that this strike action has caused the patients and the entire populace in Kwara, we decided to suspend it.

We appreciate the effort of the state government in looking at how we can holistically approach the issue.

Going forward, we were able to have an understanding that we believe will foster peaceful relations with our employer.

This will also afford us the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and come out with an agreement that will be favourable to both parties, he said.

Mr Agboola said that the 70 per cent increase in earnings earlier agitated for in 2019 was evaluated by both parties.

Hopefully something meaningful would be realised, he said.

The chairman of NAGGMDP said that the government did not in any way intimidate the association to suspend the warning strike.

But we both reached a unanimous understanding on how to work together, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NAGGMDP had earlier embarked on a seven-day warning strike following the failure of the government to improve conditions of service, especially in the payment of new remuneration to its members.

(NAN)
The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Benin Zonal Command, said it has rescued about 96 victims of human trafficking in the zone.

The commander of the zone, Chidiebere Oruruo-Ifudu, which comprises Edo and Delta states, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, on Friday.

Mrs Oruruo-Ifudu said the victims were rescued between January and October.

She said the zone arrested 79 suspected human traffickers and secured four convictions within the period.

Sixty-three of the rescued victims have been reunited with their families, while the agency empowered 15 victims and reintegrated them into the society, she said.

She said the agency has several pending court cases, and that the zone treated not less than 117 cases.

The commander, while reviewing the agencys activities in the zone within the period under review, said there was a renewed zeal to tackle human trafficking in the zone as the year gradually winds up.

This is because the ills of human trafficking cannot be over-emphasised as many innocent Nigerian youth have been lured away by human traffickers under the guise of helping them get abroad.

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The victims either die before they get to their desired destination, or become victims of organ harvesting.

The agency, she said, had intensified its operations, especially vigilance in the zone, because many innocent youth are usually gullible and susceptible to the antics of human traffickers, who would come into the states during the yuletide and lure them with promises of greener and better life abroad.

She disclosed that in view of this, measures have been put in place in the zone for rigorous and effective awareness creation in primary, secondary schools, and tertiary institutions.

(NAN)
Retirees of the Cross River State Government on Friday blocked the entrance to the Government House, Calabar, to protest the non-payment of their pensions and gratuities for eight years.

The pensioners, who prevented vehicular movement into the governors office, said they were tired of hearing stories every time they asked for their entitlements.

Speaking with journalists, Eyo Eyo, the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, (NUP), Calabar Branch, said it was quite unfortunate the way retirees were being treated since July 2013.

Many of us were last paid pension in 2020, while 99 per cent of us are being owed since September, we dont understand the logic behind selective payment of pensions and gratuities.

Interestingly, many of the pensioners collect as low as N4,000 some get N7,500 while others get a little above N15,000 and N20,000 which is amongst the highest, why are we still being owed?

We have appealed severally to the government and at this point, we are tired of writing, they are claiming that the governor is not aware of our plight.

We have brought ourselves to his doorpost, we need money for upkeep, many have died, countless are bedridden, we are dying daily, he said.

Another retiree, Francis Henshaw, who said their conditions had become appalling, added that the governor neither had regards for old people nor senior citizens.

Mr Henshaw stated that many of the people he retired with were either dead or bedridden. I am grateful to be alive and healthy, he said.

He added that the way they were being treated was unfair and that they could no longer bear it.

Addressing the retirees, Alfred Mboto, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Governors Office, said it was unfortunate that the situation had degenerated to the present state.

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Mr Mboto said that when he came, he saw mothers and fathers in the sun, and that he knew that they wanted to see the governor directly, but he was in a meeting at the House of Assembly.

Truly, I have seen your plight, and I can say that nobody will see this and not understand that you are in pain, but I am assuring you that we will do everything possible to address your demands.

The issue of pension affects all of us, I have a few years now and I will join you people. And so, anybody who is in this way and is not supporting the payment of retirees entitlements, I do not think that person is reasonable.

The government is doing everything possible to make sure that the pensions and gratuities are paid, the permanent secretary said.

(NAN)
Saturdays governorship election in Anambra started generally peacefully, with an impressive turnout of voters in most of the areas in Awka South, Njikoka and Idemili North local government areas.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the turnout was impressive in the polling units in Nibo in Awka South, Enugwukwu and Abagana in Njikoka, as well as Ogidi in Idimili North local government areas.

NAN reported that there was adequate security in polling units, streets and roads in the areas.

Voting commenced in Umuaka Town Hall Ward 001 and Ward 005 both in Nibo about 9 a.m. as voters were being accredited, with the card reader working effectively.

The exercise took off peacefully in Ogidi at 9 a.m., too.

At Onua Square, Abagana, a voter, Emmanuel Akaogu, told NAN that there was an initial hiccup because the card reader was not identifying his fingerprint, adding that he later voted.

He said that the security arrangement was superb and praised INEC and security operatives for the arrangement.

Obi Ilochi, a voter who voted at Ogidi Town Hall Ward 005, said he was happy that the government could provide a conducive environment for people to participate in the election.

We are happy that the whole place is peaceful because it will be bad for Anambra to be the first state to record a constitutional crisis as a result of not having an election in our area, he said.

It would be recalled that the police said that they had put in place water-tight security arrangements across the state for the poll.

(NAN)
The Lagos State Government on Friday said dead bodies recovered from the Ikoyi collapsed building are ready for identification.

It, therefore, called on families of the deceased to go to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Yaba to identify the corpses of their loved ones.

The state government said 38 bodies have been recovered so far from the collapsed building as rescue operation entered Day Four on Friday, while family members had submitted 32 names of those still missing.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, while giving an update to the press, said the bodies would be ready for identification from 4 p.m. on Friday at the IDH, Yaba.

Mr Omotoso, who addressed the press conference in the company of the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Tayo Bamgbose-Martins; and Physical Planning and Urban Development, Idris Salako; said an autopsy would be carried out on the corpses before they are released to their families.

He said the autopsy is important because the law says that whenever there is death as a result of such incidents like the collapsed building, an autopsy must be done before the body is released.

The Commissioner also debunked reports that the rescue operation team at the collapsed building stopped the search and rescue work on Thursday.

He said work was still ongoing and would continue until the government could account for everybody inside the building at the time of collapse and certify that nobody is left behind in the collapsed building.

He said: So far now, we have recorded 38 dead bodies. And as you know, we have nine survivors. Some bodies are ready for identification. So, people can go to IDH, Yaba as from 4 p.m. to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

For bodies that may be very difficult to identify, we are going to be conducting DNA tests for such bodies to be identified. There are rules for giving bodies to people.

There are some of the bodies that are in a state that it would be unprofessional for the hospitals to allow people to look at them in that present state and for them to be released the way they are. That is why we have the little delay that we are having. But if you go to IDH, Yaba from 4 p.m., you should be able to see some of the bodies and be able to identify who you want to identify.

Yesterday, Mr Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu said one of the patients at the General Hospital was taken to LASUTH for a test and all that. The patient has been brought back to the hospital and he is said to be doing well. And all the patients who were there are doing well.

The multi-sectoral search and rescue operation was ongoing at press time and the effort is being led by teams of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), with the support of construction giants, Julius Berger, Craneburg, HiTech and China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says it will sponsor an anti-quackery bill to the Lagos State House of Assembly to give legal backing to its fight against quackery in the profession.

Adetunji Adenekan, NMA Lagos Chairman, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

Quackery involves having illegal persons or unlicenced individuals practising in the medical profession.

According to Mr Adenekan, quackery poses a threat to the realisation of quality health care delivery in the state.

He said that failure to prosecute quacks in the medical profession encouraged the dangerous practice throughout the country.

Most patients go to hospitals to seek medical care without knowing if the doctors in attendance are qualified to cater for their needs.

Many Nigerians have fallen victims to these quacks which have either led to their deaths or worse medical conditions.

Having an anti-quackery law would help prosecute the perpetrators under the appropriate law instead of impersonation or other flimsy charges that hasnt done much as a deterrent, he said.

He said the association would hold an anti-quackery summit in the first quarter of 2022 with relevant stakeholders to develop a strategic document that would be used to drive quality healthcare and development in the states health sector.

The NMA chairman said that the control of quackery required public education, effective monitoring and regulation, noting that the association would sensitise the public on the dangers of patronising quacks.

As an association, we advise that when a patient decides to seek medical care at a health facility, the patient should demand to see the credentials of the medical personnel on duty.

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Or better still look at the wall of the hospital to see if any licences are being displayed.

If they have any suspicion, such should be reported to the nearest Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) office or the NMA office, and appropriate investigations will be carried out, he said.

Mr Adenekan also commended the decision by Lagos State Government to shut down the Vedic Lifecare Hospital, Lekki, for allegedly employing unlicensed expatriate medical personnel.

Vedic Lifecare Hospital is a good health facility and I dont understand the reason why they would engage in a practice that would affect them, he said.

Mr Adenekan said the shut down of the facility by Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) suited the NMAs plan to rid the state of quackery in the medical profession.

NAN recalled that the state, through its HEFAMAA, had shut down Vedic Lifecare Hospital for employing unlicensed expatriates.

The agency said that it received information that some facilities were engaging foreign-based transient medical doctors (FBTMD).

It said that the foreign doctors would come into the state, stay for a period of time to provide medical care to patients and perform medical procedures before returning to their respective countries.

The health agency said that the government was concerned about the credentials and experience of such foreign health workers.

It warned hospitals to desist from using foreigners whose certificates and licences had not been verified by the MDCN toward safeguarding the health of the populace. (NAN)
Larry Rock, 76, of Charles Way, passed away on November 17, 2021 at his home. He was born May 17, 1945 the son of Clarence and Rose (Rell) Rock. Services will be private and held at the convenience of the family. Larry will be laid to rest in St. Mary's Cemetery in Champlain. Arrangements ha
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Prince William community has proven resilient. The Prince William Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

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ATLANTA, Nov. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 1851, the World's Fair has brought people together from every corner of the globe to innovate, collaborate and showcase the future. Expo 2020 will continue that tradition.

The Tap Rebels, Atlanta's first professional tap dance company is proud to be selected as a Cultural performer to continue this tradition. Expo 2020 Dubai attendees will experience The Tap Rebels electrifying blend of rebellious choreography designed to take them on a journey of creative exploration.

"As Atlanta's first professional Tap Company we are especially honored to represent the USA at Expo 2020. World Expos are quintessential events, and we are proud to be a part of the USA delegation. As an up-and-coming dance company, we are beyond excited to showcase the best America has to offer.," said The Tap Rebels Executive Director and Founder Vanessa Zabari.

This World Expo marks a pivotal moment in history, as the first Expo to be held in the Middle East.

Expo 2020 Dubai - with its theme of "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future" - will provide a platform to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration within the Middle East and beyond.

More information available on this Expo fact sheet and here to learn more about Expo 2020 Dubai and the 190+ participating countries.

ABOUT THE USA PAVILION

The USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 will celebrate the theme, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the Future." Exhibits will showcase the freedoms and opportunities that built a dynamic and open society, paving the way for American innovation and prosperity. Expo 2020 Dubai is scheduled to run from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. For more information, please visit www.usapavilion.org or contact us via email at [email protected]

ABOUT THE TAP REBELS

Founded in 2018 by Vanessa Zabari, The Tap Rebels is a professional dance company exclusively focusing on the discipline of Tap. Its mission is to create, to present, to preserve and to extend the electrifying art of tap dancing, through exciting performances.

SOURCE The Tap Rebels
AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Julie Sanchez is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Distinguished Retail Owner for her work at her company, Spoonie Threads.

Dr. Sanchez works as a Pediatric Surgeon at Austin Pediatric Surgery, where she has been practicing for over two decades. She treats infants, children, and adolescents who have a range of issues, including liver disease, intestinal blockages, congenital abnormalities, and more. Her work has given her vast insight into what sick children and their families really need.

After seeing the lack of adequate (and fashionable) adaptive clothing, Dr. Sanchez launched Spoonie Threads in 2015. Spoonie Threads is an adaptive apparel and accessories company created for children and adults with disabilities or chronic illnesses. The company was co-founded by women and utilizes Dr. Sanchez's medical background for insights into patient needs. All designs are tested to ensure that they meet specific medical needs. Products are designed to keep customers feeling stylish and on-trend as well as comfortable and clean throughout the day.

The company's motto is, "Limitations? So not our style." Spoonie Threads products have many uses: for ostomy care, post-surgical recovery, breastfeeding and pumping, diabetic care, tube, and port care, and more. Spoonie Threads sells pajamas, bodysuits, and shoulder snap tee shirts in sizes ranging from infants, toddlers, kids, and adults. Products are designed to allow medical professionals and families easy access to ports and other medical devices. They also sell printed ostomy bag covers that show a little humor and keep the bags from staining clothing. Their brightly colored belts and waistbands can hold insulin pumps and meds for diabetics or provide support for ostomies, feeding tubes, and more.

Spoonie Threads is dedicated to environmental sustainability and ethical production. Spoonie Threads ensures that their clothing providers never use child labor and provide fair wages to their employees. They primarily use recycled and recyclable packaging and are working to improve sustainability metrics in their material sourcing and manufacturing processes.



The company name, Spoonie Threads, is a reference to Christine Miserandino's "Spoon Theory" of disability. Spoon Theory imagines that every person has a certain number of spoons, or units of energy, each morning, and every task - getting dressed, eating a meal - costs one spoon. A chronically ill person might run out of spoons before lunchtime, while a healthy person may still have spoons left over at the end of the day. Dr. Sanchez utilizes this analogy in her clothing brand title, to explain the compromises that chronically ill people must make each day. Her line of clothes aims to make things easier for children and adults as they go through their day, offering clothing that brings a smile to their faces.

For more information, visit https://spooniethreads.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The urgency of Earth science and climate studies took the spotlight Friday as Vice President Kamala Harris visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The vice president received a firsthand look at how the nation's space program studies climate change and provides crucial information to understand our planet's changes and their impacts on our lives.

During the visit, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson unveiled the first images from Landsat 9, a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) launched in late September. The images show Detroit with neighboring Lake St. Clair, a changing Florida coastline, and areas of Navajo Country in Arizona. They will add to the wealth of data helping us monitor crop health and water used for irrigation, manage vital natural resources, and track the impacts of climate change.

The new images, all acquired Oct. 31, also provide data about the changing landscapes of the Himalayas and Australia, adding to Landsat's unparalleled data record that spans nearly 50 years of space-based Earth observation.

"I truly believe space activity is climate action. Space activity is education. Space activity is also economic growth. It is also innovation and inspiration. And it is about our security and our strength," the vice president said. "When it comes to our space activity, there is limitless potential.  So, as we go forth from here, let us continue to seize the opportunity of space."

Harris and Nelson also discussed NASA's announcement of a new Earth Venture Mission-3 (EVM-3). Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) will study how tropical storms and thunderstorms develop and intensify, which will help improve weather and climate models.

"Our NASA experts today provided us a sweeping look at the many ways we need to understand our planet better, from drought and urban heat, to our oceans and the many landscapes we can see changing from the heavens," said Nelson. "The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making real progress on the climate crisis to benefit the next generation, and NASA is at the heart of that work."

NASA, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and USGS, is among the federal agencies that conduct climate research and provide climate data critical for agencies and organizations worldwide. Extreme weather and climate events  including droughts, floods, and wildfires  are becoming regular occurrences. Insights from space help us study our planet as a unified system to understand these phenomena and benefit people where they live.

The vice president met with scientists and engineers to discuss how NASA's broad portfolio of Earth science missions helps address the climate challenges facing our world.

NASA's wide-ranging Earth science activities include satellites operated in partnership with other agencies. Those include NOAA and USGS, which also had representatives on hand to meet with Harris.

"Now in its sixth decade, the NOAA-NASA partnership puts the world's best technology in space to improve the nation's ability to monitor and predict Earth's climate and weather," said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. "Teams of NOAA and NASA experts co-located at NASA Goddard are advancing our nation's next-generation of geostationary satellites, called GOES-R, which produce essential data for accurate and timely forecasts that save lives and help people adapt to climate change."

"Landsat 9's compelling images and underlying scientific data will help Interior to better manage our nation's lands and resources, preserve our cultural heritage, honor our trust responsibilities with Native Americans and indigenous peoples, and address the climate crisis," said Tanya Trujillo, the Department of the Interior's assistant secretary for water and science. "Every day, the nearly 50-year Landsat data archive managed and freely shared by USGS is providing new insights and decision-support for government officials, educators, and businesses to better understand and sustainably manage our changing landscapes."

During her visit, Harris operated a robotic arm undergoing testing for a future in-orbit refueling mission of the Landsat 7 satellite. That satellite currently is studying Earth as part of the Landsat fleet.

Harris also visited the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, which involves an instrument currently under construction at Goddard for a 2022 launch. PACE will advance assessment capabilities for ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton  tiny plants and algae that sustain the marine food web. The GOES-R program, whose GOES-T satellite is scheduled to launch for NOAA in February 2022 to improve weather forecasts, was also showcased.

Learn more about NASA's Earth science work at:

https://www.nasa.gov/Earth

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission now is targeting a return to Earth no earlier than 7:14 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 8, with a splashdown off the coast of Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, to begin the journey home.

NASA will preview the mission on Saturday, Nov. 6 and provide coverage Sunday of the mission on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Aki Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet will complete 199 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. The spacecraft also will return to Earth with about 530 pounds of hardware and scientific investigations.

Endeavour will undock autonomously and perform a fly around maneuver to photograph the exterior of the International Space Station. Once the maneuver is completed, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will aim for a splashdown at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

NASA and SpaceX also have a backup undocking and splashdown opportunity available Monday, Nov. 8, if weather conditions are not favorable for the primary opportunity.

The NASA and SpaceX teams will determine a primary and alternate splashdown location from the seven possible landing locations prior to return, factoring in weather, crew rescue, and recovery operations. Additional decision milestones take place prior to undocking, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs the deorbit burn.

NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.

With Crew-2 splashdown Monday, Nov. 8, NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission is targeting launch no earlier than 9:03 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For this launch opportunity, the Crew Dragon Endurance is scheduled to dock to the space station around 7:10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 return coverage is as follows:

Saturday, Nov. 6

1:35 p.m. EDT Change of command ceremony

5:30 p.m. EDT- Crew-2 return preview briefing media teleconference with the following participants:

Ven Feng , deputy manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

, deputy manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Joel Montalbano , manager, International Space Station, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

, manager, International Space Station, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Sarah Walker , director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX

, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX JAXA Representative

ESA Representative

Media wishing to participate in the preview briefing by telephone must contact Stephanie Schierholz to RSVP by 3:30 p.m. EDT on Nov. 6. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA.

Sunday, Nov. 7

10:45 a.m. EST Coverage begins for 11:10 a.m. hatch closure

12:45 p.m. EST Coverage begins for 1:05 p.m. undocking (NASA will provide continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)

Monday, Nov. 8

7:14 a.m. EST Splashdown

Crew-2 is the second of six NASA and SpaceX crewed missions to fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the U.S. through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station, and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts and the space station blog.

Learn more about splashdown locations, weather criteria, and recovery logistics, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-spacex-crew-rescue-and-recovery/

See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") of Waterdrop Inc. (NYSE: WDH) pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's initial public offering conducted in May 2021 (the "IPO"), of the important November 15, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Waterdrop ADSs pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Waterdrop class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2158.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than November 15, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, the IPO's registration statement featured false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Waterdrop had achieved a substantial portion of its historical revenue growth through illicit means that ran afoul of Chinese rules and regulations governing the insurance industry; (2) Waterdrop had been ordered by the Chinese government to shut down its mutual aid platform because of its failure to comply with Chinese law; (3) Waterdrop was under investigation by regulatory authorities for continued violations of Chinese law; (4) as a result of the foregoing, there existed a material undisclosed risk and substantial likelihood that Waterdrop would face severe adverse actions by regulatory authorities following the IPO; (5) Waterdrop's operating losses had increased more than four-fold in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the cessation of its mutual aid business and rapidly growing customer acquisition costs; and (6) as a result of the foregoing, the IPO registration statement's representations regarding Waterdrop's historical financial and operational metrics and purported market opportunities did not accurately reflect the actual business, operations, and financial results and trajectory of the Company in the lead up to the IPO, were materially false and misleading, and lacked a factual basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Waterdrop class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2158.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

Related Links

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The Volunteer Ministers responded with donations of food such as fruit and vegetables, potatoes, flour, rice and pasta, hygiene suppliesand some nonessential but highly appreciated treats for the children.

Some 65 to 70 percent of the 1,700 or so Gyulaj residents are Romamany of them casual laborers living at or below the poverty line. The lockdown took a terrible toll on the community, with farm work and day labor severely impacted by restrictions. The Volunteer Ministers returned to the village with more supplies as the pandemic continued.

In September, with restrictions lifting and the promise of returning to normal, the mayor of Gyulaj and the village's Roma leader decided to organize an event for the entire community: A joint celebration of the village day and the annual Roma cultural festival.

With the centerpiece of the celebration a cooking contest, the Volunteer Ministers arrived at dawn with their bright yellow van loaded with 70 pounds of meat and cabbage. And to complement the stuffed cabbage and goulash, the volunteers added soft drinks and chocolate.

It was a fun-filled afternoon and the Volunteer Ministers left with plans to return for Christmas with gifts and holiday food to make it a great year for the community.

Then in early October, tragedy struck the town. The Volunteer Ministers received a call from the Roma leader, asking for help. A freak accident killed four cousins age 17 to 27 as they were driving to work. A fifth cousin was injured but survived. All five were electricians: the breadwinners of their families. Their vehicle skidded into an oncoming truck in the rain. Then, as the village was reeling from that shock, the mother of four children died suddenly, unexpectedly, leaving her children orphaned.

The volunteers immediately collected funds and left for the village with food and supplies to help the families through this tragic time and to let them know they are always on call to help them get through this ordeal.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard .

A Volunteer Minister's mandate is to be "a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others." Their creed: "A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."

Their motto is, no matter the circumstances, "Something can be done about it."

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Hungary headquarters is the Church of Scientology Budapest , whose new home was dedicated in 2016 by Mr. David Miscavige , ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion.

For more information, visit the Scientology Newsroom or the Volunteer Ministers website.

SOURCE Church of Scientology International

Related Links

http://www.scientology.org


NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF continues its investigation into Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC).

Already facing the fallout from an earlier series of scandals as well as an asset cap mandated by the Federal Reserve, throughout 2020, the Company disclosed a series of disappointing financial results due in part to continued deterioration in the Company's credit portfolio including taking increasingly massive provision expenses to account for expected credit delinquencies and significantly slashing its dividend.

The Company has been sued in a securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing.

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Wells Fargo's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Wells Fargo's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Wells Fargo shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-wfc/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Related Links

http://www.ksfcounsel.com


Geneva, Nov 6 : China follows the latest developments of the situation in Sudan and calls on all parties in the country to properly resolve their differences through dialogue so as to maintain national peace and stability, a Chinese diplomat said here.

Speaking at the one-day special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights implications of the ongoing situation in Sudan, Li Song, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Mission in Geneva, on Friday stressed that China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and believes that the Sudanese people have the wisdom and ability to handle their internal affairs well.

"China supports the Sudanese people in solving the Sudanese issue on their own, and calls on the international community to create a favourable external environment for all parties in Sudan to resolve the issue through dialogue," Li said.

The Chinese diplomat told the Council that China has always advocated that all parties handle differences in the field of human rights through constructive dialogue and cooperation, since external pressure will only complicate the issue, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The Human Rights Council should conduct its work impartially and objectively, and avoid politicizing human rights issues. The relevant discussions and actions of the Human Rights Council should help the relevant parties in Sudan to conduct dialogue and help Sudan maintain peace and stability, not the other way around," he added.

The Sudanese Army dissolved the power-sharing transitional government and detained civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his cabinet on October 25.

On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, to find a political solution to the ongoing crisis during a phone call.
Brussels, Nov 6 : European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has warned of "serious consequences" if the United Kingdom (UK) sought to renegotiate the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Following talks with the UK's Brexit Minister David Frost on how goods can be shipped between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, Sefcovic called for more sincerity from the UK side.

"Until today, we have seen no move at all from the UK side," the European Commission Vice President said on Friday at a press conference following the meeting.

"I find this disappointing and once again I urge the UK government to engage with us sincerely." "We hear a lot about Article 16 at the moment. Let there be no doubt that triggering Article 16 -- to seek the renegotiation of the Protocol -- would have serious consequences," he added.

"Serious for Northern Ireland, as it would lead to instability and unpredictability. And serious also for EU-UK relations in general, as it would mean a rejection of EU efforts to find a consensual solution to the implementation of the protocol," he said.

Invoking Article 16 of the Protocol would allow the UK to reconsider the lack of a border with Ireland if it believes it is causing serious economic difficulties. It could also suspend customs checks across the Irish Sea and this may threaten the European Single Market, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sefcovic said the Commission had proposed a whole new model for how goods can be moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, creating a sort of express lane that could cut customs-related red tape by half.

"A significant range of retail goods would also benefit from simplified certification. This would result in a reduction of up to 80 per cent of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks," he added.
United Nations, Nov 6 : The members of the United Nations Security Council has expressed deep concern about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia.

In a press statement on Friday, they noted the impact of the conflict on the humanitarian situation, as well as the stability of the country and the wider region.

They also welcomed the efforts of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Earlier this week, Guterres said "the stability of Ethiopia and the wider region is at stake." Joining Guterres' appeal, the council members asked parties to refrain from "inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness." The statement called for the respect of international humanitarian law, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the re-establishment of public services, and the scaling up of humanitarian assistance, Xinhua news agency reported.

The council members also called to put an end to hostilities and for a lasting ceasefire, saying it could be start of "an inclusive Ethiopian national dialogue to resolve the crisis and create the foundation for peace and stability throughout the country." They reiterated their support for the role of regional organizations, namely the African Union and its High Representative for the Horn of African Region, Olusegun Obasanjo.

The statement reaffirmed the Security Council's commitment to Ethiopia's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and unity.

Almost 5.2 million people remain in need of assistance across Ethiopia's regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar after heavy fighting erupted in November 2020 between government forces and those loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

In the midst of widespread allegations of human rights abuses on all sides, thousands of people are feared killed, and more than two million are displaced.

In the past few months, killings, lootings, and destruction of health centers and farms, as well as of irrigation systems that are crucial for food production, have contributed to an even greater surge in humanitarian needs.
Seoul, Nov 6 : South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has reiterated his reluctance to spending another round of universal Covid-19 relief grants as proposed by Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), saying that a "long discussion" is needed to deal with the issue.

"We have not reached an agreement on whether that is the right way," Yonhap News Agency quoted Kim as saying during a session of the special parliamentary committee on budget and accounts in Seoul where lawmakers reviewed the government's budget proposal for the next year.

"We really used up our energy after providing cash handouts to all people," he added. "After all, it is about using people's precious tax money." Earlier this week, Lee said the government should dole out additional cash handouts to all people, saying that the relief amount is too small considering the nation's GDP and in comparison with other countries.

He called for providing an additional 300,000-500,000 won ($250-420) per person at least since the government is expected to log a larger-than-expected surplus in tax revenue this year.

But Kim said on Wednesday that the government cannot afford extra universal relief grants, emphasising that the most urgent task for now is to compensate the self-employed and small business owners suffering from the pandemic.

Considering South Korea's 51.3 million population, the government needs to spend at least more than 15 trillion won if it accepts Lee's proposal of giving cash handouts to all people.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki took a similar stance, saying that targeted support for vulnerable people is better.

In May 2020, the government doled out 14.3 trillion won in stimulus checks to all households to help them cope with the fallout of the pandemic.
Seoul, Nov 6 : A new memorial stone for thousands of Korean victims of the 1945 US atomic bombing of Nagasaki was erected in the Japanese city on Saturday, its promoters said.

The monument was unveiled at a ceremony in Nagasaki Peace Park, which commemorates the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945, with Kang Chang-il, South Korean ambassador to Japan, and a group of ethnic Koreans in attendance, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Although there is a small memorial stone in the corner of Nagasaki Peace Park, which was set up in 1979 by pro-Pyongyang Korean residents and Japanese civic groups, this marks the first time that the monument is established with support from the South Korean government.

The atomic bombing is estimated to have killed about 74,000 people, including up to 10,000 Korean residents. It followed the other atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, the world's first ever nuclear attack said to have killed about 140,000 people, including up to 30,000 Koreans.

Japan surrendered on August 15, bringing the Second World War to an end.

Many of the Koreans were brought to many Japanese industrial cities as forced labourers during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.

The new monument is the result of 27 years of efforts by the ethnic Korean community in the southwestern Japanese city and the South Korean government.

The first memorial stone to honour the forgotten Korean victims was erected in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 1970 by the Korean Residents Union in Japan and memorial services were held every year, but there had been no similar events in Nagasaki.

To have a monument like one in Hiroshima, the local chapter of the pro-Seoul residents' organization in Nagasaki in May 1994 asked the city to provide a site in the park for the monument, but the then Nagasaki Peace Park was under renovation, and its request was denied.

The stalled process had a breakthrough in 2011, when the South Korean Consulate-General in Fukuoka officially requested a site in the park for the monument erection.

In 2013, the pro-Seoul residents' organization in Nagasaki formed a steering committee for the project and submitted a proposal to the city government the following year.

But the authorities did not approve it then, taking issue with its design, size and inscription that described the Koreans as victims of forced labour.

After continued efforts by the local community and the South Korean mission, the municipal government recently gave the green light as the two sides reached an agreement about the monument's epigraph, written in Korean, Japanese and English.

The Korean and Japanese versions describes the victims as people who were mobilised as labourers and troops "against their will", while the English inscription refers to them as people "forced to work".
Chennai, Nov 6 : The Tamil Nadu BJP has accused the DMK-led state government of entering into a "secret deal" with the Kerala government on the Mullaperiyar dam issue and called for a "protest march" against the "agreement." In a statement on Friday, party state president K. Annamalai also denounced the opening of the spillway shutters when the water level was just 136 feet.

The party would launch a protest march to the Theni district collector office on Monday against the "deal" between both the governments as this was against the interest of the people of the state, he said.

Annamalai alleged that while Tamil Nadu only has the right to open the spillway shutters of the dam, the Kerala Water Resources and Revenue ministers opened the shutters.

In the past, the spillway shutters were always opened in the presence of a state minister and Theni district collector which did not happen this time. He charged the DMK and its allies-- the Communist parties-- with betraying the people of five districts of Tamil Nadu who are dependent on the water from the dam for their agriculture needs.

The BJP leader accused the state minister S. Duraimurugan of visiting the dam just to give "lame excuses" to the people. He said that the BJP would conduct a series of protest programmes against the "secret deal' between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the Kerala Government ruled by the CPM-led left front.

He also said that the DMK government is betraying the interests of its farmers by opening the shutters at 136 feet which was much less than what was mandated by the Supreme Court as well as the supervisory committee constituted by it to determine the height of the water level in the dam.
Kabul, Nov 6 : An official of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has claimed the 55 Islamic State (IS) terrorists have surrendered in Nangarhar province.

"Following efforts by local elders, a total of 55 members of the IS group gave up fighting and surrendered to the provincial department of General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) in Nangarhar on Friday," Xinhua news agency quoted the official as saying to reporters.

The surrendered militants were active in Batil Kot, Achin and Spin Ghar districts of Nangarhar, a known IS stronghold, according to the official.

In the two months since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the IS affiliate known as IS-Khorasan or IS-K, has stepped up attacks across the country, putting immense pressure on the new rulers.

The attacks have been aimed mostly at Taliban units and at Afghanistan's Shia minorities.

Suicide bombings in Kabul, and in important cities including Kunduz in the north and Kandahar in the Taliban's southern heartland have killed at least 90 people and wounding hundreds of others in the span of just several weeks.

In the recent attack on Tuesday, IS fighters carried out a coordinated attack with gunmen and at least one suicide bomber on an important military hospital in the capital, killing at least 25 people.

The surge in attacks has fueled growing unease among Western officials, with some predicting that the IS, often considered a regional threat, could gain the capability to strike international targets in a matter of six to 12 months.
Tokyo, Nov 6 : The Japanese government said that it would shorten the Covid-19 quarantine period for vaccinated business travellers from overseas upon their arrival to three days starting from November 8 onwards.

The eased quarantine rules will apply to short-term business travellers who are inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines deemed effective by the Japanese authorities, reports Xinhua news agency.

Companies accepting them will need to report in advance on their planned activities for the seven days after quarantine and supervise them accordingly.

Currently, a 10-day quarantine period is required for business travellers upon entering the country.

The government also decided to allow fully vaccinated long-term travellers, such as students and technical intern trainees, to enter Japan with a 14-day quarantine period.

Schools and firms planning to accept them will be required to report in advance their planned activities in Japan and how they will be monitored.

The government will begin accepting applications from their sponsors starting on November 8.

However, the entry for tourists is yet to be open.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said: "This time, the measures do not cover tourists. But the government is considering a plan to allow tourists to enter the country in stages.

"We will examine the effectiveness of monitoring new arrivals and the coronavirus situation, at around the end of the year."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Gorakhpur, Nov 6 : In the run-up to the 2022 Assembly polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that he is ready to contest the elections from wherever the party decides.

Talking to reporters in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said: "I have always fought elections. Will contest the polls from wherever the party says. We have the party's parliamentary board which decides who will be fielded from which constituency.

"In the four and a half years of the BJP rule, the party has kept all promises made in the manifesto of the last Assembly polls in the state." When the BJP came to power in 2017, law and order in the state was in a bad shape, but today, the state has privilege of being the best state in the country in terms of the said situation, he said.

Adityanath asserted: "The state saw no riots in the four and a half years years of the BJP-rule. All festivals, including Diwali, were celebrated peacefully.

"Uttar Pradesh's celebration of Deepotsav in Ayodhya has took the world stage." Earlier also, Diwali was celebrated and Kumbh was also not organised for the first time in Prayagraj, but that time, the state has identity crisis, he said.

"With Deepotsav in Ayodhya, organisation of grand Kumbha in Prayagraj, better law and order, social welfare schemes, we have freed the state of identity crisis," the Chief Minister said.
Baghdad, Nov 6 : Two protesters rejecting the Iraqi election results were killed during a clash with the security forces outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.

"(On Friday) Hundreds of party followers rejecting the results of the October 10 early election gathered in front of the outer gate of the Green Zone near the Ministry of Planning building, while the security forces blocked the entrances of the zone," a source from the Interior Ministry told Xinhua news agency.

The clash erupted after the demonstrators tried to break into the zone, prompting the security forces to use tear gas to disperse the protesters who threw stones and water bottles at the troops, the source added.

Later in the day, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the clash.

Al-Kadhimi also called on the political parties to calm down and resort to dialogue and asked "demonstrators to exercise their legitimate rights by peaceful demonstration without violence", the JOC statement said.

In the elections, the Sadrist Movement took the lead with more than 70 seats, while the al-Fatah (Conquest) Coalition garnered only 17 seats compared with 47 in the 2018 elections.

The results were surprising to many political parties, who denounced the elections as manipulation and fraud, and warned that they would not accept the "fabricated results".

Followers of the political parties rejecting the election results took to the streets in many Iraqi cities, including the capital Baghdad, when the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission is still considering the appeals and complaints submitted by the political parties.

The Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were held in advance in response to months of protests against corruption, poor governance, and a lack of public services.

A total of 3,249 candidates within 167 parties and coalitions competed for 329 parliamentary seats.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : A three-member team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrived in Canada on November 5 to probe the funding routes to Sikh for Justice (SFJ) and other Khalistan supporters there.

According to sources, an Inspector General level officer led team will investigate the sources of funding by various organisations abroad for the creation of Khalistan out of India by the banned outfits like SFJ and other terrorist organisations.

The probe team will investigate the connection of these anti-Indian outfits' funding links of terrorist organisations -- SFJ and other pro-Khalistani groups like Khalistan Zindabad Force, Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Tiger Force, who have become active in the recent past. Sikh For Justice is backed by Pakistan's intelligence wing the Inter State Services (ISI) which has been trying to revive militancy in India.

SFJ has been banned by the Indian government for involving in terror-related activities.

The central probe team would also investigate the Khalistani terrorist organisations funding source from different foreign countries including the US, the UK, Australia and Germany.

During the farmers agitation against the three farm laws in Delhi in January and February, it was reported that some NGOs like 'Khalsa Aid' and others were funded by these Sikh organisations and supported the agitation for long. Around 40 persons including a Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu and Khalistani sympathizer Baldev Singh Sirsa were summoned by the NIA for questioning in the 'Sikhs For Justice Referendum case.

Recently on November 1, the SFJ organised a referendum in London to carve out Khalistan in India, which badly failed to garner support of the Sikhs due to punitive actions taken by the Indian government.

The Indian authorities have cancelled the visas of 12 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) status for their involvement in anti-India activities abroad. The US based SFJ deliberately tried to organise a referendum in London on November 1, 2021 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the UK, attending a global summit on Climate Change in Glasgow.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Centre on Saturday said that Income Tax (I-T) Department recently carried out 'search and seizure operations at locations associated with an Urban Credit Cooperative Bank located in Maharashtra.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the operation was carried out on October 27 at the bank's Headquarter and one of the branches.

Besides, the residence of the bank's Chairman and one of its directors were also covered.

"The analysis of bank data on 'Core Banking Solutions' (CBS) and the statements of key persons recorded during the search action has revealed the glaring irregularities in opening the bank accounts." "More than 1,200 new bank accounts were opened in the said branch without PAN. The investigations have revealed that these bank accounts were opened without following KYC norms and all account opening forms are filled in by the bank staff and they have put their signature or thumb impressions." As per the statement, in all these accounts, multiple cash deposits each of exact denomination of Rs 1.9 lakh, were made totalling to Rs 53.72 crore.

"Out of these, more than 700 bank accounts have been identified which were opened in series, where cash deposits of more than Rs 34.10 crore were made immediately within 7 days of opening of bank accounts mainly during the period August 2020 to May 2021." "These deposits have been structured to avoid mandatory PAN requirement for cash deposits over Rs 2 lakh. The money has been subsequently converted into fixed deposits in the same branch." Furthermore, upon local enquiries in few cases of such account holders, it was demonstrated that these persons are not aware of cash deposits in the bank and categorically denied any knowledge of such bank accounts or even the fixed deposits.

"The Chairman, CMD and the manager of the branch, could not explain the source of cash deposits and accepted that these were done at the behest of one of the directors of the bank, who is a prominent local businessman engaged in trading of grains." "On the basis of the evidences gathered and statements recorded, the entire amount of Rs 53.72 crore has been restrained."
United Ntions, Nov 6 : A Nepalese peacekeeper serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was named the recipient of the 2021 UN Woman Police Officer of the Year.

Superintendent Sangya Malla with the UN mission in the country, MONUSCO, is chief of its Police Health and Environment Unit, based in the capital, Kinshasa, reports Xinhua news agency.

Malla, a medical professional by training, helped establish the unit, which is responsible for implementing policies and procedures concerning the health and well-being of personnel as well as UN Police environmental initiatives.

Her contributions have been especially important during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, past Ebola outbreaks, and natural and humanitarian crises such as the volcanic eruption in the city of Goma last May.

During that emergency, her unit alerted the local population and UN staff of precautionary measures, according to a press release issued jointly by the UN Department of Global Communications and UN Department of Peace Operations.

"I am honoured to receive this award, and I hope it will encourage more young women in my country and around the world to pursue careers in policing, which is still too often viewed as 'man's work'," Malla said.

She will be presented with the award by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a virtual ceremony on November 9.

The UN chief praised the "blue helmet" for her work in enhancing the safety and welfare of UN peacekeepers by mitigating their risks from Covid-19 and other threats.

"And she represents something far larger - the many contributions of women police officers in advancing peace and security around the world," Guterres added.

"Through her work, Superintendent Malla embodies the best of the UN." Malla helped develop guidance for preventing and mitigating the spread of Covid-19.

She has organised over 300 awareness sessions this year on coronavirus prevention as well as environmental protection for the local population, Congolese authorities and UN staff.

As the MONUSCO Police's focal point on Covid-19, she has also been disseminating information about vaccines and promoting vaccination efforts, according to the press release.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Nov 6: Chinese ship Hippo Spirit which had been told to leave by Colombo for bringing contaminated organic fertiliser to Sri Lanka seems to have come back to Sri Lankan waters under another name-Seiyo Explorer.

Hippo Spirit had left China with 20,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser which was found to be contaminated with hazardous bacteria. After two tests, the Sri Lankan government decided to suspend the imports of the fertiliser from China, citing threat to the country's soil and crops.

News First website quotes Dr Ajantha De Silva, the DG of the Department of Agriculture as saying: "We did not grant the bulk permit to import stocks of the fertilizer. So without that permit, we cannot accept this ship even if it comes here. There are no provisions under the Plant quarantine act for us to accept this ship".

China is on the defensive over the export of the contaminated fertiliser. Global Times, the Chinese government-managed newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin as saying: "at the moment, China and Sri Lanka are working on the issue through communication and coordination".

Sri Lanka does not seem to be in any mood to relent.

After the rejection of the fertiliser, the ship turned to Singapore and anchored at Malacca Strait. The ship's automatic identification system was deactivated at the Malacca Strait. Reportedly, the ship did not return to China with the contaminated fertiliser.

Now Sri Lankan authorities find that a Chinese ship under the name Seiyo Explorer is in Sri Lankan waters, parked in the south-east near the China-controlled Hambantota port.

The Sri Lankan media reports that despite the change in the name from Hippo Spirit to Seiyo Explorer, the vessel was traced by a ship-tracking website, which says that both the ships appear to have the same International Maritime Organization (IMO) number--9135523.

The IMO ship identification number is a unique seven-digit number that remains unchanged through a vessel's lifetime irrespective of change of ownership or country.

According to Pew Trusts, a UK-based company, IHS Maritime & Trade, has been assigned the responsibility of assigning IMO numbers to ships. Pew Trusts says: "The unique seven-digit vessel number the company issues to each vessel, preceded by the letters IMO, stays with it until it is scrapped and never changes, regardless of the ship's owner, country of registration or name".

However, in a classic case of arm-twisting by Chinese fertiliser manufacturer, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co, it sent the ship back to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile the Chinese embassy in Colombo is mounting pressure on Sri Lankan authorities to accept the contaminated fertiliser.

After the Sri Lankan authorities found the ship anchored off the coast of Weligama, 61 nautical miles from Sri Lanka, the Colombo Port Harbour Master issued instructions to not allow the Chinese fertiliser ship to enter any of the ports in the island nation, says the Colombo Page website.

With mounting pressure from China, Sri Lanka is now monitoring the ship carefully.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
San Francisco, Nov 6 : Tech giant Microsoft has fixed several Windows 11 features failing to load after an expired certificate was discovered earlier this week.

According to The Verge, some Windows 11 users have not been able to open apps like the Snipping Tool, touch keyboard, or emoji panel since a certificate expired on October 31.

The tech giant warned Windows 11 users about the problems earlier this week and has now released an out-of-band update.

The issues also affected voice typing and getting started tips sections of Windows 11.

If you are running Windows 11, you should be offered the KB5008295 update, and it will automatically install from Windows Update, the report said.

This patch does require a reboot, and Microsoft notes it will address all of the issues from the expired certificate, including the accounts page in Windows 11 with S mode failing to load.

Microsoft was relatively quick to address these problems after the company discovered the certificate issue early this week, the report said.

It is unusual for Microsoft to issue out-of-band patches that aren't security-related for its Windows operating systems, and this is one of the first emergency-style fixes for Windows 11, it added.

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 patch comes just two weeks after the company had to issue a fix for AMD CPU performance in the OS. A bug was slowing performance on Ryzen processors by up to 15 per cent in certain games.
Lisbon, Nov 6 : Lawmakers in Portugal voted to legalise euthanasia by approving a revised bill that fixed objections raised earlier by the Constitutional Court.

The vote was 138 in favour, 84 against and five abstentions, reports Xinhua news agency.

The original bill was vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in March.

The new law specifies the conditions under which medically assisted death is not punishable, thus changing the country's Penal Code.

The rules are quite restrictive, and only people over 18, who are Portuguese citizens or foreigners legally resident in the country, can resort to euthanasia, the practice of intentionally ending life to relieve pain and suffering.

Only patients in situations of "intolerable suffering, with severe permanent injury or incurable and fatal disease" can opt for this final procedure. Those diagnosed with mental illnesses cannot choose assisted suicide.

President de Sousa still needs to sign the bill into law.
Chennai, Nov 6 : The Tamil Nadu health department has commenced door-to-door campaigns to check on the people who have not taken the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine after they have completed the mandatory eligibility period.

According to the department, around 65 lakh people in the state are eligible for the second dose.

The Department is using the services of the mobile vaccination clinics for the purpose of conducting door-to-door awareness and to check out the persons to be inoculated.

Tamil Nadu has already vaccinated 71 per cent of its eligible population with the first dose of vaccine but only 31 per cent have taken their second dose. Except in the Nilgiris (58 per cent) and Chennai (50 per cent), no other districts of the state have touched the 50 per cent mark regarding the second dose of vaccine.

The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine said that 50,44,862 persons are eligible for the second dose of the Covishield vaccine and 14,11,437 people for Covaxin.

The department has already prepared a list of the people eligible for the second dose on a district level basis and health teams are reaching out to those who are delaying it. The health department is also focusing on those who have yet to take even a single dose of vaccine.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister, Ma Subramanian told IANS: "After the number of new Covid-19 cases has decined drastically, there is a tendency among the people to delay the second dose and this is not acceptable. We have deputed mobile volunteers to check the details of those who have not taken the second dose even after being eligible for the same and would take measures for them to be inoculated." Dr. Suchitra V. Menon, Professor of Microbiology, in a Government medical college of Tamil Nadu, told IANS: "People with co-morbidities and those who have undergone organ transplantation like liver transplant, kidney transplant, etc requires a booster dose and you cant ask them to take a booster dose without a second dose and hence people must be made aware that second dose vaccines are as important as the first dose."
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The Rachakonda Police in Telangana on Saturday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang which duped people in the name of online crypto trading.

The sleuths of Cyber Crimes wing of Rachakonda Police Commissionerate arrested three accused, all residents of West Bengal. One of them is a bank employee.

The main accused, also from West Bengal, is absconding.

According to the police, Chota Bhai alias Deepu Mondal used names of various shell companies which never existed and fleeced victims in the name of investment and later exchanged the amounts by purchasing crypto currency.

The Rachakonda Police Commissionerate is one of the three police commissionerates covering Hyderabad and its suburbs.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said the arrests were made during investigation after a victim lodged a complaint. Bhanothu Kiran Kumar, a resident of Narapally, Ghatkesar, was cheated to the tune of Rs 86 lakh.

The police seized five mobile phones, six SIM cards, three bank cheque books, six ATM cards of different banks. An amount of Rs 50 lakh in the bank accounts of the accused was also frozen.

According to police, the main accused along with Nurl Alam Haque, a bank employee in Siliguri district of West Bengal, opened 64 different bank accounts and procured various SIM cards in the name of gullible villagers with the help of two other accused.

Ekram Hussain and MD Ijarul helped the main accused in procuring the ID credentials of the villagers by offering them petty commissions and collected their ATM cards, cheque books and Internet banking credentials and used the same for crediting fraudulent amounts transferred by the victims.

Chotu Bhai and Nurl contacted the victims using virtual numbers and lured them and made them deposit money into various accounts in the name of 'crypto investments'. Once the money got credited in the accounts, the accused used to purchase crypto currency through Zebpay.

The investigation revealed that the accused created 14 shell companies for cheating gullible victims They had contacted Kumar in September through WhatsApp using virtual numbers and lured him to invest in crypto currency. Believing them, he invested Rs 50,000 and as he earned a profit of Rs 10,000, they convinced him to make more investments for higher profit.

A police team led by investigating officer N. Ramu visited West Bengal on November 3 and arrested Ijarul, who is the crypto account holder (Zebpay) and on the basis of his inputs, Nurl and Ekram were arrested.

The arrested were taken to Matigara Police Station of Siliguri and after completing the legal formalities were brought to Hyderabad and produced before a magistrate, who sent him to judicial remand.

The Police Commissioner advised people, especially netizens not to get lured by such online investment offers by the cyber criminals.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Jammu and Kashmir Administration has decided to grant security allowances to the Special Operation Group (SOG), Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) and state police personnel.

In a recent order issued on November 1, the combatant operational personnel of SOG, BDS and J&K police will get incentive of 25 per cent of their basic pay while the non-combatant personnel will get 12.5 per cent from now onwards.

The order also said that the hardship allowances to SOG and BDS shall also be the same as given to other police personnel.

According to an official, the J&K government's move came after the high level security meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 23 at Srinagar.

He also said that the decision has been taken keeping in mind the security threat prevailing in J&K.

During the high level meeting on October 23, Shah, apart from taking stringent actions against the terrorist in the Valley, also asked the state authorities to take steps to boost the morale of the security personnel by granting them some of the facilities at par with other central forces operative in the Union Territory.

During the security meeting which was attended by Intelligence Bureau chief Arvind Kumar, CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh, BSF DG Pamkaj Singh, DG of National Security Guard M.A. Ganapathy, J&K Police DG Dilbagh Singh, Army commanders and other officials chalked out a detailed strategy to counter the recent spate of civilian killings in the Valley.

The J&K DG made a presentation on the recent terror attacks targeting minorities and non-locals in Kashmir including steps taken to prevent them as well as the security measures in place.

Expressing concern over rising radicalisation and infiltration in J&K, he asked a slew of measures to improve security situations in the Valley which have resulted in setting up drone grid network, formation of Terror Monitoring Group and creation of specialised team of central agencies to monitoring the operation in Jammu and Kashmir to prevent infiltration and pinpointed operations against the ultras.
Patna, Nov 6 : Four people died and six others fell ill after consuming suspected spurious liquor in Bihar's Samastipur district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place at Rupauli Panchayat under Patori police station.

The deceased have been identified as Mohan Kumar (27), Army jawan Vinay Kumar Singh (54), BSF officer Shyam Nandan Chaudhary (50) and Veerchand Rai (35).

Meanwhile, Bega Rai, Abhilakh Rai, Suman Kumar, Dipak Kumar, Kundan Kumar and another man have lost their eyesight and are stated to be critical.

The victims had consumed liquor on Friday evening following which they complained of abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea.

They were rushed to hospitals where four of them died during treatment.

According to sources, all the victims had purchased the liquor from the same place.

"We have sent the bodies for post-mortem and are awaiting the report," DSP of Samastipur (Sadar)Om Prakash Arun said.

Dr Nagendra Malik, the doctor who conducted the post-mortem of Mohan and Vinay said that they had consumed liquor and traces of poison were found in their bodies.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gopalganj and Bettiah hooch tragedy has mounted to 13 and 15 respectively.

Over two dozen persons are critically ill and many of them have lost their eyesight in both the incidents so far.
Athens, Nov 6 : The Greek government has announced support measures for farmers and stockbreeders, in response to protests staged in Athens.

Faced with growing production costs resulting from record-high energy prices, the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters hitting the country, thousands of protesters from the island of Crete, the Peloponnese peninsula and other parts of Greece rallied in front of the parliament and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, reports Xinhua news agency.

As protesters were chanting "more state aid to stay afloat", Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Minister of Rural Development and Food Spilios Livanos announced that about 200,000 people will benefit from an excise duty return on petrol used in primary production next year.

The 50 million euro ($58 million) aid scheme will help young farmers and members of co-operatives, and it is part of a wider package of measures aimed to support the sector, they told a press briefing.

"The primary production sector is a key pillar of the Greek economy for the government of New Democracy (ruling party)," Staikouras was quoted as saying by the Greek national broadcaster ERT.

He added that since 2020, supplementary aid to the primary sector has amounted to 900 million euros. The support measures include the reduction of taxes, contribution to social security funds, aid to individuals, businesses and co-operatives affected by Covid-19, and compensation to those affected by wildfires, floods and earthquakes.

Protesters in Athens on Friday insisted that the burden they shoulder is far larger than the assistance provided so far by the government.

"All small and medium sized stockbreeding businesses should have the rights and support they had until (recently)," Spyros Darakis, a representative of a co-operative on Crete, told Xinhua, claiming that thousands may be "left behind" without substantial aid.

Ioannis Romanos, a lawyer representing an association of raisin producers on Peloponnese, highlighted the challenges they are facing due to the pandemic.

Due to the lockdowns and the closure or partial operation of the catering and tourism sectors for several months, producers have tons of raisins left in their warehouses.

The big surplus pushes down the prices to levels far lower than the production costs. "Last year, the price of Corinthian raisin was about 1.6 euros (per kilo). This year, it has dropped to one euro and the decline continues," he told Xinhua, stressing that currently the production cost is about 1.2 euros per kilo.

"With such prices, raisins production will be over in a couple of years," he said.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : India and Senegal held deliberations to enhance bilateral business and defence relationship between both the countries.

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan visited Senegal and met President Macky Sall to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

India has been reaching out to African nations to strengthen military and business relationships with these countries.

During the visit, Muraleedharan met President Sall who emphasized the special nature of India-Senegal relations and expressed his desire to continue to engage with India to achieve full potential.

He briefed the President of Senegal about the deliberations that were held in the JCM, particularly with respect to Health, energy, railways, mining, defence, development partnership and others.

Sall had visited India in October 2015 for the India-Africa Forum Summit and in May 2017 to participate in the 52nd Annual Meeting of African Development Bank in Gandhinagar.

Muraleedharan co-chaired the third India-Senegal Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), held on November 4 and November 5, 2021, in Dakar.

Both sides discussed all the areas of mutual interest including trade and commerce, investments, health, energy, agriculture, railways, defence and security, education and culture, development partnership, consular, and Indian community related matters and agreed to enhance cooperation in these areas.

"Two MoUs were signed during the visit namely MoU for cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine and MoU for training of Senegalese diplomats," the ministry of External Affairs said.

MoS along with foreign minister of Senegal launched a commemorative stamp, marking the celebrations of 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During the visit, the minister also visited Renaissance Monument in Dakar and paid floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

He also visited Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Technology (CEDT) in Dakar, built with Indian grant. MoS interacted with the Indian community in Dakar and greeted them on the occasion of Diwali.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : Akshay Bardapurkar's Planet Marathi and Piiyush Singh's Golden Ratio Films bring Independent film studio Black Hangar Studios onboard for the Marathi film 'Moghul Mardini Chhatrapati Tararani', starring Sonalee Kulkarni.

Black Hangar Studios is the name behind many Hollywood productions like 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story', 'Dark Tide', 'The Grand Tour, 24: Live Another Day', and many more.

The film will be titled 'Moghul Mardini Chhatrapati Tararani' and is based on one of the greatest epics of valor of the warrior queen Chhatrapati Tararani who fought with the Mughals, Nizamshahi, Aadilshahi, Qutubshahi, Dutch, British, Portuguese, Siddis at the same time.

Planet Marathi CMD, Akshay Bardapurkar said: "'Chhatrapati Tararani' is going to be a golden page in the history of Marathi cinema. Planet Marathi and Golden Ratio are proud to take the story of the Maratha warrior queen Chhatrapati Tararani to the world. This will be the first and one of the biggest Marathi-Hollywood films to go on floors with an international film studio.

"It is too soon to reveal more details about the film but we have a talented blend of filmmakers, musicians, and artists that are working hard to bring this beautiful presentation to our Marathi audiences. I strongly believe this film has the potential to take Marathi cinema at a newer height." The one who gave tough resistance to Aurangzeb till his grave dug into his own military camp, and ended his dream of destroying the Swarajya. All this while she was widowed at the tender age of 25.

'Chhatrapati Tararani' will be directed by popular Marathi director Rahul Jadhav. The film stars Hirkani of Marathi films, with actress Sonalee Kulkarni in the lead.

Black Hangar Studios and ORWO Studios is excited to be a part of an Indian regional film that narrates the historical epic.

Jake Seal, CEO said: "After working with the Indian Sci-fi genre we are excited to create the experience for a historical period drama. The story itself moves us and with the promise that Planet Marathi brings in filmmaking we are thrilled to see where this journey leads us. We aim to make films more engaging for global audiences irrespective of the language and medium and we are committed to making the story come alive." Piiyush Singh, Cofounder, Golden Ratio Films added: "The title itself comes with huge responsibility to us and the entire team is working to bring out the best for the viewers." This mega-blockbuster, one-of-a-kind, film will be produced in both Marathi and English.

The makers are planning a Diwali 2022 release in India and overseas for this project.
London, Nov 6 : An international team of scientists has for the first time discovered a brain receptor that explains why people are growing taller and maturing fast.

The study, published in the journal Nature, describes melanocortin 3 receptor (MC3R) -- a member of a family of proteins that have long been known to play central roles in metabolism and energy balance.

The team, led by University of Cambridge Queen Mary University of London, Universities of Bristol, Michigan and Vanderbilt, showed that MC3R uses information about the body's energy balance to regulate growth rate and the onset of puberty in children.

The study provided "evidence that MC3R regulates the timing of sexual maturation, the rate of linear growth and the accrual of lean mass, which are all energy-sensitive processes." Further, it also showed that humans who carry loss-of-function mutations in MC3R, have a later onset of puberty than others and people also tend to be shorter in height.

MC3R can be explained as the crucial link between food and sexual development and growth, BBC reported.

"It tells the body we're great here, we've got lots of food, so grow quickly, have puberty soon and make lots of babies," Prof Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, study author, from Cambridge, was quoted as saying.

"It's not just magic -- we have the complete wiring diagram for how it happens," he said.

For the study, the team searched through the genetic make-up of half a million volunteers signed up to the UK Biobank.

They found that children with gene mutations which disrupt the brain receptor were all shorter and weighed less than other children, which shows the effect starts early in life.

The research team found one person who had mutations in both copies of the gene for MC3R, which is extremely rare and damaging. This person was very short, and started puberty after the age of 20, the report said.

The study repeated in mice confirmed that the same pathway is at work in animals.

The discovery could help children with serious delays in growth and puberty, as well as those who become frail with chronic diseases and need to build up muscle.

"Future research should investigate if drugs that selectively activate the MC3R might help redirect calories into muscle and other lean tissues, with the prospect of improving the physical functionality of such patients," O'Rahilly said.
Brussels, Nov 6 : European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic on Friday warned of "serious consequences" if the UK sought to renegotiate the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Following talks with the UK's Brexit Minister David Frost on how goods can be shipped between Northern Ireland and Britain, Sefcovic called for more sincerity from the latter side, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Until today, we have seen no move at all from the UK side," Sefcovic said at a press conference following the meeting.

"I find this disappointing and once again I urge the UK government to engage with us sincerely.

"We hear a lot about Article 16 at the moment. Let there be no doubt that triggering Article 16 -- to seek the renegotiation of the Protocol -- would have serious consequences.

"Serious for Northern Ireland, as it would lead to instability and unpredictability. And serious also for EU-UK relations in general, as it would mean a rejection of EU efforts to find a consensual solution to the implementation of the protocol," he added.

Invoking Article 16 of the Protocol would allow the UK to reconsider the lack of a border with Ireland if it believes it is causing serious economic difficulties.

It could also suspend customs checks across the Irish Sea and this may threaten the European Single Market.

Sefcovic said the Commission had proposed a whole new model for how goods can be moved from Britain to Northern Ireland, creating a sort of express lane that could cut customs-related red tape by half.

"A significant range of retail goods would also benefit from simplified certification. This would result in a reduction of up to 80 per cent of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks," he said.

Northern Ireland is at the centre of the post-Brexit trade dispute between Britain and the EU.

As part of the Brexit deal, the Protocol stipulates that Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market and customs union to avoid a hard border between the region and the Republic of Ireland.

However, this leads to a new "regulatory" border between Britain and Northern Ireland.

For months, the UK has complained the rigid operation of the protocol, part of the Brexit deal, is unacceptable because it has severely disrupted trade, affected consumers and contributed to political instability.
United Nations, Nov 6 : With the escalating violence in northern Ethiopia, the UN relief chief opened discussions on with officials on aid needs for about 20 million people.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths met first with government leaders, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Office said Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, had constructive talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen.

They discussed the humanitarian situation in the country and the challenges that aid organisations face in getting assistance to all Ethiopians in need.

Federal and local authorities severely limit or block aid delivery because of security concerns, humanitarians said.

Some villagers block humanitarian shipments through their regions, first demanding aid for themselves.

Griffiths also planned meetings for Saturday with representatives of non-governmental aid partners of the world body and members of the diplomatic community to discuss efforts to assist millions of people in need.

About 20 million people across the country, including 7 million directly affected by the conflict in northern Ethiopia, are targeted for aid, OCHA said.

In the past year, the Tigray conflict has spread into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.

The government recently started airstrikes centred on targets in and around Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region.

The humanitarians said that conflict, drought, flooding, disease outbreaks, and desert locust infestation continue to drive humanitarian needs across the country.

The 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan for Ethiopia has a funding gap of more than $1.3 billion, OCHA said.

The northern Ethiopia response plan mobilised about $606 million.

The aid office said a $474 million budget for the draft Humanitarian Response Plan, covering areas outside Tigray, is far from sufficient to cover mounting humanitarian needs.
Srinagar, Nov 6 : Jammu and Kashmir is all set to become tourism capital of India as the denizens of the newly carved out Union Territory are determined to foil the nefarious designs of militants to disrupt the process of peace, prosperity and development in the region.

The Pakistan sponsored ultras last month made a desperate attempt to push back Kashmir into uncertainty and chaos by turning the gun towards members of minority communities, including the non-local labourers. The militants killed eleven civilians within a few days and made an attempt to drive out minorities and tourists from Kashmir. But the counter offensive launched by the security forces left 15 militants dead and restored the sense of security within a few days.

The unfortunate civilian killings in Kashmir led to some sort of panic in the initial days and there were apprehensions that the tourism industry may take a hit, but situation returned to normal within a few days. Hotel bookings witnessed a few cancelations but the buzz came back within no time.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration played an important role to restore the normalcy by holding cultural and tourism events and by organizing "Iconic Week Festival" in October end.

Home Minister's J&K visit sent a clear message The crucial J&K visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah boosted morale of the people and his assurance that the situation won't be allowed to deteriorate proved to be a turning point.

After landing in Kashmir, the Union Home Minister flagged off the Srinagar-Sharjah flight. It was a clear message to adversaries that the Government of India won't allow the handful of militants to take the Valley hostage.

Prior to commencement of Srinagar-Sharjah flight, the J&K Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai government for development of real estate, industrial parks, and other infrastructure in the Union Territory.

Highlighting significance of the MoU, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal had said that the world has started to recognize the pace with which J&K is traversing on the development bandwagon. "It is a strong signal to the entire world that the way India is transforming into a global power, Jammu & Kashmir is having a significant role in that as well," Goyal had said.

Leadership determined to pull J&K out Efforts of the Central Government to convert the UT from 'terror capital to tourism capital' are clearly visible. The resolve of the country's leadership to bring J&K out of the quagmire of uncertainty is evident. The new era of development that commenced on August 5, 2019 -- when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K's special status and divided it into two Union Territories --has led to the breaking out of a new dawn in the erstwhile State that has been a victim of Pakistan sponsored militancy for the past three decades.

Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department announced a 40 per cent discount on the room rents in hotels and houseboats to attract more tourists to Kashmir. Vice-President of Houseboat Association Kashmir, Manzoor Ahmed Pakhtoon while talking to a news portal stated that the government did the promotions in different parts of the country and held many shows including a houseboat show to promote Kashmir as a safe tourist destination.

Pakthoon said that these initiatives have helped and they are getting a lot of queries. "We are expecting a lot of tourists. We have special discounts, around 40 per cent of the discount for tourists staying in houseboats. The people around the world had a financial crunch and that's why we are giving such offers. It will help the Kashmir tourism industry," Pakhtoon was quoted as having said.

Kashmir gears up for winter tourism At present Kashmir is gearing up for winter tourism, famous resorts, Gulmarg in North Kashmir and Pahalgam in South Kashmir are packed with tourists and more are likely to arrive in the coming months to enjoy the winter in the Valley. People associated with the tourism industry in Kashmir are busy making future plans as they have sniffed that the Valley is set to witness bumper tourism season in the winter. Many hotels in Kashmir are full and the advance bookings are an indication that many tourists have planned to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Kashmir.

In 2020, the early snowfall in Kashmir had led to a high influx of tourists into the Valley. Thousands of visitors from different parts of the country had visited Gulmarg to celebrate natural Christmas amidst snowfall. This year also upper reaches of the Valley have received early snowfall and it has multiplied the hotel bookings.

Process to build 'Naya J&K' irreversible After the recent surge in violence the Central Government has sent a clear message that it is committed to the safety, security of life and property of the people of Kashmir and non-locals in the Valley.

More than 70 per cent of Kashmir's economy is dependent on the horticulture and tourism sectors. Militants by targeting non-locals had made an attempt to hit both these vital industries. They wanted to create fear psychosis and recreate a situation like 1990, when Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave the Valley after selective killings, threats and intimidation. At that point of time the members of the majority community couldn't do much due to the fear of reprisal but this time around when the ultras turned their guns towards members of the minority communities, people of Kashmir in one voice condemned these cold blooded murders and drove home a point that such dastardly acts cannot be tolerated.

From a common man to political and religious leaders everyone raised his voice against the target killings. The attempt of ultras to label every Kashmiri as a terrorist didn't materialize. Kashmir has fought back and has given a befitting reply to terror sponsors that their agenda has no takers in the Valley. The government too has ensured to keep things on track. The derailment predicted by the adversary has not happened as the situation has remained well under control. Message is clear that J&K has changed and the process to build "Naya J&K" is irreversible.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : India and France on Friday held the second strategic dialogue on the occasion of the 35th session of the Indo-French strategic dialogue and decided to strengthen maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region and also discussed the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, the French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said on Saturday.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday held discussions with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the occasion of the 35th session of the Indo-French strategic dialogue, which was held in Paris, a statement issued by the French embassy said here on Saturday.

This was a follow up meeting after the earlier meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the G20 in Rome, the French Minister stressed on the commitment to deepening the Indo-French strategic partnership and strengthening its various aspects, particularly in the areas of defence, space, civil nuclear energy and security.

"At his meeting with NSA Ajit Doval on the occasion of the 35th Strategic Dialogue in Paris, French FM @JY_LeDrian stressed France's commitment to deepening the Indo-French strategic partnership in all its dimensions," French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain stated on Twitter.

It is learnt that NSA Doval met French defence minister Florence Parly and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian throughout a short journey to the French capital. The French foreign minister mentioned the priorities within the battle against local weather change, the French Embassy statement said. He also discussed the priorities in the fight against climate change with Doval.

Understanding the importance of the mutual trust between France and India, Le Drian said that the Indo-French partnership is working to strengthen multilateralism and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.

The French Minister called for continued Indo-French coordination, including at the UN Security Council, on Afghanistan.

India will host the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan here in New Delhi on November 10 and the meeting will be attended by the National Security Advisors of different countries and will be chaired by NSA Ajit Doval.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : From assisting filmmaker Mani Ratnam to delivering successful films such as 'Saathiya', 'Bunty Aur Babli', 'Soorma' to the latest web-series 'Call My Agent: Bollywood', filmmaker Shaad Ali has observed the transformation in the business of Bollywood with a close-counter.

In conversation with IANS, the director opens up on how corporatisation not only helped to create a more organised work culture in the film industry.

Shaad said: "I think corporatisation has given our film industry to grow for better and honestly it is the change that also helped us to survive in past crises or even global pandemics very recently. For instance, apart from films now, we have OTT platforms that have given huge exposure and exhibition platforms for our films.

"During the pandemic, because of that, we have survived. Now slowly the theatres are opening and people will go back to theatres as well; but now it is the time for coexistence.

"I think it is very interesting how because of the way things are more organised now, not only every story finds its space, but also actors of different generations, of different ages, found their visibility in different platforms." The show 'Call My Agent: Bollywood' is an Indian adaptation of a French show that was also released on Netflix, revolves around the hustle-bustle of a talent management company that are dealing with actors and their egos to maintain their stardom.

The show features Aahana Kumra, Soni Razdan, Rajat Kapoor, Ayush Mehta along with several special appearances from Farah Khan Kunder, Huma Qureshi, Jackie Shroff, Nandita Das, Ali Fazal, Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza, among others.

"As we know that we had several cameos in our show, it was quite an interesting process to put the right talent at the right point in our narration to bring out the best for the show. Since it is an adaptation of a show that was already popular, we did not change the format but a few things, that are quite typically Bollywood, have been added.

"It is a drama-comedy genre so on the set of the show, the energy was quite a happy one. I guess, that somewhere is translating on-screen!." said Shaad.

'Call My Agent: Bollywood' streams on Netflix.
Agartala, Nov 6 : The Tripura police has asked Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to provide details of over a hundred accounts from which various fake and provocative posts were made in connection with some reported incidents in the state after the communal violence in Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.

The police has filed criminal cases and started taking action against over 70 persons including Supreme Court lawyers, activists and religious campaigners.

A senior police official said that the investigating officers have sent separate letters to social media platforms -- Facebook, Twitter and YouTube -- seeking details of 101 accounts from which provocative and twisted posts were made about the reported incidents in the state last month.

The official who refused to be named, said that the authorities of the social media platforms have also started taking action against these account holders.

"Cases were filed against 71 persons under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Those who are booked in these cases were asked to appear before the investigating officers on November 10," he told IANS.

The police have, so far, arrested eight people from different districts.

According to police officials, strict action is being taken against those who are trying to create communal disharmony in the society. Patrolling and security at religious institutions and places was enhanced in around 150 mixed population areas.

"Though no fresh incidents of attack and intimidation were reported from anywhere in the state during the past two weeks, the security forces remained alert to foil any attempt to disturb the communal harmony in the bordering and mixed population state," the police official said.

After a few incidents involving the minorities, the north Tripura district authorities had promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Panisagar and Dharmanagar sub-divisions on October 26 as a precautionary measure, which still continues.

After communal violence in Bangladesh last month, more than 50 organisations and political parties including the All India Imam's Council and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had organised rallies in different parts of Tripura condemning the attacks on the minorities in the neighbouring country.

These organisations met the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner based in Agartala and submitted memoranda addressing the government of the neighbouring country.

The Tripura High Court last week directed the state government to file a detailed report by November 10 on the incidents, if any, involving the religious minorities in Tripura.

As per media reports, mob violence erupted in Comilla on October 13 after unconfirmed posts went viral on social media about the alleged desecration of the Quran at a Durga Puja venue, following which Hindu temples were vandalised.

Reports quoting Rana Dasgupta, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha Christian Oikya Parishad, said in the communal violence in Bangladesh, at least six people were killed and many injured, while at least 70 Hindu temples and scores of houses and properties were damaged in six districts across that country.
Lucknow, Nov 6 : Samajwadi Party MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh, who is on a fast-unto-death in the Uttar Pradesh capital, was "forcefully" admitted to Dr Syama Prasad Mookherjee Hospital by the police.

Singh was admitted to a hospital in Lucknow on Friday night after his health started deteriorating.

Police reached the dharna spot at 10 p.m. and asked Singh to break his fast but as he did not budge, he was "forcefully" admitted to hospital.

However, Singh, in a series of tweets, said: "Dictatorship of Uttar Pradesh government. At around 12 a.m., I was forcibly admitted to the civil hospital on fake report of administration and police." "This hospital lacks even basic facilities," he claimed.

"Can an MLA not ask the state government for construction of two roads in his constituency," Singh asked.

Singh said: "This autocratic government wants to suppress the voice of the people but we will not allow it to happen. Our fight will continue till the last breath." "I was on hunger strike, and from the very first day, was protesting in a democratic manner, but was forcibly put

on a glucose drip," he said.

Singh claimed, "Neither me, nor my party members disturbed the social balance. But police forcibly brought me to civil hospital." Questioning the state government, Singh said: "Is raising a voice for people a crime? Is there no place for public interest in our democracy?"

The leader said that he is protesting against the working style of the state government.

"My fast-unto-death will continue till our demands are met," he claimed.

The SP leader had on October 31 submitted a memorandum to the government, saying that if work for construction of roads in his constituency is not started, he will resign.

He accused the Uttar Pradesh government of not fulfilling promises made in the poll manifesto for the 2017 Assembly elections.

Singh, a two-time MLA from Gauriganj, had resigned from the Assembly as he was miffed with the state government over non-construction of two roads in his constituency. The leader sat on protest at GPO thereafter.
Canberra, Nov 6 : Australia's Covid-19 vaccine rollout has hit a "magnificent milestone", with 80 per cent of the adult population fully inoculated against the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Saturday.

"That's four out of every five, how good is that? This has been a true Australian national effort, in cities and suburbs and towns, in hospitals and pharmacies, aged care facilities, disability homes," he said in a video posted on social media.

Before the announcement, Morrison said in a statement on Friday afternoon that National Cabinet noted the successful reopening of international borders with no quarantine into New South Wales (NSW), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Victoria for fully vaccinated international arrivals, as the country gradually reopens to the world, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Quarantine free travel into NSW, Victoria and ACT for fully vaccinated international arrivals, including Australians, permanent residents, immediate family, parents and exempt foreigners visa holders." "Already around 7,000 fully vaccinated travellers have arrived through Sydney and Melbourne Airports." On Saturday morning, Australia reported more than 1,500 new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths as the country continues to battle the third wave of infections.

The Northern Territory (NT) reported one new case - a household contact of a case that triggered the snap lockdown and lockout restrictions on Thursday.

The majority of new infections were in Victoria, the country's second-most populous state, where 1,268 cases and seven deaths were reported.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Union Home Minister on Saturday expressed grief over the death of 10 patients in a fire incident at Civil Hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar.

"Very saddened by the tragic accident at Civil Hospital, Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families, and I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah said in a tweet message.

Confirming the incident, the district collector Rajendra Bhosale said that 10 patients died on Saturday in a fire in the intensive care unit of Ahmednagar Hospital in Maharashtra.

According to him, there were 17 Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit when the fire broke out around 11 a.m. and was reportedly spreading to other wards. Senior police officials have reached the spot and have been supervising the rescue operation.

As per reports, six patients have suffered serious burn injuries in this fire incident. Several fire tenders were rushed to the spot to control the fire while the exact reason of the fire is not yet known. The fire has been put out.

Maharashtra cabinet minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said that action will be taken against those found guilty and also said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray would announce compensation to the kin of the deceased.

"A fire broke out in the ICU unit of Ahmednagar's government hospital, killing 10 people. One is seriously injured. We will check whether the 'fire audit' of the hospital was done or not. Action will be taken against those who are guilty. CM will give financial help to the kin of the deceased," Malik added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bhopal, Nov 6 : Though the top BJP leadership in Madhya Pradesh is thumping its own back after snatching two Congress-held assembly seats in bypolls, the loss of Raigaon seat is a clear indication of differences within the party rank in Vindhya region.

Before the bypolls, the BJP had won five consecutive elections in Raigaon since 1993 and lost once to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2013, and thus making the seat a BJP stronghold, like Prithvipur and Jobat where Congress was dominant.

In the post-bypoll analysis, the top BJP leadership in the state claimed it lost Raigaon because the BSP did not field its candidate, though regional party leaders of Vindhya region differ and point out groupism at the local level.

A senior BJP leader in Vidhya region, who was one of the election in-charge for Raigaon Assembly seat said the groupism among local leaders and selection of candidate were the main reasons behind the party's defeat in Raigaon.

"A wrong candidate, who had no credibility, was selected. She was a dummy, whereas the election was fought between two Kshatriya leaders of Vidhya regions," said the senior BJP leader who did not want to be identified.

Another BJP MLA of Vindhya region told IANS that the people were not happy with Satna MP Ganesh Singh under whom leadership the Raigaon bypoll was fought.

"There were differences among the party leaders. Also, there was lack of coordination among those entrusted with the Raigaon seat. Top leadership may give some or the other reason for the loss, but the fact that party leaders who were in-charge to oversee the bypoll were stopped from visiting Raigaon," said the BJP MLA from Satna district.

Among three Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat that went for bypolls on October 30, Raigaon was the only seat where both parties (BJP and Congress) had fielded women candidates.

BJP's Pratima Bagari lost to Congress' Kalpana Verma by a margin of 12,290 votes. The Congress managed to win Raigaon after three decades.

Some other BJP leaders said that Raigaon by-election was fought between Satna MP (BJP) Ganesh Singh and senior Congress leader Ajay Singh.

Out of the three Assembly constituencies that went for bypolls, BJP won Prithvipur and Jobat, while the Congress won Raigaon. The BJP also retained Khandwa Lok Sabha seat.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
November 06 : Veteran actor Abhimanyu Singh says he feels fortunate that two of the biggest releases  Annaatthe and Sooryavanshi in just two days.

Superstar Rajinikanth starrer Annaatthe and Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi saw Abhimanyu Singh as baddie, both the films released within a one day gap.

Talking to Newshelpline about two massive releases back to back, Abhimany Singh said, Annaatthe with Rajini Sir and Sooryavanshi with Akshay Kumar, two big films in just two days, I think I am quite fortunate and to be honest its the timing as well. I am the same guy with same talent, but when the time is right you start to get recognition. I couldnt be happier

Abhimanyu further praised and credited Rohit Shetty for shaping his role and setting the tone for people to revisit the theaters.

He said, Everyone wanted a movie like Sooryavanshi to release, because our time people have become reluctant to visit theaters, they have been sitting at home and enjoying digital space but now people have started coming out and all credit goes to Rohit Shetty and Sooryavanshi

Further adding, The moment Rohit Shetty signed me; I am assured that things will improve now. And the moment I started shooting with Akshay Kumar, see he doesnt has no air about himself; he is simple and disciplined, I learnt a lot from him added Abhimanyu.

Working with Rajinikanth is a dream come true for every actor and Abhimanyu is no different. Sharing about his working experience with superstar of century, he said, Ever since I started working in South cinema, my wife has been asking me when Im going to work with Rajinikanth sir, finally I got the opportunity to work with him in Annaatthe. Rajini Sir is an incredible human being, and amazing actor, I thoroughly enjoyed working with him
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Central Board of Secondary Education has asked the school principals to demystify the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet for students appearing for class X and XII Term-1 examinations.

In a letter written to the principals of the schools affiliated to CBSE, the Board said, "You are aware that the CBSE will be using OMR for the first time for assessment of both the classes 10th and 12th in Term I examination. Hence, there is a need that all the students appearing in the Term I examinations and the schools sponsoring these students should have complete knowledge about the OMR sheet".

The CBSE has finalised its all new OMR sheets for its Term-1 exams which will consist of multiple choice questions. A total of 36 lakh class 10 and 12 students will be appearing for the exams this year.

The exams will start from November 16. Each paper in the Term 1 exams will have a maximum of 60 questions with 90 minutes duration. Students have to mark their answers on the OMR sheets only with pens.

Schools may download the OMR sheet in advance as per the schedule given in the guidelines, said the letter.

Schools are requested that based on the information provided by the CBSE, practice sessions may be organised for the students, it added.

Prior to the practice sessions, teachers must also acquaint themselves well with the OMR.
London, Nov 6 : While Covid-19 spared neither young nor old, children were the worst affected as the pandemic disrupted their education and a normal childhood.

There is growing international evidence of a large increase in the proportion of children reporting elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties since Covid began.

According to a new report from Cardiff University, over a quarter of 10-11 year olds had elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties during the pandemic, up from 17 per cent in 2019.

The team, from the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), found that not seeing friends or family and family members becoming unwell with Covid were among the most persistent worries experienced by 10-11 year olds during the pandemic.

Children from poorer backgrounds were approximately twice as likely to report elevated emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to those from the most affluent families, according to the survey data.

"While people often say children are resilient, our data demonstrate the significant impact the pandemic has had on children's mental health. Many children will recover once the current circumstances improve. However, for many, experiences of the pandemic will have lasting effect on their mental health without appropriate support for their emotional recovery," said lead Professor Graham Moore, Deputy Director of DECIPHer.

The study, however, showed that despite the heavy emotional toll caused by lockdowns and home learning, most children remained well connected to their primary schools, rating relationships with staff positively.

In an online survey, which included Class 6 pupils from 76 schools in Wales, 90 per cent children said they felt cared for and accepted by their teachers, while 80 per cent trusted their teachers and agreed that there was at least one adult in school they can talk to about things that worry them.

"The relationships between teachers and their pupils remained consistently strong ... demonstrating the vital role education professionals have played for young people during the pandemic," Moore said.

"It's plausible that if teachers and support staff hadn't done such a good job of connecting with their pupils in this way, we would be dealing with an even greater mental health crisis among our children," he added.
Chennai, Nov 6 : Which financial sector regulator in India has the luxury of having 7,450 square feet office in high rent city Mumbai for just six officials? Well, the answer is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) that runs on policyholders' money, a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IANS.

One can play 'catch me if you can' there, the official added.

"It is IRDAI's 'kala pani' (the Cellular Jail or the colonial-era prison in Andaman during the British rule - where inconvenient officials to the powers that be are transferred out of Hyderabad," the official said.

Sources told IANS, the IRDAI had taken on lease an office space of 7,450 square feet in Churchgate, Nariman Point, Mumbai in 2014, got it renovated at a cost of more than Rs 1 crore, and opened its Mumbai Regional office (MRO) in October 2015.

Since 2015, at any point of time, not more than 10 officers have been posted in the MRO - a luxurious 740 square feet per official.

According to IRDAI officials, those working in the Mumbai office are from the inspection department - officials who inspect the books of regulated entities.

Strangely, the IRDAI in 2014 signed an MoU for taking about 25,000-30,000 square feet office space on long lease in Mumbai.

To the questions raised under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on this, the IRDAI had replied that no progress had happened after the MoU while declining to share the copy of the agreement.

Sources told IANS that the purpose of having an office in Mumbai was to have its Inspection Department there as a large number of insurers and intermediaries are located in the western region - Mumbai and Pune.

But strangely, the IRDAI did not shift the entire Department to Mumbai but only a handful of officers were posted there - "punishment posting for some officials", the IRDAI official alleged.

The official said several officials are flown from Hyderabad to Mumbai for onsite inspection and incur huge hotel, and travel bills.

"The IRDAI does not have any annual budget as it is flush with policyholders' money. Only those who are constricted for funds do chart out a budget," the IRDAI official added.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, inspections are done remotely. The same can be continued and save on costs, the official added.

Be that as it may, for a long time, insurance industry officials have been saying it is time to shift the IRDAI headquarters from Hyderabad to Delhi or to financial sector capital Mumbai where other major financial regulators - the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are headquartered.

None of the insurers are located in Hyderabad, while a large number of insurers are headquartered in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, several industry officials told IANS.

Even the two industry lobby bodies - the General Insurance Council, and the Life Insurance Council - are based in Mumbai.

According to industry officials, the IRDAI suffers the locational disadvantage in attracting multicultural financial sector talent that is available in abundance in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai.

Owing to the political compulsions back in early 2000, the then Central government agreed to locate the IRDAI in Hyderabad.

The government, sources say, can shift the operating office to Mumbai while keeping the registered office in Hyderabad as it had happened in the case of IDFC whose registered office is in Chennai while the corporate office is in Mumbai.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Citing reports, the Congress on Saturday said that China has intruded into Indian territory but the government is in denial mode.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Pawan Khera, party spokesperson said, "It has now been confirmed by an annual report by the Pentagon to the US Congress. The report -- 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China, 2021' confirms that China has intruded 4.5 km deep inside the Arunachal Pradesh Territory in our area." Khera said China has constructed a village across the LAC, they have constructed several villages and these are dual purpose villages, dual use villages. What is a dual use village? It not only has civilian population residing there, but, these villages can also act as cantonments for the Chinese army.

The Congress Spokesperson said, as per the Pentagon report, about 4.5 km within our territory China has constructed 101 structures, some of them multi storey structures and this is a very very serious issue.

"The Prime Minister must withdraw that clean chit first of all and give a deadline to the nation, when will the status-quo-ante of April, 2020 be restored across all our borders with China? Whether it's Depsang, whether it's Gogra Hot spring, or the DOB sector, whether it's Arunachal Pradesh, we need answers, we need deadlines, we need dates and we need an apology for misleading the world that China has not entered our territory," Khera said.

Pawan Khera said, in June, 2020, BJP Member of the Lok Sabha from Arunachal Pradesh (East) Tapir Gao had written to the Prime Minister, to the Defence Minister, to the Foreign Minister on the issue. He also raised this issue in the Parliament warning the Government, warning the entire country about transgressions made by China into Arunachal Pradesh territory. He kept warning them. They issued a clarification, they denied any such transgression.

The Congress said it has been 17 months since the Prime Minister gave a clean chit to China. That clean chit is a dark chapter in our history, because that clean chit was issued, is being used by China across the world, because that clean chit came from none other than the Prime Minister of India, whose territories are being transgressed by China and China got emboldened by this clean chit.

Not just in Arunachal Pradesh, not just in Ladakh, not just in Gogra-Hot Springs, not just in Depsang, also Uttarakhand, as we had discussed last month during a press conference, the PLA entered, destroyed our infrastructure and left.
Chennai, Nov 6 : The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has warned of an imminent catastrophe if nature is not treated properly with heat waves, excessive rain, floods, landslips and landslides causing havoc. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland is underway from October 31 where global leaders have promised to conserve the environment and thereby protect the planet.

Taking a cue from these environmental warnings and initiatives and the Madras High Court coming down heavily on it, the Tamil Nadu government has taken steps to conserve the Pallikaranai marshland which is in close proximity to Chennai's happening place, the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) where most of the IT companies have set up shop.

The Tamil Nadu forest and environment department has taken steps to have Pallikaranai Marshland declared a 'Ramsar' site. This is following an order of the Madras High Court to make Pallikaranai Marshland a Ramsar site as also to work for a bird sanctuary there.

A Ramsar site is to protect environmentally fragile areas after an intergovernmental treaty signed at the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 under the auspices of the United Nations. The Ramsar treaty has come into effect to conserve and maintain wetlands. India is a signatory to the treaty and it came into effect in the country in 1982.

The forest and environment department has commenced awareness programmes to enlighten the people living around the marshland about steps to get the area declared a Ramsar site.

The department has also taken steps to educate people on the importance of conservation of wetlands and marshlands for the future generations. The marshlands and wetlands play a major role in the conservation and protection of wetlands.

Justice Kirubhakaran (since retired) had in a landmark judgment directed the state government and specifically the Tamil Nadu forest and environment department to prevent any non-forestry activities in the marshland. He had also directed the government to reclaim unutilized land allotted to government industries and institutions. The forest department, according to highly placed sources, has begun action to reclaim unutilised land from government industries.

Any land that is part of Pallinkaranai marshland and provided to individuals, institutions, or industries must be immediately reclaimed, the judge had ordered. Sources in the forest department said that the government has commenced steps to reclaim the land that is part of the Pallikaranai marshland.

Since the judgment, the department of forest and environment has taken steps to prevent the disposal of municipal solid waste, treated or untreated effluents, or sewage into the marsh.

The government has also commenced fencing the marshland on all sides and removed blocks in water channels. The high court had ordered to provide a compliance report by December 21, 2021, on the amount of work that has been carried out to preserve the environment and the marshland.

R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio-Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai and actively involved in the conservation of environment, told IANS," Getting Ramsar notification to Pallikaranai is the need of the hour and this would give international status to the marshland that helps conservation of wetlands. With the climate convention in Glasgow stressing the need for reducing global temperature or rather not to allow it to rise above 1.5 degrees Celsius, conservation of Pallikaranai marshland is the right step and the Honourable Madras High court has come with the guidelines regarding the same."
Bhopal, Nov 6 : Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel on Saturday claimed that the state has adequate stock of fertilisers.

Patel said that the state government has procured enough stock to provide to farmers in the state. He informed that up to 75 per cent fertiliser has been stocked at government-run shops (Sahkari Samiti), while 25 per cent has been given to vendors so that farmers can avail it on their own.

"There has been some shortage of fertilisers, but now we have enough stock. We have taken punitive action against those found involved in black marketing of fertilisers," Patel said on Saturday.

It would be a great relief for the farmers in the state who have been struggling to get fertilisers for their crops. Also, the crisis of fertiliser had created a political controversy between the BJP and the Congress.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had last week written to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accusing Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel of indulging in black-marketing of fertilisers.

The opposition's relentless attack has prompted Shivraj Singh Chouhan to intervene in the matter and announced that the fertilisers will be available to the farmers by the end of October.

In fact, Chouhan has warned that people found involved in black-marketing of fertilisers will be booked under the National Security Act (NSA).

For the last few weeks, farmers in various regions in Madhya Pradesh have been protesting against the approach of the state government and not providing fertiliser. A couple of farmers had even allegedly committed suicide due to unavailability of fertilisers.
Bhopal, Nov 6 : Miffed with flood of complaints for water shortage, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday warned officials to resolve matter within next 15 days or face action.

Chief Minister's remark came during a visit to Sehore district, his home turf, on Saturday where he held a meeting with locals in a village. During the meeting, people complained that they are not getting water supply at their homes.

A bunch of complaints on the same issue prompted Chouhan to warn officials to resolve it in 15 days or face action.

"Is it the job of the Chief Minister to check kitchen's tab to know if water is coming or not? Enough is enough. I am giving you 15 days time to fix the problem, otherwise you will not be here," Chouhan was heard saying during the meeting.

"People are not getting water in my own constituency. District collector and Commissioner will examine the matter and will submit a report to me in 15 days," Chouhan added.
Chennai, Nov 6 : AIADMK Chief Coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Saturday lashed out at the DMK government for opening the spillway shutters of the Mullaperiyar Dam even before the water level reached the 142 feet height prescribed by the Supreme Court.

In a statement, he said that the party has the moral right to speak on any issue concerning the people of the state and to question the actions of the government.

Panneerselvam called upon the DMK to explain to the people on the circumstances that led to the opening of spillway shutters of Mullaperiyar dam even at 136 feet of water height, and if they don't, they will have to face the consequences.

He said that there was no proper response from state Water Resources Minister, S. Duraimurugan on the questions raised by his party, and asked whether the release of water from Mullaperiyar was an arbitrary action by Kerala or whether Tamil Nadu had given clearance to it.

He also asked as to how the officials of Tamil Nadu were present at the Mullaperiyar dam site if the shutters were opened by Kerala.

Panneerselvam questioned how the Tamil Nadu government took such an important decision affecting the lives of the people of south Tamil Nadu without consulting farmers and political parties.

He also came out strongly against Duraimurugan's statement that Panneerselvam had not visited Mullaperiyar, saying that he had visited the dam site at least 14 times since 2002.

He also said that the AIADMK would hold protest marches in south Tamil Nadu on November 9 against the "unilateral action" of the state government that would affect the farmers of the region.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : In yet another twist to the Cordelia Cruiser raid, a BJP activist on Saturday claimed that Sunil Patel, who is linked with NCP leaders, is the alleged "mastermind" of the sensational case in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested Talking to media persons, Bharatiya Janata Party activist Mohit Kamboj-Bharatiya said that Patil, who hails from Dhule, has close connections with all the top Nationalist Congress Party leaders and ministers and had prior knowledge of the rave party that was scheduled on the cruiser, which was raided by Narcotics Control Bureau's Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, on October 2.

According to Bharatiya, Patil, who is a friend of former state minister Anil Deshmukh's son Hrishikesh Deshmukh, boasted of his strong relations with the NCP leaders and how Anil Deshmukh had once allegedly met drug peddler, Chinku Pathan, an aide of the mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, at a government guest house during the lockdown.

NCP national spokesperson and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik rubbished Bharatiya's claims, terming it as an unsuccessful attempt "by a member of Wankhede's private army to misguide and divert attention from the truth".

Elaborating, Bharatiya claimed that Patil is also linked with the others whose names have cropped up in recent weeks like Sam D'Souza, Kiran Gosavi, Prabhakar Sail and Manish Bhanushali and "they work as a syndicate".

He alleged that they tried to extort money and are involved in transfers and posting of officials, and charged Malik of "scripting a false narrative to defame the BJP, the NCB and its officers".

Bharatiya demanded to know what is the relationship of Patil with Malik and other senior NCP leaders and ministers with whom he (Patil) enjoys close rapport.

"Patil has a suit booked in Hotel Lalit for months. There were big parties with 'sharab, shabab and kebab' there for those attending them... I will reveal more," he warned.

The BJP activist said that Patil had advance knowledge of the cruise rave party and wanted some link who could put him in touch with the NCB and was referred to Gosavi.

"They are all (Gosavi, D'Souza, Bhanushali) Patil's associates. I have been sent audio-video clips and WhatsApp messages of theirs from someone and I have forwarded them to the probe agencies," Bharatiya said.

Meanwhile, Malik said that he will reveal more on the Hotel Lalit episode on Sunday, even as some BJP leaders advised him to keep off the NCB and let the agency do its work.
Gandhinagar, Nov 6 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who represents the Ganhinagar constituency in the Lok Sabha, on Saturday held a review meeting at the residence of a local BJP MLA and offered his advice to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral rolls.

The meeting was held at the residence of Arvind G. Patel (Dalal) in Ahmedabad, whose Assembly constituency falls within the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. The voter list correction programme will kick off from November 11 in the State.

According to Patel, Shah offered guidance to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the voters' list.

"Shah was also here to directly interact with the party workers from his constituency. He carries out such review meetings once every three months in the presence of the MLAs from his constituency and other officials of Municipal Commissioner and District Collector levels," Patel told the media.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, whose Ghatlodia Assembly seat is part of the Gandhinagar constituency.

Patel said that his area was earlier congested with lots of railway lines and it was due to Shah's efforts that all the underbridges and overbridges proposed to ease the traffic got approved.

Shah is in Ahmedabad to celebrate Divali with his family members. On Friday, he held a public programme at his bungalow in Thaltej to exchange greetings on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.
Bengaluru, Nov 6 : In an interesting development, Karnataka Police have taken into custody the main accused of Bitcoin scandal Srikrishna alias Sriki on Saturday in Bengaluru from a five star hotel.

According to J.B. Nagar police, they got information about the presence of Sriki from a hotel staffer that he is involved in a brawl. The Police reached the hotel and picked him up for questioning.

Accused Sriki is said to have been released on bail two months ago and his whereabouts were not known to the police. He is said to be the kingpin behind Bitcoin scandal which has rattled the political circles of Karnataka.

It is alleged that, some leaders from the ruling BJP are hand in glove with the accused and have received huge kickbacks. The opposition Congress is already attacking the government over the issue. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah is likely to make sensational claims with documents regarding the scandal on Monday.

Accused Sriki was found quarrelling with one Vishnu Bhat at a five star hotel in the city. Sriki also got into a brawl with the security officer, according to police. On receiving information about the brawl, the police have picked both Sriki and Vishnu Bhat.

Sources say, there is something more to the arrest as the entire scandal is being discussed at the national level.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The kabaddi teams of India and Pakistan will play an international match within the Kartarpur Corridor in March 2022, weeks before the start of a four-nation international kabaddi tournament in Lahore in April, The News reported.

Rana Mohammad Sarwar, the Secretary of Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF), confirmed to The News that both the countries are set to figure in a one-off international within the Kartarpur Corridor in March.

"We are set to make history as both Pakistan and India have agreed to play the international match within the Kartarpur Corridor. Both the federations have agreed that the teams would travel from either side of the border to compete in the international friendly. The two teams would return to their respective countries at the end of the match," the report said quoting Sarwar.

When asked about the date for the friendly, Sarwar said that negotiations are on to finalise the same.

"Hopefully, the international match will be organised near the end of March. Since we are to host a four-nation international tournament in Lahore in April, we want to stage the friendly in March, just weeks before the international event. Apart from Pakistan and India, Canada and Iran have also confirmed their participation in the four-nation event. These four countries have the best teams in the world and are expected to offer quality kabaddi to the fans. All the participating teams are eagerly looking forward to the event," the PKF secretary said, the report added.

He also said that kabaddi has been the worst-hit sport during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Since it is the contact sport, things have been really tough for kabaddi. We struggled to organise camps or local and international events. But now things have opened up and we are ready to get back into a full groove. The international against India and the four-nation tournament will set international kabaddi rolling," Sarwar was quoted as saying.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The current season of "Telugu Bigg Boss" is running with fantastic players competing with each other. The latest reports from close sources bring in an interesting piece of news.

For those who follow the reality show regularly, the concept of wild-card entry would be familiar.

In the first season of "Bigg Boss Telugu", actor Navadeep had a blasting entry as the wild-card player. The second, third, and fourth seasons also had a similar approach of sending one or two more contestants into the house.

However, the makers of the current season of "Bigg Boss Telugu" seem to be thinking if or not to pick any celebrity to send into the house.

The current season of "Bigg Boss Telugu" has been a tougher season, as most of the contestants are hard to crack. With the intense drama along with mind-blowing performances, the contestants are doing very well, resulting in much growth in the TRP ratings for the show.

So, it has been a difficult task for the makers to introduce another person on the show as of now. Also, the contestants have already completed more than sixty days on the reality show. If any other contestant would enter the house now, it would not be fair enough in any aspect of the show.

Although there are reports about wild-card entry on "Bigg Boss Telugu 5", there is no official confirmation from the show makers, either.

Meanwhile, which contestant from the remaining eleven would leave the house on Sunday is still unknown.
Chennai, Nov 6 : Former interim general secretary of the AIADMK and close aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, V.K. Sasikala has asked the Tamil Nadu government to speed up paddy procurement.

In a statement on Saturday, Sasikala, signing it as the party general secretary, said that farmers were complaining that they were incurring losses as paddy in the bags was getting wet in the rain during the northeast monsoon lashing Tamil Nadu.

She called upon the state government to clear the dues of the farmers, especially in the delta region of the state.

Sasikala, who is trying for a comeback to the AIADMK, said that several thousand bags of paddy were at the Direct Procurement Centres and still to be procured. Farmers are forced to cover them with tarpaulin sheets. She asked the government to immediately take steps to procure the paddy before it becomes spoiled.

Sasikala is in the news for staking claim to a comeback to the AIADMK with former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam announcing that her return will be decided by the party high command. A section of party leaders led by Edappadi K. Palaniswami is opposing her re-entry into the party fold with former fisheries minister D. Jayakumar stating that she would never be allowed into the AIADMK.

She had recently, during the golden jubilee celebrations of the party's formation, reached the MGR memorial in a car with an AIADMK flag and displayed a plaque announcing her as the party general secretary.
Jalalabad : , Nov 6 (IANS) A total of 25 militants affiliated with the hardliner Islamic State (IS) laid down arms and surrendered to authorities in Jalalabad on Saturday, head of intelligence agency in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province Mohammad Bashir said.

The former militants were active in Spinghar, Pachiragam and Batikot districts, and the security forces would further stabilize the situation in Nangarhar and its vicinity, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Mohammad Bashir.

Former militant Ziaudin called upon all insurgents to give up fighting and support peace and security in Afghanistan in his speech at the surrendering ceremony.

This is the second IS group that has surrendered to authorities in Nangarhar province.

On Friday, 55 IS insurgents surrendered to security authorities in Jalalabad city.

The hardliner IS outfit which is active in parts of the Nangarhar province with Jalalabad, 120 km east of Kabul, as its capital, has yet to comment on the development.
Los Angeles, Nov 6 : Popular American rapper Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, was cancelled on Saturday after a massive crowd surge on Friday night (U.S. Central Time) left eight people dead and more than 300 injured, including a 10-year-old, according to local officials.

More than 50,000 fans had gathered during Scott's performance at the festival outside NRG Park, reports 'Variety' quoting 'Houston Chronicle'. As many as 23 people were hospitalised and more than 300 treated throughout the day.

Scott's Friday night set was broadcast live on Apple Music. It featured his usual high-energy performance style, along with an extended appearance from Drake. The Astroworld Festival was founded by Scott in 2018.

At a press conference following the tragedy, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pea outlined the timeline of the tragedy. He said that at 9 p.m. (local time) on Friday, the crowd began surging forward during Scott's set, which caused the rapper to pause the show several times in order to ask security to help out fans.

Members of the fire department went into the dense crowd to rescue the injured. At 9.38 p.m. the "mass-casualty incident" was triggered, at which time CPR began to be administered to several unconscious fans. Meanwhile, social media posts show the frenzied scene as officials tried to rescue concert goers, reports 'Variety'.

"It happened all at once. It seemed like it happened over the course of just a few minutes," Executive Assistant Chief of the fire department, Larry Satterwhite, said.

"A lot of times, kids don't make the best decisions," he continued. "Because they're young and amped up. I just think it was so many people and a passion to see this entertainer. I don't know, and a lot of bad decisions." The rapper has a huge fan following among young people.

"Our hearts are broken," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. Houston is in Harris County, Texas. "People go to these events looking for a good time. It's not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities," the judge added.
Tehran, Nov 6 : One Iranian soldier was killed on Friday in Iran's northwestern West Azerbaijan province during a border patrol, a semi-official website reported on Saturday.

Conscript serviceman Reza Hedayati was hit by bullet fire on Friday morning around Mount Bolfat, an area "used as a transit point by terrorists," Jame Jam Online which is affiliated with state TV wrote.

Hedayati was transferred to a medical centre, and died of severe injuries, the outlet added.

Clashes between Iranian security forces and unidentified gunmen have been frequent for years in Iran's western border areas.
Bhopal, Nov 6 : A grampanchayat head (sarpanch) was allegedly killed and over a half-dozen people got injured in a clash between two groups at village in Madhya Pradesh.

As per the police, the incident was reported in Damoh district where a clash broke out between two groups late on Friday night.

Deceased identified as Genda Bai Lodhi (village head), who had received injuries and was admitted in government hospital during the treatment on Saturday, police said.

"Two groups clashed violently in Ganj Barkheda village in Damod district. One woman who was critically injured during the clash died on Saturday at hospital," said a senior police in Damoh district.

Lodhi's 24-year-old son along with five others involved in clash and have received injured are admitted at hospital, police added.

"Both families had some old enmity. Heated argument turned to violence. Matter is under investigation," police official added.

A case has been registered and the police are on the look out for absconding accused involved the clash, police said.
Washington, Nov 6 : NASA's Earth-observing satellite Landsat 9 has collected its first light images of Earth, capturing critical observations about our changing planet.

Launched on September 27, Landsat 9 is a joint mission between NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The images, all acquired October 31, provide a preview of how the mission will help people manage vital natural resources and understand the impact of climate change. The images add to Landsat's unparalleled data record that spans nearly 50 years of space-based Earth observation.

Landsat programme "has the proven power to not only improve lives but also save lives", said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement.

NASA will continue to work with USGS to help decision makers "better understand the devastation of the climate crisis, manage agricultural practices, preserve precious resources and respond more effectively to natural disasters", Nelson added.

These first light images show Detroit, Michigan, with neighbouring Lake St Clair, the intersection of cities and beaches along a changing Florida coastline and images from Navajo Country in Arizona that will add to the wealth of data helping monitor crop health and manage irrigation water.

The new images also provided data about the changing landscapes of the Himalayas in High Mountain Asia and the coastal islands and shorelines of northern Australia.

Landsat 9 is similar in design to its predecessor, Landsat 8, which was launched in 2013 and remains in orbit, but features several improvements.

Landsat 9 can differentiate more than 16,000 shades of a given wavelength colour; Landsat 7, the satellite being replaced, detects only 256 shades. This increased sensitivity will allow Landsat users to see much more subtle changes than ever before.

Landsat 9 carries two instruments that capture imagery: the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2), which detects visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared light in nine wavelengths, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2), which detects thermal radiation in two wavelengths to measure Earth's surface temperatures and its changes.

These instruments will provide Landsat 9 users with essential information about crop health, irrigation use, water quality, wildfire severity, deforestation, glacial retreat, urban expansion, and more.

USGS will operate Landsat 9 along with Landsat 8, and together the two satellites will collect approximately 1,500 images of Earth's surface every day, covering the globe every eight days.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : Actress Anjali Tatrari who plays the role of 'Krisha Chaturvedi' in the upcoming show 'Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na' talks about playing a simple girl from Udaipur.

The actress shares in detail about her on-screen character 'Krisha' whose life changes after getting married into a royal family. For her, tying the knot with 'Prince Devraj Singh Rathore', played by actor Avinesh Rekhi, was like a dream come true.

Anjali mentions: "My character is a small-town girl from a middle-class family, but her dreams are really big. She always wanted her prince charming to come on a white horse, sweep her off her feet and ask her to be his princess. How this dream of her gets fulfilled and what happens next forms the crux of the story." The 'Mere Dad Ki Dulhan' actress further talks about playing a clumsy person on-screen and expresses her excitement about playing such a character in the serial.

"I must add that 'Krisha' is also very clumsy, she keeps falling down and messing things up, but she is very interesting. I am very excited about 'Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na' and as an actor, I've always wanted to do good projects that I believe in, and I really resonate with the story and characters. There are some exciting twists and turns, but I can't talk about them right now." 'Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na' is going to start from November 9 on Zee TV.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Punjab Advocate General A.P.S. Deol, on Saturday slammed State Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had demanded his resignation for representing two accused in the sacrilege and police firing case. Deol has alleged that Sidhu is trying to garner political mileage.

Deol said, Sidhu was spreading misinformation to gain political advantage. "Sidhu's repeated utterances seek to derail the efforts of the Punjab government to ensure justice in the drugs matter and the sacrilege case," Deol said in a statement.

Sidhu had objected to the appointment of A.P.S. Deol as state Advocate General and Iqbal Preet Sahota as Director General of Police. Sidhu had cited these as one of the reasons for quitting from his post as party chief but on Friday said he had withdrawn his resignation.

Deol said, "There is a concerted attempt by vested interests to malign the functioning of Congress Party in view of upcoming elections in Punjab for their selfish political gain by politicising the constitutional office of the Advocate General of Punjab." Deol had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police six years ago during the incidents of sacrilege and a police firing on protesters.

In his resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu has written: "The collapse of man's character stems from the compromise corner. I can never compromise on Punjab's future and the agenda for welfare of Punjab. Therefore, I hereby resign as president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress." One of the reasons behind Sidhu's resignation was Congress government appointing Deol as its Advocate General. This led to the government coming under fire from the Opposition, as Deol was till recently counsel for former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, the police chief during the incidents of sacrilege and police firing on protesters.

Sidhu told the media that the Advocate General and the DGP were two important officers to take the issues of Bargari sacrilege and drugs to a logical conclusion.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : Declining to accept the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea for further 9 days custody, holiday Special Court Judge P. R. Sitre on Saturday sent former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, nabbed in a money-laundering case, to 14 days' judicial custody.

Simultaneously, his son Hrishikesh Deshmukh - summoned by the ED for questioning in the same case - has approached the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail and his plea will be heard on November 12.

Anil Deshmukh, a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, was nabbed early on November 2 after he was questioned by the ED for over 13 hours on November 1, and sent to 4 days custody of the agency.

The case arises out of the allegations levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh - currently "missing"- accusing Deshmukh of allegedly setting a monthly "collection target" of Rs 100 crore from hoteliers to his former aide, now dismissed cop Sachin Vaze.

Seeking extension of custody for 9 days, the ED said that owing to the holidays, they were unable to procure certain documents, Deshmukh's replies were evasive, and he needed to be confronted with the others accused involved in the case.

Opposing the ED's plea, Deshmukh's legal team comprising senior advocae Vikram Chaudhri, Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh argued that the grounds are vague and despite five days continuous interrogations, the ED has not given any fresh reasons for more custodial probe.

Deshmukh has consistently denied the allegations hurled against him by Singh and Vaze and in a video statement, questioned where is the ex-Mumbai top cop, who is wanted in several cases, who made the accusations and is now gone untraceable.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : With Pakistan refusing to attend the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10, India has said that it's decision was unfortunate but not surprising.

Pakistan has declined attending the National Security Advisors' meeting being hosted by India and its NSA Moeed Yusuf has publicly announced he would not participate, describing India as 'spoiler' while China is yet to respond.

The meeting, which will be chaired by India's NSA Ajit Doval next Wednesday, got a huge response from the participating countries as Iran and Russia have confirmed their participation. The officials, aware of this development, said that there has been an overwhelming response to India's invitation.

Noting that the high-level participation in the meet is reflective of "widespread and growing concern of regional countries about the situation in Afghanistan and their desire to consult and coordinate with each other wherein India has an important role to play in this process", the officials added.

This is the first time that almost all countries of Central Asia will be participating in this meet, the sources said, adding that the enthusiastic approach of all central Asian countries reflect the growing concern for Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the reign there in August this year.

"The overwhelming response to New Delhi's initiative also shows the importance attached to India's role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan," the officials further said.

India and central Asian countries have been expressing concern over the spillover from Afghanistan which has been increasing every day since the Taliban took over. The deteriorating condition in Afghanistan, violation of human rights, condition of women and children and the rising security threat in and around Central Asia and neighbouring countries, which has created new security challenges for many countries including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Last month Russia hosted a meet on Afghanistan in which India was invited. The "Moscow format" meet on Afghanistan also discussed the security and other aspects in detail.
London, Nov 6 : Anxiety often seen in people with gut disorder -- irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) -- could be explained by certain genes, say researchers.

IBS is thought to affect about one in 10 people and can cause distressing abdominal pain, bloating and bouts of constipation, diarrhoea or both.

Researchers from University said that they hope their discovery will stop IBS being wrongly labelled as an emotional state or "all in the mind", BBC reported.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, examined more than 50,000 individuals with IBS, comparing their DNA with that of healthy people.

The team identified at least six distinct genetic differences that might, at least partly, explain this link between the gut and the mind.

Most of these have roles in the brain, and possibly the nerves which supply the gut, rather than the gut itself.

The same genetic make-up that puts people at increased risk of IBS also increases the risk for common mood and anxiety disorders such as anxiety, depression, and neuroticism, as well as insomnia.

IBS is still poorly understood, even by some doctors, and may be incorrectly categorised as psychosomatic because of the overlap with anxiety and stress," Miles Parkes, a consultant gastroenterologist at Cambridge's Addenbrookes Hospital who led the gene research, was quoted as saying.

However, that doesn't mean anxiety causes IBS symptoms or vice versa.

"Our study shows these conditions have shared genetic origins, with the affected genes possibly leading to physical changes in brain or nerve cells that in turn cause symptoms in the brain and symptoms in the gut," Parkes said.

The discovery might ultimately help with developing better tests and treatments for IBS, the report said.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 6 : Former Congress MP Pradeep Majhi on Saturday formally joined Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in a special event in Nabarangpur district.

Majhi, the former Working President of the state Congress unit, had resigned from the party on October 22.

Several supporters of Majhi, and other Congress leaders also joined the BJD with him. BJD Organisational Secretary Pranab Prakash Das welcomed Majhi to the party fold.

Majhi said he has joined the BJD for the development of his constituency and undivided Koraput region. He said that he saw that BJD is the only party, which is rising in every election in the state.

He also said that the BJD has promised him to look after the issues and problems raised by him when he was in the Congress.

Majhi was discovered by then Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in the Youth Congress 'Talent Search for Youth' conducted in Bhubaneswar where he stood first in the state level.

Majhi began his political career as elected President of Zilla Parishad from Nabarangpur, and was then elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from Nabarangpur. However, he lost the last two LS elections in 2014 and 2019 from the seat.
Patna, Nov 6 : Amid criticism over failure of implementing liquor prohibition in Bihar, the ruling JD-U's national President Lalan Singh on Saturday said that the ban cannot be reversed.

Interacting with media persons in Patna, he said: "We have law pertaining to murder, still murders take place all over the world. Similarly, liquor prohibition laws will remain in Bihar. We will take strong action against the accused involved in making hooch which led to mass deaths in Bihar." "As our Chief Minister has already announced a high level assessment meeting on this issue, we will discuss gaps which lead to violation of laws in the state.

"We did speedy trials of the accused and will do the same against the culprits involved in making hooch and killing people. No one will be allowed to go unpunished," he added.

The liquor ban was imposed by the Nitish Kumar government on April 6, 2016. Despite that, its manufacturing, sale, purchase, transportation, and consumption, is still taking place in Bihar.

The police said that 42 persons have been killed since October 29 after drinking spurious liquor - 10 in Muzaffarpur, 13 in Gopalganj, 15 in Bettiah, and 4 in Samastipur. Besides, over three dozen people have lost their eyesight in these districts.
Kolkata, Nov 6 : The exodus from BJP continues in West Bengal. After Rajib Banerjee, it is the turn of actor-turned-politician Joy Banerjee, who wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi informing him of his decision to leave the party.

However, Banerjee didn't make it clear whether he would join Trinamool Congress or not.

In a two-page letter written to the Prime Minister, Banerjee said that he has been trying for the last two years to get an appointment but he failed and so he chose to write to him.

In his letter, he was critical about the party's decision to nominate Rajib Banerjee to its National Executive, noting that despite this, Rajib Banerjee left the part.

Wishing the Prime Minister 'Happy Diwali', the actor-turned-politician wrote: "I have been trying for the last two years to meet you but I was not given an appointment. I have asked for medical funds several times but I did not get anything. In 2016 I was made the National Executive Member but this year I was left out. and Rajib Banerjee was included. He (Rajib Banerjee) joined TMC." "I joined BJP in 2016 and have been working for the party since then. I was even beaten by the goons during my campaign for the party. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, I was treated as an outsider. My security guards were withdrawn and I was neglected. I told you all thise at Kalaikunda airport in 2016. Ten days later you made me the National Executive Member. Now I want to leave BJP and so I need your permission. Please allow me to leave." Banerjee, who has been critical of the state BJP leadership for long, said that he had never believed in corruption.

"I was in a position where I could have earned a lot but the police never came to my house. The central leadership knows this and so they love me. I was ill and now I am recovering slowly. I shall decide my future once I am physically fit. Now I want to shred my ties with the party," he said.

BJP national Secretary Rahul Sinha said: "Anyone has the right to leave the party but one thing I must admit that we failed to stand beside him. This is true. We should have stood beside him when he was in trouble."
New York, Nov 6 : While oral anti-viral pills against Covid can turn out as a game changer, vaccines and booster shots continue to be pivotal in the fight against the deadly infectious disease, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has said.

The US drug maker on Friday announced that its new anti-viral pill against Covid-19 named Paxlovid can reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death by 89 per cent for adults at high risk of developing severe disease, when given within three days of symptoms appearing.

It is the second anti-viral pill, after Merck's Molnupiravir which has shown to halve the risk.

"The fact that we have a treatment is not at all a reason not to take the vaccine, in fact we should take the vaccine. Some unfortunately will get the disease," Bourla was quoted as saying in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box".

The anti-viral pills are "for people that already they get the disease. This is for sick people, the goal here is to prevent people from getting sick", he said.

That's where Covid booster shots come in, he added. "Boosters are needed because without them we will never get rid of this vicious cycle of the disease." Some people still experience harsh breakthrough infections and symptoms, and that's where Pfizer's new pill, if approved, would be most useful. "We need to get to herd immunity," Bourla said.

If cleared by US health regulators, both Pfizer's and Merck's anti-viral pills would likely be game changers in the ongoing global pandemic fight, the report said.

Pfizer plans to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration "as soon as possible." Bourla told CNBC: "We plan to submit before Thanksgiving holiday." The anti-viral pill made by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics was approved by Britain's medicines regulator on Thursday. Its emergency authorisation is pending both with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency and is likely to be reviewed later this month.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Friday said that he has secured "millions of doses" of Pfizer's anti-viral pill Paxlovid to treat Covid-19, Forbes reported.

It would be "another tool in our toolbox" for the country's efforts to combat Covid-19," Biden was quoted as saying. The US has also committed to buying 1.7 million courses of Molnupiravir if it gets approved by the FDA for emergency use.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Union Territory Lakshadweep is likely to achieve complete Covid vaccination of its eligible population soon.

Lakshadweep may become the first among states and Union Territories to achieve complete vaccination coverage of its eligible population. A source said that the UT has vaccinated 99.2 per cent of the eligible population with both doses.

As per the Health Ministry's statewise Covid vaccination data, a total of 1,01,759 doses of vaccines have been administered in the UT so far. It includes 55,144 shots as the first dose and 46,615 as the second dose.

Meanwhile, India's mass vaccination drive has crossed the 108 cr landmark achieving 108,18,66,715 vaccinations on Saturday.

The cumulative number of the first dose administered in India so far stands at 739322908, while the total number of the second dose stands at 342543807, as per the health ministry report.

The ministry earlier said that 78.7 per cent of India's adult population has received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine. Among all the states and Union Territories, nine of them have administered the first dose to all the 18 plus population.

Union Health Minister Mandaviya in a meeting with the states' health ministers earlier urged them to make local level plans with all the stakeholders to vaccinate those whose jabs are overdue.
Patna, Nov 6 : Following mass demonstrations in the past four days, the BJP in Bihar, which is an ally of the ruling JD(U), said on Saturday that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should review the liquor ban in the state.

On November 26, 2015, Nitish Kumar had announced that alcohol would be banned in the state from April 1, 2016. Kumar officially declared the total ban on April 5, 2016.

"The liquor prohibition law has completely failed across the state. Liquor mafias are running their illegal operations with the help of the local police. The incidents of hooch tragedy are taking place only in those villages where liquor mafias are secretly operating without any support of the local police," said Sanjay Jaiswal, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP.

"The situation in my constituency (West Champaran) is extremely bad. Liquor manufacturing and sales are taking place in every village. The local police are fully aware of it, but they are hand-in-glove with the entire nexus of manufacturing, sale and transportation of liquor," Jaiswal said.

His statement came after 15 persons died in Bettiah in West Champaran after consuming spurious liquor since Diwali. Ten deaths each have also been reported from Muzaffarpur and Gopalganj. On Saturday, four persons died in Samastipur as well after consuming spurious liquor.

"The liquor prohibition law has completely failed in the state. It was imposed in April 2016, and five-and-a-half years have gone by since then. Hence, the Chief Minister should review the law and analyse its positive and negative impacts and take a decision accordingly," Jaiswal said.

Earlier on Saturday, JD(U) national president Lalan Singh had said that the state government will not roll back the liquor ban law.

While interacting with mediapersons in Patna, Lalan Singh said, "We have law pertaining to murder, but still murders take place all over the world. Similarly, the liquor prohibition law will remain intact in Bihar. We will take strong action against the accused involved in manufacturing spurious liquor.

"Our Chief Minister has already called for a high-level assessment meeting on this issue on November 16. We will discuss the gaps leading to violation of the law in the state," Singh said.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Ahmad Massoud, the leader of anti-Taliban resistance front, has reportedly reached Iran to discuss issues with prominent Afghan mobilisation forces leader Ismail Khan, Raha Press reported.

Massoud reached Iran to forward the message of Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon to Ismail Khan for setting up an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

Ismail Khan, a prominent Afghan leader of mobilisation forces in western Herat province who fought against Taliban fighters before the collapse of the Afghan government, is now in Mashhad city in Iran; he was once captured by the Taliban and soon released only to enter Iran then, the report said.

The anti-Taliban resistance front officials are yet to make any comment regarding their leader's travel to Iran.

Tension has been brewing between Tajikistan and Taliban. In October, there were reports indicating troop deployments by Tajikistan and Afghanistan along those two countries' shared border, DW reported.

"We observe with concern the growing tensions in Tajik-Afghan relations against the background of mutually harsh statements by the leaders of the two countries. Reports have appeared about the deployment of armed forces by both sides to the common border. According to information from the Taliban, tens of thousands of special forces units have been deployed in the bordering [northern] Afghan province Takhar alone," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaytsev.

Tajikistan President Rakhmon has refused to recognise the Taliban government, accusing the group of human rights abuses, the report said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : The Mahatma Gandhi University, at Kerala's Kottayam, has removed the head of its Nano Science and Technology Department following allegations of casteist harassment by a woman researcher.

Research scholar, Deepa Mohan who belongs to Scheduled Caste community, had complained that she was facing caste-based harassment from the Head of Department, Professor Nandakumar Kalarickal.

The university, in a statement on Friday, said that Vice Chancellor Sabu Thomas has removed Kalarickal from the post, and taken it over himself as he is also a renowned nanoscientist.

The research scholar has been conducting a protest fast in front of the MG University for the past ten days and the issue had become the centre of media glare.

She has claimed that she was traumatised after facing caste-based discrimination in the Department and was not even allowed to sit in the laboratory. She also alleged that the Head of Department had even locked her inside the laboratory after she complained against him.

Deepa Mohan also said that she was prevented from getting admission to PhD course in the department despite having qualified the GATE exam. She also said that she had successfully passed her MPhil course in 2012 but her certificate was not released till 2015.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of the MG University, had met the Vice Chancellor and directed him to take immediate action against the Professor.

University sources revealed that the Vice Chancellor had met the Governor to apprise him of the action to be taken against Kalarickal.

However, Deepa Mohan said that the action against the Professor was just an eyewash and her demand was to dismiss him from the University.

Speaking to media persons, she also demanded that the Vice Chancellor must also be removed.

Earlier in the day, state Higher Education Minister, Professor R. Bindu had publicly asked the University as to why the professor concerned was not being removed from his post.
Madikeri : , Nov 6 (IANS) The Kodava Samaj of Ponnampet in Karnataka's Madikeri district has banned cake cutting and champagne sharing by newly-wed couples of the community during weddings at community marriage halls.

Chotakmada Rajiv Bopaiah, the President of Ponnampet Kodava Samaj, told IANS that the ban on champagne sharing and cake cutting during marriages has been imposed to protect the Kodava culture, which is at stake.

"Kodavas have their own distinct culture. We can survive only if our culture survives. Cutting of cakes and sharing of champagne by new couples during marriage ceremonies is not our culture. The decision has been taken in this regard in our annual meeting," he said.

"Ever since the decision was taken, I am flooded with congratulatory phone calls and messages. We have to pass on our culture to the next generation. Champaign celebration won't serve the purpose, rather it will misguide the younger generations," he said.

The meeting also took the decision not to allow bridegrooms to attend marriages sporting a beard.

"Sporting beard is against the tradition of Kodavas. There is a ritual in which beard will be taken off. Likewise, the women can't come on stage with their hair let loose, which is against our tradition. The meeting has discussed the issue and we are planning to implement it in the coming days," he revealed.

When asked how did the younger generations of Kodava community react to the ban, Rajiv said they are supporting the move and many organisations have also come forward to create awareness on the matter.

"The problem seems to be with people who are in their 50s... they encourage cake cutting and champagne sharing during marriages," he added.

Anil Biddadanda Nachappa, a film producer, said the steps are necessary to protect the distinct Kodava culture, which is under threat.

"There are a number of Kodava rituals like dancing etc. which should be given importance. Some European countries have banned Halaal and Kosher to protect their indeginious culture. This is also a similar step," he said.

Known as a warrior community, Kodavas are predominantly based in Madikeri district. The clan is known for its valour and every family takes it as a matter of pride to send their children to the Indian Army.

Late Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army and late General K.S. Thimayya hailed from the Kodava community. Actress Rashmika Mandanna also hails from this lineage. It is to be seen how this progressive community reacts to the latest decisions.
Chennai, Nov 6 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has thanked his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for allowing his state to fell 15 trees downstream of the baby dam at Mullaperiyar Dam to strengthen it.

Stalin, in a letter to Vijayan, said that the gesture of the Kerala government has been the fulfillment of a long-pending demand of Tamil Nadu to strengthen the baby dam at Mullaperiyar as well as the earthern dam.

He said he thanked the Kerala Chief Minister as well as the people of Kerala on behalf of himself as well as the people of five districts of south Tamil Nadu, as the gesture would go a long way in strengthening the cooperation between the two states as well as the relationship between the people of the two states.

Stalin also said that the Tamil Nadu government would undertake all steps needed to further strengthen the Mullaperiyar dam and to ensure the safety of the people of Kerala who are living downstream of the dam.

He also requested the Kerala Chief Minister to grant permission to repair the road between Vandi Periyar and Periyar Dam site and to transport necessary materials, as this was the only land route to the dam site and the road works are essential for transporting materials and machinery to carry out repair and strengthening of the dam.

Tamil Nadu's Water Resources Minister S. Duraimurugan had, after visiting the Mullaperiyar dam site on Friday, requested Kerala government to grant permission for felling of trees that are in its territory to felicitate the strengthening of the baby dam as well as the earthern dam.
Bengaluru, Nov 6 : Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulating him for inaugurating Adi Guru Shankaracharya's statue at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.

"I wrote to Prime Minister Modi on how the Sringeri Sharada Peetham in Karnataka, established by the great saint, has to me always been a refined symbol of interfaith harmony," Deve Gowda stated.

On Friday, Modi unveiled a 12-foot statue of Shankaracharya at Kedarnath. The Prime Minister also offered prayers at the temple before unveiling the statue weighing 35 tonnes, work on which commenced in 2019.

"I was deeply moved to see the very impressive black schist statue of the great saint Sri Adi Shankaracharya being unveiled by you in Kedarnath on Nov 5. I congratulate you for the dedication you have shown to the transformation of the holy site," Deve Gowda stated.

"I wish to soon visit Kedarnath to see the newly-installed statue of the great saint. It is also a matter of great joy that the statue was sculpted by a Mysuru sculptor -- Arun Yogiraj. I also learn that the black schist is from HD Kote in Mysuru district of Karnataka. There is so much of Karnataka connection in this endeavour. It is all divinely arranged. May the grace of almighty be on you," Deve Gowda wrote in the letter.
Bengaluru, Nov 7 : The Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) in Karnataka on Saturday sought protection for Ramana Rao, the family doctor of late Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, following protests and complaints against him by Puneeth's fans.

Puneeth had consulted Ramana Rao at his clinic the day before he succumbed to a massive heart attack on October 29.

"PHANA is deeply concerned with the way healthcare is being portrayed in the media and public following the death of Puneeth Rajkumar. While we share the grief and shock of losing an young and popular actor, the turn of events post this are sad and calls for your immediate attention," PHANA president Prasanna H.M. urged Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

"We strongly oppose the attempts by the public to point fingers at the treating physicians, especially Ramana Rao who did his best. After all, we know that medical profession has its limitations and saving lives is not always possible. Else, no one would be dying," he said.

Prasanna also urged Bommai to make a public statement to boost the morale of the medical fraternity.

"Kindly provide police protection to safeguard Ramana Rao and the medical professionals involved in the treatment of Puneeth Rajkumar," he pleaded.

Prasanna further said that visual and social media platforms are carrying narratives blaming lack of care by the medical professionals for the untimely demise of the popular actor.

"This kind of judgemental and hyper critical media frenzy is creating distrust in the society besides risking the lives of the medical professionals who served the deceased," he stated.

Attempts by fans and well-wishers to discuss the medical condition of the deceased person is gross violation of the healthcare policy and this can't be encouraged, he added.
Gandhinagar, Nov 7 : An Ahmedabad tea-seller and laundryman, who were allegedly running a thriving extortion racket and had made enough money to even own a BMW car, have been arrested, police said.

A desire to earn quick money, travel in luxury cars, use high-end mobile phones and flaunt their status led tea-seller, Arif Ghanchi, 27, and laundry man, Yusuf Ghanchi, 37, to blackmail businessmen and extort money out of them to fund their lavish lifestyle.

"The Sarkhej police arrested them on Tuesday, seized the car, and have obtained five days remand of the duo in connection with the crime registered against them for extortion," DCP Zone 7, Premsukh Delu, told IANS.

"One of the victims of this duo, a businessman residing in Sarkhej area, filed a police complaint that a duo was extorting money from him and until now they had extracted over Rs 31 lakh out of him. After verifying all the evidence provided by him, an offence was registered. Currently we are investigating if more victims were conned and have urged them to come forward and file a complaint," he added.

"Yusuf runs a laundry and Arif runs a roadside tea-stall. With such profiles, it is unlikely that they could buy such a high-end car. The tea stall and the laundry were just front to carry out their misdeeds," Delu said.

According to the police, the duo would gather details regarding the industrial unit owners and blackmail them by threatening to get their licences suspended by complaining to the authorities concerned.

"Then after extracting that amount, they would approach the victims and claim to have influential contacts through whom they could regularise the flaws. For this, they both would extract more money," added Delu.

They had used this tactic to extort the money from the Sarkhej businessman, till he had enough and approached the police, and many others.

The accused had even filed an application at Sarkhej police station to blackmail a potential victim.

"Both of them have an application registered in Sarkhej police station of trying to commit suicide by poisoning themselves. If the victims stopped paying them, they would threaten them to implicate them in the suicide application case," added Delu.
Freetown, Nov 7 : Sierra Leonean President, Julius Maada Bio has expressed his condolences over a fuel tanker explosion in the capital Freetown that claimed more than 100 lives.

"Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life around the Wellington PMB area. My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result," said Bio on Saturday.

The President pledged the government will "do everything to support affected families." Earlier on Saturday, police and hospital sources revealed that over 100 people have been killed in the fuel tanker explosion in Freetown. The tragedy happened late Friday after the fuel tanker collided with a truck in the eastern part of the city and caused fuel leakage.

Eyewitnesses said residents within the community came out desperately to fetch the leaking fuel when the explosion occurred and caused heavy casualties, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sinneh Kamara, a senior official at the Sierra Leone Connaught Hospital Mortuary Department, told Xinhua earlier that they have received 95 bodies in the early hours of Saturday and they feared the casualty figures are set to increase because of the critical conditions of those currently admitted at hospitals across Freetown.

Eyewitnesses said some other dead bodies have been taken by their relatives for burial.

Meanwhile, Bio canceled his trip to the Extraordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States Authority of Heads of State and government, which is set to be held in Ghana on Sunday.

Police said further investigations into the accident are still underway.
Dar Es Salaam, Nov 7 : Tanzanian authorities has said that between 80,000 and 100,000 people will be vaccinated daily against Covid-19 during the second phase of the inoculation campaign.

A statement by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children on Saturday said the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Abel Makubi, revealed the acceleration of the vaccination in a meeting with Regional Medical officers and Covid-19 vaccination coordinators in the capital Dodoma.

Makubi said the second phase of the vaccination campaign will mainly focus on rural communities, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new campaign will go in tandem with raising awareness at community levels on precaution measures issued by health authorities against the pandemic, he added.

At least one million Tanzanians have been vaccinated between July 28 when President Samia Suluhu Hassan launched the campaign and October 31.

China has donated 1,565,600 Sinopharm vaccine doses to Tanzania to support the east African nation's drive to vaccinate its people against the virus. Tanzania intends to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of its 60 million population.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Sacramento employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation, alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation is currently pending in the Sacramento County Superior Court, Case No. 34-2021-00309657. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, and (f) failed to provide wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections  201, 202, 203, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

The complaint further alleges Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation issued wages to Plaintiff in form of a payment card upon termination. Plaintiff incurred a fee when attempting to obtain all of their wages on demand, and there was no alternative to avoid the fee. This action allegedly violates Labor Code  212, requiring that wages be payable on demand, without discount.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corporation, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

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Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against WWIL Personnel LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against WWIL Personnel LLC alleging the company violated Labor Code  2699, et seq. seeking penalties for DEFENDANTs alleged violation of California Labor Code  201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 221, 226(a), 226.7, 227.3, 351, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against WWIL Personnel LLC is currently pending in the Orange County Superior Court, Case No. 30-2021-01227895-CU-OE-CXC. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, WWIL Personnel LLC allegedly failed to fully relieve Plaintiff and other Aggrieved Employees for their legally required thirty (30) minute meals breaks. Employees were also allegedly required, from time to time, to work in excess of four (4) hours without being provided the legally required ten (10) minute rest periods. The California Supreme Court defines off-duty rest periods as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control.

PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code.

For more information about the lawsuit against WWIL Personnel LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
Lerner and Rowe Hosts Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway for Chicago Families We are grateful to have the opportunity to partner with the Chicago Police Departments CAPS program to host a fun holiday event and provide Thanksgiving meals for 1,000 families who may have otherwise done without any holiday fellowship this year.

In partnership with the Chicago Police Departments CAPS program, Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys will be giving away 1,000 frozen turkeys and side fixings on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 from 5:00 p.m.  8:00 p.m. at the Pullman Community Center (10355 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60628). They will also be providing light snacks and refreshments, as well as sporting activities for the kids in attendance. No proof of residence is required to pick up a meal, however, there is a one meal per family limit. Additionally, the person picking up the meal must be 18 years of age or older. All turkeys, side fixings, snacks, and refreshments will also be given on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

Attorney Glen Lerner shared more about the FREE Chicago Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway: "Part of our business motto includes doing all that we can to help support those during their times of need. That motto includes helping our legal clients, as well as local community members. That is why we are grateful to have the opportunity to partner with the Chicago Police Departments CAPS program to host a fun holiday event and provide Thanksgiving meals for 1,000 families who may have otherwise done without any holiday fellowship this year."

For more information about Chicago Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway visit LernerAndRowe.com/thanksgiving-giveaways, follow the law firms Facebook page, call 708-222-2222 and dial ext. 6325, or email Arianna Baiz at abaiz@lernerandrowe.com

More About Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 20 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships, as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Illinois, please call 708-222-2222. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys on Twitter and Instagram, or become a fan of its Facebook page.

Also, visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.

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Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys Host FREE Phoenix Thanksgiving Giveaway Our team is full of gratitude to once again be able to give back and host our annual Phoenix Thanksgiving Giveaway that offers a helping hand to local families that may be financially strapped this holiday season.

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is hosting a FREE Phoenix Thanksgiving drive-thru event on Saturday, November 20, 2021 from 11:00 a.m.  1:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Metro Auto Auction (2475 S 59th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85043) to give away 750 meal packages that local underserved families can use to create a traditional holiday meal. As the event is non-contact, families are asked to remain in their vehicles and just open their trunk or a side door to allow volunteers to easily place items inside. Please note that only one Thanksgiving package will be handed out per vehicle, on a first-come, first-served while supplies last. No exceptions will be made.

We know that not everyone has the means to prepare and share a Thanksgiving meal with their families and friends. That is why our team is full of gratitude to once again be able to give back and host our annual Thanksgiving Giveaways that offers a helping hand to 4,250 total local families across five cities that may be financially strapped this holiday season, said Kevin Rowe, Esq. He added, We also hope to spread even more cheer among Phoenix families this holiday season with the kick-off of our annual 25 Days of Giving contest that starts the day after Thanksgiving.

For more information about Lerner and Rowes Phoenix Thanksgiving Giveaway visit LernerAndRowe.com/thanksgiving-giveaways, follow the law firms Facebook page, call 602-977-1900, or email Cindy Ernst at cernst@lernerandrowe.com.

More about Lerner & Rowe Injury Attorneys

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 20 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Arizona, Tennessee, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, and New Mexico. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Phoenix, please call 602- 977-1900. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter and Instagram, or become a fan of its Facebook page. Also, visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.
LINXIS Group (France) announced the promotion of Tim Cook to President and CEO of the Group. With revenues of $280 million and over 1,1000 employees, LINXIS is a leader in specialized equipment, comprised of 5 companies in The Netherlands, Germany, United States, Canada, and France serving the industrial food and health manufacturing industry.

When planning the succession of LINXIS Group leadership, I considered Tims industry experience, as well as his personal and professional skills, and he was the obvious choice to lead our global group. I am very proud that our board confirmed this choice, and that Tim has accepted. He, along with Anne Brifault, our Vice-President and CFO, will truly personify LINXIS Groups strategic ambitions for synergistic growth worldwide. - Didier Soumet, President of the Linxis Group supervisory board.

During his 8 years at Shick Esteve, Cook oversaw the integration of Shick Solutions into the Linxis Group and lead the subsequent merger with Esteve Processing. The integration allows Shick Esteve to serve the food industry with a broader range of technical and manufacturing resources supported by a network of global service centers.

Cook will remain in Kansas City, MO with an office at the Linxis Group headquarters in France.

Blake Day, President Shick Esteve North America, will continue to manage the day-to-day operations in Kansas City and focus on the companys strategic objective to create premier ingredient automation solutions for the industrial food and beverage manufacturing industry at a global level.

We are extremely excited about Tims new role with LINXIS Group. Over the last 8 years at Shick Esteve, Tim has significantly enhanced our business operations and built a very strong team. I look forward to continue to guide Shick Esteve and work with Tim on overall global opportunities.  Blake Day, President Shick Esteve North America

In preparation for these changes, Shick Esteve also welcomed Gwennole Van Effenterre as CFO on October 1st. Van Effenterre has been working with Shick Esteve Kansas City since they joined the Linxis Group in 2016 as a liaison working on project financials and other corporate financial reporting and strategic initiatives.

Van Effenterre will work remotely and relocate to Kansas City, MO with his family in January 2022.

Day added, Gwenn has been an integral part of our organization since the acquisition of Shick Esteve by LINXIS Group. He brings a strong financial background and business acumen to the company. We look forward to Gwenns contribution to the organizations continued success.

About Shick Esteve:

Shick Esteve is a complete ingredient automation provider and the only global automation systems provider focused solely on the food industry. We design, manufacture, install and service ingredient automation systems for customers worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.shickesteve.com.

About LINXIS Group:

LINXIS groups purpose is to leverage our collective expertise to develop and implement specialized equipment solutions, enabling our customers to be best-in-class industrial players wherever they operate. Bakon (The Netherlands), Diosna (Germany), Shick Esteve (USA/France), Unifiller (Canada) and VMI (France) are part of the LINXIS Group. For more information, visit http://www.linxisgroup.com.
Performance Brokerage Services Jesse was vested in a positive outcome from the start and never took his eye off the ball! His expertise brought me a deal within weeks and closed 90 days later." - Bill Clark

Performance Brokerage Services, North Americas highest volume dealership brokerage firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Great Outdoors RV from Bill Clark and the Fitzpatrick Family to Brian Wilkins and Wilkins RV. The acquisition includes 2 dealership locations in Fulton and Clay, New York and expands Wilkins RVs portfolio to 6 dealerships. The transaction was completed on November 3.

Great Outdoors RV was established in 1988 in Fulton, New York by Bill Clark and his late business partner, Jerry Fitzpatrick. Together, they served Central New Yorks RV community for over 33 years. The Fulton location is on 25 acres and is the home of Campers Village, an outdoor showroom that displays RVs in a campground setting as they were intended. In 2019, Great Outdoors RV expanded their footprint, opening a location in Clay. The facility features an indoor showroom that can display up to 75 vehicles year-round in a climate-controlled environment. In honor of Jerry, who was an avid Disney fan, the RV Dealers Association of Syracuse planted a tree at the Fulton dealership with a quote by Walt Disney that reads, All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

Finding Jesse Stopnitzky and Performance Brokerage Service was the key to selling my RV dealership, said Bill Clark, President of Great Outdoors RV. Jesse was vested in a positive outcome from the start and never took his eye off the ball! His expertise brought me a deal within weeks and closed 90 days later. The time he took to get to know my family and me was an added bonus. Jesses integrity, perseverance and sense of humor sets him aside from the rest. I highly recommend Jesse Stopnitzky and the Performance team to anyone considering selling or buying in the RV market.

Over the last 5 years, Performance Brokerage Services has advised on the sale of over 250 dealerships, making it the highest volume dealership brokerage firm in North America. In 2021, the company expects to consummate over 70 transactions, marking a record-breaking year. Jesse Stopnitzky, Partner at Performance Brokerage Services and the Director of the RV Division, commented, After 33 years of ownership, the sale of a dealership is naturally emotional. This responsibility put upon us is one that we do not take lightly. I feel privileged that the Clark family entrusted us in executing their business and personal goals. The opportunity to work with such gentlemen in both Bill Clark and Brian Wilkins was extraordinary. I wish Bill an enjoyable retirement and Brian much success with the acquisition.

Charles Wilkins founded an auto detailing shop in Hornell, New York in 1936. He began selling RVs in the 1950s alongside his son, Ronald Wilkins, who took over the business in the early 1960's and changed the name to Wilkins RV.

In 2004, Ronald sold the business to his son, Brian Wilkins, who is credited for the growth and expansion of Wilkins RV. Outgrowing the facility in Hornell, Wilkins RV built a 50,000 square foot facility on 25 acres and moved the dealership to its current location in Bath.

In 2011, Wilkins RV opened a second location in Churchville and in 2017, expanded to their third and fourth locations with their acquisitions of Ballantyne RV in Victor and Caps and Campers in Cicero.

We are proud and excited to take over and build upon the proud heritage that has been built by Great Outdoors RV and its employees, said Brian Wilkins, President of Wilkins RV. They have a great customer following and we look forward to supporting that customer base and continuing the growth they have experienced for over 30 years.

Bill Clark concluded, It truly has been an honor to have been a part of the Central New York recreation market for over three decades. Our employees have always been the driving force behind our success and of utmost importance was to seek a suitor with the same culture, reputation, and customer service. Wilkins has dominated the Western RV market for well over 70 years and I could not be more pleased to pass the baton on to Brian and his team as they take what we started to the next level.

Bill Clark was represented by Gerald F. Stack of Barclay Damon, and James Bandoblu, CPA of Syracuse.

About Performance Brokerage Services

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc. is the nations highest volume dealership brokerage firm, specializing in buy-sell activity for automotive, commercial truck, motorcycle, RV and equipment dealerships.

With over 25 years of experience, 700 dealerships sold and a 90% closing rate, the companys reputation is unmatched and governed by the utmost ethical conduct and integrity.

The company offers a unique approach by providing complimentary estimates of value with no upfront fees, no reimbursement of costs and paid a success fee after the transaction closes.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, and supported by 5 regional offices in Utah, Florida, Texas, Virginia and New Jersey, clients benefit from national exposure with local representation.

As trusted and respected experts in the field, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related attorneys, accountants, hundreds of registered buyers, and longstanding relationships with most of the auto manufacturers.

For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com or contact Jesse Stopnitzky directly.

Jesse Stopnitzky

Partner & Director RV Division

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc.

7545 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 200

Irvine, California 92618

Phone: 949. 309. 2851

E-mail: jesse@performancebrokerageservices.com
Seenu Chundru - CEO I am so honored and energized to be promoted as the CEO of PS Technology, PST has a great business model and a fantastic leadership team. Im deeply impressed with the unity and commitment of the entire PST team in finding ways to serve our customers better."

PS Technology, a leading global provider of cutting-edge software-based railroad solutions, today announced that Srinivas (Seenu) Chundru has been named as Chief Executive Officer.

Seenu is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of integrating technology and resources with a business strategy to increase organizational effectiveness. As President of PST, he drove transformation and revenue growth by productizing and commercializing new and emerging technology solutions. Before joining PS Technology in January of 2012, he led teams that provided cutting-edge technical solutions to a multitude of business problems in various areas at Union Pacific Railroad.

Before joining Union Pacific in 2002, he worked as a software consultant in the Transportation and Healthcare industries for eight years. He served as an adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Webster University in St. Louis. He holds a Bachelors as well as a Masters degree in Computer Science.

I am so honored and energized to be promoted as the CEO of PS Technology, said Seenu. PST has a great business model and a fantastic leadership team. Im deeply impressed with the unity and commitment of the entire PST team in finding ways to serve our customers better. Being able to help guide such a forward-looking company into the future is both exciting and daunting. PST is all set to play a vital role in supply-chain digitization through our products and services.

Seenu Chundru is the right leader for PS Technology, said Rahul Jalali, CIO, Union Pacific Railroad, and Chair of the Board of Directors for PST. His extensive background in building and selling Transportation solutions as well as business development skills should help PST strengthen channel partnerships, develop strategic alliances and expand our international sales presence. We believe his strong leadership experience will help focus PST as they work on increasing their profitability.
In Getting His Game Back (Dell, Feb. 2022), debut author Gia de Cadenet addresses the stigma of depression. Its leads, Black technology executive Vanessa Noble and Algerian French American Khalil Sarda meet in the latters Detroit barbershop and are instantly smitten with each other.

But Khalil lives with seasonal affective disorder and avoids therapy because, de Cadenet says, he has this false idea that, as a man, he shouldnt need therapy. And Vanessa has taken a break from dating after a series of bad matches. Friends eventually become lovers, but when Khalils depression comes roaring back, he pushes Vanessa away, because he falls back into old patterns of thinking and behaving, de Cadenet says.

PWs starred review said, Khalil and Vanessa set a high standard for couples with their patience, support, and respect for one anothercombined with sizzling chemistry. The author spoke with PW about toxic masculinity and depictions of mental illness in popular culture.

What was the inspiration for this story?

Khalils character appeared in my mind one day, started talking, and wouldnt shut up. I knew the character was gregarious and outgoing. Hes a ladies man. Hes someone who has everything going for him. Having dealt with depression myself, I know what its like to have a maska persona that you have for the rest of the world. Every now and then, it gets difficult to carry and put on for everybody else. Women are accustomed to being and doing for others. Were not so accustomed to thinking that about men. Khalil is this person who is there for everybodythe good friend, perfect boyfriend, great brother, supportive business partner, great community leader, and the person who wants to see everyone around him do well. What does it mean when hes not doing so well? I wanted to explore that.

What were the challenges in writing a character like Khalil?

Romance readers no longer expect the cliched alpha malethe hard man who has no weaknesses. We want nuanced men. We want men who are willing to show that they are fallible and are imperfect. They have needs. Theyre willing to change. Theyre willing to be wrong. Theyre willing to make mistakes. As I was crafting Khalil, it was important that his weakness is that he wont ask for help. It was important that he had some toxic masculinity to unpack. He cant be a good partner, because hes damaged, but he doesnt articulate it as that right away.

Why is it important to engage with mental health issues in fiction?

Look at how people are reacting to [the therapy discussions in] Ted Lasso. The way to get people to understand mental illness is to take it beyond the sensational, The Shining or One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. In this book, Im dealing with depression. In my next novel, Im dealing with the impact of untreated personality disorder. I have two other projects that deal with severe chronic depression and bipolar disorder. Were doing ourselves a disservice not to have a better concept of how to treat and live with the impact of mental health in a gentle and respectful way. The novel as an art form is my way to do that. Everyones dealing with something, and wed all do better by supporting ourselves and each other. The more people see mental illness as something to be openly discussed, the better.

Back to Main Feature
This month, weve got a simple Texas town, curses, secrets, memories, and more. To submit a first line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Dancing to the Silence

Leta McCurry

Macy Eldridge knew something was terribly wrong even before she opened her eyes and saw Mr. Pib stone cold dead on the pillow beside her.

Fear Traps: Escape the Triggers That Keep You Stuck

Nancy Stella

No one likes to feel afraid, but the truth is that fear itself isnt really the problem.

Feral Prince (Qurilixen Lords)

Michelle M. Pillow

The metallic smell of blood permeated the forest, the scent unmistakable against the darker tones of earth and trees.

The Grain Merchant

Zara Altair

Argolicus opened the door of the big stone house to memories and seventeen years of dust.

The Marching Ant

Allyson ChapaAt

At first glance, Big Spring was an all-around simple Texas town.

Memory Road Trip

Kirsta Marson

I want to start my first story with an apology.

The Night She Went Missing

Kristen Bird

They find me faceup in the murky water of the harbor on the day of my funeral.

Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets

Sherrill Joseph

Dead eyes, with years of curses and murder in them, stared back at thirteen-year-old Lexi Wyatt.

Shadows of Kalalau

Doug Walsh

The helicopters approach couldnt be coincidence, not so soon after the killing.

Tied with Twine

Pam Records

Halina shoved the dirty sheet in the tin washtub as quickly as she could.

Trapped in Glass

Pam Records

Halina hesitated, her sweating hand on the glass doorknob, her ear against the attic door.

What the Hell Are They Thinking?

Daniel Ravner

You are encouraged to read this book in whatever order sparks your interest.
On November 16, Pushkin Industries will release the original audiobook Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell and journalist Bruce Headlam, narrated by Simon, Gladwell, and Headlam. Drawn from the more than 30 hours of interviews the authors recorded with Simon and featuring a preview of new music, this audio biography marks the latest phase in Pushkins evolution in the audio production arena.

Gladwell cofounded Pushkin in 2018 with former Slate Group chairman and editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg. Pushkins flagship programming consisted of Gladwells podcast Revisionist Historywhich he launched in 2016 with Panoply, a network

then under the Slate umbrellaand the music podcast Broken Record, cohosted by Gladwell, Headlam, and music producer Rick Rubin.

Pushkin was Jacob Weisbergs idea, Gladwell said. The two had enjoyed working together on Revisionist History and wanted to continue. Jacob had been running Panoply, and they were getting out of the podcast business, he recalled. He said, Lets start our own company. Since Jacob is one of my best friends, it sounded like fun. Also, we were both in our mid-50sa good time to shake things up!

Since its 2018 launch, Pushkin has built a roster of more than 25 podcasts. The 2022 list includes Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim, which brings the popular book club dedicated to Black women writers to podcast form; Getting Even with Anita Hill, featuring Hill in conversation with the people who are fighting to make the U.S. more equitable; and Whats Your Problem with Planet Moneys Jacob Goldstein, a weekly interview show where business leaders talk about the biggest problems they are tackling.

Though Gladwells and Weisbergs enthusiasm for the podcast format was behind Pushkins genesis, both men were eager to explore beyond the boundaries of traditional audio and try new approaches. Ever since I started doing my podcast, I fell in love with the kind of storytelling that can be done with audio, Gladwell said. When you hear voices and use sound and engage the ears of the listener, you can do all kinds of things that you cant do with the printed word. You can bring characters to life. You can move people emotionally. Just hearing a characters actual voice makes a world of difference.

Pushkin entered the audiobook ring in 2019, when it produced the audio edition of Gladwells Talking to Strangers, which was published in print and audio formats by Hachette. The audiobook version, which sold more than a million copies, includes reenactments of court transcripts, interviews Gladwell conducted, and archival audio.

In May 2020, Brendan Francis Newnam, who previously cohosted NPRs culture show Dinner Party Download and produced a podcast with the Paris Review, joined Pushkin as v-p of special projects, which includes heading up the audiobook program. His first audiobook project was Fauci, the audio biography of Anthony Fauci, by New Yorker staff writer and author Michael Specter. The three-hour audio original expands Specters magazine reporting and combines new interviews and archival audio of Fauci, his wife, and his colleagues, as well as an original score. We told his story in sound, Newnam said, noting that Fauci became one of Audibles top short series sellers in 2020.

Earlier this year, Pushkin released Gladwells The Bomber Mafia, which Newnam said is the authors first foray into building an audiobook from whole cloth. Gladwell became fascinated with recordings of WWII military leaders he found in the Air Force archives while working on episodes of Revisionist History and started to build a book around it, Newnam explained. The audio was so compelling that Little, Brown decided to do a print version of the book. It was a simultaneous publication, but the audiobook was the engine for that project.

In addition to other projects, Pushkin has a number of audiobooks planned for next year from Lake Bell, Adam Gopnik, Michael Lewis, Steve Martin, Michael Specter, and Florence Williams. The audio rights to Lewiss Liars Poker (originally published by Random House Audio in 2007) reverted to the author, and he brought them to us, Newnam said. Were a company built around a community of writers. He knows well do right by him and make it a special production.

Newnam said the company is looking for projects that fit with Pushkins identity and are better told through sound.

In characterizing an ideal Pushkin project, Gladwell said, We would like to think that Pushkins vibe is nerdy enthusiasm. We are an ideas-based company. We like to entertain people and then have them realize, once theyve finished, that they learned something interesting or had their beliefs challenged in a cool way.

Gladwell believes Miracle and Wonder is a good example. Simon is the smartest musician around, he explained. And we thought, Why not sit down with him, talk and argue and listen to him, have him play some music, and then create an argument out of all we record? I wanted to be able to say to a 16-year-oldwho had never heard of his musichere: listen to this. This will help you understand one of the great musical geniuses of my generationand probably yours, too. Thats a very Pushkin-y goal.

Newnam said Pushkin is looking to capitalize on the success of audiobooks. We sell things directly [to consumers]and were platform agnostic and were available everywhere, he explained. To expand, the company raised $10.5 million in venture capital funding earlier this year, and it expects to finish 2021 with sales close to $20 million.

Pushkin moved into new office space in New York Citys Union Square in early 2020, and its staff has grown to 58. About half a dozen staff members work out of an old house that Gladwell renovated in Hudson, N.Y., and there are satellite offices in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, as well as in London.

Growth is evident in other areas of Pushkin, as well. In late 2020, it entered into a coproduction and distribution agreement with IHeartMedia for podcasts. Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi, released in May, is among their joint projects. June 2021 saw the debut of subscription program PushNik, since rebranded as Pushkin+, which launched along with the new Apple Podcasts Subscriptions platform. Within three months of its release, Pushkin+ was Apples #5 paid podcast offering, said Weisberg. And on November 10, the subscription service Scribd will make available three audiobook anthologies that will feature podcasts and original content from Gladwell, Lewis, and Hari Kunzru.

Reflecting on Pushkins trajectory so far, Newnam said, In the podcast space were one of the best there is; in the audiobook space, were more disruptive. Were interested in disrupting creatively whats become the default of audiobooks. And business-wise were just interested in getting our books out everywhere.
Toni Morrison wrote her masterpiece novels steeped in Christian scriptures and African spirituality, including beliefs in miracles and Black holy women. Through these lenses, the Nobel Prizewinning author believed universal truths could be told, says Nadra Nittle, author of Toni Morrisons Spiritual Vision: Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in Her Life and Literature (Fortress, out now).

Nittle, a journalist covering news, culture, food, education, and more for broadcast, magazines, and newspapers, never met Morrison, who died in 2019 at age 88. But she had read Morrisons novels during her college years.

In 2017when Song of Solomon was 40 years old and Beloved was 30the Jesuit-owned America magazine asked Nittle to write on Morrison, who converted to Catholicism when she was 12. Nittle returned to Morrisons work for her story, The Ghosts of Toni Morrison: A Catholic Writer Confronts the Legacy of Slavery.

That article caught the eye of Emily King, an acquisitions editor for Fortress who had been seeking the right writer to examine religious themes in Morrisons novels. Morrisons cultural impact is so enormous that there is always more to learn, King says. In Nadra, I saw a journalist by trade who could bring an impulse for nuance, complexity, and storytelling to the project.

For Nittle, the research was an eye-opener. I am Black, she explains. My mother is African American and my father is African. But when I read Morrison as a student, I wasnt reading through a religious lens, so a great deal opened up to me in rereading her books. She strongly believed that critical aspects of Black faith and spirituality and folkways had been discredited or lost, and she wanted to be sure the next generation knew and took pride in them.

Nittle describes Morrison as a woman who believed in magic, centered on the divine feminine in her literature, and wrote for Black readers. So it made sense, she continues, that Morrison was drawn to Catholicism, a belief system where miracles are accepted, and the Virgin Mary is venerated.

For Morrisons characters, birds talk and butterflies cry, and it is not surprising or upsetting, Nittle writes. Such magical events unfold in her novels to reflect the vast imagination of Black people who existed in Morrisons personal orbit. These individuals didnt just recite folklore; they believed in the stories they told.

Cathy Lynn Grossman is a veteran religion and ethics writer living in Washington, D.C.

Back to Main Feature
In 2020, the organizers of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) were forced to cancel the in-person fair as a result of the pandemic and opted instead for a virtual program. This year, the fair returns with a hybrid in-person and online event, running from November 27 through December 5.

In its previous in-person iteration in 2019, FIL attracted 800,000 members of the public, 2,300 publishing professionals, and 300 rights directors. This year will be significantly smaller, with a maximum approved capacity of 12,500 on the fairgrounds in two different shifts,

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the halls being disinfected in between. Over the course of the fair, the maximum number of visitors can be as high as 225,000.

Despite the reduced capacity, FIL will still host 255 exhibitors from 27 countries, displaying 240,000 different titles in a 107,000-sq.-ft. exhibition space with wider-than-usual corridors and some one-way aisles. Masks will be required for everyone in attendance. By November 1, 1,600 professionals from 27 countries had registered.

We have the endorsement of the Specialized Board of Health of the Government of the State of Jalisco and the advice of the Health Situation Room for Covid-19 of the University of Guadalajara and the Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, says Ruben Padilla, director of the professional program of the fair. FIL Guadalajara is considered the largest business platform for the publishing industry in Spanish, with a large and diverse number of people in the book production chain depending on it to establish contacts and conduct business. It is a big gamble, but we want more than anything to encourage face-to-face interaction, if possible. It creates opportunities and synergy. To that end, only 30% of the total activities for this years fair will be virtual.

The value of in-person events

From my perspective, Padilla says, the main change in different book fairs, including Guadalajara, is a natural contraction due to a lower flow of participants and exhibitors, caused mainly by economic difficulties arising from the pandemic. He noted that FIL usually generates $34 million in book sales and affiliated revenue from food, transportation, lodging, and other expenditures from participants, according to estimates from the Guadalajara Convention and Visitors Bureau. That number is likely to be significantly reduced this year.

Still, Padilla continues, the main attraction of book fairs is to allow promoting products or services, exploring new collaborative projects, and seeing current trends, as well as sharing experiences with people from different countries. In addition, direct contact with readers allows professionals to interact and see how they react to certain proposals. We at FIL firmly believe there is a persistent need for face-to-face contact to build trust and create long-term relationships.

For attendees from the U.S., two major attractions of FIL are the ability to participate in the international rights center and the fellowship program, which brings in professionals from around the world. Both have been canceled this year but are expected to return in 2022.

The 2021 program offers a wide variety of activities focused on books and reading, as well as science, art, culture, and philosophy, both at the Guadalajara Expo, the traditional venue for the fair, and online at fil.com.mx.

Authors and prizes

Six hundred authors will participate in events at FIL, including Paul Auster, John Boyne, Noemi Casquets, Ken Follet, Jonathan Franzen, Christophe Galfard, Miguel Gane, Etgar Keret, Brenda Lozano, Amin Maalouf, Jorge Ramos, Laura Restrepo, Abdela Taia, and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Numerous top prizes for Spanish-language writing will also be awarded at FIL. This year, the Chilean writer Diamela Eltit will receive the $150,000 FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages, and the Mexican writer Margo Glantz will be given the Carlos Fuentes Medal. The Publishing Merit Award will be awarded to Cristina Urrutia, publisher of Tecolote Books from Mexico. In addition, the International Publishers Association will announce the winner of its annual Voltaire Prize, given in defense and promotion of freedom to publish around the world.

The fairs International Forum of Book Publishers and Professionals, the primary program for overseas visitors, takes place November 29 and 30 and will have a focus on bookselling, creating and selling diverse content for children, and adapting audiovisual content to and from books. Among the speakers will be Chiara Arroyo, co-owner of LA Libreria, a Spanish-language childrens bookstore and distributor in Los Angeles. The literature and publishing culture of Peru, this years guest of honor country, will feature heavily in the programming as well.

Padilla says the goal of this years FIL is to help bring a sense of normalcy back to the industry. To be totally honest, it seems to me that the great challenge in the industry is to overcome the financial difficulties and get back on the path we had before the pandemic, he explains. In this sense, carrying out our book fair will allow us to better measure the feeling of the industry players who attend, to get a better firsthand understanding of their needs and adapt accordingly.

Read more about our Guadalajara International Book Fair coverage:

Planeta in the Americas: PW Talks with Jose Calafell Salgado

PW talks with Jose Calafell Salgado, Grupo Planetas CEO of Latin America.

Searching for Spanish Gems: PW Talks with Katie Whittemore

A translator discusses finding new Spanish voices for English-language markets.

A Trio For Translation

Translator Samantha Schnee shares three recent books that she is most excited to see translated into English.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 11/05/2021



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alum Peter Weber has opened up about why his relationship with Madison Prewett didn't work out."It was literally the most trying and most difficult experience I have ever been through," Peter, 30, told The New York Post's Page Six, reflecting on his time starring on 's 24th season and dating Madison in 2020."As much respect for her as I have and think so highly of her, I definitely see there were differences between the two of us that probably weren't going to allow a meaningful long-term relationship to flourish."Peter added, "Nothing against either one of us. It's just who we are. It is what it is."On 's 24th season, Madison seemed to be Peter's frontrunner and top pick, but she quit the competition during her final one-on-one date with the pilot. Madison seemed torn up over the fact Peter had been intimate with one or more of his other finalists.Peter therefore proposed marriage to his last remaining bachelorette and technical winner, Hannah Ann Sluss Many viewers wondered if Peter's journey would have played out differently had Madison dished about the extent of her morals and how she's a virgin who's saving herself for marriage."If that would have been the case, obviously the show probably would have gone a little different," Peter acknowledged. "But truly, I really mean this, I don't know if that would have changed anything in the long run."Peter ended his engagement to Hannah Ann Sluss a couple of months after getting engaged, and then he asked Madison for a second chance.Just two short days after Peter and Madison's joint appearance on : After the Final Rose special in March 2020, Peter and Madison released separate statements via Instagram announcing they had decided to split and end their revived romance During an April 2020 appearance on Nick Viall 's The Viall Files podcast, Peter said he discovered a dealbreaker in his relationship with Madison that sealed the deal in his mind their romance was not going to last.Peter said his "biggest" issue with Madison extended far beyond her virginity."A lot of people think it was all about sex and it was all about saving herself for marriage and that was 'the biggest thing Peter can't do' -- which was frustrating to see because, you know, to be honest, that wasn't the biggest thing for me," Peter said at the time."Again, I respect Madi and always will, but it was other things, like, she was also saving herself for just being able to travel with her significant other until marriage."Peter explained to Nick that while he and Madison could travel together, every destination -- domestic or international -- would be a big production because they'd have to book and sleep in separate hotel rooms.In addition, Peter revealed Madison wasn't willing to have sleepovers in general."If she came out to [Los Angeles] and I had my apartment and she had hers, she wasn't going to be able to spend the night with me," Peter explained."That was something she had just made a decision for herself, which again I respect like no other."But Peter said not being able to spend the night with Madison was "a big thing" for him, especially since he'd have to wait until marriage -- about two years or so, he said -- to really enjoy traveling with his love."That's a lifestyle thing that's so tough... and I bond a lot in relationships by spending the night together," Peter revealed."Not just being physical but spending the night and waking up the next morning, having breakfast... That wasn't going to be the case with [Madison], and that would be tough to get over."Peter recalled his official breakup with Madison being "super sad.""I remember for probably six hours, we stayed on her bed [at her hotel] -- we laughed, we cried, we hugged each other, we said nothing, we talked. It was rough," Peter shared with Nick.Peter added he and Madison just proved his mother Barbara Weber right by determining through serious conversation they aren't compatible and so their relationship would never work out long-term.Barbara, for example, pointed out that Peter loves to drink and party on the weekends and Madison seemed much more religious and faith-driven in her hobbies.According to Page Six, Madison graduated from seminary school and once envisioned herself becoming a pastor's wife.Not only was Madison a virgin on the show -- and Peter had sex with Hannah Brown four times in the Fantasy Suite on ette's fifteenth season -- but Madison said one of her biggest goals in life is to open an orphanage.Madison also expects her future husband to be the religious leader of her future children, and Peter admitted to the bachelorette he's more "spiritual" than religious and his faith could definitely be stronger."At the end of the day, it is what it is and it all happened the way that it was supposed to," Peter told Page Six."I've got nothing but great things to say about her," he said. "She's always carried herself in the best way possible. I'm excited to see all her success that she's accomplished."Now that Peter is single, he has high hopes about meeting a woman outside of Bachelor Nation."I really am more of a private person. I know a lot of people don't believe that but I really am," he said."I look forward to possibly dating someone that's not in the public eye. To me, there's something thatas just very attractive about that and just keeping things a little bit closer to the chest."But if looking for love doesn't work out the organic way, Peter revealed he's open to appearing on a future edition of Bachelor in Paradise."That's obviously the one avenue I haven't gone down, but it's the one that I think could work better for me than ette or ," Peter explained.Due to a work conflict, Peter was unable to participate in Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season this past summer -- but he did consider it."Just being able to focus on one person is how I really kind of like vibe with someone and connect," Peter noted. "Having so many people around and having so many women to navigate through, it can be distracting. So I like the thought of how Paradise is run."Madison, on the other hand, told Page Six that it "would take a whole lot of Godly men " for her to consider being a part of franchise again.As far as her relationship with Peter goes, Madison told Us Weekly in October that she and Peter no longer talk and they've had no direct contact."I think he's an incredible guy and everyone goes off of what they see on an edit [or] on a TV screen," she explained, "but people have to remember that every single one of us are humans and things can be depicted a certain way, but we have real feelings. We have real emotions and a real life."Madison opened up in a YouTube video back in late April how she was single and living in Dallas at the time following a breakup. After dating Peter, Madison entered a relationship with another man that lasted about eight months.Following Peter and Madison's romance, Peter quickly moved on with his fifth-place finisher Kelley Flanagan Peter quarantined in Chicago with Kelley beginning in March 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the pair went on to date for about a year before officially calling it quits in February 2021.Madison told Kaitlyn Bristowe on her "Off the Vine" podcast in April 2020 that Peter visited Kelley after he called and texted Madison allegedly asking "to get back together."Peter later suggested there was more to the story and Madison had left some key details out.Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Production is being shut down on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever while its star, Letitia Wright, recovers from an injury sustained over the summer.

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The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.com reported Friday that the cast and crew will go on break Thanksgiving week and resume filming in early 2022.

Wright was hurt in August while shooting a scene on a stunt rig in Boston. The nature of her injuries has not been disclosed.

Director Ryan Coogler has been shooting around Wright's absence in Atlanta while she recuperates in London.

"Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of Black Panther 2 and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022," a representative for Wright said in a statement. "Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers."

The delay is not expected to impact the movie's Nov. 11, 2022, release date.

No plot details have been disclosed.

Wright plays Shuri, a scientist and the younger sister of King T'Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman.

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The 27-year-old actress played the character in The Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Lovinas Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.
The Athens Symphony Orchestra, whose last full concert was in fall 2019, returns to the stage at the Classic Center Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 7. (Courtesy/Susan Dinwiddie)
In celebration of Pride Month and the sixth anniversary of the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, a micro-wedding event will be held at the Wall & Broad event venue on June 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Greenville, NC (27833)

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A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 68F. Winds light and variable..

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Greenville, NC (27833)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 69F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable.
The White House has extended a holiday gift of sorts to retail chains and package delivery companies  a post-New Years Day deadline to comply with mandatory employee vaccines and testing for COVID-19.

Many of those companies are struggling to fill open jobs amid advance Black Friday shopping, and an earlier deadline would have given them added headaches ahead of the December rush.

On Thursday, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration set a Jan. 4 deadline for compliance with a mandate from President Joe Biden that millions of employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, or get tested weekly for the virus and wear as mask while indoors at work.

Biden announced the mandate in September with no implementation date. The White House executive order has drawn several court challenges since, with municipalities and large employers nationally reporting employees having quit  some in key roles  rather than get vaccinated.

In a press briefing, senior officials in the Biden administration did not say whether the holiday hiring season factored into the decision to set a January deadline, when retailers and freight carriers let go many of their seasonal workers.

The rule applies to employers with 100 or more workers and to federal contractors, with exemptions allowed under civil rights laws for workers on medical or religious grounds. The vaccine mandate is universal for all health clinics regardless of size if they bill Medicare or Medicaid for services, with no testing option as an alternative.

The vaccine and testing requirements do not apply to employees who work exclusively from home or outdoors. OSHA has posted details on the Emergency Temporary Standard at www.osha.gov.

Significant uncertainty remains for companies that have vaccine mandates in place already or are moving ahead with an OSHA deadline now in place, said David Lewis, CEO of the Norwalk-based workplace consultancy OperationsInc. OSHA confirmed it is studying the capacity of smaller employers with regard to vaccination policy.

It is a very interesting chess game and strategy session here, because with the volume of jobs that are available and the demand for workers, does that create a false sense of security for people who are unwilling to get vaccinated and feeling like they are going to find jobs elsewhere? Lewis said. Or is that an unrealistic expectation, because push is coming to shove?

For employees that choose the testing option, face masks are required indoors and in vehicles with more than one passenger. Employers are not required to pay for COVID-19 tests.

OSHA officials said Wednesday they will conduct a program of inspections of U.S. businesses, with a standard penalty of $13,653 for each instance of noncompliance. Penalties could be more severe if OSHA determines employers are willfully flouting the new rules.

Its been pretty clear that employers have the right to implement mandatory vaccination policies, said Daniel Schwartz, an employment law attorney who is a partner in the Hartford office of Shipman & Goodwin. What this OSHA [ruling] does is give employers an off-ramp to avoid that fight all together. They can say, Fine  you need to be vaccinated, but if you dont you just need to be tested. Were not going to pick the fight.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Connecticut has more than 4,000 companies with at least 100 employees, which combined employ about 1 million people  more than half the workforce. In the aggregate, those payrolls total $72 billion annually.

More than a third of Connecticut business owners and managers signaled opposition to the concept of mandatory vaccines for their workers, among those responding to a Connecticut Business & Industry Association survey.

But many other businesses large and small set their own vaccination mandates well in advance of the White House directive. In some instances, those vaccination policies extend to staff of vendors they employ, Lewis, of OperationsInc., noted.

Lewis said it would not surprise him if the Jan. 4 deadline were pushed back if the new OSHA rules trigger a new stampede of legal challenges. And he noted that Merck and Pfizer have announced progress on pills that promise to greatly decrease the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, with the United Kingdom approving Mercks drug this week.

But if nothing else, Lewis said,the White House proclamations have been effective in getting larger numbers of people to get vaccinated who might otherwise have skipped doing so.

What its doing is exactly what the administration hoped it would do, he said, which is  pun intended here  move the needle.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
STAMFORD  Puerto Vallarta, which operates several Mexican restaurants in the state, announced Friday that it planned to open an establishment early next spring in the restaurant plaza at Stamford Town Center.

The new restaurant at 230 Tresser Blvd., will mark the eighth and largest Puerto Vallarta in the state, complementing locations in Avon, Danbury, Fairfield, Middletown, Newington, Orange and Southington.

I am very happy to be bringing traditional Mexican food and an accurate taste of Mexican culture to this new location in Stamford, Puerto Vallarta founder and owner Esaul Rodriguez said in a statement.

Rodriguez established Puerto Vallarta 20 years ago in Hartford County. Since then, he has added a new restaurant in Connecticut every few years. He is originally from Union de Tula, Mexico, about 130 miles southeast of Puerto Vallarta, a city on Mexicos Pacific coast.

With the large number of businesses in the area, we expect our lunch and happy-hour offerings to be very popular, Rodriguez said. In the evenings, we anticipate the nearby residential community coming in and making Puerto Vallarta a regular dining destination.

Puerto Vallarta will take 7,535 square feet in a space that has stood vacant for the past three years. A Rascal Flatts restaurant operated in that space from 2017 to 2018.

Weve been watching this restaurant group grow throughout Connecticut over the past several years, and we are extremely pleased to welcome them to the plaza, Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach said in a statement. Esaul and the entire Puerto Vallarta team are consummate professionals. Im confident their winning combination of great food and great drinks, paired with fast and friendly service, will ensure long-term success for them here at Stamford Town Center.

The mall has also confirmed another upcoming arrival in the restaurant plaza: Brazilian steakhouse Terra Gaucha, which will open in an approximately 8,200-square-foot space that has stood vacant since the August 2020 closing of a Cheesecake Factory.

Next to the former Cheesecake Factory space is a Plan B Burger Bar. It has not operated since March 2020, and it is listed as temporarily closed, on the Plan B website.

At this time, we do not believe Plan B will re-open, Stolzenbach told Hearst Connecticut Media. Weve had a good amount of interest in that space, though, so we are pursuing conversations with those prospective tenants.

At the same time, the mall is still looking to fill the vacancy created by the 2019 closing of a Kona Grill.

We have several interested parties for the remaining spaces on the plaza and expect to make another exciting announcement in the near future, Stolzenbach said.

The other tenants in the restaurant plaza are pizza franchise Pieology, which opened in 2017; Peter Chang Restaurant, which serves Chinese fare and arrived in 2018; and The Capital Grille, which opened in 2007, the same year as the plazas debut.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted the Biden administration's vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops President Joe Biden "from moving forward with his unlawful overreach.

"The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the constitution, said a statement from Landry, a Republican.

The U.S. Labor Department's top legal adviser, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, said the department is "confident in its legal authority to issue the emergency temporary standard on vaccination and testing.

OSHA has the authority "to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them," she said.

A spokesman for the Justice Department, Anthony Coley, said in a statement: The OSHA emergency temporary standard is a critical tool to keep Americas workplaces safe as we fight our way out of this pandemic. The Justice Department will vigorously defend this rule in court.

Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district  Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case  but Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.

This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in a such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me thats the heart of the entire issue, he said.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States.

The administration says it is confident that the requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules preempt state laws.

The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, said it was delaying the federal vaccine requirement because of potential grave statutory and constitutional issues raised by the plaintiffs. The government must provide an expedited reply to the motion for a permanent injunction Monday, followed by petitioners' reply on Tuesday.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and director of the World Health Organization's center on global health law, said it was troubling that a federal appeals court would stop or delay safety rules in a health crisis, saying no one has a right to go into a workplace unmasked, unvaxxed and untested.

Unelected judges that have no scientific experience shouldnt be second-guessing health and safety professionals at OSHA, he said.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP)  Paul Agbashi was 17 when he left his lifelong home in Nigeria to attend UW-Eau Claire.

In addition to the normal challenges of starting college, he was forced to adapt to an entirely new culture and to being part of a racial minority for the first time  routinely finding himself the lone Black student in his classes.

Considering his family was more than 6,000 miles away, he faced the hurdles without the possibility of a weekend reprieve at home, something so many other college students take for granted in times of stress.

I found out pretty quick that life in America is not like it is in the movies. I realized some people dont like you just because youre Black, Agbashi said. Being a Black kid in Eau Claire is anything but easy. We go through so much.

A new documentary created by recent UW-Eau Claire graduate Olu Famule seeks to give viewers a glimpse into the world of the small community of African students at UW-Eau Claire.

The film, which was scheduled to premier Saturday, is titled Ndani Eau Claire, which means inside Eau Claire in Swahili, the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported.

For Famule, 22, who spent the first 10 years of his life in Nigeria and came to Wisconsin after his father took a job teaching art history at UW-Superior, the goal of his first documentary was to illustrate the joys, sorrows and unique challenges confronting African students in Eau Claire in a way that could offer comfort to others in similar situations and greater understanding for Chippewa Valley residents who might never have contact with students of color.

I want to help people of Eau Claire be literate in other cultures, Famule said. It shows you a different perspective on a place youre really familiar with by highlighting a culture that maybe you normally wouldnt engage in.

Ndani Eau Claire tracks the daily lives of three African students at UW-Eau Claire in fall 2020: Agbashi, who was just getting used to life in the U.S.; Iman Dikko, a Nigerian who was nearing the end of her studies at UW-Eau Claire; and Bella Sackey, a Ghanian American whose family immigrated to the U.S. a decade ago.

The 47-minute documentary, supported by a grant from the Eau Claire Public Arts Council, follows the trio as they face the COVID-19 pandemic as well as obstacles associated with being Black at a predominantly white institution.

Things were very difficult that semester, Famule said. It was a moment that felt pivotal, and I wanted to add to the conversation. I wanted to archive that moment in time.

He characterized the documentarys overall message about being African in Eau Claire like this: Its scary and its tough and you have to adapt, but there are people in Eau Claire who provide support. Eventually, you will see the positive and grow and meet new people. Its bittersweet.

Agbashi agreed, saying he wouldnt do anything differently despite the difficulties he has endured in Eau Claire.

Still, he expressed frustration with the persistent cycle of racist incidents on campus.

Every semester there is always an issue with racism, we complain and management says they will do something about it, said Agbashi, now 19. Then everything dies down and it happens again.

The issues make it difficult to know who to trust, often leading African students on campus to form a tight bond that shines through in parts of the documentary highlighting the African Student Association at UW-Eau Claire.

The best path to progress, Agbashi said, is for the university to prioritize hiring more qualified Black employees from cooks and custodians to counselors and professors.

If we have professors that look like us, that would make us feel more comfortable, he said. How do we feel comfortable when we dont feel represented?

Colleen Marchwick, director of UW-Eau Claires Center for International Education, said it can be a challenge for international students to show up on campus without an understanding of the complex nature of race in America.

Students from majority Black countries in Africa, for instance, might not understand why they face the stereotypes and microagressions that African Americans, unfortunately, have grown accustomed to and know how to respond to, Marchwick said, noting that the Center for International Education tries to address such uncomfortable issues during orientation sessions.

Ndani Eau Claire also explores youth-led protests against police brutality in Nigeria  traumatic events that had a major impact on the African students despite going mostly under the radar among their American classmates. The highlighted students show their support for the protests by participating in a demonstration with other Africans in Minneapolis.

Famule said many African students felt helpless and distracted from their studies as they watched social media reports about the governments violent response to the social unrest inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.

Everytime I opened Instagram or social media I saw people suffering and dying, Agbashi said. I felt like I should be there.

Meanwhile, life went on in Eau Claire, and Agbashi is pleased that Famule was able to capture it on video.

I loved it, Agbashi said of the documentary. I think he did a marvelous job with it.

Dang Yang, director of UW-Eau Claires Office of Multicultural Affairs, said he is excited about the release of Famules film.

To see it come to fruition is amazing, Yang said. What this documentary does is asks us as viewers to consider what it means to be an international student and to be Black and to form a new and nuanced picture of those two unique experiences.

Famule, who believes the arts can be a tool for creating a more equitable and empathetic world, said he hopes the film shows Chippewa Valley residents that the region still needs to strive to diversify the population, provide support for minorities and seek out the perspectives of people from all over the world.

Eau Claire has made great progress in becoming more inclusive, he said, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
TORRINGTON  A happy crowd of guests filled the ballroom of the Elks Hall on Litchfield Street Friday night, and they were all there to support the local food bank.

Friendly Hands held a Have a Seat at Our Table Chair-ity Auction to raise money for its operations and to keep its pantry filled. As the holiday season approaches, executive director Karen Thomas said more and more families are coming to the food pantrys door for help.

On Friday night, Thomas, in a black dress and pearls, said she was overwhelmed by the turnout. This is amazing, she said. Im just so happy.

When guests arrived, they were greeted by Thomas and members of the food bank staff, and were led to a display of 60 chairs atop long tables. Each one was accompanied by a plaque with the artists name and a short biography about their work. By the start of the event at 6 p.m., more than 100 people were walking up and down the aisles of tables, reading and discussing the various pieces. A bidding slip was provided under each one, with a minimum bid of $50 to start.

DJ Jacque Williams provided the music for the evening, which also included a cash bar and finger foods, as well as coffee, cookies and brownies. The dining room tables were full as people mingled, ate and chose their chairs for bidding.

As the crowd grew, guest emcee Taylor Kinzer, host of NBCs CT Live show, began calling out names for each round of winners.

For an additional $20, people could also take a chance on a lock box filled with cash by purchasing a key. At the end of the night, everyone who bought a key tried to unlock the box. The right key hadnt been purchased, so the funds were donated to the food bank.

The winners were called in three groups, to give people time to choose their special chair. Themes ranged from a pale blue mother-daughter set with a special book by the artist, about a child she adopted from Ethiopia; to a number of works of art dedicated to the Torrington Fire Department.

KidsPlay Childrens Museum had a whimsical chair whose seat was a growling mouth with sharp teeth. Others were adorned with tiny flowers or ribbons, or paid tribute to the food bank or a special pet.

Im still surprised so many people came out to support this, said the food banks office manager, Abby Sekulski. Its not over yet, and Im already looking forward to next year.

The chair auction plan began in the late summer, when Thomas and other food bank staff members began collecting old wooden chairs and put a call out to local artists to paint them and donated them for the auction. The response was immediate, Thomas said.

State Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, was there to see the chairs. Its fantastic, he said. The way artists can create, the things they can do  Im in awe.

State Rep. Michelle Cook attended with her husband, Chris Cook, perusing the display and greeting people in the ballroom.

By the end of the night, every chair went to a new home.

Thomas said food insecurity continues in the Northwest Corner, and that the food bank is busier than ever. Weve seen an uptick of clients, including people who stopped, and are coming back again because theyre having a hard time, she said. Its jut the way it is, unfortunately. The holidays are coming up, and I think people are nervous about it. Were going to see it right through.

To learn more, call 860-482-3338 or visit fhfb.org.
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HARTFORD  A man was sentenced to four years in prison after he and others sold fentanyl and other drugs in the Hartford area, federal prosecutors said Friday.

After his prison sentence, Luis Colon, 50, who is also known as Shoes or Zapato, will also serve five years of supervised release, according to the office of Leonard Boyle, the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
WOODBURY  When U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan in October, thousands of people fled the country, fearing the Taliban takeover. Families seeking asylum now are waiting to be accepted in other countries, including the United States  a process that often takes years.

But refugees and asylum-seekers began leaving war-torn countries including Afghanistan and Syria long before that. New Start Ministry, a group of citizens based in Woodbury, is trying to help some of them start new lives in Connecticut.

New Starts third refugee family is expected in Connecticut within days, and will move into an apartment in Waterbury. The organization already has placed two other families in Waterbury: one from Syria, the other from Afghanistan.

Our family has not yet arrived, but it could be any day, said New Start Ministry co-leader Susan Suhr. She said she had spoken with a representative from New Havens Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, who told her the family was waiting to be assigned a flight. Theyre in the States, she said. Thats what Ive been told.

The latest family being sponsored by New Start is a couple with two young children.

New Start Ministry is a mission of St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Woodbury, the fiduciary partner, Suhr said.

We welcomed our first family in January 2017, she said. They were refugees that fled Syria, who are Kurdish. Theyre well-established here now. In July 2019, we welcomed a second family, from Afghanistan, and they are also doing well. These are the families weve resettled in Waterbury.

For us here in the middle of the state, we found that Waterbury is one of the better locations for public transportation, food markets. ... Its turned out to be a good location for these families, she said. Its in a very mixed neighborhood, with people of different backgrounds. Its a real American melting pot.

Reaching out for help

The third family is receiving the same assistance from New Start. To find the furniture and accessories, everything from pots and pans to sheets and blankets, beds and appliances, New Start puts together a list and publicizes it on its website, and donors can sign up with the things they want to give. The organization co-signs the apartment lease and sometimes helps with rent and utilities.

Its just amazing how generous people are, Suhr said. When we ask for help, its almost immediate. It happens very quickly.

Moving the donated furniture and accessories is done with ease, thanks to Jim Anctil, owner of Maries Movers in Southbury. Jim and his wife donated a lot of time and labor and furniture to us, as well as others involved with IRIS who are resettling people, Suhr said.

From the time we started, people have been amazingly generous. When they hear about refugees, and when they hear what a family goes through to be in this country, they just want to help any way they can, she said.

A long wait

According to New Start, a family or individuals journey begins once they are able to leave their own country and apply for asylum. They then apply to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Council, asking to officially be certified as refugees. Once they apply, it can take one or two years to be approved, after the agencies do background checks and other vetting.

Once they are approved by the commissioner, they apply to the U.S. Department of State to come to the United States. Our first two families were brought in by the State Department, Suhr said. After being certified by the U.S., more vetting is done, and it can take another 18 to 24 months.

Some families have waited nearly five years for a new home, she said, and said what people go through is heartbreaking. Ive heard some of their stories, and some I can tell, some I cannot, she said. One man told me how he was held by a human trafficker, as he was trying to get out of Iran. The trafficker was going to kill him so his body parts could be sold.

One day, the trafficker changed his mind, she said. He said he had a dream, that his mother told him not to kill this man, who he paid money to get out of Iran. But what almost happened to him  that happens more often than we can ever imagine.

In September, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the state was welcoming 300 refugees from Afghanistan, according to a report from Fox61. At that time, the U.S. expected to welcome up to 80,000 Afghan evacuees in the coming months and Connecticut is ramping up to resettle more than 1,000 of these individuals, according to the report.

What can we do?

New Start Ministry began in 2015 when Suhr and a small group of St. Pauls members were talking, wondering what they could do beyond the church to help others.

We were at a loss  what can a small church do? Suhr said. I was introduced to what IRIS was doing and went to a presentation on their work with friends, and one thing led to another. I said, Why dont we start a community co-sponsor group, in cooperation with IRIS?

The church members were skeptical because their group was so small. But they reached out to other clergy in the Wooodbury-Southbury area, and Suhr began visiting other churches, speaking about what was needed. They were in awe of the opportunity do humanitarian work, she said. They just started joining. We wound up with a very interesting group of people who didnt know each other, and now we are hand in glove.

We have people from Hamden, Southington, Bristol, Litchfield, Thomaston and Naugatuck, as well as Woodbury and Southbury. When people hear what were doing, they say, Yes, I will help. It just grew organically, Suhr said.

New Start Ministry members believe they are doing Gods work.

As Ive gotten on in life, I did take some time to figure out why I was placed on this earth, and I came to realize we were all placed here to help each other get through life, Suhr said. Thats what were doing. Were helping refugees and evacuees feel self-confident again, in charge of their own lives, because they havent had that. We are giving them hope, for their children and themselves. Its been great watching them. Theyre so thrilled that they have opportunities. This is all Gods work.

New Start has agnostic members, too. We stay away from talking about religion and politics, Suhr said. We focus on what holds us together, as human beings.

How to help

Right now, the group is looking for financial donations and volunteers to drive the new families, until they get on their feet. Once the family arrives here there are expenses, Suhr said. We also are looking for translators. People can keep an eye on our website and our Facebook page for appeals.

New Start is also holding a virtual 10K fundraiser, Run, Walk or Nap, to raise $10,000 by Dec. 10.

We hope community members will rally, not just behind NSM, but the many other community co-sponsorship groups working with IRIS to resettle refugees, Suhr said.

To learn more, visit www.newstartministryct.org or www.facebook.com/groups/NewStartCT.
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Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra is quite excited to be part of filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya's forthcoming film, Uunchai. The actor will be sharing the big screen an ensemble of legendary actors- Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, and Sarika.

Parineeti recently took to her verified Twitter handle and dropped a pair of stunning pictures of herself. The actor can be seen posing in front of a mesmerizing snow backdrop. The actor said that 'behind her is a snowstorm,' and 'ahead of her is the film shoot.'

Parineeti Chopra drops mesmerizing pics from Uunchai shoot location

For me if there is a God, its nature .. Snowstorm behind me, film shoot ahead of me .. pic.twitter.com/TQOKeMgqA1  Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) November 6, 2021

The Hasee Toh Phasee actor is currently gearing up for her forthcoming highly-anticipated film, Uunchai. The film went on floors in Nepal and is currently being shot in Kargil. Amid her busy shooting schedules, Parineeti Chopra has managed to take time for herself and capture stunning pictures. In the pictures, she can be seen donning a white crop top which she paired with black pants. The actor added a bright pink jacket and a pair of dark shades to complete her look.

For the caption, she wrote, "For me, if there is a God, its nature .. Snowstorm behind me, film shoot ahead of me..." As soon as the pictures were up on the internet, many fans and followers flooded the comments section with lovely messages. Several of them dropped red hearts and fire emoticons.

Parineeti is an avid social media user as she frequently treats her fans with snaps from her personal as well as professional life. Earlier, the actor dropped a pair of pictures where she can be seen having an engaging conversation with the filmmaker Sooraj Barjatiya. She captioned the post, "Thrilled and honoured to be a part of the iconic cinematic universe of Sooraj Barjatya sir. Sooraj sir has defined and is the torchbearer of Indias family entertainers and I cant wait to work under his tutelage; alongside this stellar and incredible cast (sic)."

Thrilled and honoured to be a part of the iconic cinematic universe of Sooraj Barjatya sir 

Sooraj sir has defined, and is the torchbearer of Indias family entertainers and I cant wait to work under his tutelage; alongside this stellar and incredible cast. pic.twitter.com/DhKaZmpRXj  Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) October 11, 2021

With Unchhai, filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya is all set to collaborate with Amitabh Bachchan for the very first time. The film will reportedly be based on the theme of friendship and has been titled Uunchai. According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, Parineeti will be playing the role of a Nepali tourist guide in the film.

Image: Twitter/@parineetichopra
Eight people died and many were injured amid chaotic scenes at the Astroworld Festival in Texas on Friday. The incident took place when rapper Travis Scott was performing. The news was confirmed by the fire authorities.

As per reports, the accident took place when a crowd rushed towards the front of the stage. Due to the compression of the crowd, some fell unconscious and many were in cardiac arrest. Some people have been hospitalised following the incident.

8 dead at Astroworld Festival during Travis Scott's performance

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena, as per a report on AP, told a news conference that the compression near the front of the stage led to panic, causing the tragedy. The panic is said to have started around 9:15 PM when the gathering near the stage happened.

He then said that a mass casualty incident took place at 9:38 PM. Pena said that no cause of death about the deceased was determined yet, but it will be known after a medical examination.

The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries, the fire chief said. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.

He added that 17 people were taken to the hospital in an ambulance, out of which 11 were in cardiac arrest.

As per reports, 300 persons were given medical treatment at a medical facility at the venue. Some were seen performing CPR on the unconscious people at the venue, in the videos that surfaced on social media.

The concert was stopped soon after the tragedy. Around 50,000 people were a part of the sold-out concert held at the NRG Park, the fire chief said.

As news of the crowd rush emerged, as per a report on New York Post, emergency responders were called in. Among the hospitalised was a 10-year-old. The police were also working towards finding out the identities of the deceased, and even those who had loved ones, who attended the concert, missing were asked to go to the Wyndham Hotel.

Police Chief @TroyFinner, @FireChiefofHFD Pena and Harris County Judge @LinaHidalgoTX media briefing on mass casualty incident at NRG Park can be viewed at https://t.co/EP5O71JumG#hounews https://t.co/4Cl2dgNVWK  Houston Police (@houstonpolice) November 6, 2021

Organizers of the festival, LiveNation, will provide the footage from the event to the investigators and Travis Scott was co-operating with the law-enforcement, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.

The fest was earlier planned as a two-day event, but the show on Saturday has been called off
Kerala gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh was released from jail on Saturday, after spending nearly 16 months behind bars. This comes after the Kerala High Court had granted her bail on November 2 in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The court granted her bail on a Rs 25 lakh bail bond and two solvent sureties. Suresh was behind bars since 12 July 2020 when she was nabbed by the NIA from Bengaluru. Apart from her, the Kerala High Court had also granted bail to seven others involved in the case.

Kerala | The prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh released from jail today



Kerala High Court granted her bail on Nov 2 in the case registered by NIA under UAPA. Bail granted to her on a Rs 25 Lakhs bail bond and 2 solvent sureties pic.twitter.com/0OMBVtPuiV  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2021

In addition, the Kerala High Court had also quashed Suresh's detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) on October 8. Suresh was lodged at the Women's Prison and Correctional Home, Attakulangara.

Kerala Gold Smuggling Case

The case surfaced on July 5 last year after Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport. The gold was seized from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Following this, Sarith PS, who worked at the UAE Consulate, was apprehended.

In addition, Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited and M Sivasankar, the ex-Principal Secretary to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan were also arrested. In January 2020, the NIA filed a charge sheet before the Special Court in connection with the Kerala gold smuggling case.

The authorities had invoked various sections of the UAPA and had claimed that the conspiracy started in June 2019. The agency also alleged that the accused raised funds and smuggled 167 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through the import cargo addressed to diplomats at the Consulate General of UAE in Thiruvananthapuram. Furthermore, it added that the main accused had planned to smuggle more gold from countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Holding them responsible for threatening the "economic security of India", the agency revealed that the probe against absconding persons and others who facilitated the crime was underway.

(With inputs from ANI)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had dispatched a high-level team to Canada to probe secessionist organisations, including Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) voicing support for the creation of Khalistan. The NIA is also set to probe Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Zindabad Force, and Khalistan Tiger Force. In addition, the NIA will also probe funding to these organizations from countries like Canada, the UK, the USA, Australia, France and Germany.

What is Sikhs for Justice?

The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a secessionist organisation supporting the creation of Khalistan. The group is led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Paramjit Singh, out of which Paramjit has been designated as terrorist by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Gurpatwant and Hardeep are separatists. An NIA press release from last year mentions that it had identified immovable properties belonging to terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in District Amritsar, Punjab and Hardeep Singh Nijjar in District Jalandhar, Punjab.

"Based on the request of NIA, the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 51-A of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, has ordered attachment of these properties," the NIA press release had stated

'SFJ was involved in 2018 Amritsar attack'

The group was also allegedly involved in the 2018 hand grenade attack in Amritsar where three people were killed. The group's name surfaced during the investigation of the attack that took place at the Nirankari Bhawan. In addition, the group's name also cropped up in the investigation where it was found out that a youth from Patiala had been tasked with carrying out an attack in a crowded place in Patiala ahead of Diwali. The group's leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was also declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in 2018 by a Batala court in a case of sedition registered against him.

'SFJ member involved in murder'

According to reports, SFJ member Paramjit Singh aka Pamma is also involved in the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat head Rulda Singh in Patiala in July 2009. He was also accused of conspiring with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorists like Babbar Khalsas Wadhawa Singh Babbar. After the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat head Rulda Singh in Patiala, a red corner notice was issued against Paramjit Singh. The SFJ member was arrested in Portugal while he was on a visit from the UK. However, he had managed to secure his release as the British authorities had already granted asylum to him.

'Pulwama attack was not an act of terrorism'

The SFJ has said that the Pulwama terrorist attack was not an act of terrorism. According to a dossier prepared by the Punjab police, the SFJ had asserted that the Pulwama attack 'cannot be termed as an act of terrorism'. In addition, it has also been involved in extending legal help to stall extradition of fugitives wanted by India including UK resident Paramjit Singh Pamma from Portugal and Nabha jailbreak mastermind Ramanjit Singh Romi from Hong Kong.

SFJ seeks support from ISI, China

The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) documents also reveal that the ISI had earmarked a budget 'operation express' to ensure a Sikh Referendum 2020. In addition, the group has also been accused of reaching out to China for support after the Galwan Valley clashes that took place last year. The SFJ had apparently written to China seeking 'help against India'. In a letter addressed to Chinese premier Xi Jinping on June 17, 2020 the radical pro-Khalistani outfit 'condemned the Modi government's violence against China' and 'emphatised with the people of China as their land & resources were under Indian occupation'. SFJ's letter to China was penned in the aftermath of the violent face-off between the Indian Army and the PLA soldiers at Galwan Valley on June 15. The letter written by SFJ to China exposes the radical pro-Khalistani outfit's repeated attempts to set a false narrative against India.
Punjab Police on Saturday said that it will start night domination operations to stop cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition. Punjab DGP Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota has ordered officials to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against drugs, illegal mining and corrupt practices.

During the crime review meeting in Jalandhar, Sahota ordered border Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) to divide their district into sectors and depute a Gazetted Officer for every sector, who will be personally out on the night domination.

"Border district SSPs to start Night Domination Operations along the Indo-Pak international border from 9 pm to 4 am," the statement said. The border districts include Pathankot, Batala, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Amritsar Rural, Fazilka and Ferozepur.

Taking cognisance of another tiffin bomb recovered recently, Punjab DGP directed border officials to keep a strict vigil on drones being used by Pakistan for smuggling drugs, arms and ammunition, and explosives. He also directed district chiefs to install CCTV cameras at all police stations and religious places.

Punjab Police recovers tiffin box hidden in fields near Indo-Pakistan border

The Punjab Police on Wednesday recovered an explosive-filled Tiffin box or in an agricultural field in Ferozepur district close to the Indo-Pakistan border. This came following the interrogation of three people arrested in relation to the Jalalabad blast case.

On Monday, Ludhiana Rural police had arrested two people - Jaswant Singh alias Shinda Baba and Balwant Singh- for allegedly providing help to Ranjeet Singh alias Gora, an accused in the Jalalabad blast case. Ranjeet Singh was also arrested.

The police had recovered one tiffin bomb, two pen drives and Rs 1.15 crore from the three accused earlier. During the probe, it was revealed that the accused were in possession of another tiffin bomb that they had hidden in an agricultural field.

"Following revelations of the accused persons, a joint search operation was carried out by teams of Counter Intelligence (of Punjab Police), Ferozepur and Ludhiana and CIA (Crime Investigation Agency) Jagraon at village Ali Ke in Ferozepur on Wednesday and the tiffin bomb was recovered," the DGP said.

Image: Republic World
On June 17, 2013, torrential rains of unprecedented magnitude struck Uttarakhand. Hours later, the banks of the Chorabari lake in Kedarnath collapsed due to the cloudburst, sending major flash floods rolling. Carrying huge amounts of debris and boulders, the Mandakini river overflowed into the city, taking along with it everything that stood in its path from infrastructure to agricultural lands, to human and animal lives. The Kedarnath temple, however, withstood the fury of the floods. The ancient shrine and all its idols survived the devastating floods although its complex and surrounding areas were completely destroyed.

Cut to November 5, 2021, when visuals of PM inaugurating Adi Shankaracharya's statue and samadhi at Sri Kedarnath Ji came to the fore. Today, nearly 8 years later, the temple stands strong, its complex completely transformed. While addressing the event on Friday, PM Modi shared how the redevelopment of Kedarnath was so personal to him and how he completed the promise that he made during his 2017 speech- a promise that he had also made to himself.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the statue of Shri Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/7yX0Ft7fOO  ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2021

2013: What happened?

The journey of Kedarnath from devastation to glory needs to be narrated right from 2013. In the aftermath of the floods, PM Modi who was the Gujarat CM then, visited Uttarakhand on June 22-23, 2013. Here, he met CM Vijay Bahuguna, then Congress leader in Dehradun where he offered his assistance to help rebuild the Kedarnath temple.

"We have to transform the Kedarnath complex in a technological manner. Gujarat is ready to do so. With the guidance of the Archaeological Department, we will offer his assistance to help rebuild Sri Kedarnath ji," PM Modi told reporters in 2013 when heartbreaking visuals of the floods began rolling in.

When he landed in Doon early morning, he was not given permission to do an aerial survey of Kedarnath Ji, his chopper was sent back from Joshimath. Interestingly, hours after his offer, a political controversy erupted when Modi's help was completely rejected by Congress leader & CM Bahuguna.

"He (Modi) made me two offers, he said he wants to help in the construction of the temple. I told him it's a Char Dham, It's the pride of Uttarakhand. I will rebuild the temple. Second, he said he will send choppers, I told him, I have many choppers waiting since they can't fly because of the weather. We'll ask for them if we need them," the Congress CM said in the midst of the political storm.

2017: The beginning of change

Coming to May 3, 2017, PM's first big visit to Kedarnath after a BJP government was formed in the Himalayan state. Hitting out at previous regimes, PM Modi announced plans to redevelop Kedarpuri as per the new master plan.

He said, "I had expressed my wish to carry out reconstruction work at Kedarnath (in 2013). They (UPA government) viewed the development with a kind of alarm as they thought the Gujarat chief minister will now reach Kedarnath and mounted pressure on the then state government not to agree to my request. I went back disappointed." Interestingly, by then, Vijay Bahuguna Joshi had left the Congress and joined the BJP.

Facilities restored, rise in pilgrims

Over the next few years, PM Modi worked towards making this promise a reality. He reviewed the progress of the ambitious project every few months in hour-long meetings. According to Alok Bhatt, CA And Former Economic Advisor to Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Rawat, PM Modi discussed the technical problems in the region. In one meeting, he discussed the probable obstacle of frosting at AdiShankara Samadhi and possible solutions.

Alok Bhatt told Republic TV, "When PM visited Kedarnath in 2017, he announced that he will rebuild it. Work was happening, but during Congress regimes, it was happening at a slow pace. They kept delaying things. The real work started only after BJP came to power in the state. After his redevelopment master plan, PM would personally monitor the progress of the project through his meetings at regular intervals."

Uttarakhand: Security wall being built after 2013 Uttarakhand flood in Kedarnath, about to be completed pic.twitter.com/ZvHtgNqcC2  ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2017

Today, the corridor to the ancient shrine has been cleared, there is streamlining of facilities around Kedarnath Ji. According to devotees who visit the shrine, almost all facilities have been restored. In fact, the numbers also speak for themselves. As per the data, pilgrims who visited Kedarnath saw a whopping rise from 40,922 to 7.31 lakh. Just between 2017-18, the numbers went up from 4.71 lakh pilgrims to 7.31 lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditates at a holy cave near Kedarnath Shrine in Uttarakhand. pic.twitter.com/KbiDTqtwwE  ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2019

Moreover, after PM Modi's visit to the shrine in May 2019 and his meditation at the cave, the Kedarnath temple recorded its highest footfall as 7.35 lakh persons visited the temple in the first 45 days. These numbers did face a setback between 2020-21 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the footfall is expected to return to normal as the pandemic phases out.

Uttarakhand | Devotees visiting Kedarnath shrine say major re-development works undertaken at Kedarnath after 2013 floods



Almost all facilities are available for devotees here. Accommodation facilities should be increased, says a devotee. pic.twitter.com/blqIeByfr2  ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2021

Uttarakhand: Kedarnath Temple decorated with 11 quintals of flowers ahead of the opening of its portals tomorrow pic.twitter.com/UQzsLVD8LK  ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2021

While speaking at the inauguration on Friday, PM Modi shared how he had felt when he saw the devastation in 2013 and what a voice inside him had said. "I was not able to stop myself, I came running( in 2013). With my own eyes, I saw the destruction, the pain. The people who would come here would think, will this Kedar Dham be able to stand up again? A voice inside me told me, that yes this will stand up once again, in all its splendour, beauty, and grace," PM Modi said.
The microblogging site Twitter stated on Saturday that it has temporarily banned the 'Trends' feature in Ethiopia to ensure that the site should not be used to incite violence in the country. According to a tweet by Twitter Safety, they are keeping an eye on the situation in Ethiopia and are concentrating their efforts on ensuring security.

It further stated that inciting violence or degrading people is against Twitter's rules. In the following tweet, the company announced that they have temporarily disabled the 'Trends' feature in Ethiopia due to an imminent fear of bodily harm. They also expect that this approach, in addition to ongoing measures to prevent platform manipulation, will limit the risks of coordination that could instigate violence or injury.

Were monitoring the situation in Ethiopia and are focused on protecting the safety of the conversation on Twitter. Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules.



If you see something violating our hateful conduct policy, report it here: https://t.co/qYWH8kQ5Nc  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) November 6, 2021

Given the imminent threat of physical harm, weve also temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia. Alongside continued efforts to disrupt platform manipulation, we hope this measure will reduce the risks of coordination that could incite violence or cause harm.  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) November 6, 2021

'Northern Ethiopia has been consumed by internal conflict'

Since October last year, when the central government accused the Popular Front of the Liberation of Tigray (PNLF) of attacking a military facility and launched a counter-offensive in Tigray, northern Ethiopia has been consumed by internal conflict. Eritrea, a neighbouring country, backed Ethiopian authorities, though it announced in the spring of 2021 that its forces were leaving Tigray.

After PNLF threatened to march on Addis Ababa, the US embassy in the capital city of Ethiopia, issued a statement on its website advising all US nationals to leave the country as soon as possible. The statement said that in Ethiopia, the security situation is always changing and citizens of the United States are advised to evacuate as soon as possible.

UN expresses concern

The UN Security Council, on the other hand, expressed their concern about the escalating military battles between Addis Ababa and the PNLF on Friday, calling on the warring parties to seek a lasting ceasefire and terminate hostilities immediately, according to Al Jazeera. In the year-long struggle between the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigrayan forces, more than 2.5 million civilians have been displaced, and thousands have been killed.

Stressing that the military offensive has rendered at least seven million people in the regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the UNSC on November 5 noted the impact of the conflict on the civilian population in Ethiopia, as well as the stability of the country and the wider region, according to a statement read by Mexicos UN Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez, the current council president.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: Unsplash/ AP
United Nations Security Council on Friday expressed deep concern about the intensifying military clashes between Addis Ababa and the Tigray People's Liberation Front as it asked the warring sides to negotiate a lasting ceasefire and immediately end hostilities. More than 2.5 million civilians have been displaced, and thousands have been killed in the year-long conflict between the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigrayan forces.

Stressing that the military offensive has rendered at least 7 million people in the regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the UNSC on Nov. 5 noted the impact of the conflict on the civilian population in Ethiopia, as well as the stability of the country and the wider region, according to a statement read by Mexicos UN Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez, the current council president. The latter highlighted the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia, according to the UNSC release on Friday.

The members of the Security Council called for refraining from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness, and respect of international humanitarian law, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the re-establishment of public services, and further urged the scaling up of humanitarian assistance, the UN Security Council stated in an official press statement, Friday.

UNSC reiterates support for African Union's mediatory role

UN Security Council urged for the creation of conditions to initiate an inclusive Ethiopian national dialogue to resolve the crisis and create the foundation for peace and stability throughout the country. Furthermore, the council reiterated its unwavering support for the role of regional organizations, namely the African Union, in resolving the ongoing conflict and sustaining regional peace and security. AU now faces mounting pressure to ramp up the efforts to end the worsening conflict.

Today the Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia, said Irelands UN Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason in a press statement approved by the 15 council members, as cited by Associated Press. For the first time, the Council clearly calls for a cessation of hostilities. We believe this should happen immediately, and that all civilians must be protected.

In this regard, the UNSC took note of the statement made earlier by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on the escalating conflict in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia as of November 3. AU, which has its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, has a prominent role in peace negotiations. UNSC expressed support for the African Union High Representative for the Horn of African Region, retired general and former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who has assumed a mediation role in the Tigray-Ethiopia war as brickbats were hurtled on both sides over the last year.

Just last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with AU High Representative for the Horn of Africas Obasanjo to stress the "urgency" of the crisis in Ethiopias Tigray region as he pushed for a diplomatic focus on behalf of Joe Biden administration.

Notably, TPLFs spokesperson Getachew Reda had denounced Obasanjos appointment, saying it would be 'naive to expect this mission to work' because of the AU's inherent bias towards Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The northern group of Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region had also meanwhile rejected the bloc's appointment of former Nigerian president accusing the AU peace mediator of partiality towards the Ethiopian government that had rendered negotiations ineffective in the region wracked by violence since November last year.

We are hard-pressed to know how people would reasonably expect a constructive role from an institution that has given partiality a very bad name. Solving a crisis at the very least requires acknowledging the existence, let alone the magnitude, of the problem, Getachew wrote on Twitter.

The members of the Security Council welcomed Olusegun Obasanjos strategy and efforts to achieve a ceasefire and a prompt and peaceful resolution of the conflict, as it strongly urged for cooperation with and support to the African Union High Representative. Additionally, the council reaffirmed its strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity, and unity of Ethiopia. The political tensions between Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmeds government and the Tigray leaders spiralled into a full-blown military confrontation last November 2020.

The war between rebel TPLF forces and Ethiopian soldiers led to the latter fleeing the Tigray capital in June. President Abiy declared a national state of emergency as he detained powers but the infighting between Tigray forces and Ethiopias government has been out of control over the last few months due to the months-long Ethiopian blockade on Tigray region.
In a major retaliation, China imposed a ban on three Taiwan officials from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau on Friday. Accusing Taiwan Premier, Su Tseng-chang, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun of 'inciting violence', Beijing sanctioned the leaders. The decision was announced by China's Taiwan Affairs spokesperson Zhu Fenglian adding that Beijing will sanction people a list of "stubborn secessionists" in accordance with the law, ANI reported quoting NHK world.

As per reports, the Taiwanese officials and their families and relatives will be prohibited from entering the mainland and two other countries. Additionally, the trio and sponsors and affiliates to them who are also on the said list will not be allowed to work on the mainland-based firms, NHK added. Companies and organisations associated with them will also be barred from making profits in China.

As per a report from Independent UK, Fenglian also added that the move was a clear "message" to Taiwan that "those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherhood and split the country, will never end well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history." She further stated that those trying to advocate for Taiwan's independence could also face criminal prosecutions and life imprisonment. The first-of-its-kind sanctions were slapped on the Taiwanese officials amid the escalating conflicts between Taiwan and China over Beijing's sovereign claims over the island nation.

Taiwan lambasts Beijing's move

Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council sharply reacted to the sanctions imposed on the officials calling them "threats" to the country's independence. "We do not accept intimidation and threats from an autocratic and authoritarian region," the Council stated, as per NHK World. Taiwan also warned China of taking countermeasures if Beijing "tried to destroy Taiwan's democracy and freedom."

Tensions between China and Taiwan

Tensions between China and Taiwan have gained momentum since October 1 after the former flew over 100 fighter jets into Taiwan's Air Defence zone. This was followed by the latter's dependence on the US for military support. Meanwhile, self-ruled Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly expressed willingness to remain independent against the Chinese goal of 'reunification.' On the other hand, US and China have remained geopolitical rivals for decades, and relations between them have further frayed due to Beijing's aggressive claims of sovereignty along the South China Sea fuelled by Chinese engagement in testing high-tech projectiles.

Image: AP
China's Communist government on Friday ordered the arrest of the former Deputy Minister of Public Security Sun Lijun on charges of corruption, a depraved lifestyle and bias, reported Xinhua on Friday. The former stalwart vice-minister of public security who was sent to Wuhan was arrested soon after Chinas Supreme Peoples Procuratorate on November 5 approved the arrest warrant of the former Chinese politician and police officer. Notably, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI) has been keeping a track of the police officer since April 2020 over his involvement in a corruption case. He was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) in September.

Sun quit his post during the fight for COVID pandemic

The media report also said Sun began being examined by the CCDI following the arrest of former Interpol President Meng Hongwei, who had once served as Beijing's Deputy Minister of Public Security. He was arrested on his return to the country in 2018. Subsequently, the former Interpol President was sentenced to 13 years in prison on corruption charges in January 2020. According to the earlier reports of the Chinese news agency, "The investigation found that on the frontline of fighting the COVID epidemic, Sun quit his post. He also owned classified materials without permission and was involved in gullible activities for a quite long time."

However, the authorities failed to answer what exactly Sun had done to draw such strong allegations from the authorities. "The probe revealed that Sun never stayed sincere to the partys ideals and faith, displayed extremely inflated political ambition and very poor political integrity, issued groundless objections of the partys plans, and spread political rumours," the earlier report said.

National Supervisory Commission got "concrete evidence" against Sun

The 52-year-old was once an assistant to Meng Jianzhu, former secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. He had also served as the head of the Department of the Ministry of Public Security of China. During his tenure, he was responsible for internal security and special zones in Hong Kong and Macao. According to Remo News, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate said the National Supervisory Commission, which oversees the corrupt behaviour of Chinese civil servants got "concrete evidence" that could prove his involvement in the corruption cases and transferring the case to the prosecutors.

Image: AP
Human Rights Watch (HRW), on Friday, asked China to immediately and unconditionally release activist Zhang Zhan, who was arrested early last year for reporting coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan-the epicentre of the global health crisis. Despite pleading not guilty, the 37-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison in December on charges vis-a-vis slandering of the incumbent Chinese Communist Party (CCP) administration. Since her detention, Zhan has held several hunger strikes, resulting in serious health deterioration.

Meanwhile, HRW said that Zhan was currently in grave health condition and required immediate medical care. Slamming the Xi Jinping administration, the rights group said that the Chinese government needed to be held to account for allowing yet another peaceful critic to fall gravely ill while unjustly imprisoned. It is pertinent to note that the British Embassy in Beijing had earlier demanded the same along with several other rights groups.

Zhang exposed China's ill strategies

Zhang covered the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in February 2020, exposing the Chinese authorities' strategies for controlling the virus' spread as well as the situation in local hospitals. Following this, she was arrested in May 2020 on charges of distributing false information on social media. Zhang allegedly commented on the COVID pandemic while giving interviews to international news organisations, according to the indictment document. Zhang has been on a hunger strike in protest of the unjust charges levelled against her owing to which her health has severely deteriorated, reported the RFA.

Zhang pleads not guilty in Court

In December last year, Zhang reached the court in a wheelchair for her trial and pleaded not guilty. In China's legal system, a guilty plea is usually a prerequisite for more lenient sentencing under the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On October 28, Zhang's mother had talked to her daughter on a video call and told the RFA that her health had deteriorated. "She can no longer walk alone, and her head wobbles as she speaks. If they don't release her on medical parole, she'll be in grave danger," Zhang's mother explained. The journalist has continued her hunger strike despite frantic pleas from her own family, according to Gansu-based rights activist Li Dawei as reported by RFA.

(Image: Twitter/@UK in China)

(With inputs from ANI)
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the banned terrorist organisation has refused to give up arms even as Imran Khan-led Pakistan government has reportedly initiated peace talks with it. The TTP has maintained that it would be 'too early' to lay down its arms. According to Afghan Taliban sources, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has asked the TTP to lay down its arms and surrender.

Even so, the TTP has placed it demands before the Pakistan government and has asked to release its members from the prison before the desired ceasefire. The TTP is negotiating with the Pakistan government, with its chief Mufti Noor Wali at the helm who is leading the negotiations. Moreover, sources reported that some factions of the banned terror group are in favour of holding talks with the Pakistan government while some have still resorted to a hardline approach.

Imran Khan Initiates Negotiation With TTP

Earlier in October, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had initiated negotiations and stated that he was 'willing to forgive' the terrorist group responsible for killing hundreds and thousands of Pakistans in several terrorist attacks across the country. Khan had revealed in an interview that his government was in talks with some factions of the banned TTP as Pakistan was hoping for stability amid a fast-evolving situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

"There are different groups which form the TTP and some of them want to talk to our government for peace. So, we are in talks with them. It's a reconciliation process," Khan had said during an interview with the TRT World.

Khan had said that he was expecting a deal to come out of the talks although uncertain. According to the Pakistan PM, he sees dialogue as the only solution and is willing to 'forgive' the TTP if an agreement is reached. The TTP aka the Pakistan Taliban is a far-right Islamist Pashtun-based terrorist group. Most Taliban groups in Pakistan blend under the umbrella organization of the TTP, which is a terrorist group that endangers the people of Pakistan and aims to take down the Pakistan government and military.

After Kabul's fall to the Taliban, the terrorist group released Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) prisoners from a jail situated in the Bagram airbase, the main base of the United States in Afghanistan. Following that, on September 5, a major blast was reported in Pakistan's Quetta, where at least three people died and several were injured. Later, Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed responsibility.

With ANI inputs
As Afghanistan continuous to face a serious food crisis, former Canadian minister and diplomat Chris Alexander raised serious concerns regarding the future of the country's citizens, further continuing his demand for sanctions against Pakistan. Accusing Islamabad of playing a part in the ongoing food crisis in Afghanistan, the former Canadian minister took to Twitter and wrote, " Afghan lives matter. Human dignity, basic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights, international law and the UN Charter matter", ending the post with the hashtag: "sanction Pakistan."

Afghans lives matter.



Human dignity, basic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights, international law & the UN Charter matter.#SanctionPakistan  Chris Alexander (@calxandr) November 5, 2021

Earlier on Friday, Alexander called out Pakistan for invading Afghanistan and causing a serious food emergency in the country. He wrote, "Pakistans invasion has left nearly 40 million Afghans facing hunger."

This is not the first time, Alexander demanded sanctions against Pakistan. Earlier, in the month of August, Alexander who was the first resident Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan and served from 2003-2009 called out Islamabad for invading Afghanistan and also played a key role behind the viral hashtag, '#SanctionPakistan' holding the country responsible for the Afghan crisis.

Afghans are facing a winter of famine & starvation.



They need our help.



Please stand up & speak out for action.#AfghanHungerCrisis #FreeAfghanistan #SanctionPakistan  Chris Alexander (@calxandr) November 6, 2021

Apart from that, Alexander also took to Twitter and wrote that the Taliban fighters are waiting at the Pakistan border to cross it. "Anyone still denying that Pakistan is engaged in an act of aggression against Afghanistan is complicit in proxy war & war crimes", he tweeted.

Food insecurity in Afghanistan at 'crisis level'

According to a recent situation report by the United Nations, concerns have been raised regarding the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as people continue to face food insecurity at crisis or emergency levels. Notably, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report was issued by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster of Afghanistan claiming that more than half the population of Afghanistan  a record 22.8 million people - will face acute food insecurity from November.

Earlier in October, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) informed that more than half of the population in Afghanistan were facing acute food insecurity, followed by millions of children suffering from acute malnutrition. Speaking on the same, executive director of the WFP, David Beasley said that Afghanistan is currently among the world's worst humanitarian crises and is on a countdown to catastrophe.

Apart from that, the WFP also warned about future threats in the winter season which could result in the isolation of Afghan civilians dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Notably, Afghanistan is heavily dependent on foreign aid from other countries and about 40% of the country's gross domestic product comes from foreign aid, according to the World Bank.

(Image: AP)
At least four bodies were recovered from the fifth Police District of Mazar-i-Sharif, including a civil society activist, Pajhwok Afghan News reported on Saturday. The media report said that the bodies were recovered from the capital of northern Balkh province.

According to Balkh Information Department Director Mawlavi Zabihullah Noorani, those whose bodies were recovered include two men and two women. One of the deceased was former civil society activist Farozan Safi, while three other bodies could not be identified. Noorani told Pajhwok Afghan News security personnel have arrested two persons in connection to the murder of these people.

Earlier, there were rumours that four civil society activists were killed on political bases but according to Noorani's initial investigation personal enmity was the reason behind the murder of four people, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. It is worth mentioning that the violence against Rights activists and protesters in Afghanistan has become a common occurrence after the Taliban's capture of the country. Reports of harassment and brutalities against women have started emerging from the country since the very first day of their takeover.

Activists facing serious threats from Taliban

Earlier in September, armed members of the Taliban group assaulted a female civil society activist and abducted five of her family members. According to Pajhwok Afghan News, the incident took place in the limits of the 15th police district of Afghanistan.

The media report claimed that the members of the extremist group equipped with heavy arms strenuously entered the house of Hope Foundation chief, Fahima Rahmati and started thrashing her. Later, Fatima took to Facebook and broadcasted live footage of her house.

Despite grave threats from the terror outfits, a number of women are holding protests in cities across the country, demanding to restore the rights they have been denied of. Earlier on September 12, Human Rights activist Habibullah Farzad was also thrashed brutally by the terrorist group. According to the local media reports, the activist was beaten for participating in a protest held by women in Kabul.

Afghans facing religious attacks

Apart from the killing of human rights activists, the country has also been facing serious threats from religious groups. The country has recently encountered a series of deadly bomb blasts in which more than 60 people lost their lives while praying at Imam Bargah-e-Fatima Mosque on October 15.

Earlier, a Shiite mosque was targeted by a massive explosion that severely injured over 83 people. The Islamic State (ISIS-K), which has been contesting the Taliban for power in Afghanistan, later claimed responsibility for the attack. In the aftermath of the attack, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemned the incident and highlighted the need to bring the assassins to justice.

Image: ANI
Nepals Charge daffaires Ram Prasad Subedi, on November 5, said that he is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Himalayan nation. Speaking to ANI, the top diplomat said that, earlier at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, both PM Modi and Nepali Premier Sher Bahadur Deuba invited each other to their countries. On Friday, Subedi asserted that he was confident that PM Modi will surely visit Nepal. Notably, his remarks came while speaking at Deusi Bhailo celebrations at the Nepal Embassy.

I am happy that the other day our PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and PM Modi met in Glasgow. They have invited each other. We are looking forward to welcoming PM Modi to Nepal. I am pretty sure that he will visit Nepal, Subedi said while stopping short of announcing a date for the same. The invitation has been exchanged so we look forward. Itll be a great honour for us to welcome him again. He has an affinity to Nepal and Nepali people, he further added.

During their first meeting on the sidelines of the COP26, Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba thanked PM Narendra Modi for providing COVID-19 vaccines in a timely manner to his nation. Addressing a special briefing on PM Modis Glasgow visit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla informed that Deuba also thanked PM Modi for assistance that India had provided Nepal in post-earthquake relief for the construction houses, schools and several cultural sites.

India's commitment to developing Nepal

It should be noted here that among others, India had committed Rs 500 crore in 2016 for the construction of 10 roads with a total length of 306 km in the Terai region in Nepal. The roads connect the Mahendra Rajmarg also called the East-West Highway to the Indian border, increasing the ease of connectivity between the people of the two countries. Both sides noted that 13 out of the total 14 packages have already been dedicated to the people of Nepal together by the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport of the Government of Nepal and the Ambassador of India to Nepal on March 31, 2021.

Image: ANI/PTI
Scientists have found strange patches in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, which is one of the driest places on Earth, with a very high atmospheric temperature. Researchers have observed that the patches of shining rocks found across the Chilean Atacama Desert may be about 12,000 years old, formed during intense heat from an explosion of a comet. The proceeding of the study was published in the journal Geology, which suggests that an ancient comet exploding in the Earths atmosphere may have burnt the sand into glassy rocks.

Previous research, which was conducted a decade ago, revealed patches of black and green glass along a 47-mile corridor. However, researchers surmised the mysterious glass as melted soil, caused by hardening the minerals after severe heat. When a professor of geological sciences at Brown University, Peter Schultz, visited the site in 2018, he did not agree with the observations of the previous researchers, and he told Insider, "These samples look like somebody was out there-some sort of cosmic God-simply folding over glasses to make some bread. It was one of those things that made my hair stand on end."

Around 12,000 years ago, something scorched a vast swath of Chiles #AtacamaDesert with heat so intense it turned the sandy soil into glass. Now, Brown researchers have come to a conclusion about what caused the inferno.



Read more: https://t.co/CYlrBdEu8y  Brown University (@BrownUniversity) November 2, 2021

Researchers find mysterious patches of glass scattered across Chilean desert

Researchers, including those from Brown University in the US, discovered that glassy rock found in the Chilean desert closely resembles the composition of material returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust mission, which found particles from a comet called Wild 2. The co-author of the study, Pete Schultz, said in a statement, "This is the first time we have clear evidence of glasses on Earth that were created by the thermal radiation and winds from a fireball exploding just above the surface. To have such a dramatic effect on such a large area, this was a truly massive explosion. Lots of us have seen bolide fireballs streaking across the sky, but those are tiny blips compared to this," Dr Schultz added.

In the latest study, which was published this week in the journal Geology, the scientists described the origin of glassy minerals as an exploding comet or comet-like object that fused the soil, leading to the formation of giant glass-like objects. It was estimated by the researchers that the explosion occurred approximately 11,500 to 12,300 years ago, during the time when hunter-gatherers inhabited the region and animals, or megafauna disappeared from South America. The research team is now trying to find out whether there's any correlation between the animals' disappearance and the explosion. "We have the evidence. We don't have the smoking gun," said Schultz. The researchers found that these patches of twisted and folded glass are across the Atacama Desert east of Pampa del Tamarugal, nearly 2 miles long and 0.6 miles wide. Based on the size of the patches, the team observed that the explosion was probably huge and capable of widespread destruction.

Image: Schultz et al., Geology, 2021
The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians was released from a New York hospital on Friday and was expected to fly home to Turkey on Sunday after the completion of a U.S. visit that was extended for a medical procedure.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople spent two nights in Mount Sinai Medical Center after having a stent installed to open up a clogged coronary artery.

Bartholomew, 81, had originally been scheduled to return home Wednesday at the end of a 12-day U.S. itinerary, his first visit to the country in several years.

He was previously hospitalized overnight in Washington on Oct. 24 soon after his arrival, when he reported feeling unwell, according to church officials. That episode prompted him to seek follow-up treatment in New York at the end of the trip.

On Thursday the physician who performed the procedure, Dr. George Dangas, said Bartholomew was recovering well. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said the patriarch expected to return to his base in Istanbul on Sunday.

Bartholomews trip included a visit with President Joe Biden, meetings with Orthodox and other faith groups and a ceremonial blessing at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine near the World Trade Center, which is replacing a church that was destroyed on 9/11.

As patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew is considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, which gives him prominence but not the power of a Catholic pope. He does oversee Greek Orthodox and some other jurisdictions, although large portions of the Eastern Orthodox world are self-governing under their own patriarchs.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
As tensions between China and Taiwan continue to escalate, the United States lawmakers on Friday, 5 November introduced a resolution supporting Lithuanias efforts to elevate ties with the island. As Beijing continues to claim the self-ruled democratic island as its own breakaway province, Focus Taiwan reported that two ranking American senators rolled out a resolution to back Lithuanias efforts to strengthen ties with Taipei in a way that offends the mainland.

Reportedly, the resolution was proposed by the US Republican Senator Jim Risch, who is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is the chair of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation. Risch was quoted as saying by the media outlet, On July 20, 2021, the government of Lithuania announced the opening of a Taiwan Representative Office in its capital city of Vilnius. Since that courageous decision, Lithuania has faced unacceptable economic retaliation from China.

This resolution sends a message that when our friends stand up to malign Chinese influence, the United States will support them. I applaud the Lithuanian government for refusing to allow its foreign policy to be dictated by outside powers, and I fully support all nations in strengthening relations with Taiwan Focus Taiwan quoted Risch as saying.

Lithuania gave nod to Taiwans representative office

Earlier, the Lithuanian government gave a nod to Taiwan for opening its own representative office. However, since China considers the self-ruled democratic island as its own, it criticised the nation-building separate diplomatic relations with Taiwan. While China recalled its ambassador to Lithuania and expelled the Baltic nations top representative to Beijing as the Baltic nation allowed self-governing Taiwan to open an office under its own name, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R Sherman spoke with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on 13 August.

As per the official statement by the US Department of State, Sherman and Landsbergis discussed China and elevating US-Lithuania relations. At the time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said in a statement, Despite numerous notes and warnings from the Chinese side, the Lithuanian government recently announced that it would allow the Taiwanese administration to open a representative office on behalf of Taiwan, which became a gross violation of the communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries.

(IMAGE: Unsplash/Representative)
Violations of the Law on Television and Broadcasting now carry hefty prison sentences.

Amendments made to Myanmars telecommunications law earlier this week are the latest in a series of moves by the countrys junta to suppress journalists and muzzle the media, experts and rights activists said Friday.

Nine months after the military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Monday amended the Law on Television and Broadcasting to include lengthy prison sentences for violators instead of merely fines. The head of the military has amended or added new provisions to 63 laws since taking control of the country.

The original law, enacted in 2015 to promote media development, states that regulations governing the use of the internet do not apply to television and radio broadcasts. Legal experts told RFAs Myanmar Service that the amended law omits this clause and adds the phrase use of any technology to include internet broadcasting. Additionally, violations are now punishable with sentences of up to five years in prison.

For months authorities have charged members of the press under the Defamation and Unlawful Association Acts for expressing views critical of the regime. They have also revoked the licenses of private media outlets deemed insufficiently supportive of the new government.

Veteran journalist Myint Kyaw said the amendments represent a further constriction of press freedoms under the junta.

This is a new threat to those media outlets posting content online, especially video and radio broadcasts, he said.

Nine months after the coup, security forces have killed 1,242 civilians and arrested at least 7,038, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners  mostly during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

The junta claims it unseated the National League for Democracy government because the party had engineered a landslide victory in Myanmars November 2020 election through widespread voter fraud. It has yet to present evidence backing up the allegation, and protests against the new regime continue.

Journalists in Myanmar say the military has targeted the media for shining a light on human rights abuses by documenting state-directed crackdowns and killings of anti-junta activists.

Since the coup, authorities have suspended the licenses of nine private media outlets, including Myanmar Now, Mizzima, 7-Day News, DVB, the 74 Media, Delta News Agency, Yangon Modern Media, the Myitkyina News Journal and the Tachileik News Agency.

Telling the true story

Khin Maung Myint, a veteran lawyer from Yangon, said Mondays amendments are aimed at controlling the domestic media and reducing its threat to the military.

TV and radio news can tell the true story of what is happening in the country. And from these, the people of Myanmar have learned what is really happening across the country and a strong opposition has grown as a result, he said.

In order to stop this, to reduce the impact, they have to make an attempt to ban news outlets  especially television broadcasts, which are bringing real-time images to the people.

When asked for comment on the amendment by RFA, junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said that while the media is commonly referred to the fourth pillar of democracy, laws must be amended to remain effective and to prevent a lack of accountability.

Our goal is for the law to provide effective remedies, he said. Effective treatment must be provided for both the perpetrator and the victim.

We are doing this because there must be an effective punishment to bring forth effective treatment.

Rolling back freedoms

Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative for New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists, slammed the military for curtailing press freedom in Myanmar.

I think the military junta is deliberately trying to roll back press freedom to stifle and censor news reporting of their rising abuses, including the killing of over 1,000 anti-coup dissidents since the coup, he said in an email to RFA.

They also want to shut down reporting that shows how strong the resistance to the coup has become. Their ultimate aim, it seems, is a blackout of all independent reporting so that state media control and whitewash the narrative.

He called developments under the junta a sharp and bitter reversal of the press freedom achievements made in Myanmar in recent decades.

The junta has arrested 103 journalists, including U.S. and Japanese reporters, in the nine months since the coup and 32 remain behind bars.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders ranked Myanmar 140th out of 180 countries and regions in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, down from 139th a year earlier. Februarys coup had brought an end to reforms adopted under civilian leadership and set the nations journalists back a decade, the group said.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Authorities cited zoning laws and threatened to destroy the school and seize the property.

Tibetan volunteers led by monastery officials demolish the Gaden Rabten Namgyaling school at Drago Monastery in Karze (Ganzi) in Chinas western Sichuan province, in late October.

Tibetan school officials were forced to hastily demolish a school attached to Drago Monastery in Karze prefecture (Ganzi in Chinese) in western Chinas Sichuan province last month, when Chinese authorities accused the temple of violating land use laws, a monk living in southern India told RFAs Tibetan Service.

The Gaden Rabten Namgyaling, a school administered by Drago Monastery, was condemned in late October by local Chinese authorities, and monastery officials were ordered to demolish the school building in three days or a government team would destroy the building and confiscate school property, including the building materials, said Kalsang Norbu.

School officials and volunteers gathered to hastily take down the school, he said.

Norbu, who shared videos and photos of the demolition received from sources in the region, said the order came late last month and targeted a learning center where local Tibetan students received education in Tibetan culture and religion.

The land law covers only local residential buildings, he told RFA, describing the demolition as improper.

Tibetan volunteers led by monastery officials demolish the Gaden Rabten Namgyaling school at Drago Monastery in Karze (Ganzi) in Chinas western Sichuan province, in late October. Credit: Kalsang Norbu With tight restrictions on sharing information in the region the India-based Norbu said he was unable to find out the fate of students, including whether they were compelled to leave the Drago area.

The monastery-run Gaden Rabten Namgyaling school was refurbished between 2014 and 2018, he said.

The Chinese government expelled about 20 monks under the age of 18 during those four years, said Norbu.

Chinese authorities have long sought to restrict the size and influence of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, traditionally a focus of Tibetan cultural and national identity, sources in the region say.

Translated by Tashi Wangchuk. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
A 28-year-old Kyrgyz, Gulmira ran away from her home in Syria four years ago to escape her Islamic State (IS) fighter husband and the horrors of living under the extremist group.

Gulmira, whose name was changed to protect her privacy, initially left Kyrgyzstan for Turkey to find work, but later moved to IS-held parts of Syria and then got married there.

The woman -- who also has a son born in Syria six years ago -- is tight-lipped about why she decided to join IS, merely saying she was deceived.

Gulmira now wants to rebuild her life in Kyrgyzstan but claims she doesnt get much support and has been under constant stress since her return.

Officers from the State Committee for National Security often come unannounced to search my home, Gulmira told RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service.

They couldnt find anything illegal and just took away my mobile phone and clothes," she added. "They say bad things about me to my neighbors. I wish at least I could get some psychological support.

The Kyrgyz security committee didnt respond to RFE/RL's request for comment.

But authorities in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries have acknowledged they found themselves in uncharted territory when thousands of their citizens -- family members of IS fighters -- came back home from Syria and Iraq in recent years.

Since 2019, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan have repatriated more than 1,000 women and children stranded in Syria and Iraq.

Hundreds more returned privately, long before the defeat of the extremist group in Syria in 2019.

Authorities in the predominantly Muslim region have since been working to rehabilitate and reintegrate their citizens who have been exposed to such things as IS atrocities, air strikes, poverty, and hunger.

Some were deeply indoctrinated by the IS's extremist ideology.

Many professionals, including doctors, teachers, psychologists, and religious figures have been recruited to help the returnees transition to normal life.

There are many success stories, according to the governments.

One Kazakh woman attended several conferences at home and abroad, telling the world about how she and her five young children were given a second chance after Kazakhstan brought them home from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.

The widow of a Kazakh IS fighter, Sabinella Ayazbaeva has since been busy with her new chapter in life. She got a part-time job at a local trade center in her native city of Qaraghandy and enrolled in psychology courses at a university. Her children all attend school.

In Tajikistan, some returnees took part in government-sponsored meetings with young people to warn them against the dangers of joining extremist groups.

But it hasnt been smooth sailing for all, especially with some school-age children, according to experts, officials, and families involved.

Saule Mukanova, a childrens psychologist who worked at a IS rehabilitation center in Kazakhstan, told RFE/RL that many older children initially behaved aggressively, calling their teachers infidels and even throwing stones at them.

Mukanova recalls that some of the children would even self-harm themselves to express their anger and frustration. It took time until the children got used to their new surroundings, began to trust people, and learned to enjoy playing, watching television, and just having fun.

In Tajikistan, one grandmother told RFE/RL that her preteen grandson has been living in a closed, state-run boarding school since he was repatriated from Iraq in 2019 along with some 90 other children.

The boys father died in an air strike in Mosul and his mother was imprisoned in Iraq for having links with IS.

According to the woman, the boy has been reluctant to meet his relatives visiting him at the boarding school. The grandmother said the child seemed to be brainwashed by IS ideology and that he idolized his militant father.

The child is making progress, the grandmother said, adding that she hopes he will fully grow out of the radical mindset.

Earlier this year, Tajik authorities said that 84 children -- repatriated from Iraq -- live and study in several specialized boarding schools. They have little contact with the outside world and their relatives are only allowed occasional visits.

The government hasnt said when the children will be released to live with their grandparents or other relatives who were appointed as guardians by authorities.

Society Becoming More Accepting

The returnees lives back home begin with health checkups and medical treatment or surgeries they might need. Adults also undergo interviews by security services.

Then they spend several weeks in special rehabilitation centers, receiving counseling from psychologists and meeting with Islamic scholars and social workers.

Children attend special classes to adjust to their new life and learn how to read and write before joining regular schools.

Olga Ryl is the head of Pravo, one of several Kazakh organizations that has been involved in the rehabilitation and reintegration of the children from the moment their plane landed at the airport.

Ryl told RFE/RL that its been a learning process for everyone since the first Kazakh child returned from Syria with his militant father in 2016.

Since then, weve gained experience in this field and our work is bringing concrete results, Ryl said. These are children who witnessed hunger and illness, some had to eat grass to survive. But they were eager to learn, and they were able to catch up with other children at school.

The reintegration process also includes restoring the returnees documents. The majority of them have lost their passports and other ID. Children born abroad dont have birth certificates.

Authorities also help the women find jobs, be retrained, or apply for social security benefits.

The societys attitude toward the returnees has become more accepting, says Vasilya Alimova, the director of Uzbekistans Center for Childrens Social Reintegration.

In the beginning, some returnees complained that their friends and neighbors avoided any contact.

Many people openly criticized the authorities decision to bring IS family members back home, calling them ticking time bombs.

In Kazakhstan, some parents reportedly complained they didnt want their children to be in the same class with the offspring of former terrorists and extremists repatriated from the conflict zones in Iraq and Syria.

Now there is almost no discrimination toward them. The societyhas begun to accept them as victims who fell under some wrong influences, Alimova told RFE/RL. As for the children, they cannot be responsible for what has happened to them.

Alimova said the repatriated children -- including those born in Syria and Iraq to Central Asian parents -- are now home and have the same rights like all the other children here.

Officials in Central Asia say they will continue efforts to bring home the many hundreds of women and children who still remain in camps in Iraq and Syria.
Blackouts in Tajikistan, energy shortages in Ukraine, rising electricity costs across the Balkans, and short-term profits for state companies in Russia.

Those are some of the early ripple effects being felt across Eurasia from an accelerating global energy crisis caused by fuel shortages for power generation inside China and soaring prices across Europe that are affecting consumers and producers alike.

The deepening crisis taking hold across Europe and Asia also risks imperiling the global economy as it attempts to recover from the slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With winter approaching, the sudden energy crunch hitting the world is threatening already stressed supply chains, stirring geopolitical tensions, and raising questions about how ready the world is for a transition to greener forms of energy.

The global energy price rally has affected economies all over the world, as the prices of oil, coal, and gas have risen, Jack Sharples, an expert at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told RFE/RL. Furthermore, the energy crisis has exposed the inelasticity of our energy demand: Even with high prices, we keep consuming hydrocarbons because we have no readily available alternative.

Chinese imports of coal from Russia have tripled compared to last year. The rising cost of natural gas has also given Moscow and Gazprom, its state-run gas company, additional leverage over Brussels as it pushes for final approvals for its new and controversial Baltic Sea gas pipeline to Germany, Nord Stream 2, which will bypass Ukraine.

Chinas energy-producing neighbors, like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, have also seen a rise in demand for coal and gas, respectively, although those shipments have been slowed by logistical and production limits in delivering larger than planned quantities to China.

Elsewhere, North Macedonias government has held emergency meetings to address the unfolding crisis, announcing temporary funds to boost energy companies and introducing caps on electricity use for businesses.

Inside the European Union, disagreements over how to respond to the crisis are emerging, with some leaders asking the bloc for assistance and others -- like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- blaming the price hikes on the EUs sweeping policies to combat climate change and reduce emissions.

This energy crisis could affect how Brussels implements its flagship Green Deal climate policies, particularly the expansion of the EUs emissions trading system, Charles Dunst, an associate at Eurasia Group's Global Macro team, told RFE/RL. The plans were already unpopular and the energy crisis is likely to [make any] support dwindle [even further] in the coming months.

Origins Of An Energy Crisis

The current energy crunch first emerged in China, the worlds top manufacturer, as global demand for its products suddenly and unexpectedly shot upward this year as part of a post-pandemic economic surge.

Due to an unofficial Chinese ban on Australian coal, which had previously been the countrys top supplier, coal stocks were low. Chinas electricity deficit was also added to by conflicting climate policies adopted within the country.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China would be carbon-neutral by 2060, leaving regional governments in China scrambling to bring emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in line with the set limits. As a result, factories were left dealing with electricity rationing and power cuts.

With coal supplies dwindling at home, Chinese power companies also turned to the natural-gas market, leading to purchases at an even faster rate than traders in Europe had been anticipating and causing prices to soar.

The energy crisis has disrupted production in China, which risks further slowing global supply chains ahead of the Wests busy Christmas shopping season and beyond, Dunst said.

Natural-gas prices have since hit a series of record highs.

In Europe, the prospect of supply shortages is growing as demand is also rising across Asia, where buyers have been prepared to keep paying a premium and outbid their European counterparts.

That disparity is likely to intensify after China ordered state-backed companies in October to secure energy supplies no matter the cost. Since then, imports of coal and gas have continued to grow.

The move by China suggests that other parts of the world will face an even tougher time securing the fuel they need, Dunst said.

Crisis And Opportunity

Amid the flux in the global energy market, Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to leverage his countrys vast energy reserves.

During the pandemic, overall gas exports to the EU from Russia -- which supplies about 50 percent of the blocs imports -- fell because there was less demand as economic activity shrank. Although it has picked up again in Europe, this downward trend has been continuing, with lower supplies this year. This has led to European stocks being depleted, which in turn is driving up prices.

Putin and Russian officials have urged Germany to speed up its regulatory approval of Nord Stream 2, suggesting that it would provide a long-term solution to the countrys energy problems.

Meanwhile, on Russias eastern front, energy companies have moved quickly to meet Chinas growing demands, supplying three times as much coal this year to the country as during 2020, according to Chinese customs data.

The current two-front energy crisis presents a short-term window of opportunity for Moscow to push for the realization of its energy projects in Europe under sanctions and to strengthen its position as energy supplier to China, Vita Spivak, an analyst at the consulting firm Control Risks, told RFE/RL. While the current crises appear to be mostly the result of post-coronavirus economic development, energy shortages might present themselves in the future as the world is trying to embark upon the green transition.

Moscow has pivoted to supply Chinas evolving energy needs with oil and gas accounting for more than 60 percent of Russian exports to China, a trend that could continue as China weans itself off coal and relies more on gas.

The Power of Siberia pipeline launched in 2019 already provides gas to China, with plans for its output to increase in the future. A second pipeline, Power of Siberia 2, is also under discussion.

In the meantime, Russia continues to have its attention on coal.

Moscow announced it would temporarily halt coal shipments to Ukraine starting on November 1, saying that it was needed for domestic consumption, despite increasing its exports to other countries.

Further down the line, Russia is also looking at how to ramp up its coal supplies to China and is currently investing $10 billion into railroad infrastructure in its Far East in order to meet future Chinese needs before the country progresses on its transition to alternative energy sources.

In order to leverage its position, Moscow has to ensure the relevant energy export infrastructure is in place, which presents a challenge within this window of opportunity, said Spivak. Moscow realizes that the window of opportunity to sell its hydrocarbons to Europe and China is limited.
Hundreds of opposition supporters in Georgia have begun a demonstration to demand the release of jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is on a hunger strike.

Demonstrators -- holding banners and waving the flags of Georgia, Ukraine, and the European Union -- gathered near the prison in the town of Rustavi where Saakashvili is being held.

The rally comes after similar protests were held outside the prison where Saakashvili, 53, began a hunger strike after being detained within hours of his return on October 1 from eight years in self-exile to campaign for the opposition ahead of nationwide elections.

The rallies were called by the United National Movement (ENM), an opposition group founded by Saakashvili.

Saakashvili, who was president from 2004 to 2013, left the country shortly after its presidential election in 2013 and was convicted in absentia in 2018 for abuse of power and seeking to cover up evidence about the beating of an opposition member of parliament.

Saakashvili has said the charges against him are politically motivated.

His lawyers and personal doctor claim that Saakashvilis condition is deteriorating and have demanded that he be transferred to a clinic outside the prison. The government has said that, if necessary, he will be treated in the clinic of the Gldani Penitentiary Institution.

Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said on November 5 that Saakashvili has received various porridges and natural juices and takes medicine prescribed by doctors.

Bregadze also said the ministry strongly recommends that Saakashvili not leave the prison for his court case for safety reasons.

"We will do our utmost to promote justice, Bregadze said. Will not interfere, but our recommendation would be that the trial be held in Penitentiary Establishment No. 12. This will be our recommendation and, naturally, we will follow all the necessary legal procedures."

The ENM, Georgia's main opposition force, was outpolled decisively by the ruling Georgian Dream party in the October 3 nationwide municipal and mayoral vote.

The opposition has said that Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire and Saakashvili rival Bidzina Ivanishvili, rigged the second-round runoff on October 30. Georgian Dream won the mayoral races in the country's five biggest cities as a result of the vote.

Georgia has been plagued by political paralysis since parliamentary elections in 2020.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has paid a brief visit to Republika Srpska, the majority entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to meet Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, whose separatist actions have fueled fears the multiethnic Balkan country could split.

Orbans visit on November 6, which lasted about two hours, comes a day before U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar arrives in Sarajevo.

Ahead of the trip, Escobar told RFE/RL that any moves to undermine the country would be "very detrimental and very destabilizing to the region."

The right-wing nationalist Hungarian prime minister, along with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, landed at the airport in Banja Luka before going to the nearby town of Laktasi, where the two leaders met for lunch. Reporters were not allowed near the meeting venue.

Dodik, who was accompanied by Radovan Viskovic, the prime minister of Republika Srpska, later told public broadcaster RTRS that the politicians discussed the current situation in Bosnia.

I told him that there is a lot of political spin and misinformation about us -- about Serbs destroying the territorial integrity of Bosnia, which is something we are not doing, Dodik said.



The Bosnian War ended in 1995 with the U.S.-brokered Dayton accords that created two entities in Bosnia: Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation. The country is still governed and administered along ethnic lines established by the agreement.

Dodik, a member of the countrys three-person presidency, said that he hasnt been doing anything that would undermine the Dayton accords.

However, he has recently threatened to withdraw the Serb territory from national institutions such as the tax authority, medicines agency, and -- most importantly -- the military.

Orban has said in the past that while he respects Bosnia-Herzegovina, he also wants direct communications and stronger ties with Republika Srpska.

Last week, Christian Schmidt, the chief UN envoy to Bosnia, issued a warning that Dodik's actions pose an "existential threat" to Bosnia's postwar peace deal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, have called in a telephone conversation for the Iran nuclear deal to be restored to its original form.

"The parties focused on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program and the prospects for resuming the Vienna negotiations on the JCPOA," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 6. "They called for restoring the nuclear deal in its original balanced form, approved by the United Nations Security Council. They confirmed that it was the only way to ensure the rights and interests of all parties to the comprehensive agreement."

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Tehran and world powers, including Russia, and was intended to curtail Iran's controversial nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

The United States withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, and Iran has since consistently increased activity in its nuclear program, including expanding its stockpile of enriched uranium, arguing that it was no longer subject to the terms of the vacated deal.

Trump's successor, President Joe Biden, has expressed interest in rejoining the pact if Iran returned to full compliance. However, indirect negotiations between the deal's signatories that started in April in Vienna were put on hold in June after the Islamic republic elected hard-liner Ibrahim Raisi as president.

Negotiations are expected to resume on November 29, with Raisi vowing on November 4 that Iran would not back down "in any way." However, Iran has also said that its increased efforts to enrich uranium and other violations of the original deal are reversible if Washington lifts reimposed sanctions and rejoins the pact.

Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and Western officials and analysts believe Tehran's escalation of enrichment is aimed at gaining leverage during the talks.

With reporting by Reuters and TASS
Shavkat Mirziyoev has taken the oath of office, beginning his second term as Uzbekistan's president by placing his hand on the Uzbek Constitution and the Koran during the November 6 ceremony in Tashkent.

Mirziyoev was declared the landslide winner of the October 24 presidential election, which Western observers called "not truly competitive."

The 64-year-old incumbent faced four little-known, pro-government candidates and took 80.1 percent of the vote. Three opposition parties were not allowed to register or have candidates in the race.

It was Uzbekistans sixth presidential election since the country of some 35 million people gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

Mirziyoev, who came under criticism for cracking down on his critics and activists ahead of the vote, has struggled to counter impressions that his government is sliding back toward the authoritarian habits of his long-reigning predecessor, Islam Karimov.

Based on reporting by TASS
Richmond, KY (40475)

Today

Rain likely. High 56F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 32F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Written By

Joe Schulz served as the reporter of the Green Laker in 2019 and 2020, before being hired as a reporter for the Commonwealth in October 2020. He is from Oshkosh and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in December with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Rocky Mount, NC (27804)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 63F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 47F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Roanoke Rapids, NC (27870)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 61F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Rutland, VT (05701)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 49F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 42F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Rutland, VT (05701)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 49F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 42F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Salem - Joanne E. (Roulier) Bomarsi, 81, of Salem, passed away Tuesday morning, November 16, 2021 in Peabody. Born in Salem, MA, Joanne was the daughter of the late Lionel E. and Alice (Frasier) Roulier. A graduate of the former St. Chretienne Academy in Salem, Joanne worked for many years a
When a wildfire is barreling toward a house, there may be almost no time to escape, and even less time to think about what items to take during those panic-stricken minutes.

Enter a new product on the market, a wildfire-resistant shed that the inventors say could save time and property because important items will already have been stored away in a small building that wont burn, even if a wall of flames consumes everything else in its path.

Weve used every type of fire protection on this shed so people can put those valuable things in there and protect them, said Steve Conboy, president of M-Fire Suppression Inc., a Los Angeles company that plans to start marketing various-sized sheds under the name Mighty Fire Breaker.

Tuesday morning, a demonstration was held in a parking lot next to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Training Facility near Lindbergh Field.

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A prototype of one of three different-sized sheds, a 4-by-8-foot building, was filled with valuables such as a surf board, paintings, and a small motorcycle.

Straw and kindling were piled around the structure and ignited.

1 / 15 M-Fire Suppression Inc. is a company manufacturing a shed that is fire proof for protecting valuables from wildfire. They did a demonstration on Tuesday at the San Diego Fire Academy. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 15 R.J. Hanna stacked kindling wood around a fire proof shed made by a company called M-Fire Suppression Inc.. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 15 Combustibles were lit on fire around a fire proofed shed to demonstrate its resistance in the event of a wildfire. A company called Mighty Fire Breaker is manufacturing the shed that is fire proof for protecting valuables from wildfire. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 15 Straw and wood pieces were stacked around the shed and lit with a propane torch. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 15 A fireproofed mulch made of treated wood chips is applied to the embers around the structure after the a fire proof shed made by M-Fire Suppression Inc. was set afire in an attempt to burn it at a demonstration on Tuesday at the San Diego Fire Academy. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 15 Bob Fieri checked the temperature of the burning shed with a Flir heat sensing device. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 15 Fire burned the weatherproofing strip on the bottom of the door but that was all that burned. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 15 Workers filled a fire proofed shed with valuables before a fire was set around it in an attempt to burn it down. It and its content survived.M-Fire Suppression Inc. is a company manufacturing the shed that is fire proof for protecting valuables from wildfire. They did a demonstration on Tuesday at the San Diego Fire Academy. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 15 David Villarreal scooped a mulch treated with fireproofing around the embers and debris outside of a fireproofed shed that they attempted to burn down in a demonstration on Tuesday at the San Diego Fire Academy. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 15 R.J. Hanna spread fireproofed mulch around a fire proofed shed that M-Fire Suppression Inc. is manufacturing for protecting valuables from wildfire. They did a demonstration on Tuesday at the San Diego Fire Academy. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 15 Steve Conboy, president of M-Fire Suppression Inc. in front of one of the fire proof sheds that his company manufactures for people who live in areas under threat of wildfires. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 15 Workers spread a fireproofed mulch on the debris and embers around a shed that they attempted to burn down, but couldnt. M-Fire Suppression Inc. is a company manufacturing the shed that is fire proof for protecting valuables from wildfire. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 15 The door was scorched but not burned. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 15 Shaun Comboy opens the door on a fire proofed shed that had just had a fire set around in it in an attempt to burn it down to show the contents were unharmed. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 15 R.J. Hanna carried a surfboard out of a fire proofed shed that had withstood a simulated wildfire set around it. Didnt even melt the wax, he said. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The fire burned hot for a couple minutes and some weather stripping at the base of the steel door alit, allowing some flames into the shed. The stripping had mistakenly not been treated with a fire-resistant coating. That wont happen again, Conboy said.

But no real damage was done. When the door was opened, all the valuables were still in fine shape and a thermometer showed the temperature inside the shed was only 74 degrees.

While there are many sheds and outbuildings on the market that offer some fire protection, these new sheds are built with wildfire specifically in mind, including the strong winds that often accompany them.

Conboy, a Carlsbad resident, said the roofs can withstand 150 mph winds and that he got the idea after meeting with victims of last years fire in Santa Rosa where some residents were given only 20 minutes to evacuate. Several told him that wasnt enough time and virtually everything they owned was lost.

Jeff Bowman, a former San Diego fire chief, was on hand for the demonstration. He said he is considering aligning himself with Mighty Fire Breaker as a spokesman and consultant for the company, but has not yet committed.

Ive seen a lot of products over the years and these are the best things out there, Bowman said of the sheds and a couple other products made by the company, including a slurry to put on smoking embers once the fire has passed through.

Im excited about the possibilities, Bowman said. We have to do something different. Last year proved it again.

The sheds will come in three sizes: 8x8, 4x8 and a smaller version that can be stored in a garage.

The largest shed is listed as selling for $11,950 while the 4x8 shed and the slightly smaller garage shed are priced at $5,995.

The sheds are not designed to save human lives. Only as a last gasp measure would someone want to jump inside the shed as flames approached, and only then if some sort of oxygen device was inside, both Conboy and Bowman said.

But if the situation arose, they agreed, better in the shed than in the flames.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Sanford, NC (27330)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 63F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain late. Low 47F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Sumatra's Mount Toba volcano is one of the biggest geological threats in Indonesia. In a new study, the natural solemnity of the towering volcano could be replaced with a devastating eruption anytime soon, and the worst part is that it could occur without any warning. The research detailed that not all supervolcanoes could give signs of their upcoming eruptions, leading to the failure of prediction and unwanted chaos.

Supervolcano Magma Accumulation Silent But Deadly

The study presented the data from previous eruptions conducted by the Toba volcano. Based on the geological information extracted from Toba's massive spews 840,000 and 75,000 years ago, no magma influx had manifested in the volcano's reservoir. The signs did not appear due to the silent movement and accumulations of materials.

Moreover, the study found out that the Toba volcano's second eruption had a gradual build-up of magma. The time it took for the volcano to accumulate its chaotic load was 600,000 years, surprisingly half of the supposed 1.4 million years. The slow compilation of the volcanic materials was due to the relatively quiet and moderate escalation of temperatures at the continental crust that covered the magma reservoir.

Peking University School of Earth and Space Sciences, Academia Sinica Institute of Earth Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Geology and Geophysics expert Ping Ping Liu said in a University of Geneva press release that the eruptions recorded from Indonesia's Toba volcano are dangerous. The expert explained that the gradual heating of the crust allows the magma to have slower cooling of temperature. In addition, the magma from this kind of system will be accumulated faster than the build-up in a standard reservoir.

ALSO READ: Long-Term Greenhouse Gas Affects Retreating Glaciers Since Mid-Holocene Epoch

Toba Volcano Still Active; Magma Build-Up Ongoing and May Erupt Without Warnings

The examinations from the Toba volcano were made possible through the chemical compositions of the minerals called zircons, which were spewed out during the eruption. Science Alert reported that zircons contain uranium which eventually decays to lead after some time. The transition was analyzed through mass spectrometry and revealed details in between the zircons' chemical transitions, allowing experts to specify what happened during the supervolcanic eruptions of Toba.

The readings from the volcanic minerals also provided the timelines of the eruptions and the sequence of the magma build-ups on the reservoir. Moreover, the zircons served as a key to measuring the volume of magma accumulated right in the heart of the Toba volcano.

Toba's previous eruptions formed a wide caldera that measures about 320 square kilometers. The caldera still stands as a lake in the present day, with an island sitting at its center. The island exists due to the push of the magma reservoir accumulating under the depths of the lake and into the crust. According to Liu, the volcano is active and the magma is gradually collecting magma up to this date. The build-up is evident through Toba lake's island as its height increases over time. The study titled "Growth and thermal maturation of the Toba magma reservoir" was published in PNAS.

RELATED ARTICLE: Inner Core Found Mushy and Liquid; Not Pure Metallic Ball Than First Thought





Check out more news and information on Geology in Science Times.
Last year, the holiday season looked different because of the COVID pandemic. But this year, things are starting to look a bit more merry in the form of two holiday pop-up bars returning to Seattle.

Miracle, a Christmas-themed, pop-up cocktail bar known for it's over-the-top festive decor, will be returning to local watering hole Rob Roy. The modern enclave will be transformed into a nostalgic holiday oasis complete with twinkling lights, vintage garland and a specialty playlist to evoke celebratory, holiday spirit.

Melissa Hom/Miracle

This year's menu will feature past favorites and a few new Miracle concoctions. The Christmapolitain made with vodka, elderflower, dry vermouth, spiced cranberry sauce, lime, rosemary, absinthe mist is back at the top of the menu, along with the Christmas Carol Barrell (reposado tequila, coffee liqueur, dry curacao, spiced chocolate, aromatic bitters, orange bitters) and the Yippie Ki Yay Mother F****r! (Barbados rum, rhum agricole, Trinidad overproof rum, ube and coconut orgeat, acid-adjusted pineapple juice).

Other drinks on this year's menu will have reimagined recipes, like the Jolly Koala, On Dasher and SanTaRex. But it's the new cocktail, Elfing Around made with prosecco, gin, mulled wine reduction, grapefruit shrub, aromatic bitters, orange bitters that promises to be a holiday hit.

RandySchmidt/Miracle

For those who want to mix holiday cheer with tropical vibes can visit Sippin Santa: a tiki-themed holiday pop-up bar is also returning to the city this season. Navy Strength will receive a makeover and feature the tropical menu with favorites like the Kris Kringle Kolada (dark Jamaican rum, amaro, allspice liqueur, lime, pineapple, cream of coconut) and the hot Yule Log Grog (gin, falernum, cranberry syrup, ginger liqueur, lime).

To add to the festivities, the glassware used for serving at both locations will be available for purchase. And this year, Miracle will donate 10% of its sales from its Santa Pants cocktail, Christmas Carol Barrell cocktail, and Santa Head barware to the James Beard Foundation Open for Good, a campaign to aid the relief efforts of independent restaurants.

Melissa Hom/Miracle

Rob Roys Miracle on 2nd Street and Navy Strenths Sippin' Santa open on Nov. 24 and will remain open through Dec. 24.

For more information and to view this year's menus, visit the Miracle and Sippin Santa websites. You can also follow the brands social media accounts for updates and fun holiday content.
It seems Ann Davison has defeated opponent Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in what was arguably the most high-profile race for Seattle city attorney in history.



The latest results from Tuesdays general election shows Davison winning 52% of ballots cast. She jumped out to an early lead Tuesday, leading her opponent by a margin of about 17 points. Thomas-Kennedy gained ground as more ballots were counted  she closed the margin to roughly 11 points Thursday  but Fridays results appear to have sealed the win for Davison.



So far, Davison has received 125,437 votes. Thomas-Kennedy has 112,862. The city has 17,835 ballots left to count. That means Thomas-Kennedy would need to secure roughly 15,000  about 84%  of the remaining ballots to win, making a comeback improbable but not impossible.



Davison would be the first woman to ever serve as Seattle's city attorney.



Although the city attorney is a non-partisan office, a persons political leanings matter to voters. The candidates have vastly different views  both are attorneys  but its hard to get a read on which political party Davison truly belongs to.



She ran for a nonpartisan Seattle City Council seat in 2019  a waste of time if you dont hold liberal views  but then ran for lieutenant governor last year as a Republican. Before that campaign, she claimed she was leaving the Democratic party, but it seems likely that shes always harbored some conservative opinions. Its hard to imagine a dyed-in-the-wool liberal publicly identifying themselves as a Republican at time when Donald Trump was president.



If Davison really sees herself as a member of the GOP, she would be the first Republican to win elected office in Seattle since Paul Kraabel. He served on the city council from 1975 until 1991.



Conversely, its not hard to figure out where Thomas-Kennedy lands on the political spectrum.



A self-described abolitionist, she vowed to eliminate the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes, which she says essentially criminalize poverty. She also promised to defend progressive tax laws, sue fossil fuel companies, and work to abolish the voter-approved state ban on affirmative action.



She was an ideal progressive candidate. But it was her far-left platform, combined with several inflammatory statements made about police, that caused several of Seattles more moderate Democrats to side with Republicans in voting for Davison.



Even former Governors Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke, both Democrats, endorsed Davison. In their joint endorsement, they said Thomas-Kennedys desire to end the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes would make Seattle less safe. They also characterized her statements about police as unfit for someone seeking to hold public office.



In several tweets from 2020  many of which have since been deleted  Thomas-Kennedy said she had a rabid hatred of police and called them crybabies and serial killers. She replied to a holiday message from the Seattle Police Department with a tweet that included the line: Eat some covid laced s--t and quit ur jobs. She also called the person who detonated an explosive device near the departments East Precinct a hero.



In response to the criticism, Thomas-Kennedy has said she made the tweets during a time when emotions were running high  she bought a gas mask for her 9-year-old daughter to wear in their home when police were firing tear gas at protestors in her neighborhood  and when she had no plans to run for public office. Shes also maintained that the tweets are a distraction, and said voters should focus on her platform.



Davison framed herself a pragmatist. She separated herself from Thomas-Kennedy  and the hullabaloo made about her party switch  by emphasizing that the city attorney position is non-partisan and not a place to pursue a radical agenda.



On the campaign trail, she advocated for aggressive stances on repeat criminal offenders and homelessness. But as far as specifics go, thats about it. Her campaign website includes several platitudes about bringing the city together, but offers little in the way of policy proposals.



Current City Attorney Pete Holmes faced intense criticism last year for his response to the several Black Lives Matter protests that broke out across Seattle following the murder of George Floyd. It seemed like he would enter Augusts primary without a challenger, but both Davison and Thomas-Kennedy filed to run at the last second. Holmes was ultimately squeezed out of the race during the primary, securing just 31% of the vote.



Davison received her bachelors degree in sociology from Baylor University in Texas. She earned her juris doctorate from Willimate University in Oregon. She moved to Seattle in 1996, where she worked for the Seattle Supersonics until 2001.



She became a practicing attorney and arbitrator in Seattle in 2005. She also teaches international business law at the University of Washingtons Continuum College.


HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP)  A presumed wolf-dog hybrid that escaped its enclosure over the summer in North Carolina has been found dead, officials said.

She was found Monday off state Route 86 near Hillsborough and was believed to be the last of the free-roaming wolfdogs in our area, Orange County Animal Services spokeswoman Tenille Fox said. It appears that she was hit by a car, news outlets reported.
The United States is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again.

Nearly 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated and the nations over-65 population, which bore the brunt of the pandemic when it started nearly two years ago, is enthusiastically embracing vaccines.

Nearly 98% of the over-65 population has received at least one COVID-19 shot and more than 25% of them have gotten boosters, just weeks after they were authorized. The improving metrics could get a boost from President Joe Bidens workplace mandate unveiled Thursday and the launch of COVID-19 shots in elementary-age students.

Seniors also are playing a role in getting other family members vaccinated. Erin Lipsker plans to get her 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son vaccinated as soon as possible so they can see her parents and her 98-year-old grandmother. An added motivation is that Lipsker was treated for cancer two years ago, and her 8-year-old daughter, Kennedy, has asthma.

The more children and adults are vaccinated, the quicker we will be able to resume a new normal. I want that for my kids. I want that for our planet, said Lipsker, of Spokane, Washington. I think I will feel much safer around our family. I have a 98-year-old grandmother that my kids adore. I will feel safer having my kids around her, and my parents.

But the pandemic has proven hard to control. In the U.S., winter is coming and diseases like COVID-19 often spread easier with people indoors and closer together. The worst surge in the nation happened last winter, before the vaccines were widely available.

While cases around the world are declining, the World Health Organization said this week new cases jumped by 6% in Europe, compared with an 18% increase the previous week. The U.S. plans to open its borders to international travelers Monday.

The trends in the U.S. have health officials feeling better for the first time in months and hoping the progress will continue as long as a new variant doesnt pop up or the rate of newly vaccinated people declines. But they have also been down this road before and have come to the conclusion that COVID-19 is going to be an issue for years to come.

It is going to be endemic. It is going to exist in our population for a long period of time, said Deborah Fuller, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington. You saw what looked like an inflection point coming and, boom, here came the delta variant.

There are still plenty of encouraging signs in the U.S. Pfizer announced Friday its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections and it will soon ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize its pill.

The number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 is averaging around 42,000, the lowest number since the beginning of August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The hospitalization dip matches a dip in overall cases.

But deaths, which lag behind increasing case counts because it can take weeks for the disease to kill, continue to mount. The U.S. is averaging 1,100 coronavirus deaths per day, down from more than 1,600 two weeks ago.

More than 750,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. in less than two years, about the population of Denver. The latest 50,000 deaths happened in the past month.

With hospital beds emptying, case counts declining and an increase in vaccinated people, however, it has been a slow return to a new normal. Louisiana's Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards last week ended a face covering requirement almost everywhere but schools, saying he was optimistic, relieved that the worst of the fourth surge is very clearly behind us now.

Memphis also ended its mask requirement, and so did a number of schools around Atlanta as the spread of the virus decreased. Amazon ended a mask mandate for most vaccinated workers in places where local or state rules don't require them. Hawaiis governor ended pandemic capacity limits on businesses like restaurants, bars and gyms, but owners must continue to enforce social distancing rules.

Color-coded virus maps that were a sea of red in September have started to turn yellow and blue in recent weeks, indicating a much slower spread of disease. The CDC says about 350 counties are now experiencing moderate or low transmission, many of them in the Deep South.

In the U.S., nearly 60% of the population  more than 193 million people  are fully vaccinated. More than 21 million have received a booster dose, and those numbers are soaring each day. The average number of Americans getting booster shots has reached nearly 800,000 per day. That compares with about 265,000 people per day getting their first shot.

It's still too early to know how many children under 12 have gotten shots in the three days they have been available.

Lagging behind are Southern and more rural states and that rural divide even extends to states with higher vaccination rates like Maine, where more than 70% of the population is vaccinated. Many of the rural states are starting to experience cold weather that is driving people indoors and creating ripe conditions for more virus spread.

In Maine, the five counties with the lowest vaccination rates are rural ones along the border with Canada, where rates hover just over 60%.

One theory is that residents of those counties feel less at risk of infection because they interact less often with others. Vaccine hesitancy among residents of those counties also seems to dovetail with political identity factors. said Robert Long, a spokesperson for the Maine Center for Disease Control.

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Associated Press Writer Mike Stobbe contributed.
SYDNEY (AP)  Rescue services in western Australia were searching for a man who was attacked by multiple sharks, police said.

Two teenagers on a boat saw what they believed was a shark attack at Port Beach in the North Fremantle suburb of Perth on Saturday morning and alerted other swimmers to get out of the sea and called emergency services.

Police were unable to confirm how many sharks were involved in the attack but Western Australia Police Acting Inspector Troy Douglas said it was obviously at least one." Some reports quoting witnesses said the attack involved a White shark and a Tiger shark.

I was about to go into the water and actually a lady stopped me and said dont go in there theres been a shark sighting," said Suzette Harding. And then within a minute or so ... these young boys in the dinghy came screaming up along the beach, waving everyone out of the water.

Douglas said the 57-year-old man was a regular at the beach. He said the search would go on for as long as possible Saturday and resume at first light on Sunday, if he is not found.

Douglas praised the teenagers for making "a fantastic effort and reacting quickly by alerting emergency services and providing information to assist the search.

At least five Water Police and rescue boats and two helicopters were scouring the area and an ambulance was sent to the scene.

All beaches in the area have been closed.

The most recent fatal shark attack in Australia was on Sept. 5 in New South Wales state on the eastern coast.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Athena M. King, Old Dominion University

(THE CONVERSATION) With the 2022 midterm elections less than a year away, the stunning victory of political newcomer Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia governors race demonstrated an effective GOP strategy that appeals to crucial suburban voters alienated by Donald Trump while maintaining support from the former presidents die-hard supporters.

Youngkins campaign and subsequent victory over Democratic former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe launched Virginia into the national limelight. The election was a referendum on not only Trumps influence within the GOP but also the Biden administrations inability to deliver so far on presidential campaign promises.

In previous elections in Virginia, local politics were just that  local. But over the past decade, Virginia turned from a reliable red state in presidential elections to a reliable blue state. Starting with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Virginia has voted Democratic in presidential contests, including for Hillary Clinton in her unsuccessful bid in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Before the election in 2008, Virginians voted Republican in presidential elections for the previous 40 years.

The recent blue wave placed Virginia at the heart of national politics  and made it a GOP target. By using national culture wars, and specifically GOP outrage over how race issues are taught in public schools, Youngkin took aim at suburban Virginia voters and sliced off enough to become governor.

In addition to winning the governors race, the Virginia GOP saw Winsome Sears become the first Black woman to become lieutenant governor. And Republican Jason Miyares took the state attorney generals office. Republicans also won enough seats in the House of Delegates to tie the Democrats, although a few races are still being decided. The Virginia Senate remains in Democratic control.

The blue wave in Virginia is now an open question.

Suburban GOP gains

Though Biden won the suburbs overwhelmingly in 2020,, the Youngkin campaign won a significant portion this year by, in part, focusing on the potential that critical race theory could be taught at the K-12 level. Its not, but that didnt stop the spread of misinformation.

Usually reserved for graduate schools, critical race theory is a field of intellectual inquiry that demonstrates the legal codification of racism in America. Instead of responding to Youngkin with the truth, McAuliffe alienated suburban voters further by declaring during a debate with Youngkin that parents shouldnt tell schools what to teach.

It was a major blunder and became the subject of relentless campaign advertisements by Youngkin in the days leading up the Nov. 2 election. In Fairfax County  a suburban Democratic stronghold near Washington, D.C., comprising nearly 13.5% of the states overall vote  Youngkins campaign against critical race theory improved GOP results by 2.6 percentage points from the 2020 presidential election.

Youngkins strategy was also helped by McAuliffes inept efforts to paint the millionaire political newcomer as a Trump acolyte.

The Trump factor

Polls showed the race as a statistical dead heat leading into Election Day. Those poll numbers held steady on election night.

In majority Republican counties in Virginia, for instance, such as Bedford, Frederick, Roanoke and Hanover, Trumps margin of victory in 2020 was between 37% and 60%. Youngkin maintained those numbers within 1 percentage point.

Youngkin was able to maintain the Trump base without embracing Trump publicly. GOP hopefuls who fear alienating moderate suburban Republicans are now able to follow Youngkins lead by downplaying their association with Trump while secretly enjoying the enthusiasm he generates among his base.

As Virginia goes?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bellwether as one that takes the lead or initiative or an indicator of trends. Thats the role Virginia could now be playing on the national political scene.

While the sitting presidents party usually loses congressional seats during the midterms, emboldened Republicans strengthened by the results in Virginia now expect both chambers to not only return to GOP control but also present Biden with the additional challenge of a divided government. Both might culminate in a 2024 presidential election campaign that could very well see Trump at the top of the ticket as the Republican nominee once more.

Such enthusiasm  and public distancing from Trump  might be the difference between winning and losing in an upcoming election across the country. It might also create a new version of an old political standard: All politics are now national.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/suburban-voters-responded-to-gop-culture-war-pitch-in-virginia-governors-race-and-showed-all-politics-are-now-national-171175.
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The Great Mall in Milpitas was temporarily on lockdown Friday evening while police officers combed the mall to investigate unconfirmed reports of a shooting, authorities said. But they didnt find evidence that one had occurred.

Milpitas police received at 5:30 p.m. a report of an altercation involving someone brandishing a knife followed by a report of a shooting inside of Burlington Coat Factory, but police said on Twitter that they had not located any evidence ... to indicate a shooting occurred in the mall.

Officers have checked the business and there is no indication a shooting occurred inside, police said on Twitter, referring to Burlington Coat Factory.

Police said they didnt find any victims, and no injuries have been reported.

Out of an abundance of caution and because of conflicting information, police said officers with multiple law enforcement agencies scoured the entire mall on Friday night while the mall was locked down. Authorities escorted shoppers and employees out of the mall as they found those who had been sheltered in place, police said.

Shortly before 7:45 p.m., police announced that they completed a search of the mall and were working to retrieve the personal belongings of those who were escorted out by law enforcement.

We continue to assist those still inside the mall and investigate what occurred this evening, police said on Twitter.

Milpitas Police Chief Jared Hernandez told The Chronicle that police have not determined reports of a shooting to be credible.

Officials with San Jose Police Department, California Highway Patrol and Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office assisted in the search of the mall.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Police said mall management would determine whether the mall would remain open Friday night.

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail was not stopping at the Great Mall VTA Station due to the police activity at the mall, VTA officials said on Twitter.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez
San Francisco is set to pay $2.5 million to the mother of a man shot and killed by a rookie San Francisco police officer in 2017, an incident that prompted District Attorney Chesa Boudin to charge the officer with manslaughter.

The payment, which still requires approval from the Board of Supervisors, would settle a federal civil lawsuit filed by Judy ONeil in December 2017, roughly two weeks after the death of her son, Keita ONeil.

Officer Christopher Samayoa had just graduated from the police academy and started field training when he shot ONeil on Dec. 1, 2017. ONeil had allegedly pushed a state lottery worker and snatched the keys to her white minivan. Police accused him of stealing the van and leading them on a pursuit down Highway 101, ending at a public housing complex in the Bayview.

ONeil opened the door to his van and jumped out of the moving vehicle as police followed him. Samayoa, who was in the passenger seat of a patrol car driven by Edric Talusan, a field training supervisor, pulled out his service pistol and fired through the window as ONeil ran by. Footage from Samayoas bodyworn camera and nearby surveillance videos showed that ONeil was unarmed and feet away at the time of the shooting. He died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Three years later, in November 2020, manslaughter charges were filed against Samayoa, along with three other felony charges: assault with a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful assault by a police officer. It marked the first time in modern history that the citys top prosecutor charged a police officer with homicide in a use-of-force case, and the third such occasion in the area.

Since then, Boudin has charged five other officers he believed used excessive force, including another for homicide, which the district attorney announced earlier this week. He has five criminal cases pending against police officers, including the one against Samayoa.

This is one of the more unconscionable shootings Ive seen, largely because the person was unarmed, the officer was in a position of safety, and ONeil was running by, said John Burris, the civil rights attorney representing ONeils family. Under the principles of reasonable and necessary, he was wrong on both conditions.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Julia Fox, an attorney respesenting Samayoa in the criminal case, said her client has full faith and confidence in the judicial process, and he trusts a jury of his peers should that become relevant.

Were confident that at the close of his case, given a thorough review of all the circumstances presented in full, Officer Samayoas actions were reasonable, Fox said.

Burris added that ONeils mother, Judy has been traumatized and that the court appointed her younger sister to take care of her. He called the case heartbreaking.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
Sara Gobets/Special to The Chronicle

A labor union representing Kaiser Permanente pharmacists in Northern California has announced they will strike starting on Nov. 15, which will impact Kaiser outpatient pharmacies in the region, health care system officials said Friday.

Representatives with the Guild for Professional Pharmacists issued a notice to Kaiser officials about a strike that will last from Nov. 15 through Nov. 22, Kaiser officials said in a statement to Kaiser members on Friday.
When COVID-19 vaccines became available early this year, San Francisco, like the rest of California, prioritized getting shots to its elderly population. By May 1, 81% of San Franciscans aged 65 and older had been fully vaccinated  far more than the citys overall vaccination rate of 47% by that day.

But the city has not been as successful in prioritizing seniors for COVID-19 booster shots, according to the latest data from the San Francisco Department of Health.

As of November 1, according to the department, just under 23,000 of the citys approximately 118,000 seniors eligible to receive COVID-19 booster shots  about 1 in 5  had received them.

Whats more, the current figures indicate that seniors are not receiving the majority of booster shots given. Of the 52,000 booster shots the city had given out by November 1, less than half have been given to people 65 and older.

The FDA currently recommends booster shots to people six months after being fully vaccinated if they received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, and two months after full vaccination if they received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Its still early in the booster process  the FDA first authorized the Pfizer vaccine as a booster in late September, and only authorized Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines as boosters several weeks ago  so the city could conceivably see a big uptick in booster rates in the coming weeks.

But with vaccine immunity among most seniors declining, physicians and community leaders said that theyre worried about the low numbers of elderly residents receiving boosters and the longer-term factors behind those low rates.

Not only are our seniors experiencing waning immunity because they were among the first to get vaccinated nearly a year ago, they are often at higher risk because of underlying medical conditions and co-morbidities, Dr. Naveena Bobba, SFDPHs Deputy Director of Health, said in a statement. This is why we are urging seniors to get there [sic] boosters as soon as possible.

Dr. Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrician at University of California San Francisco, said she believes seniors booster shot rates are flagging for a few reasons.

The first is lack of communication around the necessity of boosters, coupled with COVID-19 fatigue.

In general, I think because our rates are so low, and weve now been in this for a while, theres a sense of complacency and theres not as [much] fear as there is anymore, she said.

The second is that vaccinating seniors requires additional effort from health care providers, Perissinotto said. Many older people are homebound, or dont know how to find and make vaccine appointments on the computer.

We learned in round one that tech-forward scheduling misses a lot of people, misses a lot of older people and misses a lot of people of color. Why we havent fixed that...its frankly upsetting, she said.

Several community organizations in San Francisco are working to address these access issues, including the Latino Task Force, a coalition thats been been working to vaccinate San Franciscos Latino population.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Valerie Tulier-Laiwa, LTFs task coordinator, said the group has been very successful in reaching out to seniors in the Latino community, in part by operating a mobile vaccination clinic that can reach homebound residents. They also have been reaching out to senior programs and group homes that house the elderly to offer shots, she said.

So far the transition to providing booster shots has been smooth and wrinkle-free, Tulier-Laiwa added. She said she expects demand from seniors to increase now that Moderna shots have been authorized.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

But supplying seniors with booster shots has been more complicated according to Monique LeSarre, executive director of the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness, which has been coordinating vaccine outreach efforts to San Franciscos Black community.

The Rafiki Coalitions members have been calling up seniors they had previously helped get vaccinated and letting them know they can come in and get a booster. Theyve also been conducting large weekly calls that provide updated information on COVID-19 in the city, plus town halls.

The concern we have is folks think theyre protected and theyre not, LeSarre said, echoing one of the concerns of Perissinotto, the geriatrician. She said the citys Black residents received a disproportionate number of Johnson & Johnson shots, whose efficacy wanes more quickly than Pfizer and Moderna.

Additionally, Jonathan Butler, Executive Director of the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition, said that his organizations network of churches, which played a large role in getting Black seniors vaccinated earlier this year, have not yet been able to offer booster shots.

I personally get calls from seniors wanting to get vaccinations but they want to get the vaccine at the church because its a familiar place for them and a place they trust, he said. Weve reached out to (the Department of Public Health); theyre working on it. But now is the time for them to put in a little more effort. Our seniors are beginning to test positive for COVID.

That being said, LeSarre said she has seen increased demand at Rafiki-affiliated community vaccination sites now that booster shots are available. The question is whether its happening fast enough to prevent a spike in serious disease and death as the vaccines efficacy wanes.

Were seeing an uptick in hospitalizations among (Black) seniors ... I think were in a situation where were racing against time a little bit right now, she said.

Susie Neilson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: susie.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson
HOUSTON (AP)  The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms and killing eight people in the chaos.

The pandemonium unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. As a timer clicked down to the start of the performance, the crowd pushed forward.

As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire," concertgoer Niaara Goods said. "All of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someones arm in your neck. Youre trying to breathe, but you cant.

Goods said she was so desperate to get out that she bit a man on the shoulder to get him to move.

AP

The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized Saturday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. He called the disaster a tragedy on many different levels and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong.

Now Playing: The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms, witnesses said Saturday. (Nov. 6) Video: Associated Press

It may well be that this tragedy is the result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldnt possibly have been avoided," said Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris Countys top elected official. "But until we determine that, I will ask the tough questions.

Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density  too many people packed into a small space. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.

G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the United Kingdom's University of Suffolk, has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds. He said he usually does not look at eyewitness reports in the early stages of analyzing an incident because emotions can cloud the picture, and witnesses can see only whats immediately around them.

Amy Harris/Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Based on fire codes, the venue could have held 200,000 people, but city officials limited the attendance to 50,000, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said.

It was the crowd control at the point of the stage that was the issue, especially as the crowd began to surge toward the stage, Pena said.

The deaths called to mind a 1979 concert by the Who where 11 people died as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnatis Riverfront Coliseum. Other past crowd catastrophes include the deaths of 97 people in an overcrowded Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 in Sheffield, England, and numerous disasters connected with the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.

People in the Houston crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scotts set.

Then when Scott took the stage, the crowd seemed to rush to the front, trying to get closer to the stage, said Nick Johnson, a high school senior from the Houston suburb of Friendswood who was at the concert.

Everyone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldnt move. You couldnt do anything. You cant even pick your arms up, Johnson said. It just got worse and worse."

Johnson said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd.

Scott seemed to be aware that something was going on in the crowd, but he might not have understood the severity of the situation, Johnson said.

On video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert at one point and asking for aid for someone in the audience: Security, somebody help real quick.

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was absolutely devastated by what took place last night." He pledged to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.

Amy Harris, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press, described an aggressive crowd atmosphere throughout the day because of the way fans were behaving  pushing and rushing the stage barricades and prohibited VIP and admission areas.

It was definitely the most chaotic festival environment that Ive been in, Harris said. I felt uneasy all day.

Now Playing: The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms, witnesses said Saturday. (Nov. 6) Video: Associated Press

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said his department noticed attendees going down at 9:30 p.m. and immediately notified concert organizers. The event was called off 40 minutes later after discussions that included the fire department and officials with NRG Park.

Finner defended the amount of time it took for the event to be canceled.

You cannot just close when youve got 50,000  over 50,000  individuals, OK? Finner said. We have to worry about rioting  riots  when you have a group thats that young.

At one point, Gerardo Abad-Garcia was pressed so tightly into the crowd that he could not move his arms off his chest. During the performance that came before Scotts, he started getting concerned for his safety.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

I just couldnt breathe. I was being compressed, he said. A security guard helped him and others climb a fence and get out.

Michael Wyke/AP

He described the crowd during Scott's set as a wave that was going forward and backward." He said some people tried to help those who were passed out on the ground, while other concertgoers seemed to ignore them and continued watching the show.

Some audience members said barricades erected near the stage and to separate different sections of ticket holders prevented fans from escaping.

Billy Nasser described an area created by a stage barricade as a closet that people were thrown into and the door was shut. Joshua Robinson said the barricades created an area that was just way too small and compact for the number of people there.

Part of the investigation will include reviewing how the area around the stage was designed, the fire chief said.

Authorities did not disclose the causes of death, and the dead were not immediately identified.

The police chief said authorities were investigating reports of suspicious activity in the crowd, including a security officer who told police that he felt a prick in his neck during the chaos and lost consciousness while being examined by first responders. He was revived by the opioid antidote Narcan.

Scott, one of musics biggest young stars, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018. The 30-year-old Houston native has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. He has a 3-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that shes pregnant with their second child.

Drake joined Scott on-stage at the concert, which was livestreamed by Apple Music.

___

Associated Press writers Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Stan Choe in New York, David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Desiree Seals in Atlanta contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Travis Scott is 30 years old, not 29.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  A proposed U.N. resolution would unequivocally condemn all attacks, reprisals and violence against journalists and media workers and urge governments to take action to end the prevailing impunity and punish these crimes.

The draft General Assembly resolution circulated Friday also urges the immediate and unconditional release of journalists and media workers who have been arbitrarily arrested, arbitrarily detained or taken hostage or who have become victims of enforced disappearances.

The resolution was drafted by Greece, France, Austria, Costa Rica and Tunisia, according to U.N. diplomats, and lists 34 co-sponsors including the United Kingdom, Germany and many other European and Latin American countries as well as the Ivory Coast and Lebanon.

The United States was not included on the list, but an official at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations told The Associated Press the Biden administration has signed on as a co-sponsor. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak publicly,

The draft resolution must first be approved by the General Assemblys human rights committee and it then needs final approval from the 193-member world body. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do reflect global opinion.

The proposed resolution stresses that the right to freedom of opinion and expression is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It recognizes the importance of free, independent, plural and diverse media and access to information, online as well as offline, in building inclusive and peaceful knowledge societies and democracies. And it acknowledges that journalism is continuously evolving and contributing to the shaping of public debate.

The draft calls on governments to take legal measures to protect journalists and media workers and to do their utmost to prevent violence, threats and attacks against them. And it calls on them to develop and implement effective and transparent legal frameworks and measures for the protection of journalists and media workers and for combating impunity."

It stresses the importance of accountability, first by conducting impartial, speedy, thorough, independent and effective investigations into all alleged violence, threats and attacks against journalists and media workers, including sexual and gender-based violence against women journalists and media workers in armed conflict and non-conflict situations.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The proposed resolution also urges political leaders, public officials, and government authorities to refrain from denigrating, intimidating or threatening the media, including individual journalists and media workers, or from using misogynist or any discriminatory language towards women journalists, which thereby undermines trust in the credibility of journalists as well as respect for the importance of independent journalism.

In addition, the draft would condemn unequivocally government actions aimed at disrupting access to information -- or the dissemination of information -- online or offline. This aims to undermine the work of journalists in informing the public, including through practices such as Internet shutdowns or measures to unduly restrict, block or take down media websites, such as denial of service attacks, it says.

The proposed resolution calls on all countries to halt such measures which cause irreparable harm to efforts to build inclusive, peaceful and democratic societies. It also calls on governments to ensure that defamation and libel laws are not misused.
Liz Colomello woke up to the disorienting glare of a ceiling light and medical staff hovering over her, scared and confused as to how she landed at San Francisco General Hospitals trauma center.

The previous evening  Dec. 7  Colomello, her husband and their three dogs were crossing the intersection on Monterey Boulevard and Ridgewood Avenue, less than a block from their home in San Franciscos Sunnyside neighborhood. A speeding Toyota Corolla approached eastbound. The Corollas driver blew through a stop sign at the intersection and crashed into Colomello, throwing her more than 15 feet. The crash injured her head and neck and fractured her pelvis and four vertebrae, requiring spinal fusion surgery. A larger vehicle or higher speed probably would have meant her death.

I was very lucky, Colomello said.

Since 2011, S.F. General has treated 5,337 patients for severe traffic injuries such as Colomellos, according to a new report by the citys Department of Public Health examining traffic injury trends over the past decade.

The citys latest report comes as San Francisco and other Bay Area cities struggle to meet their Vision Zero goals of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2024. Meanwhile, pressure mounts from residents and advocates for greater and faster street safety improvements. The contentious issue again captured the regions attention last week after the death of Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, who was struck by a motorist at a waterfront intersection in Alameda on Wednesday morning while walking her dog.

In San Francisco, overall severe traffic injuries have slightly declined since 2019, according to the report  from a peak of 592 in 2018 to 512 last year  while the most severe critical injuries have remained consistent before and during the pandemic.

The state defines a severe injury as an injury that includes broken or fractured bones, dislocated or distorted limbs, severe lacerations, severe burns, or a state of unconsciousness when a person is taken from a collision scene.

While some categories saw notable increases or declines during the pandemic, the report cautions that the trends from the 2020 pandemic year may be a brief aberration, from a period when fewer people drove during lockdowns.

Pedestrians account for the highest share of severe injuries reported to S.F. General. Though cases of severe injuries among pedestrians notably declined from 186 in 2019 to 137 in 2020 during shelter-in-place orders, it still tied motor vehicle injuries as the most common type of severe injuries during the pandemic.

Severe injuries for bicyclists declined to 76 in 2019  a record low over the past decade  but rose to 115 last year. Two dozen of those severe injuries in 2020 were classified as critical, up from 16 in 2019.

The report also flagged electric scooters as an emerging mode that may be particularly vulnerable to traffic injury. Four of the five e-scooter injuries that required hospitalization last year were critical injuries, and the city logged its first two scooter-related fatalities last year.

In 2014, San Francisco made its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic fatalities within a decade. Since then other Bay Area cities such as San Jose, Berkeley, Alameda and Fremont have set similar goals focused on ending deaths.

But fatalities alone dont fully illustrate the scale of the city and regions traffic safety crisis, advocates say, and severe injuries can drastically alter someones quality of life.

Severe injuries dont get the headline, but it should make a headline that we have hundreds of people being severely injured every year in traffic crashes, said Marta Lindsey, spokesperson for Walk San Francisco.

Less than three years out from its self-imposed 2024 deadline, there are signs San Francisco plans to more aggressively pursue street safety improvements.

The Municipal Transportation Agencys Board of Directors endorsed a strategic plan last week calling for fast-tracking 20 safety improvement projects each year and completing an active transportation network connecting Slow Streets, car-free street segments and protected bike lanes throughout the city.

The agency is also putting to use a new state law to reduce speed limits  one of the main predictors of surviving a crash  on seven busy streets in January.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

To be honest, I dont know that we are going to be reaching zero traffic deaths by 2024, said Tom Maguire, director of the SFMTAs Streets Division. But we have to stay at the leading edge of cities.

Witnesses said they saw the Toyota Corolla strike Colomello at a speed that appeared to be greater than 40 mph on Monterey Boulevard  where the speed limit is 25 mph, the limit for most city street segments. A pedestrian has a 20% likelihood of surviving a vehicle crash at that speed, according to data cited by the agency.

Colomellos recovery has been long and grueling. She wore a neck brace for six weeks and spent months on a walker trying to regain her strength. Her neck mobility is not entirely back, and doctors told her it probably wont return to 100%, she said.

Still, shes thankful she was able to take two months paid time off her job to try and recover, and that her husband, Steve, has been there to help take of her. They cherish their walks around the neighborhood with their two greyhounds, Bodhi and Franny, and their Chihuahua mix, Bruno.

Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

Based on city data, hundreds more severe traffic injuries have probably occurred in the year since Colomellos crash, and the experience just makes it even more heartbreaking every time I see it happen to someone else, she said.

This can change your life, Colomello said. Even if you come out of it physically OK, you can automatically lose your ability to take care of your family, your income. Every one of these accidents has a huge ripple effect for the people involved.

Ricardo Cano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
In the middle of a city grappling with a major housing shortage sit 15 parcels of land now occupied by garbage-strewn parking lots, auto shops, a car wash and old government buildings. No apartments rise from these San Francisco plots, but they could  thousands of them, many affordably priced.

Planning officials have discussed allowing taller, denser apartment buildings on these parcels around Market Street and Van Ness Avenue, an area known as the Hub, for more than a decade. Theyre near transit, after all. They wouldnt displace anyone. And theyd create union jobs.

But at a Board of Supervisors land use committee meeting in June 2020, Supervisor Dean Preston persuaded his colleagues to delay the Planning Departments move to rezone the 15 parcels for more density.

The changes would allow an additional 1,300 housing units on the land, including 350 affordable ones, on top of the thousands that are already OKd. Planners recommended the committee approve the rezoning because no developer would move forward in the middle of the process without clarity about how many units could be built.

But at Prestons urging, the committee decided the city should first conduct an equity study of the ramifications of allowing more housing on the parcels.

We will allow no more than six months for its completion, Preston said then.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

But nearly a year and a half later, no such equity study exists. And no progress toward building housing on the 15 parcels has been made.

More Information Online: To read the report on Supervisor Dean Preston's housing record, visit https://nimby.report/preston. See More Collapse

The story is just one example of Preston rejecting, restricting or delaying housing in a new report titled Dean Prestons Housing Graveyard compiled by advocates for building more housing.

It found that since his inauguration in December 2019, the progressive tenants rights attorney and activist has opposed development plans and legislative proposals  at the city and state level  that could have yielded enough units to house more than 28,000 people  including enough affordable housing for nearly 8,500 people. That total includes his opposition to a state law that could have potentially added homes for almost 20,000 people in his district.

In those cases, the outcome didnt hinge on Prestons vote  but counting the number of units he opposed is an important part of his record nonetheless.

For other projects, such as the Hub lots, his actions directly changed the outcome. In those examples, Preston blocked or delayed enough units to house 8,587 people  or, on average, 12 people per day since taking office, the report said. The vast majority of those come from the Hub project; the majority of units could technically proceed now, but wont, as the rezoning process drags on and developers await firm answers.

Some of the projects listed in the report could eventually be built  like the Hub and the infamous transformation of a Nordstrom valet lot near Sixth and Market streets  and could conceivably be made better because of the delays. But theres real concern that San Francisco city leaders arent approving nearly enough housing in their quest for the perfect project.

The reports authors  all members of local YIMBY groups that support building more housing for people of all income levels  started with Preston because they believe hes the worst offender and because theyre all either current or former residents of Prestons District Five. The report authors will look at the housing records of each supervisor, and this column will cover each one.

I shared the report with Preston, who called it one-sided and make-believe.

Reading it is like a childrens fantasy book, sort of like Alice in YIMBY Land, he quipped.

Roland Li / The Chronicle

He said that seeking improvements to projects, including the equity study for the Hub lots, is not the same as blocking housing. He pointed to his work keeping people housed  including authoring Proposition I to raise up to $200 million annually for affordable housing by raising the real estate transfer tax, passing eviction bans during the pandemic, and funding tenants rights to legal counsel if they face eviction.

Preston said hes voted in support of more than 5,000 housing units, 39% of them affordable, since taking office, citing developments at the Potrero Power Station and Balboa Reservoir, among others. He added that hes one of the leading advocates in the state on tenant rights and affordable housing.

Asked about Prestons housing record and his approach to the Hub project, Jeff Cretan, spokesperson for Mayor London Breed, said that repeatedly delaying projects has real impacts.

When housing gets pushed back because of lack of political will or appeals or bureaucracy, that means years of people not having homes, Cretan said. It means years of everyone else seeing their housing prices continue to rise. It means years where more people who grew up here cant find housing and are forced out of the city.

To be clear, those delays arent all on the back of Preston. Hes in good company among supervisors thwarting needed housing creation  just look at the recent 8-3 vote to quash 495 units of housing, 24% of them affordable, on the Nordstrom valet parking lot on Stevenson Street.

One of the reports authors, David Broockman, an associate professor of political science at UC Berkeley, said his deep dive into Prestons housing record turned up repeated excuses the supervisor gave for not supporting projects, even those with a high percentage of affordable units.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in the Bay Area who need housing, and they cant wait for the hypothetical perfect housing he seems to have in mind to fall out of the sky, Broockman said. No matter what housing is proposed, he always finds a reason to say its not good enough.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Broockman lives on the edge of District Five, on the east end of Page Street, and said he could only afford a home there because of a mortgage assistance program he accessed through his job. He moved from Texas, where he was bullied for being gay, and laments that San Franciscos housing shortage and resulting exorbitant prices mean the city is a refuge for fewer people.

Broockman and a couple of friends got the idea for the report after seeing the supervisor trolling YIMBYs on Twitter, their favored social platform. Preston often tells those who support more housing of all types that theyre misrepresenting his record  that he is pro-housing, he just wants it to be affordable.

He tweets a lot. He kept saying, Look at my record. Look at my record, said Vitor Baccetti, another of the report authors, who immigrated from Brazil five years ago to work in the tech industry. So we did.

Broockman, Baccetti and a couple of other volunteers spent their free time since February plumbing planning documents, watching meetings and making public records requests in a bid to detail Prestons housing votes and positions.

There was his vote on the Nordstrom valet lot. There was his push to stall the sale of a Japantown hotel to the city so it could become permanent supportive housing for more than 100 homeless people; the hotel owner backed out of the deal, and it will remain a destination for tourists. There was his vote against turning a Divisadero Street gas station and car wash into 186 units, including 36 affordable ones.

Then there was Prestons opposition to the expansion of the UCSF hospital and research facility on Parnassus Heights, which would add 1,263 housing units, about 40% of them priced below market rate. The UC Board of Regents approved the plan anyway, but theyve been sued by a variety of community groups allied with Preston, including the Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium, run by John Elberling. He also runs TODCO, the powerful affordable housing owner that successfully appealed the approval of the project on the Nordstrom lot.

As for the Hub, Preston and the other land use committee members did allow three different parcels with more firmed-up development plans to proceed. TODCO and other community groups had made agreements with those developers in advance, including paying for affordable housing off site, and supported the rezoning, Elberling told me.

But Preston and the other supervisors, Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safai, halted the other 15 parcels for the equity study. That study was supposed to be led by Elberling and TODCO and completed by December 2020.

Elberling said TODCO would receive no money from the city to conduct the study and had hired a Southern California consulting firm to complete it.

The consultant couldnt finish it, and we put it aside due to COVID, he said, adding that TODCO will find a new consultant to complete the study. Expect it, he said, sometime in 2022.

In the meantime, the 15 lots will remain just the way they are. Unattractive, underused and a stark reminder of why the citys housing crisis persists.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily froze a Biden administration mandate that set a Jan. 4 deadline for companies with more than 100 employees to require that workers be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and be obliged to wear masks indoors.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana signals the start of a partisan legal battle over the requirement, which was issued Thursday and could affect 84 million workers  31 million of whom are believed to be unvaccinated. President Biden pitched the requirement as necessary to curb the pandemic, but its far-reaching scope stirred considerable controversy.

On Friday, more than two dozen mostly Republican-led states sued to stop the mandate, calling it a federal power grab that infringed on states rights. Now its get jabbed or lose your job, said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, in a statement vowing to fight the executive fiat as unconstitutional.

Saturdays brief ruling said the lawsuits give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate. It set a 5 p.m. Monday deadline for the government to respond and a 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline for the plaintiffs to reply.

Employers have mixed reactions to a federal mandate.

Many large companies, including marquee Bay Area firms, have already implemented their own vaccine requirements for workers in offices, said Stephen Massey, managing director of the Health Action Alliance, a joint initiative formed this year to coordinate a pandemic response among businesses, public health experts and communications professionals. Studies show that mandates boost worker vaccination rates by a third and often result in a 95% rate company-wide, he said.

Adobe, Alphabet, Apple, Chevron, Cisco, DoorDash, Facebook, Gap, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Google, Kaiser Permanente, Lyft, Netflix, Salesforce and Uber are examples from the Health Action Alliance website of local companies with vaccination mandates  with varying provisions.

The reality is we know that vaccination requirements work, Massey said. Since voluntary measures didnt achieve herd immunity, he thinks federal action is necessary.

But some large employers in the Bay Area and elsewhere have been concerned about the proposed federal mandate since it was revealed in September, especially given the current difficulties in finding enough workers to fill open jobs.

Many members of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce were worried about legal questions regarding employee health information, the potential of losing long time and high-quality team members at a time when they can least afford it, and the lack of practical ability to act as an enforcement arm of the government, said Derrick Seaver, CEO of the Silicon Valley Organization, the chambers new name, in a text.

Because of these concerns, we applaud todays court ruling and would hope that if and when the orders do take effect, they would be done with significantly more guidance and assistance than was originally provided, Seaver said.

Some labor unions had also expressed reservations about the mandate, in part because it doesnt require employers to cover the cost of weekly testing for unvaccinated workers, while others backed it.

Unite Here Local 2, which represents hotel and airport workers, said it supports the administrations action. It previously backed San Francisco International Airports September mandate that all workers must be vaccinated or tested weekly.

Our union is working with employers to ensure fair implementation because vaccines are critical to keeping workers safe and building a recovery where everyone comes back stronger, Anand Singh, Local 2 president, said in a statement.

Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a statement Friday that the Labor Department was confident in its legal authority to issue rules when workers are at risk during an emergency situation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration would enforce the measure.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act explicitly gives OSHA the authority to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them, she said. We are fully prepared to defend this standard in court.

However, John Ho, a labor and employment attorney and co-chair of the OSHA practice at the Cozen OConnor law firm, said OSHA has a poor track record of getting its emergency temporary standards past judicial scrutiny. The last time it tried to issue an emergency measure, about 20 years ago regarding asbestos, it was overturned, he said.

Ho said he expects the issue to end up at the Supreme Court quickly, given that all the cases are being filed as expedited emergency measures.

Personally, I think it will be reversed, he said of the Biden administration mandate. The president has made clear that he wants more and more folks vaccinated, and hes trying to camouflage the ETS (emergency temporary standard) as a public health law. Thats not what its intended for.

Instead, he thinks OSHA could publish an infectious disease standard through its normal process, which includes a lengthy period for comments from the public and stakeholders.

But Massey, from the Health Action Alliance, saw it differently.

What OSHA is doing here is protecting the American worker, he said. That is OSHAs responsibility; that is employers responsibility  to protect work health and safety.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
At long last, San Francisco's speakeasy-inspired Bourbon & Branch reopened on Friday to furtive cocktail-sippers.

"Thank you to everyone that has supported us and patiently awaited our return. We are more than excited!" read the bar's announcement on Instagram. "Welcome back to the roaring 20s."

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Bourbon & Branch has kept its doors closed.

"It unfortunately was one of the locations that a parklet was not really a viable solution, and also indoors was just prohibited at the time," said Doug Dalton, co-owner of Bourbon & Branch as well as other San Francisco bars in the Future Bars Group including Rickhouse, Pagan Idol, Local Edition and The Lark.

While California had its official reopening of the economy back in June, Bourbon & Branch stayed closed a little longer for some renovations, including new floors and new flocked velvet wallpaper.

"Bourbon & Branch opened in 2006, so what we did was take the opportunity during that time to basically refresh the entire bar," explained Dalton. "The bar had never had an opportunity to shut down and redo the floors, the bartops, the back bar."

In addition to the renovations, the password-required speakeasy is also introducing some creative new cocktails to its menu  but don't worry, the bar's mainstays haven't gone anywhere.

"We brought back some of our alumni, and so because of that theyve brought back some classics and also the staples of Bourbon & Branch," said Dalton.

The swanky spot's first night was a success, according to Dalton. They announced the reopening on social media just 24 hours beforehand, and he immediately received texts from Bourbon & Branch regulars trying to secure their reservations.

"It went really well," he said. "We have not done a lot of publicity around reopening the bar, because we wanted to gradually reopen ... now that we're 100% full steam ahead, I'm excited that we will see a lot more traction with the bar."

The old-timey watering hole is now taking reservations for the main bar through Yelp, and the "library" portion of the bar is open to walk-ins. The speakeasy-within-a-speakeasy called Wilson & Wilson will reopen in the next week or so.

"People have really started to go out in large numbers again, and we feel confident that people are going to want to start embracing the experiences they haven't gotten to have over the pandemic," said Dalton. "... Bourbon & Branch was built on a speakeasy during the 1920s, and a lot of people equated the coming out of pandemic with the roaring 20s: a resurgence of culture and nightlife."

Sounds like it's about time to quietly sip a Revolver while listening to some jazz.

Bourbon and Branch, located at 501 Jones St., San Francisco, is now open Tuesday-Thursday from 6 p.m.-midnight and Friday-Saturday from 6 p.m.-2 a.m.
There are far too few Sierra Nevada red foxes in the world.

The elusive and resilient creatures are found only at high altitude, in the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada and the Southern Cascade Range of Oregon and California. These foxes are almost never seen by humans, and scientists estimate their population at fewer than 100.

So as the Dixie Fire bore down on Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lassen National Forest  which comprises some of the foxs extremely limited habitat  wildlife biologists were apprehensive.

We were very concerned about them, says Pete Figura, a wildlife management supervisor with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Northern Region. Of the four Sierra Nevada red foxes that CDFW has been monitoring via GPS collar, the team was most worried about a mother nicknamed Tule, Figura says. She lives in the Caribou Wilderness  which the fire swept through  and had recently created a den and birthed two pups.

The other collared foxes live in the vicinity of Mount Lassen. And though that less vegetated area seemed unlikely to ignite, the biologists could only watch and wait.

Ashley Harrell / SFGATE

This is only the latest chapter, of course, in the saga of the Sierra Nevada red fox. For decades, it has danced around extinction; in 1980, it was listed as threatened in California. In September of this year, the population within the Sierra Nevada was listed as federally endangered.

Little about the fox was known before 1937, when Joseph Grinnells Fur-bearing Mammals of California first described the already rare canid.

The Sierra Nevada red fox is usually a rich, rusty reddish, with a thick brush of a tail, abruptly and conspicuously tipped with white, Grinnell wrote, with heavy underfur and long, fine overhair. Others who had seen the foxes recounted them as the wildest wild creatures, and in running, as in all their other movements  most graceful, seeming to be composed of some light material little heavier than air.

Tracking the foxes in wintertime is apparently very difficult, because the hair on their feet grows out and conceals the toe and heel pads, obscuring any footprints. They are active year-round though, hunting rodents, birds and hares and avoiding predators like golden eagles. Although they generally hunt at night and sleep during the day, scientists have observed that the foxes can be flexible and opportunistic.

Fur trappers hunted the foxes for their pelts until it became illegal in 1974, but the foxes numbers never recovered. The National Park Service website lists trapping, meadow overgrazing (which reduced prey populations), competition from coyotes and martens and climate change as threats.

For Figura  who has been part of collaring efforts over the past several years  the rare occasions when hes encountered the foxes in the wild have been very exciting.

These critters have somehow persisted in a very tough environment, and done so at very low population levels for a long time, he says.

Courtesy of Corrie McFarland/CDFW

In the decade leading up to the Dixie Fire, there were several hopeful developments regarding the foxes. In 2010, an individual was caught on a wildlife camera in Stanislaus National Forest near the Sonora Pass, an area from which the species was thought to have been eliminated a century before.

Before that discovery, scientists believed that only about 20 Sierra Nevada red foxes existed on Earth, confined to the Lassen area. That tiny population meant they were heavily inbred. The discovery in Stanislaus National Forest raised hopes for an additional population of foxes whose genetic diversity could help restore the species.

Then in 2015, scientists determined that a subspecies of foxes living in Oregon should also be classified as Sierra Nevada red foxes, and in 2017, several were collared. In 2018, scientists captured several Sierra Nevada red foxes in Lassen Volcanic National Park, allowing them to take blood samples, collar the animals and track them electronically.

The data helped biologists understand the foxes home range, denning tendencies and reproductive biology. We have already been surprised by the large area the fox has been using and the distance it has traveled, CDFW environmental scientist Jennifer Carlson told NPS. It has averaged over 7 straight-line miles per day in very rugged terrain.

When the Dixie Fire first ignited in July, wildlife biologists watched in horror as extremely dry conditions and high winds spread the flames over what would become nearly 1 million acres. Despite a full suppression strategy, 73,067 acres of Lassen Volcanic National Park burned, accounting for 68% of the park. The fire also raced over neighboring Lassen National Forest.

Carlson regularly checked for updates on the whereabouts of the four collared Sierra Nevada red foxes. As the fire grew within Lassen and the Caribou Wilderness, she feared the worst: that the coordinates would cease to arrive, or that they would indicate one or more of the foxes had stopped moving.

The fire burned through the main part of mother fox Tules home range, the Caribou Wilderness, on or around Aug. 1, Figura says. Some areas of the federally designated wilderness area burned at high intensity and others at low, and the scientists were not sure how bad it had gotten near Tules den.

Courtesy of CDFW

But shortly after the fire had passed through, the biologists received new data on the foxs whereabouts. She never left the area and was on the move in the vicinity of her den through at least the end of August. The red foxes living around Lassen Peak were also safe.

The good thing is that the Dixie Fire did not burn the bulk of the areas that our collared red foxes are using, Figura says. Parts of their home ranges burned. But not much of their summer home range burned  the parts that they're using now.

That isnt to say that all the foxes survived. Uncollared individuals living in the central and eastern areas of the national park are impossible to track. And the biologists arent sure about the current conditions in the Caribou Wilderness.

A lot of that burned, Figura says. And the fire burned very, very close to the den site [Tule] was using this year.

Unless they learn otherwise, the biologists are assuming the pups are OK, Figura says. And for those who know these magnificent foxes best, its actually not surprising that they made it through the Dixie Fire. After all, with miniscule numbers, theyve faced incredibly difficult odds, and yet have managed to keep the species going for more than a century.

They survived and theyre still in the park, says Lassen spokesperson Kevin Sweeney. Its a really neat story.
Disclaimer: Delta-8 is intoxicating, but is less potent than Delta-9 that is found in traditional cannabis products. Please consult a doctor before deciding to use any hemp or cannabis products.

(Ad) Delta 8 THC has leveled the playing field. For anyone who lives in a state where weed is not legal, Delta 8 is the only access to legal THC.

Disclaimer: While Delta-8 is legal in most states where recreational cannabis is not yet legal, states around the country are debating making Delta 8 illegal. While Delta-8 is intoxicating, but is less potent than Delta-9 that is found in traditional cannabis products.

Until the day that weed is accessible for all Americans, Delta 8 is the next best thing you can get your hands on. Even after legalization, it is likely that Delta 8 will still be in high demand due to its lower concentration and potential for medical applications, once there is further research on its benefits. (Note: this article does not claim medical properties for Delta 8, but merely offers speculation based on past studies that will be described later.) This article will list and compare the 8 best Delta 8 brands, based on our review.

If you're looking to buy Delta 8 products, it's best to know which brands to trust and which products offer the best user experience. Delta 8 can be consumed through an enormous variety of mediums, including but not limited to blunts, edibles, cigarettes, concentrate, and oil tinctures.

Edibles are probably the most cost effective method for getting high, regardless of tolerance level. Of these, Delta 8 oil extract is the most cost effective, and can be purchased in the form of oil tinctures. Oil tinctures are bottles of oil infused with Delta 8, packaged with a dropper for measuring out portions.

The best delta 8 tinctures offer buyers a wide variety of uses: they are basically the Swiss army knife of getting high. Whether you mix the distillate into a smoothie or a nice home cooked meal, or you decide to take the oil straight from the dropper, oil tinctures are the most cost effective product.

Once you have decided on this form of Delta 8, you need to understand how to decide on the brand. The main criteria to check when you evaluate a brand and their products are cost, production methods, transparency of lab test results, and value provided to the customer. Let's look at each of these in turn.

Cost

It's only rational to price-shop and look strictly at the price tag. Most of us are not afraid to admit that we are on a budget, and it might seem great to go for the cheapest product we find. But often a cheaper product does not necessarily mean better valueit may mean lower quality, or you could miss out on valuable benefits for a slightly higher price.

Production Methods

Delta 8 must be extracted from hemp in order for it to be used for human consumption. The extraction method is extremely important to the overall quality of the product because it can affect both potency and flavor. In addition to extraction, the accompanying ingredients that are used in a company's products are indicative of the brand as a whole, and further alert buyers to whether or not it is a worthwhile purchase.

Lab Results

The Delta 8 space is a new market and regulation is basically nonexistent outside of the 2018 Farm Bill. Therefore, it is very important that you only use brands that can are trustworthy. One indication of trustworthiness is their transparency: that is, they share their lab test results, and of course those results meet expectations. These lab tests verify the composition and potency of the Delta 8 within the product, so you can be sure that you are getting exactly what is advertised.

Value to the Customer

Offering low prices is not the only way a business can earn a customer's loyalty, because a tradeoff in price is often a tradeoff in quality. Still, a business can earn customer loyalty by offering exceptional deals and discounts based on sales volume and consistency of consumption. It's a good idea to consider the ways that a business can add value to you before you buy, based on your expected amount and frequency of purchase.

With these qualities in mind, let's dive into our review of the 8 best Delta 8 tinctures. These brands were selected based on their exemplary performance in all the qualities listed above, and they have our seal of approval for when you look to buy.

1. Everest

No other brand can match Everest's ability to check off every box of our criteria list at an exceptional level. Buying from Everest leaves little to be desired because they manage to package quality, value, and transparency into one bottle of oil. Everest provides excellent deals to their customers, sources their hemp with the most reliable means, and leaves no stone unturned in quality control.

Everest offers three mediums of Delta 8 consumption: gummies, vape cartridges, and oil tinctures. Their Delta 8 distillate is sourced from naturally grown American hemp, which is among the most well-regulated in the world, so you can be confident about trusting the source. Furthermore, their solvent extraction process is among the most trusted in the industry.

Everest's oil tinctures are loaded with 1000mg of Delta 8 THC distillate, which is sure to take you to the moon. Everest's tinctures are made with all vegan-friendly, non-GMO, all-organic ingredients. Their mint-flavored tinctures are among the most well made in the industry, and among the most reliable.

Everest makes sure to test their products both before and after production by contracting with third-party, GMP-certified testing labs. Transparency is of the utmost concern, and they keep everyone in the loop by posting the results on their products page. Anyone can access the Everest Certificate of Analysis (CoA) for every product that they offer.

Everest also adds exceptional value for their customers with their subscription payment plan, which is especially beneficial to regular users and returning customers. With the subscription plan, customers receive a monthly delivery for the product of their choice for a steep discount of 20% off. Add this to Everest's free shipping in the US, and you are looking at the best deal package around.

With its great deals, exceptional production quality, and tremendous value, it's easy to see why Everest is at the top of our list of 8 best Delta 8 tinctures.

2. 3CHI

3CHI is among the cream of the crop of Delta 8 brands, and it's easy to see why: they are one of the most reliable companies around. 3CHI was founded by a highly experienced biochemist, and their products are testament to his 15 years of experience in the cannabis industry.

3CHI offers a variety of high quality Delta 8 products, including vapes, cartridges, edibles, and oil tinctures. Across all products, 3CHI sources their items from naturally grown hemp, and they infuse most of their products with a wide array of cannabinoids for a heightened effect.

This is especially the case for their oil tinctures. 3CHI's oil tinctures are among the most exceptionally made oil tinctures around due to the infusion of the cannabinoids CBN, CBC, and full-spectrum CBD, which intensify and deepen the experience. 3CHI even manages to construct their oils to help intensify a certain mood that the consumer hopes to maintain. To that end, 3CHI offers six different oil tinctures, each with a specific targeted mood. There is the basic Delta 8 oil tincture, the "Comfortably Numb" tincture, the "Calm" oil blend, "Happy," "Focus," and "Soothe." 3CHI differentiates each tincture based on the complex blend of cannabinoids that has been designed for the desired effect.

Though 3CHI does not offer subscription plan deals like other brands, their prices are among the most competitive in the market. Furthermore, customers can trust their purchase, because of the detailed records 3CHI keeps of each product's composition, their testing processes, and their easily accessible lab data.

3. Area 52

The Area 52 brand differentiates itself through a unique aesthetic and its social consciousness as a company, which place it among the most respected brands in the Delta 8 market. Area 52's outer-space, alien-themed product design, consideration of social and environmental issues, and overall value for customers places it at number three on list of the best Delta 8 tinctures we reviewed.

Area 52 presents a respectable line of products, which includes gummies, vapes, and tinctures. Their tinctures are packed with 1200mg of distillate, so buyers can be certain they are getting optimum value with their purchase. Their oil tinctures come in cherry and vanilla flavors, and are made with all vegan-friendly ingredients.

Along with great value, customers know that they are patronizing a company that values greater outcomes than just increasing profit margins. Area 52 has a highly principled position on protecting the environment and implementing sustainable business practices. It is why they dedicate so much energy to providing vegan, all-natural products packaged in reusable containers.

If you become a loyal customer of Area 52, they also offer favorable subscription-based deals for all of their products. When you become a subscriber for a certain product, you earn a 15% discount that can be applied to any product you order.

Along with great deals, Area 52 is trustworthy. All Area 52 products are regularly tested for potency. Anyone who is curious about the content of the products can find all Area 52's lab results on their site. The consideration and care Area 52 puts into their products places them at number three on our list.

4. Finest Labs

Finest Labs executes a high level of professionalism that's clearly apparent in their transparency and the insight into the Delta 8 market that they offer on their site. Finest Labs specializes in this transparency and its value to customers, especially repeat customers.

The company sources their Delta 8 from naturally grown American hemp. Finest Labs employs one of the most advanced extraction methods in the business, and they use the assistance of AI to produce the purest Delta 8 extract possible. They also infuse their products with a unique blend of terpenes and cannabinoids for an intensified effect.

Finest Labs offers gummies and cartridges as well as oil tinctures. Their tinctures are a little smaller than most, but are affordable and come in a delicious berry flavor. Each bottle is packed with 500mg of Delta 8 THC distillate and Finest Lab's unique combination of terpenes and cannabinoids.

Like other companies on our list, Finest Labs provides a subscription-based payment plan for loyal customers that reduces the bill by 15%. Along with generous discounts, Finest Labs seeks to educate their customers on the Delta 8 industry, providing valuable information on their site and regularly posting lab results for their products.

5. CBD Farmhouse

CBD Farmhouse is an exemplary Texas-based CBD company that is worthy of your trust and consideration. They source all of their Delta 8 from naturally grown American hemp. The brand is pharmacist-owned, and their products are created by doctors, so customers can trust that the quality of CBD Farmhouse will be of the highest level.

CBD Farmhouse has an exhaustive list of products, ranging blunts and tinctures to t-shirts and bath bombs. The highlight of their almost overwhelming catalogue is their line of oil tinctures. These tinctures are made with both Delta 8 THC and full spectrum CBD, which provides an extra boost of stress relief. They offer a natural flavor, as well as a peppermint flavor for anyone who doesn't care for the earthy taste of hemp. They also offer two different concentrations of tincture, 500mg CBD and 1000mg CBD.

CBD Farmhouse has a unique and effective feature that many businesses in this area seem to overlook: a dosage chart. Of course, many brands offer insight on the recommended dose, but the CBD Farmhouse website provides a chart that recommends dosage based on body weight.

Along with providing this dosage advice, CBD Farmhouse gives access to their lab test data for anyone on their website. With its science-based staff, range of products, and customer assistance, there is little doubt that CBD Farmhouse belongs on the list of the best Delta 8 tinctures.

6. Diamond CBD

Diamond CBD is known for having one of the largest selections of Delta 8 products in the entire industry. If CBD Farmhouse had a supermarket's worth of product, then Diamond CBD would be an entire strip mall. Along with having an absolutely astronomical inventory, Diamond CBD has one of the most advanced extraction methods in the business.

Diamond CBD's products are made with Delta 8 distillate that is sourced from American grown hemp using the CO2 extraction method, which is among the most effective methods available in the world. This method provides the best flavor possible for their oil tinctures and eliminates the earthy hemp taste that is often apparent in other products.

Like CBD Farmhouse, Diamond CBD makes its oil tinctures with full-spectrum CBD, which helps increase the overall effect of the Delta 8. Their oil is flavorless, but they have some of the largest concentration of Delta 8 oil per bottle of any company on this list. The quantity per bottle ranges from 1000mg, to 1500mg, and up to 2000mg.

All Diamond CBD products are offered at a discount rate, and their prices are among the most competitive on the market. Furthermore, they provide a lab sheet with relevant testing data for every product that they carry. There is no question that Diamond CBD produces one of the best Delta 8 tinctures in the space.

7. Elyxr

If you place a high priority on having a wide selection of flavors to choose from in your cannabis products, then Elyxr might be just the company for you. Elyxr offers an immense amount of flexibility, enabling customers to mix and match flavors as they please in both their oil tinctures and their gummies.

Elyxr's Delta 8 tinctures are filled with 1000mg of oil distillate that is guaranteed to provide an enjoyable experience. Elyxr is another brand that seeks to maximize a certain mood through their oil tincture formula, and each targeted mood has a corresponding flavor to accompany the mood.

Elyxr's many unique flavors include tropical passionfruit, mellow grape, blueberry lavender lemonade, spearmint, lemon verbena, cherry peppermint, and orange. These flavors correspond to the respective moods of passion, sleep, relaxation, focus, alertness, and relief.

Elyxr believes that transparency should be a top priority, and includes the lab results for their oil tinctures on their website, so anybody can access them. Elyxr stands out as a brand that values trust, and their diverse set of flavors and moods.

8. Delta Extrax

Delta Extrax may sound like a new name to seasoned veterans of the Delta 8 market, but this is actually the company that was formerly known as Delta Effex. Regardless of the name, Delta Extrax is a brand anyone can feel comfortable with, because it excels at all the simple things that mean the most to customers.

Delta Extrax offers three distinct oil tinctures for customers to choose from, and they manage to execute a very effective product with a simplicity in their variety. They promote a specific mood for each of the three varieties by varying the strain of hemp-derived distillate used in each one.

Buyers can choose tinctures that achieve three different moods, each corresponding to a specific strain: indica-based "chill," the sativa-based "focus", and their hybrid tincture for "balance." Anyone familiar with cannabis knows that there are two general strains, indica and sativa, which provide a somewhat different experience. In general, indica puts you on the couch, and sativa helps for create a more focused high.

The ingredients that Delta Extrax uses for their oil tinctures reflect the simplicity and efficiency of their business model. They use only terpenes and MCT oil (Delta 8 oil), so there are no hidden chemicals, sweeteners, or other junk that is sometimes hidden in lower quality products. Simplicity is the calling card that earns Delta Extrax a spot on this list.

Are there any health benefits from Delta 8?

Many people ask this question, and it seems like a straightforward answer is rare. To be frank, there are no clinical studies demonstrating the health benefits of consuming Delta 8 THC. This does not mean it cannot be beneficial to you, nor does it mean that there aren't any potential medical applications for Delta 8. It just means the research hasn't found them yet.

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Conclusion

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*This article is provided by an advertiser. Statements made are not meant to offer medical advice nor to diagnose any condition. Any studies cited here may be preliminary, and may or may not be peer reviewed, and may or may not have sufficient participants to be statistically relevant. Anecdotal accounts should not be taken as scientific results. Products discussed in this article are not designed to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. The FDA does not evaluate dietary supplements. Consult your doctor about possible interactions, allergies, and if you are considering using a natural and/or dietary supplements for any condition. Individual results will vary.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  As this year's U.N. climate talks go into their second week, negotiations on key topics are inching forward. Boosted by a few high-profile announcements at the start of the meeting, delegates are upbeat about the prospects for tangible progress in the fight against global warming.

Laurent Fabius, the former French foreign minister who helped forge the Paris climate accord, said the general atmosphere had improved since the talks began Oct. 31 and "most negotiators want an agreement.

But negotiators were still struggling late Saturday to put together a series of draft decisions for government ministers to finalize during the second week of the talks.

People are having to take tough decisions, as they should," Archie Young, the U.K.s lead negotiator, said Saturday.

Here's the state of play in four main areas halfway through the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow:

TOP RESULT FROM THE CONFERENCE

Each Conference of the Parties, or COP, ends with a general statement. It's as much a political declaration as a statement of intent about where countries agree the effort to combat climate change is heading.

A flurry of announcements at the start of the COP26 talks in Glasgow on issues including ending deforestation, cutting methane emissions, providing more money for green investments and phasing out the use of coal could be reflected in this final declaration. Even though only some countries signed on to each of those deals, others would be encouraged to add their signatures at a later date.

Affirming the goal of keeping global warming at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, compared to pre-industrial times, is also seen as important. With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise, host Britain has said it wants the Glasgow talks to keep 1.5 C alive. One way to achieve that would be to encourage rich polluters in particular to update their emissions-cutting targets every one or two years, rather than every five years as now required by the Paris accord.

MONEY MATTERS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE

Rich countries pledged to mobilize $100 billion each year by 2020 to help poor nations cope with climate change. That target was likely missed, much to the frustration of developing nations.

Restoring goodwill and trust between rich and poor countries on this issue requires a clear commitment on raising financial support starting from 2025. Addressing the thorny question of who is to pay for the losses and damages that nations face as a result of global warming they aren't responsible for is likewise important, but agreement there could be elusive, observers say.

Its about finance, finance, finance, finance, said Fabius.

CARBON TRADING: A TRICKY NUT TO CRACK

Many negotiators and observers at climate conferences roll their eyes when they hear the words Article 6.

The section dealing with rules for carbon markets has become one of the trickiest parts of the Paris climate accord to finalize. Six years after that deal was sealed, countries appear to be making headway though and there's even talk of a breakthrough on the issue that so frustrated negotiators in Madrid two years ago.

Observers say Brazil and India may be willing to drop demands to count their old  but others say worthless  carbon credits amassed under previous agreements. The price for this might be that rich nations grant poor countries a share of proceeds from carbon market transactions to adapt to climate change. This has been a red line for the United States and the European Union until now.

A deal on Article 6 is seen as crucial because many countries and companies aim to cut their emissions to net zero by 2050. This requires balancing out any remaining pollution with an equal amount of carbon they can reliably say is captured elsewhere, such as through forests or by technological means.

TRANSPARENCY AND RIGOR IN NATIONAL EMISSIONS-CUTTING TARGETS

The Paris Agreement lets governments set their own emissions-cutting targets, and many of them are in the distant future.

Verifying that countries are doing what they committed to, and that their goals are backed up by realistic measures, is tricky. China in particular has bristled at the idea of having to provide data in formats set by other nations. Brazil and Russia, meanwhile, have resisted demands to lay out in greater detail the short-term measures they're taking to meet their long-term goals.

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Follow AP's coverage of the climate talks at http://apnews.com/hub/climate
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP)  A judge ruled Friday that a man charged with killing four people in a shooting at a Southern California real estate office isn't competent to stand trial because of injuries he suffered in a shootout with police.

Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez was shot in the head, and his attorney had said he might be incapable of understanding the charges against him. He didn't speak at the hearing and didn't show any obvious reaction to the proceedings, the Orange County Register reported.

The case is now suspended indefinitely.

The county district attorney's office said every medical expert who has evaluated Gaxiola Gonzalez has concluded he isn't competent to help his lawyers because of deficits" caused by the wound.

He will now be evaluated by medical professionals who will assist the court to determine his future placement and medical treatment plan in an effort to restore his competency," said a statement from the District Attorney's office. He will continued to be housed in a lock down facility."

Police say that on March 31, Gaxiola Gonzalez opened fire at a mobile home brokerage company, Unified Homes, in Orange southeast of Los Angeles.

Authorities had to use bolt cutters to break bicycle locks that had been used to shut the gates at the business complex.

Family members of the victims were in the courtroom where Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham told them that the case couldn't proceed unless the defendant is found competent.

Everything that is happening now is beyond everyones control, Pham said, according to the Register.

We are struggling with the system, and yet there is nothing we can do, said Raquel Ramirez Quiroz, the aunt of one of the victims. This is just a nightmare and we cant wake up I hope this moves faster, because the justice we are not getting is tearing this family apart.

Gaxiola Gonzalez is charged with special-circumstances murder for the killings of Jenevieve Raygoza, 28; Luis Tovar, 50; Leticia Solis Guzman, 58; and Matthew Farias, 9. He also is charged with the attempted murder of Matthews mother, Blanca Ismeralda Tamayo, and for allegedly shooting at two officers who werent injured.

Authorities havent revealed a motive for the attack. His estranged wife worked at the business for more than a decade. But Aleyda Mendoza told The Associated Press in a text that she and Gaxiola had been separated for two years, and he never told me anything about where he was staying or what he was doing.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Federal appeals court temporarily halts Biden administration vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.
The Arizona National Guard is assisting with vaccinations in Maricopa County jails.

Correctional Health Services has partnered since Tuesday with a team of Army Guard Medics personnel to administer COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, and flu shots to high-risk patients, county spokesperson Fields Moseley said.

Moseley told the Arizona Republic it was a temporary, collaborative effort that was expected to last three weeks.

The goal is to boost the number of COVID-19 and flu vaccinations in inmates before the height of flu season and return to the community, he said.

A request sent to the Countys Emergency Management Department on Oct. 22 stated Maricopa County Correctional Health Services is requesting 2-5 medics daily M-F. Start date TBD until 12/15/21 to assist in COVID-19 vaccinations.

The request said the medics would administer Moderna or Janssen vaccines. This would be at all six MCSO facilities on a rotating basis.

The request comes on the heels of a separate recent request from the Sheriffs Office for 135 National Guard troops because of staffing shortages at the Sheriffs Office. The Sheriffs Office rescinded the request, but the office said it is still looking at ways to use National Guard troops in the jails.
MISSION, Kan. (AP)  School board candidates opposing mask mandates and lessons about racism in U.S. history won in red states and some politically divided districts but often came up short in their bids to shape policy for school districts over the newest culture war issue.

The mixed results complicate the picture for Republicans who are increasingly looking to the education fight as a galvanizing issue that could help them sway voters. They point to the upset in Virginia by Republican Glenn Youngkin, who won his race for governor Tuesday in the liberal-leaning state after making education grievances a key part of his campaign. Some conservative political action groups said they racked up wins in the school board races where they funneled money.

But across the country, culture and identity fights were less decisive. The political tracking website Ballotpedia identified 96 school districts in more than a dozen states where race education and masking were part of the debate. It found that at least one anti-critical race theory or anti-mask candidate prevailed in 35 of the 86 districts in which it has determined winners, or 40%.

Where they won, they won in really high numbers, said Doug Kronaizl, a staff writer for Ballotpedia, noting that candidates who won on the issue tended to be concentrated in the same districts. But overall nationwide they didnt win that much.

In Connecticut, a slate of five candidates running in opposition to critical race theory lost the board of education race in the Guilford school system, an overwhelmingly white New Haven suburb of 22,000 where a petition calling for the superintendents removal circulated after the district ditched its Indians mascot and doubled down on efforts to address social justice and racism.

I think that there continues to be a national discussion where the term critical race theory is used inaccurately if not insincerely to attack work that is being done in schools, and that was successful in a lot of races, said Superintendent Paul Freeman, who said the district doesnt teach critical race theory.

Technically, it is an academic framework that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nations institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people. But in recent months, it has become a catch-all political buzzword for any teaching in schools about race and American history.

We do not shame or blame the white children in Guilford when we talk about the issues of race or racism in our classrooms, whether historic or contemporary, Freeman stressed.

Incumbent school board members in Mequon, Wisconsin, a wealthy, Republican-leaning suburb north of Milwaukee, won decisively after a group of parents led a recall effort based largely on their opposition to the districts hiring of a diversity consultant. All four incumbents were reelected by more than 1,000 votes after a summer-long petition drive that drew the attention of local Republicans.

In Springboro, Ohio, outside Dayton, Frank Catrine, a local Republican activist who is opposed to critical race theory, finished fifth out of eight candidates in a school board race in which all incumbents were reelected. He has argued that diversity and inclusion efforts exclude white students and parents.

If you want true diversity, youre open to everybody, Catrine said. But if they are only focused on Black people and the LGBTQ community, not everybody is welcome.

In Washington state, school board candidate Riley Smith said that while knocking on doors in his Democratic-leaning district in Spokane this fall, he encountered very few people interested in discussing race in education.

This whole critical race theory, anti-masking, that was dominating the national narrative wasnt really on peoples minds, said Riley, who beat a vocal opponent of the educational framework for the open seat.

Yael Levin, who leads the Virginia chapter of No Left Turn in Education, a group opposed to teaching critical race theory, said some losses were to be expected given the newness of the movement, which she said grew from the pandemic, when remote learning made parents more aware of what their children were being taught. The organization has ballooned to 78 chapters in more than 25 states since it was founded last year.

This is a very new movement of parents. And its a direct result of COVID. So it makes sense that we succeeded in some places and didnt in others, Levin said, but were going to keep our movement alive because the attack on our children is not stopping anytime soon.

In conservative Wichita, Kansas, Ben Blankley was among three candidates voted out of office and replaced by a slate of anti-critical race theory candidates who have promised changes in COVID-19 mitigation efforts in the district.

I kind of figured this would be the end result, said Blankley, a 38-year-old aerospace engineer with a first-grader in the district. Regardless of the decisions that we made, I figured there would be a political backlash eventually for a bunch of good people. And so it kind of steeled my resolve to make the best decisions I could with the information that we had knowing that being out of office could be an eventuality because of all of this.

Across the state, mask mandate opponents were ahead Friday in several races in Johnson County, an increasingly purple Kansas City suburb that voted for Joe Biden for president in 2020 despite historically leaning Republican. Some of the winning candidates in the Blue Valley and Olathe districts got a boost from the 1776 Project PAC.

Axios reported the political action committee  named after former President Donald Trumps now-disbanded 1776 Commission, which played down Americas role in slavery  was successful in three-fourths of 58 races in seven states. Victories across the country and this is just the beginning, the group tweeted.

Money from other conservative PACs flowed into the West Chester, Pennsylvania, race after board president Chris McCune antagonized critical race theory opponents. McCune, a Republican, initially was ahead in the vote count but has slipped behind a a PAC-backed critical race theory supporter and another candidate as mail-in ballots are counted.

These allegations from the far right are very challenging and the climate around public education has been very toxic, said McCune, 48, who works in software sales and whose five children all attend district schools.

1776 Action, which is separate from the similarly named political action committee, sent out mailers and targeted text messages in the West Chester race and another in Iowa. The group, which encourages candidates to sign a pledge calling for the restoration of honest, patriotic education, was encouraged by the results.

This movement to defeat anti-American indoctrination in our schools is only going to grow stronger in 2022," said Adam Waldeck, the groups president.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  France has agreed to help initiate talks between Cyprus and French-speaking African countries for a deal to take back their citizens whose asylum applications have been rejected, the Cypriot interior minister said Saturday.

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said his French counterpart Gerald Darmanin made the pledge during a brief visit to the Cypriot capital on Friday.

Nouris said the overwhelming majority of migrants who arrived at ethnically split Cyprus in the last year hail from sub-Saharan African countries with which the European Union doesnt have such send-back agreements. Nouris said he would possibly travel to Paris next month to thrash out details of such potential agreements and other migration issues.

Cyprus says it has the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU members relative to its population of 1.1 million and its reception system has reached a breaking point.

Around 80% of all migrants enter Cyprus from its breakaway north and then cross a porous, U.N.-controlled buffer zone to seek asylum in the internationally recognized south.

Nouris said 15,000 migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected cant be deported from Cyprus because of the lack of any EU send-back agreements with their countries.

Cyprus this week signed a 27.5 million euro ($31.8 million) deal with Israel for the installation of a camera system to monitor the 180-kilometer long buffer zone.

The Cypriot government claims that Turkey systematically forwards asylum-seekers to the Mediterranean islands Turkish Cypriot north so that they pressure the island's southern, U.N.-recognized government.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the north. Decades of reunification talks have got nowhere.

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Follow all AP stories on global migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice.

In the harsh and unforgiving Arctic, where frigid cold is not just a way of life but a necessity, the polar bear stands out. But where it lives, where it hunts, where it eats  it's disappearing underfoot in the crucial summertime.

They have just always been a revered species by people, going back hundreds and hundreds of years, said longtime government polar bear researcher Steve Amstrup, now chief scientist for Polar Bear International. Theres just something special about polar bears.

Scientists and advocates point to polar bears, marked as threatened on the endangered species list, as the white-hot warning signal for the rest of the planet  the canary in the cryosphere. As world leaders meet in Glasgow, Scotland, to try to ramp up efforts to curb climate change, the specter of polar bears looms over them.

United Nations Environment Program head Inger Andersen used to lead the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which monitors and classifies species in trouble. She asks: Do we really want to be the generation that saw the end of the ability of something as majestic as the polar bear to survive?

THE STATE OF SEA ICE

Arctic sea ice  frozen ocean water  shrinks during the summer as it gets warmer, then forms again in the long winter. How much it shrinks is where global warming kicks in, scientists say. The more the sea ice shrinks in the summer, the thinner the ice is overall, because the ice is weaker first-year ice.

Julienne Stroeve, a University of Manitoba researcher, says summers without sea ice are inevitable. Many other experts agree with her.

Former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, now a top University of Colorado environmental researcher, is one of them.

Thats something human civilization has never known, Abdalati said. Thats like taking a sledgehammer to the climate system and doing something huge about it.

The warming already in the oceans and in the air is committed  like a freight train in motion. So, no matter what, the Earth will soon see a summer with less than 1 million square kilometers of sea ice scattered in tiny bits across the Arctic.

The big question is when the Arctic will look like a blue ocean, said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Maybe as early as the 2030s, most likely in the 2040s and almost assuredly by the 2050s, experts say.

The Arctic has been warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. In some seasons, it has warmed three times faster than the rest of the globe, said University of Alaska at Fairbanks scientist John Walsh.

Thats because of something called Arctic amplification. Essentially, white ice in the Arctic reflects heat. When it melts, the dark sea absorbs much more heat, which warms the oceans even more quickly, scientists say.

THE POLAR BEAR CONNECTION

There are 19 different subpopulations of polar bears in the Arctic. Each is a bit different. Some are really in trouble, especially the southernmost ones, while others are pretty close to stable. But their survival from place to place is linked heavily to sea ice.

As you go to the Arctic and see whats happening with your own eyes ... its depressing, said University of Washington marine biologist Kristin Laidre, who has studied polar bears in Baffin Bay.

Shrinking sea ice means shrinking polar bears, literally.

In the summertime, polar bears go out on the ice to hunt and eat, feasting and putting on weight to sustain them through the winter. They prefer areas that are more than half covered with ice because its the most productive hunting and feeding grounds, Amstrup said. The more ice, the more they can move around and the more they can eat.

Just 30 or 40 years ago, the bears feasted on a buffet of seals and walrus on the ice.

In the 1980s, the males were huge, females were reproducing regularly and cubs were surviving well, Amstrup said. The population looked good.

With ice loss, the bears havent been doing as well, Amstrup said. One sign: A higher proportion of cubs are dying before their first birthdays.

Polar bears are land mammals that have adapted to the sea. The animals they eat  seals and walruses mostly  are aquatic.

The bears fare best when they can hunt in shallow water, which is typically close to land.

When sea ice is present over those near-shore waters, polar bears can make hay, Amstrup said.

But in recent years the sea ice has retreated far offshore in most summers. That has forced the bears to drift on the ice into deep waters  sometimes nearly a mile deep  that are devoid of their prey, Amstrup said.

Off Alaska, the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea polar bears provide a telling contrast.

Go 30 to 40 miles offshore from Prudhoe Bay in the Beaufort Sea and youre in very unproductive waters, Amstrup said.

Further south in the Chukchi, its shallower, which allows bottom-feeding walruses to thrive. That provides food for polar bears, he said.

The bears in the Chukchi seem to be faring pretty well because of that additional productivity, Amstrup said. But the bears of the Beaufort give us a real good early warning of where this is all coming to.

THE FUTURE

Even as world leaders meet in Scotland to try to ratchet up the effort to curb climate change, the scientists who monitor sea ice and watch the polar bears know so much warming is already set in motion.

Theres a chance, if negotiators succeed and everything turns out just right, that the world will once again see an Arctic with significant sea ice in the summer late this century and in the 22nd century, experts said. But until then that door has been closed, said Twila Moon, a National Snow and Ice Data Center scientist.

So hope is melting too.

Its near impossible for us to see a place where we dont reach an essentially sea ice-free Arctic, even if were able to do the work to create much, much lower emissions of heat-trapping gases, Moon said. Sea ice is one of those things that well see reach some pretty devastating lows along that path. And we can already see those influences for polar bears.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Fassett, a data journalist based in Oakland, California, is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics.
RUSTAVI, Georgia (AP)  Hundreds of protesters are rallying outside a prison in Georgia to demand that the countrys incarcerated former President Mikheil Saakashvili be transferred to a private clinic because he is weakening while on a hunger strike.

Saakashvili declared the hunger strike hours after being placed in the prison in Rustavi, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital Tbilisi, on Oct. 1. He was arrested that day after returning to Georgia from his home in Ukraine, aiming to bolster opposition forces ahead of nationwide municipal elections.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Launching what he considers his most difficult reelection fight to date, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice says that voters may disagree with his vote this year to impeach President Donald Trump, but he hopes that it won't be enough to overshadow his other accomplishments for South Carolina's 7th District.

I know that I did the right thing, Im happy with where I am, and Ill take the consequences of it, Rice told The Associated Press in an interview this week, ahead of his official campaign launch for a sixth term.

Even maybe some of them that didnt like my vote, I think theyll appreciate my honesty and my effectiveness, and I can win them back over. But well see.

On Monday, Rice will take that argument directly to voters in all eight counties of the 7th District, which stretches across South Carolina's northeastern corner. With agricultural, industrial and commercial areas, its heart is Myrtle Beach, one of the focuses of the state's multibillion-dollar tourism industry and a burgeoning base for some of South Carolina's most conservative voters.

The framework of Rice's tough reelect was forged in January, when he was one of 10 House Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol. Trump was not convicted as a result of the Senate trial.

The vote came as a surprise, as the Myrtle Beach congressman had always been a consistent supporter of the former president, representing an area that voted heavily for Trump in both presidential elections. Long a reliable backer of Trump, who campaigned with him, Rice voted 94% of the time in favor of Trump-backed legislation, according to FiveThirtyEight  the highest percentage among South Carolinas delegation at that time.

A day after his vote, Rice told AP it hurts my heart to have gone against the president, but he decided to back impeachment after seeing what he characterized as Trumps inaction during the riot.

Since then, Republicans in his district and across the state have declared their displeasure with Rice, who has represented the 7th since its creation in 2012. The South Carolina GOP formally censured him to show disapproval over his vote, a step also taken by party committees across the country to punish many of the 10 House Republicans who supported Trumps impeachment.

A dozen Republicans are seeking to challenge Rice in next summers GOP primary, according to federal election filings. Rice has led the pack in fundraising, bringing in more than $1.3 million. Another hopeful, veteran Graham Allen, has raised more than $750,000, Rices closest competitor in the money race.

Last weekend, Republicans gathered at two separate events in Myrtle Beach, one headlined by prominent Trump surrogates Diamond and Silk, and former GOP congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik. A simultaneous gathering hosted by the state party featured notables including U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, considered a rising GOP star.

Rice said he didn't attend either  nor was he invited.

If we run on our ideas, and not on allegiance to one very polarizing man, I think weve got the winning message, Rice said, of his hope for Republicans moving forward. And if we dont, I think were destined to fail. ... I hope we havent moved away from a party of ideas to a party of one man.

Running on his record, Rice said he hopes voters will think of the districts falling unemployment rates during his tenure, and its rising job numbers.

My focus is on jobs and American competitiveness, he said. Im real proud of what I got done. ... People can see the result, and I believe that will win the day.

But for some, Rice said he knows it still comes down to the impeachment vote, and perhaps nothing else. But, he noted, while the issue has surfaced in many of the town halls hes held over the past year, he felt that more voters had thanked him for taking a stand than castigated him for opposing Trump.

For people to say that Im not conservative because I voted to impeach Donald Trump, in fact that was a conservative vote, Rice said. The conservative wants to preserve our freedom and our rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution.

On Friday, Rice told the AP that his argument to voters boiled down to hoping that they didn't put stock in the sole critique he said he's heard from his challengers.

The only criticism of me and my performance that I hear from those folks is that I voted to impeach Donald Trump," he said. "And if thats all theyve got, that doesnt seem like much  one vote, in 10 years.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP)  For the past nine months, Juan Guajardo Jr. has been taking up temporary residence at the Campbell County jail.

Serving time while awaiting a sentence for check fraud and bringing drugs into jail, Guajardo quickly earned a spot on the work block outside crew.

He clocks in at 7:30 a.m. and clocks out at 4 p.m., and he can be seen shoveling snow, trimming trees, blowing leaves and any number of other tasks hes asked to do.

But when he completes these tasks, he goes straight to the workshop and gets straight to another type of work, the Gillette News Record reports.

He takes pieces of scrap wood and turns them into furniture and works of art.

When hes not in his cell, he spends his day trying to make the jail a better place.

Jails not the happiest place, man, Guajardo said.

But theres still happiness to be found there, you just have to know where to look. For Guajardo, that joy comes from seeing other people smile at the various projects hes made, including a birdhouse, a wishing well and a picnic table.

I do it for myself, but if someone else feels good about it, it makes me feel good that they feel good about it, he said.

Guajardo keeps to himself at the jail. Fraternization with other inmates is limited to a simple greeting. Hed rather watch romantic comedies than hang out with the others. Hes determined to not let jail get him down.

You could be back there, you could be miserable and mean, stuck in a rut, Guajardo said.

Misery loves company back there.

For Guajardo, woodworking is therapeutic.

As youre doing it, your minds clear, youre just thinking about your cuts, your measurements, how its going to look, he said.

Hes spent most of 2021 getting his mind clear, preparing to leave his old self behind.

Guajardo said he never got into trouble with the law until his early 30s. Then, he started hanging with the wrong crowd and making the wrong decisions. He started using meth, and things went downhill from there.

In 2016, Guajardo was sentenced to three to five years in prison for drug endangered child. He had been charged with eight counts of endangering children and possession of meth.

Deputies searched Guajardos home after learning that guns stolen in Hulett allegedly had been traded to him in exchange for meth, according to court documents. Deputies found 38 grams of meth and 25 prescription amphetamine pills, scales, suspected liquid meth and meth paraphernalia. He also admitted using meth there.

Guajardo said he wasnt ready for prison at that time. While he was in there, he felt like he had something to prove, because thats how everyone else was in there. He wanted to be that guy that nobody messed with. As a result, when he was released from prison, he wasnt much different from the person who walked in.

When he got out, he did pretty good to get back on my feet, and then he sabotaged himself again. In September 2020, Guajardo gave Bloedorn Lumber a check when there wasnt money in the account to cover the check. And in March he was arrested on a parole warrant, and a bag with 1.19 grams of meth was found on his back under his sweatpants.

He pleaded guilty to check fraud and bringing drugs into jail. On Wednesday, District Judge John R. Perry sentenced Guajardo to three years of supervised probation and fined him $1,000. It will be the first time Guajardos been on probation.

They gave me a second chance this time, he said. Im going to really take advantage of it.

He had to celebrate his 40th birthday in the Campbell County jail in September. Hes determined to not let that happen again.

No more birthdays in jail, he said.

Hes been on the work block for most of his time in jail, and hes been part of the outside crew for five months.

Tracy Keffeler, maintenance supervisor, said there have been projects that have needed to be done for years, and theyve finally been completed during Guajardos time at the jail.

Guajardos painted the evidence vault, the dispatch office and the visitation room, hes refinished the floor of the Sheriffs Office lobby and he deep-cleaned a hundred jail cells.

Keffeler is meticulous when it comes to trimming trees and painting. With Guajardo, Keffeler finally had someone who was willing to work up to that high standard.

When hes painting, hell put one hand behind his back just to steady himself. Thats the type of person he is, he wants to do a good job, Keffeler said.

Some people would say hes just doing that for show, he said. After 22 years, I know when its for show. When nobodys looking, hes still working.

Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds said a lot of talented people come through the jail: electricians, welders and painters, to name a few.

A lot of them are good people, they simply made a mistake, he said. And theyd rather work than sit in the block, so we give them an opportunity. In Juans case, he gets his stuff done and it gives him an opportunity to work on his special projects.

Guajardo has gained the trust of Keffeler and the other maintenance workers, and it goes beyond knowing that hell finish a job.

A lot of times you cant just let a guy go, Keffeler said. I can let him go, and trust that itll be done right.

When theyre done with their work, most inmates will call it a day. Theyll sit in the sun, or play cards or dominoes with each other.

Not Guajardo.

When he finishes his assigned work, its straight to the workshop.

It all started with a birdhouse. There was a small, old birdhouse sitting on top of a stump outside the undersheriffs office. Guajardo had to walk past it every day, and he thought it could use an upgrade.

I asked my boss if I could make a new one. They gave me permission, but they said dont get too carried away, he said.

They gave him some scrap lumber, and he ended up building a house that looks like a small-scale cabin that wouldnt look out of place on a lakefront, with doors, windows, a chimney and a wraparound deck.

The birdhouse was a hit, so Guajardo got permission to start on his next project. A long time ago, he made a wishing well for his grandmother using old privacy fence, and he decided to make one for the Sheriffs Office.

In the summer, it was placed outside the entrance to the Sheriffs Office and decorated with flowers. Its since been brought inside to protect it from the Wyoming winter weather.

It all starts with the ugliest piece of old lumber you can possibly think of, Guajardo said.

All the wood, its already been used, we just kind of made it new again, we repurposed it.

Keffeler said Guajardo sometimes goes ahead and starts on a project without asking permission. But when Keffeler sees what Guajardos done, its hard for him to say no.

Thats exactly what happened with Guajardos favorite project, a picnic table that sits behind the Sheriffs Office.

There was an old picnic table that had been there for more than two decades. And it had needed to be rebuilt and repainted several times. Guajardo kept bugging Keffeler to let him build a new one.

He told me no at first, but I got one board ready to go, and then he let us do it, Guajardo said.

Its a five-piece set, with two benches and two chairs, and it took him about a month to complete.

This table is going to be here for a while, Keffeler said.

Were talking a hundred years before this one goes away, he said. Its a legacy table.

Keffeler said Guajardo is always bugging him for more work to do. At one point, Guajardo got tired of asking Keffeler for work orders. He found an old mailbox in the junk pile. He attached it to a wooden post and wrote work orders on it.

It sums up Guajardos spirit in a nutshell, Keffeler said.

Ive had a lot of guys work for me, but none (who) quite had that much, just go, go go go, Keffeler said.

Having been to prison, Guajardo doesnt know why some people treat it as a badge of honor.

I dont understand why people even want to be in prison, its not a thing, theres nothing cool about it. You dont get props for going to prison, he said. Theres a lot of people who have stuff to prove, theyre like, Oh yeah, Ive done time. I hate saying that.

Hes ready to be back on the outside, but he knows that all this talk means nothing unless he can succeed on supervised probation.

Guajardo said he is better equipped for success now, and has a whole new arsenal of people to support him.

There are members of the Sheriffs Office who have told him theyre saving home improvement projects for him so that he has work to do when hes out of jail.

Guajardo knows there are some people who will frown upon this and make fun of him for working for the cops.

His message for these people? If you see somebody doing good, just get out of the way.

Some guys try to knock you down, call you a brown-noser or a kiss-ass, but theyve got to go to sleep every night with that in their heart, he said. I sleep fine.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A university jazz festival, a costume designer, producer and a gospel group will be among the recipients of the Mississippi Arts Commission's annual governor's art awards early next year.

The governors arts awards are presented annually to people and organizations in Mississippi who are doing outstanding artistic work and promoting arts-based community development.

These recipients have had incredible, storied careers in the arts and have made lasting impacts in their fields and in the state, Sarah Story, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, said in a press release.

The more than four-decades-old Alcorn State University Jazz Festival in Vicksburg will be honored with the Arts in Community award. The festival is always free of charge and open to the public and aims to educate attendees through workshops with the performing artists.

Myrna Colley-Lee, a prominent costume designer of the Black Theatre Movement from Charleston, will receive the Excellence in Costume Design & Arts Patron award.

Larry Gordon, a Belzoni native and the producer behind the Oscar-nominated drama Field of Dreams" and the landmark action film Die Hard," will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures & Television award.

Holly Lange, founder of the Mississippi Book Festival, will receive the Governors Choice Award.

Mary Lovelace ONeal, a contemporary abstract artist and arts educator exploring personal stories and social justice themes through mixed media, painting and printmaking, will receive the Excellence in Visual Art award. O'Neal is a Jackson native.

The Grammy-nominated gospel group The Williams Brothers will receive a Lifetime Achievement in Music award.

The arts awards ceremony will be held in person on Feb. 10, 2022, in downtown Jackson. Award recipients are nominated by members of the public and selected by a jury of community arts leaders and industry peers.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  A federal jury has convicted a six-time convicted felon from Virginia on multiple charges, including sex trafficking and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

LeAnthony Winston, 34, of Norfolk, trafficked two women in early 2020 and coerced them into engaging in commercial sex, according to a news release from prosecutors announcing his Thursday conviction.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  Police in Kansas City, Missouri, are investigating after a man was found dead in an apartment.

Officers were called just after 9:30 a.m. Saturday to an apartment in the 3700 block of East 47th Terrace after a caller said they wanted to check on a man who had not been to work. Officers found the man unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  A Madison high school student has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl at a homecoming party, an attack that prompted student protests across Madison and the resignation of the principal at East High School.

The 17-year-old was charged Friday with second-degree sexual assault and strangulation in the Oct. 10 incident. According to the complaint, the victim, who does not attend East High School, was at a friends homecoming after-party when the suspect allegedly locked her in a bedroom and sexually assaulted her after he and some friends crashed the party.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  A Nevada state regulatory board has narrowly voted against banning contests that give cash or other awards to hunters for killing coyotes.

The regulation was rejected by the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission on a 5-4 vote Friday. It would have prohibited organizing, promoting or participating in contests or other competitions to capture or kill coyotes or other predatory or furbearing animals.

What are we regulating? questioned Commissioner Tom Barnes. Theyre really not doing anything illegal.

All 16 advisory panels to the nine-member board supported continuing to allow the contest, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

Commissioner David McNinch, who introduced the language to end the competitions, said outlawing the events wasn't a biological issue but a response to changing societal views on sportsmanship.

I fully support people protecting their livestock, their pets, their family.  I just disagree that the best way to do it is through these contests, he said. Its not the act of killing the coyotes that bothers me, its how its done.

Board Chair Tiffany East said that at least one state legislator has written to the board saying that that, if the board failed to take action, lawmakers will consider the issue during their next session.

Conservationists had hoped that political pressure and other states banning the contests would prompt the commission to vote differently.

While some states offer bounties for coyotes to control their population, coyote killing contests have been banned in at least eight states since 2014, including Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico,

In Nevada, the Clark County Commission and the Reno City Council have approved resolutions asking the competitions be banned, but the Elko County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed one supporting the continuation of coyote hunting contests.

Eliminating killing contests would be the camels nose under the tent that could eventually threaten such wholesome family events like fishing derbies, according to the Elko County resolution.

During the past fiscal year, coyotes were responsible for deaths or injuries to 253 cattle, 82 domestic fowl, 330 goats, five pets and 596 sheep in Nevada, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Unlike predators such as gray wolves or prey species such as elk, coyotes have no species protections and can be killed without licenses.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire is getting more than $1.2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state's congressional delegation announced.

Nearly $750,000 of the amount has been awarded to Land for Good in Keene through the USDA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program to help farmers gain land access knowledge and skills and to improve their ability to successfully secure land.
NASHUA, N.H. (AP)  A man from New Hampshire has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his grandmother.

Jacob Abraham was arrested Friday in Lowell, Massachusetts, just south of the state line. He is accused of killing 71-year-old Cynthia Toupin, his grandmother.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  A proposal to use $150 million in federal stimulus money to build another pipeline to carry natural gas from the Bakken region to eastern North Dakota will be on the table as state lawmakers convene at the Capitol.

Lawmakers plan to divvy up $1 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan Act during the special session, which opens Monday, and the money that leaders hope to set aside for pipeline grants could make the prospect of such a project more attractive to developers.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Four men face charges in Rhode Island after authorities say they kidnapped a postal worker who they mistakenly believed had stolen a shipment of their cocaine.

The Boston Globe reports the men were engaged in a scheme to ship drugs from Puerto Rico to Rhode Island and became convinced the mail man had stolen one of their packages. They held the man at gunpoint and forced him to take them to his home, but released him when they realized their error.
MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP)  A historic building in east Mississippi built in the late 1920s has reopened as a hotel.

The Threefoot Hotel in Meridian opened its doors this week after years of renovation and restoration work by Ascent Hospitality, LLC, the company that owns the property.

The 16-story Art Deco structure was built in 1929 and is the tallest building in east Mississippi, according to a news release. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2008.

Before its renovation, the building was an office space. It had been vacant since the 1990s, and local leaders set out to preserve it in the mid-2000s. The Meridian City Council approved a sale agreement for the building in October 2015.

The renovated hotel has 110 luxury guest rooms, 19 suites and two presidential suites with balconies. The hotel also contains a farm-to-table American restaurant, 6:01 Local, and a rooftop bar, The Boxcar. The names honor the citys early 20th Century rail history, when five rail lines with 44 daily trains made Meridian the largest city in Mississippi.

John Tampa, president and CEO of Ascent Hospitality Management Company, said the company worked to preserve the unique mosaic work on the building's exterior and the elevator lobbys marble wainscoting, flooring, mail shoot and the original Art Deco light fixtures. The ground floor elevator contains its original, ornate brass etched doors, polished during the renovation.

The building joined the landscape in the early 20th Century when Meridian was a force in railroad-dominated industry," John Tampa with Ascent Hospitality Management Company LLC said in the news release. We have brought the Threefoot back in a way that captures that luxuriant feel of the Golden Age of Travel.' 
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A Sacramento police dog was stabbed while trying to apprehend a suspect, authorities said Saturday.

The incident occurred Friday night while officers were at a residence to locate a suspect with a warrant for stalking and threats, a Sacramento Police Department statement said.

The suspect, armed with a knife, fled out the back door and the K-9 named Ranger and his handler tried to take him into custody.

Ranger was stabbed in the abdomen during the confrontation and was taken to a veterinarian where he underwent emergency surgery. The dog was expected to make a full recovery, the statement said.

The suspect was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening arm injuries caused by the dog. Police said the suspect would be booked into jail on the warrant and assaulting a police dog.
PALMA, Balearic Islands (AP)  Spanish authorities on Saturday were investigating the unauthorized disembarkment of 21 people from a plane that made an emergency medical landing on the island of Mallorca.

The incident under investigation occurred late Friday when an Air Arabia flight from Casablanca to Istanbul made an emergency landing to attend a passenger. On landing, 21 people forced their way off the plane, prompting security officials to temporarily close the airport.
BALDWIN, Mich. (AP)  The Michigan appeals court affirmed a two-year suspension for a doctor who approved nearly 22,000 medical marijuana certificates in a 12-month period.

An expert said it would have been impossible for Dr. Vernon Proctor to conduct exams, obtain medical histories and take other necessary steps for that many patients. He has an office in Baldwin, 75 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Proctor would have to see 60 patients a day, seven days a week, during a 12-month period in 2015-16, Dr. Phillip Rodgers said.

People seeking to use medical marijuana need approval from a doctor when they apply for a state card.

During a state hearing, Proctor disputed that he had approved 21,708 certifications but said it was more than 1,000, according to the appeals court's summary of the case.

The court found nothing to disturb the suspension ordered by a medical panel at the Bureau of Professional Licensing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP)  In a ceremony marked by traditional songs and a ground blessing, the University of Maryland on Monday announced the name of its new dining hall: Yahentamitsi, named in honor of the states Piscataway Conoy Tribe.

Yahentamitsi (yah-HEN-tuh-MEET-see) will become the campuss first new dining hall in nearly 50 years when it opens next fall, officials said. The naming ceremony was a first for Marylands flagship public university, coming as part of an effort to promote diversity and inclusion on the College Park campus, said Darryll J. Pines, the schools president.

This campus has been here for a very long time, yet most of us were blind to its history, Pines told a crowd of about 50 people Monday, which marked the first day of Native American Heritage Month. As a land-grant institution, I believe it is our responsibility to record, to interpret and to raise public awareness about tribal history. This effort was long overdue.

Yahentamitsi, a name derived from the extinct Algonquin language once spoken by the Piscataway, translates to a place to go to eat and is the result of a collaboration between the university, the American Indian Student Union, and Piscataway elders and tribal members. The building will join two other recent additions  dormitories Johnson-Whittle Hall and Pyon-Chen Hall, which were named after some of the universitys first students of color  in an area of campus the school has dubbed the Heritage Community.

The dining hall, planned to comprise 60,000 square feet, will be the first building on campus to honor Indigenous people, Pines said. It will seat 1,000 people and feature a tribute to the Piscataway that will include art, artifacts and other educational materials from the tribe, said Patty Perillo, U-Md.s vice president for student affairs.

In Mondays ground-blessing ceremony, Maurice Proctor, an elder of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, Cedarville Band, burned a bundle of sage and prayed for protection over the building and the people who will use it.

For the first time, at this university, were recognized as a people, together, Proctor said. Its a great day.

The Piscataway are the Indigenous people of Maryland. But their land over time was colonized and their people forced out, often violently.

In recent years, groups throughout the D.C. region and across the country have made attempts to acknowledge that history, along with the brutal treatment of Indigenous peoples by Christopher Columbus and White settlers. Student groups and university officials will often start meetings, demonstrations and other events with a brief acknowledgment of the universitys presence on Piscataway land.

Now we have a tradition where we will acknowledge the land that were building on, Pines said in an interview. Well think carefully about, can we use this as another opportunity to embrace our diversity?

The universitys Indian American and Alaskan Native students  who comprise less than 1 percent of the student population  have the lowest six-year graduation rate at the university, at 75 percent, federal education data show. The universitys Asian students have the highest rate (89 percent), followed by White students (88 percent).

Jeremy Harley, a junior at U-Md. and president of the American Indian Student Union, said the university can do more to improve the student experience for young Indigenous people. One idea, the creation of a dedicated space for native students, could help students who fall through the cracks and serve as a place to meet, to reach out and do educational stuff, Harley suggested. Such a space could also attract more native students to the university, he added.

Harleys brother, Brandon Kota Harley, who graduated from U-Md. in 2019, said the effort to honor the Piscataway had been in the works for at least four years. Before, we really didnt have the representation on campus, he said, pointing to issues both with attracting and retaining Indigenous students.

But on Monday, after the ground blessing, he encouraged other institutions to follow his alma maters lead.

Its a great thing to do for the native community and show that the universities  not only here but across the country  want native youth, Kota Harley said. Hopefully this will be a precedent for other universities.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  The U.S. government offered $5 million rewards Friday for information leading to the capture of four Mexican drug lords.

Those subject to the $5 million bounty included Aureliano Guzman-Loera, the brother of imprisoned capo Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
ATLANTA (AP)  The first major election day following a year of relentless attacks on voting rights and election officials went off largely without a hitch. Unlike the 2020 presidential election, there were no claims of widespread fraud, ballots emerging mysteriously in the dark of night or compromised voting machines changing results.

The relative calm was a relief to those who oversee elections, but will it matter to those who still believe last year's election was stolen from former President Donald Trump?

Election experts say even a smooth election cycle this year is unlikely to curb the distrust that has built up over the last year within a segment of the public. That skepticism has led to costly and time-consuming partisan ballot reviews, threats to election officials and new voting restrictions in Republican-controlled states.

Im extremely concerned that were not at the end of this, said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer who now heads the Center for Election Innovation and Research. Were not at the middle of this. Were at the beginning of this, and nobody is addressing it particularly well right now, with the exception of the professional election officials who are keeping their heads down and doing their job.

There has been no evidence of widespread fraud or other wrongdoing with the 2020 election, and those claims have been rejected by judges, election officials and Trumps own attorney general. Nevertheless, two-thirds of Republicans said Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted two weeks after Biden's inauguration.

Tuesday's election featured problems typical of an election day that were quickly resolved: power outages, technical issues with equipment or too few ballots at particular polling places. In New Jersey, confusion over the reporting of election results circulated on social media. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, had yet to concede but said after the election that he did not want supporters falling victim to wild conspiracy theories or online rumors.

Ahead of Virginias high-profile gubernatorial election, Trump had said in a statement that he was not a believer in the integrity of Virginias elections, lots of bad things went on, and are going on. Yet in his statement congratulating Republican Glenn Youngkin, Trump made no mention of fraud and credited his own supporters with the win.

Matt Masterson, a former top election security official in the Trump administration, noted that little changed between 2020 and this year in how elections are run in the U.S.

These are the same systems, the same people, the same processes, Masterson said. Election officials did their job in 2020, and they did it again in 2021.

When problems arose, they were caught quickly. The Ohio secretary of state took administrative oversight of the state's most populous county, home to Columbus, after it failed to properly update its poll books and allowed three people to cast ballots twice, although that did not affect the outcome of any race.

That elections are mostly running well hasnt stopped Republican officials from making claims about election fraud to justify new voting restrictions even in places where Trump and Republicans won handily in 2020 and where election officials reported no problems.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally, earlier this week called for a new state office to investigate election crimes. He also seeks new laws adding more restrictions to ballot drop boxes and increasing penalties for those who collect ballots for others.

I am excited that with this legislation, our state will be able to enforce election violations, combat voter fraud and make sure violators are held accountable, DeSantis said in a statement.

Mail voting was hugely popular last year amid the pandemic and helped drive high turnout this year in Virginia. And it was Republicans who did well on Tuesday in Virginia, where Democrats had expanded voting access in recent years. That included no longer requiring voters to provide an excuse to cast a mail ballot.

But GOP lawmakers still say rules around mail ballots must be tightened to address public concerns about fraud, even if there is no evidence it exists.

In Ohio, Republicans have introduced two bills seeking to rewrite state election laws. One calls for prohibiting off-site ballot drop boxes, eliminating a day of early voting and tightening the state voter ID requirement. The other goes even further -- reducing early voting from 21 days to six, eliminating no-excuse absentee voting and banning drop boxes altogether. Trump won the state handily, but lawmakers behind the second bill cited the potential of fraud to justify their proposal.

State Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican sponsoring the less stringent bill, believes Biden was legitimately elected but laments that the dispute over the 2020 election results makes it difficult to discuss voting issues rationally.

This is what happens when you try to do something fair in an environment in which there is no fair, he said. The Democrats will be knee-jerk opposed to anything they see as restrictive of voting, and a contingent of Republicans will be opposed to anything they see as an added convenience on voting.

Election officials said it was important to remind the public that there were no widespread problems with the 2020 election, which was dubbed the most secure in U.S. history by a group of federal, state and local election officials.

This isnt something that went wrong that were fixing, said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat. This is something that went really right in 2020. We had the safest elections in Americas history, with record turnout among both Democrats and Republicans. And the lies are about that.

Falsehoods surrounding the 2020 presidential election also triggered death threats against election officials that continue even a year later.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson described what the nation is confronting as a five-alarm fire and called on industry and community leaders to help defend democracy.

Those trying to dismantle democracy have shown us again and again that there may be no bottom to where they will go to lie and deceive voters, said Benson, a Democrat. We must take them at their word and believe them, and get to work spending every day countering their lies with truth.

___

Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
HANOVER, N.H. (AP)  Dartmouth College is celebrating a half century of its shift to coeducation.

On Nov. 21, 1971, then-College President John Kemeny announced that the Board of Trustees had voted to allow women to apply for admission to four-year undergraduate programs, with a target enrollment of 1,000 women and 3,000 men.

The board said it had become clear that women will now be playing an increasing role of leadership in our society and that Dartmouth can, and should, contribute to their education.

The college is launching a yearlong observation of the milestone on Tuesday, with a virtual roundtable conversation featuring three women who have chaired the Board of Trustees.
A hodgepodge of businesses line Valencia Street in San Franciscos Mission District. On any given night of the week, cars zoom down the road, the sound of laughter reverberates from bars, and the aroma of a grilled food lingers in the air. And just before the evening comes to an end, locals make their way to Panchitas #2.



The Salvadorian restaurant at 3091 16th St. has been a fixture in the Mission since 1989 where hundreds of handmade pupusas  its specialty  are prepared daily. A quick glance at the menu reveals about a dozen different types of pupusas with the revuelta  a blend of pork, beans and cheese  as its top seller. And for about $8, hungry guests can place an order of two pupusas topped with a generous heap of cabbage slaw and tomato salsa.

When we opened, they were $1.75 ... and now we do two for $8 or three for $11, said Doris Vargas, who manages Panchitas alongside her mother and owner, Doris Campos. They started off really cheap and then along the years, we raised them by 25 or 50 cents. We want to keep it affordable.



In 2008, Campos began to offer the popular pupusa deals as a way to keep business afloat during the recession. Vargas recalls when her mother set up a grill just outside the restaurant that same year to entice people who walked along 16th Street. Panchitas #2 made it out of 2008 in one piece, and Campos decided to keep the pupusa deals as the backbone of her business, and they dont plan on raising the prices anytime soon.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

Vargas, who is 30, has spent the past 15 years of her life working at the family business. She started off at the front of house before eventually making her way into the kitchen. It took her about three years to master the proper skill set needed to shape a pupusa by hand. Now you can find her alongside a team of 10 other skilled workers who make pupusas from 300 pounds of masa Monday to Thursday. During Friday to Sunday, the team can make upwards of 4,500 pupusas during its busiest days.



Fortunately, we have a big mixer ... but it does take two to lift [the 100 pounds of masa] up to a little stool to reach it, Vargas said. Were a small team but we are a mighty team.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

The process begins by mixing the masa until its given a soft, pliable consistency. After the staff finishes preparing the different meat and vegetable fillings, they grab a small ball of dough and create a center opening with their fingers to resemble the shape of a nest. The filling is placed into its core and then the dough is closed by a rotating motion of the hands. Any excess dough formed at the top of the pouch is removed before the skilled workers flatten the mound into 1-inch pupusas that go onto a sizzling grill.



Panchitas #2 opened two years before Vargas was born when her mother immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador at the age of 26. Campos found work in San Francisco alongside her mother, Rosa Emilia Salgado, at a former Panchitas on 17th Street, between Mission and Valencia. At the time, the 17th Street location was primarily a Mexican restaurant that only offered some Salvadorian dishes, the San Francisco Examiner wrote in 1989.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

According to Vargas, Salgdo, was a longtime restaurant employee who suddenly became the new restaurant proprietor after its previous owners were unable to pay her for her labor. So instead, they gifted her the business. (Salgado, who was lovingly known as Panchita around the family and staff, passed this week.)



Campos helped her mother run the day-to-day operations at Panchitas while sometimes working at other Salvadorian restaurants around San Francisco. Campos would end up meeting Eloy Vargas, a regular customer at Panchitas, during one of her work shifts. The pair would marry and later save enough money to open Panchitas #2 on 16th Street, which was just a block away from the original Panchitas.



My mom had the opportunity to open the 16th location, and with the support of my father and his family, who came up from Tijuana, that's how Panchitas #2 opened up, Vargas said. When my mom left [the first Panchitas] to open up her own, my uncle and my grandmother stayed there, but eventually closed it down a few years after.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

Over the years, other Panchitas restaurants opened up around San Francisco, each independently operated by different members of Vargas extended family, but today Panchitas #2 is the last one standing  at least for now.



Vargas and her husband, Pedro Macchiavello, whom she met at the restaurant when he took up employment as a chef, hope that they can carry on the family tradition and expand to the Excelsior later next year.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

Before Vargas began working at Panchitas #2 full-time, she was completing her bachelors degree in economics from San Francisco State University. She said her parents were initially surprised, and then pleased, when she told them about her interest in continuing to work at the restaurant for the long haul. But the hospitality industry has always fascinated her. Whenever shed learn about a longstanding family business in the city, Vargas said she would often daydream about which family members ran them decades after they first opened. And it made her want to invest more in her own family restaurant.



It sort of has been the nucleus of a family, and not just for us, but for a lot of people that have come and gone from Panchitas.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

Panchita's Restaurant #2 is located at 3091 16th St., San Francisco. Opening hours: 9 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily.
She may be best known for her life in France, or for her years spent in Boston where she filmed over 200 episodes of The French Chef, but Julia Child was a California girl through and through. Born in Pasadena, the outsized chef and culinary advocate spent quite a bit of time in Santa Barbara in her later years, eventually making the Central Coast city her permanent home.

Ive read every word Julia Child has ever written, spent countless hours replicating recipes from her Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and grew up binging marathons of her show on PBS before binge-watching was even a thing. But as many times as Ive been to Santa Barbara, I had never visited Julia Childs Santa Barbara, the places she loved when she lived there. With the new documentary Julia coming out Nov. 12, it seemed like a good time to get in the car and go.

Once I got there, it took me about two minutes to find what I was looking for.

She may have died in 2004, but Julia Childs legacy is all over Santa Barbara  not just through the Julia Child Foundation headquartered there, but through the impression she made on the city. It seems like everyone I spoke to had a story about Julia. (Its never Child, not because everyone knew her on such a familiar level but because everyone who met her, according to all accounts, immediately felt like they did.)

People talk about where she loved to eat, which, for someone who famously said, People who love to eat are always the best people, was a lot of places. They talk about seeing her at the Saturday Santa Barbara farmers market. They talk about her visits to the food court at Costco (Julia had a thing for their hot dogs) or to the Riviera Theatre for a matinee.

She always wanted to go to In-N-Out Burger, said Eric Spivey, chairman of the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, who was a longtime friend of Julias. When it came to her choice of meal, he said, It wasnt always expensive.

Her game was to have breakfast [at home] and leave and go out and have lunch and dinner somewhere else, he said. Until the very end, Julia was, Lets go do something, lets go have fun.

He and Child met in the early 80s at a food event in Santa Barbara, but reconnected in the late 1990s when she moved there permanently. The last four years of her life, Julia and I had spent a lot of time together, he said. We shared the same birthday and her husband had passed and she hadn't had children. And so I had the honor of really spending a tremendous amount of time with her.

In March 2020, the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience (part of the Julia Child Foundation) had planned a weekend of events to celebrate Childs legacy in the city. They sold more than 2,000 tickets, Spivey said, for what the foundation hoped would be the launch of a nationally renowned culinary event. It would honor Child but also carry on the work she did as an advocate for making the culinary field accessible to everyone, through food tastings of regional cuisine, and educational events.

March 2020, though, had other plans. The event was postponed a year and held as a virtual celebration in March 2021. The in-person festivities are rescheduled for May 2022. But in the meantime, the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience released Julia Childs Guide to Santa Barbara, a map designed for people like me who want to retrace her culinary footsteps. There isnt a single classical French restaurant on it.

But thats the thing. Julia Child didnt love French food. She loved food, full stop. In her later years, her television shows after The French Chef and her books after Mastering were devoted to regional American cuisine. They werent about bringing new foods here, they were about appreciating and showcasing what we already had, that people in other parts of the country might not know about.

So what shed eat in Santa Barbara had more to do with the place, and the people, than the fanfare. Child didnt start vacationing in Santa Barbara for its food. She went for the climate  like many of us do, including me. She traveled to escape the harsh Boston winters  especially since her husband Paul was ailing in his later years and needed warmer weather. Santa Barbara didnt have the kind of culinary scene it has now, where the Michelin Guide is gushing (and handing out stars, for the first year ever) over everything from the city's Mexican restaurants to its vegan fare.

The places where Child would spend her time served food done very well, but in an unfussy way. She loved the Santa Maria barbecue at The Hitching Post II and the Alisal Guest Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley. Shed go to Stearns Wharf for the chowder at Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. She loved the tacos at La Super-Rica so much that she talked about them in the national media and inspired a New Yorker article about the place, which still regularly has a line down the block for its walk-up service.

George Rose/Getty Images

One of her big strengths and the beauty of her was that she brought French cooking and really nice cuisine  and made it approachable, said Margaret Huston, who would regularly host Child at Montecito Cafe, the restaurant she owned with her husband Mark. I think that's why she particularly liked us, because we did the same thing in a different way. We had a restaurant, but it was very approachable because the prices were approachable and we always have something like a Cobb salad, but then we'd also have goat cheese pancakes.

The Hustons are both classically trained chefs who still employ more European, slow food preparations in their dishes at their restaurant Jane in Santa Barbara, which they opened when Montecito Cafe lost its lease. Its very good, but its not fussy. It never has been, Huston said. She was like that, too. The food she did was sort of classy, but it wasnt fussy.

At Jane, theres a letter hanging on the wall from Julia, singing Mark and Margarets praises. What is of extreme importance, Child wrote, his food is wonderfully good to eat  fresh and original, but classically based.

At Montecito Cafe, Child would order the hamburger  she was always on the hunt for a great burger or in the evening, fish or duck. That burger is still available at Jane, as well as a veal scaloppini that Child loved, and those goat cheese pancakes with smoked salmon and caviar.

She would always go back and talk to my husband Mark about the food, Huston said. She was always asking questions, a very inquisitive person. And she was genuinely interested. That's what made her such a hit with everyone. I don't think she had any enemies anywhere. Everyone loved her because she was genuinely interested about other people, about their food, what they were doing, how it was prepared, where you got it, all kinds of things.

It wasnt just at Montecito Cafe that Child would strike up a conversation with the chef. Whenever she ate out, Spivey said, Julia wanted to go into the back, into the kitchen to talk to people. ... She wanted to talk to the dishwasher up to the executive chef, everybody. So it wasn't just that she wanted to talk to the well-known people.

And everybody, it seemed, knew her. Shed get up and walk to the back of the house, he said, and people would stand up and start clapping for her.

Julie Tremaine

It turns out I had already, in my explorations of the city, been to most of Julias favorite restaurants on the map. So when it came time to eat, I went off-map, to Jeannines Restaurant and Bakery in Montecito, a place Id heard Julia liked to lunch.

Jeannines is a beautiful little cafe on Montecitos main drag, with white picket fences overgrown with flowers and, on that October day, the perfect amount of sunshine. I ordered inside, trying to put myself in Julias shoes and order what shed order. Eggs Benedict and a mimosa seemed appropriate, and as soon as I got my food, I knew I was right. The mimosa came in three separate parts  a split of champagne, a little jar of fresh orange juice, and a champagne glass filled with strawberries and blueberries  all in a bucket of bubbles on ice. The eggs Benedict, perfectly plated on Jeannines blue and white signature china, was topped with the platonic ideal of hollandaise, light yellow and delicately frothy and flavored with the tiniest hint of lemon. Julia would have loved it. So did I.
In the latest travel news, last weekends big flight cancellation debacle at American is stirring fears of a potential holiday travel meltdown; the Federal Aviation Administration sends dozens of unruly flier cases to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution; the new Reno-Tahoe airline Aha! adds more routes; Alaska Airlines plans a new transcontinental route in 2022; U.S. secures Russia overflight rights for U.S. carriers; partnership news from SkyTeam/ITA, JetBlue/Icelandair and Alaska/British Airways; international route developments at Vietnam Airlines, Air France, French Bee, Hawaiian, Finnair, La Compagnie and Aer Lingus; Alaska Airlines gets the plastic off its planes; United MileagePlus replaces Hertz's partnership with Avis Budget Group; and Chicago OHares inter-terminal airport trains are running again after a three-year delay.

Those massive cancellations by American Airlines last weekend  more than 2,000 flights scrapped from Friday through Monday  were just the latest in an ongoing series of operational disasters at American, Southwest and Spirit Airlines in recent months. The heavy cancellations have been blamed mainly on weather events at key airports and a shortage of employees who could step in to get the schedules back on track. And with the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays expected to attract the highest numbers of passengers since the pandemic started, there are growing concerns that a similar debacle could disrupt the plans of thousands of travelers.

Major media outlets are issuing scary warnings to consumers about the dire possibilities. A CNN story this week was headlined, Why flying is so bad and about to get worse. The Wall Street Journals treatment carried the banner Canceled flights and crowded airports: Brace yourself for holiday travel. And the headline in the Financial Times was Spate of U.S. flight cancellations prompts fears of holiday meltdown. Part of the problem is the airlines own fault as they tried to meet rising consumer demand by expanding their schedules with more flights than they could reasonably handle, especially if something went wrong  like a major storm. When an airline doesnt have the flexibility to call up its reserves  both aircraft and crews  flight cancellations can quickly cascade through its system. Aircraft and flight crews are left out of position as the day progresses, creating even more scratched flights downstream. Some carriers are scrambling to put furloughed workers back on duty and to hire new employees, but training requirements take time.

And there are other issues straining the system. Some disgruntled airline unions  mainly pilots and flight attendants  are complaining about being overworked during the industrys rapid revival. And pilots, especially at American and Southwest, have been critical of new COVID-19 vaccination mandates. United has been sued by a group of employees challenging the companys vaccine requirement. Southwests pilots filed a similar action that was recently rejected by a federal judge in Texas. And Americans pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association, last month warned that the airline could find itself short of flight deck crews if it tries to crack down on requiring COVID-19 vaccines. The White House this week set a deadline of Jan. 4 for all government contractors and all private companies with more than 100 employees to get all their workers vaccinated.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

For passengers, a canceled flight during the holiday season could be a trip-ending event, since planes will be mostly full and getting rebooked on another departure could take days. United CEO Scott Kirby, perhaps trying to take advantage of the warnings about holiday flights, this week sent a message to customers telling them they can book with confidence on United this holiday season. He said the airline gradually added flights over time during the recovery instead of cramming new departures into a bloated schedule and made a deal with its pilots to keep them employed and ready to fly when needed. Kirby also said United successfully completed our vaccine requirements early, before there was a government directive.

For months, U.S. airlines and their employee groups have been pressuring the federal government to take stronger action against the skyrocketing number of unruly passengers who disrupt flights, attack flight crew, and sometimes cause unscheduled landings. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed fines on scores of miscreants since it imposed a zero-tolerance policy in January, but now it is cranking up the potential sanctions for bad in-flight behavior. The FAA said this week it has forwarded 37 cases of the most serious misconduct to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution in federal courts. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International, applauded the move, calling DOJ prosecution the most effective way to deter bad actors and put a stop to the spike in disruptive passengers. She also called for the creation of a centralized list of violators who will be denied the freedom of flight on all airlines. Some U.S. carriers have suggested sharing their own internal no-fly lists, but this week Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on CNN that the creation of a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers should be on the table.

Aha!, the oddly named new regional airline based at Reno-Tahoe Airport, started flying last month, and its already adding more routes. Created as a new iteration of the regional carrier ExpressJet, it operates 50-seat ERJ145s from Reno-Tahoe to Fresno, Eureka/Arcata, Ontario and Bakersfield, California; Redmond/Bend, Eugene/Springfield and Medford/Ashland, Oregon; and Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington, with three flights a week in each market. Aha!s newly revealed expansion plans include service to Spokane, Washington, beginning Dec. 15, and to Palm Springs starting Jan. 3, also with three weekly flights on each route.

Mike Siegel/TNS

In other domestic route news, Alaska Airlines announced it will introduce a new transcontinental route next year, launching daily flights between its Seattle hub and Miami on June 16. JetBlue added San Antonio, Texas, to its route map this week, starting new service from both Boston and New York JFK. United Airlines is ending its United Express service to three smaller airports  Twin Falls, Idaho, effective Nov. 31, and Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota, as of Jan. 3.

Whats the most direct air route between the West Coast and India? Its over the North Pole and then across Russia. Airlines like United  which plans to launch San Francisco-Bangalore flights in May  got a break last week when the Russian government gave a green light to overflight rights for U.S. carriers. U.S. airlines had been lobbying the State Department to press the issue with the Russians, and State said Russia had approved their applications, although it didnt say how many overflights would be allowed. The Department of State continues to engage with the relevant Russian authorities to secure expanded air service opportunities for U.S. carriers, a State Department spokesperson said.

Theres plenty of news this week about international airline partnerships. Lets start with Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), the new Italian carrier that replaced defunct Alitalia in mid-October. The Delta/Air France/KLM SkyTeam alliance announced that ITA has officially joined the group, filling the spot left open by Alitalia. It said the Italian carrier is working closely with SkyTeam and its members to roll out SkyTeam-branded benefits that customers enjoy across the alliance, including priority airport services. ITA has an initial fleet of 52 aircraft and started service with flights to 35 domestic and international destinations, mostly within Europe. It launched its first intercontinental route this week, from Rome Fiumicino to New York JFK with an Airbus A330, with plans to add service from Rome to Boston, Miami, Washington Dulles and Los Angeles next year and to San Francisco and Chicago in 2023.

Meanwhile, JetBlue announced an expansion of its code-sharing partnership with Icelandair, which currently has JetBlues code on the latters flights to Reykjavik from New York JFK, Boston and Newark. With the expansion, the JetBlue code goes onto Icelandair flights beyond Reykjavik to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Helsinki, Manchester, Oslo and Stockholm, with plans to add more European routes in the months ahead. Customers traveling on connecting flights between Icelandair and JetBlue will enjoy both combined ticketing and baggage transfers. Additionally, when customers fly Icelandair across the Atlantic, they can stop over in Iceland at no additional cost, selecting a stopover duration of one to seven days, JetBlue said. In addition, JetBlues TrueBlue loyalty program members will soon be able to redeem points for Icelandair flights.

Finally, Alaska Airlines said it is expanding its code-share relationship with British Airways, a member of American Airlines Oneworld alliance that Alaska joined earlier this year. This expansion includes 16 additional markets, connecting Alaska's network beyond Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles to British Airways' nonstop service from London Heathrow, Alaska said. The Seattle-based carrier noted that since it joined Oneworld on March 31, the number of code-share routes in its network has increased by 188, or 39%. That includes new code-share partnerships with Iberia Airlines and Qatar Airways, and expanded code shares with American, BA, Cathay Pacific and Finnair.

Which Vietnamese airline will be the first to launch U.S. service? For a while it looked like it would be Bamboo Airways, which had hoped to start flying here by this fall but was delayed by government red tape. So now Vietnam Airlines seems to have the edge. That carrier just got the go-ahead from the U.S. Transportation Department and now is awaiting an operating permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. Vietnam Airlines said it expects to begin scheduled nonstop service from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to San Francisco by the end of November, although it hasnt yet said what kind of aircraft it will use or what its initial schedule might look like.

NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

With the reopening of the U.S. to vaccinated foreign travelers starting Nov. 8., Air France just announced a substantial expansion of trans-Atlantic capacity this winter. From now through the end of March, the carrier said, it will gradually expand its U.S. schedule to 90% of what it was in 2019; this past summer, it was just 50%. That will boost Air Frances New York-Paris schedule from three flights a day to five, Los Angeles from 12 a week to 17, and Miami from seven a week to 12. The airline also serves San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago and Houston. On Dec. 6, Air France will revive Seattle-Paris service with three flights a week. And on Nov. 11, it will give West Coasters another option to get to French Polynesia, resuming Paris-Papeete, Tahiti, service via a stop in Los Angeles with three weekly flights.

Speaking of Tahiti, the small carrier French Bee this week restarted its Paris Orly-San Francisco-Papeete routing, which had been shifted to a stop in Vancouver instead of SFO when the U.S. was shut down. The SFO-Tahiti flights depart San Francisco on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, using an Airbus A350.

In other international route news, Hawaiian Airlines said it will resume Honolulu-Sydney service twice a week starting Dec. 13 as Australia begins to open up overseas travel to its citizens. Finnair this week started flying to Los Angeles International  not from Helsinki, but from Stockholm, using an A350-900 for three flights a week. La Compagnie, the French all-business-class airline, is planning a Dec. 4 start for service from Newark to Tel Aviv, operating via a 90-minute stop at Paris Orly. But its Newark-Milan flights, which were due to start this month, have been pushed back to April 2022. Aer Lingus will supplement its Dublin routes next year with trans-Atlantic service out of Shannon Airport. The carrier is due to begin daily Shannon-Boston service March 10 and daily Shannon-New York JFK service March 27. Both routes will use single-aisle A321neo aircraft.

Plastic water bottles and cups served in-flight are the latest targets in Alaska Airlines efforts to go green. The airline this week said that in-flight water service is the most significant contributor of onboard plastic waste, so it is getting rid of plastic bottles and cups, replacing them with plant-based boxed water cartons and paper cups. According to Alaska, this change will eliminate 1.8 million pounds of single-use plastics from its aircraft in the next year  equivalent to the weight of 18 Boeing 737s. The airline started offering boxed water earlier this year in first class cabins and on Horizon Air flights, and surveys indicated that customers preferred the boxed product over plastic bottles by a two-to-one margin.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

United Airlines longstanding partnership with Hertz is over, and a new one with Avis Budget Group started this week, according to ThePointsGuy.com. The new deal means that Uniteds MileagePlus members will earn 500 miles for each Avis rental, while elite-level members and United Chase cardholders will earn bonus miles  from 750 to 1,250 total miles per rental. The airline is also offering discounted MileagePlus rates for Avis and Budget rentals through cars.united.com/avisbudget. In the future, the new partnership will be enhanced by adding the ability to pay for Avis rentals with United miles, and the chance for MileagePlus elites and United Chase cardholders to get equivalent matching status with Avis and Budget.

At Chicago OHare, the inter-terminal people-mover trains finally started running again this week, connecting Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5, along with the airports multi-modal rental car facility, Economy Parking Lot F and connections to Pace buses and Metra trains. The people-mover, officially called the Airport Transit System (ATS), had been completely shut down since January of 2019, with travelers hauled around the airport by shuttle buses instead as work on ATS system expansion and improvements continued. According to the Chicago Tribune, the project is three years behind schedule, as it started late and kept facing delays. The project was supposed to be substantially complete by December 2018, and service interruptions were supposed to be kept to an absolute minimum during construction, the Tribune reported. The project soon devolved into delays, finger-pointing and contract disputes between the city and Parsons Construction Group, the main contractor on the project.
Everything was working for the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

The Dubs shot 52% overall, including 40% from 3-point range, in a 126-85 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans. No starter needed to play more than 30 minutes. Jordan Poole had 26 points. Gary Payton II had 17 points. In 17 minutes, Andre Iguodala racked up 10 assists.

It was the team's best showing this season, which helped Golden State improve to 7-1 overall. But Iggy, the 37-year-old vet, wasn't quite ready to proclaim the Warriors as title contenders afterwards (unlike ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith).

"We're okay, we're a work-in-progress," Iguodala told reporters. "We've had a more favorable schedule, so I don't think you look too much into it. We're doing what we're supposed to do."

He added that it's still an accomplishment to take care of business against so-so teams, and that in itself is a positive sign. And you know what? He's right! About all of it.

It is an encouraging signal that the Dubs are winning games they're supposed to win. That's step one of getting back to legitimate postseason contention status. But a dose of hard truths is also necessary here.

The Warriors' schedule, through no fault of their own, has been ridiculously easy so far. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night, when the Lakers had no idea how to play together with an entirely new roster. They beat the Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers. They beat the always average Sacramento Kings, the purposely bad Oklahoma City Thunder twice, and had two impressive (if expected) victories against the Charlotte Hornets and Pelicans. Their one loss, of course, was to the Memphis Grizzlies, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

The point isn't that Iguodala is being a downer, or doing some sort of reverse psychology routine  he's just seen it all in his lengthy career. He knows the Warriors have a chance to be special, but their record so far isn't indicative of them having actually reached the upper echelons of the NBA. We'll have a better sense of where they stand after a few more matchups against elite opponents.
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Los Angeles, Nov 6 (IANS) Queen of Pop Madonna made a surprise appearance at the star-studded amfAR Gala Los Angeles to present her longtime friend and collaborator Jeremy Scott with the Award of Courage in recognition of his work with the organization and his commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.The eleventh edition of the annual event was held in an elaborately decorated tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood on Thursday night after a one-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reports variety.com.

The gala, which was sponsored by Cadillac and FIJI Water, raised more than $1.8 million for HIV/AIDS research.

Shortly after an Ellen Von Unwerth photograph of Madonna was auctioned off for $70,000, the Queen of Pop herself took the stage and paid tribute to the Moschino creative director with a heartfelt speech, in which she also recalled how she was drawn into the fight against the devastating epidemic.

"In 1991, I stood on the amfAR stage and I was forced to clear up rumours that I had AIDS," Madonna said.

"I recall many journalists sticking microphones in my face, asking me, attacking me even, and saying 'Madonna, Madonna is it true? Are you HIV positive?' And of course my reply was 'no, I just want to help people who are'.

"That was an extremely eye-opening experience. I understood then that there was and there still is so much fear. That people thought if you stood next to a person with AIDS, or of course, hugged a person with AIDS, that you could get it.

"I witnessed how damaging it was. The hatred, the shaming, the fear, the misinformation that surrounded those suffering from this disease and unfortunately that fear still exists today. I'm sure that you are aware of it. I knew in that moment that my fight had just begun."

The superstar acknowledged that the battle against HIV/AIDs is ongoing, noting that 1.5 million people had been infected with the disease last year.

"The fight is still not over," Madonna said.

"We can never be too complacent when it comes to the silent killer that continues to wreak havoc in people's lives across the globe."

Madonna went on to laud Scott's work to raise funds for HIV/AIDs research from his involvement with the 1999 Life Ball in Vienna to his partnership with the Keith Haring Foundation, (RED), the Trevor Project and amfAR to carrying on the legacy of late Moschino founder Franco Moschino, who passed away from complications due to AIDS in 1994.

"You use your platform, and your platform shoes, to change the way that people look at others who are different, who are unique, who are extraordinary and often marginalized," Madonna said.

"I would say that you are destined for greatness but you are already great."

Scott was visibly touched as he embraced Madonna and accepted his award.

He recounted being bullied in his teenage years and thinking to himself: "One day, I'm going to be friends with Madonna.

"It's hard for others to even understand a time before social media and TikTok and having glimpses into other people's lives and before a time when Ryan Murphy's programs proliferated the airwaves with gay characters and cast, and way before Lil Nas X was topping the charts about bottoming, even before there was the term ally.

"There was only one word that represented a safe haven for young gays boys like me and that word was Madonna.

"On behalf of all the gay boys and gay girls who you made feel seen, appreciated and loved, I am so humbled to accept this honor from the most courageous woman I know."

During the night, celebrities including Alessandra Ambrosio, Garcelle Beauvais, Ashley Benson, Bobby Berk, Jenna Dewan, Diplo, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Paris Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Meg Ryan and Bella Thorne enjoyed performances by Bebe Rexha and OneRepublic.

--IANS

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Over 116.50 crore vaccine doses have been provided to the states and UTs so far through Govt of India free of cost channel and through direct state procurement category, said the Union Health Ministry.

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) More than 15.54 crore balance and unutilized Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, said Union Health Ministry on Friday.

As per the health ministry report, a total of 5,65,276 vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours. India's mass vaccination coverage has exceeded 107.70 crore and stands at 1,07,70,46,116 as per provisional report till 7 a.m. on Friday. This has been achieved through 1,08,69,517 sessions.

The Healthcare Workers have got a total of 1,03,79,485 first dose of vaccines and 92,51,816 as second dose. The Frontline Workers have been administered a total of 1,83,72,277 vaccines as the first dose and 1,60,01,188 as the second dose.

Among the age group of 18-44 years, total 42,28,21,083 shots of first dose and 14,80,13,602 of second dose have been administered so far, as per the health ministry report. A total of 17,59,50,688 vaccines as the first dose and 9,82,24,169 vaccines as the second dose have been administered to the age group of 45-59 so far, said the health ministry on Friday morning.

However, among the elderly population of over 60 years, total 11,03,79,297 shots of first doses and 6,76,52,511 of second doses have been administered so far, said the health ministry.

Meanwhile, India continues to report declining trends in daily Covid caseload. India registered 12,729 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. In the same period, 221 new fatalities were reported, which increased the death toll to 4,49,873.

--IANS

avr/skp/
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Carrs concerns led to a history syllabus that was so chock-full of information that teachers struggled to keep up, and bored students abandoned the subject in droves. They went to ancient history instead, says Kate Cameron, who began teaching history in 1980 and retired five years ago. It was a deathly dull syllabus that had serious implications across the board. To [Carrs] credit  a new one was introduced which had less content. Premier Bob Carr and Education Minister John Aquilina in 1997 with Burwood Girls High students at the launch of the state governments plan to overhaul the HSC. The TER would be replaced by a confidential universities index, changing the way students were to be assessed from 2001. Credit:Steven Siewert Politicians attempts to meddle in school curricula sometimes go badly. Usually, they go nowhere at all. But that doesnt stop them trying. Partly, its driven by a genuine interest in Australias history; democratic systems are at the forefront of their work. But history wars also serve a wider purpose by allowing politicians to flag their values, focus peoples minds on the simplicity of the past, and create a moral clarity in uncertain times - especially when an election looms. They are as much a political strategy as a curriculum intervention, says Anna Clark, a historian and author of Historys Children: History Wars in the Classroom. It gets people talking. Even during the hand-wringing about the teaching of Australian history in the 1990s, federal politicians acknowledged that NSW had a good record on teaching the subject. It is the only state that has long run history as a separate and compulsory discipline - other states have tended to weave it into other social sciences.

The earliest record presently available (some libraries are restricted due to COVID-19) of how history has been taught in NSW is Lusks 1891 textbook. The next is a copy of a 1957 NSW Department of Education syllabus, kept in Sydney Universitys Fisher Library, which shows little had changed since Lusks tome; history class was still about the imparting of information rather than the analysis of it, and focused on stories of politics and power. Students studied why Australian colonies federated, and how other British colonies, such as South Africa or New Zealand, grew to nationhood. But in the 1970s, Australians became more willing to question assumptions about their own history. Migrants were bringing new perspectives. Women were entering public life in greater numbers. The bicentenary of Cooks landing in 1970, and of the first fleets arrival in 1988, focused attention on the struggles of Aboriginal people; on both occasions, as well as during the 150-year celebrations in 1938, Indigenous activists wore black armbands. In the 1971 syllabus, students were introduced to the concept of historical understanding; to treat history not just as a series of facts, but weigh up different perspectives. In the 1980s, modernity arrived. A 1982 syllabus taught NSW history students about racism, and the resistance, protest and reaffirmation of Black culture. They studied trade unionism, womens civil rights, and the impact of birth control (or, more euphemistically put, limiting family size). In one class, they tested the Anzac tradition. Students were also encouraged to read The One Day of the Year, a 1958 play about a university student who rejects the boozy, debauched behaviour of veterans on Anzac Day, including his father. The play is still studied by HSC students as part of a unit on changing representations of the Anzacs. The 1992 syllabus - the one that alarmed Carr due to its focus on just a handful of themes, but was considered revolutionary by others - was the first to consider the perspectives of Indigenous people and women, and acknowledged that Indigenous people saw colonisation as an invasion. It also looked at history from the viewpoint of the ordinary, rather than the elite. That was the decade when history wars exploded at a national level. Then Prime Minister Paul Keating gave his Redfern Park speech, in which he acknowledged the wrongs inflicted upon Indigenous people. We committed the murders, he said. We took the children from their mothers. This did not sit well with his successor, Howard, who in 1996 rejected that black armband view of Australian history. I believe the balance sheet of Australian history is a very generous and benign one, Howard said. The Australia achievement has been a heroic one, a courageous one and a humanitarian one.

Prime Minister Paul Keating delivers his Redfern Speech in 1992 where he acknowledged the wrongs inflicted upon Indigenous people. Credit:Kylie Pickett Its one thing to advocate a particular framing of history; many Australians agreed with Howard. Its another to impose it on a school curriculum. Howard never did the latter, partly because he couldnt. At the time, there was no national curriculum. States run schools; federal politicians have all care, but no responsibility. Howard set up a working group to develop a year 9 and 10 curriculum - which critics said was also too fact-filled and boring - but could not do much about having it implemented. [Federal politicians] always running their views of what schools could do, says Tom Alegounarias, the former chair of the NSW Education Standards Authority. They had no mechanism to do it. They were nothing but expressions of perspective. A national curriculum - mooted since the 1980s - was finally developed under the Labor government, with history as a compulsory subject. The biggest states, NSW and Victoria, kept their own syllabuses and took an adopt and align approach to the national version, which involved a significant amount of cherry-picking. Smaller states used it because it saved them the cost of developing their own, but they could also ignore, change, supplement or delay it as they chose. The organisation responsible for the national curriculum, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, was carefully designed to keep politics away. ACARA is owned by all the states and territories, with each appointing representatives to the board, and everything it does must be approved by all ministers. The curriculum development process begins with experts, then opens for consultation with teachers and the community, and finally, after changes are made, goes to ministers. One of the problems with history education has been the constant politicisation, says Clark. Several historians and education experts have questioned why Tudge continued to lobby for changes after the consultation window closed, which meant no-one could respond to his views. Glenn Fahey from the Centre for Independent Studies argues ACARAs process should be respected. The political role is really to ensure the process has been followed, the experts were heard, and the public had an opportunity to contribute, he says. Clark says many in the history field believe the intervention is unusual. It shows the traction that talking about Australian history generates at a political level.

History teachers feel like they keep going around in circles. The public discussion is fairly exhausting, says Jonathon Dallimore, from the NSW History Teachers Association. Its not done gently and its not done without passion. Teachers acknowledge the public debate about what to teach is a legitimate one; theres thousands of years of history, and only a few hundreds hours of teaching time, so decisions must be made about what to prioritise, and those priorities change. People feel impassioned because its their national story, and that story can be told in different ways and from new perspectives, says Dallimore. But they worry about suggestions that the study of history should be given a positive - or negative - spin. The eternal debate has been why we teach history, says Dallimore. Once, the answer to that was you teach loyalty to empire, you teach Christian values. That broke down in the second half of the 20th century, and people began to re-think that. Now, teachers help students use the disciplinary skills of historians to look at the past, skills that are also useful outside the classroom in a world of fake news. Its about trying to approach the past with intellectual rigour, to think hard about what happened, why it happened, how do we know it happened in this way? Students at Ultimo Public School in 1965. The 1957 curriculum was a chronological, fact-filled syllabus with students studying Australias role in Britain and the world before finishing with revolution in Europe. Credit:James Hopwood Even though debate over curricula is intense - they act as a values statement of what we want our children to know - they have much less influence on a students history education than what happens in the classroom. Paul Kiem, who trains future history teachers at university, asks his students about their experience of the subject. Its disappointingly fleeting and often doesnt leave an impression, he says. Theres a whole lot of reasons for that. They mandate it, they dont give it enough hours, and dont give it enough well-trained teachers. Theyre revising the curriculum now, but are they interested in how effective it is? That would be a better question to ask.
Glasgow: As tens of thousands of people marched for climate action on Glasgows streets, negotiations over the final working of a COP26 statement ground on, with some saying progress has slowed.

On the streets, protesters were overwhelmingly peaceful, though many expressed anger at what they see as a lack of urgency from world leaders in the effort to stabilise the climate.

Among the protesters were Caroline Shepherd and her husband, Nick Adler, from Randwick, who had been in London visiting family and decided to travel north to join the protest out of frustration at the Australian governments climate policies.

Caroline Shepherd second from left, her husband Nick Adler on the right at the COP26 protests in Glasgow, November 6, 2021. Credit:Nick OMalley

Being here, we are utterly ashamed of our home, said Mr Adler.
My brother, Harry, moved to South Grafton in northern NSW, where he grew up, to work and live alongside our father. Dad was affectionate and loving when it suited him. But he was a bitter man, didactic and hyper-critical, with a ferocious temper, not dissimilar to his father before him. Dad had a makeshift one bedroom shack, with outdoor kitchen and toilet, thrown together next to the horse stables on a small plot of land in the centre of South Grafton.

I was yearning for my own spark, one that would penetrate through my feeling that the world was broken Credit:Stocksy

Dad was a racehorse trainer by trade but had also spent time shearing and droving cattle on horseback. He was a man etched from the mythos of Australia. An Australia that built up the battler, the bushranger, the pioneering patriarch. An Australia that functionally denied its violent past, the same way Dad functionally denied the violence and abuse he perpetrated in his marriage. Functional, because to admit is to stop  to admit and be honest about what has been done is to change the idea of oneself.

Before Harry arrived, I had already been living in South Grafton. I was there under the guise of working at the stables but was really trying to build a relationship with my father. I was 22 and had been forever retreating, my idle days filled with unemployment, video games and reading about Eastern philosophy. I was yearning for my own spark, one that would penetrate through my feeling that the world was broken and jolt me out of the malaise I felt. My mother had yelled at me until I left, telling me to go work and be a nuisance at Dads place  her only markers for wellbeing were employment or enrolling in a business course.

Everyone encouraged Harry to go to Brisbane, where he had a lot of friends. He said he owed it to Dad to come and work, but maybe deep down he knew it was a place where he could hide, where he would be unchallenged. He began using heroin straight away. The stables were a place where work and drinking meshed. Characters came to pick up manure, and take horses for walks, to pay in dribs and drabs and endless beer. Ive often thought there was a documentary to be made, but death due to alcoholism and old age has left their stories mute. Harry reflected on his upbringing here; when he was young, he thought the men had it all figured out, jolly and carefree, drinking every day among mates.
Hear me roar! Lions protects their territory with unrivalled fierceness. With key planets visiting your domestic zone, youll have your claws out. Time to gauge whether your defensiveness is warranted. You might be overreacting. Virgo

August 23- September 22 You have a razor-sharp intellect  and tongue to match! Ruler Mercury joins forces with feisty Mars and the sun in your communication sector, making you more impulsive with words and actions. Be bold, brave and speak your mind. Libra

September 23-October 22 Your money sector receives the ultimate boost thanks to the sun, Mercury and Mars. Youll easily attain the upper hand and persuade others, making this the perfect time to haggle. Revise your inventory and youll have more than you thought.

Scorpio

October 23-November 22 A tantalising trifecta of the sun, Mercury and Mars in your sign will ensure Scorpio sassiness is off the charts! Being measured with your words means the difference between impressing and offending. Seize each and every opportunity. Sagittarius

November 23-December 20 You may feel pressured to complete a task, or do something that every fibre in your being says is a mistake. Take time out for soul-searching and youll find youre the one squeezing the vice. Capricorn

December 21-January 19
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size She was the woman who helped the teenager break free of departmental care, earning her trust, their relationship sealed. But when the teen became pregnant and gave birth, it fell on the same woman to take the baby away. The Department of Children officer, Jacqueline Hall, fixes her gaze on the floor at one of the departments centres in Brisbane. Jacqueline Hall says there is a lot of documentation involved in her line of work. Credit:Jocelyn Garcia I was incredibly privileged to be working with a teenager who was exiting departmental care and she fell pregnant, Hall says. Because of our relationship, I became her childs safety officer, she says. We had a lot of trust with each other, so that might have been less traumatic when we did have to bring bub into care to keep him safe.

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While it was incredibly difficult, it did weigh heavy on my heart, having such a strong bond with mum but to also be the same person to remove her child. Hall takes a moment to collect herself before her warm smile and dimples return. She is one of 1200 child safety officers in Queensland. Her work is focused on intervention while a separate teams attention turns the intake of children into the system. From her Cannon Hill office, Hall begins her day checking emails before speaking to at least 10 clients and other government agencies. Her role is one of risk assessing, supervising family contacts and consulting other agencies for information and support. Queensland child safety officer Jacqueline Hall cant think of anything else she would rather do than help the community. Credit:Jocelyn Garcia She deals with court documents, noting cases on the system and case planning.

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Hall has been working for the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs since June 2019, after graduating with a dual degree in exercise and behavioural science. I was thinking this would be a pit-stop, to be honest. I thought it might be something I do for a little while but at this point, I cant see myself doing anything else, she says. Its really rewarding, and its an essential role in the community in child protection. Hall says her first day was a big eye-opener and she was surprised by the amount of court work and writing affidavits involved. My first day heading out with a client was with my senior team leader to the Brisbane Childrens Court and assisting a young person at the time who was having their youth justice matters heard. You really do have to take everything in your stride.

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Child safety officers attend medical and school appointments and court appearances, as well as house visits. Anything a guardian should be there for, she says, her voice upbeat. Hall has a good rapport with her clients and often refers to them as her families and children. She talks passionately with her hands, she nods, her blue eyes holding the gaze of the listener while she speaks. The positive changes in her clients lives keeps Hall enthusiastic about her work. For a young person, it might mean transition from part-time to full-time school so attending school for a full day, or getting a job or successful family contacts, seeing that bond develop, she says. We come into families in crisis when things are at their worst. It could be around substance use, mental health, or domestic and family violence.

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But Hall says people generally do not know the ins and outs of the life of a child safety officer. I work with children and families. Ultimately, thats how I describe my work, she says. If we are digging a bit deeper, everyone is always surprised by the scope of our work  they might think I hide behind a desk. But I do home visits, I supervise family contacts, Im transporting young people. They might think Im just doing paperwork and Im not out in the community. Im very much out there making sure I see my families and children. The departments director-general, Deidre Mulkerin, who began her career as a child safety officer in 1984, is incredibly proud of her teams across the state.

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Queensland has recorded one new case of COVID-19 in Goondiwindi, while Cairns, on alert after a local woman tested positive in the Northern Territory on Friday night, is in the clear.

The Goondiwindi case, a woman in her 20s, was a close contact of one of the three people who tested positive in the border community this week.

Health Minister Yvette DAth said the case was in home quarantine when diagnosed and, despite initial concerns, was not infectious in the community at any time.

A relaxed acting Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken said Goondiwindis high vaccination rates and the fact the woman was a close contact of a known case meant there was no thought of placing the town under lockdown.
Faith and politics is a delicate issue, as staunch Catholic Dominic Perrottets recent promotion to New South Wales Premier demonstrated.

His faith came under scrutiny but I suggest his private beliefs should not be the focus because all politicians  Christian, Muslim or atheist  form their opinions from their worldview and their convictions, and so they must. The alternative is no convictions, just expediency.

Politicians of all stripes have historically been eager to claim the endorsement of religion, but its never so simple. An article in the independent US magazine Christianity Today this week reports that the socially conservative evangelical churches in the US have been deeply damaged by their uncritical support of Donald Trump.

The magazine said: Around half of Americans believe evangelical leaders support of Trump hurt the churchs credibility. One in four say evangelical support for Trump reduced their desire to participate in religion. And among evangelicals, 33 per cent say their leaders support of Trump made personal witness to friends and family more difficult.
Fisheries patrols resumed their search at 6am on Sunday for a 57-year-old man feared dead from a shark attack as he swam at Port Beach, a popular coastal strip in Perths south.

The sea search is being conducted by Water Police, Marine Rescue WA and Fisheries vessels, with Surf Lifesaving personnel on jet skis, while WA police officers are scouring the shore line.

Councils closed beaches from North Mole to North Cottesloe to swimmers until at least 12pm before the sunrise search began after the Saturday morning attack, just 30m from shore.

Onlookers on the shore and beachgoers near the victim in the water witnessed the incident at the popular beach south of Perth, sparking desperate scenes just after 10am.
Strangers on Thursday laid flowers just metres from where a three-year-old boy was allegedly killed in a hit-and-run incident that has left his family and community seeking answers.

The boy was rushed to Midland Hospital but could not be saved as residents on Hancock Street in Aveley  also home to two schools and a playground  said on Thursday speeding was a daily danger to the family-friendly neighbourhood.

I just heard the screaming and obviously came running out the front, it was absolutely gut-wrenching, one neighbour told Nine News Perth.

The speed on this road is an absolute joke.
A decision on whether to force a Chinese company to hand back its ownership of the Port of Darwin could be handed down in a matter of weeks, as the federal government weighs whether to make a move that will further ignite tensions with Beijing.

The Department of Defence has handed its advice on security risks at the port to the government after the national security committee of cabinet ordered a review this year.

A range of options for the future of the port, which was sold to Chinese government-owned Landbridge group in 2015 for $506 million, have been canvassed in recent months.

The Port of Darwins 99-year lease with Chinese company Landbridge has attracted criticism since 2015. Credit:Glenn Campbell

The most drastic would involve the government forcing Landbridge, owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, to divest the strategically important asset on national security grounds under critical infrastructure laws passed in 2018.
The business of diplomacy - which is to say, the art of influencing foreign governments through dialogue and other measures short of war - had been practised well before the French got to it, of course. The Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, had salient advice to those who delivered messages from one state to another. If truth is lost, mutual trust will also be lost, he wrote. If mutual trust is lost, the messenger himself may be imperilled. Therefore, I say to you that it is a wise rule always to speak the truth and never to embellish it. In this way, you will avoid much harm to yourselves. Morrison, who has turned out not to be much of a workman at international diplomacy, has reason to consider that ancient caution, too. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, could not have made plainer his opinion this week of Morrisons truthfulness.

Macrons attack was the antithesis of polite diplomacy, of course. At least in spirit, he was reaching back to that battle of the ambassadorial carriages. He was demanding, with implied menaces, a form of precedence over someone he clearly views as an upstart. A matter of prestige. Unfortunately, US President Joe Biden, into whose arms Morrison flew in his haste to swap French submarines for an unspecified nuclear model, made it equally plain he felt misled by the Prime Minister in the lead-up to the contract being burnt. Clumsy was his diplomatic word for the mess. These added up to an international disaster for our Prime Minister.

The 1993 uproar after Paul Keating called the Malaysian PM, Dr Mahathir Mohamed, a recalcitrant for failing to attend that years highly successful APEC meeting in Seattle fades in comparison to a bit of a squabble. Morrison was dumped upon publicly by two powerful and significant leaders - both allies of Australia - at one of the worlds most important diplomatic events, the G20. And how did he choose to fight back? First, he claimed that Macron was sledging the Australian nation, though it was perfectly plain Macron was sledging Morrison alone. When that fell flat, Morrison reached for his oldest, least sophisticated weapon. Magically, a text message from Macron - sent to Morrisons mobile phone shortly before the submarine contract shredding occurred - made its way to a Sydney newspaper long known as the favoured repository of strategic leaks from the Morrison government.

Leaks concerning domestic politics are one thing. In a time when official Freedom of Information requests are regularly refused or supplied with almost all worthwhile information blacked out, media operatives needing a story often enough find themselves relying, at least in part, on self-interested leaks. But leaking the text message of an international leader and an ally to boot is an entirely different level of boorishness. Macrons text message was presented without context, and in any case did not back Morrisons contention that the French must have divined their contract was about to be dumped. Private correspondence between national leaders, by tradition, remains confidential if the basis of trust is to be maintained. In the diplomatic world, the exchange of messages is protected by immunity. Loading
Despite headlines about the government being held hostage by the Nationals over a deal on net zero, the rural side of the Coalition has risked its self-proclaimed reputation as champions of the bush by failing to nail down their key demand just months away from a federal election.

When the Nationals signed up to Prime Minister Scott Morrisons net zero climate policy, senior MPs made sure even those living beyond the black stump knew their support was conditional on securing a big payout for regional communities that rely on carbon-intensive industries like mining and manufacturing.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce needs Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stump up the cash for a rural fund ahead of the election. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But they ended up endorsing net zero without securing a public commitment to the rural future fund that was at the heart of their demands.

Now theyre imploring Scott Morrison to commit the big bucks, in a sign theyre worried they could end up like French President Emmanuel Macron  mired in a bitter dispute with Mr Morrison over a deal gone sour.
Dear Residents of Saint-Martin,

Since yesterday morning, our territory is impacted by random roadblocks whose perpetrators are still unidentified at this time.

Several groups of people who have not yet communicated any form of claims and have therefore not identified themselves are committing acts of blockages and rackets which are creating an anxious climate on the territory.

I am calling on the instigators and direct actors for a return to calm and reason.

The State, fully competent, is responsible for security in this territory: it must ensure the safety of persons and guarantee as well public order.

I, therefore, stand beside the Prefet GOUTEYRON in his request for a return to calm and dialogue in a climate that will have to be rational and peaceful.

Such destructive acts have a negative impact on our social and economic relationships.

Beyond the damages done to our infrastructures, the consequences on daily relationships are considerable, putting at stake the education of young Saint-Martiners in neighborhoods that are being blocked.

It is our entire community that is suffering from this lack of dialogue.

Everyone is responsible.

Finally, I appeal to certain media who must remember that their role is to inform the population and not to stir up violence.
Somerset, KY (42501)

Today

Becoming cloudy with occasional rain during the afternoon. High 58F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

Rain ending this evening. Partial clearing overnight. Low 33F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Somerset, KY (42501)

Today

Rain developing this afternoon. High 58F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 34F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
News

spotlight

Global product shortages hit local manufacturers

The microchip shortage has shown the precarity of the global supply chain amid the supply chain disruption caused by COVID-19. (Christian Wiediger/Unsplash)

Editors Note: This story is part of a series on supply shortages locally. Look out for upcoming stories on shortages in retail and agriculture/food supply.

Like many manufacturers across southern Minnesota  and around the world  Jim Stickneys problems are a few handshakes removed.

Much of the issues were having with our suppliers are not necessarily our suppliers, but their suppliers, or their suppliers suppliers, Stickney said.

Stickney is the director of operations at the south Faribault plant of Daikin Applied, a multinational air conditioning manufacturer headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Between its three plants in Faribault and Owatonna, Daikin employs about 1,200 people working to produce industrial-grade heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units.

Daikin is struggling with the global shortage of semiconductors, or the chip shortage, that has plagued the automotive and other industries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Daikin needs semiconductors for the fans in its HVAC units. Specifically, Daikins fan supplier uses motors to power its fans, and the fan suppliers motor supplier uses circuit boards to power its motors, and the motor suppliers circuit board supplier uses semiconductors to power its circuit boards.

Without chips, the whole supply chain falls apart.

Were continuing to receive orders, Stickney said, adding that the demand for HVAC among his consumers  industrial HVAC contractors  is as high as its ever been.

Without semiconductors, though, Daikin is left with incomplete units piling up in its yards. Stickney said he has customers who have been waiting on units since August that Daikin cant complete until a missing component arrives.

That is a huge problem for us, he said.

Daikin Applieds south Faribault plant has been piling unfinished heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units in the yard while it waits for delayed component parts to arrive. (Photo courtesy of Daikin Applied)

John Makela, general manager at Creation Technologies in St. Peter, is dealing with the same problem. Creation designs and manufactures electronic assemblies for aerospace, defense, medical and tech-industrial markets.

On the bright side, Creation Technologies is growing  Makela reported 15% growth last year. Demand is also high, he said, and hed like that growth to keep going. One of the obstacles to that growth is the difficulty of hiring new employees  they currently have 250, but Creation aims to get closer to 300 by 2023 to go along with facility expansion.

The other problem is semiconductors.

Getting microchips out of Asia is very difficult right now, Makela said. There are many challenges with the global supply chain shortages.

Where are the chips?

Macroeconomics 101 can tell you that if one country is highly efficient in making wool socks, another in making steel beams and a third in making semiconductors, its cheapest for all parties involved to stick to what they do best and trade with each other, rather than everybody trying to produce everything for themselves in isolation. Plus, a small number of very large factories in a few countries can produce goods much cheaper than a larger number of smaller factories spread out across many countries.

This is why the global supply chain developed  it saves everyone money.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed the weakness of that setup.

When the world locked down during the spread of the novel coronavirus, economists widely predicted demand for products would plummet, which it briefly did. Manufacturers around the world prepared for that drop in demand by shutting down. Others also shut down to stop the spread of the virus within their borders and factories.

During the pandemic, demand ticked back up sooner than expected. It went up even higher after stimulus checks were sent out by the United States federal government and has continued to climb as wages for entry-level jobs continue to increase.

As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Aug. 27, Booming demand for goods, and the strength and speed of the reopening have led to shortages and bottlenecks, leaving the COVID-constrained supply side unable to keep up.

That means delays and higher prices, made worse by a shortage of truck drivers and limited supply of container ships and the containers they carry.

The premium on container ships and shipping containers have worsened amid the global supply chain disruption that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ian Taylor/Unsplash)

It also means that a trade war between the United States and China that impacts Chinas biggest chip manufacturer, combined with a drought in Taiwan and an increase in microchip demand from a population stuck at home during COVID-19 can cause a chip shortage for the entire world. Which is exactly what happened.

Eric Gustafson, chief operations officer at K&G Manufacturing in Faribault, admits K&G is not immune to some of the delays and price hikes that other manufacturers are experiencing. So far, though, theres no product they need that they cant acquire.

As a contract manufacturer, K&G conducts custom production of aerospace, defense, marine and medical materials for Fortune 500 companies. It employs about 75 people. What sets it apart from other manufacturers of its size is the size of its supply chain.

We dont buy from overseas, Gustafson said, adding that K&G mostly buys from and sells to American companies. Right now, from a supply chain issue  its not affecting us much.

Because of the industries K&G serves, Gustafon said, federal regulations require it to buy American products because of the sometimes questionable quality of stuff overseas. That allows them to mostly stay out of the global supply chain, a luxury many manufacturers cannot afford while still staying competitive.

The only shortage that keeps him up at night, he said, is workers.

That is the resource that is in the tightest supply, he said.

Precarious and interconnected

While not all manufacturers are suffering too badly now, some are worried that the worst is yet to come.

RelCore Composites, Inc. in Northfield manufactures aluminum honeycomb composite materials, or core materials, whose lightweight strength is used for a wide variety of purposes, including airplanes, commercial passenger trains, cruise ships and snowboards.

RelCore Composites, Inc. in Northfield manufactures aluminum honeycomb composite materials, or core materials, whose lightweight strength is used for a wide variety of purposes. (Photo courtesy of RelCore Composites, Inc.)

To manufacture its product, RelCore needs aluminum. The automotive industry, which has slowed production significantly due to the shortage of semiconductors needed for cars, also needs aluminum. Since that industry isnt manufacturing too many cars right now, aluminum has not become an extraordinarily sought-after commodity. The demand for cars is high, though, and the semiconductor shortage will not last forever.

Paul Larkin, president of RelCore Composites, fears the day the automotive industry lurches back to full capacity to exploit that demand.

Its gonna drive prices crazy and lead times way out there, he said.

As a highly automated manufacturer with fewer than 10 employees, Larkin works with a select group of customers. There are only two other American companies that do the specific type of manufacturing RelCore does, and theyre over 100 times as big. All this puts RelCore at risk.

Its a difficult situation, especially for a small operator like us, he said.

Winegar, Inc. of Waseca, a contract machine parts supplier with about 80 employees, is also nervously eyeing the future, although for somewhat different reasons.

As Tim Wenzel, president of Winegar, explained, even if Winegar has everything they need to manufacture the parts needed by its customers  Fortune 500 manufacturing companies  if its customers cannot get the other parts they need for their own manufacturing process, they wont need Winegars products.

In other words, if Toyota Group needs certain machine parts from Winegar and electrical glass from Company X to build a car, and Company X has no electrical glass due to global product shortages, Toyota Group will likely not be ordering machine parts from Winegar.

Wenzels only consolation looking forward is the extra inventory Winegar carries, which has helped significantly amid the shortages. This is against modern just in time manufacturing business practice, which advises against ordering or maintaining extra inventory for purposes of maximizing profit and efficiency.

Weve always been a little skeptical of true just in time and have carried a little more inventory than most other customers, because it has bailed us out in the past, Wenzel said.
STAMFORD  After a bruising campaign between Bobby Valentine and herself, Mayor-elect Caroline Simmons is gearing up to enter office next month.

The tension between Simmons, a Democratic state representative for Stamford, and Valentine, a former Major League Baseball manager and city native who ran as an unaffiliated candidate, escalated during the final weeks of the race, with each claiming the other was being divisive and negative.

I think when you get into a very competitive race where people are very passionate, that can happen, Simmons said in an interview at her campaign headquarters Thursday. But Im hopeful now that we can move forward and work together to move our city forward.

Valentine didnt call her on election night, she said, but he did congratulate the new mayor of Stamford in a tweet.

Im looking forward to connecting with him, hopefully, and getting him involved, Simmons said.

She added that she doesnt necessarily envision him having a position in her administration, but she is looking forward to listening to him and anybody that wants to be involved in supporting our transition.

She said she also wanted to thank Valentine for all that hes done for Stamford.

For everyone that voted for him, I want them to know that Im going to be the mayor for everyone in our city and that Im going to listen to them and that I hope that we can come together now and overcome any divisiveness that existed during the campaign, she said.

Simmons won the mayoral election by about 1,500 votes, according to unofficial results. Turnout was about 40 percent, compared with about 27 percent four years ago, when Mayor David Martin won reelection to a second term.

Simmons, 35, is one of just a handful of women to run for mayor in Stamford  and the only one who has won.

It was really special seeing moms take their daughters to come vote for potentially the first woman mayor, Simmons said.

On Thursday, Simmons announced three leaders of her transition team  all of whom are women: Stamford Cradle to Career President Bridget Fox, state Sen. Patricia Billie Miller, D-Stamford, and Stamford Health CEO Kathleen Silard.

Around midnight Wednesday when Valentine conceded, Miller spoke to the crowd of Simmons supporters gathered at Third Place by Half Full Brewery, saying she never doubted that Simmons would win.

This is a historic moment for the city of Stamford, Miller said. Its a historic moment for the women and the girls of this city.

Weeks earlier, when Simmons won the Democratic primary against Martin, Miller told the group of celebrators that Simmons had consulted her before announcing her campaign.

When Caroline called me and says, Pat, you know, Im thinking about running for mayor  not unless you want it, that is a very humble person, Miller said. She asked me if I wanted to run first.

Miller represented part of Stamford in the state House before she became a state senator earlier this year after winning a special election. She was previously a member of the citys Board of Representatives.

I feel humbled but also grateful for the women that came before me, Simmons told Hearst Connecticut Media. And also, I take the responsibility really seriously, and I want to set an example for everyone in our city  men and women, everyone who comes to our city  that anything is possible, that you can pursue your dreams here. And I hope to be a role model for women and girls as they pursue their dreams, too, and to be a mentor to them.

Simmons takes office Dec. 1. A special election will be held to fill her seat in the state House of Representatives.

Simmons said she is working on a plan for her first 100 days in office that will align with her priorities as a candidate  including upgrading the citys infrastructure and school buildings, making it more affordable to live in Stamford, speeding up responses to residents requests and questions, and supporting local businesses.

Simmons met with Martin, who backed her following the primary, on Thursday to discuss the transition.

We say were a family in politics, Simmons said. We may have our divisions during the campaign, but I think both of us tried to keep it as positive as we could and focus on the issues and the future of our city. And I think now were looking forward to  making (the transition) as seamless as possible and putting the people of Stamford first.

In terms of her cabinet and other senior positions in city government, Simmons said she hadnt made any final decisions yet.

Were working on that right now, she said. I think theres some amazing, talented, diverse people from the city of Stamford  that were looking forward to interviewing and then also new people that will probably be applying.

Martin has left it to his successor to act on a number of open positions. He did, however, appoint someone to be Stamfords first chief information officer. The Board of Representatives signed off on a contract for that official, Isidore Izzy Sobkowski, this week.

Martins chief of staff, Michael Pollard, said the mayor held a briefing with both candidates and members of his cabinet several weeks ago.

We did it primarily to give an advantage to the person that won, such that they would not be hearing about things for the first time after the election was over with, Pollard said.

Includes reporting by staff writer Veronica Del Valle.

brianna.gurciullo@hearstmediact.com
STAMFORD  Behind a locked fence at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center, theres a dusty building shrouded by trees.

Its whitewashed facade and silo have grown ashen over the years. Next to the front entrance, behind a formidable pillar, the words Stamford Observatory are emblazoned on the wall and encrusted in coppery rust.

The nature center has barred community members from entering the dilapidated facility  which had been open for more than 40 years  for three years. But while the building sat empty, the Stamford Museum & Nature Center has worked on a plan to bring the dusty edifice straight into the 21st century through a multi-million dollar renovation plan backed by community members, scientists and the government at large.

Were doing this project ... to be of service to the community, Stamford Museum CEO Melissa Mulrooney said.

Mulrooney pitches service to the community through science education as the cornerstone of the observatory renovation, which the organization thinks will cost $10 million. The finished center will include dedicated classroom space, a planetarium with 125 seats and an outdoor observation deck.

A pivotal part of the project involves moving the observatorys current telescope to its new home: A historical telescope museum in New Mexico. From the Southwest, where there is less light pollution, the Stamford Museum & Nature Center can take advantage of the clear sky.

The Stanford Observatory will get the use of (the telescope) remotely for imaging, Bart Fried, an amateur astronomer and historic telescope expert, said. Fried helped facilitate the deal between the museum and New Mexicos Astronomical Lyceum. They kill two birds with one stone: They move the telescope out of the way and save it. And at the same time, theyll get to use it again to really little or no cost to them.

The observatory isnt the Stamford Museums only large-scale modernization project. In fact, its part of a bigger move to freshen the museums public face.

Though the plans for the new observatory have started picking up speed recently, the ideas origins are more than a decade old. The nature center floated a joint observatory and planetarium as a goal in its 2008 Master Plan for future upgrades.

The nature center completed the first part of its remodel project in November 2018 after just over a year of construction and about $5 million. The three-year-old Knobloch Family Farmhouse  named after museum benefactor William Knobloch  includes an outdoor classroom, a cidery and a maple sugar house.

While the Stamford Museum uses the farmhouse for its programming, the complex also provides a significant revenue stream for the center as a whole because one of the propertys cornerstone feature: a great hall boxed in with floor-to-ceiling windows. In addition, theres a professional kitchen attached to the back that makes the space adaptable for private events.

All these features, Mulrooney bets, have the potential to turn Stamford into a hot spot for cultural tourism.

Nowhere in the mid-Atlantic region is there a feature like this, she told the citys Planning Board at a meeting in late October. While there are other observatories scattered across the region, including one at Greenwichs Julian Curtiss School, Mulrooney said that Stamfords will be more advanced and more accessible to the public.

For example, Yale University has a planetarium and observatory, but the school limits the publics use of the space. Then theres the famed Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. But even one of the countrys most famous planetariums has its downside, according to Mulrooney.

Because of all the light pollution in the sky and the rumbling subway in the ground, the center cannot house a telescope, she said.

On top of that, getting children into New York City can present a challenge for schools and groups, especially those from farther away.

Weve been putting our kids in buses and riding down the West Side Highway to go to the Museum of Natural History for a visit: That is unsatisfactory, Mulrooney told planning board members.

Instead of shepherding children from Stamford and beyond onto charter buses into the city, Mulrooney imagines them meandering up Scofieldtown Road to the museums new facility. There, she envisions kids spending longer days learning about the stars instead of spending hours on transportation.

Before Stamford becomes a gateway to the stars, however, the nature center needs to finish raising money to complete the project. The nature center has raised almost $9.9 million of the total $15 million required to complete the two projects.

The Stamford Museum planned to raise $5 million each from the state, city and private investors. For far, it has gathered $5.75 million from the state, $2.75 million from donors and $1.385 million from Stamfords municipal budget.

The list of private contributors touches all corners of public and private life. Among the investors are former Lieutenant Gov. Michael Fedele and wife Carol, Mill River Collaborative President Arthur Selkowitz and Board of Finance Chairman Richard Freedman, according to documents provided by the Stamford Museum. The Aquarion Water Company gave to the project, along with Fedeles insurance company Odyssey Re and Stamford-based First County Bank.

Mulrooney and the museum has asked the city for $4 million through Stamfords capital budget process to round out its budget to complete the final phase. However, given the significant amount of money tied to the project, Mulrooney acknowledged that she would have to work with the next mayor to secure the necessary funds.

Funds aside, some of the experts the nature center has recruited as advisers on this project say that a resource like a planetarium could inspire a whole new generation of local interest in the sciences.

Once the facility is complete, to spend the whole day there, it would be easy, said Dr. Sarbani Basu, a Yale astronomer involved with the project. Its easy to look at the art gallery and look at the animals, she said. Then you take a planetarium show, maybe go at night to look at the night sky.

That accessibility will help foster a whole new generation of potential scientists, according to Bart Fried, an amateur astronomer and historic telescope expert.

You never know where the next professional astronomer is going to come from, Fried said. You never know which kid is going to look through an eyepiece and look at Jupiter and be stunned and never forget it and decide to go into a science career.

veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Worries over critical labor shortage challenges have migrated beyond the borders of the business community and are now shared by over two-thirds of Utahns, according to a new survey.

The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted earlier this month found 68% of surveyed Utah voters are concerned about the number of unfilled jobs while 27% identified themselves as not concerned about the issue and 5% were unsure of their stance. The results are from polling of 764 registered Utah voters and have a 3.54% margin of error.

Utahs current unemployment rate of 2.4% is holding down the No. 2 spot in the nation, bested only by Nebraskas 2% for the month of September according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Low unemployment is among the leading indicators of positive economic health, but it also serves as a litmus test of how difficult it might be for a typical company to hire needed workers and particularly so ahead of seasonal surges, like heading into the holiday shopping season.

Poll participants had mixed responses when asked who bears the responsibility of enacting measures to address the states labor shortage dilemma, but 44% said they believe its an issue for the private sector to deal with. Of those who think public entities should play a role in coming up with a fix, 22% said that falls on state government and 19% believe federal agencies should work toward a resolution.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he shares the concerns of most Utahns as reflected in the new Deseret News polling and is looking closely at all aspects of the states quicker-than-most recovery from the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While were thrilled with Utahs 2.4% unemployment rate, were very concerned about the labor shortage affecting every sector in every community in Utah, Cox told the Deseret News. Were currently working with experts and economists to learn more about changes in worker participation and expectations as a result of the pandemic.

While markets continue to adapt, government officials must be vigilant to ensure that we avoid disincentivizing work.

This spring, Cox announced his own move to help remove some perceived work disincentives and compel more strident job search efforts among jobless Utahns when he announced his decision to suspend pandemic-related federal unemployment insurance benefits on June 26, more than two months ahead of their scheduled expiration.

But data from a study released in August suggested the plan hadnt quite led to those outcomes, and Utahs nation-leading economy may be at least partially to blame.

A two-part survey conducted in June by researchers from the University of Utahs David Eccles School of Business sampled sentiments from both business owners and out-of-work Utahns, including 500 households, on outcomes from changes in the states unemployment benefits, among other issues.

One of the most conspicuous data points went to the heart of Coxs hopes that nixing extended benefits and stipends would incentivize job seekers.

To evaluate the impact of the expiration of additional (unemployment insurance) payments, we asked respondents whether this expiration will influence the time and effort they devote to job search or their financial planning, the survey report reads. Over 90% of respondents state that the expiration of (unemployment) benefits will have no impact on their effort devoted to job search or their savings behavior.

While Utah currently has more overall jobs than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with over 53,000 cumulative new positions added since September 2019, the state job participation rate is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. And, the most recent available data shows Julys 131,000 job openings far outstripped that months 79,000 hirings.

The Utah economy is still moving strongly through the greater pandemic event, said Mark Knold, chief economist at the Department of Workforce Services in a statement accompanying the agencys monthly jobs report last week. Utahs economy has more jobs now than it did prior to the pandemics onset and that speaks to Utahs economic resiliency. There remains room for improvement as the populations labor force engagement is below what it was before the pandemic.

For some, trepidations remain about re-engaging in work, i.e., public interaction. We view this as a natural and short-term condition and not a new normal.

While Utah businesses looking to build their own workforces are facing fierce competition in the states current labor environment, the circumstances are a huge benefit for those on the job-seeking side of the equation, and wages are on the rise and particularly so for those on the lower wage tiers, according to state workforce services economists.

Salt Lake Chamber President/CEO Derek Miller said Utah businesses across multiple sectors are struggling to fill critical positions.

We really cannot overstate the magnitude or impact of the problem, Miller said. I was in St. George last week and went into an ice cream shop. There were three teenage girls there working the whole place, struggling to keep up with business. They were doing their best and apologizing to customers but also letting people know there would be a 45-minute wait.

Thats the case wherever you go in the state, and its not just consumer-facing businesses like an ice cream shop that are trying to navigate the challenges.

Miller also has concerns that the upcoming implementation of President Joe Bidens vaccine mandates for larger private businesses could further exacerbate staffing issues for employers as some workers bail out in protest of forced vaccine-or-test requirements.

I do have some worry on the labor shortage that the federal mandate may make things worse, Miller said. I dont know how it will play out but trying to keep my eye on the horizon on that issue.

For current Utah job-seekers, however, the horizons have never been so bright.

In a Deseret News interview, Utah Department of Workforce Services senior economist Michael Jeanfreau said the states current jobs market is a boon to those looking to find a find a first job as well as for those interested in upping their earnings by moving to a new gig. This, he said, is especially true for positions with lower education requirements.

What were seeing right now is worse circumstances from the viewpoint of employers but better circumstances for employees, Jeanfreau said. If Amazon is hiring 250 new drivers right now and Im working at a gas station, that sounds like a great opportunity.

Jeanfreau said the competition for workers driving increases in pay rates is a factor that lifts quality of life for wage earners across the board and leads to Utah becoming an even more attractive environment for workers across all sectors.

When the bottom rises everybody else rises, too, Jeanfreau said. From an economic perspective, theyre all related. Positive upward economic mobility affects everyone.
NEW HAVEN  The streets of downtown New Haven returned to normal Saturday morning after a number of Yale University and area buildings were evacuated Friday because of bomb threats.

Students and residents alike bundled up Saturday morning to brace the chilly weather and venture out to coffee shops and other downtown businesses.

Not even 24 hours before, the area encompassing some Yale buildings and local businesses was shut down and swarming with emergency personnel. At 1:51 p.m. Friday, an unidentified caller reported a bomb threat in seven Yale University buildings to the New Haven Police Departments non-emergency number.

The area, a square chunk of downtown from York to Elm streets to College to Crown streets, was evacuated and businesses were told to shut their doors. The city gave the all-clear a little after 6:30 p.m., stating all buildings were safe and businesses and streets were back open.

It was very distressing, said Francis Hardt, the manager of the popular Atticus Bookstore Cafe on Chapel Street. Kind of surreal.

The store had to close around 2 p.m., but still hit its daily sales quota, Hardt said, attributing the success to early holiday shoppers.

James Steward, a student at Gateway Community College and an employee at Book Trader Cafe, said the threat didnt really affect his day, though the threat did make him slightly nervous.

Alex Rakov, a junior at Yale University and an ROTC student, said she was training at the University of New Haven when the bomb threat came in.

Though she said she was a little distressed, she didnt believe the threat was legitimate. She said other students she spoke to were also not too concerned. Neither New Haven police nor Yale officials could be reached for comment on the investigation Saturday morning.

However, she and hundreds of other students were inconvenienced by the threat since they couldnt go back into their dorms. Rakov said she and a few others went to hang out with a friend who didnt live in the evacuated area while officials conducted their investigation.

Ronnell Higgins, Chief of Yale Police and Director of Public Safety at Yale, released a statement confirming that there was no validity to the threat, but that the incident is still under investigation.

He said that anyone with any information should call the Yale police at 203-432-4400, or send an anonymous text tip through the LiveSafe app.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
3 1 of 3 Suffield Police Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Ron Chapple / Getty Image Show More Show Less 3 of 3





SUFFIELD  Police say a Windsor Locks man was arrested Friday in connection with the fatal hit-and-run incident that killed 20-year-old University of Connecticut student Meghan Voisine.

The Suffield Police Department identified the man as Frederick Seymour, 58, and charged him with evading responsibility in a death or serious injury accident and operating a vehicle under suspension.
BRIDGEPORT  A 15-year-old boy was arraigned Friday on attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting a man at a North End bus stop earlier this week.

However, because of the boys age and current charges, the hearing was held in a closed courtroom and the file is currently sealed.

The boys mother, who was crying as she left the courtroom, declined comment.

On Wednesday afternoon police said the citys dispatch center received multiple calls of a male victim shot at the intersection of Trumbull and Reservoir avenues.

According to Police Detective Thomas Harper a 19-year-old victim was rushed to St. Vincents Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Harper said the 19-year-old victim was waiting at the corner of Trumbull and Reservoir avenues to get his 9-year-old cousin off the school bus when the shooting took place.

Police said they used the citys surveillance cameras to get a license plate for the alleged getaway car, which Harper said was found to be stolen from Trumbull.

Police said the 15-year-old, who was driving the car, led police on a chase before finally being stopped on State Street.

Police said the teenager has an extensive juvenile record and is being investigated in other open cases.
HARTFORD  Law professors and students at UConn have goals to shape the local, state and national conversation about policing.

Last week, the University of Connecticut School of Law announced the creation of the Center of Community Safety, Policing and Inequality to rethink community safety and the goals of law enforcement institutions.

The new center has plans to research policy, advise legislative and judicial reform efforts, and host related talks and events.

Police reform is ripe at this political, historical moment, said Kiel Brennan-Marquez, center director and law professor of constitutional law, policing, evidence, and law and technology.

Were heading into this in a truly open-minded way, without a specific set of policy objectives in mind, he said, and described the academic hub as a vehicle to have hard but productive conversations about reform.

The center, he said, was inspired by conversations throughout summer 2020 with legislators and local groups to draw up policing reform legislation, and with the then-incoming law school dean. Brennan-Marquez said they realized the conversation should continue.

We should have a more structured mechanism for giving our input into reform efforts, in a way thats informed by trickle-down scholarship that makes an impact in the world, the director said.

Several projects are already in the works at the center, according to its website, including one on police funding trends relative to department size and crime rates, and another on how law enforcement institutions can silence the communities they mean to protect.

Student fellows represent a range of ideologies and backgrounds, including an active-duty police officer, and an organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement.

I am very excited about the establishment of this new center, especially at this critical time in our countrys history, said Eboni Nelson, dean of the law school.

It reflects not only UConn Laws broad expertise in criminal law and related fields, she said, but also our commitment to be engaged in local, national and global efforts to help bring about a more just and equitable society.

Brennan-Marquez suggested that is one of the centers main tenets: to have an impact off of UConns campus, including in Hartford, where the law school is located.

Were also starting to think about all the different forms community engagement might take, he said. I would love for it to feel like more of an open door, a porous boundaries, between the law school, and its surrounding areas.

The director said in the long term the center could find ways to create pipelines for students, especially in Connecticuts cities, to law school.

Meanwhile, the team at the center is interested in revamping criminal justice curriculum and the types of degrees available to those pursuing the subject at the law school. Brennan-Marquez said the center might rethink not only its JD program, but also consider degrees and certificates for non-lawyers and undergraduate students.

The center will host a kick-off event, an online lecture and Q&A session with a retired Connecticut Supreme Court justice, on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Brennan-Marquez is also planning for the spring and next year, including monthly colloquiums and workshops, conferences and large events, such as a possible 10-year retrospective of Floyd v. New York, the landmark challenge to New York Citys stop-and-frisk program.

These are hard questions  lets think about them collaboratively, Brennan-Marquez said.

Its not that were going to shy away from controversy, and I dont think we could if we tried, he said. But we have a unique opportunity working in this state, in this climate, and with a student-base that is going to become the next generation of legislators, judges, and leaders of all kinds of public and private institutions.
NEW HAVEN  Emergency personnel descended upon downtown New Haven Friday afternoon after an unknown caller reported a bomb threat at multiple Yale University buildings.

The threat forced hundreds of Yale University students to evacuate from these buildings, including some dormitories, for hours, officials said.

The city later sent an alert around 6:36 p.m. saying all buildings were safe, and downtown businesses and streets were back open.

New Haven and Yale University police, as well as firefighters and other emergency personnel, searched the targeted buildings late Friday afternoon. Officials also called in extra bomb-sniffing dogs to investigate.

What we know

1. Downtown is safe

The New Haven Police Department deemed the Yale University buildings safe Friday night, Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana said around 6:30 p.m.

The city sent an alert to residents around 6:36 p.m. stating The Downtown area has been deemed safe. All businesses and streets are open and back to normal.

University officials said that the campus is back to normal operations as of 6:52 p.m.

2. Yale buildings were evacuated

Seven Yale facilities were threatened, including the University Theater, Jonathan Edwards College, the Yale Art Gallery, Vanderbilt Hall, Bingham Hall, Welch Hall and Grace Hopper College, according to Fontana.

Yale University Police issued an alert around 2:30 p.m. for everyone to evacuate these buildings, as well as Branford College and Saybrook College, according to Yale Police Chief Ron Higgins.

University officials also evacuated Bass Library.

Students were escorted to the universitys upper green, but were then moved to indoor locations to stay warm, make calls and do whatever they need to do, Higgins said.

3. Parts of downtown were closed for several hours

All streets and businesses in the area were closed out of an abundance of caution for about four hours, Fontana said.

The area encompassed a square chunk of downtown, from York to Elm Street, to College to Crown Street, Mayor Justin Elicker said.

Around 4 p.m., Acting New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez asked for patience as detectives and investigators thoroughly searched each targeted building.

The area will be shut down for a considerable amount of time because at some point we will have to make sure that all of the buildings are safe, Dominguez said.

Police asked New Haven residents to avoid the downtown area while the investigation ensued.

Higgins said state police arrived just before 4 p.m. At the time, the bomb squads were talking and splitting up into teams to search each building.

He added that James Rovella, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, sent additional resources to New Haven to assist in the investigation.

What we dont know

1. It was not immediately known who called in the threat

The call came in to the New Haven Police Departments non-emergency number at 1:51 p.m. Friday. Elicker said the caller mentioned a bomb threat and referenced specific buildings.

Elicker noted to contact the police departments 911 dispatchers, the person would have to be in the city, but a person from anywhere can reach the non-emergency number.

Dominguez said her department is still trying to determine the identity of the caller. She added that the employee who took the call did a fantastic job trying to get as much information and keeping the individual on the phone as long as we possibly could.

2. It is unclear why the caller made the bogus threat.

Officials treated the threat as if it was legitimate, Dominguez said, thoroughly searching each targeted building.

However, He (the caller) did not provide a reason for the threat, Higgins said.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
Milton, PA (17847)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by some light rain this afternoon. High near 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy with showers. Low 37F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Ashtabula, OH (44004)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 32F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Higher wind gusts possible.
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Schvey (whom Ive known for a number of years) makes a persuasive case that Williams was for all intents and purposes formed in St. Louis  and despite his wanderings, forever preoccupied by the conflicts and concerns born in him there.

The themes Williams wrestled with  personal isolation and marginality, sexual repression and rebellion, mental fragility and predation, escape, freedom, guilt  all emerged from his early experiences here, Schvey demonstrates. Long before Williams refracted them so hauntingly in The Glass Menagerie, his first masterpiece and one of the few works clearly identified with his hometown, Williams was exploring them in other plays, stories and poems. And he continued to do so until the end of his life, in 1982 at age 71.

In explaining all this, Schvey makes it clear that to some extent, St. Louis has gotten a bad rap. No doubt the city was a big, dirty, provincial, status-and-money-conscious place, albeit like many others, perhaps especially in the Midwest. But the familys personal story was the more crucial part of the tale.
Former lawmakers, advocates and experts on gun policy agree that Missouri was part of a nationwide NRA effort to politicize firearms ownership and push for looser gun regulations to expand Second Amendment rights.

Multiple attempts to reach the NRA and the Missouri Firearms Coalition went unanswered.

To understand what happened, the Star looked at how those in the General Assembly at the time voted on Senate Bill 62, the omnibus crime bill that included the repeal of permit to purchase.

The Star reached out to 50 former lawmakers who served in 2007; all have left office. Of the 10 who responded, most said they couldnt remember discussing or voting on removing permit to purchase.

In 2007, opposition to the bill was virtually nonexistent  108 Republicans and 73 Democrats voted yes, while only nine Democrats voted no. Seven lawmakers were absent for the vote.

After the permit requirement was removed, the states firearms death rate had increased 58% by 2019, according to a Star analysis of state firearms death figures. The actual toll may be higher, as some local law enforcement agencies recorded higher numbers of deaths in their counties than the state reported.
Faulkners seat was the last remaining vacancy on the commission as of Friday. Pages office was accepting applications to replace Faulkner through the end of the day. Faulkner must be replaced with another 4th District Republican.

Faulkner and other Republicans had accused Page of purposefully making the appointments in order to select replacements on the commission. The charter does not require the executive to follow the party committee lists when filling vacancies on the commission.

Page, who served on a past redistricting commission, defended his appointments last week, arguing he selected candidates from 14 offered by each party and considered them all eligible. Those who had second public offices were eligible  as long as they forfeited their other public positions, he said.

They only had to forfeit their other elected office in order to serve on the redistricting committed, Page said. And when they chose not to forfeit their other office, their other elected or appointed office, then they became ineligible. So they had to choose.
I shouldnt have to fight through this, Vaccaro said, adding that he later was able to meet with the two chiefs privately in the mayors office on the issue. It shouldnt have been behind closed doors, but it was.

After the meeting, Nick Dunne, a spokesman for Jones, said he couldnt comment on Tyus accusation without getting specifics from Tyus.

Regarding Vaccaros statement, Dunne said we will continue to make department heads available at mutually agreeable times.

He said Interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom, who is putting together the 911 plan and oversees the two chiefs, had been available to speak to the committee. Dunne said he wasnt aware if the two chiefs were directed not to do so.

Tyus at the teleconference meeting didnt name the mayoral aide she was upset with but said in the interview with the Post-Dispatch it was Nancy Cross, Jones operations director. Tyus had clashed with Cross a few weeks earlier over the process for installing speed humps on residential streets.
Never have I seen so many people in one room excited to get their kids a needle in their arm, he said laughing.

Leslie French, of Crestwood, brought her two sons, Liam, 10, and Rhys, 7, to the clinic and said she was glad the approval for the vaccines came when it did.

Weve been very, very cautious for almost two years now, she said. So we havent been eating in restaurants, most of their play with friends is outside, but now its getting colder so thats a lot harder to do.

French said she was worried when there were some cases of COVID-19 reported at the boys school, but they have not had to quarantine this year.

Im just so relieved, she said. Theyll get their second dose and be fully vaccinated next month, and maybe we can have a more normal Christmas this year.

Liam had more mixed emotions as he waited for the shot.

Im pretty scared, he said. Weve been waiting for this for a long time though.

There was one incentive for Liam and all the other kids Saturday, however: stickers for every child who got their shot. Some of the most popular were dinosaurs.
ST. MARY, Mo.  The American Red Cross will host a one-stop shop on Monday to offer relief services to families affected by tornadoes that hit southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois last month.

The organization will partner with other nonprofits and government offices on a multiagency resource center from 4-8 p.m. Monday at Trinity Baptist Church, 500 Mulberry Street, in St. Mary, Missouri, one of several communities devastated by five tornadoes that blew through the region on Oct. 24.

Individuals do not have to be St. Mary residents to receive assistance, but they must provide proof of address to show they live in an area that was affected by the tornadoes, Red Cross officials said.

Mondays resource center in St. Mary follows at least two others that were held last week in the Missouri communities of Fredericktown and Farmington. Red Cross spokesman Joe Zydlo said 330 individuals whose homes were destroyed or damaged received assistance at those events.
NEW YORK (AP)  Insurers for several current and former Boeing board members will pay more than $230 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the directors of failing to address safety warning signs before two of the companys Max jetliners crashed.

Boeing and the directors did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which was filed Friday in a Delaware court. The deal still needs a judge's approval.

The shareholder lawsuit was filed by administrators of New York state employee retirement funds and a Colorado pension fund for firefighters and police officers. They sued after crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.

The lawsuit accused the directors of failing to properly look out for the interests of shareholders in overseeing then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg and development of the Max. Boeing tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge rejected the move in September.

Insurers for the directors will pay $237.5 million to Boeing, minus fees and expenses, according to documents filed Friday. None of the directors  nor Boeing  will be required to pay anything.

Boeing agreed to add a board member with a background in aviation or aerospace engineering or product safety and create a safety ombudsman's office for at least five years.
Further, they said, not being able to work makes it harder for detainees to buy extra food at the center's commissary, supplementing what they consider to be inadequate meals provided by GEO.

While detainees are looking forward to a potential payout, there's a lot of people in here that that dollar makes a difference, Soares said. While he has relatives outside who provide him money to spend at the commissary, he said, he would use his earnings every week to buy five or six ramen noodle packages for other detainees.

The detention center  officially called the Northwest ICE Processing Center  can house up to 1,575 detainees, though the population has been greatly reduced during the pandemic and numbered about 400 last month. Detainees there are not being punished for any crimes, but held in civil custody while the government sorts out their immigration status or prepares to deport them.

Two lawsuits were filed in 2017 over detainee pay  one by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and one by attorneys for the detainees. They accused GEO of profiting on the backs of captive workers.
Seventy one years after the war ended, Donald Trump was elected president. Four years later, for the first time in our history, we did not have a peaceful transition of power. We had a riot. The ousted president did not attend his successors inauguration. Most of his followers, which is to say an entire political party, insist that the election was stolen. The legitimacy of our government is in dispute.

The country is in absolute disarray. We cannot even have a civil discussion at a St. Louis County Council meeting. Even once-staid school board meetings are fraught with disagreement. We are at each others throats.

Did I mention the planet is burning and the seas are rising?

Once again, the times call for a Greatest Generation.

And the good news is, I see it coming. The young people in their 20s, 30s and early 40s are going to have to fix all of this. I think they can do it. I think theyre smarter than us. Better than us. Not all of them, of course, and even the best ones are imperfect. It is not going to be easy. In fact, viewed from the present, it seems an impossible task.

But overcoming the odds is what Greatest Generations do.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  France has agreed to help initiate talks between Cyprus and French-speaking African countries for a deal to take back their citizens whose asylum applications have been rejected, the Cypriot interior minister said Saturday.

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said his French counterpart Gerald Darmanin made the pledge during a brief visit to the Cypriot capital on Friday.

Nouris said the overwhelming majority of migrants who arrived at ethnically split Cyprus in the last year hail from sub-Saharan African countries with which the European Union doesnt have such send-back agreements. Nouris said he would possibly travel to Paris next month to thrash out details of such potential agreements and other migration issues.

Cyprus says it has the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU members relative to its population of 1.1 million and its reception system has reached a breaking point.

Around 80% of all migrants enter Cyprus from its breakaway north and then cross a porous, U.N.-controlled buffer zone to seek asylum in the internationally recognized south.
Last weeks climate change summit in Scotland managed, once again, to sidestep one of the main stumbling blocks to progress addressing global warming: All countries are autonomous and free to choose their own paths based on national self-interest. Even when all of humanity is under threat from rising seas and increasingly deadly weather disasters, theres no mechanism in place to ensure nations abide by their pledges.

In nearly all cases, leaders can be relied upon to prioritize their own nations economic prosperity over the sacrifices required to ensure the planets survival. The only way to make them adjust their priorities is to make their economies and development prospects hinge on their cooperation. The United States, admittedly with lots of room for its own improvement, has the unique ability to apply pressure on uncooperative nations, and the Biden administration needs to flex that muscle.

Before President Donald Trumps election, the United States embraced the goals set forth by the 2016 Paris agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to help halt the rise in mean global temperatures at 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Trump scuttled the deal.
Grant Wood invited me to Cedar Rapids. Well, sort of. Actually, he died in 1942 at the age of 50, before I was born. But his iconic American Gothic painting, which most people interpret as an Iowa farmer and his wife, had been completed there in 1930, and Wood had always been an artist I admired.

Then, when I discovered he had painted the famous couple in his Cedar Rapids studio (the original painting is at the Art Institute of Chicago) and it was open for tours, and that the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art had a collection of 50 Grant Wood paintings on display, it was the perfect excuse to ease back into traveling. At the time, the pandemic seemed to be winding down, and it was only a 4  hour journey from St. Louis.

What I did not expect to find in a town of 137,000 people was a rich cultural history and a contemporary, state-of-the-art hotel operated by college students.

The first surprise was to discover that Woods art was much more versatile than I had known. The Cedar Rapids Art Museums collection of his work includes several pieces from when he painted in Europe and his style was of an impressionist, incorporating loose brushwork versus the precision later seen in American Gothic. Also on display are examples of his little-known talent as a metalworker, an example of which was an ornate fire screen he designed.
The United States has been a regular customer for new Ukrainian armored vehicles since the 1990s, when newly independent Ukraine found it had the largest quantity of modern Russian weapons outside of Russia. This was because Ukraine was where a lot of these weapons were built and was the site of staging areas and storage of weapons to be used by follow-up divisions in any war with NATO. The United States noted this and became a regular customer, not only buying a few of the latest Russian armored vehicles and other equipment, but also new Ukrainian models of these weapons. Ukraine had long developed new models for Russia (the Soviet Union) and most of those developers and technicians were Ukrainian. The U.S. not only bought a few of each new model but larger quantities of some vehicles for realistic OPFOR (Opposing Forces) training for American troops. The U.S. also tested their latest weapons against the Ukrainian armored vehicles, sharing most of the results with Ukraine. In some areas Ukraine and Russia were ahead of the West in developing new tech for tanks and now the U.S. and NATO had access to most of that.

Some of the Ukrainian post 1991 tank models are exceptional. For example, the T-84 is a Ukrainian modification of the Russian T-80, which was a failed Cold War design that Ukrainian engineers managed to salvage. Before the Russians attacked Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine had designed a new version of their T-84, the T-84 Oplot-M. It was a 51-ton vehicle with a "western" style turret and lots of protection in the form of reactive armor and modern electronics for protection and improved combat capability. That included a combat proven (in Syria) Zaslon APS (Active Protection System). Ukraine sold Zaslon to Turkey, along with a manufacturing license

Oplot-M is armed with a 125mm smooth bore gun, an autoloader and 46 rounds on board. Most (28 rounds) are in the autoloader magazine. The 125mm gun can also launch a laser guided ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile) with a max range of 5,000 meters against ground or air targets. The fire control system is designed to handle the ATGM, which can be carried in place of some 125mm shells. The ATGM must be loaded manually.

There are also two machine-guns. One is a 12.7mm with 450 rounds and the other is a 7.62mm machine-gun with 1,250 rounds. The 12.7mm machine-gun is linked to the fire control system that enables it to hit aerial targets more effectively. The fire control system also includes thermal (heat sensing) sights with a detection range of 8 kilometers. Thats more than three times the effective range of the 125mm shells. The fire control system can handle firing the 12.7mm machine-gun and 125mm shells and missiles on the move against moving targets. The armor protection is multilayered including standard and reactive armor that can protect against hits by all types of modern weapons.

That tank is very agile because of a 1,500 HP diesel engine that enables max-off road speed of 45 kilometers an hour and 70 kilometers on roads. Road range on internal fuel is 500 kilometers. The three-man crew uses an auto-loader and the tank is equipped with air conditioning that enables operation in tropical climates.

Ukraine began building the T-84 Oplot-M tank in 2009 but priority, especially after Russian invasion in 2014, was given to cheaper tanks and by 2018 only a few Oplot-Ms were in Ukrainian service. The cost per unit is up to $4 million each depending on features installed. The T-84 Oplot-M represents a major achievement for the Ukrainian arms industry as these are very effective tanks equipped with state-of-the-art tech, much of it combat proven.

Thailand ordered 49 Oplot-M tanks in 2011 and deliveries were slowed down but not halted by the Russian 2014 invasion. By 2017 most of the Oplot-Ms had been delivered to Thailand. The Thais were satisfied with their performance, noting that the air-conditioning system worked. That has not always been the case with Russia designed tanks.

Production priority was given to export orders because Ukraine discovered in 2014-15 that their older models could handle the latest Russian tanks. So far, the Ukraine army only has about six Oplot-Ms out of the 160 the army wants to get eventually. Ukraine spent a lot of money mobilizing defenses to stall the Russian offensive in the eastern Ukraine Donbas region.

To sustain operations against Donbas rebels working for Russia and Russian- manned modern Russian tanks, Ukraine was forced to quickly undergo rearmament using existing weapons production capabilities in Ukraine and coordinating repairs and refurbishment of existing equipment. Ukraine did receive some help from East European nations that had joined NATO after 1991 and still operated some Russian equipment from the Cold War era. Despite vigorous rhetoric from the European Union and United States, that support has been diplomatic and economic. EU and American help in modernizing the Ukrainian Armed Forces were token gestures because Russian threatened nuclear war if Ukraine got direct military support from the West or went ahead with plans to join NATO. Most of the work has been done by the Ukrainians themselves with some help from East European neighbors.

After 2014 Ukraine focused on refurbishment of the most modern existing equipment. The Ukrainian Army was already using 250 T-64BM Bulat tanks and 350 T-64BV tanks. Ukraine also has 1,000 T-64B tanks in storage. The T-64BM and T-64BV are upgrades of some of the 64Bs placed in storage after 1991. Ukraine had been upgrading 12 to 14 vehicles to the Bulat standard each year since 2007. This cost about $600,000 per vehicle.

Ukraine had so many Cold War era Russian tanks in storage that it could rely on these for a steady supply of replacement parts or components for refurbishing the 167 T-80 UD and 1,032 T-72 M1 tanks. Most of these tanks are still in storage. The vast majority of Ukraines T-80 and T-72 battle tanks were manufactured in Russia and parts were not available.

Initial battles in Donbas led to heavy losses of the existing T-64BV, so Ukraine began converting T-64B tanks to the T-64BM variant. Ukraine also began manufacturing key T-72 components and restoring the surplus (and in storage) T-72s to operational status. Ukraine noted that it could do an even better job of these T-72 refurbs and upgrades when they could depend on using components from Western firms. But those sources have been blocked since 2014. Ukraine found other sources, especially China. The Chinese wanted access to Russian weapons tech that Russia would not provide but that Ukraine possessed. Russia does not threaten China, which is its only ally these days.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attralus, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative medicines to improve the lives of patients with systemic amyloidosis, today announced that new preclinical data for AT-03, the companys first-in-class pan-amyloid removal (PAR) therapeutic being developed for the treatment of systemic amyloidosis, will be presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. In addition, new clinical data from the University of Tennessee from its Phase 1/2 trial of AT-01, the companys pan-amyloid imaging diagnostic being developed to detect all types of systemic amyloidosis, will be presented at the ASH Annual Meeting. The ASH Annual Meeting is scheduled to be held December 11-14, 2021 in Atlanta, GA.

Poster Presentation Details

Abstract Title: Pre-Clinical Characterization of a Novel Fusion Protein (AT-03), with Pan-Amyloid Binding and Removal

Presenter: Christophe Sirac, Ph.D., Professor, University of Limoges

Christophe Sirac, Ph.D., Professor, University of Limoges Session: 605. Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Resistance: Lymphoid Neoplasms: Poster I

605. Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Resistance: Lymphoid Neoplasms: Poster I Date/Time: December 11, 2021, 5:30 p.m.  7:30 p.m. ET

December 11, 2021, 5:30 p.m.  7:30 p.m. ET Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Hall B5

Abstract Title: Detection of Systemic AL Amyloidosis by 124I-p5+14 PET/CT imaging  Providing the Complete Picture for Diagnosis

Presenter: Jonathan Wall, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Director of the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicines Amyloidosis and Cancer Theranostics Program

Jonathan Wall, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Director of the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicines Amyloidosis and Cancer Theranostics Program Session: 803. Emerging Diagnostic Tools and Techniques: Poster II

803. Emerging Diagnostic Tools and Techniques: Poster II Date/Time: December 12, 2021, 6:00 p.m.  8:00 p.m. ET

December 12, 2021, 6:00 p.m.  8:00 p.m. ET Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Hall B5

For additional information, please visit the ASH Annual Meeting website.

Systemic amyloidosis affects more than 500,000 patients globally, and it is estimated that more than 80 percent of patients with systemic amyloidosis remain undiagnosed, said Gregory Bell, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Attralus. Attralus is developing the first and only therapies with pan-amyloid removal technology for the treatment of patients across all stages of disease, as well as a non-invasive, pan-amyloid, imaging diagnostic designed to detect all types of systemic amyloidosis. We look forward to the presentation of these encouraging new data from our AT-03 preclinical studies, and from Dr. Jonathan Walls Phase 1/2 trial for AT-01, at the ASH Annual Meeting.

About AT-01 Pan-Amyloid Diagnostic

AT-01 utilizes the companys pan-amyloid binding peptide as an amyloid-specific radiotracer to image all types of systemic amyloidosis through PET/CT imaging. In initial clinical trials, AT-01 has been shown to detect multiple types of amyloid deposits, including AL and ATTR, in major organs such as the heart, kidney, liver and spleen. Attralus obtained exclusive rights to commercialize AT-01 under a commercial license agreement with University of Tennessee Research Foundation.

About AT-03 PAR Therapeutic

AT-03 is a fusion of the companys PAR-SAP (Serum Amyloid Protein) technology with a single-chain Fc. The PAR-SAP component mediates binding to all types of amyloid deposits, and the single-chain Fc stimulates the immune system to remove amyloid deposits that are bound by AT-03. Attralus obtained exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize AT-03 under license agreements with University of Limoges.

About Systemic Amyloidosis

Systemic amyloidosis encompasses a diverse group of rare diseases that occur due to accumulation of toxic amyloid deposits in tissues and organs, a consequence of aberrant protein misfolding events. These diseases are progressive, debilitating and often fatal. Systemic amyloidosis is significantly underdiagnosed due to low awareness, lack of specific symptoms, and no current disease-specific diagnostics. The two most common forms of systemic amyloidosis are immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) amyloidosis and transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). There is a significant unmet need for new therapies and diagnostics in systemic amyloidosis.

About Attralus

Attralus is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating transformative medicines to improve the lives of patients with systemic amyloidosis. The companys proprietary pan-amyloid removal (PAR) therapeutics are designed to directly bind to and remove toxic amyloid in organs and tissues. By targeting the universal disease-causing pathology in systemic amyloidosis diseases, PAR therapeutics have the potential to treat and reverse disease in patients with all types and stages of systemic amyloidosis. Attralus was founded by scientific experts in the field of amyloidosis and the company is headquartered in South San Francisco.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to Attraluss continued development of AT-01 and AT-03, including the efficacy and therapeutic potential of AT-01 and AT-03. Words such as demonstrated, may, anticipate, estimate and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Attralus' current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Attralus' actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Attralus expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Attralus' expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Contact:Luke HeagleReal Chemistry(910) 619-5764lheagle@realchemistry.com

Source: Attralus, Inc
WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ganvix, Inc., an industry leader specializing in the development of Gallium Nitride (GaN) Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), has signed a joint venture agreement with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a technology research and development institution based in Taiwan.



Ganvix utilizes nanoporous technology to deliver compact, lightweight blue/green/UV VCSEL lasers that produce superior wavelength control, smaller spot size, and array architectures, allowing substantial innovation across a wide range of applications.

As part of the agreement, ITRI will apply decades of experience in commercializing and manufacturing electro-optic devices to accelerate the development of the Ganvix technology and time to market. The resulting products will address the nascent opportunity for high-performance, low-cost GaN VCELs in billion-dollar global markets, including consumer electronics, communications, medical and life sciences, and industrial applications.

VCSELs based on Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) that operate in the infrared spectrum are one of the fastest-growing technologies in electro-optics today. However, GaAs cannot emit light in the ultraviolet or visible (blue and green) wavelengths. For these applications, GaN is required, but there has been no commercially viable solution to form the laser cavity mirrors required until now. Ganvix has solved this problem using nanoporous technology to engineer the optical properties of GaN. The nanoporous technology was developed by Professor Jung Han at Yale University and has been exclusively licensed by Ganvix.

We are excited to be working with ITRI to commercialize this innovative and highly sought-after laser technology, said John Fijol, Chief Executive Officer of Ganvix. By forming this partnership, we take advantage of ITRIs technical expertise and long track record of helping bring innovative technologies to market.

We see immense opportunity in commercializing GaN-based VCSELs and are enthusiastic about introducing them to the global markets, said Dr. Wu, General Director, ITRI. The nanoporous technology is uniquely suitable for manufacturing at scale.

About Ganvix: Ganvix is an early-stage startup based in Wilmington, DE, founded by Dr. Jung Han, Dr. Rami Elafandy, and Dr. Jin-Ho Kim to commercialize GaN-based laser devices. The underlying technology has been developed for over a decade by Professor Han at Yale University and is protected by over 30 patents. Ganvix received funding from IP Group, Inc., a leading intellectual property commercialization company that focuses on evolving great ideas from its partner universities and national labs.

About ITRI: Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the worlds leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwans industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. To address market needs and global trends, it has launched its 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap and focuses on innovation development in Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. It also strives to strengthen Intelligentization Enabling Technology to support diversified applications. Over the years, ITRI has been dedicated to incubating startups and spinoffs, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote international cooperation across the globe. For more information, please visit https://www.itri.org/eng.

Contact:

Frank De Maria, Founding Partner

(347) 647-0284

frank.demaria@purposefulcommunications.com
WASHINGTON, Nov. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny has been announced as the winner of the prestigious 2021 Democracy Medal awarded by members of the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) which is the global peak professional body for democratic election strategists and pollsters.

IAPC president Mauricio De Vengoechea said Mr. Navalnys award recognized him for fighting for democracy in Russia, often at great personal risk to his own life.

Mr. Navalny has long been the most prominent voice calling attention to democratic abuses and corruption under the regime, Mr. De Vengoechea said.

His bravery has come at a high cost to him, including an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent and periods in jail. He remains imprisoned in Russia at this time following the latest in a series of impeding legal maneuvers against him by officials.

Since becoming leader of the Russia of the Future Party in 2013, Mr. Navalny has been subjected to a range of tactics to prevent him from participating in election processes. Instead, he has sought to engage Russian citizens through social media activism that has attracted many followers.

As a non-partisan organization that defends and celebrates free elections, IAPC believes Mr. Navalny, like all those who seek high office, should be able to put his case to voters in a free and fair election. The simple act of choosing your candidate is a foundational privilege of democracy. It should be defended and never taken for granted.

The challenges to democratic principle and human liberty that we see in Mr. Navalnys case are disturbing. By presenting this award to him, IAPC is articulating its support for the principle that all people everywhere have a right to free elections.

IAPC is the global professional organization for people who work in democratic election campaigns and processes, often for head of states races across Europe, the Americas, the Asia-Pacific and Africa. It provides a forum for campaign strategists and pollsters to share and deepen professional knowledge around elections and to monitor trends in election practice globally.

Since 1982, IAPC has been a pioneer in awarding an organization or an individual who in the judgment of its membership has worked courageously to foster, promote and sustain the democratic process anywhere in the world through our Democracy Medal, the first international award of its kind.

This is the 39th time since 1982 that the Medal has been awarded. Nominees are proposed by members who then vote on the nominee shortlist. Awardees have included individual politicians and leaders, political organizations, and political movements that have contributed to free elections through their leadership and commitment to democratic ideals.

Other 2021 nominees shortlisted for the Medal were Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for asserting only Taiwan's people can decide their future; journalist Maria Ressa, for breathtaking courage in challenging the Duterte government in the Philippines; and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for being an island of sanity in a growing sea of demagogue leaders.

Past winners include Hong Kong Umbrella Movement founder Joshua Wong, the Women of Belarus, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, US Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Philippines President Corazon Aquino, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Established in 1968, The International Association of Political Consultants is committed to fostering democracy and the democratic process throughout the world. Members span a variety of political backgrounds and activities fostering the growing and diverse profession of political consulting as well as the practical aspects of democratic elections.

For further information contact:

Mauricio de Vengoechea, IAPC President Email: devengo@Icloud.com

Matt Klink, IAPC President-Elect: Tel: (310) 283-6267 Email: matt@klinkcampaigns.com

Marcel Wieder, Communications Tel: (416) 907-2126 Email: marcel@aurorastrategy.com

Source: International Association of Political Consultants
BUDAPEST, Hungary, Nov. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Not long after the COVID-19 lockdown began in Hungary, Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Budapest received a message on their Facebook account. Noticing that they were helping those most severely affected by the pandemic, the head of the town's Roma community asked if they could please visit the village of Gyulaj where many live in poverty.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

The Volunteer Ministers responded with donations of food such as fruit and vegetables, potatoes, flour, rice and pasta, hygiene suppliesand some nonessential but highly appreciated treats for the children.

Some 65 to 70 percent of the 1,700 or so Gyulaj residents are Romamany of them casual laborers living at or below the poverty line. The lockdown took a terrible toll on the community, with farm work and day labor severely impacted by restrictions. The Volunteer Ministers returned to the village with more supplies as the pandemic continued.

In September, with restrictions lifting and the promise of returning to normal, the mayor of Gyulaj and the village's Roma leader decided to organize an event for the entire community: A joint celebration of the village day and the annual Roma cultural festival.

With the centerpiece of the celebration a cooking contest, the Volunteer Ministers arrived at dawn with their bright yellow van loaded with 70 pounds of meat and cabbage. And to complement the stuffed cabbage and goulash, the volunteers added soft drinks and chocolate.

It was a fun-filled afternoon and the Volunteer Ministers left with plans to return for Christmas with gifts and holiday food to make it a great year for the community.

Then in early October, tragedy struck the town. The Volunteer Ministers received a call from the Roma leader, asking for help. A freak accident killed four cousins age 17 to 27 as they were driving to work. A fifth cousin was injured but survived. All five were electricians: the breadwinners of their families. Their vehicle skidded into an oncoming truck in the rain. Then, as the village was reeling from that shock, the mother of four children died suddenly, unexpectedly, leaving her children orphaned.

The volunteers immediately collected funds and left for the village with food and supplies to help the families through this tragic time and to let them know they are always on call to help them get through this ordeal.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

A Volunteer Minister's mandate is to be "a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others." Their creed: "A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."

Their motto is, no matter the circumstances, "Something can be done about it."

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Hungary headquarters is the Church of Scientology Budapest, whose new home was dedicated in 2016 by Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion.

For more information, visit the Scientology Newsroom or the Volunteer Ministers website.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scientology-volunteer-ministers-of-budapest-reach-out-in-friendship-to-a-nearby-village-301418043.html

SOURCE Church of Scientology International
Joshua Gamble, 29, is accused of sharing child porn in August. FBI agents arrested Gamble in October while investigating a chat application and its networks, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Georgia. (Jefferson County Detention Center)

AIKEN, S.C. (Tribune News Service)  An Army soldier training at Fort Gordon has been indicted on one count of distribution of child pornography, federal court records show.

Joshua Gamble, 29, is accused of sharing child porn in August. FBI agents arrested Gamble in October while investigating a chat application and its networks, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

Anyone who would think to engage in activities that exploit children should be forewarned that our vigilant law enforcement partners are always watching, acting U.S. Attorney David Estes said Friday in a statement. We will be unrelenting in pursuing those who would victimize the most vulnerable among us.

If convicted, Gamble could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Gambles indictment is not the first of its kind at Fort Gordon, home to the Armys cyber center of excellence.

In May, another soldier training at the fort, Bryan Stills, 26, admitted to possessing child porn. And in February, an Army major once assigned to Army Cyber Command, Jason Michael Musgrove, 41, was sentenced to 30 years for the production of child porn.

Identifying and removing child predators is an important part of keeping our communities safe, Estes said in May. We applaud our law enforcement partners for their continued efforts to find those who prey on the most vulnerable members of our society.

___

(c)2021 the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.)

Visit the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.) at www.aikenstandard.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Buy Photo (Gerald Waller Stars and Stripes)

Frankfurt, Germany, May 1949: New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey leaves the airport for a hotel during an overnight stopover on the way to Berlin. Dewey, the Republican nominee for president in 1944 and 1948, praised the Berlin airlift as one of the great achievements of the century, commanding the unlimited admiration of the entire world.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  A Filipina bartender in court Friday said she killed the 3-year-old boy left in her care by a U.S. soldier in September.

Jamaica Eblacas, 30, at her first appearance at the Pyeongtaek branch of Suwon District Court, told a judge that she killed Noa Calhoun, 3, the son of Army Pvt. James and Kourtney Calhoun.

Chief Judge Kim Seyong, part of a three-judge panel, asked Eblacas if she had killed the child. She replied that she had.

The Calhouns were present in court, both of them in black, civilian attire. James Calhoun is assigned to the 61st Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Company at nearby Camp Humphreys.

Authorities charged Eblacas, a local bartender, with murder in conjunction with child abuse, a crime that carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum penalty of death.

The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Eblacas before an evidentiary hearing to be scheduled later this month.

According to police, James Calhoun left Noa and his 7-year-old brother in Eblacas care in Pyeongtaek City the night of Sept. 5. Calhoun expected to pick his children up the next morning, he told Stars and Stripes in September.

However, police later that night responded to a disturbance call and discovered the boys bruised body in a home near the bar where Eblacas worked.

Investigators told Stars and Stripes that the Calhouns older son was found outside the home crying and telling neighbors, My younger brother appears dead.

Around the same time, police responded to a separate call of an incoherent woman, whom police later identified as Eblacas, wandering the streets nearby for about 40 minutes.

Chief Judge Kim Seyong addressed the Calhoun family prior to Fridays hearing.

As a representative of the judge panel, I express our condolences to you, he said. We hope your [other son] can overcome shock and pain and grow healthy and warmly.

Kim said he would deny any motion by Eblacas for a jury trial, saying it would be inappropriate for her  considering the nature of the case.

Eblacas appeared to have difficulty understanding the questions posed to her in English through a translator during the hearing. She provided several responses that prompted the translator and the judge, who spoke Korean, to repeat their questions.

Eblacas grew visibly emotional after admitting the charges. Asked by Kim if she had a message for the Calhouns, she did not reply.

She doesnt deserve to have emotions right now, Kourtney Calhoun told Stars and Stripes after the hearing. She deserves to pay for what she did.

Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division, in an email to Stars and Stripes in September, described the incident as a terrible tragedy and said they will do everything possible to care for the family in this time of profound grief and loss.

Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.

Jamaica Eblacas, 30, in her first appearance at the Pyeongtaek branch of Suwon District Court on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, admitted killing the son of Army Pvt. James and Kourtney Calhoun. (Pixabay)

Crime and courts

David Choi
Irans President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his first press conference in Tehran on June 21, 2021. Iranian negotiators said Saturday that Iran is ready to return to an earlier nuclear agreement if U.S. demands in the upcoming talks dont go beyond the terms of that agreement. (Atta Kenare/TNS)

MOSCOW (Tribune News Service) Russia and Irans foreign ministers called for the nuclear accord with Tehran to be restored, with Iran saying it was ready to comply if the U.S. doesnt add additional demands.

Sergei Lavrov and Hossein Amir Abdollahian discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by telephone on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, before the latest round of negotiations kick off later this month.

The agreement was signed with Iran in 2015 by the permanent five of the U.N. Security Council and Germany in order to overcome the crisis over Irans nuclear program. Former President Donald Trump abandoned the initiative, but his successor, Joe Biden, has promised to revive the agreement.

The ministers also discussed the coming visit of International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran, as well as the situation in Afghanistan and the South Caucasus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Islamic Republic is ready to return to full compliance if the U.S. demands in the upcoming talks dont go beyond the terms of the original agreement, Abdollahian said, according to a statement by Irans Foreign Ministry.

The five plus one group comprises Russia, the U.K., Germany, China, the U.S. and France. It has been negotiating with Iran on restoring the deal in its original form since April in Vienna and to date, six rounds of such meetings have taken place.

The start of the next round is scheduled for Nov. 29.

2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Col. Varman Chhoeung, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Presidio in Monterey, Calif., speaks with Zane Whetstone, who is moving to Japan with his family, as movers pack up his household goods in Pebble Beach, Calif., July 16, 2021. (Winifred Brown/U.S. Army)

The Defense Department on Thursday awarded a $6.2 billion contract to a Houston-based firm for managing the movement and storage of household goods for members of the military, Coast Guard and federal workforce.

HomeSafe Alliance LLC will provide complete door-to-door transportation of household goods, the U.S. Transportation Command said in a news release.

It represents the first time a single firm has handled household good moves.

The contract runs Dec. 1 to Aug. 31, 2025. The earliest any moves will take place under the new contract would be late 2022, according to the release.

HomeSafe won the contract after disputing the original April 2020 award to American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group. HomeSafe and another bidder, Connected Global Solutions LLC, appealed to the Government Accountability Office, which sustained their protest in October 2020.

The command and HomeSafe will integrate their information technology systems and processes as part of the changeover for the roughly 325,000 annual shipments of household goods.

The selection of a single company to handle movement of all goods is intended to streamline a system that uses more than 900 commercial entities, the release said.

The change is driven by complaints by military families about delays in pickups and deliveries of goods and damage to items during transportation.

A 2020 analysis by the Department of Defense Inspector General found that a fifth of all domestic household goods shipments in 2018 had at least one damage claim.

The analysis also concluded that the Transportation Command did not have reliable data to determine whether service members goods were being delivered on time or in fit condition.

The switch to contracting a single manager for shipments is a key part of the commands reforms aimed at improving on those problems for the thousands of service members and Defense Department employees who relocate each year, the news release said.

The long-term stability and consistent business this contract presents will provide industry with the confidence and rationale to make lasting capital investments and relationships with trusted suppliers to meet DODs demand, Air Force Col. Joel Safranek, director of the Defense Personal Property Program, said in the release.

In October 2020, the GAO overturned the American Roll On Roll Off contract after concluding that the Transportation Command had conducted misleading discussions with HomeSafe and had inadequately evaluated the technical capabilities of the bidding firms, among other shortcomings in the bid evaluation process.

Wyatt Olson
At the center of the matter is a right-wing websites publication in late October 2020 of several images from a handwritten diary purportedly belonging to Bidens 40-year-old daughter, Ashley Biden. According to the website, a digital copy of the diary was provided by a Project Veritas whistleblower a week and a half before the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

The FBI has conducted two searches at the homes of people tied to the right-wing activist group Project Veritas as part of an investigation of the circumstances surrounding a diary reportedly belonging to President Joe Bidens daughter, the contents of which became public just before the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The searches, first reported by the New York Times, took place Thursday, one at an apartment on East 35th Street in New York City and another at a home in Mamaroneck, N.Y., the FBI confirmed Friday.

James OKeefe, the founder and CEO of Project Veritas, also released a lengthy video Friday railing against the searches, saying he had awoke to the news that apartments and homes of Project Veritas journalists, or former journalists, had been raided by FBI agents.

At the center of the matter is a right-wing websites publication in late October 2020 of several images from a handwritten diary purportedly belonging to Bidens 40-year-old daughter, Ashley Biden. According to the website, a digital copy of the diary was provided by a Project Veritas whistleblower a week and a half before the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election.

Project Veritas is known for using undercover tactics to expose what it says is liberal bias in the mainstream news media.

On Friday, OKeefe said his groups legal team had previously contacted the Justice Department to demonstrate there was no criminal activity or intent behind how they came to be in possession of the diary. OKeefe claimed that tipsters they had never met or heard of had approached Project Veritas late last October saying they had a copy of Ashley Bidens diary, which they supposedly had found after moving into a place where she had stayed before.

We took steps to corroborate the authenticity of the diary. At the end of the day, we made the ethical decision that because, in part, we could not determine if the diary was real, if the diary in fact belonged to Ashley Biden, or if the contents of the diary occurred, we could not publish the diary and any part thereof, OKeefe said.

OKeefe claimed that Project Veritas tried to return the diary to a lawyer for Ashley Biden but that the attorney refused to authenticate it, and then that they gave the diary to an unspecified law enforcement agency to ensure it could be returned to its rightful owner.

We never published it, he added.

OKeefes statement, however, did not address the other right-wing websites claims that someone from Project Veritas had provided a digital copy of the diary.

At the time, most media outlets, including conservative ones, did not cover the publication of the digital images from the diary. Throughout the 2020 campaign, President Donald Trump and his allies were far more fixated on attacking Hunter Biden, Ashley Bidens half brother. Separately, Hunter Biden confirmed last December that his taxes are under federal investigation.

OKeefe on Friday said that FBI agents had seized notebooks belonging to Project Veritas associates and that the FBI had requested he not speak about a grand jury subpoena the group had received. He also stated the U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of New York was involved in the raids. A representative for that office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

OKeefe also tried to suggest there was something amiss with the timing of the Timess story Friday. Project Veritas is currently suing the Times, alleging defamation for a previous story.

Within an hour of one of our reporters homes being secretly raided by the FBI, The New York Times, who we are currently suing for defamation, contacted the Project Veritas reporter for comment, OKeefe said. We do not know how The New York Times was aware of the execution of a search warrant at our reporters home, or the subject matter of the search warrant, as a Grand Jury investigation is secret.

He lashed out at the Justice Department for claiming the diary was stolen and investigating the matter, saying it smacks of politics. According to the Times, the probe was opened under the jurisdiction of Trumps Justice Department, led by then-Attorney General William Barr, after federal authorities received a report that Ashley Biden had been burglarized.
Did the Fox News host want first dibs on an interview with an attorney for the Russian internet entrepreneur accused of hacking into Democratic servers in 2016 - one of a compendium of claims included in an explosive dossier about Russias purported ties to Donald Trumps campaign? (Richard Drew/AP)

The public relations executive had an offer for Tucker Carlson.

Did the Fox News host want first dibs on an interview with an attorney for the Russian internet entrepreneur accused of hacking into Democratic servers in 2016 - one of a compendium of claims included in an explosive dossier about Russias purported ties to Donald Trumps campaign?

That question was posed in a February 2017 email from Charles Dolan Jr., a diligent spin doctor with Irish Boston flair who, former colleagues said, boasted ties to Democratic politics and extensive contacts inside the Kremlin. Yes, definitely, Carlson replied that evening, ultimately conducting the interview four days later. This is great.

The media blitz formed part of an effort by Dolan to discredit claims in the Steele dossier, prepared by a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele. The day after BuzzFeed News published the unverified information, Dolan wrote to his client, the entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, who would later unsuccessfully sue BuzzFeed for defamation, according to emails exhibited in that case.

Im hoping that this is exposed as fake news, Dolan wrote. I may be wrong but I have doubts about the authenticity.

Now, a grand jury is alleging that Dolan, 71, was behind at least some of the claims included in the dossier, according to a 39-page indictment obtained by John Durham, the special counsel probing the Justice Departments Russia investigation. The indictment also suggests that Dolan, who worked on both Bill and Hillary Clintons presidential campaigns and on a State Department advisory board during the Clinton administration, was so partisan that any information he provided would be suspect.

Dolan is left unidentified in the charges against Igor Danchenko, a Russia analyst who, the indictment claims, provided the core allegations included in the Steele dossier. But a lawyer for Dolan confirmed he was the unnamed executive cited in the document.

The new allegations make Dolan one of the most mysterious figures in the saga of the Steele dossier.

The dossier was tangential to the official inquiry led by special counsel Robert Mueller but nonetheless captured public imagination and created debate over geopolitics, intelligence gathering and media ethics. According to the indictment, Dolan, who helped handle global public relations for the Russian Federation for eight years ending in 2014, fed the dossier before he fought against it. And his contacts and credibility in both instances rested on his extensive work for Russia, much of which he performed when he was affiliated with Ketchum, a public relations firm headquartered in New York.

The fact that the individual had long-standing relationships in that area of the world is one reason the Justice Department may look at this part of the case with a more careful lens - to see on whose behalf he was actually acting, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an expert on the Foreign Agents Registration Act at the D.C.-based Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein and Birkenstock firm.

While the indictment argues that Dolans political loyalties made his information unreliable, it leaves unaddressed the question of motivations for his alleged actions.

Dolan gave no indication that he was sufficiently committed to any candidate to turn his professional assets toward partisan ends, former colleagues and other associates said. Val Gurvits, an attorney for Gubarev in the BuzzFeed case, said he found him to be highly professional. I would work with him again, the Boston-based lawyer said.

Dolan racked up numerous, but not high-profile, roles in Democratic circles. He served as a state chairman for President Bill Clintons 1992 and 1996 campaigns and remained active within the Democratic Party alongside his public relations work. He advised Hillary Clintons 2008 campaign and served as a volunteer for her 2016 campaign, according to the indictment. The month after he informed a Russian associate that he would be attending a reception for Clinton in July 2016, the indictment states, the associate told a contact in Russia that Dolan would take me off to the State Department [to handle] issues of the former USSR.

At the same time, Dolan told authorities that campaign officials did not direct, and were not aware of his communications with Danchenko and other Russian nationals. And a longtime aide to both Bill and Hillary Clinton said she had no recollection of Dolan. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton did not respond to a request for comment.

We all understood and appreciated his Democratic bona fides, but he was never someone I would have ever considered hyperpartisan, said a former public relations colleague.

The allegations involving Dolan, who moved to the D.C.-based public relations agency kglobal in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile, came to light as part of charges filed Thursday against Danchenko, whose attorney attempted to enter a plea of not guilty on his behalf. The two men were introduced by Fiona Hill, the former White House adviser and Trump impeachment witness, who connected Danchenko to Dolan after the analyst asked if she knew anyone at Ketchum, according to a person familiar with the interactions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount private matters. Hill declined to comment, and a lawyer for Danchenko did not respond.

Dolan was well-known among Russia experts, and, according to the indictment and the recollections of former colleagues, well-connected in Russian President Vladimir Putins inner circle. He frequently interacted with senior Russian Federation leadership, the indictment states.

He did bring a level of interest and expertise beyond the normal influencer-for-hire, said one former colleague. He was very trusted by Putins people.

The fees charged for that work, which included a disbursement of nearly $80,000 to Dolan for a sixth-month period ending May 2012, were detailed in filings made by Ketchum, whose work with Russia began when St. Petersburg played host to the Group of Eight summit of leading economic powers in 2006, according to current and former employees of the agency. Dolan left the agency in 2005 but continued to work as an external freelancer through 2012, said a spokeswoman, Susannah Sheppard.

Danchenko, who was arrested on Thursday, stands accused of making false statements to the FBI about his communications with a public relations executive with a focus on Russia who maintained long-term ties to the Democratic Party. He is alleged to have stated that he did not discuss information in the dossier with the individual, referred to only as PR Executive-1, when in fact, the indictment claims, some of the material was gathered directly from the executive.

An attorney for Dolan, Ralph Martin, confirmed that his client was the executive identified in the indictment but said he had no comment because he was a witness in an ongoing case. Martin did not respond to detailed follow-up questions.

Among the information purportedly provided by Dolan that later made it into the dossier were rumors about Paul Manaforts dismissal as Trumps campaign chairman, according to the indictment. In the summer of 2016, Dolan relayed information, from a GOP friend, as he told Danchenko, that Manafort had been damaged by revelations about his work in Ukraine. Two days later, the indictment alleges, that information appeared in one of Steeles reports.

The two men also worked together on preparations for a 2016 conference in Moscow, according to the indictment, which involved a June planning trip undertaken by Dolan, who stayed at the Moscow hotel and toured the presidential suite where the dossier would later claim Russian intelligence had a salacious and incriminating tape of Trump. Danchenko, who was already in Moscow, met with Dolan in June 2016 before flying to London to provide information that would later appear in the dossier, the indictment claims, setting forth the timeline of these encounters without stating that Dolan was the source for specific claims about the purported tape.

Reflecting on his interactions with Danchenko around that time, Dolan told an acquaintance in the United States that he believed the analyst worked for FSB, referring to the Russian security agency, according to the indictment. Dolan later admitted to the FBI, the indictment states, that he had fabricated the basis of certain details he had provided to Danchenko.

He also reportedly said he was unaware of the specifics of Danchenkos work, or that the information they were trading would be transmitted to the FBI. Dolans historical and ongoing involvement in Democratic politics, the indictment asserts, bore upon his reliability, motivations, and potential bias as a source of information for Steeles reports.

Danchenko, for his part, in addition to denying that he had used specific information from Dolan when he was interviewed by the FBI in 2017, observed that the public relations executive was a bit naive in his liking of Russia.

The son of a decorated World War II veteran who sold newspapers during the Great Depression and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Dolan attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, according to his kglobal bio. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

He has taught at George Washington University and advised clients as disparate as political candidates and the director of corporate affairs at the University of Limerick in Ireland. An avid hunter, he trains spaniels to join him in pursuit of birds, former colleagues said.

During the 2016 campaign, Dolan sought to leverage his experience in Russia to help make sense of the Kremlins perspective on the race. In a since-deleted blog post on kglobals website, he underscored the need for accurate transcripts in light of confusion over comments attributed to Putin calling Trump brilliant.

With Trump in office, Dolans online commentary became more biting. He called attention to the indictments of figures within Trumps political circle in messages posted with what appears to be his since-deleted Twitter account, according to screenshots reviewed by The Washington Post.

Turning Trumps epithet for Hillary Clinton back on him, Dolan asked, Who deserves the Moniker Crooked.

The Washington Posts Shane Harris contributed to this report.
Jerry Glenn Howell, 88, passed away on Monday, November 15, 2021 at his home in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 19, 2021 from 5-7pm at Dighton Marler Funeral Home in Stillwater. www.dightonmarler.com.
Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Surfing New Zealand has partnered with Surf Life Saving New Zealand with the aim for safer beaches around the New Zealand coastline thanks to a new initiative called Surfers Rescue 24/7.

The Surfers Rescue 24/7 initiative will upskill the New Zealand surfing community to help carry out rescues at our beaches.

The initiative was developed by Surfing NSW in conjunction with Surf Life Saving NSW in Australia.

The two-hour course gives surfers and water users the ability, confidence, and skillset to perform a rescue in an emergency with techniques to best use your surfboard in these situations.

As surfers we are in the water 365 days a year and are often the first responders to emergencies on beaches and waterways, says Surfers Rescue 24/7 coordinator Lee Ryan.

This is why the Surfers Rescue 24/7 program is so important to get out into New Zealands surfing community.

Surf Life Saving New Zealands National Coastal Safety Manager Dr Mick Kearney is acutely aware of the role the surfing community plays in helping save lives in our coastal environment.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen surfers help someone who is in trouble. Unfortunately, the rescues undertaken by the surfing community often go unheard. However, I am certain, those who have been helped will never forget. Surfers Save Lives. It really is that simple says Dr Kearney.

According to Surf Lifesaving Australia, more than 60 per cent of rescues in Australia are performed by recreational surfers.

With more than 15,000km of coastline in Aotearoa and a love for the water, these numbers are expected to be similar on our shores.

Ninety per cent of New Zealand beaches are unpatrolled, so it's important for surfers to be better equipped to perform and react in emergency situations at the beach.

Many surfers have basic to very minimal first aid experience and little to no knowledge of how to perform a rescue.

The Surfers Rescue 24/7 initiative, held over two hours, will help surfers develop their board rescues skills, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ultimately, ready them to save a life.

This is not only a course for experienced surfers, all water users are encouraged to attend the course and make Aotearoas beaches safer for everyone.

Together with Surf Life Saving New Zealand, a group of eight trainers and presenters has been upskilled around the country.

Most Surfers Rescue 24/7 courses are held at Boardrider Clubs, Surf Lifesaving Clubs and Surf Schools as well as during the Surfing New Zealand ISA Surf Instructors Courses.

Courses have already been facilitated at Gisborne, Mount Maunganui, Christchurch and Muriwai with 90 surfers having taken part.

This summer we will roll out the initiative further. Courses are planned at Dunedin, Christchurch, Waihi Beach, Whangamata, Onemana, Tairua and Piha with further interest from several other regions.

Leif Neilson, Chairman of United North Piha SLSC stated that in the last twelve months their search and rescue squad alongside Piha SLSC recorded more callouts than any other area in the northern region, with a high number of bystander/surfers assisted rescues.

Passing on rescue skills to surfers so that they could save a life in a critical situation is a no brainer, added Neilson who will be part of the team facilitating a Piha course on December 12.

If you would like to join a course head to https://surfingnz.co.nz/surfers-rescue-24-7/ for more details and course locations.

Dates from upcoming courses:

20th November - Dunedin (including a female only course)

21st November - Christchurch

5th December - Waihi Beach

3rd December - Whangamata

2nd December - Tairua

4th December - Onemana




One lucky Lotto player will be celebrating this weekend after winning $1 million with Lotto First Division in Saturday nights Lotto draw.

The winning ticket was sold at Pain & Kershaw in Martinborough.

Powerball was not struck this on Saturday night and has rolled over to Wednesday night, where the jackpot will be $5 million.

Meanwhile, Strike Four has also rolled over and will be $400,000 on Wednesday.

Fifteen lucky Lotto players will be celebrating today after each winning $16,613 with Lotto Second Division in Saturday nights Lotto draw.

Two lucky players also won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $24,178. The winning Powerball Second Division tickets were sold on MyLotto to players from Canterbury and Taranaki.

The winning Second Division tickets were sold at the following stores:

Store Location MyLotto Northland MyLotto (x2) Auckland MyLotto Bay of Plenty Greerton Lotto Tauranga Treat & Luck Putaruru Pak N Save Taupo Taupo MyLotto (+PB) Taranaki Pak n Save Blenheim Blenheim MyLotto Wellington MyLotto (x4) (+PB) Canterbury Four Square Newfield Invercargill

Auckland, upper Northland and parts of the Waikato are currently at Alert Level 3. Lotto NZ counters located in stores offering essential services can open at Alert Level 3 should they choose to, provided they follow the Governments health and safety guidelines.

The rest of the country is currently at Alert Level 2. Lotto NZ counters in Alert Level 2 areas are open and will continue to follow the Governments health and safety guidelines.

The live Lotto draws are unable to take place while Auckland remains in Alert Level 3. During this time, we will continue using computer generated draws for Lotto, Powerball, and Strike.

To find out about the draws, claiming prizes and Lotto NZs response to COVID-19, visit http://www.MyLotto.co.nz/covid-19

Anyone who bought their ticket from the above store should write their name on the back of the ticket, and check it at any Lotto NZ outlet, online at mylotto.co.nz or through the Lotto NZ App.
Record housing construction, powered by demand for real estate and compounded by Covid, is putting increasing pressure on supplies and prices nationwide of timber, steel, board products, roofing materials, paint, and even nails.

Smaller builders awaiting materials say hundreds of orders are being cancelled, and suppliers are prioritising major clients.

John Hamilton, Master Builders Canterbury president, said the crisis was caused by a perfect storm and was not going away soon.

We cannot get materials into the country. They go to the biggest markets internationally and a lot of ships dont even stop here any more.

He called for New Zealand to boost production of materials and security of supply so it can build the homes needed. Issues include too few timber mills and infrastructure projects using most of the steel, he said.

The Government wants us to build, but we are not hearing a lot from them about how we are going to negotiate through this. They only seem focussed on Covid.

Hamilton predicted a chain reaction on building sites, including security of unfinished homes and cancelled sub-contracting.

The follow-on effects could be really devastating.

Richard Poff of Certified Master Builders says smaller builders are losing out. Photo: Alden Williams/Stuff.

Christchurch couple Warwick and Natalie Edwards broke ground on the house they are building for themselves at Tai Tapu in June. They now cannot see an end in sight.

Warwick Edwards said after they placed a framing order the price was upped by thousands of dollars, and now the order appears to have been cancelled altogether.

At this stage weve got no timber. We feel held to ransom.

Natalie Edwards said suppliers they had agreements with arent event picking up the phone.

Weve been unable to lock in contracts for all the major components we need to get to the lock-up stage. We think weve been dumped.

Construction management consultant Mike Blackburn said the shortage of products and materials was literally across the board.

Unprecedented demand was being exacerbated by global supply chain problems and the Auckland lockdown, he said.

Nationally 47,330 homes were consented in the past year, 25 per cent more than the previous year and almost three times more than a decade ago.

Blackburn estimated that anyone with a site to build on now would not get their keys until mid-2023.

Everyone is trying to build flat out, but getting hold of stuff is increasingly difficult and contracts are being repriced as the cost of materials goes up.

Its almost across every product category. There doesnt appear to be a single sheet of reinforcing mesh anywhere, so you cant pour foundations. Its also any timber products, frame and truss, weatherboards, panel boards, insulation, steel, fence panels, even nails.

He said while the major home builders seemed to have supplies secured, everyone else was facing major delays, or having to redesign projects.

Builders cannot do fixed price contracts ... nobody can guarantee what theyll be paying for building materials.

Grant Close, owner of hardware and building materials outlet Placemakers Riccarton, said theyd had to cancel some customers contracts for timber items.

We do have some relatively unsatisfied customers, which is not ideal, he said.

We are in a very hand-to-mouth situation. The New Zealand building market is running at about 30 per cent-plus more than the countrys manufacturing capacity.

We cannot take the pressure off because we have enormous trouble betting materials in from overseas.

Close said it would be next year before supplies improved.

Canterbury Frames and Trusses owner Mark Melbourne said they had halved production and lost 30 contracts. Weve had to push jobs from this year into next year. Its now nine months lead time, for what would normally would be six to eight weeks. Of course we have p...ed a lot of people off, but that just cant be helped if we cant get the timber. Construction in Canterbury is just pumping. But its not going to be pumping soon. We are going to see builders, plumbers, concreters and electricians with no work  these guys are all going to run out of work because the building process has stopped. Theres going to be people going down the gurgler.

Housing Minister Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker announce a law change that will allow landowners to build up to three storeys without resource consent.

Melbourne said so far his 12-strong workforce was unaffected, but it we cannot make anything, it will be absolutely affect staff numbers.

Richard Poff, Canterbury president of the Certified Builders Association, said a just-in-time system meant manufacturers and suppliers no longer held large stocks, so were rationing supply and escalating prices.

If you build 100 cookie-cutter homes a year youre going to get priority. Its the smaller guys affected.

Shortages extended to carpet, building tapes and tapware, he said.

Liz McDonald/Stuff
"#DefendNZ has officially relaunched today in order to fight for the protection of vulnerable New Zealanders against the dangers of the End of Life Choice Act - EOLCA," says #DefendNZ spokesperson Henoch Kloosterboer.

Last October, 65.1 per cent of New Zealanders voted 'yes' in a referendum to enable the End of Life Choice to be passed into law. Today, November 7, the legislation comes into force, enabling eligible terminally ill Kiwis to choose to end their lives.

Sunday marks a monumental shift for New Zealand, and puts the country among a small but growing number of places to have passed similar laws.

It is not yet clear how many Kiwis may seek assisted dying, but the number is expected to be small.

To be eligible, a person must have a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months. They must have significant and ongoing decline in physical capability, and experience unbearable suffering that cannot be eased in a manner they find tolerable.

Some may have wrongly assumed that this debate was over now that the EOLCA has come into force, when what this actually means is that our advocacy for the vulnerable put at risk by this law is more critical than ever before," says Henoch.

Today our nation has undergone one of the most seismic shifts in law, healthcare and medical ethics in its entire history. As of this moment, some New Zealanders now wield the state-sanctioned legal power to deliberately end the lives of others, or to assist in their suicides.

To think that there will be no harms that will come from this is to be unaware of the many problems unfolding overseas in the limited number of places that have also legalised these practices  and this includes the harm of wrongful killings says Henoch.

#DefendNZ spokesperson Henoch Kloosterboer. Photo: Supplied.

When it comes to the EOLCA, the key areas of advocacy for #DefendNZ will be to protect, expose and improve  with the wellbeing and safety of euthanasia-vulnerable New Zealanders as #DefendNZs primary motivation and reason for existence.

We will protect patients, families and medical practitioners from the harms of the EOLCA. We will expose illegal practices and abuses of the vulnerable in order to ensure greater accountability. We will seek to improve this deficient law with amendments to the Act, lobbying the Government, and supporting those who truly care, says Henoch.

Even with a majority vote, assisted dying remains an emotive and polarising issue.

Those opposed say euthanasia weakens societys respect for the value and importance of human life and can lead to worse care for the vulnerable, including those with disabilities and the terminally ill. Those in support of assisted dying say it is a person's right to choose when and how they die, and euthanasia affords them the right to die with dignity.

Based on overseas experiences, the Ministry of Health estimates up to 950 people could apply for assisted dying each year, with up to 350 being assisted to die. But there is uncertainty about what the actual demand will be.

In Victoria, Oregon, and Canada, assisted dying accounts for between 0.3 and 2 per cent of all deaths; with 124 confirmed assisted deaths in the first 12 months Victoria offered the service.

As of October 27, 96 doctors across the country have expressed interest in being included on the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand (SCENZ) group list to act as an attending medical practitioner in the assisted dying process.

Eight nurse practitioners have put their hand up to be on the list; 13 psychiatrists have expressed their interest to perform assessments if requested; and 93 have expressed interest in independent practitioner second assessments.

The lists are enduring, and the numbers will likely change over time.

The assisted dying conversation also shone a light on the underfunding and inequity of palliative care in New Zealand.

In the lead-up to the referendum, close to 1600 doctors signed an open letter opposing assisted dying; arguing proper palliative care makes euthanasia unnecessary. The move to fully fund assisted dying but not palliative care has also come under recent criticism.

Today #DefendNZ has officially launched its brand new website at: www.defendnz.co.nz

The organization says that over the coming weeks it will be releasing six amendments that they say urgently need to be made to limit the harms of the EOLCA, along with a petition that the public can put their name to.
Atlantic, IA (50022)

Today

Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 48F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 22F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
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For the first time since August, Florida Department of Health reported an increase in COVID-19 cases over the week before. DOH reported 10,828 new cases (about 1,547 a day) for the week of Nov. 12-18, bringing the cumulative total since March 2020 to 3,677,968.
In brief: Its been almost a year since AMD released the RX 6800 XT, and they've got more to give. AMD have announced theyre releasing a new cloud gaming card based on it, called the Radeon Pro V620.

According to AMD VP Jeff Connell, the demand for cloud gaming warranted the creation of a GPU just for the job. But the V620 isnt limited to gaming; it comes with partitioning capabilities that make it capable of streaming multiple desktops / workspaces from the cloud simultaneously.

The V620 differs from the 6800 XT mostly in its memory capacity, 32 GB instead of 16 GB. Otherwise, theyre not too different; they have the same 4,608 cores, similar clock speeds in the 2 GHz region, and the same 300 W TDP.

You cant mistake one for the other, though. Because its designed for servers, the V620 has an unremarkable passive cooler thats quite a bit smaller than the plastic and metal behemoth strapped to the 6800 XT. It needs case fans to keep it cool.

RX 6800 XT Pro V620 Pro W6800 MSRP $649 N/A $2,249 Release date Nov. 2020 Nov. 2021 Jun. 2021 Cores 4608 3840 Base clock 1825 MHz 2075 MHz Boost clock 2250 MHz 2200 MHz 2320 MHz Memory 16 GB of GDDR6 32 GB of GDDR6 Memory bus 256-bit / 512 GB/s

AMD isnt releasing the V620 to retail and they dont seem interested in providing it to OEMs, which is unsurprising but disappointing. If you want to buy a GPU with 32 GB of memory youre limited to the less powerful W6800.

Alternatively, you could wait for a virtualization company like Shadow to pick up the V620 and sell it to you in a monthly subscription. Google Stadia is another likely candidate for the card if you just want to game.

If 32 GB of memory isnt enough for you, AMD can take it up a notch. On Monday, AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su will helm the AMD Accelerated Data Center presentation, during which she will announce the next generation of AMD Compute GPUs and Epyc CPUs.

Looking forward to showcasing our upcoming @AMDServer #EPYC and @AMDInstinct accelerators. Join us for our Accelerated Data Center Premiere on November 8th at 11 a.m. ET. https://t.co/O2xZjXctfj pic.twitter.com/ezlWMNO9gK  Lisa Su (@LisaSu) November 5, 2021

Past leaks have indicated that AMDs new Instinct Accelerator has 128 GB of HBM2E. It could be one of the largest GPUs ever made, hence the massive heatsinks in the teaser image above.

AMD wont have long to rest on their laurels, though. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will strike back on Tuesday during the Nvidia GTC 2021 Fall keynote. Stay tuned!
What just happened? Netflix just released the final trailer for the fourth season of Stranger Things (above). We know it's the last because previous teasers have been numbered 001/004, 002/004, 003/004, and this one is 004/004. So we must be getting close to launch, right?

Update (11/08/21): Shortly after publication, Netflix shot holes in my theory with a follow-up tweet announcing that Stranger Things 4 would premiere next summer. A video clip accompanied the notice (below) naming the titles of each of Stranger Things 4's nine episodes.

What's in a name?



Stranger Things 4 premiering Summer 2022. pic.twitter.com/leznp8XJbh  Netflix (@netflix) November 6, 2021

It's somewhat unfortunate that it will have been a full three years since ST3. The pandemic did not help things, but three years is a long time to expect viewers to maintain their interest in a television show. The Season 3 recap will probably be the most viewed episode of Season 4.

According to my scientific calculations, I predict Stranger Things 4 will drop in Spring 2022. Okay, maybe not precisely scientific. It's just that aside from the first, which was released July 15, 2016, but took place in November 1983, each season has launched during the time of the year that the story was set.

Season 2 happened during Halloween 1984 and launched on October 27, 2017. Likewise, Stranger Things 3 dropped on July 4, 2019, and was set in the summer of 1985. As we see in trailer 004/004, otherwise titled "Welcome to California," the show takes place during the springpresumably of 1986. Although Netflix has only officially given a vague 2022 release window, I'd say a fair assumption would be a Spring debut.

November 6, 1983. The day Will Byers disappeared and the world turned upside down. #StrangerThingsDay returns tomorrow  pic.twitter.com/sRVrGwtvi0  Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) November 5, 2021

The actress that portrays Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown, narrates the trailer framed as a letter to Mike (Finn Wolfhard). She tells him everything is going well for her as she has settled into her life in Califonia. However, the montage belies her words as she does not fit in at all and gets picked on in school. The only thing she looks forward to is going to visit him during spring break.

"We will have the best spring break ever," she promises.

Well, as long as by "best," she means a spring break involving guns, explosions, creepy dolls, secret government experiments in underground bunkers, and getting chased by helicopters. Sounds like a blast.

Oh, by the way, you might want to mark November 6 on your calendar as a new holiday. Judging by a post on the Stranger Things Twitter feed (above), Netflix wants November 6 to be "Stranger Things Day." November 6, 1983 was the day Will Byers disappeared into the Upside-down.
Tesla's first Canada-branded battery factory was confirmed by the mayor of Markham, Ontario, himself. Right now, Tesla is building different kinds of manufacturing facilities across the globe.

Elon Musk already has headquarters in Germany and other parts of the world, allowing Tesla to produce and develop more EVs each year.

Now, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said that the giant EV maker would soon start building a new battery factory in Canada. Strong evidence was already provided for the past few days, including some videos revealing that Tesla is working on some machines in Canada.

"I'm delighted to share that Tesla Canada is joining our already robust automotive and technology ecosystem by locating a manufacturing facility in the City of Markham," said Scarpitti via his latest Twitter post.

Welcome Tesla look forward to official launch. You are a great addition the future car cluster of companies in @cityofmarkham pic.twitter.com/9ZRU2lWyEO  Mayor Frank Scarpitti (@frankscarpitti) November 4, 2021

Tesla's First Canada-Branded Battery Factory

According to Electrek's latest report, Tesla hasn't confirmed the announcement of Mayor Frank. But, you can clearly trust the statement of Scarpitti since the same scenario also happened in California.

Also Read: Tesla FSD to Upgrade NN with Improved Permanence Says Elon Musk, But What is That?

At first, Tesla also did not mention that it was building a plant in California. But, the plant in that state is already operating. This means that the residents of Canada could soon see the new battery factory of the giant American automaker.

Markham's mayor also stated that the upcoming battery plant would be located in South of Hwy 7 West of Warden. In his latest tweet, many residents already shared their excitement with the new plant of Elon Musk.

In other news, a new Tesla Gigafactory is also rumored to be built in China. On the other hand, Tesla Giga Berlin now faces some delays.

Another Tesla Factory in China, But Automaker Denies Rumors

Yahoo Finance reported that some rumors claimed that Tesla is currently planning to build a new factory in Qingdao, China.

However, the giant EV maker currently denies the speculations. Tesla China's Head of Communications and Government Affairs, Grace Tao, said that these rumors are "not true."

She added that the giant EV developer would sustainably invest in China instead of making a new plant.

For more news updates about Tesla and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Tesla Implements Another Price Surge For Model 3, Model Y

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple hires Tesla Autopilot's ex-Director to help engineer Apple Car's self-driving or autonomous software, adding up to the former Tesla execs working with the Cupertino giant.

As per the report by Bloomberg, which cites unnamed sources close to the matter, the iPhone maker added a former engineer from the Elon Musk-led and founded EV giant, who once was the center of controversy due to his statement regarding Tesla's Autopilot feature.

The source claims that the former Tesla director for its Autopilot software, Christopher Moore, joined the team working on the secretive car project of Apple.

As such, the ex-Tesla exec will now report to another former exec of the EV giant who is now with Apple, Stuart Bowers.

According to the news story of 9to5Mac, Apple's secretive electric vehicle project has had multiple changes in its leadership for more than five years already.

Some reports suggest that the short stint of execs in Apple's car project is attributed to its ever-changing goals for its attempt to enter the EV market.

Just recently, or on Sept. 8, the head of the car project of Apple, Doug Field, himself decided to end his stint in the Cupertino tech giant in favor of the American car company, Ford.

It is to note that the departure of Field marks the fourth Apple Car exec that decided to part ways with the iPhone maker.

Apple Hires Tesla's Autopilot Director

This time around, another high-ranking post at Apple Car has been filled by an ex-Tesla exec.

Moore's stint in Tesla has been controversial due to his remarks that contradict the claims of its CEO and founder, Musk, regarding its Autopilot feature.

In fact, Moore even refuted Musk's claim that the Tesla autopilot could reach its Level 5 autonomy in a couple of years. On the other hand, the former Tesla exec said that the prediction of the billionaire is far from reality.

As per AppleInsider's report, the estate of a car crash victim in a Tesla that was allegedly in Autopilot is asking the former exec of the EV giant to sit in as a witness for their legal battle with the Musk-led firm.

The documents of the lawsuit further revealed that Moore has already parted way with the EV maker since last month or in October.

Read Also: NTSB Invites Elon Musk to "Complete Action" on Safety Recommendations for Tesla's Autopilot

Apple Car and Tesla Exec

As mentioned, Moore will be working with familiar faces in the car project of Apple as he reports for another former Tesla guy Bowers.

But on top of that, Apple is also home to other former Tesla folks like the ex-interiors lead, Steve MacManus, alongside the former drivetrain chief, Michael Schwekutsch.

Related Article: Tesla FSD, Autopilot to Work Even Without Internet Connection? Elon Musk Says It's a Must

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Image from Unsplash Website) Apple Car Gets One Step Further | Cupertino Giant Hires Director of Tesla's Autopilot Software in Effort to Produce Self-Driving Vehicles

Apple has been quite secretive when it comes to the Apple car, which is a self-driving vehicle. New sources, however, have revealed that the company is making big moves behind the curtain by hiring the director of Tesla's autopilot software.

Apple Hires Christopher CJ Moore

According to Bloomberg, the company's latest move is actually hiring an important individual from one of its toughest competitors yet. Apple has reportedly just hired Christopher CJ Moore.

Moore was reportedly the director for Tesla's very own Autopilot Software ever since 2019 and had been working along with the company ever since 2014. Although Moore has yet to update his own LinkedIn page, according to Bloomberg, he will also be working on software at Apple and will directly report to Stuart Bowers.

Christopher Moore and Stuart Bowers

Just like Moore, Bowers had also previously worked as Tesla's head of the Autopilot unit up until he was reportedly leaving in 2019. In May, Moore was said to be one of the employees who had told the California DMV regarding Elon Musk's exaggerations about the automaker's full self-driving timeline.

In a certain DMV conference call, he reportedly stated that Elon Musk's statements about the Level 5 automated driving coming soon did not match the engineering reality, as seen on Reddit. It was noted that Elon Musk stated that Tesla's technology will also operate with zero human intervention.

2019 Autopilot Crash in Florida

During that time, the technology was only capable of Level 2 self-driving, which reportedly required drivers to keep their hands on the wheel still. Moore was reportedly called as a witness in a certain lawsuit regarding the death of a man back in a previous 2019 Autopilot crash that happened in Florida.

The official documents about the whole lawsuit revealed that Moore had already left the company in early October. Both Moore and Bowers are just two of the said former Tesla employees that Apple had hired for its very own car division.

Read Also: iPhone 13 Face ID Could be Completely Disabled If You Go to an Unauthorized Third-Party Repair | No Payments, Signing in, Animojis, and More

Apple Hires Ex-Tesla Staff

Other particular hires also include Michael Schwekutsch, the VP of Engineering for Tesla and reportedly worked on drive trains. Another individual was Steve MacManues, who reportedly worked as Tesla's very own VP of Engineering.

With the race towards self-driving cars getting hotter and hotter and Apple has not yet released its own Apple car yet. There is still a lot that can happen before the launch of the Cupertino giant's first car. Tesla has also just recently introduced price hikes for the Model 3 and the Model Y.

As of the moment, however, Tesla has already launched a number of cars with its Tesla cybertruck reportedly up next. As of the moment, Tesla's very first Canada-branded battery factory has finally been confirmed by Markham's own mayor.

Related Article: $85,000 Modded iPhone X with USB-C Port Found on eBay | Bidding for Any 'Apple Fanboy'

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A former Crowley Police officer was convicted Thursday of molesting a juvenile under the age of 13.

The former officer, Damon Broussard, was convicted on the charge after a swift trial before District Court Judge Marilyn Castle and will be sentenced at an undetermined date once a pre-sentencing investigation is completed, Assistant District Attorney Brian Langford said.

The trial was held Thursday and the jury delivered the verdict after roughly an hour of deliberations, he said.

Sanity reviews continue of man who fatally shot Lafayette Police officer in 2017 The man who fatally shot a Lafayette Police officer and injured three others in October 2017 underwent another mental health evaluation Thursday.

Louisiana law states anyone convicted of molesting a child under the age of 13 shall be sentenced to not less than 25 years in prison at hard labor, but not more than 99 years, with at least 25 years without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Broussard has been incarcerated in the Acadia Parish Jail since spring 2018 pending prosecution on charges of child sexual abuse, as well as multiple possession of child pornography charges, per online jail records.

The former police officer was first arrested in 2013 on counts of aggravated rape and molestation of a juvenile, for separate past instances where he abused a child under 15 and a child under 13. Broussard was employed with the Lake Arthur Police Department when arrested, according to a report from KPLC-TV.

He was again arrested in 2018 on multiple possession of child pornography counts, per KLFY. Both arrests and investigations were executed by Louisiana State Police.

+2 Quawan Charles' mother sues police, sheriff over response to missing teen who later died The mother of a teen found dead in a sugar cane field days after being reported missing is suing two law enforcement agencies for failing to t

The prosecutor said the abuse did not occur while Broussard was on the job, but his position as a police officer added a troubling element to the case.

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Langford said after the first 2013 arrest additional victims began to slowly come forward and report their alleged assaults to law enforcement, all of whom reported being abused as minors. Langford said between Thursdays case and additional pending charges, there are about six victims involved.

The victim in Thursdays case was 8 years old when the offense occurred; other victims also testified as part of allowable evidence, the prosecutor said.

Langford assumed the case in January when he was hired by District Attorney Don Landry after Landry took office. He said the case had lingered for years, for reasons unknown to him, possibly because of the difficult nature of the sexual abuse case, and likely with the COVID-19 pandemic contributing.

Langford, co-counsel Burleigh Doga and the offices victim assistance coordinator, Pam Fruge, met with the women over months to revive and prepare the case. Langford said theyre glad to give the women a measure of closure, while other charges remain pending trial.

Expropriation of family land for Lafayette detention pond blocked by judge An attempt by Lafayette Consolidated Government to take a family's property for construction of two drainage ponds has been blocked by a judge

Theyre grown now; weve got mothers, weve got medical students, weve got first responders. Theyre professionals and despite what happened to them they pushed it aside and made something of themselves and were able to cope with it, he said.

I dont think we could have gotten the ball across the finish line without the courage of these girls who were willing to stand up, come to court and relive and retell these terrible things that happened to them. Its inspiring, and its my hope it can inspire other victims to come forward and tell their stories in other cases. Theyre the real heroes, Langford said.

District Attorney Don Landry said his office has focused on moving cases and increasing the number going to trial, a main campaign focus of Landrys.

"We're moving cases. We're getting cases to trial now. We've had a few over in Lafayette, and this is the second one in Acadia. We've gotten some good pleas in Vermilion. We're kind of getting it to work now so we can move some of these cases, Landry said.
A federal appeals court in Louisiana has halted a Biden administration order requiring companies with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID vaccines or weekly testing.

Saturdays decision from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeal prevents the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from enforcing the mandate until further judicial review.

The panel behind the ruling comprises Edith Jones, of Houston, whom President Ronald Reagan nominated to the court; Kyle Duncan, of Baton Rouge, nominated by President Donald Trump; and Kurt Engelhardt, of Metairie, another Trump appointee. In their decision, the judges said the petitions gave them "cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate."

OSHA must file a response by Monday.

+2 New vaccine requirements draw Louisiana challenges from AG, Ascension Parish businessman Louisiana has joined the legal fight with other Republican-leaning states trying to block new Biden administration vaccination requirements fo

The ruling comes after Louisiana joined the legal fight  backed by at least two dozen other GOP-leaning states  to block the vaccine rules for businesses and federal contractors. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed back-to-back lawsuits in federal court on Thursday and Friday that challenged both orders.

Under the OSHA mandate, employees for companies with more than 100 workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or get tested weekly and wear masks while on the clock.

The policy also involved sending OSHA agents to inspect businesses for compliance and giving the agency authority to issue fines of more than $130,000 for violations.

Vaccination requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors are more stringent and don't offer an in-lieu testing option, though workers can seek limited exemptions.

According to an Associated Press count, 27 states joined the lawsuits over the pandemic orders, including Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Kansas and Texas.

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A host of private companies also signed onto the legal challenges, with some business owners arguing the rules would make it harder for them to hire and retain employees.

Federal workplace safety officials estimate OSHAs requirements could affect as many as 84 million workers.

Louisiana GOP joins other states in fight over federal workplace COVID vaccine mandate Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or 

However, OSHA officials say the rules  decreed by executive order  will save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations from workplace exposure to COVID, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and 14,615 Louisianans since the pandemic began in March 2020.

U.S. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said the federal order empowers OSHA to act quickly on behalf of workers exposed to the "grave danger" of the coronavirus. Since so many people nationwide have ignored calls to get vaccinated against COVID, she said a new standard is required to protect workers.

The lawsuit targeting the workplace rules claims OSHA has been bombarding state agencies with notices to comply with the mandate or risk losing out on federal funding, although Landry's office did not provide any examples of threats when asked Friday; his legal filings do not identify any in Louisiana.

Landry, who claimed Bidens policy on federal contractors would cost Louisiana billions of dollars, praised the courts decision.

The courts action not only halts Biden from moving forward with his unlawful overreach, but it also commands the judicious review we sought, he said in a news release. The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the Constitution.

David Mitchell contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to note that President Donald Trump appointed Engelhardt to the 5th Circuit. President George W. Bush had appointed Engelhardt to the U.S. District Court in New Orleans.
A deputy got a demotion and pay cut after being disciplined for letting a K9 die in a hot patrol car on his watch, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said Friday.

On Aug. 20, the agency announced that Ivar the police dog died after a deputy left him unattended in a patrol car on the same day that a heat advisory was in effect.

He was 5 years old.

After death of Livingston Parish K-9, authorities say 'unfortunate' situation was accident A state prosecutor says the death of a $13,900 Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office service dog occurred because of "ordinary negligence" that c

Immediately following the dog's death, Sheriff Ard said the deputy responsible had been disciplined. But he declined to go into further detail, citing the department's policy of keeping personnel actions private and not releasing the names of officers unless they've been charged with a crime.

In October, state prosecutor Scott Perrilloux said he'd determined that Ivar's death stemmed from ordinary negligence, rather than criminal negligence. As such, he said criminal charges would not be filed against the dog's handler.

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"There weren't any facts that supported a higher level of negligence that we needed to reach," Perrilloux said.

On Friday, however, Ard announced the deputy had officially been demoted within the department, resulting in a "significant reduction in pay."

Prosecutors can, and often do, pursue animal cruelty charges against people who leave their animals in vehicles.

According to a list compiled by animal rights organization PETA, at least two people in Louisiana have been arrested since 2020 after leaving their dogs in cars during extreme heat.

In another case from last month, a police officer in Zachary was arrested on felony counts after two dogs died after the officer allegedly abandoned them in a home for an extended period of time.

The officer was placed on administrative leave while the department conducted an internal investigation, but was not booked into jail.
Louisianas Republican delegation in the U.S. House voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that was negotiated by Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, and cleared Congress late Friday to head for President Joe Biden's desk.

Following weeks of tussling between moderate and liberal House Democrats, the U.S. House approved on a 228-206 vote the Senate changes, which Cassidy helped draft.

After a difficult week for Biden, in which his unpopularity contributed to GOP electoral gains in Virginia and New Jersey, passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is largely seen as a victory for the beleaguered president.

Louisianas six representatives voted along party lines with Democratic Rep. U.S. Troy Carter, of New Orleans, concurring with the Senate changes. Republican Congressmen Steve Scalise, of Jefferson; Clay Higgins, of Lafayette; Garret Graves, of Baton Rouge; Julia Letlow, of Start; and Michael Johnson, of Bossier City; were among the 200 Republicans voting against the measure.

+6 Republican legislators: Why we're against Joe Biden's infrastructure bill When it comes to infrastructure, Louisiana is one of the most important states in the nation.

Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation, while six of Democrats' farthest left members opposed it.

We dramatically reduced that number. I whipped against the entire package, House Minority Whip Scalise told Fox News Friday night before the vote. They brought infrastructure and tied it together with this massive over $4 trillion tax and spend bill sit its one big package and we actively worked against it. There are no moderates, by the way, they are socialists and liberals and they finally worked some kind of bill together."

This infrastructure package will rebuild our roads and bridges, increase access to high-speed internet, strengthen our electric grid, add levee protection, and improve flood resiliency. After almost every corner of our state was hit by natural disasters in the last year, we must have the federal investment to protect us from future storms, Cassidy said in a statement after the Houses final vote Friday night.

The 2,700-plus-page bill assigns spending projects to a wide array using a formula that Cassidy contends favors Louisiana, though his Republican congressional have disagreed. Louisiana stands to receive a significant portion of $110 billion for roads and bridges; $46 billion that will go in part to rebuild Louisianas eroded coastlines and waterways; $65 billion to bolster energy and strengthen the electrical grid from disaster; and $65 billion in broadband to expand internet access.

Louisiana is poised to be a carbon capture hub, but some climate leaders are worried about risks Louisiana is poised to become a hub for carbon capture technology to curb greenhouse gases but environmentalists and some state climate task f

A House vote on the amendments made to the bill in the upper chamber was stalled for weeks by liberal Democrats who feared moderates, having got what they want, would abandon the now $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, Bidens signature social safety net and climate change bill. After passing the infrastructure bill, the House of Representatives approved a key procedural issue early Saturday morning that guaranteed a vote later this month on the Build Back Better Act.

I have done everything in my power to stop the oppressive socialist agenda, the accelerated enactment of the Democrats' plan to dominate America, said U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, adding that no real Republican would support the measure. This so-called infrastructure bill is a significant part of that agenda. The bill is 9% roads and bridges and 91% socialist garbage. Its a losing deal for Louisiana.

Congressman Mike Johnson, a Bossier City Republican and vice chairman of the conservative House Republican Conference, said he would have supported a standalone infrastructure bill but felt this one was did little more than pave the way for the tax and spend agenda of Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California.

Our state needs federal investment in roads, bridges, waterways, and broadband as much as any other, and we will continue to fight for it. It is unfortunate that those widely agreed upon bipartisan priorities are dwarfed by so much unrelated spending, Johnson said.

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Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, of Start, released a statement just prior to the vote: "I want to be clear, my concerns with this bill are not rooted in partisanship and not just a part of a political game. I approached this process with an open mind because we were promised that this legislation would transform our state. However, after careful analysis and listening to many stakeholders and constituents, Ive concluded that it is a bad deal for Louisiana and my district."

+2 Troy Carter expects Biden's infrastructure and social policy bills will pass, eventually Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter says the presidents decision to put his $1 trillion infrastructure bill on hold and to relink the legislati

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Louisianas only Democrat to Congress, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter called the bill transformational for Louisiana.

The building blocks of our nation have been falling into disrepair for far too long, and I am so proud that tonight the House of Representatives came together on a bipartisan basis to pass this long-term investment in the foundation of our nation, said Carter, whose 2nd Congressional District stretches up the Mississippi River from New Orleans East to north Baton Rouge.

Transformational also is the word Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards used. Though the spending is directed by federal formulas, state government will have significant say so over how the estimated $6 billion portion is spent in Louisiana.

+19 Louisiana has bet big on liquefied natural gas. Is it a good bet? CAMERON  Darrell LeBlanc shovels ice onto a shrimp boat, the marsh buffering the Gulf of Mexico behind him, a scene thats played out countle

Over the next five years, this nearly $6 billion federal investment will have a significant impact on major projects such as highways, bridges, public transportation, electric vehicle infrastructure, ports, and airports, and it will create a more resilient transportation system that can better withstand disruptions from extreme weather, Edwards said in a statement Saturday morning.

The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by a vote of 69-30 in August.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents large corporations, included Cassidy in its thanks to Congress for passing the legislation.

Cassidy said initial calculations show Louisiana would receive about $6 billion for Louisianas roads and highways and $371 million for Louisiana water revolving funds.

Specifically, Cassidy said following provisions would benefit Louisiana:
FINCH 

M, 116 minutes, Apple TV +

Tom Hanks is proof that nice guys dont always finish last. His affable, upright brand of Americana has made him one of the biggest stars of his generation  the kind of actor millions will go to see without caring much what the film is. Hes more reliable than Nathan Detroit. Unhappily, Finch is an exception.

Tom Hanks and friends in Finch. Credit:

I suspect he took the role because Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg have their names on it and he goes way back with them. He should have asked them why neither wanted to direct it.

The reins are held by newish director Miguel Sapochnik, who won an Emmy for Game of Thrones. Actually, the reins are held by the money, which insisted on a PG-13 rating (in America), thus removing anything challenging. Thats what comes with an investment from Walden Media, owned by conservative Christian billionaire Philip Anschutz.
PREPPERS

Wednesday, 9pm, ABC

By day, Nakkiah Lui is a celebrated playwright, actress, screenwriter, and, with the relaunch of Harpers Bazaar Australia, a cover girl. By night, she is a fervent reality TV fan, her category of choice anything involving doomsday prepping. This obsession, which she shares with her husband and co-writer, Gabriel Dowrick, has culminated over four years in the creation of Preppers, a six-part comedy about an Indigenous-led survivalist commune.

Nakkiah Lui (in blue): Aboriginal people were the first doomsday preppers. Credit:

The idea came from Aboriginal people being the first doomsday preppers, she explains. 1788 was like the apocalypse for Aboriginal people. What does the apocalypse look like, in terms of, you lose your home, your whole world changes? What is it like living with fear? For my culture, there was a lot of fear for good reason, like living through the stolen generations. I come from people who managed to create hopes and dreams despite that and are very community focused, which I try to explore in this show as well.

Presided over by a wizened elder (Jack Charles), Eden 2, somewhere in Sydneys Ku-ring-gai National Park, is a refuge for a born leader (Meyne Wyatt); a reformed hedonistic couple (Ursula Lavish and Chum Ehelepola); a Gen Z decoloniser (Aaron McGrath); and a conspiracy theorist podcaster (Eryn Jean Norvill).
Will the government show the same courage to cancel the Port of Darwin lease  in the national interest, of course  as it did with the submarine contract?

Helena Kilingerova, Vermont

Look at it this way ...

It is disappointing that the focus of coverage of the submarine fiasco triangulates back to trite political soundbites from both the government and opposition and too much of the discourse approximates to France is throwing a tantrum over losing a contract.

This, in my view, completely misses the point. France had taken the decision to construct its defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific with Australia acting as a close partner and recent events have shown that such a strategy is simply untenable. France has every reason to be furious with itself for being so naive.

Defence ties with the US and France in our region would have allowed a semblance of independent foreign policy. The Australian reflex (way implies some thought) appears only to have eyes for the US and UK. We didnt throw off the cultural cringe, we cherish it in different forms.

Stephen Best, Box Hill South

Policy problem laid bare

In Michelle Grattans opinion piece on Scott Morrison (Campaigning on trust is dangerous with a liar tag pinned to the PM, online, The Age, 5/11), she opines how Labor should position its climate policy to be just a little more ambitious than the Coalition, but not too much.

This, in a nutshell, sums up everything thats wrong with our current major political parties. Major policy should be determined by what is good for the country and its people, not by what is most likely to win certain seats or appeal to journalists.

Paul Kertes, Park Orchards
A Liberal MP forced out of State Parliament three years ago over a drink-driving charge has accused federal MPs backing Tim Smith of undermining Victorian leader Matthew Guy.

Former Upper House MP Simon Ramsay represented the Western Victoria until 2018 when he was stood aside four months before the last state election after recording a blood alcohol reading of 0.19, almost four times the legal limit.

Former Liberal MP Simon Ramsay who was forced to resign in 2018 after being caught drink-driving Credit:Rob Gunstone

Immediately after the incident Mr Ramsay resigned as shadow parliamentary secretary, and two days later announced he would not contest the 2018 election.

Mr Ramsay told The Age it was the worst time of my life but said he ultimately stood aside for the good of the party.
NASA space debris expert Dr Don Kessler was the first to observe that once the amount of space debris reaches a critical point, unavoidable collisions will cause more debris, in a disastrous chain reaction that will make space inaccessible to us. This has been termed the Kessler Syndrome. Once the cascading collisions begin, they cannot be stopped.

For the past two decades, some low-Earth orbits may already have accumulated that critical amount of debris  or so Kessler has calculated. We are like the skier beneath the avalanche-prone ridge, with dangerous amounts of snow built up and awaiting the smallest shift to trigger catastrophe.

Already, space experts estimate there are 12,000 pieces of debris 10 centimetres long and larger that we can track, but nearly one million from one to 10cm in size, and over 100 million pieces smaller than a centimetre that we simply cant see coming. At the speed with which such pieces of debris travel in orbit, a single screw has the energy of a grenade upon collision.

Since we rely on satellite technology for everything from navigation to weather reports to communication to security networks underpinning your local ATM, if space were to become inaccessible it would dramatically change our way of life.
At three other facilities, cattle are also shown still kicking up to five minutes after having their throats cut, while at two Sumatran abattoirs, the animals are sliced open without first being shot with a stun gun. Were talking extreme pain for potentially 10 minutes Bidda Jones, RSPCA chief scientist and strategy officer The latter procedure, halal slaughter, is not outlawed under the Australian governments self-reporting Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme established in the wake of a live export scandal 10 years ago. But animal welfare experts such as Dr Bidda Jones, the RSPCAs long-time chief scientist and strategy officer, are adamant that it should be. I dont think there is an argument for continuing to allow unstunned slaughter of Australian cattle in Indonesia, she said.

Jones has examined the vision collected by PETA and is most concerned by the apparent pattern of ineffective stunning. There were signs [cattle] were potentially still conscious during the slaughter process, she said. Live cattle exports from Australia accounts for 25 per cent of all beef consumption in Indonesia. Credit:PETA Asia [The workers] are not actually checking. Theyre not doing the required [check] to make sure that the stun is effective. While a degree of unconscious involuntary movement after slaughter is common, she said the animal in the West Java abattoir had shown clear signs of breathing and occasional vocalisation long after its throat was cut.

Were talking extreme pain for potentially 10 minutes, she said. Youve got to make sure that doesnt happen. Jones believes the new footage indicates that the unnecessary suffering may be more widespread. Its an argument disputed from within the $800 million live-export industry, which was forced to clean up its act following the appalling images taken by Animals Australia in Indonesian facilities and aired by ABCs Four Corners in 2011. The operator of the West Java facility told the Herald and The Age that an extensive audit was carried out there after the PETA Asia footage was sent to Canberra this year and nothing was found. We treat the cattle well, he said. Im an animal lover myself. I have almost 5000 goats.

The manager of the facility near Jakarta said it had received no complaints. We apply the principles that we have agreed, he said. But one incident or two during hundreds of [cattle slaughtered] could possibly happen. Im not sure it happened, but it can possibly happen, were only human. But in principle, we do what we have agreed to do. There are more than 500 approved facilities for housing and slaughtering Australian cattle in Indonesia. Credit:PETA Asia The peak industry body, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, said it takes any non-compliance issue very seriously. It is important when these isolated instances occur, direct and corrective action is taken, chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said in a July statement to which the Herald and The Age was referred.

Exporters and importers immediately engaged the facilities as to why the handling of the cattle was not up to ESCAS standards and subsequent non-compliance occurred. Exporters who have supplied cattle to those abattoirs are working closely with importers to jointly address the individual non-compliances with specific solutions. PETA alleges multiple breaches of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme standards, which include that livestock must not be subjected to procedures that cause pain and suffering, and of the World Organisation for Animal Health code, which forbids violent acts like crushing or breaking tails and states that any animal showing signs of recovering consciousness should be re-stunned. We treat the cattle well. Im an animal lover myself. I have almost 5000 goats. West Java abattoir operator A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment said it was still investigating.

ESCAS requires exporters to have arrangements with supply chain partners in importing countries to provide humane treatment and handling of feeder and slaughter livestock from arrival up to and including the point of slaughter, the spokesman said. Exporters who have failed to comply are required to put in place corrective actions and measures to reduce the risk of recurrence. It is then a decision for the individual exporters whether to choose to export under the required conditions. In response to the reported ESCAS non-compliance, the department has required exporters to introduce corrective procedures to prevent re-occurrence, and has applied a higher level of auditing oversight to the implicated facilities. The department may take regulatory further action if required, prior to completion of an investigation. The department recorded 45 incidents of so-called critical non-compliance in the trade between 2015 and 2020, according to a review by Ross Carter, the inspector-general of live animal exports. Eight of them were animal welfare issues.

Indonesia accounted for only 7 per cent of the cases  30 per cent were in Vietnam  but a rogue abattoir in Aceh province was banned from supply chains last year after vision was captured of cattle having their tails pulled and legs roped, workers sitting and standing on animals heads and slaughtering taking place in a car park. The facility was one of more than 500 approved to house or slaughter Australian cattle in Indonesia. Loading It is big business. Even though rising prices and the impact of the pandemic drove down the number of Australian cattle imported by Indonesia last year from a peak of nearly 700,000 in 2019, Australian live exports represented 25 per cent of Indonesian beef consumption, said Meat and Livestock Australia. The value of Australian live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2020-21 was $577 million, more than double that of the $287 million of boxed beef processed in Australia and sent to the archipelago.

However, after years of animal rights groups challenging the legitimacy of Australia exporting livestock, the latest claims of mistreatment in Indonesian facilities are placing new scrutiny on the industry. It is a decade since then agriculture minister Joe Ludwig announced live cattle exports to Indonesia were halted for six months as he reacted to horrific evidence of cruelty including of animals being hacked to death with blunt knives. Loading The suspension ultimately lasted closer to six weeks after new regulations were rushed in but the reverberations of the Gillard governments decision are still being felt, with the Federal Court last year finding the ban was unlawful following a class action led by a cattle station owner in the Northern Territory. Dr Lynn Simpson, a former veterinarian on live export ships turned industry whistleblower, argues the images taken inside Indonesian slaughterhouses this year demonstrate there is still work to do.

A cattlewoman herself, she said workers certainly shouldnt be breaking tails, and of the post-slaughter movement of cattle she noted that three to five minutes is a long time. Slaughter without stunning should be eradicated, she believes, saying there is no reason it is needed when halal meat is almost always produced in Australia for export and domestic consumption without cattle having to be conscious when their throats are cut. Overall, those particular slaughterhouses are operating at what appears to be a higher standard than what was seen [in 2011], Simpson said after viewing a package of vision from five of the facilities. So weve made some progress, but there are still breaches being made. There are others in the red-meat industry, though, who question why Australia is still exporting live cattle at all, saying it could instead export more domestically processed beef and invest in better refrigeration.
Laguna Beach and a 2021 Kia K5 GT-Line AWD - Review by Bruce Hotchkiss +VIDEO

A road trip down my dusty memory lane

By Bruce Hotchkiss

Special Correspondent

West Coast Bureau

THE AUTO CHANNEL

Recently my wife and I took a short trip to Laguna Beach in Southern California, arriving on Sunday afternoon and coming home the following Tuesday. It was kind of a toe-in-the-water as the pandemic winds down. We flew into John Wayne Airport. I was lucky enough to get a press car, a 2021 Kia K5 GT-Line AWD. Yes another Kia, in fact, another K5.







The GT-Line AWD differs from the previous K5 in that it has a 1.6-liter turbo engine and All-Wheel-Drive. The 1.6 produces 110 fewer horsepower than the 2.5 liter; that's a big difference. According to published figures the GT-Line is about 2.5 seconds slower to 60 mph (about 7.8 seconds). On the other hand it is rated at 5 mpg better on the highway. You lose some and you gain some. As I didn't drive them back-to-back I can only tell you that the GT-Line didn't embarrass itself.

I like the K5, it's a good-looking, comfortable sedan. Yet it didn't even get a first look in Laguna Beach! M-Bs were commonplace, and exotic cars roamed freely (and noisily).

The first thing I'll say about Laguna Beach is don't go there on the weekend! The place was packed - bumper-to-bumper traffic on the streets, shoulder-to-shoulder people everywhere, and about zero parking. I'm one of those people who gets 'hangry' so by the time we got checked in to our hotel I was getting cranky. We'd looked up a few restaurants online prior to our trip so we went off in search of sustenance. We ended up at a place called Reunion Kitchen + Drink for drinks and appetizers. The Asian Crispy Ribs were fantastic.







By dinner time we were ready for dessert. Strange thing about getting older, I just can't pack it away like I used to do. We walked to a place called Urth Caffe where we shared a piece of Berries & Cream cake and coffees.

Monday morning we took the K5 out Laguna Canyon Road to Kitchen In The Canyon for a nice breakfast (something I only do on special occasions). Surprise, surprise traffic was very light and the parking was free.

Late morning we walked to the Main Beach Park and relaxed, listening to the ocean.

We skipped lunch - we weren't hungry after breakfast.

Originally we had thought of finding a restaurant overlooking the Pacific for dinner but decided on an Italian place downtown, Alessa by Chef Pirozzi, and we were both glad we did because the food was excellent. And, for Laguna Beach, the prices were moderate!

Tuesday morning we went to the Orange Inn for a light breakfast. Unfortunately, they were only open for take away, but we still got some great pastries.

Why did we choose Laguna Beach? We were looking for somewhere to fly into (we had a credit from a canceled flight), and somewhere not too far away. I had fond memories of Laguna Beach from 1984 (another lifetime, I know), so this was the place to go. It was about the same time of year back then, as now (maybe a week later), and I remember it being sunny and hot. It was neither this year.

I do remember that parking was hard to find back then as well, but I don't recall it being so expensive. A meter was $4.50 per hour, one restaurant that we didn't go to was charging $14 for valet parking.

But we had some good times, and I got to drive another Kia K5 for a couple of days. My thanks to Kia and Page One Automotive for setting up the loan of the K5. Thanks to my wife for indulging me on a trip down my dusty memory lane.
U-Haul Introduces Armored War Rigs For Californians Trying To Flee State's Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

Report reprinted with permission from TheBabylonBee.com

CALIFORNIA - September 2021: To help meet the demand of millions of people desperately trying to escape the dark, ravaged wasteland of California, U-Haul is introducing a new product in its moving van line-up: the War Rig. These weaponized, armored moving vehicles will ensure you and your belongings stay safe during the long and perilous journey out of the state.

"We knew it was time to introduce some more serious vehicles to our fleet," said local U-Haul franchise owner Glax Destroyer, who manages 12 locations in Southern California. "We brought in the War Rig to supplement our completely depleted fleet of moving vans. With everyone leaving in droves, we don't have much left. We're pretty much salvaging old trucks from the junkyard and then adding armor plating and mounted weapons."

Sources confirm that each War Rig will comfortably seat a traditionally-sized California family of one person. They boast a fuel economy of 6 miles per gallon of guzzoline, which the U-Haul location will provide.

"I live! I die! I live again!" cried one patriarch as he led his family through the desert and toward Arizona in one of the new U-Haul War Rigs. "Witness me!"

Mr. Destroyer encourages customers to come early to secure their rigs before his power goes out and everything bursts into flames.

To read the original story on TheBabylonBee.com website, and more excellent satirical commentary CLICK HERE.
Mark Twain is often given credit for the quote, History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme. The quote emphasizes that events do not always unfold in the same way, but they often unfold in similar ways. The tale of Chinas military ambitions as a great power, just now starting to
Conway, AR (72032)

Today

A few showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving for the afternoon. High 62F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable.
Striking teachers and support staff pose for a group shot outside the John J. Pershing Magnet School on the first day of their strike in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, in Chicago.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron addresses the media after the return of a grand jury investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor, in Frankfort, Ky., Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020.
Up for debate:

Live legislation tracker

Check out the latest developments on bills pending before state lawmakers in four key topics.
Louisa, VA (23093)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 56F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Towanda, PA (18848)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. High around 50F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 39F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Oneonta, NY (13820)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. High 47F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain . Low 37F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel answer readers questions sent to the column. Send a letter with one question describing the size, material (glass, pottery) and what you know about the item. Include only two pictures, the object and a closeup of any marks or damage. Be sure your name and return address are included. By sending a question, you give full permission for use in any Kovel product. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We do not guarantee the return of photographs, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. Questions that are answered will appear in Kovels Publications. Write to Kovels, The Daily Times, King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803 or email us at collectorsgallery@kovels.com.
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Asst News Editor

Sadaf Nikzad is a junior at WVU. She is from Morgantown, WV and this is her second year on staff. She is majoring in journalism and has two minors in English and Professional Writing and Editing.
Government forces guard the entrance of hotel after an armed confrontation near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, on Nov. 4, 2021. (Karim Torres/AP Photo)

2 Dead in Dramatic Shootout Near Upscale Mexican Resorts

MEXICO CITYA commando of drug gang gunmen on Thursday stormed ashore at a beach on Mexicos resort-studded Caribbean coast in front of luxury hotels and executed two drug dealers from a rival gang.

The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the resort of Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun.

The two suspected drug dealers killed Thursday had apparently arrived at the beach in front of the Azul Beach Resort and the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun earlier in the day, claiming it was now their territory.

About 15 people arrived on the beach to assassinate two men who had showed up saying they were the new dealers in the area, the head prosecutor of Quintana Roo state, Oscar Montes de Oca, told the Radio Formula station.

Montes de Ocas office said earlier in a statement that there was a clash between rival groups of drug dealers on a beach near the hotels. Several cartels are fighting for the areas lucrative retail drug trade, including the Jalisco cartel and the gang allied with the Gulf cartel.

Montes de Oca said one of the men targeted in the attack fled into one of the hotels before dying. The other was killed on the beach. He also said one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack, but authorities could not determine whether that person was a hotel employee or a guest because they were still undergoing medical treatment.

Gov. Carlos Joaquin said the commando wore ski masks and arrived by boat at the beach. Montes de Oca said they fled in a boat after the attack.

Government forces guard the entrance of hotel after an armed confrontation near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, on Nov. 4, 2021. (Karim Torres/AP Photo)

Joaquin called the attack a serious blow to the development and security of the state  putting the image of the state at grave risk.

The shootings were the latest chapter in drug gang violence that has sullied the reputation of Mexicos Caribbean coast as a once-tranquil oasis.

Guests at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun posted videos and photos of tourists hiding or nervously milling in the lobby and hallways of hotels during the incident.

Guests at the nearby Azul Beach Resort also posted videos of people taking shelter or gathering in the lobby. An employee who answered the phone at the hotel said the shooting occurred on the beach near the facility.

Mike Sington, a guest at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun, wrote in his Twitter account that Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran from beach and swimming pools. Staff hustled us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens.

Sington wrote on Twitter Ive never been so scared, literally shaking, before adding Im fine now, barricaded in my hotel room for the night, just trying to decompress.

Rival cartels often kill another gangs street-level dealers in Mexico to eliminate competition and ensure their drugs are sold first. It is not the first time that tourists have been caught in the crossfire of such battles.

The Puerto Morelos shooting comes two weeks after a California travel blogger and a German tourist were killed in a similar shootout in the beach town of Tulum.

A San Jose, California woman born in India, Anjali Ryot, and German citizen Jennifer Henzold were apparently hit by crossfire from the Oct. 20 drug dealers shootout in Tulum, south of Puerto Morelos.

Three other foreign tourists were wounded in the shooting at a street-side eatery that has some outdoor tables, right off Tulums main strip. They included two German men and a Dutch woman.

Police hold a bed sheet in an attempt to block onlookers after an armed confrontation close to a hotel near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, on Nov. 4, 2021. (Karim Torres/AP Photo)

The German Foreign Office issued a travel advisory about the violence, advising its citizens if you are currently in the Tulum or Playa del Carmen area, do not leave your secured hotel facilities.

The Tulum gunfight also apparently broke out between two groups that operate street-level drug sales in the area, according to prosecutors.

Montes de Oca said eight suspects in the Tulum attack had been detained in possession of firearms.

There have been signs that the situation in Quintana Roo state, where all the resorts are located, was out of control months ago. In June, two men were shot to death on the beach in Tulum and a third was wounded.

And in nearby Playa del Carmen, police stage a massive raid in October on the beach towns restaurant-lined Quinta Avenida, detaining 26 suspectsmost apparently for drug salesafter a city policewoman was shot to death and locked in the trunk of a car last week. Prosecutors said they have arrested a suspect in that killing.

Crime has gone up a little with extortion, with drug sales to foreigners and Mexicans, the prosecutors office said about the raid.

By Fabiola Sanchez
3-Legged Dog Tater Tot Credited for Helping Nurse Save Drowning 76-Year-Old Dog Owner

One 76-year-old Pennsylvania man owes his life to the quick actions of a nurse, her husband, and a three-legged dog after falling into the Allegheny River and very nearly drowning.

Last month, the rescuers were recognized for their heroism.

Nurse Mary Jo Lender, 54, from Lower Burrel, was visiting River Forest Yacht Club with her husband, Brian, 53, and they were just leaving when she noticed movement off the dock and spotted the little Pomeranian mix splashing in the brown water.

Thats what caught our attention, Mary Jo told The Epoch Times of that June 10 incident. I noticed a bit of an arm, flesh.

It was a person, because the water surface you couldnt really see under.

I screamed, Oh my God, theres a person under there!

Brian leapt in and pulled the elderly man, Tom Kissel, out from under the water. He was in dire straits, Mary Jo said, as hed been under for several minutes.

Quickly, she began administering CPR while another visitor called emergency first responders, who arrived to the out-of-the-way marina 20 minutes later.

Ive been a cardiac nurse for 33 years, and I knew it was a very slim chance that he would make it, Mary Jo said.

Advanced care arrived, fibrillated Tom on the dock, and gave him oxygen before transporting him to Alleghany Family Hospital and eventually to Alleghany General. Amazingly, he was discharged less than two weeks later.

Tom, from Mars, has made a near-full recovery with minimal deficits and without the expected neurological damage despite being submerged for those several minutes.

No witnesses saw Tom fall into the water, but he said a swell caused by boats on the busy river likely destabilized his balance on the dock, causing him to hit his head and fall in unconscious.

If that dog wasnt there, we would have walked off the dock, got in our car, and drove home, Mary Jo said. And nobody would have known where Tom was.

If it wasnt for that dog splashing, we never would have looked that way, she added, crediting the three-legged pooch, named Tater Tot, for his role in the rescue.

Tom has already returned to the river to spend time with his family, and of course, Tater Tot.

Mary Jo and her husband, on Oct. 12, were recognized for their life-saving actions in a ceremony sponsored by the American Heart Association and the Allegheny Health Network.

Tom along with Tater Tot attended and reunited with their saviors.

Im glad that theyre getting recognition for what they did for me, Tom told Trib Live. I owe my life to them.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a faith vigil for victims of an earthquake in Haiti at the steps of St. Jerome's Roman Catholic Church on August 16, 2021 in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

4 NYC Labor Unions Agree to Drop Lawsuit on Citys Vaccine Mandate

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city government reached an agreement with four labor unions over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city employees. The unions as part of the deal agreed to withdraw a lawsuit they filed last month challenging the citys right to implement the vaccine mandate.

The agreement includes handling of vaccine exemptions and leave policies, according to a statement from the mayors office on Thursday.

The four unions who signed the deal are District Council 37, New York Citys largest public employee union, local Teamsters, Uniformed Sanitationmens Association, and Service Employees International Union. They represent city employees of various professions. The agreement covers approximately 75,000 employees but excludes members employed at the Citys Department of Education (DOE) and Health+Hospitals (H+H), a public health care system.

Over 92 percent of New York City workers under the mandate were vaccinated, the statement said. Among the City firefighters, whose union has not signed any agreement with the city, 80 percent are vaccinated and 90 percent among the EMS workers, de Blasio told WNYC on Friday.

We are proud to have negotiated collective bargaining agreements with several unions regarding the vaccination mandate, which provide a process for our employees to request medical or religious exemptions and establish rules for employees on leave without pay, labor commissioner of the Mayors Office Renee Campion said in a statement.

Under this agreement, employees who applied for an exemption from the vaccine mandate for medical or religious reasons will receive an initial decision from the agency they work for. This decision can be appealed to an arbitrator or to an internal city panel the statement asserted.

According to the agreement (pdf) with District Council 37, New York Citys largest public employee labor union, the city panel will make decisions only based on documentation submitted, without any live hearing.

Union members who signed the agreement and filed the exemption request by Nov. 2 will remain on payroll with weekly testing until the agency issues a decision and any appeal is resolved, according to the statement.

Unvaccinated workers have until Nov. 5 to apply for exemptions but they will be paid only until their employer makes a determination and will be placed on unpaid leave during the appeal.

If workers on unpaid leave voluntarily resign they can keep their health insurance until the end of June 2022.

If a worker gets vaccinated while on unpaid leave he or she can return to work at the same location.
Peloton CEO John Foley (L) is seen behind one of his company's fitness machine along with others gathered for the groundbreaking for the company's first U.S. factory in Luckey, Ohio, on Aug. 9, 2021. (John Seewer/AP Photo)

6 Peloton Analysts Break Down Q1 Earnings: Not the Year We Envisioned

Peloton Interactive Inc. (PTON) shares dropped 35 percent Friday after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss and aggressively cut its full-year guidance.

Peloton reported a fiscal first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) loss of $1.25 on revenue of $805.2 million. Both numbers fell short of consensus analyst estimates of a $1.07 per-share loss and $810.7 million, respectively. Revenue was up 6 percent from a year ago.

Connected fitness product sales, which made up 62 percent of Pelotons total revenue, dropped 17 percent to $510 million. Subscription revenue was up 94 percent to $304.1 million. Peloton reported 2.49 million connected fitness subscribers, up 87 percent year-over-year.

Looking ahead, Peloton guided for first-quarter revenue of between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, well short of analyst estimates of $1.5 billion. Peloton also cut its full fiscal year revenue guidance from $5.4 billion to between $4.4 billion and $5.4 billion.

New Normal?

MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni said the pandemic poster child is now transitioning to a new normal.

We were wrong about PTONs ability to execute amidst reopening and competitive headwinds, Kulkarni wrote.

Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler said Pelotons risk-reward is balanced.

We believe the stock is likely to remain range-bound until signs of increasing demand return, which is likely to be a couple quarters at least, Kessler wrote.

Telsey Advisory Group analyst Dana Telsey said she remains positive on the long-term outlook for the connected fitness business.

However, near-term sales visibility is clouded by slowing traffic online, a mix shift to the lower priced Bike, and slower adoption of Tread, Telsey wrote.

Buying the Dip?

Bank of America analyst Justin Post said the new guidance is not the year we envisioned, but the post-earning selloff seems overly bearish.

While estimate cuts are a negative, we still expect 1.1mn sub adds in FY22 (+47 percent y/y) despite reopening impact, and there is potential upside from new products, Post wrote.

KeyBanc analyst Edward Yruma said Peloton has set a low bar for fiscal 2022 ahead of potential new device launches.

Its hard to pound the table at exactly this moment given the volatility, but LT growth algo (low churn underpins strong sub. NPV) and our enthusiasm remain intact, Yruma wrote.

Needham analyst Bernie McTernan said upside for Peloton will hinge on its growth trajectory in fiscal 2023 and beyond.

Our forecast assumes a rebound in FY23 as PTON is still in the early part of its adoption curve, we believe, and adding incremental customer funnels, although given the current outlook there is a high degree of potential variability in the outcome, McTernan wrote.

Peloton Ratings, Price Targets

Bank of America has a Buy rating and lowered the price objective from $138 to $112.

MKM Partners has a Neutral rating and slashed the price target from $130 to $70.

Raymond James has a Market Perform rating.

KeyBanc has an Overweight rating and lowered the price target from $155 to $110.

Needham has a Buy rating and cut the price target from $130 to $105.

Telsey Advisory Group has a Market Perform rating and cut the price target from $135 to $70.

By Wayne Duggan

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
A protester displays a placard during a rally to support press freedom in Hong Kong on March 2, 2014. (Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)

Almost Half of the Journalists in Hong Kong Consider Leaving: Poll

Nearly half of the journalists and correspondents in Hong Kong are considering leaving as the working environment has deteriorated significantly under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

The press freedom survey released on Nov. 5 by the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in Hong Kong found that about 46 percent of the respondents were considering or had plans to leave the city.

Nearly 84 percent of the 99 journalists polled think the working conditions have changed for the worse since Beijing introduced the sweeping national security law last June.

The vaguely-worded legislation punishes speeches or acts deemed as secessionist, subversive, terrorist, or perceived as colluding with foreign political individuals or groups against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Hong Kong police have since arrested over 100 dissidents, mostly against democratic politicians, activists, journalists, and students.

The rapidly deteriorating political environment in Hong Kong has made me consider cutting short my stay in the city, a respondent told FCC. While were not planning an imminent departure by any means, myself and several others I know are reconsidering previous plans to stay in Hong Kong over a longer time frame, given the city we arrived in was very different than the city we currently live in. 

Unlike other mainland cities, Hong Kong had once enjoyed vibrant press freedom, which is protected by the citys mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law. These rights were guaranteed for at least 50 years under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a legally binding international treaty signed by Beijing.

However, the majority of reporters surveyed, over 56 percent, said they have self-censored or avoided reporting on what might be considered sensitive stories.

In terms of sensitive subjects, about 48 percent are confused about where the red lines are in reporting. Those who are more confident in the definitions of sensitive subjects gave a wide range of issues, including Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan. According to the FCC, several respondents said that the definition could change at any time.

These results clearly show that assurances that Hong Kong still enjoys press freedom, guaranteed under the Basic Law, are not enough, FCC President Keith Richburg said. More steps need to be taken to restore confidence among journalists and to make sure Hong Kong maintains its decades-long reputation as a welcoming place for the international media.

In response, the Commissioners Office of Chinas Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong accused the organization of being black hands interfering in the citys affairs in a Friday statement. The spokesperson warned the FCC to stop making noise.

It is a common international practice for countries to supervise the news media working in their own countries in accordance with the law, the statement read.

The survey comes amid growing international concerns about the citys dwindling press freedom after Chinas ruling communist party ushered in a series of measures, especially following the draconian national security law.

In July, the United States and 20 other countries demanded Beijing end the attack on press freedom in the financial hub after the forced closure of Apple Daily.

The popular local newspaper Apple Daily, which was frequently critical of the citys government and the CCP, printed its last edition in June after 500 police raided its newsroom, arrested five executives, and froze the key assets. Authorities say dozens of the papers articles may have violated the national security law.

Apple Dailys founder, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, is currently serving a 20-month sentence and waiting for trials on three national security charges. Under the law, Lai could face up to life in prison.

The Hong Kong Epoch Times, one of the few independent media outlets left in the city, also suffered attacks with printing facilities damaged by four intruders and a journalist assaulted, which has led to widespread criticism of the authorities.

The rank of Hong Kong has fallen from 18th place in 2002 to 80th in the Reporters Without Borders 2021 press freedom index.

In many ways, it has become worse than the mainland because nobody knows what the red lines are and there is real fear that previous coverage could be scrutinized, a reporter told the FCC.

FCCs survey was conducted between late August to late October 2021, and it contacted only its correspondent and journalist members. It received 99 responses, with 70 from correspondents working for foreign media and 29 from journalists working for local media.
Woman with smartphone is seen in front of displayed Amazon logo in this illustration taken on July 30, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Amazon Seeks US Approval to Deploy 4,500 Additional Satellites for Internet Project

WASHINGTONAmazon.com is seeking approval from U.S. communications regulators to deploy more than 4,500 additional satellites as part of the companys effort to deliver broadband internet to areas around the world that lack high-speed service.

Amazon had said previously it planned to spend at least $10 billion to build 3,236 such satellites through its Project Kuiper program. Late on Thursday it asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval to deploy a total of 7,774 satellites for the project.

On Monday, Amazon asked the FCC for approval to launch and operate two prototype satellites by the end of 2022.

Amazon said in its filing the satellites will serve households, hospitals, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations around the world, including in geographic areas where reliable broadband remains lacking.

Although connectivity has improved on a global basis, only 51 percent of the global population, and 44 percent of the population of developing countries, are online, the company filing said.

In 2020, the FCC approved the Project Kuiper plan for the constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to compete with the Starlink network being built out by Elon Musks SpaceX.

Amazon has sparred with Musk, recently accusing the billionaire of ignoring a variety of government-imposed rules.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Musk are rivals in the private space launch business. Bezos Blue Origin had challenged the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations decision to award a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX but a judge rejected the challenge on Thursday.

SpaceX has deployed more than 1,700 satellites.

Earlier this week, the FCC approved Boeing Co.s application to launch and operate 147 satellites to provide high-speed broadband internet access.

Boeing first filed with the FCC in 2017 seeking approval to deploy a V-band Constellation of mostly low-Earth orbit satellites.

Boeing said this week it sees a multi-orbit future for satellite technologies. As the demand for satellite communications grows, diversity will be required across orbital regimes and frequencies to satisfy unique customer demands.

By David Shepardson
Argo Blockchains Texas Bitcoin Mining Farm to Be a $2 Billion Powerhouse

London-based Bitcoin mining giant Argo Blockchain ADR plans to build an 800-megawatt data center in West Texas that would cost the firm from $1.5 to $2 billion.

What Happened

The cost estimate for the mining facility is based on the type of mining machines to be installed in the facility, the mix of owned and hosted machines, the cost of raw materials, labor and power required to construct the facility, the timing of build-out and machine purchase, and other factors, according to a Friday regulatory filing from Argo Blockchain.

The company also said this was only an estimate for the cost of the Helios mining facility built on a 320-acre land plot and future results could differ materially.

The report follows the recent release of Argo Blockchains quarterly results earlier this week. The firm claims the results show its strong growth in the United States and abroad as the companys net income attributable to common shareholders in the quarter reached $19.8 million, or $0.56 per diluted common share.

Price Action

Argo Blockchains shares are up 1.04 percent at $17.49 at market close Friday.

By Adrian Zmudzinski

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly during a press conference in the Prime Ministers Courtyard at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on July 24, 2020. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Australia Eyes National Rapid COVID-19 Test Plan

Hospitals, aged care facilities, and schools are among the high-risk settings where workers and visitors could face rapid COVID-19 testing under an Australian plan to be developed.

National cabinet on Friday agreed the federal health department and Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will work on creating a nationally consistent framework for the use of rapid antigen tests.

It will guide authorities across the nation on how often the tests should be done and the implication of positive results, while also recommending high-risk settings for the screening.

Australian health authorities have previously been cautious to expand the use of rapid antigen tests given they are less reliable than PCR swabs.

In a further take-out from the first national cabinet meeting in more than a month, states and territories will consider changes to isolation requirements for fully vaccinated primary close contacts, including no or minimal quarantine for up to seven days.

Casual contacts would only be asked to seek testing and isolate if experiencing symptoms, but avoid high-risk settings until they return a negative result.

Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) have already reduced the time most fully vaccinated primary close contacts have to serve in isolation from 14 to seven days, while casual contacts can leave quarantine once they return a negative test result.

The federal government has also pledged to start vaccinating five to 11-year-old children, if backed by the national medicines regulator and immunisation advisory group.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly informed leaders of the emerging scientific evidence showing the benefits of vaccinating the age group, after U.S. regulators approved the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11-year-olds.

It comes as the country was poised to reach its target of 80 percent of the national population being fully vaccinated sometime on Friday.

The latest figures released put the national COVID-19 jab rate at 79.6 per cent, after more than 181,000 vaccines were administered on Thursday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the pending milestone as a breakthrough, as states across the country move to reopen their borders.

That means we overcame all the challenges that we had with supplies that didnt show up from Europe, he said.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan on Friday revealed long-awaited plans to reopen the state to eastern jurisdictions after months of hard border policies, as NSW and Victoria effectively reopened their borders to each other.

By Callum Godde
Australian Mining Giant Fortescue Expands Green Energy Into PNG

Mining magnate Andrew Twiggy Forrests Fortescue Future Industries plans to develop more than a dozen hydropower and geothermal energy projects in Papua New Guinea.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group has signed an agreement with the PNG government to look at the feasibility of up to seven hydropower and 11 geothermal energy projects.

They would be used to generate renewable electricity for the development of green hydrogen and ammonia.

Fortescue Metals Group expects this to create a significant domestic and export industry for a country that relies heavily on imported oil.

These projects will completely transform PNG to become a leader in the worlds renewable energy transition, Fortescues chair and founder Forrest said.

We are committed to ensuring PNGs communities benefit from growth and development through these projects, including training, employment and business development opportunities.

The company anticipates the projects, once completed, could produce up to 2.3 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year.

Forrest, who attended the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, champions hydrogen produced using renewables as part of the answer to global warming.

He has inked deals with various countries and is also investing in the industry with the New South Wales and Queensland state governments.

Australia has committed to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050, with a plan that is underpinned by technology development.

While at COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told world leaders that the swift invention of COVID-19 vaccines provided cause for optimism that scientists and other experts can invent the technological solutions needed to combat climate change by achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It will be our scientists, our technologists, our engineers, our entrepreneurs, our industrialists, and our financiers that will actually chart the path to net zero, he said. And it is up to us as leaders of governments to back them in.

The prime minister spoke of Australias plan to achieve a decarbonised economy through low-cost clean technology that doesnt deny people, especially in developing economies, their livelihoods or the opportunity for a better quality of life.

Cleaner technology solutions must outcompete existing technologies if they are to be successful everywhere, and especially so in developing economies, he said.

This needs to work not just in the developed economies of the North Atlantic, but in the developing economies of the Indo-Pacific as well.

Raising the cost of energy just impacts on those who can afford it least, he said.

By Georgie Moore. Epoch Times reporter Caden Pearson contributed to this report.
A representation of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken on June 29, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Australias Banking Regulator Looks Into CBAs Jump Into Crypto

SYDNEYAustralias banking watchdog said it was examining the regulatory implications of Commonwealth Banks planned introduction of bitcoin trading to unsophisticated retail investorsthe first bank in Australia to do so.

CBA says it would welcome a clear regulatory framework for crytpocurrencies, which are not formally regulated in Australia.

On Wednesday CBA broke banking industry ranks to match offerings from fintech firms by announcing it will become the first main-street bank in the developed world to offer a platform for retail customers to trade cryptocurrencies.

The move is forcing financial watchdogs in Australia to immediately focus on the volatile $2 trillion crypto trading industry that many argue has no intrinsic value and relies on users complete trust in different types of software.

A spokesman for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) told Reuters the countrys largest lender had made the regulator aware of its plans and the authority was examining regulatory issues that this raises.

After a staged pilot for 2,000 people, CBA will give easy access to crypto trading in 10 assets to about a third of Australian adults already using its industry-leading mobile banking app, which also offers energy retailers discounts and carbon emission trackers.

CBAs crypto trading service will be provided in partnership with Gemini Trust Company, one of the worlds largest crypto exchanges that was created in 2014 by the Winklevoss brothers, famous for accusing Facebooks founder of stealing their idea.

The anti-money laundering watchdog the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre said that it was engaging  in relation to this new product offering with both CBA and Gemini.

CBA says it would welcome regulatory clarity in the space, and that its product was designed with risk-mitigation and regulatory concerns front of mind for both the bank and to ensure people feel safe when using the product.

We would really welcome regulatory clarity for crypto assets. We think it would improve the market, enhance trust, and it would raise the bar in terms of customer protection, said Sophie Gilder, Commonwealth Banks head of Blockchain and the banks project leader.

CBAs offering will be a a closed loop connected to a CBA bank account, that would be monitored with cryptocurrency anti-money laundering services from Chainalysis for any potential suspicious activity.

Weve got complete transparency as to customer activity and can report on that to regulators when necessary, Gilder said, which includes customary reporting to the taxation authority.

We will not, as soon as the pilot ends, open it to everyone. It will be a more gradual process than that, which I think is appropriate considering the volatility of crypto.

By Paulina Duran
China's ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou speaks to the media in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 15, 2019. (Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Beijings Wolf Warrior Diplomacy Generates Negative Opinions in Sweden Toward Chinese Regime

Sweden bids farewell to an undiplomatic Chinese diplomat, only expecting more to come

Commentary

While Sweden once was one of the most favorable nations toward China, relations have soured over the years, with the Chinese ambassador resigning from his post in September. A combination of Swedens support for human rights and a tough stance on Chinas wolf warrior diplomacy has led to loss of favor with the Chinese regime.

Gui Congyou had served as the ambassador to Sweden since 2017. In his four years, Swedens foreign ministry had summoned him around 40 times and Swedish parliamentarians have twice requested his expulsion from the country.

Gui is considered one of Chinas wolf warrior diplomats. These individuals use aggressive rhetoric in the name of supporting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for fear of appearing weak back home.

Sweden has begun losing patience with this diplomatic strategy. The Nordic country was once one of the most friendly Western countries to China. It was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1950. However, things have deteriorated since then. A 2021 poll done by Pew Research Center revealed that people in Sweden holding negative opinions of the communist regime of China rose from 49 percent in 2017 to 80 percent in 2021.

A Wolf in Ambassadors Clothing

Gui both ridiculed and threatened Swedens leadership publicly on multiple occasions.

Swedish freelance journalist Jojje Olsson said he had received an email from the Chinese embassy on April 9, 2021, accusing him of moral corruption and threatening him with the consequences of his coverage critical of Beijing.

Swedish politicians including Lars Adaktusson, a foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Democrats, immediately called for the ambassador to be expelled from Sweden.

On Jan. 18, 2020, Gui Congyou likened Swedish media to a lightweight boxer, saying that [i]ts like a 48-kilogram lightweight boxer who provokes a feud with an 86-kilogram heavyweight boxer, who out of kindness and goodwill urges the [smaller] boxer to take care of himself.

Swedens government summoned Gui for his comments, and the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Left Party called for the expulsion of Gui for his provocative rhetoric.

In November 2019, Gui said to Swedish public radio that [w]e treat our friends with fine wine, but for our enemies we have shotguns, as reported by The Economist in February 2020.

The Swedish division of PEN, a freedom of speech organization, awarded writer and bookseller Gui Minhai the Tulcholsky Prize in 2019. He sold books critical of the CCP and was sentenced to prison in China for 10 years in 2020.

Swedish Culture and Democracy Minister Amanda Lind presents the Swedish PENs Tucholsky Prize given to Chinese-Swedish book publisher Gui Minhai in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 15, 2019. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

In response, on Nov. 7, 2019, the CCPs embassy in Sweden called Gui Minhai a criminal, and a lie-fabricator and rumor-spreader on its official website, blasting the Swedish division of PENs award as a slap in the face.

Swedish Culture Minister Amanda Lind unveiled the award in November 2019 despite the pressure from the Chinese embassy.

In response to her attendance, Gui Congyou, Chinas ambassador to Sweden, threatened to cancel the trips of two Swedish business delegations to China, among other countermeasures.

But Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven replied that Sweden would not give in to threats.

It is not okay to interfere with what the Swedish government does, Swedens Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in an email to Reuters in 2019.

Gui made comments on other incidents related to the bookshop owner before his award.

On Sept. 2, 2018, three Chinese tourists had a dispute with a Swedish hostel. The hostel called the police, who removed the Chinese tourists. The Swedish prosecutor, Mats Ericsson, concluded no crime was committed, according to Reuters.

Two weeks later, Gui turned the incident into a fight.

He accused the Swedish police of brutal treatment of the Chinese tourists on the embassys website. He even questioned if the Swedish government respect[s] human rights dignity.

A Swedish government source told Reuters that the Chinese embassys comments were related to Gui Minhai, the bookshop owner.

In reaction to Gui Congyous repeated provocations, Linkopings mayor, Lars Vikinge, declared it was cutting off ties with Guangzhou, a former sister city with the Swedish city.

Swedens second-largest city Gothenburg ended its sister city relationship with Shanghai. So did Lulea with Xian, and Vasteras with Jinan, reported Hong Kong Free Press in April 2020.

According to a report by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, between January 2018 and May 2019, the Chinese embassy issued 57 statements critical of local press coverage of China.

Swedens Stand for Human Rights

Sweden is one of the European countries that have spoken up against the Chinese regime for its violations of human rights.

Eight Swedish Members of Parliament came on Oct. 21, 2020, to support a human rights rally attended by Falun Gong adherents and members of other human rights groups.

Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade in Flushing, New York, on April 18, 2021, to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation practice that teaches followers to apply the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance in their daily life. The CCP has persecuted the belief since 1999, arresting and killing believers at will.

In fact, the persecution of minorities in China is among the worst crimes against human rights the world has ever seen, Ann-Sofie Alm, a Swedish Member of Parliament, told Minghui. It has been described as a genocide by some international observers and judicial authorities.

According to a report on Minghui, an informational website on Falun Gong, 606 legislators from 30 countries, including Sweden, signed a joint statement on July 18, 2020, condemning the CCP for its brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

Along with Swedens resistance to wolf warrior diplomacy, former leaders have written on the dangers of Marxism. Carl Bildt, former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden, wrote for Czech-based opinion webpage Project Syndicate an article titled Why Marx Was Wrong in May 2018, which was reposted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an Australian think tank.

Marxism, after all, has inflicted untold misery on tens of millions of people who have been forced to live under regimes waving its banner, wrote Bildt. For much of the 20th century, 40 percent of humanity suffered famines, gulags, censorship, and other forms of repression at the hands of self-proclaimed Marxists.

Bildt summarized that communism in China ruled by the CCP produced the famine and terror of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution and that Chinas economic development proves Marxisms supposed validity is exactly the other way around. He called on Western democracies to inoculate our open societies against the totalitarian temptation that lurks in his [Marxs] false theories.

The CCPs sole ideology is Marxism, which is contrary to universal values such as freedom, democracy, rule of law, and human rights. It has ruled China for 72 years and has deprived the Chinese people of their freedomsfreedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom from fear, and freedom from want.

While Sweden scored 100the highest and the full scorein Freedom Houses 2021 global freedom report, China scored nine.

Freedom House concluded in its annual overview that China has become increasingly repressive, both tightening control of many aspects of society while undermining its own rule-of-law.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
People shout slogans against the communist regime during a protest in Havana, Cuba, on July 11, 2021. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Biden Administration Killed Cubas Democratization: Cuba Expert

Cubas democratic protests made international headlines a few months ago, but then suddenly disappeared. Marcell Felipe, a Cuba expert and an active community leader among Cuban Americans, claims its the Biden administration that killed the democratization process in Cuba.

Felipe is an attorney and the founder of the Inspire America Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting democracy in Cuba and the Americas. In 2019 he was appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to serve on the Board of Trustees of Miami Dade College, one of the largest colleges in the nation.

The Biden administration really killed it, Felipe told NTDs Capitol Report program during the National Conservatism Conference in Orlando.

Its, quite frankly, was an unprecedented protest. You had thousands, tens of thousands of ordinary Cubans protesting against the regime that is known for killing anyone who opposes ita Stalinist regime in the 21st century, Felipe said. So it was really an extraordinary moment.

A lot of Cuban Americans thought that the Biden administration would take this golden opportunity, not just to do something right by the Cuban people, but to switch the electoral tide in Florida, Felipe continued.

Felipe explained that Florida is considered a swing state for most elections decided by one percent of the vote. With less than 40 percent of Florida Cuban Americans being registered Republicans, any Democratic candidate that gets 40 percent plus of the Cuban American votes usually wins the state. He said Cuban Americans are 6 percent of the registered voters even they only represent 3 percent of the population. Were committed voters, Felipe said.

It would have been a no-brainer for President Biden to really take a hard-line approach on Cuba, stand with the Cuban people, it would have changed the electoral map, Felipe continued. It made all political sense until you realize the influence that the Marxist within the Democratic Party have gained, and what the blowback would be to President Biden. That really tells you all.

The Democratic Party has failed to strengthen its base and instead, strengthen the Marxist base within their party, at their own peril, Felipe said.

We really believed that the Biden administration would step up and address directly the Cuban generals and tell them this is the time either to side with the new Cuban Republic or to be the last dictators of a fallen regime. Unfortunately, the Biden administration chose to speak to the Cuban government rather than the Cuban people or the military, Felipe continued, saying the opportunity was wasted.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

The Biden administration has been criticized for its response to Cubas protests that started on July 11.

At first, an acting assistant secretary at the State Department described Cubas anti-government, anti-communism protest as an assembly against COVID-19 deaths and medicine shortages. Her words drew fierce criticism.

During a July 21 Fox News Townhall, Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) criticized Biden for not meeting them even after 10 days of the protests erupting.

Were very frustrated, Salazar said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also joined the Town Hall and called on the Biden administration to take more actions, especially to help provide internet access to all Cubans.

But Biden is basically just sitting there doing nothing and leaving these folks out to dry, DeSantis alleged.

A man is arrested during the act of revolutionary reaffirmation in Havana, Cuba, on July 17, 2021. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

On July 30, the Biden administration announced sanctions against Cubas national-revolutionary police and its top two officials.

We hear the cries of freedom coming from the island. The United States is taking concerted action to bolster the cause of the Cuban people, President Joe Biden said at the time.

On Aug. 13, the White House announced a new round of sanctions against top Cuban officials and forces.

Cultural Marxism Has Been Eating America Away

Felipe described how cultural Marxism has been very active in the United States for a long time.

Organized cultural Marxism has been very present and very active in the United States for over 60 years, and both parties have failed to denounce it, said Felipe, adding that was part of a plan conceived by Antonio Gramsci.

Gramsci was an Italian Marxist philosopher who was known for his theory of using cultural hegemony instead of force to control society.

Antonio Gramsci is a communist who believed that Stalin and Marx had it all wrong, and Lenin had it all wrong. But in fact, if you really wanted to change a society, you had to begin by destroying its culture, by attacking every institution, by getting your key people in positions of power, in academia, in the mediaand then slowly eating away at those institutions, Felipe said.

Unfortunately, our political parties have been all too willing to avoid the fight, Felipe said. And with each new concession, we get a little bit closer to their final goal.

Felipe gave an example of how cultural Marxism has been carried out incrementally.

They will begin, for example, to say, let us take down the statutes of Robert E. Lee. And a lot of Democrats and Republicans alikein order to bring some kind of measure of peace and stabilitywill say, well, after all, he was a Confederate; he was a rebel against the Union, if it means that much of the other side, lets just give in.

Crews remove the torso of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, one of the countrys largest remaining monuments to the Confederacy, on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., on Sept. 8, 2021. (Steve Helber/AP Photo)

Problem is that once you do, as many places did, then theyll next ask you to give up the statue of Ulysses S. Grant who fought against slavery, Felipe said. And if you give into that, then pretty soon, youre going to end up having to renounce the Founding Fathers, the U.S. Constitution, until there is nothing else left for us to defend, or until they feel empowered enough to reveal their true identity.

Felipe said its very dangerous and until we demand that our elected officials start behaving less like politicians, and more like leaders, were going to continue to see a lot more of it.

Steve Lance and Mini Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden responds to a question about the U.S. border as he speaks in the State Dinning Room of the White House on Nov. 6, 2021. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Biden: Illegal Immigrants Separated During Trump Administration Deserve Compensation

Illegal immigrant families who were separated after crossing the border during the Trump administration should be paid, President Joe Biden said on Nov. 6.

If, in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you were coming across the border, whether it was legal or illegal, and you lost your childyou lost your childits goneyou deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance, Biden told reporters in Washington.

The Biden administration is currently negotiating a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other legal groups who represent illegal immigrant families who were separated during the Trump administration, the Department of Justice confirmed to media outlets.

During a Nov. 3 briefing, Biden confused some when he reacted strongly after being presented with reporting that the administration could pay each illegal immigrant up to $450,000 each or up to $1 million per family.

Do you think that that might incentivize more people to come over illegally? he was asked.

If you guys keep sending that garbage out, yeah. But its not true, Biden said.

After confirming that the reporter had asked about $450,000 payments per person, he said, Thats not going to happen.

The ACLU then issued a statement saying that Biden may not have been fully briefed about negotiations with the Department of Justice, and a White House spokeswoman said on Nov. 4 that the illegal immigrants could receive government payouts.

Biden was stating that the figure of $450,000 wasnt accurate, according to spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden made the same claim on Nov. 6.

The number is what I was referring to, he said.

As to the level of compensation that each illegal immigrant should get, Biden said he had no idea.

Critics have spoken out against the planned payouts, which would be larger than payments made to family members of U.S. troops who are killed in action and the surviving family members of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

The administrations open border policies are incentivizing this surge of illegal immigration. If this payout plan moves forward, it will be a clear message that breaking our immigration laws will not only be tolerated but also be rewarded, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) wrote on Twitter on Nov. 5.

Not only would these settlements be breathtakingly unjust and unwise, but they reinforce the conditions that make it easy for the cartels to recruit more people to undertake the treacherous journey to our southwest border, and serve only to encourage more illegal immigration, a group of senators recently wrote to the president.

The Biden administration has presided over a historic surge in illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, breaking a fiscal-year record, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection is on track to break the record for most apprehensions in a single calendar year.

Bidens reversal or alteration of Trump-era policies such as the Migrant Policy Protocols have sparked the surge, some experts say. The Biden administration has accused the Trump administration of dealing cruelly with illegal immigrants and has claimed that it takes time to overhaul and improve upon the immigration system.
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing. Chauvin faces decades in prison for the May 2020 death of George Floyd. At the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 25, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

Chauvin, Ex-Wife Plead Not Guilty to Tax Evasion Charges

MINNEAPOLISA judge entered not guilty pleas on tax evasion charges Friday on behalf of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyds death, and for the officers ex-wife.

Washington County District Judge Sheridan Hawley also set the next court date in the case for Jan. 21. A trial date has not been set.

Derek Chauvin appeared via Zoom for the brief hearing from the states maximum security prison at Oak Park Heights, where hes serving a 22 1/2-year sentence for his conviction in April for second-degree murder in the May 2020 death of Floyd.

Sitting in a prison conference room and wearing a white T-shirt, Chauvin said little except yes, your honor, to answer routine questions from the judge. Kellie Chauvin appeared from a different location.

The nine felony tax evasion counts filed in July of 2020 allege that Derek and Kellie Chauvin underreported their joint income by $464,433 from 2014 through 2019, including more than $95,000 for his off-duty security work. Kellie Chauvin was a real estate agent and also operated a photography business. At the time, prosecutors said they owed $37,868 to the state, including unpaid taxes, interest and fees. Prosecutors have said the tax investigation began before Floyds death.

Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce shortly after Floyds death, and a judge approved the divorce last February under terms that were kept sealed. The judge rejected an initial proposed settlement that would have given Kellie Chauvin most of their property and money.

Derek Chauvin also faces a separate federal civil rights trial, along with the three other former officers who still face trial in state court with aiding and abetting Chauvin in Floyds death. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to the civil rights charges and is appealing his murder conviction.
A battle may be around the corner. Young children are taught new fighting tactics, and weapon-carrying trucks are spotted rolling down the street. But an expert says Beijing is just trying to boost morale.

Little financial aid, blocked from going to work, personal freedom haltedthat has been the situation in one Chinese city for the past seven months. Amid strict pandemic-lockdown orders, many who are suffering have been silenced.

China ramps up surveillance use in its battle against the pandemic. For Chinese citizens, if a confirmed virus patient so much as walks by, they may end up confined in quarantine.

A Chinese property developer is knee-deep in a debt crisisbut its not Evergrande. The group missed a payment to investors, and now its shares are halted on Hong Kongs stock exchange.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
A child receives the COVID-19 vaccine at a school in Handan, in China's northern Hebei Province on Oct. 27, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

Parents Worried About Chinas Vaccine Orders on Children

The Chinese regimes top health apparatus announced on Oct. 30 that the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to children between three and eleven years old, and some parents have expressed concern about the vaccine orders.

[We] should provide active guidance to all eligible groups between three and eleven years old to get vaccinated, as long as they do not have a contraindication, said Wu Liangyou, deputy director of Chinas National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention at a regular press briefing on the day.

Wu said that the nationwide full vaccination of these groups should be completed by the end of December.

By full vaccination, it refers to two doses or three doses of Chinas domestic manufactured vaccines, depending on which particular vaccines are administered.

The order comes before the Winter Olympic Games to be held from Feb. 420, 2022, in Beijing. The Chinese regime is expanding its vaccination program in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19 amid a recent outbreak in Beijing and 11 provinces.

According to the regimes health body, by Oct. 29, over 3.53 million jabs have been administered to children aged three to eleven.

Chinese provinces that have begun vaccinating children from three to 11 include Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Heilongjiang, and Jilin in northern China; Hebei in central China; Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong on the eastern coast; and Guangxi, Yunan, and Hainan in the south. Two citiesBeijing and Wuhanhave also begun vaccinating young children.

Beijings Changping District health organ and education watchdog both released a notice on Nov. 1, telling parents to sign approval allowing the jabs to be administered to children.

A Beijing resident with the surname Huang told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Nov. 2 that parents are all very concerned about the safety of the vaccines.

He said that teachers sent only a notice to parents of their students via WeChat, a popular Chinese chat app, asking parents to sign and submit the approval form online, without any explanation or information.

The teachers said the children dont have to take the vaccines at the moment if they dont want to, but Huang said the children may get mistreated if they do so.

According to Huang, his neighborhood committee has notified residents to take the third shot.

If three jabs cant protect adults from the virus, how can they work on our kids? Id rather not let my child go to school than have him take the jab, Huang said.

Resident Li from Chinas southern city of Shenzhen also expressed his concern about Chinese vaccines in a recent interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

Many parents didnt want their children to be vaccinated, but were asked by the school, he said.

Theres not much we can do about it, he said.

Mr. Li stressed that many side effects of vaccines are not yet clear and could present a potential danger to children.

He said he is worried after seeing numerous cases of side effects of vaccinations on adults, including deaths.

With the Chinese regimes top health body ordering the full vaccination to be completed by the end of the year, the CCPs local authorities have issued documents mandating people to get vaccinated. Those who dont take the inoculation are not allowed to work or go to school and public places.

Before the mandatory order of vaccination for children ages three to 11, all students aged 12 to 17 were required to receive the vaccine before the last school term began.

I think sooner or later that similar stipulations will apply to children aged three to 11 years old, Huang said that he is worried that his child may not be allowed to go to school without taking the jabs.

Gao Miao and Daniel Holl contributed to the report.
Xu Yanjun in a photo taken shortly after his arrest. (Courtesy of Butler County Jail)

Chinese Spy Convicted of Conspiracy to Steal Cutting-Edge US Aviation Technology

A federal jury in Cincinnati has convicted a Chinese intelligence agent over his role in a scheme to recruit spies and steal sensitive U.S. aviation technology for Beijing.

Xu Yanjun, a deputy division director at the Chinese Ministry of State Security, Beijings top intelligence agency, was found guilty on all counts, including conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and stealing trade secrets, according to the Justice Department.

Hes the first Chinese intelligence agent to be extradited to the United States to stand trial. Xu was transferred from Belgium in 2018 after an engineer he targeted for recruitment cooperated with the FBI to lure him to the European country.

The companies Xu targeted included GE Aviation, an Ohio-based unit of General Electric Co. that had designed an exclusive composite aircraft engine fan. He had attempted to steal the proprietary technology to benefit the Chinese state, Vipal Patel, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said on Nov. 5.

Developing its aviation technology forms part of Beijings Made in China 2025 industrial plan, with aims to transform the country into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse by the year 2025. A Chinese military specialist testified during the trial in October that aviation expansion has actively been a key priority for decades, and a key source of frustration for the regime, according to local media reports.

A pilot checks the RX1E-A, a two-seater aircraft designed by Shenyang Aerospace University at Caihu airport in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China, on Nov. 1, 2017. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Xu, who had pleaded not guilty, was convicted of all charges in federal court following a nearly three-week-long trial. He faces up to 60 years in prison along with more than $5 million in fines. No sentencing date has been set.

Since December 2013, federal prosecutors said, Xu had been recruiting employees from companies considered as industry leaders in the United States and abroad. He had used multiple aliases, including Qu Hui and Zhang Hui to perform his duties for Beijing, and represented himself as an associate of Jiangsu Science and Technology Promotion Association to conceal the nature of his work, court documents show.

Xu would pay the recruits to travel to China, often under the guise of exchanging ideas or giving a presentation at a university. The targeted individuals also received stipends, in addition to compensation for travel costs.

Xu in 2017 solicited a GE Aviation engineer in Cincinnati to give a report at a Chinese university, covering highly technical topics such as the companys engine structure design, according to court filings. Xu paid $3,500 for the trip along with associated expenses for meals and lodging.

In the following year, he sought the system specifications and design process from that employee. He was arrested in Belgium that April when traveling to meet with the individual.

FBI supervisory special agent Bradley Hull told a U.S. District Court in Cincinnati that Chinese agents had downloaded 200 family photos of the targeted GE engineer, who has family members in China, in bid to coerce him to become a spy, according to local media.

The entrance to the General Electric Aviation in Lynn, Mass., on March 31, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

The engineer started working with the FBI in November 2017 after agents conducted a search of his home.

Hull said Xus cellphone had helped the FBI understand how Chinese spies operate and uncover those within Xus networks.

People in intelligence like uswe focus on aviation, said a message sent from Xu to a co-worker in 2016, Hull read out in court, local media reported. The leadership asks you to get the materials of the U.S.the U.S. F-22 fighter aircraft. You cant get it by sitting at home.

Xu has been a state agent since 2003. Prosecutors at the trial displayed an image of Xus Chinese Communist Party membership card taken from his phone after his arrest, which Hull said was previously unknown to the FBI.

For those who doubt the real goals of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China], this should be a wakeup call; they are stealing American technology to benefit their economy and military, said Alan E. Kohler Jr., assistant director of the FBIs counterintelligence division, according to a statement.

Former U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman, who handled the case three years ago when Xu was extradited to Cincinnati, said the guilty verdict was surely among the most significant victories by United States law enforcement against Chinas naked ambition to acquire intellectual property by whatever means, legal or otherwise, local broadcaster WCPO reported.

The answer of the United States to another countrys ambition to gain through theft is simply to hold people accountable under the law. Im proud to be an American, he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Mangan told the jury in his closing statement that nearly all of the evidence in the case came from Xus own wordsreferring to text messages, emails, calendar entries, and other electronic records that FBI retrieved from Xus phone.

It shines a light on what his deeds were  and a clear window into his intent, he said, according to WCPO.
Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park in Houston on Nov. 5, 2021. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Deadly Crowd Surge at Houston Music Festival Kills 8, Leaves Many Injured

Police officials said at least eight people were killed and many others injured in a crush when fans surged toward the stage at the Astroworld music festival in Houston on Nov. 5 while rapper Travis Scott was performing.

This is a tragic night, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told a news conference outside NRG Park, the event venue.

Eight confirmed fatalities, and we had scores of individuals that were injured, he added, describing what occurred as a mass casualty incident.

Around 50,000 fans were in attendance at the festival, Pena said, when at around 9 p.m. the crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries.

People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic, he said, adding that emergency response teams transported 17 people to area hospitals, with 11 of the victims in cardiac arrest.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that some of those taken to hospital were as young as ten years old.

Tonights focus  needs to be on the families and on the lives that we lost, Hidalgo said. Many of them extremely young, tragically young.

Our hearts are broken. People go to these events looking for a good time, a chance to unwind, to make memories, Hidalgo said. Its not the kind of event you go to to find out about fatalities.

Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park in Houston, on Nov. 5, 2021. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

The fire chief said the cause of death of the 8 deceased will not be officially known until the medical examiner has completed an investigation.

Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite who was near the front of the crowd and told reporters at the press conference that the surge happened suddenly and played out over the course of just a few minutes.

Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode, Satterwhite said. And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then, and thats when I went and met with the promoters, and Live Nation, and they agreed to end early in the interest of public safety.

The fire chief said that the event organizers had a medical component on hand to deal with emergencies, but they were quickly overwhelmed when the crowd started falling out.

Over 300 people were treated at an emergency field hospital set up at the venue, Pena said, with over 55 Houston Fire Department units later stepping in to provide assistance.

The show was canceled shortly after the incident, and the Houston Office of Emergency Management later announced that the Astroworld event had been canceled for Saturday.

Please keep the eight victims and the hundreds injured in your thoughts and prayers, the agency wrote in a tweet.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said its very important that none of us speculate about what caused the surge and to allow investigators to complete their work.

Nobody has all the answers tonight, he said. We just dont know. And we will find out. So, pray for these families.
Join study partners, John & Jane as they explore the challenges to the evolutionary theory and why the Bible makes the most sense of the scientific evidence. This is an essential video for Christian students attending Junior High to College. Through the fun conversations of the actors, this program provides solid answers about creation, evolution, the fossil record, extinction, adaptation, natural selection, common ancestors, branching & homologous, and human evolution.

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Note: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the producers, creators and presenters of Awesome Science do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Epoch Times. Debunking Evolution addresses topics related to evolution and invites conversation, thinking and analysis of current streams of thought discussed and taught in education circles today.



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Disney California Adventure Web Slingers Offers Faster Way to Ride

Avengers fans can now ride Disney California Adventure Parks Web Slingers ride without signing up for a virtual queue to secure their seat.

Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure is a new attraction in the theme park located at the Avengers Campus. The ride features new interactive technology that allows visitors to show off their Spider-Man-style web tricks.

Since opening during summer, the popular attraction has been made available to theme park visitors who join a virtual queue or waitlist.

The virtual queue was available for anticipated riders to book on the Disneyland app twice a day at 7 a.m. and noon.

While availability would vary, riders would find themselves out of luck as reservation slots would be filled if booked any time after the designated time openings.

I look forward to riding it, Passholder Sydney Lawrence told The Epoch Times. Every time I would try to book a spot, it would be filled for the day.

On the first day of offering a standby queue, the line for Web Slingers averaged 45 minutes, according to Blog Mickey.

Virtual queues will still be available and provide priority to pre-registered riders. The standby line is now available when the park opens and after all reservations have been completed for the day, according to the Disneyland website.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bagpipes

Perhaps, like me, you have been fascinated, even thrilled, when a bagpiper showed up in a kilt at a wedding or funeral you attended. Or perhaps you have heard the raucously festive sound of row upon row of bagpipers in a parade, accompanied by snare, tenor, and bass drums. That ensemble is properly called a pipe band.

Perhaps you also think that bagpipes are rather mysterious because they always seem to come and go too quickly, before you have a chance to really get a good look at them or figure out how they work. Lets explore this intriguing instrument and its history and role in culture.

First, though, must come the question of how a bagpipe works and makes its characteristic duck-call tone. (No offense is intended, either to lovers of bagpipes or ducks.)

The Pipes Are Calling

The most commonly seen Scottish Highland bagpipes combine a few pipes connected to a bag. Ill get back to the bag. All the pipes are technically in the woodwind family. The main melody pipe, called the chanter, is usually in the same family as the double-reed instruments, like the oboe and the bassoon, while the other pipes often have a single reed, like the clarinet and saxophone. However, any of the pipes can use either a double or single reed. Reeds were traditionally made from cane but are now often plastic.

The chanter pipe that plays the melody is pitched in a certain scale by covering holes, like a recorder or song flute, while the continuous tone of one or more drone pipes is each pitched on one note. The first drone pipe is at a pitch two octaves below the home note of the chanter pipes scale. The second drone pipe, in the same key, may play the fifth tone above the first drone; if a third drone is present, it is at an octave above the first drone.

Caught Holding the Bag

So what is that plump and floppy bag for? It actually serves as a third lung to store air, or acts like a buffer in computer terms. The player doesnt blow directly into the pipes but into the bag, or in a few cases uses his arm to pump air into it. In turn, he uses arm pressure to squeeze air out of the bag and into the pipes. He can keep refilling the bag with air faster than the air is going out of the bag, so it always remains inflated and can play an unbroken, continuous tone. The bags were traditionally made from skins, but they can also be made with synthetic materials now.

Judging by ancient and medieval art and sculpture dating from 1000 B.C., forerunners of the bagpipe existed in Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Roman, and Grecian cultures. The earliest appearance in the British Isles, from where we most associate the instrument now, particularly Scotland, was sometime in the 14th century. Chaucer mentions it in The Canterbury Tales in 1380: A baggepype wel coude he blowe and sowne, And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne.

Bagpipes have a long history and were found throughout Europe and the Middle East. Medieval bagpiper at the Cistercian monastery of Santes Creus in Catalonia, Spain. (Public Domain)

An extensive collection of historical bagpipe-like instruments under several different names can be found in the musical instrument collection of New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There remain today several different types of bagpipes, but the one familiar to most Americans is the Scottish Highland type. It has three drone pipes on the top of the bag and a nine-note chanter pipe, with a bag made of sheep or elk skin.

Just as much a part of the spectacle of a piper is his fabulous uniform, called the full highland dress No. 1, which would require a whole article here to fully describe, but some essentials of it are the tall, ostrich feather bonnet; a highly decorated jacket and plaid kilt, including a dirk (or short sword) at the side; a large bejeweled brooch; horsehair tassels called a sporran; and white spats.

A bagpiper on Edinburghs Royal Mile. (Courtesy of Michael Kurek)

The Bagpipes in Modern Scottish Tradition and Culture

From the bagpipes first days in Scotland, a tradition developed that each town had an official, tax-funded bagpiper to play for formal occasions, country fairs, weddings, and in some cases at churches lacking an organ. In 1549, the first mention was made of bagpipes used as instruments to spur on the troops at the Battle of Pinkie. In 1746, they were used that way at the Scots famously failed Battle of Culloden, after which the British banned the instrument for 40 years.

By World War I, the British had adopted 2,500 of their Scottish comrades (distributed in various places) to bravely lead the troops into battle from their trenches, playing the bagpipes; they were paid an extra penny a day for their service. Despite not carrying any weapons, 500 of them were mowed down and killed by the Germans and another 600 wounded. Because of this slaughter, pipers were forbidden from the front lines in World War II, but one brave Scottish piper, called Private Mad Bill Millin, could be heard on D-Day through the gunfire on Normandy Beach. He miraculously was able to play on through the battle without being shot because the Germans took pity on him, thinking he had gone mad.

The instrument has become known worldwide today and is synonymous with Scotland. A pipers image is even found on the tin lids of two of the best-known brands of Scottish shortbread. In America, it is thrilling to hear a single bagpiper in full uniform playing Amazing Grace or a Highland Reel at a wedding. But on a recent trip to Edinburgh, I found it no less than breathtaking to hear the full power of hundreds of pipers marching in formation down the famed Royal Mile as they played in rich harmony.
Falun Gong practitioners hold a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to the lives of those in China who have been beaten and tortured to death, in Washington, DC on July 19, 2001. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Falun Gong Practitioner Dies After Years of Torture and Harassment in China

A Falun Gong adherent died in northeastern China after experiencing instances of torture, according to Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that reports on Beijings persecution of Falun Gong.

On Oct. 21, Wu Dongsheng, 57, died in Baoqing County, Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province, reported Minghui. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deprived her of a steady income. She experienced harassment and arrests, eventually developed a stress-related illness.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that features three core tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, along with five slow-moving exercises. After it was made public in 1992, its following in China grew to 70 million to 100 million people by 1999. Then, the Chinese regime, deeming the practices popularity a threat, launched a nationwide persecution campaign to eradicate it.

Wu, born on Sept. 30, 1965, was a former employee of No. 597 Farm under the provinces Farms & Land Reclamation Administration. She had several health issues, including a heart condition, kidney inflammation, and gynecological problems. She claimed that all of the conditions disappeared after she began practicing Falun Gong in September 1998.

However, the CCPs nationwide campaign against Falun Gong changed her life when a full-blown persecution began in July 1999.

On Sept. 7, 2001, the farm authorities arrested Wu for talking about the persecution of Falun Gong with other residents. She was sent to the Hongxinglong Detention Center.

There, she began a hunger strike in protest of the illegal arrest but was then subject to forced feeding. Her hands were bound to a bedstead; her mouth was forced open with a spoon, and her hair was violently pulled so her head hit the bedboard.

Days later, Wu was sent to a labor camp in the city of Jiamusi.

Upon completion of her term on Jan. 24, 2002, local authorities extended her stay by 37 days for her peaceful non-compliance.

We can keep you detained indefinitely as long as you practice Falun Gong, said Chen Jianfu, head of the local political and legal affairs committee, according to Minghui. We neednt follow the law when it comes to you guys.

The local officials released her on March 5 because she continued to hunger strike.

Then, from Sept. 27, 2002, to Sept. 27, 2004, Wu was held in a local indoctrination base in the Qixing Farm, where she again suffered through torture and solitary confinement, and lost four teeth.

On Aug. 26, 2006, Wu was sentenced to serve a 3-year term in a labor camp in Jiamusi for her Falun Gong activities. Guards coerced her into signing five pre-written documents stating that she would renounce her faith in Falun Gong. While imprisoned, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids.

The last harassment she experienced before her death occurred on May 26, 2021, when officers from Zhennan Police Station came to her house to monitor her activities.
President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington on Nov. 6, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Federal Court Blocks Biden Administrations Private Business COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

A federal appeals court on Saturday blocked the Biden administrations private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate, asserting there may be constitutional issues with the requirement.

Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate, the mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in the brief order.

The halt of the mandate, which was unveiled this week, is temporary as the case moves forward.

The case was brought by multiple businesses, including the American Family Association; multiple individuals; and several states, including Texas, Utah, and Mississippi.

Petitioners said the mandate, promulgated as an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) by the Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), should be struck down because it exceeds OSHAs authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

They said that the authority is limited to workplace-related hazards while the risk from COVID-19 is a society-wide danger. They also said the mandate doesnt make sense because determining whether COVID-19 is a workplace hazard depends on employees age and health, not how many co-workers they have.

In an attempt to impose a nationwide vaccination mandate without approval from Congress, the executive branch has couched its COVID-19 vaccine mandate as an emergency workplace rule affecting nearly 100 million Americans. But the ETS is neither a workplace rule nor responsive to an emergency, lawyers for the petitioners wrote in an emergency motion asking the court to impose a stay.

Vaccination status is a public health issue that affects people throughout society; it is not a hazard particular to the workplace. And there is no need to use an emergency rule to address a pandemic that has been going on for nearly two years. Congress did not grant OSHA such sweeping powers in its authorizing statute, they added.

Administration officials have in recent days said theyre confident the OSHA rule will withstand the flurry of legal challenges that were lodged after it was made public.

Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the administration is prepared to defend the mandate in court.

The U.S. Department of Labor is confident in its legal authority to issue the emergency temporary standard on vaccination and testing. The Occupational Safety and Health Act explicitly gives OSHA the authority to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them, she said.

Brandon Trosclair, a petitioner who employs nearly 500 people across grocery stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, said in a statement that the ruling is an incredible first victory for all Americans, adding that the appeals court quickly realized that the Biden employer vaccine mandate would cause great harm to businesses like mine.

The courts action not only halts Biden from moving forward with his unlawful overreach, but it also commands the judicious review we sought. The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the Constitution, added Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican and one of the petitioners.

The appeals court panel consisted of Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, a Trump nominee; Judge Edith Jones, a Reagan nominee; and Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a George W. Bush nominee.

The Biden administration was ordered to file a response to the petitioners motion for a permanent injunction by 5 p.m. on Monday and file a reply to other petitioner court documents by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
A man is carried for treatment after a fire in a hospital's COVID-19 ward that caught fire in Ahmednagar, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Nov. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)

Fire in Indian Hospital COVID-19 Ward Kills 11 Patients

NEW DELHIEleven patients died Saturday after a fire broke out in a hospitals COVID-19 ward in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, police said.

There were 17 patients in the ward in the city of Ahmednagar where the fire started, said police Inspector Jyoti Karkade. The remaining six patients are in stable condition, she added.

While the fire has been brought under control, the cause was not immediately clear. Officials said they will carry out an investigation.

People inspect a hospitals COVID-19 ward that caught fire in Ahmednagar, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Nov. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)

The former chief minister of the state, Devendra Fadnavis, took to Twitter to express his condolences and called for strict action against those responsible.

Such incidents are not uncommon in India. In May, when the country was battling a devastating surge in coronavirus cases, a fire in a COVID-19 ward in western India killed at least 18 patients.

Poor maintenance and lack of proper firefighting equipment often cause deaths in India.
Ford Motor Co. shows the electric Mustang Mach-E vehicle for a photo shoot at a studio in Warren, Mich., on Oct. 29, 2019. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

Ford Sees 77 Percent Rise in Sales of EV Mustang Mach-E in October: What You Need to Know

Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday it sold more Mustang Mach-Es in October compared to a month ago but the jump was shy of the volumes that it scored in July.

What Happened

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said it sold 2,848 Mustang Mach-Es in October, up 76.9 percent compared with a month ago.

The latest sales numbers are still below the peak of 2,854 units that it had sold in July.

Ford has sold a total of 21,703 units of its five-door electric crossover so far this year. The company noted that Mach-E ranks second in full electric SUV sales, just behind Tesla Incs Model Y.

Ford expanded sales in the electrified vehicle segment by 53.7 percent month-over-month to 14,062 vehicleswhich is still small when compared to total U.S. sales of 175,918 vehicles in October.

Fords electrified vehicle category currently includes a mix of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.

The automaker said its Ford E-Transit is sold out and the electric F-150 Lightning has secured more than 160,000 reservations.

Mach-Es vs Mustangs

Ford produced fewer Mustang Mach-Es during the month. The company said it made 3,790 Mach-Es in October, a drop of 29.7 percent on a month-on-month basis, its lowest so far this year.

In comparison, Ford produced 3,430 Mustangsthe traditional, gas-powered carin October, a drop of about 26.4 percent month-on-month.

Mustang Mach-E is Fords first all-electric crossover named after the iconic Mustang. The sales of the traditional Mustangs have been coming down. Ford has sold 44,141 Mustangs so far this year, a drop of about 15.2 percent on a year-on-year basis.

Price Action

Ford shares closed 3.4 percent higher at $18.6 a share on Wednesday.

By Rachit Vats

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner sings along with vocalist Paige Cutrona and attending guests to the singing of "Our Delaware" in front of Legislative Hall in Dover, Del., Jan. 18, 2005. (Suchat Pederson, File/AP Photo)

Former Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner Dead at 86

DOVER, Del.Ruth Ann Minner, a sharecroppers daughter who became the only woman to serve as Delawares governor, has died. She was 86.

Minner, who served as governor from 2001 to 2009, passed away Thursday morning, according to Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse, a friend who once served as her chief of staff.

She was a true leader, a great role model for women and those that have had it not so easy in life, to show that if you work hard, are honest, you can make it to the top, Scuse said.

A high school dropout who was twice widowed, Minner got her first taste of politics as a legislative bill clerk and rose through the Democratic Party ranks to become the states most powerful politician.

As governor-elect in 2000, Minner didnt dwell on breaking the gender barrier, but instead noted that she was the first governor in almost 50 years to be elected from downstate Delaware.

You know, I dont think it really matters to me that Im a woman, she told The Associated Press at the time. Ive found out since the election, though, that it does matter to a lot of women. It matters to a lot of young girls.

Her humble beginnings and matronly appearance led one political columnist to dub Minner the Aunt Bea of state government, a reference to the family matriarch in televisions Andy Griffith show.

She was a leader who had a real common touch, said Gov. John Carney, who served as Minners lieutenant governor.

But Minners appearance belied her reputation as a hard-nosed politician who didnt shy from battles with Republican lawmakers or other opponents.

After my first husband died, I became a very independent woman, she explained after the 2000 election. That was decades after she ran for a state House seat in the 1970s intent on changing a banking law that required her husband to co-sign any loan application.

Amid cries of Ban Ruth Ann! from outraged business owners and libertarians, Minner in 2002 signed one of the nations toughest prohibitions on smoking in public places.

Other landmark legislation included a 2007 measure prompted by the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. The bill abolished Delawares two-year time limit for filing personal injury lawsuits and established a two-year period during which lawsuits previously barred by the passage of time could be brought anew. The bill resulted in more than 100 lawsuits, prompting the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington to seek bankruptcy protection and to settle with victims of priest sex abuse for $77 million.

Minner also was instrumental in the establishment of a state scholarship program that has provided free college tuition to more than 13,000 Delawareans.

A fiscal conservative who espoused liberal social views, Minner spent much of her time steering Delaware through tough budget cycles. Within days of becoming governor, she ordered state agencies to cut spending proposals. She subsequently ordered hiring freezes and more than $350 million in budget cuts, and later persuaded lawmakers to approve a $300 million in spending cuts and tax and fee increases.

Minner was born Ruth Ann Coverdale in Milford in 1935. She left school at 16 to work on the family farm and married Frank Ingram a year later. Ingram died of a heart attack at age 34 in 1967, leaving his 32-year-old widow to raise three boys while managing the familys asphalt paving business.

Faced with being the sole breadwinner for her sons, Minner earned a general equivalency diploma and briefly studied elementary education at a community college.

In 1974, Minner successfully ran for a state House seat, having first tasted politics as a bill clerk in the General Assembly, then as a receptionist for Gov. Sherman Tribbitt. She served in the House until 1982, when she was elected to the state Senate, where she served for 10 years. Minners signature achievement as a lawmaker was the Delaware Land and Water Conservation Act, which led to the preservation of more than 30,000 acres of open space.

In 1991, Minners second husband, Roger Minner, died of cancer, leaving her widowed again. In 1992, she became the states first female lieutenant governor, serving two four-year terms before succeeding Tom Carper, now Delawares senior U.S. senator, as governor.

NTD staff contributed to this report.
Teenagers desperate to spread their wings post-lockdown may be the answer to Australias embattled farming and hospitality industries, says celebrity chef and fourth-generation farmer Matt Moran.

Rural businesses are struggling to harvest crops or serve customers in a post-pandemic world because they simply dont have the staff, he says.

Many of Morans own employees  including one who had worked for him for a decade  had to return to their home countries when COVID hit because their visas didnt entitle them to JobKeeper.

When a farmer works so bloody hard to grow something, to nurture something and then watch it be spoilt on the ground  its actually devastating, Moran told AAP from his NSW Central Tablelands farm.

And we are incredibly short staffed across the board in virtually every one of my (restaurant) businesses, being dictated to as to when we can open and when we cant because we just dont have enough staff.

Meanwhile, Aussie teens have had to adapt to a restricted, home-centric lifestyle over the past 18 months, missing out on traditional rites of passage like finals and formals, footy and festivals.

As the restrictions lift, the borders reopen and life begins to return to normal, it is hardly surprising many young Aussies are looking to reclaim some of their yet-to-be-misspent-youth.

The worst part is that I didnt really get to finish year 12 properly, I was home for most of it, said 18-year-old Vanessa Raptis from Bardwell Park in Sydneys south.

Im never going to get that time back.

Keen to get out of town after the interminable lockdowns, Vanessa jumped at the chance to take part in a GAP (Go-And-Pour or Go-And-Pick) year scheme where she will be offered free training and a job placement in rural or regional Australia.

The initiative, run by Thankful4Farmers and Training Services NSW, is designed to match young Aussies looking for adventure with jobs as fruit or vegetable pickers, or in hospitality or retail  helping to salvage those struggling industries.

The experience of being out picking fruit and pouring for people that I wouldnt otherwise see in everyday life is really exciting to me, said Vanessa, who hopes to work while studying radiography at university.

You dont have to pay for these skills which can be quite expensive to gain and youre also getting really amazing opportunities and meeting new people.

Vanessa is passionate about social justice and sees this as an opportunity to do her bit.

For me, this is all about giving back to Australia where its most needed, she said.

Moran attributes his own work ethic and appreciation for food to his experiences growing up on a dairy farm.

You appreciate food more. You learn how hard farmers work and it gave me a very good work ethic, the Thankful4Farmers ambassador said.

They get the experience and they get to help the farmers in a massive way.

By Katelyn Catanzariti
People watch burnt car and motorcycles after a fuel tanker explosion in Freetown, Sierra Leone on Nov. 6, 2021. (National Disaster Management Agency-Sierra Leone/Handout via Reuters)

99 Killed in Fuel Tanker Blast in Sierra Leone Capital

FREETOWNAt least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the capital of Sierra Leone late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, local authorities said.

Fuel still appeared to be leaking from the wrecked tanker on Saturday morning as police and soldiers tried to clear large crowds of onlookers from the street, according to a Reuters reporter.

A burnt human body and the blackened shells of several cars and motorbikes dotted the road in the eastern Freetown suburb of Wellington, where hundreds had gathered.

The death toll currently stands at 99 with more than 100 casualties being treated in hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters.

Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said initially in a post on Facebook that was later edited to remove the reference.

Weve got so many casualties, burnt corpses, said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. Its a terrible, terrible accident.

An accident scene is pictured after a fuel tanker explosion in Freetown, Sierra Leone Nov. 6, 2021. Picture was taken with a drone. (National Disaster Management Agency-Sierra Leone/Handout via Reuters)

Videos shared online shortly after the explosion showed people running through clouds of thick smoke as large fires lit up the night sky. Reuters was not able immediately to verify the images.

Accidents with tanker trucks in Sub-Saharan Africa have previously killed scores of people who gathered at the site to collect spilled fuel and were hit by secondary blasts.

In 2019, a tanker explosion in Tanzania killed 85 people, while around 50 people were killed in a similar disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.

The mayor said the extent of the damage in Freetown was not yet clear.

My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result, President Julius Maada Bio tweeted.

My Government will do everything to support affected families.

By Umaru Fofana
Has America Had Enough of Radical Transgender Ideology?

Commentary

America has had it, and the cracks in the veneer are showing. The expression of our outrage is heard in the chants of Lets Go Brandon! at public events, seen among parents pushing back on radical educational agendas that insert trans ideology into curriculum in places such as the Loudoun County school district in Virginia, where a trans-identified male student sexually assaulted two young girls, and most recently, is explicit in the defense of Dave Chappelle by comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan of Chappelles latest Netflix special, The Closer after transactivists joined Netflix employees demanding that Netflix pull his comedy special.

What do Lets go Brandon! and Dave Chappelle have in common? The catchphrase and the comedian have become targets by radical activists who seek to silence opposition, demonize detractors, and sideline anyone who threatens their radical agendas. People are done being pushed around and bullied into sitting down and shutting up.

As Gary Powell says in my latest film, Trans Mission: Whats the Rush to Reassign Gender?: One thing that is particularly striking is that as soon as anybody expresses any kind of mild criticism of extreme gender ideology or any type of considered criticism or raises any doubts, they are denigrated as transphobes and as haters.

Thats what is happening today. Parents are being labeled as domestic terrorists and Chappelle is being labeled as a transphobe and charged with hate speech. Fortunately, freedom of speech is a two-way street, and Main Street has had enough.

Signs of hope? I see plenty. Rogan immediately threw his support to Chappelle, saying, Hes not a homophobic or transphobic person. He makes fun of himself. Look, its fun. Its just making jokes. That doesnt mean hate.

Other high-profile celebrities have voiced their support too. Piers Morgan expressed how refreshing it was that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos didnt cave to the activists request to cancel The Closer and even trans-female-identified Caitlyn Jenner said on Twitter, Dave Chappelle is 100 percent right.

This isnt about the LGBTQ movement, Jenner said. Its about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech. We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds.

Not only are people with influence coming to the defense of free speech, biological reality, and even comedy, but the public is also weighing in with their support and their wallets. Most recently, Chappelle, joined by his pal Rogan, played to a sold-out audience in New Orleans, telling the audience, In the middle of me being canceled, we broke the attendance record.

Jennifer Bilek said it best, writing, Chappelle has given everyone permission to say the unsayable, and they are saying it, and they are laughing. They are laughing because this agenda is comedy gold, and no one has been tapping it, for fear of the very ridicule some are slinging at Chappelle. This time it isnt sticking, and Chappelle has doubled down. He is not only too big to cancel, he understands the subtext and has called it out.

As Chappelle says in The Closer, All this talk about how people feel inside. Since when has America given [expletive] about how any of us feel inside? And I cannot shake the suspicion that the only reason everybody is talking about transgenders is because white men want to do it.  No one asked you how you felt. Come on everybody, we have strawberries to pick. It reeks of white privilege. You never asked yourself why it is easier for Bruce Jenner to change his gender than it was for Cassius Clay to change his [expletive] name?

President Joe Biden campaigned and promised in his first 100 days in office that hed pass the Equality Act, but signed an executive order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation on day one of his presidency. The Equality Act seeks to obliterate biological realities, allowing anyone to self-identify into whatever sex they wish to be, and force the rest of us to just go along and be polite, lest we be called haters and transphobes.

But people arent having it. Lets Go Brandon! Lets Go Joe! And Lets Go Dave!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Hospice Gifts Patient the Wedding Dress She Never Had for 77th Anniversary With Her Sweetheart

When the staff at an Iowa hospice found out that one of their residents was ringing in her 77th wedding anniversary and was married to her sweetheart without a wedding dress in 1944, they decided to give her the opportunity to walk down the aisle in a stunning gown for the very first time.

Breathtaking bride 97-year-old Frances Frankie King is cared for by St. Croix Home Hospice. Her smitten husband, Royce King, is 98.

Frances (Frankie) and Royce A. King when they were young. (Courtesy of Susan Bilodeau)

The nonagenarian couple celebrated 77 years of a happy marriage in their homes backyard on Sept. 24, under an altar they brought and flowers from the patio, their daughter, 68-year-old Susan (Sue) K. Bilodeau, told The Epoch Times.

I helped Mom get dressed, while Dads health aide helped with his uniform, she said. The team escorted Dad out to the yard, in a chair under the altar, to wait for Mom. We put a handkerchief over his eyes for the reveal.'

The nonagenarian couple Frankie and Royce. (Courtesy of Susan Bilodeau)

The couple had tied the knot while Royce, a former U.S Air Force pilot, was on short leave from his post in Lawrenceville, Illinois. On two days notice, they married at Grace United Methodist Church in Oelwein on Sept. 16, 1944.

With no time to shop and fit a wedding gown, Frankie wore a long, white dress instead. The couple had a maid of honor, a best man, a few friends, family, and some guests from out of town, but no photographer.

Thus when hospice staff heard of their story, they wanted to do something.

The staff of St. Croix Home Hospice has been so affected by Dad and Mom due to their fun personalities and their love and devotion to each other, said Sue. They went several steps further for Mom and Dad in organizing this very special ceremony for them.

According to Sue, her parents were really excited about learning of the hospice staffs plan for them.

77 years on, the couple even got the opportunity to get plenty of photographs of the magical moment as Royce saw his beaming bride in her dress for the first time.

It was a perfect vintage 1940s gown belonging to one of the teams family members, Sue said. When we removed the handkerchief, [Dad] was able to see Mom standing in front of him in her beautiful gown.

Wearing his U.S. Air Force uniform that he was married in, which included pants, shirt, tie, jacket, and hat, Royce was in utter love seeing his wife dressed in a gown.

He just beamed, and didnt stop smiling for a long time, Sue said.

As Sue and St. Croix staffers escorted Frankie to her husband, the hospices music therapist played songs from the 1940s on his saxophone and guitar.

Frankie in her wedding gown. (Courtesy of St. Croix Hospice)

As high school sweethearts, Frankie and Royce bonded over their shared love of band, choir, and church youth groups. After graduation, Frankie attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon while Royce went to Iowa State, and then enlisted into the United States Air Force.

Being away, Royce proposed from afar.

Dad sent a diamond engagement ring home to his father in Oelwein to have it appraised, Sue regaled, then, as all four parents were present, his father presented it to Mom in a rose on Royces behalf, and placed it on her finger.

Frankie and Royce at their 77th wedding anniversary. (Courtesy of St. Croix Hospice)

After the wedding, Royce left to pilot a C-47 cargo plane in the Second World War. Later, he became a farm implement dealer for International Harvester. Meanwhile, Frankie was a homemaker, a part-time dental assistant, and a florist.

Together, they remained active in their church and community throughout their lives.

Whether it was driving mothers and children to Minneapolis to the Shriners Hospital, or baking and serving to friends and neighbors, said Sue, they were always a part of the communitys events.

The couple, who are parents to two children, Susan and James, 71, went on to welcome four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, and have lived in the same home in Oelwein for 68 years.

Witnessing her parents long-standing relationship firsthand, Sue said: My parents are so special, not only because they have such a faithful bond to each other, but because they are such respectable, honest, hardworking, giving people.

(LR) Sue Bilodeau; her parents, Frankie and Royce; and her brother James. (Courtesy of Susan Bilodeau)

Sharing photos of Royce and Frankies very special 77th wedding anniversary on Facebook, St. Croix Hospice wrote: Hospice is about honoring the entire life of a patient, and even adding to the story.

That is exactly what they did, Sue said.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Is the Wuhan Coverup the Biggest Lie in US History?

Commentary

Trust, were told, takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair. Right now, Americans trust in government is lowand for good reason.

Despite months of denial, documents recently obtained by The Intercept clearly show that both the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the neighboring Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, along with their collaborator, the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, knowingly engaged in gain-of-function research. In other words, viruses were intentionally made more pathogenic or transmissibleall in the name of science, of course.

As The Intercept noted, this type of research took place despite stipulations from a U.S. funding agency that the money not be used for that purpose.

In an interview with Newsweek, American molecular biologist Richard Ebright argued that the documents clearly show that NIH [National Institutes of Health] grants were used to fund controversial gain-of-function (GOF) research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a man who has been lauded by many left-leaning outlets, has vehemently denied this claim.

If Ebright is correctand theres plenty of reasons to think sothen Fauci lied before Congress, a felony that comes with a prison sentence of up to five years.

More worryingly, Faucis lie (or lies) is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise gripping the country. For the best part of two years, the American people have been gaslit by the mainstream media. Questions of the virus emerging from a lab in Chinas Wuhan city have been called racist and misinformed.

In reality, ever since former President Donald Trump discussed the likelihood of the virus originating in China, left-leaning publications have gone to great lengths to say the very opposite. A deadly virus has been politicized. Because of this, no one benefitedexcept, of course, members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Although we can debate the exact numbers of cases and deaths, millions of people have died from COVID-19, including hundreds of thousands of Americans. Still, China is no closer to admitting fault. In fact, its busy pushing lies about the virus originating in Maineyes, Maine, the easternmost state in the United States.

(Left to right) Thea Fischer, Marion Koopmans, Peter Daszak, and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, leave the Hilton Wuhan Optics Valley Hotel in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. government appears to have played a major role in the creation of a deadly virus, and the mainstream media appears to have played a major role in covering up this very fact. Which begs the following question: Is this the biggest lie in U.S. history?

Lies, Inglorious Lies

According to a recent survey by academics at Chapman University in California, the thing Americans fear most are corrupt government officials. Its easy to see why.

Eighteen years ago, the United States invaded Iraq. Why? Because, according to then President George W. Bush, Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraqs neighbors and against Iraqs people.

This lie was an extremely costly one. As the journalist Matt Taibi noted, it cost over a hundred-thousand lives just in Iraq and drained north of $2 trillion from the budget. Unsurprisingly, the most lethal weapons ever devised or weapons of mass destruction (WMD), were not discovered, largely because they didnt exist. Although a number of media outlets initially supported the president, and far too many were reluctant to question the invasion, by October 2004, roughly 18 months after U.S. troops arrived in Iraq, the WMD-narrative was being questioned by commentators on both sides of the political aisle.

Since the ill-advised invasion, the American people have also been sold other lies, including Russiagate, a conspiracy involving Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The scandal, which appears to have been created by the Clinton campaign, was devoid of any evidence whatsoever. Yet, unsurprisingly, this didnt stop the likes of CNN and MSNBC from devoting hundreds of hours of airtime to the promotion of a fictional narrative. However, when Robert Muellers report arrived in the spring of 2019, it was clear, even to the blindest and most biased of individuals, that the allegations of collusion being leveled against Donald Trump were detached from actual reality.

Which brings us back to the dishonesty surrounding COVID-19, which was first detected in Wuhan almost two years ago. As the CCP rejects further inquiries into the origin of the virus, and prominent American voices continue to refuse the reality of the situation, we are no closer to holding the Chinese regime responsible. The lie continues to be given life by dishonest actors, some of whom occupy positions of significant power within the branches of government, and by others who occupy positions of significant power within branches of the mainstream media.

This lie, like the WMD lie, has been a costly one. Is it the biggest lie in U.S. history? I believe so. Sadly, unlike Iraq and Russiagate, we may never get the closure that we deserve.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Students, some wearing protective masks, arrive for the first day of school at Sessums Elementary School in Riverview, Fla., on Aug. 10, 2021. (Chris O'Meara/AP Photo)

Judge Sides With Florida Ban on School Mask Mandates

Dismisses suit brought by six school districts

A judge on Friday dismissed a challenge to Floridas ban on mask mandates in schools, siding with the state of Florida.

The challenge was filed by officials from six school districtsAlachua, Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Leon counties. They were among eight school boards that were dealt penalties after adopting masks mandates.

Specifically, the Florida government started to deduct an amount equal to a months pay from school board members in the counties. The state also withheld overall funding to Alachua and Broward counties, in attempts to offset federal grants that were given to them to help keep the mask mandates in place.

Tallahassee Deputy Chief Judge Brian Newman rejected the suit, writing in the ruling (pdf) that school officials failed to prove the mask mandate ban is an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority.

He said the school boards failed to prove that the emergency rule opt-out provisions facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

The judge also said the Florida Department of Health has lawful authority to govern the control of COVID-19 in school settings throughout the state.

The Florida Department of Health in a statement said the ruling is yet another victory for parents rights.

At this point, the courts have been entirely clear: All school districts must come into compliance with the law and honor parental rights to make decisions for their children, the department said in a statement.

State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said in a statement, The rights of parents continue to be protected in Florida, as we can see by this tremendous decision. Florida will not make decisions out of fear, but rather out of close analysis of the data.

The school districts filed a notice to appeal Newmans order on Friday, reported ABC News.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Education has filed a request with an administrative judge at the federal level to block Florida from withholding funding from Alachua and Broward counties.

Earlier this week, the First District Court of Appeal overruled the decision of a Leon County circuit court judge, reinstating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss ban on school mask mandates.

DeSantis issued an executive order on July 30 to ban school mask mandates. The states health department carried out the order by issuing a rule on Aug. 6 and later a revised version on Sept. 22.

The revised version of the rule said that the only children required to quarantine are those that either test positive for COVID-19 or who are symptomatic. This was not in the Aug. 6 version of the rule. DeSantiss office said the revised rule will protect healthy students from forced quarantining.
In this image from video, Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler is seen during a school board meeting in Ashburg, Va., on June 22, 2021. (LCPS/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Loudoun County Announces Independent Review of How Sexual Assault Handled

An independent review of how Loudoun County, Virginia officials handled a confirmed sexual assault and another alleged incident will be undertaken by a law firm, it was announced Friday.

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) has been accused of mishandling the confirmed assault, which took place on May 28 at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, but officials, including Superintendent Scott Ziegler, have so far refused to resign.

In a brief statement, Ziegler said officials believe we have followed all mandatory reporting protocols and aided law enforcement to the fullest extent allowed in all investigations regarding these matters but we acknowledge that these matters need to be fully reviewed.

With the support of the countys school board, LCPS has hired Blankingship & Keith, P.C., to conduct an independent review.

Please know that this independent review is only one step in moving forward to help heal our school community. We will keep you up-to-date about the steps we take and the progress we make. Together, we believe we can make our schools a safer, more nurturing environment for every student, Ziegler added.

After a male student assaulted a girl at Stone Bridge in May, the boy was transferred to a different high school, LCPS has confirmed to The Epoch Times. He was later charged with assaulting a different female student at that school, Broad Run High School.

A judge last month found the boy guilty of forcible sodomy and forcible fellatio, both felonies, in the Stone Bridge Case. Hes set to appear back before her on the other matter later this month.

Parents have called for Ziegler to step down over allegations the district mishandled the assault and alleged assault. Ziegler falsely told a school board meeting in June that there were no records of assaults happening in restrooms in the school district. Ziegler in October acknowledged his statement was false but said he misunderstood the question.

LCPS has struggled to communicate about developments in the case. A spokesperson in a recent email to The Epoch Times falsely said Ziegler was asked if a transgender student assault had taken place in an LCPS bathroom and said no. The actual question, from school board member Beth Barts, was Do we have assaults in our bathrooms and our locker rooms regularly?

To my knowledge, we dont have any records of assaults occurring in our restrooms, Ziegler said.

The meeting took place on June 22. Ziegler was made aware of the assault that was later confirmed to have happened. In a May 28 email made public last month, he told school board members that This afternoon a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom. None of the members mentioned that incident during the meeting.

Ziegler has said he thought the question was about transgender students because the board was debating a proposal to let students who claim to be another gender use that genders bathrooms. The board later approved the policy.

Wayde Byard, a spokesman for LCPS, told The Epoch Times in an email last month that law enforcement was made aware of the May 28 assault within minutes of a report being received and that LCPS was barred from disciplining any student without following a grievance process in Title IX.

Byard also said that members of the school board were not aware of the specific details of this incident until it was reported in media outlets earlier this week.

Board members havent responded to requests for comment.

Jason Miyares, the Republican Virginia attorney general-elect, announced on Nov. 4 that he will investigate what happened.
Steven Pankey, a former two-time candidate for governor of Idaho, who has been charged with the abduction and murder of a Colorado girl who vanished in 1984, is seen in this undated mugshot. (Weld County District Attorney/Handout via Reuters)

Mistrial Declared for Ex-Idaho Politician Charged With 1984 Murder of Colorado Girl

DENVERJurors deadlocked and a mistrial was declared on Thursday in the kidnapping-murder case against a two-time Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged in the 1984 slaying of a 12-year-old Colorado girl whose remains were unearthed over three decades later.

The 12-member jury found Steven Pankey, 70, guilty on one count of false reporting to authorities but failed to reach a unanimous verdict on charges he abducted and murdered Jonelle Matthews, leading the judge to dismiss most of the prosecutions case, court officials said.

Weld County Judge Timothy Kerns set a status hearing for next Monday to address the potential re-filing of kidnapping and murder charges, in addition to bond and sentencing on the false reporting count.

The hung jury, which began its deliberations at midday on Tuesday, capped a three-week trial stemming from Matthews death.

The girl vanished in December 1984 from her Greeley, Colorado, home, about 50 miles north of Denver, where she was dropped by off by a family friend after singing at a Christmas concert.

Her disappearance remained a mystery for more than 34 years until 2019, when an excavation crew working on a pipeline in rural Weld County uncovered human remains, which were later identified as those of Matthews.

She died from a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

Pankey surfaced as a person of interest in the cold case when he would periodically insert himself into the investigation by making incriminating statements to various people, police said. He was indicted in 2020 and transferred back to Colorado.

Prosecutors lacked physical evidence linking Pankey to the killing, but alleged that Pankey, who lived in Greeley at the time of the girls disappearance, possessed knowledge of the crime that only the killer would know.

One such tidbit was the use of a rake by the killer to cover up shoe prints left in the snow at the crime scene, according to the indictment.

Pankey testified that he did not kill the girl, and said he made up information in an effort to be a big man in the case.

Pankey unsuccessfully ran for Idaho governor on the Constitution Party ticket in 2014, and lost a second gubernatorial bid in the 2018 Republican primaries.

By Keith Coffman
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams speaks to supporters during his 2021 election victory night party at the Brooklyn Marriott in New York City on Nov. 2, 2021. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

New York Mayor-Elect Explains Plans to Revisit Vaccine Mandate

New York Citys mayor-elect on Friday explained what he meant when he said he wanted to revisit the citys COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers.

We need to revisit how were going to address the vaccine mandates, Adams said during a cable TV appearance on Wednesday.

Adams said he would encourage Mayor Bill de Blasio to talk with unions as the parties attempted to reach an agreement on how applications for exemptions and other details were handled.

Heres an opportunity for him to bring about a resolution and when I inherit this situation, Im going to bring about a resolution, he added.

The comments left some expressing optimism that Adams would ease the mandate, which is among the harshest in the nation.

Appearing on CNN on Nov. 5, Adams was asked about what he meant.

Adams first hailed de Blasio being able to hammer out deals with four major unions before stressing the importance of having conversations with union leaders. He also indicated he could change how people who claim religious exemptions are treated.

One area I would look at, if you have a parent who has had the ability not to have a vaccine for any of their children because of religious observations, we cannot all of a sudden change that rule, he said.

If that is a consistency that this parent had for over 20-something years, then we have to respect that now, even with the [COVID] vaccine now, and those are the areas I want to drill in and make sure that we continue with the success that we have witnessed, he added.

Host Wolf Blitzer wondered why the mandate would be altered at all, given that vaccination rates have increased to 92 percent among city workers since it was imposed.

Because we are successful in it, and thats why we could revisit, and make sure we get 100 percent. Whats stopping the next 8 percent? Lets find out, Adams said. If we dont sit down and really dig into whats stopping that last 8 percent, were not going to reach our goal.

The Democrat acknowledged some portion of New York workers may continue to resist getting a COVID-19 vaccine but expressed hope in getting at least three-quarters of the unvaccinated vaccinated.

Adams, who easily won the election to succeed the term-limited de Blasio, also said that the rule that led to the Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving not playing so far this season would not be changed.

New York City is not going to change their rule, he said.

Irving, who remains unvaccinated, is not allowed to play in the Nets home games because of the citys mandate. The team is preventing him from playing away games because of the situation.
Nobody at the FBI Was Fooled by Clinton Campaigns Private Operatives

Commentary

More than a year ago, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe made a stunning series of declassificationsthe full implication of which many in the legacy media either ignored or never fully grasped.

I believe this was due to mainstream media being handcuffed by many of the false narratives they had been peddling to the American public for a number of years about the Spygate scandal.

One of the explosive declassifications involved handwritten notes by then-CIA Director John Brennan, who had personally briefed then-President Barack Obama and several members of his National Security Council at the White House about intercepted Russian intelligence analysis.

The content of that intercepted analysis claimed that Hillary Clinton had approved a plan to smear the Trump campaign with a fake Russian collusion hoax that would be created by private operatives. (My earlier column about this can be found here.)

The Brennan notes, coupled with an investigative referral sent to the FBI, make clear that all the top Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials involved in accepting fake evidence from private operatives during the course of the 2016 presidential campaign knew they were being approached by people associated with the Clinton campaign.

These federal officials then started investigations of the Trump campaign and applied for federal surveillance warrants on Trump associates based on this fake information.

The documentary evidence speaks very loudly and very clearly: None of these people at the federal agencies were fooled by either the fake Steele dossier or the fake Alfa-Bank documents.

Not one of them.

James Comey, Peter Strzok, and Andrew McCabe, to just name three of the top people involved, knew all along who these operatives approaching them with these fake hoaxes were really working for.

They had been alerted in July 2016 about what Clintons campaign was preparing to do. And then both Comey and Strzok were alerted again in September of 2016 when they received the investigative referral from the CIA.

Yet despite this, Comey and Strzok went ahead and took the Steele dossier from the Clinton campaigns operatives and made use of it for a federal surveillance warrant in late October of 2016.

Despite detailed rules and regulations mandating that all material facts in such a warrant be verified and that the documented evidence of that verification is placed in whats called the Woods File, no effort appears to have been made to authenticate the key allegations used in the warrant against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

In fact, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz extensively documented in a December 2019 report how the FBI didnt even interview the man Steele named to the agency as his primary subsource until January 2017, when the warrant was up for the first of what turned out to be three renewals.

Thats always been the major scandal here, as far as the FBI is concerned. That somehow every single rule, regulation, and procedure about opening an investigation, filing a surveillance warrant, and then getting it renewed was deliberately subverted and bypassed.

In September 2020, when Comey was directly asked about that September 2016 investigative referral from the CIA alerting him to the fact the Clinton campaign planned to launch a series of fake Russia hoaxes targeting Trump and his campaign associates, Comey played dumb, insisting the memo didnt ring any bells.

Of course, Comey cant admit that almost two months before the Crossfire Hurricane team filed its FISA surveillance warrant with the court, both he and Strzok had been asked by the intelligence agencies to conduct an investigation on a rumored dirty tricks operation making use of private firms.

While the recent leaks to the mainstream news media by the targets of the John Durham special counsels probe show that hes presently focused on gathering more documentation about the crimes related to the Alfa-Bank hoax, the bank was always a minor act in the massive Spygate scandal.

The real heart of the scandal has always been the creation of the Steele dossier, the FBI accepting itwhile knowing it was a hoaxand then FBI officials using the dossier as a pretext to spy on the Trump campaign.

As I have been saying for several years, Page was far from the only person who had his civil rights violated by this surveillance warrant that was granted on the basis of fraud. That warrant on Page gave the FBI a window into spying on an as of yet undetermined number of people in the Trump campaign, and the transition team following Trumps election victory.

Since the warrant was renewed three times and was only allowed to expire in September of 2017, the spying continued into most of the Trump administrations first year in officea relevant fact that very few people in the mainstream news media want to dwell on.

How many people ultimately ended up being surveilled based on that illegitimate warrant? Ive been researching Spygate for five years now, and I cant tell you that yet. The Durham special counsels office likely could come up with a good estimate, but theyre not talking yet.

What we do know is that all these officials at the FBI who were involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation have a lot to answer for.

One thing is for sure, I dont think any subsequent developments in the Durham investigation are going to be boring.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Gov. Roy Cooper prepares to take off his mask before speaking during a briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, N.C., on July 9, 2020. (Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP)

North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Reined in Emergency Executive Powers

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed a measure proposing to restore checks and balances to his executive powers, which have been extended amid the CCP virus pandemic.

North Carolina is emerging from a global pandemic with lives saved and a strong economy because of effective statewide measures to protect public health under the Emergency Management Act, the Democrat said about his Nov. 1 veto. Critical decisions about stopping deadly diseases, or responding to any other emergency, should stay with experts in public health and safety, not a committee of partisan politicians.

Cooper declared a state of emergency in response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic in March 2020, a decision that heralded a year of lockdowns throughout the state and country.

The Emergency Powers Accountability Act (EPAA), or House Bill 264, would have required Cooper to get concurrence of the Council of State before exercising certain authorities.

The Council of State consists of bipartisan senior executive offices such as the lieutenant governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, and the secretary of state.

The bill would have created a definition for the concurrence of the Council of State under the EPAA, which would clarify how Cooper proceeds in seeking concurrence before acting.

The legislature delegated some power to the executive to act in an emergency because the executive can act immediately, state Sen. Bill Rabon, a Republican, said about the veto. Eighteen months into this pandemic, nobody can argue with a straight face that its a time-limited emergency where the General Assembly does not have time to act. The governor needs to accept that this state must return to its normal system of government.

Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said that during the time of emergency, many have felt that individual liberties have deteriorated because of extreme mandates and policies made unilaterally by Cooper.

Im disappointed that Governor Cooper is blocking a bill that simply allows for checks and balances, not just for him, but any governor, Republican or Democrat, in the future, Moore said.

Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell, one of the bills sponsors, said the bill proposed to address the endless duration of power that Cooper has been granted during a self-declared and boundless state of emergency.

Republican House Majority Leader John Bell, another sponsor of the bill, criticized what he said was a lack of oversight that allowed Cooper to declare and extend the state of emergency without input from the Council or the General Assembly.

No one person, regardless of party, should have the unilateral authority to shut down the state for an indefinite amount of time, Bell said. This legislation is not about politics or what the governor has or has not done. It is about clarifying the law to restore checks and balances.
North Carolina Legislative and Congressional Maps Approved; Democrats Say Theyre Gerrymandered

The Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly approved new legislative and congressional district maps on Thursday amid Democrats alleging the maps are gerrymandered.

After the 2020 U.S. Census, North Carolina gained a 14th congressional district in the western part of the state.

Unlike some other states, the maps dont require Gov. Roy Coopers signature, nor can he veto them.

According to initial data from the census, over the last decade, North Carolinas population grew 9.5 percent, which brought the U.S. House delegation up from 13 to 14 representatives.

After that data was released, redrawing began for the 14 congressional districts, 50 state Senate districts, and 120 House districts.

District lines are redrawn every 10 years following the census, and the federal government stipulates that each district must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate based on race or ethnicity.

According to Dr. Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundationan independent research institute in North Carolina that examines issues around freedom, personal responsibility, and limited constitutional governmentthe maps must be passed like other legislation in both chambers, with each chamber drawing its own map.

This year, the committee chairs agreed that the Senate would write the first version of our congressional districts, and so the House passed what originally started in the Senate, Jackson told The Epoch Times. All three have been passed in the same form by both chambers, so they are law now. These are going to be the districts we have for the 2022 midterm election unless they are overturned in a lawsuit.

Voting along party lines without Democrat approval, the Senate voted 25-21 for the House map, while the House voted 65-49 for the Senate and congressional map.

The redistricting work is performed by a nonpartisan legislature staff using a mathematical formula.

A spokesperson for the North Carolina Senate Republicans told The Epoch Times that the method by which redistricting is done is called county grouping, or county clustering, which itself is an anti-gerrymandering provision established by a 2003 North Carolina Supreme Court decision to institute clusters, which are a group of counties that, based on population, can comprise legislative districts.

At the end of the day, its the legislature that decides where the lines go within certain confines, and those confines are set in part by North Carolina Supreme Court precedent, said the spokesperson.

County clustering is calculated using a mathematical formula that determines county groupings, or groups of counties that comprise whole districts.

The nonpartisan legislative staff calculates the math, then the report goes to a redistricting committee, with the subset of North Carolina counties providing the framework.

When redistricting is done to benefit either Democrats or Republicans, its called gerrymandering.

Democrats have alleged that the maps passed in the Republican-led assembly are a product of gerrymandering.

Sen. Natasha Marcus said in a statement that the maps are bad on so many levels.

They will give Republicans an unearned partisan advantage in the U.S. Congress, the State House, and the State Senate, she said.

They split what she said were the most populated and Democratic counties: Mecklenburg, Wake, and Guilford.

This dilutes the power of the Democratic votes in those counties and divides communities of interest, putting metropolitan areas into districts that are largely rural and far away, she said.

She said Democrats had offered two alternative maps given a grade of A by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project (PGP), a group that says it performs nonpartisan analysis to eliminate partisan gerrymandering, but the Republicans rejected the maps for their own, which she said the PGP gave a grade of an F for giving a significant partisan advantage to Republicans.

House Speaker Tim Moore said hes confident that the maps are constitutional in every respect.

The redistricting process has provided the public with an unprecedented view into the process, Moore said. In fact, not only did we hold hearings for public comments before and after the maps had been drawn, but every single map was drawn in public view.

The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a civil rights group, filed a lawsuit challenging the legislatures process for drawing the maps, alleging they failed to consider race.
Elida Dakoli, the founding ambassador of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundations Dallas Commission and the executive director of the Dallas Institute of Musical Advancement. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Pianist Persecuted in Communist Albania Warns Against Socialism in the US: Dont Fall for It

Capitalism is the only option that offers you the freedom of family life, success, and liberty.

An accomplished classical pianist who grew up in communist Albaniaand whose family was labeled by the Party as having a bad biographyovercame political persecution and is now using her familys story to warn people that socialism is a cover-up for communism.

American-Albanian Dr. Elida Dakoli, who was born in the city of Durres, Albania, couldnt escape the designated label as a child. It all began with her maternal great-grandfather and paternal grandfather, who were eventually poisoned to death by the communist party.

My family was given the label of bad biography on both sides, Dakoli said in an interview with The Epoch Times.

On my mothers side, her grandfather was a prominent pro-democracy political figure. On my fathers side, his father was a successful businessman who refused to turn over his self-earned property to the Party. Both were disruptors of the order the Party had worked hard to impose.

Now residing in the Texan city of Dallas with her husband and three children, Dakoli said shes read that communist persecution of a family often goes on for up to three generations, but in her familys case, it went on for longer.

As a great-granddaughter of one of the founders of the first Albanian pluralist Congress in 1921, Dakoli endured sabotage of her musical endeavors by her classmates and teachers, not to mention having been robbed of the inheritance of her familys hard-earned wealth, which had been sequestered from her grandparents in 1945 by the then-new communist government.

Elida Dakoli, the founding ambassador of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundations Dallas Commission and the executive director of the Dallas Institute of Musical Advancement. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Remember, socialism is a cover-up for communism  They want control, and the only way to that is by brainwashing this Amazon generation. Dont fall for it!  Dr. Elida Dakoli, the founding ambassador of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Dallas Commission

After the fall of communism in Albania in 1991, things began to change for then-teenaged Dakoli, and shes since gone on to become an international concert pianist, recording artist, educator, entrepreneur, published author, and human rights advocate.

Most recently, Dakoli joined the National Advisory Council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), and as the founding ambassador of the VOCs Dallas Commission, she successfully appealed to the Texas Congress to pass legislation commemorating the victims of communist regimes. As a result, in May this year, Texas became the fourth state to officially recognize November 7 as Victims of Communism Memorial Day.

To Dakoli, this commemoration day is of great importance. She pointed out that, despite the fact that Karl Marx clearly revealed in his Manifesto of the Communist Party that socialism is the first step toward communism, alarmingly, socialism among the younger generation is turning into a trend these days.

This ideology is managing to infiltrate their minds through the usual lie as a perfect solution, playing on the uncertainties of capitalism, she said. Capitalism is the only option that offers you the freedom of family life, success, and liberty.

Our goal is to educate new generations about the ideology, history, and legacy of communism to ensure that the millions who sufferedand still sufferunder communist regimes are not forgotten.

Elida Dakoli (L) with Texas Representative Tom Oliverson. (Courtesy of Victims of Communism)

Political Persecution

Dakolis great-grandfather on her mothers side Hysen Myshketa was a well-known attorney and city mayor of Durres, a patriot to his country, and a leading supporter of democracy. He was elected as a congressman in the new Albanian Congress in 1943 but was subjected to an assassination attempt on Oct. 4, 1943, just days before the opening of Congresswhere he was to give the opening speech.

He was walking home to eat the lunch his lovely wife had prepared for them at home, and he was shot twice in the street, Dakoli said. The two shots didnt kill my great-grandfather. He miraculously survived and started to feel better after a few days in the hospital. However, he died when a nurse poisoned his milk.

Dakolis grandfather Isa MyshketaHysen Myshketas sonwas there during the shooting, and decades later, after the advent of democracy, was able to relay to his grandchildren what had happened. After discovering two shots had hit his father but not killed him, he grabbed his fathers arm to walk him to the nearby hospital, but the communist assassins kept firing at both father and son as they walked. Though they failed to achieve the fatal shot they were after, the assassins continued their pursuit by going every day with hidden revolvers to the hospital where Hysen was recovering. They couldnt get past the guards to shoot Hysen there, but a nurse was eventually compromised and Hysen died from poisoning on Oct. 10, 1943.

Even though he was being guarded at all times, communists somehow managed to achieve their goal of killing a fighter for freedom, Dakoli said.

His Congress opening speech ended up being read by one of his friends.

Dakoli said that the communist party was supposedly fighting for the so-called freedom of the country; however, their ulterior motive was eliminating the elite of the country.

This way, they would have an easier ride in taking power, she added. To justify their actions, they always used the Marxist-Leninist slogan in the name of the people. But who were these people? The people were terrorized.

(Left) Elida Dakolis maternal grandparents, Naxhije and Isa Myshketa (son of Hysen Myshketa); (Right) Elida Dakolis great-grandfather attorney Hysen Myshketa, who was assassinated by communists in 1943 just days before he was to give a speech at the opening of Congress in Albania. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Dakolis paternal grandfather, Sadik Dakoli, was also a target of the communist regime. A man dedicated to family and a supporter of education in Albania, Sadik was a philanthropistas was his father before himdonating monthly toward educational causes.

Sadik Dakoli never thought that the communist party, made up of uneducated people that only knew how to murder and violate, would take over the countryand keep control, she said of her grandfather.

Dakoli said that the first hit to the Dakoli family came with the public announcement of Sequestration Decision 278 on Jan. 14, 1945, which ordered that all movable and immovable property be sequestered by the new government.

This meant the government was coming for the Dakolis business and gold, our homes in the city, and their olive fields in the country, she said. Even the furniture and clothes were technically property of the communist state.

By 1946, Dakolis grandfather Sadik had been arrested, and her grandmother Jaja along with her four childrenincluding Dakolis father, Eqrem, who was 4 at the timewere thrown into the street in the middle of the night.

After ransacking their home, the communist militants violently ripped the gold coin necklace from her neck and the wedding ring from her finger, Dakoli said. The soldiers didnt even allow enough time to vacate for the children to put on shoes or put on coats. They just kicked them out of their own home.

Once the family was outside, they were told, The Dakoli family has been identified as an enemy of the people. As such, they do not deserve to live in luxury with the money they have gained by sucking the blood of the working class. Their property has been officially transferred to the state and they are being evicted from this home, effective immediately.

This family, who had worked so hard for generations to develop the economy of their city and country, who had created an international business that represented Albania with pride all over the world, from this terrible night on, never again saw a beautiful day in their lives.

Elida Dakolis paternal grandfather, Sadik Dakoli, who was targeted by the Albanian communist regime, sent to a gulag, and eventually poisoned. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

While her grandfather Sadik became a work slave in a gulag, her grandmother, father, and his siblings, went to live in one room with her grandmothers brother and his family. Sadik later died behind bars in 1951.

He was also poisoned, she said. His family wasnt notified. My grandmother only found out weeks later after waiting for hours to visit him when a guard told her that Sadik no longer existed, so there was no reason to wait. To this day, we dont know where his grave is.

A Bad Biography

Dakoli revealed that a person in communist Albania only had a bad biography if they were related to someone who didnt agree with the communist view.

To have a bad biography was to be a second-class citizen that bears the mark as an enemy of the people, she said. Many with bad biographies were murdered, like my great-grandfather, or imprisoned, like my grandfather, but even more were persecuted.

This designation, Dakoli said, was a way for the communist regime to punish political dissidents beyond their own lives with the suffering of their families for generations.

Those with a bad biography did not have the same privileges as the rest of their community, she added. Their job options were limited, as most were not permitted to pursue advanced education or careers. They were often forced to move to the country to work and farm the government-owned land.

Dakoli remembers Albania during communism as a place where people lived with fear, unable to trust anyone. Even if a person didnt have a bad biography, living conditions were still very poor.

In a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, the Party would place two families that never met each other before to live together, she said. Everything was rationed. Only 10 eggs for the family a month, 1/2lb of cheese, and so on. Everything was so limited. However, no one was able to complain as they would end up in prison and their families would be persecuted with a bad biography.

Dakoli lived in cramped conditions, sharing a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with her parents and brother; her uncle, his wife, and their two children; and her grandmother.

Back Row: Elida Dakolis mother, Lili Dakoli, and uncle, Meti Dakoli, (whos holding Elida as a baby); Front Row: Grandmother Jaja Dakoli, Elidas cousins and aunty, and Elidas brother; all sharing a two-bedroom apartment during Albanias communist era. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Elida Dakoli as a baby being held by her paternal grandmother, Jaja Dakoli, who was thrown into the street in the middle of the night with her children in 1946 after her family home and belongings were sequestered by the Albanian communist regime. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Yet, Dakolis daily obstacles as a child during the 70s and 80s went beyond just living in poor conditions. Daring to aim high with her musical aspirations from the age of 6 despite having been designated with a bad biography since birth, young Dakolis first obstacle as an aspiring pianist was that she had no piano.

They were considered private property and only the elite party members could own one, she said. Therefore, I had a long sheet of paper with keys drawn on to use for practice. This was my piano for the first few years, but my parents always encouraged me to visualize and imagine playing in a concert hall.

Later, Dakoli was finally assigned a time at the school to rehearse, but because of her bad biography, she was given the earliest time. Each day, her mother would wake her at 5:00 a.m. to dress her half-asleep, and an hour later, her father would take her to school on his bicycle before work. In addition, each day, she had to prepare for a new form of sabotage, and the one that stands out most in Dakolis memory is the missing lightbulb.

On my first day of the new practice session, the lights were out, she recalled. Next session, it happened again, and I could not see while practicing. We discovered that children or their parents had started taking the lightbulbs from the overhead light.

From that day on, Dakolis family started bringing their own lightbulbs, but eventually, even they didnt work, as the breaker had been shut off. So we brought an electrician just to practice, she said.

This happened because the competition was so intense. But my father always encouraged me to see the positive side of things and redefine setbacks as new little adventures. He would joke by saying that now its time to show your strength and perform like a true artist that isnt scared of anythingthe weather, broken keys, or a missing lightbulb. This mentality of setbacks as an adventure has been pivotal to my success as Elida today.

Elida Dakoli playing the piano as a child in Albania. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Elida Dakoli with her father, Eqrem Dakoli, at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundations Triumph of Liberty Conference & Gala Dinner. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

For Dakoli, being accepted into the Academy of Arts, the only music university in the country, as one of five pianists, was the first major way in which she triumphed over repression.

The Party didnt want people like me to be educated, she said. The system, the teachers, and the students had worked against me for so long, but I still managed to persevere.

It wasnt until living in the United States and pregnant with her third child that Dakoli began to find out the full story of the persecution endured by her own parents, who now also live in America. While reading and translating her fathers bookwhich he wrote for Dakoli and her brother, as well as for future generations to readshe learned the truth of her own childhood and the sacrifices her parents had made.

I couldnt stop crying for hours, she said. I couldnt believe all that happened to them and yet, they came home, put on a happy face, and carried on as if their life was simply perfect, for the sake of our happiness.

I learned that many things I believed about my childhood were just a cover-up to protect us as children from the brutal reality. Much of my poor treatment at school, I thought, was just because I wasnt good enough. However, it was simply because of my bad biography.

Dakoli eventually left Europe to pursue a graduate degree at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and subsequently earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from Louisiana State University. She is also the founder and professor of the Entrepreneurship in the Arts program at Dallas Baptist University, and is executive director of the Dallas Institute of Musical Advancement (DIMA), which she founded in 2017. In addition, she is a Mason & Hamlin Artist and serves as the face of and a recording artist for PianoDisc.

Elida Dakoli with her husband and three children. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

Educating About the Victims of Communism

Dakoli highlighted that studies consistently reveal that Americas high school and college students do not know basic facts about the history of communism and the suffering and damage it has inflicted upon millions of people.

An entire generation of Americans is unaware of the true nature and history of communism, and is warming to collectivist ideas because they dont know the facts, she said. Socialism is turning into this trend of greatness. The reality is that such a thing doesnt exist. This perfectionism called socialism or communism is just an ideology, not a reality.

Perhaps this is the reason that communism doesnt allow the freedom of religion; they are scared of anything being praised as better or greater than what they portray themselves to be.

Dakoli said she has learned that the Chinese regime has control over a large population of Chinese people in the United States, not just inside China. Many are afraid to speak, as they have businesses in China. They are aware that the Chinese government is watching every step very closely. I wonder if the same thing is happening with the [U.S.] government? she said.

I was amazed to learn that they have infiltrated deep in the heart of society here, even in Dallas. Thats why bringing awareness to the reality of past and present communist regimes is of the utmost importance at this very moment.

Elida Dakoli speaking about her story at the Dallas Baptist University, where shes the founder and professor of the Entrepreneurship in the Arts program; (L) Wes Moore, Dean of the universitys College of Fine Arts. (Courtesy of Elida Dakoli)

This is precisely why Dakoli became the ambassador for the VOC Dallas Commission and encourages others like her to join, and why she advocates for more recognition of Victims of Communism Day.

Dakoli urges: Lets make November 7 the day to remember the more than 100 million people that gave their lives in the fight for freedom of speech, freedom of religion.

Be yourself, find your uniquenessand remember, socialism is a cover-up for communism that wont allow any of these. They want control, and the only way to that is by brainwashing this Amazon generation. Dont fall for it!

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Fireworks are let off as people take part in the Million Mask March in Parliament Square, London, on Nov. 5, 2021. (PA)

Protesters Clash With UK Police in Central London; 8 Police Injured

Eight British police officers were injured and 12 people were arrested on Friday evening as hundreds of protesters clashed with police in central London on Bonfire Night.

Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes-style masks gathered at Trafalgar Square and burned an effigy of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

#UPDATE | A total of 12 arrests were made while policing tonights demonstrations across London. Those arrests were for a variety of offences. Eight of our officers were injured. This is unacceptable. The policing operation will continue into the evening.  Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) November 5, 2021

The protesters then moved to Parliament Square where they clashed with police wearing protective gear.

The Metropolitan Police said on Twitter that the demonstrators had been dangerously lighting fireworks and rockets, some of which struck people or exploded near to the crowd.

The Met said a total of 12 arrests were made for a variety of offences during the demonstrations across London.

The force said eight officers were injured, which it said was unacceptable.

Police clash with protesters as they take part in the Million Mask March in Parliament Square, London, on Nov. 5, 2021. (PA)

Many of the demonstrators taking part in the rally, which is known as the Million Mask March, held signs protesting against the COVID-19 lockdown.

Since March 2020, England has undergone three national lockdowns and a wave of tiered regional lockdowns, resulting in numerous job losses and the permanent shutdown of many businesses. Schools were shut for months on end, with exams cancelled for two consecutive years. For months, attending events and protests was also outlawed, as was meeting with friends and family.

A St. Georges Flag and Trump won flag, fly over people taking part in the Million Mask March outside Downing Street, London, on Nov. 5, 2021. (PA)

The UK government lifted all CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus lockdown restrictions on July 19 in England. On Sept. 12, the government said the prime minister was set to repeal in the near future some of the emergency powers enacted in England by the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Bonfire night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, is a British tradition that originates from Nov. 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes was arrested for trying to blow up the House of Lords, and King James I with it.

Britons mark the day with bonfires and fireworks each year.

The white, smiling Guy Fawkes masks have become popular among protesters globally by anti-establishment hackers and the film V for Vendetta.

Lily Zhou and PA contributed to this report.
Registered Republicans in Florida Overtake Democrats in Historic Milestone: Gov. Desantis

Republicans have set a landmark by overtaking Democrats in the voter registration race for the first time in the sunshine states history, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

When I got elected governor we had 280,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state of Florida, DeSantis said. Today, and it will probably be fully publicized very soon, for the first time in the history of Florida we have overtaken Democrats. There are more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats.

For many years, Democrats have led with a significant numerical advantage in the southern state. Back in 2008, when then-President Barack Obama carried Florida, there were 657,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

The official voter registration advantage for Democrats was down to 263,000 in 2018, and then, down to 134,000 in 2020.

The number has steadily gone down, primarily due to the GOPs investment in voter registrations with DeSantis reportedly pumping in $2 million last September. The 2020 elections were decisively won by former President Donald Trump by more than three percentage points, something which is considered a veritable landslide in Florida.

Despite DeSantis announcement, the Florida Democratic Party said Friday that the Republicans were misinterpreting the numbers. According to Democrats, they still hold an advantage of 79,429 voters, with 5,452,958 registered Democrats and 5,373,529 registered Republicans.

Official reports from the Florida Division of Elections in August show Democrats holding a lead of almost 24,000 voters. The numbers from September are due next week, while those from October are only going to be released in December.

The political parties generally carry more up-to-date information with them regarding numbers from their own research and analysis, up from the county levels.

According to our analysis, Republicans are basically playing a shell game with the numbers, Jose Parra, Florida Democrat Party spokesperson told Florida Politics. This is not due in any way, shape, or form to some vast voter registration effort.

DeSantis explained to the crowd that Republicans from all over the country were moving to Florida to escape restrictions related to the pandemic, rises in crime and lawlessness, among other factors, which he blamed on Democrat leadership. He joked that the closely-contested New Jersey gubernatorial race should have been won by Republicans if so many hadnt moved out to Florida.

Once these areas go deep blue they get destroyed, the governor said. How many places that are deep blue are well governed in this country? Can you name me some?

Tell me where you can find this success story of woke progressivism imposed on a people, DeSantis added. I dont see it.

Floridas population has been growing at a steady rate of almost 1,000 per day, mostly through migration.

The level of enthusiasm in support of registering Republicans is unprecedented, and this is a true milestone moment in Floridas history, the Republican Party of Floridas executive director, Helen Aguirre Ferre, said, according to Fox News.
Russian opposition figure and former owner of the Yukos Oil Company Mikhail Khodorkovsky smiles during a news conference after the Vilnius Russia Forum at the "Esperanza" hotel in Paunguriai village, Trakai district west of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, on Aug. 20, 2021. (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP Photo)

Russia Gets Partial Win in $50 Billion Case Over Bankrupt Oil Giant

THE HAGUE, NetherlandsThe Dutch Supreme Court on Friday handed Russia at least a temporary victory in an appeal of whats believed to be the worlds largest award in an arbitration case after former shareholders of bankrupted Russian oil giant Yukos accused the Kremlin of taking down the company to silence its CEO, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.

The decision further extends what already has been a yearslong legal battle between Russia and former Yukos shareholders. It quashed a lower court ruling, effectively setting aside a $50 billion award made to the former shareholders in 2014 and sending the case to another court in Amsterdam to consider Russian claims that the shareholders committed fraud in the original arbitration hearings.

However, the highest Dutch court rejected the rest of Russias arguments, a move welcomed by the former shareholders, who said in a statement that they won on all substantive grounds of Russias appeal.

We will study the Supreme Court ruling, but are confident that the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam will dismiss the baseless allegations raised by the Russian Federation, and the arbitral awards will be upheld, said Tim Osborne, chief executive of GML, the holding company of former Yukos majority shareholders.

The Russian prosecutor-generals office welcomed the ruling but said it is regrettable the high court didnt dismiss the award outright.

The Russian Federation expects that the Amsterdam Court of Appeal will interpret the remaining controversial issues in accordance with international law  and take comprehensive measures to protect the rights and legitimate interests of Russian taxpayers, the office said in a statement.

An international panel of arbitrators concluded in 2014 that Moscow seized control of Yukos in 2003 by deliberately crippling the company with huge tax claims. The move was seen as an attempt to silence Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a vocal Putin critic.

Khodorkovsky was arrested at gunpoint in 2003 and spent more than a decade in prison as Yukos main assets were sold to a state-owned company. Yukos ultimately went bankrupt.

The state launched a full assault on Yukos and its beneficial owners in order to bankrupt Yukos and appropriate its assets while, at the same time, removing Mr. Khodorkovsky from the political arena, the arbitrators said in their 2014 ruling.

The original case was handled under the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is headquartered in The Hague. As a result, Russia appealed the arbitration decision in the Netherlands.

The Dutch Supreme Court ruled Friday that a lower appeals court in The Hague wrongly dismissedon procedural ground Russias claim that shareholders committed fraud in the arbitral proceedings.

Sergey Alekhin, a Paris-based lawyer and expert on international arbitration who is not involved in the case, said Russia had alleged that the majority shareholders of Yukos fraudulently concealed who has the actual ownership or control over them, so they would allegedly submit false statements.

The Court of Appeal in Amsterdam right now will have to carefully analyze the merit, the substance of those serious allegations, he added. Those are really serious allegations.

The processincluding possible further appeals on the fraud issueis likely to take years.

In April, an independent adviser to the highest Dutch court had recommended that its judges reject Russias appeal in full.

Khodorkovsky is not involved in the case, which was brought by former shareholders united in a company called GML Ltd.

By Mike Corder
Sen. Hawley Joins GOP Effort to Block Bidens Private Employer Vaccine Mandate

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he has joined an effort spearheaded by fellow Republican Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) to block President Joe Bidens private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate under the Congressional Review Act, the process by which Congress can scrap an executive branch rule.

Congressional Republicans, which include both Senate and House lawmakers, are seeking a formal nullification of Bidens mandate, which calls for an estimated 80 million private-sector workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or provide at-least-weekly negative test results.

Biden said the mandate was being developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a Sept. 9 statement, when he accused unvaccinated Americans of causing a lot of damage and overcrowding hospitals. Subsequently, OSHA unveiled an emergency temporary standard requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to put into place a COVID-19 vaccine requirement with a testing opt-out or face fines of up to $13,600 per violation.

Hawley said in a Nov. 5 statement that Bidens mandate threatens to worsen the current labor shortage and supply chain issues, is an unconstitutional infringement on the fundamental rights of American citizens, and unlawfully bypasses established regulatory procedures.

He is ignoring this basic principle by forcing employers to require their workers be vaccinated, undergo rigorous testing procedures, or be fired. Its wrong, will make our nations economic challenges worse, and must not be allowed to go into effect, Hawley said.

The Missouri Republican is the latest Republican lawmaker to join the initiative, which Braun announced on Nov. 3, when he said he was leading an effort to nullify Bidens mandate under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to block an executive branch rule with simple House and Senate majorities.

Since the announcement of President Bidens vaccine and testing mandate in September, I have led the charge to strike down this vast overstep of authority by the federal government, Braun said in a statement.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) speaks during a Senate Special Committee of Aging hearing on The COVID-19 Pandemic and Seniors: A Look at Racial Health Disparities at the US Capitol on July 21, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Today, we are one step closer to protecting the liberties of millions of Americans in the private sector workforce under the Congressional Review Act. I urge my Senate colleagues to vote in favor of this disapproval resolution in the coming weeks.

For the initiative to work, the Republicans would need buy-in from some Democrats, who have a slim majority in the House and an effective one-member majority in the split Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.

Braun told Breitbart News in a Nov. 4 interview that around 44 Senate Republicans were on board with the initiative and that he hoped some Democrats could be persuaded to back it.

I got to believe a few of them [Democrats] are going to say, Wait. Do I want to buy into more of this craziness, or do I want to get reelected? So itll put them all on record, Braun told Breitbart.

Braun predicted that if Senate Democrats were to block the vaccine mandate disapproval resolution, it would weaken their chances at reelection in the 2022 mid-terms.

If they decide to just toe the line, theyre going to be on the public record for those close Senate races in swing states in 2022, Braun told the outlet.

Bidens rule (pdf) will go into effect on Jan. 4, in a bid to raise vaccination rates and get more people back to work. A senior Biden administration official said on Nov. 4 that the White House believes the mandate will spur vaccinations across the country.

Thousands of employers have answered the presidents call and stepped up to implement vaccination requirements covering tens of millions of Americans, the official said.

A number of trade groups have issued warnings about the mandate, saying it would exacerbate supply chain bottlenecks and staffing shortages nationwide.
South Carolina Governor Prohibits State Agencies From Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines in New Order

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order on Thursday prohibiting state agencies in his cabinet from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a press release, the prohibition applies to the 19 state agencies that comprise the governors cabinet.

McMaster said in the executive order that though the state must continue to take narrowly tailored actions in handling COVID-19, the state must simultaneously guard against unwarranted, unprecedented, and unlawful efforts by the federal government to expand federal authority and intrude upon the sovereign interests of the state and the recognized rights and liberties of South Carolinians.

In September, President Joe Biden announced he directed the Department of Labor to develop a rule that companies with more than 100 employees must require the COVID-19 vaccination.

On Thursday, the Biden administration released the new rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would expand to future employees who have fewer than 100 workers.

The administration also announced that its rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires 17 million health care workers at facilities that receive federal funding to be vaccinated.

The deadline for getting vaccinated for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus in the public and private sector was by Dec. 8, but that was moved to Jan. 4, 2022.

According to McMasters order, all agencies in South Carolina state government must notify the office of the governor and the office of the attorney general upon receiving any communications or directives from the Biden administrations vaccine mandate for federal contractors, and prepare for a legal challenge to the recently announced federal OSHA vaccination requirement on employers with 100 or more employees, which would include state agencies, the press release stated.

McMaster told reporters Thursday his administration has been stunned by the overreach of the Biden Administration.

Stunned is the word, he said. I have never seen a president go out-of-bounds of the law as much as this one.

McMaster said on Twitter that the vaccine mandates are blatantly unconstitutional, and coerce South Carolinians to choose between a vaccine and their jobs.

Nick Ciolino and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
A photo shows a field of wheat on a farm near Inverleigh, some 100kms west of Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 12, 2021. (William West / AFP via Getty Images)

Spring Rains Dampen Record Aussie Crops

Exceptional crop yields across Australia have been complemented by strong prices but wet weather in parts has brought an anxious wait for those harvesting.

At 10 p.m. on Oct. 26 a jubilant Oscar Pearse had just started harvest and put a call out for more help on social media.

Didnt plan for pleasant surprises, he wrote on Twitter to his nine thousand plus followers,  anyone with grain trucks who wants a job? Give me a yell.

The results were better than the Moree farmer could have hoped for.

It has been an exceptional year  this is a once in a lifetime year, Pearse told AAP of what he said was incomparable to three years of recent drought.

We produced more wheat in 90 minutes of harvesting  than we did in all of 2019.

Pearses enthusiasm was only dampened by the rain hitting across northern NSW.

There are falls in excess of 60 millimetres predicted off some of the models; that will start having a pretty significant affect, he said.

Ten kilometres to the southwest, Matthew Madden was also experiencing a record wheat harvest.

The mixed crop farmer said high yields and a great price have meant one of the best years in his four decades of farming.

But the New South Wales (NSW) Farmers Grains Committee member said the perfect storm might be about to hit, caused not just by the rain but the labor shortage too.

Its time critical getting this crop off in time, he said.

Around the district older people and kids have been relied on to fill in the gaps.

The reopening of international and domestic borders after COVID-19 have come too late for the 60-year-old.

For a second year running he has been relying on family and friends to take the place of skilled backpackers.

Ive got my sister on the chaser bin, Ive got my friend Tony on the truck, Ive got my daughters and their husbands come home to help harvest.

Friend Tony, is Sydney businessman, Tony Halfhide, who earlier this year studied to get his truck license, to help haul up to 420 tonnes of wheat a day from paddock to silo.

AAP caught up with him during another 13-hour day in the name of helping a mate.

Ive been head down, bum up since I got here, he said from the cabin of his semi-trailer.

Its a very pleasurable experience and something I would highly recommend to anybody that wants to get out and experience life on a farm, the 65-year-old said.

Madden said one of the upsides of border closures has been farmers examining how they work and who they employ.

Were now looking at tapping into some of the retirees, the grey nomads, who have appropriate skills to be able to do this for a few weeks, he said.

Yet its essential that more workers are used to avoid fatigue.

If we can run shorter shifts  to avoid running people 12 to 14 hours and running into fatigue problems, he said of something that he understands all too well is not sustainable.

Fatigue was partly to blame for his own farm accident 12 years ago when his foot became caught in a piece of machinery leaving horrific injuries.

Harvest in Western Australia, meanwhile, has reached as far south as Esperance, with farmers across the state also reporting record yields.

WA Farmers CEO Trevor Whittington expects it to hit the holy grail target of 20 million tonnes.

Following the wettest and most consistent rainfall across the wheatbelt in 50 years, the state is on track to smash past records, he said.

But the weather is also fraying nerves.

The biggest risk now is if the rain keeps coming or the state goes into lockdown and harvest is delayed which risks downgrading to feed grain, Whittington told AAP.

Tobin Gorey, Agri Commodities Strategist at Commonwealth Bank, said for wheat, barley, and canola harvests, it will be a large one Australiawide.

It will be among the bigger ones. Good prices, plenty of production, broadly speaking this will be another sweet spot year for Australia  it will be up around the records.

Gorey said the rain is coming at the wrong time for some parts but on the whole, Australia is doing well.

Despite high freight costs and diplomatic tensions with China, Gorey said a global supply shortage has meant its a good time to have a big crop.

The prediction from Grain Producers Australia is that this years national crop will total around 55 million tonnes, worth about $15 billion.

GPA boss Colin Bettles said the results are good.

Yet there has been the stop-start impact of rain in Queensland among other problems.

Mouse plagues, labour shortages, frost damage in various grain growing regions and sharply rising costs of contract harvester insurance premiums have been some of the core challenges, Bettles said.

While hes already stripped his wheat and most of his barley, Madden said he still has chickpeas in the ground.

Its a nervous time and the forecast is just not that good.

Some very nasty weather coming at us, the worst case scenario is a week of rain which will have some serious consequences for the quality of the crop.

It could be 10 days before we get started again.

And thats when harvest right across the district really kicks in to the West of Moree, when the big operators with huge tonnages start up.

Oscar Pearse can also see some big challenges ahead.

The next few weeks, the logistics are that its going to be very hard for the bulk handlers to keep up, its going to be hard to see us being able to get enough trucks, he said.

And its going to be a real challenge for everyone.

The perfect storm might just be on its way.

By Liv Casben
A tram construction site is closed in the central business district of Parramatta in Sydney, Australia, on July 31, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Sydney Trams out of Action up to 18 Months

Sydneys inner west light rail line could be out of action for up to 18 months in order to fix significant cracking found on all 12 trams.

NSW Transport Minister Rob Stokes said that amount of time is the worst-case scenario and he expects to have the problems rectified and the service back on track sooner than that. But until then the safety advice has been for these vehicles to be withdrawn from service until they can be fixed.

A replacement service has been in place this week and is already transporting 5,000 passengers a day, Stokes said.

About 1,000 similar trams are in use around the world, as well as in Newcastle and Canberra, and Stokes said the cracking that was found during routine maintenance by Transport for NSW is likely a design flaw that will have global implications.

A lot of countries will be looking at what happens here with keen interest, the minister said.

He is advising global operators to let them know this same design flaw is likely to be a challenge for their systems as well.

Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins visited the Lilyfield depot on Friday morning to inspect and understand what weve discovered, including cracks up to 30 centimetres long on the wheel arches.

He said the trams were not unsafe but if the cracks propagate further it could be an issue for the seven-year-old trams, and it will be no quick fix.

We want to fill a workshop with these trams with very competent engineers from Australia who can retrofit, strengthen, and sort out these cracks permanently, Collins said.

Labor transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said the governments transport procurement policies are in tatters given every single overseas built tram the government bought has had to be decommissioned.

They bought trains that dont fit the tracks, ferries that cant fit under bridges or operate at night, and an entire fleet of trams that simply dont work, Haylen said.

Thousands of passengers would experience delays and unreliable services until the trams were fixed, and the discovery of the cracks came just as people were beginning to return to work, she added.

Australia should start building infrastructure again to get a quality product and value for money, Haylen said.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW tram and bus president Daniel Jaggers said the government must offer alternative employment for workers on the inner west light rail.

He said the union want the [government] to take full responsibility after ignoring calls from transport workers for infrastructure to be made and maintained in Australia for decades.

Ever since the NSW government turned its back on Australian manufacturing  its been one disaster after another, Jaggers said.

The biggest losers are the people of NSW, who dont receive the public transport services they need and fork out billions in taxpayers money to rectify the governments mistakes.

Inner West Mayor Rochelle Porteous is demanding the government provide free alternative transport.

The inner west is paying the price of foolish decisions, she said

This is a disaster of the NSW governments making and its up to minister Stokes to fix it.

By Jack Gramenz
Texans Pass 8 Amendments to State Constitution, Including 1 That Strengthens Religious Freedom

Texans hit the polls earlier in the week to pass all eight proposed amendments to the state constitution, including one that curtails the ability of government to restrict religious services, including during emergencies such as pandemics, according to state authorities.

The Texas secretary of state has announced unofficial results of the vote, which took place on Nov. 2 and was required in order to adopt the amendments, which were earlier approved during the legislative session. Two of the propositions were created explicitly in response to COVID-19 restrictions.

Proposition 3, which won the backing of 62.4 percent of voters, amends Article 1 of the Texas Constitution by adding a new section preventing the state, or any political subdivision of the state, from enacting any laws that prohibit or limit religious services, including ones conducted in churches, congregations, and other places of worship.

Some backers of Proposition 3 argued that places of worship provide essential services and, as such, should be exempt from pandemic-related closures, such as grocery stores.

When the restrictions were put on the church, it crossed the line from what we could do, which was buy groceries, and what we couldnt do, which was worship as we want to worship, state Sen. Donna Campbell, a Republican, said in April, according to the Texas Tribune.

Churches provide essential spiritual, mental, and physical support in a time of crisis. Closing churches not only eliminated these critical ministries and services, but it violated their religious freedom, guaranteed by our laws and Constitution, said state Rep. Scott Sanford, a Republican, the Texas Tribune reported.

Opponents argued that the measure would hamper the ability of authorities to mount an effective response to emergencies, like outbreaks of infectious disease.

Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, told Sight Magazine in October that Proposition 3 sends a damaging message that religious people are more concerned about special treatment than they are about the good of their communities.

I would hope that the voters of Texas would understand the strong protections for free exercise that they already enjoy and understand that this extra provision in the Constitution is unnecessary, overbroad, and could actually jeopardize the health and safety of their communities, she said.

Texas state Rep. John Turner, a Democrat, told The Texan in May that, while hes a very strong supporter of religious liberty, he objected to the language of the amendment as excessive. For instance, that would mean there could never be any restrictions on capacity.

Proposition 6, also established in response to pandemic restrictions, allows residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to designate an essential caregiver who could generally not be barred from in-person visits. The measure passed, with 88 percent support.

Kevin Warren, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Health Care Association, told KXAN that the association supports the measure as it recognizes the importance of in-person relationships while maintaining a facilitys ability to take the necessary steps to protect during a potential community health risk.

We appreciate the support for the long-term care profession and the heroes that take care of our most vulnerable Texans every day, he said.

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Republican, wrote in a May letter (pdf) that visiting a loved one in a nursing home should be a right, not a privilege.

If another health emergency occurs, our states caregivers will always have a way to safely go inside a facility for scheduled visits and ensure that their loved ones physical, social, and emotional needs are being met, Kolkhorst said.

Other amendments include measures allowing charity raffles at rodeo events, authorizing counties to issue bonds to fund infrastructure projects, limiting school district property taxes for surviving spouses of persons with disabilities, expanding eligibility for residential homestead property tax exemptions, and changing the eligibility requirements to serve as a justice on the state Supreme Court.
Members of the 'Vic Freedom Movement' group participate in a protest in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 6, 2021. (AAP Image/Con Chronis)

Thousands of Australians Protest Unlawful Pandemic Bill in Victoria

Bill would give unprecedented pandemic powers to state premier

Thousands of Australians gathered Nov. 6 outside Victorias parliament building to protest mandatory vaccination and proposed laws that would see Victoria State Premier Dan Andrews given unprecedented pandemic-related power.

The protesters began to gather around midday, with some chanting kill the bill, and with many holding signs expressing their views.

Some of the signs read: Save our children, and Vaxtoria.

A woman addressed the crowd just after 2 p.m., saying the proposed Andrews government bill was unlawful and needs to be invalidated.

The protesters pledged to return to hold a similar protest next weekend and march across the city to the governors residence.

Victorians have endured some of the longest lockdowns in the world, along with harsh restrictions.

Civic pushback against those restrictions has been met with martial force, erupting in September into days of protests and unrests that saw police officers fire non-lethal rounds at protesters.

The Public Health and Wellbeing (Pandemic Management Bill 2021) is being hurried through parliament and has passed through the lower house.

The laws would give the state premier unprecedented power to declare a pandemic and extend any declared state of emergency for three months.

The current emergency conditions are due to expire in December. Typically, they run for three months and have been extended every three months since first being declared in March 2020.

Traditionally, this power has sat with the chief health officer, but the new bill would hand it over to the premier.

The legislation will require the backing of three out of 11 cross-benchers to pass through the upper house.

The move comes as the stateand the nationhas reached 80 percent vaccination coverage, and has thereby began to lift pandemic restrictions for the fully vaccinated while leaving restrictions in place for the unvaccinated.

About 82 percent of people aged over 12 are fully vaccinated in Victoria.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 19, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of Intelligence Personnel Refusing Vaccine Potentially Face Dismissal: GOP Lawmaker

A Republican lawmaker has raised concerns over the potential dismissal of unvaccinated intelligence employees if they should fail to comply with the Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccination deadline for civilian workers later this month.

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) said on Nov. 5 that COVID-19 vaccination rates are different in all the 18-agency intelligence communities in the United States.

Youre potentially firing thousands of people on the same day. And its not like you put an ad on Craigslist and have people apply by Thursday, Stewart said.

My question is, whats the impact on national security if we do that?

Intelligence personnel are particularly hard to replace because of the highly specialized work they do and the difficulties of completing security clearance checks.

Stewart cited information that he said had been provided to the House Intelligence Committee but hasnt yet been released publicly.

The Republican lawmaker said that some intelligence agencies had at least 20 percent of their workforce unvaccinated as of late October, The Associated Press reported. In other agencies, as many as 40 percent of intelligence personnel remain unvaccinated.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson from Stewarts office confirmed that the figures listed in the story published by AP are accurate.

Unfortunately, anything more specific than that is classified, the spokesperson wrote.

President Joe Biden has ordered all civilian employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22, as well as those employed by federal contractors and entities receiving federal support in connection with the governments pandemic recovery programs.

President Joe Biden responds to a question about the U.S. border at the White House on Nov. 6, 2021. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Federal employees who arent vaccinated or havent received an exemption by the deadline could face a suspension of 14 days or less, followed by possible dismissal.

The director of the Office of National Intelligence declined several requests to disclose the overall vaccination rate for the roughly 100,000 people who work across the 18-agency intelligence communities.

The CIA disclosed publicly last week that 97 percent of its workforce is vaccinated against the CCP virus. The National Reconnaissance Office, which operates U.S. spy satellites, reports a 90 percent vaccination rate.

Avril Haines, the Biden administrations director of national intelligence, declined to state last week what percentage of the agencys workforce had been vaccinated against the CCP virus.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines (L), next to CIA Director William Burns, testifies at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Oct. 27, 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Bidens vaccination mandates have faced significant resistance nationwide, sparking protests around the country. Multiple cities, including Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and New York, have also ordered employees to get vaccinated. In late October, thousands of police, firefighters, and other city employees in New York took to the streets to protest.

Civil liberties groups such as Liberty Counsel report being contacted by thousands of federal military and civilian workers as well as by corporate employees seeking legal assistance in their efforts to be exempted from the mandates on the basis of medical or religious grounds.

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee said theyre confident the vast majority of intelligence workers will comply with Bidens vaccination mandate.

If somebody is not willing to do whats necessary to protect their own health and the health of their unit, that actually calls into question their ability to effectively do the job, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said during an interview.

Stewart, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, says he has been vaccinated against the CCP virus himself, although he opposes the government mandating the vaccines.

If you say, You have to do this and we wont consider any exceptions to that, thats where you get people to dig in their heels, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Troopers: Helicopter Rescues 7 Iced in at Remote Alaska Camp

JUNEAU, AlaskaA U.S. Coast Guard helicopter late Thursday rescued seven people who had been iced in since last week at a cabin about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of the Yukon River community of Emmonak in western Alaska, the Alaska State Troopers reported.

The group was adequately supplied with food, water, shelter, and necessary supplies before they were rescued Thursday night, troopers said.

U.S. Army helicopters had been expected to extract the individuals Friday morning, troopers had said. But a Coast Guard helicopter was able to make the trip from Nome after overcoming mechanical issues and getting a weather window, said Petty Officer 1st Class Ali Blackburn, a Coast Guard spokesperson.

Safely extracting the group as quickly as possible was a top priority for all of the agencies involved in this operation, said Austin McDaniel, a troopers spokesperson.

Blackburn said no injuries were reported at the time of the rescue. Blackburn said the individuals were taken to Nome.

KYUK Public Media reported the group was composed of hunters from Pilot Station that got stuck outside Emmonak on their way home. Hunters from lower Yukon River villages traditionally travel to the coast in the fall to hunt for seal, without problems. But as they were making their way back, ice began forming on the water.

Four of the hunters are volunteers with the Pilot Station search and rescue team and contacted Emmonak Search and Rescue with an emergency communication device. According to Emmonak Search and Rescue, the hunters provided their location and were directed to the nearest fish camp, KYUK reported.

McDaniel had said the group stopped at the fish camp cabin for the night on Oct. 28. While they were there overnight, the river iced over. So the ice on the river is too thick to run a boat, and its not thick enough to run snowmachine there, and theres no overland route to get to this spot, he said Tuesday.

Troopers said they were notified the individuals were stuck at the camp around 5:15 p.m. last Friday and that a supply drop of food and needed medications was made on Sunday.

Authorities had been pursuing use of a helicopter to pick the individuals up, McDaniel said. Weather conditions between the area and some hub communities, however, had previously hampered efforts to reach the site, he said earlier this week.

Blackburn said the Coast Guard also dropped supplies, including a radio, to the group before the rescue.

Paul Fancyboy, head of the Pilot Station search and rescue group, had told KYUK he was concerned with how long it was taking for the individuals to be rescued, calling it unacceptable.
The Emergent BioSolutions plant, a manufacturing partner for Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, is seen in Baltimore, Md., on April 9, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

US Cancels Contract With Major COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturer

The United States government has canceled a contract with Emergent BioSolutions, a major vaccine manufacturer that came under investigation after it was blamed for a bad batch of 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Emergent mutually agreed to end the contract on Nov. 1, the Maryland-based company said in an earnings report.

The cancellation means the contract was reduced by about $180 million.

The contract was reached in June 2012. It included manufacturing therapies for cancer and tuberculosis vaccines. In 2020, it was expanded to include manufacturing for third-party COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

But Emergents work on a batch of drug substances for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was pinpointed as ruining some 15 million doses. Workers there mixed up ingredients for J&Js shot and a vaccine from AstraZeneca.

The issue delayed the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for months.

Johnson & Johnson was put in charge of the vaccine production by the Biden administration, but regulators later reportedly decided that another 60 million doses needed to be thrown out.

Food and Drug Administration investigators later found substandard conditions at the plant, including black residue on the floor and peeling paint in various rooms, along with inadequate waste handling and overcrowding of materials, the agency said in a report (pdf) made public in April.

They said workers failed to follow standard protocols in place to prevent cross-contamination.

Emergent said in a statement at the time that it was committed to working with the FDA and Johnson & Johnson to quickly resolve the issues identified.
Traffic police are seen on duty at the Lafto neighbourhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Nov. 5, 2021. (Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)

US Orders Non-Emergency Government Employees in Ethiopia to Leave

NAIROBIThe United States has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees in Ethiopia to leave because of armed conflict, civil unrest and violence, its embassy in Addis Ababa said on Saturday.

Denmark and Italy also asked their citizens in Ethiopia to leave while commercial flights were still available, as rebellious Tigrayan forces and their allies have advanced towards the capital Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds government, which has been embroiled in a year-long war against Tigrayan forces, has promised to keep fighting despite calls for a ceasefire from African nations, Western states and the U.N. Security Council.

Incidents of civil unrest and ethnic violence are occurring without warning. The situation may escalate further and may cause supply chain shortages, communications blackouts, and travel disruptions, the U.S. Embassy said on its website.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and Abiys spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

Abiys government declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday, saying it was locked in an existential war with forces from the northern Tigray region and their allies.

Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew Reda accused Abiy of using the state of emergency to arrest thousands of Tigrayans and Oromos.

The government spokesperson and the federal police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Saturday.

On Thursday, police denied that arrests in the capital which followed the imposition of the state of emergency were ethnically motivated.

We are only arresting those who are directly or indirectly supporting the illegal terrorist group, police spokesperson Fasika Fante said, a reference to the TPLF. This includes moral, financial and propaganda support.

The TPLF unveiled an alliance with other factions on Friday aiming to remove Abiy from power, saying this would be done by force if needed.

The government condemned the move, saying Abiy had a mandate to rule based on a landslide election win in June. It urged international partners to help protect Ethiopias democracy.

The conflict in the north of Ethiopia started a year ago when forces loyal to the TPLF seized military bases in the Tigray region.

In response, Abiy sent troops, who initially drove the TPLF out of the regional capital but have faced a sharp reversal since June this year.

The TPLF and their allies told Reuters this week they were now in the town of Kemise in Amhara state, 325 km (200 miles) from the capital.

The government accuses the group of exaggerating its territorial gains.

Government spokesperson Legesse said there was fighting at least 100 km (60 miles) north of Shewa Robit, a town lying on a highway that links the capital to Ethiopias north. That suggests fighting has now erupted south of Kombulcha, one of two towns the TPLF said it captured last weekend.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than 2 million more from their homes, and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.

Social media companies Facebook and Twitter have taken action to limit what they called violations of their policies by Ethiopian accounts, including removing a post by Abiys official Facebook account.

Twitter said on Saturday it had temporarily disabled the Trends section of its service in Ethiopia, which showcases the most tweeted subjects, because of threats of physical harm.

Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules  Given the imminent threat of physical harm, weve also temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia, the company said.
Health-care workers wait to vaccinate people at a COVID-19 clinic in Montreal on Aug. 10, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz)

Vaccine Mandates Are Dividing Canadians: Former Judge

Most Canadians gave up their charter rights and freedoms during the pandemic, emergency management expert says

The vaccine mandates pushed by the federal and provincial governments have divided Canadians, and the way the unvaccinated are berated is extremely ugly, a former judge says.

I would never have thought such a thing could happen in Canada, said Brian Giesbrecht, who served as a provincial court judge in Manitoba from 1976 to 2007.

The idea of forcing people to be vaccinated, and then yelling at them if they dont do what you say, is something that should not occur in a country like Canada.

Giesbrecht was speaking at a webinar on Oct. 28 titled No More COVID-19 Lockdowns, hosted by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He was commenting on how governments responses to the pandemic are almost exactly wrong.

Weve almost demonized a good portion of the population, said the retired judge on how unvaccinated individuals are targeted online and being labelled by some politicians.

A poll conducted by pollster Leger in September for the Association for Canadian Studies found that some 77 percent of Canadians hold a negative view of the unvaccinated and that when it comes to vaccinated Canadians, 85 percent of them hold that view. The poll also found that a vast majority of vaccinated people in Canada believe that the unvaccinated are behaving irresponsibly, are being selfish, and [are] putting others at risk.

Giesbrecht said governments should have just laid out the honest facts about the COVID-19 vaccines and let people have the final say.

People in different age categories, people in different health categories, etc., should be able to make their [own] decision, said the retired judge, who chose to be vaccinated because of his age.

The individual makes a much better health decision for themselves than does a government.

Throwing Away All the Lessons Learned

David Redman, a former head of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA), said most Canadians have surrendered their charter rights during this pandemic.

What Ive seen in the last 20 months is Canadians run away and abandon their charter rights and freedoms from the very first day, Redman said at the webinar.

The lockdown to schools, the closure of jobs, the right to earn money, the right to associate, the right to interact with other human beingsa basic fundamental rightI cant believe that Canadians gave it up so quickly.

He noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) had recommended against using non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as school and workplace closures. This advice was in its guidance document published in September 2019, prior to the arrival of COVID-19.

The evidence base on the effectiveness of NPIs in community settings is limited, and the overall quality of evidence [of their effectiveness in reducing influenza transmission] was very low for most interventions, read the document, titled Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza.

The governments basically threw away all the lessons learned worldwide, Redman said, including the ones from the WHO document and existing pandemic plans created before the COVID-19 pandemic by all provinces and territories as well as the federal government.

Redman, who was relocated 19 times around the world in 27 years of military service before becoming head of AEMA in 2004, said most Canadians have never lived in a country where those charter rights dont exist and therefore have never seen the horrors of what could happen.

But they should be seeing the horrors of whats happening now as we treat each other with complete disrespectvaccinated to unvaccinatedwhere we think that some peoples jobs simply dont matter, and their livelihood and their future dont matter, he said.

Giesbrecht said peoples confidence in government has been shaken by the actions of some politicians. For example, thousands of people attended Black Lives Matter protests without consequence, including politicians, amid government pronouncements about the risk of gathering in crowds. In contrast, Christian pastors were put in jail for holding local church services during the pandemic.

If you are on a certain political cause, [the policy-makers] were letting people do that, he said.

Canadians should start reflecting on the kind of country they would like to live in, said Giesbrecht.

Do we want to live in a country where the government is our nanny and our protector and makes decisions for us? he asked. Or the kind of Canada  where we have our rights respected?
Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin shoots an autographed basketball into the crowd with his family at an election-night rally at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles in Chantilly, Va., on Nov. 2, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Virginia Republicans Flip State House to Complete Election Sweep

Republicans in Virginia gained control of the states House of Delegates after Democratic leaders on Nov. 5 conceded that the GOP has gained the majority.

The concession by the Democrats means Republicans have completed a sweep of the elections, which already included the race for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn acknowledged the Republican majority shortly after Democratic Del. Martha Mugler conceded defeat in a race against Republican challenger A.C. Cordoza in the 91st House District. Muglers concession gave Republicans 51 seats in Virginias 100-seat House chamber.

While the results of the election were not in our favor, our work for the people of Virginia goes on, said Filler-Corn.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, said Filler-Corn called Gilbert on Friday.

The House Republican caucus appreciates her pledge to a smooth transition to the incoming majority, Shipley said.

Democrats held a 5545 majority heading into the election on Nov. 2.

Top Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, saw the election on Tuesday as a barometer for key national races in 2022, which will decide control of the U.S. House and Senate. President Joe Biden won the state by a 10-point margin in 2020, making the election sweep a major red flag that the presidents progressive agenda is not playing well with voters.

The Republican statehouse victories are being seen as a backlash against a Democratic majority that has pushed through a series of progressive reforms over the past two years, including the repeal of the death penalty, a loosening of abortion restrictions, and the legalization of marijuana.

In the House of Delegates races, Republican Kim Taylor scored a surprise victory over three-term incumbent Democratic Del. Lashrecse Aird, giving Republicans the 50th seat on Nov. 3. Aird claimed victory late Tuesday, but a late surge by Taylor gave her a 741-vote win.

Democrats are still in control of the state Senate, holding a 2119 majority until at least 2023. Republicans will nonetheless have veto power coupled with control of the lower chamber.

Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the most-watched 2021 race on Tuesday. Republican Winsome Sears beat Democrat Hala Ayala in the race for the lieutenant governors office. Republican Jason Miyares beat Democratic two-term incumbent Mark Herring in the race for the attorney generals office.

Youngkins victory and the near-defeat of New Jerseys Democratic governor have sparked fears that Democrats are on course to lose control of Congress in next years midterm elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Why Chinas Economy Continues to Survive

Commentary

Chinas economy continues to survive despite major obstacles, including the real estate bubble and the trade war with the United States. Ironically, Chinas trade ties with the United Statesand U.S. dependence on Chinese goodshave been sustaining its economy.

Despite the debate in Washington about decoupling from Beijing and the Biden administrations decision to keep most of the Trump-era tariffs (at least for now), the United States still wants to maintain trade relations with China.

Chinas GDP Growth Rate Cant Be Trusted

The Wall Street Journals Nathaniel Taplin recently wrote a piece about Chinas economic troubles. According to the author, the three pillars that support Chinese economic growthreal estate investment, consumer spending, and exportsare all shaky, and the outlook for 2022 remains uncertain.

Taplin listed four factors that have recently tapered Chinas economic growth: the property debt fiasco, the Delta variant outbreak, power outages, and snarled shipping lanes.

Sharply weaker growth last quarter at 4.9% from a year earlier was expected, he wrote.

From my own observation, however, Chinas gross domestic product growth rate has always been anything but trustworthy, mainly because it has always been highly manipulated by the regime. I wouldnt count on the veracity of any reports from the World Bank or International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Chinas economy, either. For one thing, their China reports are often generated with data that come directly from Beijing. A recent scandal involving IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who allegedly pressured World Bank staff to improve Chinas ranking in the Doing Business report, is a case in point.

Then-World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva speaks at the annual session of the China Development Forum (CDF) 2018 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, on March 25, 2018. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

US Consumers Heavily Rely on Chinese Goods

Amid the pandemic, the United States is currently caught in a supply chain crisisits ports are seriously congested, hundreds of thousands of containers are backlogged off the ports, and many stores are stricken with a shortage of goods or even empty shelves. Now, many Americans are waking up to this reality. China and the United States have long shared an international commodity supply chainChina is the supplier of the goods that Americans buy. The worlds two largest economies have an interdependent relationship.

No matter how you look it, the fact is that U.S. consumers still need Made in China productsthats really what drives Chinas economy.

According to data from Chinas customs agency, from January to August, Chinas total import and export value was $3.83 trillion, a year-over-year increase of 34.2 percent. The trade surplus was $362.49 billion, a year-over-year increase of 28.9 percent.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union, the United States, and Japan are Chinas first-, second-, third-, and fourth-largest trading partners, respectively, according to official data. China had a trade surplus with all of them except Japanincluding a surplus of $57.34 billion with ASEAN and of $117.82 billion with the EU.

The ChinaU.S. trade relationship totaled $477.8 billion, with Chinas exports to the United States being $358.8 billion. China received a massive surplus of $241.2 billion.

Whats interesting is that despite the U.S. trade tariffs, China continues to enjoy its largest trade surplus with the United Statesa figure thats far more than what it gets from all its other trading blocs and countries combined.

The U.S. data look slightly different, but show the same trend: Chinas exports to the United States are staying strong, even with the heightened tensions between the two nations.

USChina Trade

Since the 1990s, the relationship between the United States and China has been dominated by a steady inflow of U.S. capital and the rapid expansion of bilateral trade. Although there have been political bumps along the way, because of the fundamental differences between the two countries on universal values and human rights issues, their economic ties have become increasingly closer.

Owing to Chinas comparative cost advantage, the U.S. domestic manufacturing industry has been hollowed out over the last three decades, resulting in a stable international commodity supply chain between the United States and China. The current supply chain crisis in the United States stems from this heavy dependence on Chinese manufacturing.

In many industries, China has successfully created unsurpassed ecosystems of industrial production encompassing the entire value chain from raw materials to final product, reads a report by MForesight, a U.S. manufacturing think tank.

The report warned that as many U.S. companies invest in overseas research and development, offshore production in advanced manufacturing has reached a tipping point, and the invent here, make there strategy has become invent there, make there.

A cargo ship moves toward the Bayonne Bridge as it heads into port in Bayonne, N.J., on Oct. 13, 2021. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Over the years, Ive seen a lot of articles trying to foretell a boom or crash for Chinas economy. As Ive always argued, Chinas economy has never been as prosperous as many Western investment bankers have predicted, because Chinese authorities have often made very short-sighted decisions in order to accelerate development. Thus, hidden dangers are bound to emerge following brief prosperity, as we can see during the current debt crisis unfolding in Chinas real estate industry.

However, Chinas economy wont collapse in an instant. As the current state of U.S.China trade shows, Chinese manufacturing needs the U.S. market and vice versa. This strong U.S. demand has provided the Chinese economy with the strength it needs. Capital always follows profits closely and the U.S. business community doesnt intend to abandon the lucrative Chinese market anytime soon. This is why the Chinese economy has survived and will continue to do so for some time, despite all the crises it has faced.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
VIENNA (AP)  Unvaccinated people in Austria who also haven't had COVID-19 will no longer be allowed to enter restaurants, hotels and hair salons or attend public events larger than 25 people under new rules that take effect Monday, the government said.

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg outlined the rules Friday night after a meeting with state-level leaders to discuss the countrys response to rapidly rising coronavirus cases.

It is simply our responsibility to protect the people in our country, Schallenberg told reporters, noting the case numbers and increasingly full hospital intensive care units.

Previously, people could enter restaurants, hotels and other areas if they were vaccinated, had recovered from the virus or could show results from a negative test.

The government is planning a transition period for the first four weeks to encourage the unvaccinated to get shots. During that time, anyone who has received one vaccine dose and has results from a valid PCR test will be allow to attend events and enter the listed types of locations.

After four weeks, only people who are fully vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19 will be allowed entry.

The capital city of Vienna announced similar restrictions earlier this week.

Austria reported a pandemic high of 9,923 new confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday, surpassing its previous record of 9,586 last year. In the last seven days, the infection rate rose from 317.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 522.4 cases per 100,000.

If the situation continues to worsen, further restrictions on unvaccinated people could be on the horizon. Schallenberg said last month that if ICU's fill to one-third of the total capacity, the government would implement lockdown restrictions for residents who remain unvaccinated.

Currently, 66.7% percent of Austrias population has received one dose of vaccine and 64.5% is fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. The Austrian government announced this week that all adults are eligible for booster shots, if six months have elapsed since their last dose.

Schallenberg called again on unvaccinated Austrians to get the vaccine, calling it a moral responsibility.

___

Follow AP's pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  The leader of North Macedonia's center-right opposition VMRO-DPMNE party says he has secured a majority in Parliament to submit a no confidence vote against the leftist cabinet, after a small ethnic Albanian party announced it has left the ruling coalition.

Hristijan Mickoski set Monday as the deadline for Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to submit his resignation to Parliament.

Mickoski said he has secured a majority with 61 seats in the 120-member chamber after the small ethnic Albanian Besa party with its three lawmakers left the ruling coalition. He said he will try to form a new cabinet or will request an early parliamentary election.

I will try to form a new government and that will happen only if I am sure that it will be a government of serious credibility, a government with strong institutions that will guarantee stability, new energy. If this goal is not achieved ... then the only option that remains are early parliamentary elections,, Mickoski told reporters at a press conference in North Macedonias capital of Skopje.

Social Democrat leader Zaev announced his resignation as prime minister last weekend after his party lost municipal races in Skopje and other cities.

The 47-year-old Zaev, who is against having an early election, said he would remain in office for a short time while the political negotiations were in progress. He had started talks with the leaders of junior coalition partners in a bid to keep his 62-seat majority.

The pro-Western Social Democrat Union won a narrow victory last year, forming a government with a multi-party coalition.

The next parliamentary election is not officially due until 2024.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  Former Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson has claimed a vacant Georgia state House seat that had been held by state Rep. Mickey Stephens.

Jackson won a majority in Tuesday's special election, beating four other candidates without need for a runoff. Democrat Antwan Lang finished second, while Libertarian Clinton Cowart was third. Democrats Clinton Young and Sabrina Kent finished fourth and fifth.
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP)  A northwestern Indiana mayor acknowledged Friday he smoked marijuana at two recent Grateful Dead concerts in Chicago and pledged he would work to legalize marijuana nationwide if he wins election next year to the U.S. Senate.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. is the highest-profile Democrat seeking to challenge Republican Sen. Todd Young's 2022 reelection campaign.

McDermott, 52, talked during his "Left of Center podcast Friday about the Sept. 17 and 18 performances at Wrigley Field, describing them as a lovely two days of music and camaraderie, enhanced by the ability to use marijuana in a state where it is legal, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

Yeah, I went to a Grateful Dead show at Wrigley Field and I smoked weed, McDermott said. And, by the way, I was driven there and I was driven home, I wasnt intoxicated. It was just a social thing.

McDermott shrugged off the suggestion his marijuana admission could harm his campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, saying Indiana is missing out on significant tax revenue and economic growth by so far declining to join Illinois, Michigan and other states in legalizing marijuana.

Indiana is woefully behind on this, McDermott said. If Im elected Indianas U.S. senator, Im a vote to decriminalize, Im a vote to legalize marijuana  and I will.

And I can tell you, as a former public defender, the only people that are truly penalized with these marijuana laws are the poor that cant hire lawyers and get out of this, he said.

Officials from Youngs campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McDermott has been mayor of the largest city in northwestern Indianas Lake County since 2004 but isnt well known outside that region going into the Senate campaign.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A state attorney asked a federal judge Friday for a quick hearing and ruling about the constitutionality of Nevadas execution procedure, saying a drug that officials want to use for condemned killer Zane Floyds lethal injection will expire in late February.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II did not promise to accelerate the pace of his review.

We need to continue to expedite this case, Chief Deputy Nevada Attorney General Randall Gilmer told the judge, who plans at least three days of hearings this month and possibly more next month amid challenges by Floyds attorneys of the method, the personnel and the drugs that would be used to kill him.

Floyd, a convicted mass killer, is fighting on several fronts to avoid becoming the first Nevada inmate put to death in 15 years. Other challenges by his team of federal public defenders are pending in the Nevada Supreme Court, in state court in Las Vegas and before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Friday's hearing was largely about scheduling. Floyd's attorney, David Anthony, noted the timeline  including requirements for a state judge to issue a death warrant  suggests that no execution could be carried out this year.

Gilmer told Boulware a window closes after the Feb. 28 expiration date for the anesthetic ketamine. Prison officials have no reasonable belief that well be able to purchase additional drugs, the state attorney said.

Lawyers for ketamine manufacturer Hikma Pharmaceuticals have called for Nevada to return some 50 vials of the drug that it has obtained. They have threatened to sue if the state goes forward with plans to use it in an execution.

Hikma won a similar fight in 2018 over Nevada's plan to use the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl in the execution of Scott Raymond Dozier, a twice-convicted murderer who killed himself in prison in January 2019.

Nevadas execution procedure, or protocol, calls for using ketamine among three or four drugs, also including fentanyl, heart-stopping potassium chloride and perhaps a muscle paralytic called cisatracurium.

Gilmer acknowledged that no one involved in the current process has any experience with an execution.

New people, using an entirely new protocol thats never been used before, the state attorney said. Nevada has not executed anybody for a very long time.

The last person put to death in Nevada was Daryl Mack in 2006 for a 1988 rape and murder in Reno. His execution was at a state prison in Carson City that has since closed. Mack asked for his sentence to be carried out.

Floyd, 46, was convicted and sentenced to die for killing four people and wounding a fifth in a 1999 shotgun attack at a Las Vegas grocery store. His execution would be at a state prison in Ely, where a new lethal injection chamber has remained idle since it was completed in 2016 at a cost of $860,000.

Boulware in June put the brakes on executing Floyd to review the constitutionality of what he summarized Thursday as the protocol itself, how it is administered, and the drugs.

A state court judge in Las Vegas who had issued a death warrant to schedule Floyds lethal injection last summer followed with a formal order in July postponing the execution to allow time for appeals to be heard.

That case has been transferred to a different Clark County District Court judge, who has scheduled her first hearing in the case Nov. 12.
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China pours cash into river studies

BANGKOK: The Chinese government has set aside a budget of US$2.39 million (about B80mn) for the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) to support seven Thai university projects related to the Mekong River, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said yesterday (Nov 5).

natural-resourcesChinese

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 6 November 2021, 09:23AM

Photo: AFP

Ms Rachada revealed that the cabinet on Thursday gave the green light to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation on Mekong projects: the Lancang Cooperation Special Fund 2021 conducted between MHESI and the Chinese embassy in Thailand, reports the Bangkok Post.

The MoU will be in effect for five years, which sets the purpose of defining the direction of the project management with benefits leading to sustainable prosperity and peace for the MekongLancang community.

In steering the project, the Chinese government has decided to subsidise the projects under the MoU this year, Ms Rachada said.

Three projects are run by Chiang Mai University, which the Chinese government has given $420,000 to help aquatic animals in the Mekong Delta, $400,000 for a food security project with suitable technological innovation, and $416,100 for a bee farm project.

Just under $340,000 was injected into a breeding development project for aquatic animals of Suranaree University of Technology. The project is trying to utilise local resources for sustainability.

Ms Rachada said the Far Eastern University received $157,600 for its project to manage digital data of the logistic providers in the member countries of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, in an attempt to support cross-border trade.

A total of $184,900 was given to Burapha University to launch a health development project for personnel that takes care of mothers, infants and minorities in Laos and Vietnam.

The Chinese government also gave $479,000 to Geo-Informatics and Space Technology to develop a tracking system and assess the amounts of productivity of the cash crops in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, she said.
Oblique support delivers last-minute Thailand Pass

PHUKET: Support for dealing with issues in being approved a Thailand Pass in order to enter the country has delivered a last-minute reprieve for at least one family looking to fly to Phuket, with a Thailand Pass issued for each family member within 24 hours of their booked flight to Phuket.

tourismCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Saturday 6 November 2021, 03:58PM

The QR code to scan to contact the Department of Consular Affairs official LINE account. Image: MFA

The contact details are now posted on the Department of Consular Affairs home page. Image: MFA

The family, currently based in Paris, have been left hanging in hope that a Thailand Pass would be issued for the mother before they board their flight tomorrow (Nov 7).

The reprieve came via a notice posted by the Royal Thai Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, giving contact details for those needing assistance with their Thailand Pass applications through the website https://tp.consular.go.th/

Of note, the same support notice has now been posted on the home page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Consular Affairs website.

On Friday I managed to find the LINE ID of the Dept of Consular Affairs Thailand. So I tried my luck and sent them a message. Very quickly they replied asking for my details, the mother told The Phuket News. (See gallery above for LINE ID QR code.)

I replied immediately. About two hours later they also asked me for my phone number. Again I replied immediately. And then nothing, she added.

During the day I sent various messages but nothing. Then yesterday night I decided to call the call center, but no answers, the mother explained.

A friend of mine who just arrived in Phuket tried non-stop to call them since early morning today [Saturday] as well, but no answers, she continued.

Anyhow, they finally sent me my personal QR code as well as the QR code of my two children at 4:37am this morning, which is just about 24 hour before my departure, the mother confirmed.

I am so relieved you cant imagine! she said.

The last-minute reprieve for the one family gives hope to many hundreds, if not thousands, of people affected by the issues affecting the timely issuing of Thailand Pass permits to enter the country.

Many of the people affected were either already issued a COE (Certificate of Entry) under the previous entry requirements, or as with the family in Paris told to wait for the Thailand Pass system to launch when they originally applied for the COE with plenty of time to be issued their permit.
Vaccinated get 20% off long bus rides

BANGKOK: The Transport Co, the state-run operator of inter-provincial bus services, is extending a 20% discount on fares for fully vaccinated customers until the end of this month.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthVaccinetransport

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 6 November 2021, 04:13PM

A worker at Transport Co, a state enterprise under the Transport Ministry, rides a motorcycle past a fleet of idled interprovincial buses at Mor Chit terminal after service suspension. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill

Sanyalak Panwattanalikhit, managing director of Transport Co, said the discounts are part of the Transport Ministrys efforts to support passengers negatively impacted by the pandemic and rising fuel prices.

He said the company has also joined the governments Khon La Khrueng co-payment scheme. However, any payments using the Pao Tang e-wallet must be made in person at its ticket counters, reports the Bangkok Post. Moreover, cancellations and refunds are not allowed.

Mr Sanyalak said the scheme cannot be used for advance bookings.

Following the Nov 1 easing of the COVID-19 curbs, Transport Co has seen an increase in the number of passengers from 16,000-18,000 a day to 20,000.

The company expects a steady increase with the New Year holiday approaching, he said.

He said the company has launched an app to facilitate bookings and payments while reducing any physical contact and lowering the risk of transmitting the disease.

Transport Co plans to roll out special discounts for goods delivery services ahead of the New Year holiday and allow community enterprises to sell their products at its depots, he said.

According to Mr Sanyalak, the company has also improved the delivery of goods with a focus on same-day shipments. Frozen food, clothes and household appliances are among the goods delivered by the company.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Attorneys spent the first week of Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial sparring over who provoked whom, with prosecutors portraying the Illinois teenager as the aggressor and the defense working to show that the men he shot had threatened him.

The stakes are enormous as jurors weigh whether Rittenhouse fired in self-defense because he legitimately felt threatened or whether he overreacted.

To establish self-defense, the first prong is the defense must show there was going to be interference with Rittenhouse and that Rittenhouse had a belief that could result in great bodily harm, said former Milwaukee County prosecutor Daniel Adams, who isn't involved in the case.

Rittenhouse brought a semi-automatic rifle to a protest against police brutality in Kenosha in August 2020. The city was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, after Blake resisted arrest during a domestic dispute. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, said he was trying to protect downtown businesses from looters and vandals. He's charged with homicide and attempted homicide, as well as being a minor in possession of a dangerous weapon.

Just before midnight, he shot and killed Rosenbaum as Rosenbaum chased him across a parking lot. As Rittenhouse fled the scene someone in the crowd tried to kick him in the face and Anthony Huber swung his skateboard at him, connecting with Rittenhouse's head and neck. Rittenhouse fatally shot Huber. A moment later Gaige Grosskreutz ran up to him holding a pistol. Rittenhouse shot him in the arm; Grosskreutz survived.

Rittenhouse insists he fired in self-defense in all three instances. The jury will ultimately have to decide whether Rittenhouse reasonably believed he was in danger and whether the amount of force he used was reasonable.

That means defense attorney Mark Richards needs to make jurors understand that Rittenhouse was terrified, Adams said.

Judge Bruce Schroeder gave the defense some help earlier this year when he barred anyone from referring to Rosenbaum, Huber or Grosskreutz as victims, saying the term is loaded because it implies the defendant committed a crime against them before anything has been proven. The judge gave Rittenhouse another boost when he ruled last month that his attorneys could refer to the men as rioters, looters and arsonists if they can show evidence backing up those labels.

Richards went on the offensive during opening statements on Tuesday, telling jurors that Huber intended to separate (Rittenhouse's) head from the body" when he hit him with the skateboard and tried to wrest his gun away.

Richards also has worked to persuade the jury that Rosenbaum was a menace. He got a police detective to testify that at various points during the night, Rosenbaum armed himself with a chain he stole from a construction site, set a Dumpster on fire and was walking around wearing his shirt as a mask.

Ryan Balch, a military veteran who carried a rifle and was with Rittenhouse at points, testified that Rosenbaum was hyperaggressive, had thrown rocks at his group and had threatened to kill any of you guys that he found alone that night. But another former veteran who was armed in the streets, Jason Lackowski, described Rosenbaum as a babbling idiot whom he didn't see as a threat.

With images from FBI surveillance plane video, Richards highlighted Rosenbaum's movement behind a car, emerging as Rittenhouse ran past and chasing him down in the moments before Rittenhouse shot him.

The defense attorney, describing how Rosenbaum came out from behind a car to meet Rittenhouse before the shooting, said to the detective: Correct me if Im wrong, but this looks like the classic ambush.

Prosecutors quickly objected, and Richards said: Mr. Rosenbaum is in hiding as my client arrives, correct?

It appears so, yes, Howard answered.

Richard McGinniss, a video journalist with the conservative website The Daily Caller who was recording events that night, testified that Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse down and lunged for Rittenhouse's rifle.

Richards also noted in his opening statement that Grosskreutz was carrying a handgun when he approached Rittenhouse.

What he's trying to do is put the jury in the shoes of Rittenhouse (and show) that the dread, the fear and the terror is real, Adams said. When you're being attacked by several people, he doesn't know (their intentions). What he thinks is he's going to get his gun stripped off and used against him.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger has pushed back, stressing repeatedly that Rosenbaum was unarmed when he was killed. He also has argued that Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum during a confrontation earlier that evening and that Rittenhouse chased him with a fire extinguisher before Rosenbaum turned the tables.

He got Balch to acknowledge on the stand that he never saw Rosenbaum strike anyone or carry a weapon. Binger also questioned McGinniss' description of Rosenbaum lunging toward Rittenhouse, raising the prospect that Rosenbaum was actually falling toward him  as McGinniss had said in a televised interview after the shootings.

Binger also has argued that Huber and Grosskreutz were trying to disarm Rittenhouse to protect others. He has said that Grosskreutz raised his hands in a universal surrender motion before he was shot. Richards maintains he dropped his hands and began to raise his pistol.

Prosecutors had hoped to highlight Huber's actions as heroic in questioning his great-aunt, Susan Hughes, who also testified that Huber had known Jacob Blake. But Schroeder ruled that such testimony would open the door for the defense to tell jurors about Huber spending time in prison for a family dispute in 2012 in which he threatened his brother with a knife and choked him.

The prosecutor also contends that in all the chaos of that night, Rittenhouse was the only one who killed anyone. He elicited testimony from Rittenhouse's friend, Dominick Black, who also went to the protests armed with a rifle to protect businesses, that people had thrown rocks at him but that he didn't feel his life was in danger.

I mean, pain, yes, but not danger, Black said. I knew it wasn't going to kill me.

So you felt like it wasn't enough to use deadly force, correct? Binger said.

Correct, Black said.

___

Find APs full coverage on the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse and follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
Early signs point to a robust demand for COVID-19 vaccinations among 5- to 11-year-old children in Connecticut during their first few days of eligibility, public health officials and local hospitals said Friday.

Roughly 278,000 children under the age of 12 became eligible for the first time on Tuesday to receive a modified dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Almost immediately, the state said 96,600 doses had been ordered, though that number did not include doses shipped to local pharmacies.

By Friday, some officials began to provide a clearer  albeit incomplete  accounting of the demand for those doses.

Chris Boyle, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said his agency has yet to complete a full analysis of demand for childhood vaccinations, though he said anecdotal signs indicated very strong demand around the state.

For instance, one provider booked more than 3,000 appointments within hours of opening their scheduling for appointments, Boyle said in an email Friday. Several of our local health departments have clinics with 100-plus people signed up this weekend. And, our department has received several requests for additional orders of the pediatric Pfizer product from providers across the state.

The states two largest health care providers, Yale New Haven Health and Hartford HealthCare, did not provide data on pediatric vaccinations. Neither did Walgreens or CVS.

At Stamford Health, 600 vaccination slots for pediatric vaccines were opened on Wednesday that were quickly booked, according to spokeswoman Andie Jodko.

We are working hard to expand appointment availability as soon as we add more resources and have additional vaccine supply on hand, likely within the next week. We recognize this is an exciting and important next step in ending the pandemic and we are honored to provide this service to our community, Jodko said in a statement.

Pediatric Healthcare Associates, a practice with six locations in Bridgeport, Fairfield Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull, announced on its website Friday that its appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations were completely booked.

At Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford, spokeswoman Monica Buchanan said 5,200 patient families were notified electronically to sign up for one of the hospitals 384 available slots over the first three days of eligibility this week.

By Friday morning, 365 of those slots had been filled by medically complex patients receiving their first dose, Buchanan said, slightly less than the hospitals expected response rate.

Buchanan said the slower-than-expected response was likely due to vaccines being more readily available now than earlier in the pandemic. She added that the hospital received an overwhelming response, to its community vaccine clinics scheduled in Hartford on Nov. 13 and 14.

A total of 2,420,969 Connecticut residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the latest weekly report from the state Department of Public Health. The percent of residents who are fully vaccinated ranged from over 95 percent for those over the age of 65, to 71 percent for those aged 12 to 15 and 18 to 24.

As of Friday, Boyle said 276,041 Connecticut residents had received a third COVID shot or booster.

State officials have reported 19,474 breakthrough cases among fully vaccinated residents, though those cases represent a fraction of the total number of infections identified since vaccines became widely available.

The state reported another 320 cases of the virus on Friday, with a daily positivity rate of 1.33 percent.

Hospitalizations fell by 12, and more than three-quarters of the 197 COVID patients in Connecticut on Friday were not fully vaccinated, the data showed.

Pfizer announced on Friday that it would seek emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its antiviral pill used to treat COVID-19, after the company said clinical trials showed the pill reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent among a study group.

The Associated Press reported that approval from the FDA could come within weeks or months of the companys formal application.

Pfizer partially developed its COVID-19 vaccine at the companys sprawling research center in Groton. A spokesman for the company on Friday declined to say what role the Groton facility played in the development of its antiviral pill, called Paxlovid.

Groton has a hand in almost everything at Pfizer  usually in a supporting capacity, Pfizer spokesman Steven Danehy said in an email.
Before we resume our look at the top-10 hits of the 1960s featuring groups and artists beginning with the letter D, a very brief update on the new Beatles Let It Be set, specifically the 2-CD version.

Last week, I proclaimed that I wouldn't buy a 2-CD set that doesn't come close to being filled to the physical capacity of each disc. But, I confess, I succumbed. After all, I just have to have everything (not from every country and all pressings, as some collectors do) by the Beatles.

Of course, it helped that I got the set for $12.99, used, at the Volume record store in Montreal.

And now to the D list.

Dale & Grace - I'm Leaving It Up To You, Stop And Think It Over: Charming but somewhat dated duets, what I call a hangover from the pop styles of the 1950s. I'm not wild about the second of these hits, as it sounds a bit too much like the first.

Vic Dana- Red Roses For A Blue Lady: Even though this hit is from 1965, save for the stereo sound, this Las Vegas-ish song sounds like it could have been recorded in 1955. It's very interesting how innovative rock from the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and others were battling for chart space with such laid back pop.

Bobby Darin- Beyond the Sea, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, Things, You're the Reason I'm Living, 18 Yellow Roses, If I Were A Carpenter: Shame on those who consider Darin to be a lightweight Frank Sinatra wannabe because of his '50s hit Mack the Knife. Darin, who died way too young in 1973 from heart problems, was a massively talented artist who delved into numerous genres, including jaunty pop, country music, Broadway and introspective folk-rock. All of these hits, and many more of Darin's songs, are extremely enjoyable. In this regard, I highly recommend Bobby Darin: Directions. A Listener's Guide by Shane Brown, a very detailed look at Darin's catalogue.

James Darren- Goodbye Cruel World, Her Royal Majesty: Fairly fun, goofy, pre-Beatles pop from 1961 and 1962.

Skeeter Davis- The End of the World, I Can't Stay Mad At You: The first of these hits is a beautifully touching song, and a favourite of and obvious influence for Karen Carpenter of Carpenters. The second of these hits is lesser, jaunty pop.

Spencer Davis Group- Gimme Some Lovin', I'm A Man: Two wonderfully timeless rock songs, because of a) the intense vocals of Steve Winwood and b) the compressed, intense production.

Tyrone Davis -Can I Change My Mind: Good, slinky soul, but the subsequent 1970 top-10 hit Turn Back the Hands of Time is far better.

Jimmy Dean- Big Bad John, P.T. 109: Interesting country and western story songs, one a tragedy of a hero who died while saving others from a mine about to collapse, and the other of President John F. Kennedy's heroism during World War II.

Joey Dee and the Starliters- Peppermint Twist Part 1, Shout Part 1: An obvious response to the high charting of Chubby Checker's recording of The Twist, and Dee's hits have kind of a wild, live vibe to them.

Deep Purple-Hush: In our household, my father had mostly relatively unhip 1960s records- movie soundtracks, Broadway shows, etc. But somehow, he also had some pretty good singles, such as To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees; Shame, Shame by The Magic Lanterns; Hello Goodbye/I Am the Walrus by the Beatles, Over You by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and the hard-rocking Hush by Deep Purple. The latter song was recorded by what is known as "Mark 1" of the group's history, when Rod Evans was the group's vocalist  Ian Gillan joined later. This intense song is my second favourite of Deep Purple's catalogue, after the Ian Gillan-sung Woman From Tokyo.

Next time: Desmond Dekker, the Delfonics and others.
Media Content Creator

Ian Ostroff is a writer/reporter who resides in Montreal. He is passionate about getting to know the people and places that make his hometown so great. In his spare time, you can find him at the gym, eating ice cream, or working on his novel(s).
WASHINGTON (AP)  Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. governments vaccine mandate, leading Republican lawmakers to raise concerns about removing employees from agencies critical to national security.

Overall, the percentage of intelligence personnel who have been vaccinated is higher than for the American public  97% at the CIA, for instance. But there are lower percentages in some of the 18-agency intelligence community of approximately 100,000 people, according to Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah.

Citing information that he said had been provided to the House Intelligence Committee but not released publicly, Stewart said several intelligence agencies had at least 20% of their workforce unvaccinated as of late October. In some agencies, as many as 40% are unvaccinated, Stewart said. He declined to identify the agencies because full information on vaccination rates was classified.

While many people will likely still get vaccinated before the administration's Nov. 22 deadline for civilian workers, resistance to the mandate could leave major agencies responsible for national security without some personnel. Intelligence officers are particularly hard to replace due to the highly specialized work they do and the difficulties of completing security clearance checks.

CIA Director William Burns disclosed publicly last week that 97% of the agencys officers have been vaccinated. The National Reconnaissance Office, which operates U.S. spy satellites, has more than 90% of its workforce vaccinated.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined several requests to provide figures for the intelligence community. The office also would not say what contingency plans are in place in case officers are taken off work due to not complying with the mandate.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines declined at a hearing last week to disclose what percentage of the workforce had been vaccinated, but said, we are not anticipating that it is going to be an issue for mission.

The vaccination rates provided by Stewart are mostly higher than those of the general U.S. population. About 70% of American adults are fully vaccinated and 80% have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Stewart called on the administration to approve more exemptions for people on medical, religious and other grounds, and delay any terminations of intelligence officers.

My question is whats the impact on national security if we do that? Stewart said. Youre potentially firing thousands of people on the same day. And its not like you put an ad on Craigslist and have people apply by Thursday.

Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee say theyre confident that the vaccination mandate will not cause a problem for the intelligence community. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said the agencies were doing quite well and that getting vaccinated was a sign of an employees readiness.

If somebody is not willing to do whats necessary to protect their own health and the health of their unit, that actually calls into question their ability to effectively do the job, Crow said in an interview.

President Joe Biden has issued several mandates to boost the vaccination rate in the U.S. affecting federal employees, contractors and health care workers. The White House has credited those mandates with driving up vaccination rates and reducing deaths from a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 people in the U.S. and 5 million people worldwide.

Federal regulators and independent health experts have certified that the available vaccines are safe. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that from April to July, unvaccinated people were 10 times more likely than vaccinated people to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19.

Mandates to get vaccinated have faced significant resistance, particularly given an already-tight market for businesses looking to hire workers. Some first responders have resisted vaccine mandates as have employee unions, arguing that mandates impinge on personal freedom.

The Biden administration classified information it gave the intelligence committee on each of the nations 18 intelligence agencies, said Stewart, who noted generally that agencies more closely affiliated with the military tended to report lower vaccination rates.

Several major agencies with large military components all declined to provide their vaccination rate when asked by The Associated Press, including the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The NGA, which produces intelligence from satellites and drones, said in a statement that it was working to ensure that all members of the workforce understand the process and documentation required prior to the deadline.

Stewart, a former Air Force pilot, has been vaccinated but said he opposes mandates as being intrusive and counterproductive.

If you say, you have to do this and we wont consider any exceptions to that, thats where you get people to dig in their heels, he said.

Rep. Darin LaHood, an Illinois Republican, echoed Stewart's concerns in a hearing last week and told agency leaders that the question of unvaccinated employees affects all of you and us globally.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he supported requiring vaccinations for federal employees. We need to be using every tool at our disposal to save lives and protect mission readiness, Warner said.

Federal employees who arent vaccinated or haven't received an exemption by Nov. 22 could face a suspension of 14 days or fewer, followed by possible dismissal. The General Services Administration has advised agencies that unique operational needs of agencies and the circumstances affecting a particular employee may warrant departure from these guidelines if necessary.

Steve Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies, said the vaccine mandate was still relatively new and he expected the numbers to change before the administrations cutoff.

Morrison said that as intelligence agencies broadly work with unvaccinated employees, theyre going to have to show some flexibility around the margins without compromising away the basic strategy and goals.

Getting control over this pandemic in the United States requires getting to a much higher level of vaccine coverage, Morrison said. Its a matter of national security.
SAM MONTALTO, Stonington, Boys Soccer, Senior; Montalto scored three goals including the 100th of his career in the Bears 4-0 victory over Plainville in the Class M state tournament. Montalto, who missed the first three games of the season, has 32 goals and nine assists this season.

GIRLS & BOYS Soccer Team, Chariho; It wouldnt be fair to single out a player from either team, both of which captured Division II titles over the weekend of Nov. 12. The girls tied their game with Prout with 1:02 left in regulation and prevailed in penalty kicks. The boys scored the winning goal in the final two minutes of the second overtime to beat North Smithfield.

ZACK TUCK, Westerly, Football; Tuck rushed for 150 yards on 29 carries in a loss to unbeaten St. Raphael in the Division II semifinals. Tuck has rushed for 1,533 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season for the 7-3 Bulldogs.

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The Oldest Investment?

Unlike any other form of investment, gold is the one item that virtually everyone would know about.

There are the die-hard gold bugs, who will appear at the mention of any criticism of this shiniest of metals to defend its long-term value and its position as a vital investment.

If you think that the global investment markets are going to collapse or at least have a nervous breakdown, then gold has shown itself in times of stress to be a safe haven

Certainly it must be said that stocks and shares can be fair-weather friends and other assets are not always so dependable, but gold remains there despite financial fiascos and war.

A limited supply?

Apparently only 187,200 tonnes has ever been mined and that would fit into a crate 27 cubic yards.

Oh, and if Auric Goldfinger happens to be reading today, there is only some 6,700 tonnes in Fort Knox. The largest producer is China, followed by Russia, Australia and the US, with, surprisingly, South Africa only 11th in the list.

Roughly half of all production goes to the creation of jewellery, with other demand coming from industrial uses and direct investment.

Politics?

For many years, the global economy operated with a gold standard to enable currencies to benchmark themselves against the metal, but that eventually broke down and the price traded more freely.

Many nations used to keep gold as a cornerstone of their reserves, but this has been reduced more recently.

Some may recall Gordon Brown selling 56 per cent of the UK's reserves at roughly $275 per ounce  it is currently at $1,791 per ounce.

However, there is increasing demand for the metal in industry, technology especially, with the development of gold 'nanoparticles', which have a variety of applications in tech and medicine.

What should I do?

If you think that the global investment markets are going to collapse, or at least have a nervous breakdown, then gold will always be there and has shown itself in times of stress to be a safe haven.

However, if you are a doomster expecting the end is nigh, then sitting in a Scottish cave with a gold bar won't do you much good  you could cuddle it and lick it, but you could hardly live off it.

A case of whisky might be of more benefit. Owning some gold is a good defensive part of your portfolio, but remember it has no yield  that is to say no income or benefit from compounding. It merely goes up or down.

Now, many families may already have gold in the form of personal jewellery.

However, for a more direct investment you can buy the metal as bullion in various forms such as bars and coins but that will have storage and security issues. I would suggest a simple passive tracker fund on the price.

These can be either as a fund physically backed by the metal itself or sometimes as a synthetic which represents the value.

Personally, I would always rather have something backed by the real thing. One example is the iShares Physical Gold ETC (Exchange Traded Commodities).

It is low cost and simple to trade. Of course, there is still whisky which is at least liquid and consumable  so Slainte Mhath (cheers!).
Barclays Bank has been served with a legal demand by the United States Virgin Islands to hand over all correspondence between its former chief executive Jes Staley and the late Jeffrey Epstein.

The letter was filed at 5.44pm on October 12 and served on Barclays by Carol Thomas-Jacobs, the deputy attorney general of the US Virgin Islands (USVI).

Staley, 64, stepped down from the bank following an investigation by City regulators into the way he described his relationship with Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

The United States Virgin Islands is demanding Barclays hand over all correspondence between its former chief executive Jes Staley (pictured) and the late Jeffrey Epstein.

The bank said the investigation did not conclude that Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Epstein's crimes.

As he stepped down on Monday, Staley vowed to challenge the regulator's findings. Barclays denied the USVI's legal letter had influenced his decision to resign.

Links: Disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein (pictured)

But as one source close to the situation said: 'Coming together with the regulators' report, Barclays and Staley realised it was game over.'

Before he joined Barclays, Staley and his wife visited Epstein on Little Saint James, his private Caribbean retreat in the USVI known locally as the 'Island of Sin'.

The territory's authorities want to repossess the island and make restitution to his victims.

But last month's letter was the second time the bank had received an order from the USVI to hand over documents related to Epstein.

In February, its New York division was served with a subpoena by the USVI courts to reveal transactions, correspondence and investments on accounts linked to Epstein.

A bank spokesman said the lender's US arm has already provided its response to the subpoena and complied with its obligations.

It added that the USVI is in the process of serving a similar subpoena on the bank in the UK and that it 'will respond to that subpoena once it is served'.

'Island of Sin': Before he joined Barclays, Staley and his wife visited Epstein on Little Saint James (pictured), his private Caribbean retreat

The 14-page legal request, seen by the Daily Mail, demands that Barclays' UK arm hands over all documents, emails, information, videos and pictures that may have been shared between Staley and Epstein.

This would include information uncovered in the bank's inquiry into the nature of relations between Staley and Epstein, and documents it may have passed on to the City watchdogs.

In addition, the court wants to see documentation about the hiring of Staley by Barclays, where he took over at the end of 2016.

At the time there were allegations that Epstein lobbied for him to get the job  claims Barclays has denied.

There were also suggestions he had lobbied on behalf of Staley for the role in 2012, when the bank appointed Antony Jenkins.

The USVI court has given Barclays 30 days from the date of filing to respond.

Thomas-Jacobs is asking for the material to be used in the civil proceedings being undertaken between the government of the USVI and the defendants, Epstein's estate.
The Co-op Bank is on track to achieve its first annual profit in a decade as it ponders a stock market float, possibly as soon as 2023.

The self-styled ethical lender raked in profits of 28.5million in the nine months to September  its third consecutive quarter in the black following a string of scandals and a drastic shake-up plan.

It is understood the bank is considering a float  nearly ten years after it was bailed out by a group of hedge funds following its near-collapse.

The Co-op Bank raked in profits of 28.5m in the nine months to September  its third consecutive quarter in the black following a string of scandals and a drastic shake-up plan

Sources close to the firm told the Mail that the bank could float as soon as 2023 under its current growth plans, but that it was also exploring a merger with a rival.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the Co-op Bank had approached TSB with a view to combining the two businesses, but was turned down.

Nick Slape, chief executive of the Co-op Bank, said that TSB's Spanish parent company Sabadell had 'made it very clear that now is not the right time'.

He added: 'We respect that position and have left it like that. I'm patient, the board is patient and we've got plenty on our plate.'

He declined to comment on the plans for an initial public offering (IPO). But he said the lender was exploring opportunities to buy more businesses and portfolios of loans.

The Co-op Bank has been hamstrung by a series of scandals over the last decade.

In 2009 it completed an ill-advised merger with Britannia, and only now is the bank finally integrating the former building society's business onto its technology system.

In 2013 the Co-op Bank discovered a 1.5billion hole in its balance sheet, and then-boss Barry Tootell later admitted accounting misconduct.

Its reputation was further tarnished when chairman Paul Flowers, a former church minister, resigned and pleaded guilty to possession of an array of Class A drugs, which earned him the nickname 'the Crystal Methodist'.

Slape, who took the reins last year, became its sixth chief executive in a decade as successive bosses failed to make any lasting impression at the struggling lender.

But now the bank is on track to make its first full-year profit since its troubles began.

Slape has been selling parts of the lender and its loan book, which it does not consider 'core', as it focuses on serving small businesses and households.

So far this year, the Co-op Bank has lent out 2.2billion in mortgages as the pandemic prompted a boom in the housing market.

The lender, which was formerly part of the Co-operative Group, was rescued by its hedge fund lenders in 2017.

Those firms  who include private equity firms JC Flowers and Bain Capital, after they bought shares held by Blue Mountain  are understood to be keen to exit.

Last year Cerberus Capital Management  branded a 'vulture fund' by MPs  abandoned talks to buy the Co-op Bank.
Carolyn Sue Bryant Ellis, 78, of Fort Walton Beach, FL, passed away on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at Somerby of Santa Rosa Beach, FL. Born March 15, 1943, at Dr. Daniel's Hospital in Pavo, Georgia, Carolyn was the youngest of nine children born to Franklin and Marie (Dailey) Bryant, of Route 2
Princeton, KY (42445)

Today

Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 29F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
If a multi-ethnic Bosnia is pushed towards disintegration, that will inevitably have an impact on other unresolved conflicts in the Western Balkans such as that between Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnias peace envoy told Reuters on Saturday.

German politician Christian Schmidt, who is international High Representative in Bosnia, said this week that the peace deal that ended the countrys war in the 1990s was at risk of unravelling unless the international community took measures to stop Serb separatists.

He was referring to moves by the Bosnian Serb leadership aimed at undoing key state institutions such as the joint armed forces, the indirect taxation authority and the top judicial body, as well as other institutions.

The unrest in this region will also affect the question of the difficult relationship between Serbia and Kosovo in the same or similar way, Schmidt said in an interview.

Serbia should have an interest in Bosnia-Herzegovina staying together, he said, adding that Belgrades path towards European Union membership could be gravely affected by instability in Bosnia, where it supports its ethnic kin.

RISK

Asked if there was a realistic possibility of Bosnia breaking apart, Schmidt said it was not an imminent danger.

But if the degradation of the Dayton treaty continues  there is a risk that the country will break apart, he added.

The U.S.-sponsored Dayton peace accords signed in 1995 ended the 3-1/2-year war among Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks by splitting the country along ethnic lines into two autonomous regions  the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Croats and Bosniaks.

While Schmidt said he still hoped that international pressure would move developments in a sensible direction, the red line would be the Serb Republics withdrawal from the joint armed forces and the creation of its own separate army within Bosnia, as announced by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.

If this proves to be true then we in the international community will have to think very, very, very seriously about how we can move forward, Schmidt said.

He said that using his sweeping powers to sack officials and impose laws would be the last resort.

SOURCE: REUTERS
ALBANY  A spokesman for Andrew Cuomo labeled him a "cowboy sheriff." George Stephanopoulos said he was a "lone ranger." Others are calling Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple much worse.

I suggested to Apple that "The Cowboy Sheriff," at least, is kind of a cool nickname  somebody buy him a white hat  but you'll understand if he's not in the mood for jokes, not when his integrity, decency and competence are being attacked on a national stage.

The reason for the onslaught, of course, is the criminal complaint filed against Cuomo accusing the former governor of misdemeanor forcible touching for the alleged groping of Brittany Commisso at the Executive Mansion. The complaint, apparently filed prematurely, was quickly engulfed in a swirl of confusion and controversy.

Things got more complicated  and potentially worse for Apple  on Thursday, when Albany County District Attorney David Soares filed a letter in City Court calling the criminal complaint "potentially defective" and alleging it was submitted "unilaterally and inexplicably." Soares even suggested, as he asked for a 60-day arraignment adjournment, that Apple had excluded potentially exculpatory evidence.

Oh, boy. This is going to get messy. Well, messier.

Soares and Apple, each with their own investigations into Commisso's allegation, are not on the same page, clearly, and the drama around this case seems likely to make Albany County look like a backwater. (Hey now, I know what you're thinking.)

More importantly, the drama is providing the Cuomo team with an easy attack on the credibility of the Commisso allegation and its investigators, Apple especially. Yes, Cuomo and friends would have attacked no matter what, but the confusion plays into their hands.

"Sheriff Apple, who has been a political opponent of the governor's since the passage of the SAFE Act, is seeking headlines and not justice," said Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman who in written statements described Apple as a cowboy conducting a rogue investigation.

That seems an attempt to paint Apple as a Republican yahoo from the sticks, but that's misleading, of course. Apple is a Democrat from a significantly urban county that's blue as the Mediterranean, and he has long been apolitical and uncontroversial, helping to make him one of this region's more popular elected officials.

"They're labeling me as some ultra-conservative guy," Apple told me, "and honestly, it couldn't be further from the truth. Do I have some conservative values? Yes. Do I have some progressive values? Yes. But I'm mostly just a peacekeeper."

Regarding the SAFE Act, the controversial gun control measure, Apple hasn't exactly been a rabid opponent. In fact, he was one of the law enforcement officials who gathered with Cuomo as the then-governor signed the legislation, though he would later question some aspects of the law.

"I've never battled with the governor or had issues with him," Apple said. "I've opposed some of the stuff he's done, and I'm sure he's opposed some of the stuff I've done, but that's normal."

Nevertheless, Team Cuomo is also alleging that Apple, of all people, is aiming to boost Attorney General Letitia James' political ambitions, a conspiracy bolstered when James foolishly announced her candidacy for governor quickly after the criminal complaint was filed.

"These political bedfellows," claimed a Team Cuomo statement, "are abusing their office and putting their agenda over their ethical and constitutional duty."

Political bedfellows? Apple and James? Does anybody else see logical inconsistency here?

We're meant to believe Apple is furious to the point of revenge over the SAFE ACT, and is therefore teaming with a progressive advocate of gun control who, before her investigation into nursing home pandemic deaths and sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, was most famous for targeting the National Rifle Association? Yeah, sure, that makes sense.

But for Cuomo, logic isn't the goal. If the former governor throws enough conspiracies at a wall, one or two may stick enough to confuse everybody. And the Democrat has an $18 million war chest available for mucking up the water.

That's why it's unfortunate the back-and-forth between Apple and Soares is also creating confusion. The district attorney's letter even said Apple's complaint was rendered defective because it failed to include a sworn statement from Commisso. The DA might as well have called the sheriff incompetent. What's going on?

In response, Apple told my colleague Brendan Lyons that he had followed necessary procedures and that his office did everything it was supposed to. That echoed some of what Apple told me when we spoke Thursday, ahead of the Soares filing.

"I feel like we're handing him a very good case," Apple said, referring to the district attorney. And Commisso, the sheriff said, "is 100 percent cooperative. She is very concerned about seeking justice."

But justice might be threatened by whatever is happening between Apple and Soares.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
SCHENECTADY - Volunteers at area shelters see the desperate, evasive tactics taken by the impoverished and the homeless to defend themselves from the brutal cold of a Capital Region winter. Some tie plastic bags around their sneakers hoping their shoes wont get soaked by sleet or snow. Others wear every shirt or sweater they own and hope five layers will protect them when the mercury dips to freezing.

Retired nurse Dorothy Horstkotte is a longtime volunteer at Schenectadys City Mission. In July, she set herself a goal to collect 100 coats to protect those who rely on the Mission for winter clothing.

To everyones amazement, including her own, she collected coat number 505 on Halloween, just as bitter cold night time temps crept in. Horstkotte offered some tips for volunteers racing to gather warm clothing before bitter winds blast New York and make life more dangerous for their nonprofit's clients:

1) I always check the newspaper ads Saturday mornings then hit all the garage sales advertised, Horstkotte said. If the coats were beyond my budget, Id explain I was shopping for the City Mission and how volunteers there clothe families. Id ask if a discount was possible.

Some kindly managers simply gave her coats.

2. Let businesses where you're a customer know about your volunteer work collecting winter gear. Horstkotte told her Trustco Bank manager and her stylist at Marios Barber Shop in Niskayuna about her efforts. Both businesses and many of their staff members donated coats.

3. Get some inexpensive "volunteer cards" inscribed with your task and contact info printed so you can hand them out to potential donors.

4. Be an ambassador for your charity by explaining its work to local officials, people in your house of worship, anyone in your network. City Mission does far more than feed and house homeless clients. It offers AC on broiling summer days, houses homeless women with children, clothes indigent clients head to toe, offers job training and placement and, for children, homework tutoring.

Her motivation

Horstkotte grew up one of seven children on a Maine dairy farm. She used her nursing education as a volunteer in the 1970s in Haiti where Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier's brutally reigned. She and her first husband, a doctor, helped a rural clinic run by nuns who warned them to lock themselves in the dorm at dusk.

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When some patients tested positive for tuberculosis, Horstkotte and her husband drove two nuns to Port-Au-Prince to ask the health commissioner's aid. He furiously accused them of sabotaging Duvalier, lying about TB threats.

One nun began weeping. The commissioner fell silent and stared at her. Horstkotte realized if the commissioner were angry enough, he could jail them for annoying him.

He left the office then returned with enough meds for four patients and handed them to her husband. On the ride home, they strategized about how to use them to save the maximum patients.

The strange episode taught Horstkotte that good people sometimes save lives building on bits of help. She sees at the Mission.

Ive seen people lost, in pain, who turned their lives around at City Mission, Horstkotte said. City Mission CEO Mike Saccocio, is a saint.

She volunteers at City Mission every Thursday with her second husband, a retired surgeon. Volunteerism has shaped her life so much, it even blessed the couple with the perfect "meet cute"; they first met each other as volunteers ushers at Proctors theater.
Jae C. Hong/AP

NEW YORK (AP)  Tesla CEO Elon Musk is asking on Twitter whether he should sell 10% of his stock in the electric-vehicle company amid pressure in Washington to increase taxes on billionaires like him.

Some Democrats have been pushing for billionaires to pay taxes when the price of the stocks they hold goes up, even if they don't sell any shares. It's a concept called unrealized gains, and Musk is sitting on a lot of them with a net worth of roughly $300 billion.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  Florida's ban on coronavirus mask mandates in the state's schools will stay in effect after a judge on Friday dismissed a challenge to the rule from several school districts.

Administrative Judge Brian A. Newman rejected the case from school officials in Miami-Dade, Leon, Duval, Orange, Broward, and Alachua counties, finding that the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis was within its authority to impose the rule.
STANDISH, Maine (AP)  The boyfriend of a woman found dead in June was arrested Friday after being indicted on a murder charge, officials said.

Brandon Libby, 34, of Standish, was taken into custody without incident in Hollis by the state police tactical team and U.S. marshals, officials said.
ALBANY - One marcher in Saturday's Climate Rally called the cause "the fight of our lives."

Anti-fossil fuel chants and honks of support from passing motorists echoed through the streets.

And representatives of several area organizations took part in the downtown assemblage.

It was all part of the gathering meant to highlight the idea that climate funding must target the communities - like the South End in Albany -- and countries that are the main victims in fossil fuel use, organizers said. Other rallies were planned worldwide as representatives of several nations gather in Glasgow for the five-year update to the Paris climate accords -- the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.

This is one of 200 (rallies) being held worldwide today as part of a Global Day of Action (for Climate Justice), said Mark Dunlea, facilitator of People of Albany United for Safe Energy (PAUSE). Organizers cited the state's $200 million investment in offshore wind tower manufacturing at the Port of Albany, which they said must ensure green economic development in the adjacent South End, "including good jobs for residents and clean energy upgrades and other improvements to housing."

We wanted to emphasize the South End because we want to make the connection with racial justice, Dunlea said. We want no one left behind, we want everyone to benefit ... everybody needs to be helped.

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Speakers began leading the march past South Station, where officers warned protesters to not march in the street to avoid disrupting traffic. Despite a brief announcement from a police officer, the protesters took to the streets and marched from South Station to a park across from the Palace Theater.

As bus drivers made their way around the crowd and passersby honked their horns in approval, chants could be heard from blocks away saying, Hey, hey, ho, ho / fossil fuels, have got to go!

The demands of the rally to elected officials and corporate CEOs are: mandatory cuts in emissions, climate debt reparations for developing countries and jobs related to climate improvement. Organizers said any U.S. climate program must provide good jobs to workers displaced by the transition and ensure that disadvantaged communities get the good jobs and the improved housing, mass transit, and toxic waste clean-up they need.

Im here because were in the fight of our lives, said Rachel Frascella, a participant in the march and city of Albany resident. Capitalist greed has pushed this whole world to ruin, and theres so much to fight for and so much on the line. So, if I could be out here today to continue that fight, thats what Im going to do.
When Instagram first announced its inaugural #BlackDesignVisionaries grant program in June , Albany native Taofeek Abijako, street-wear designer applied for it and then forgot that he did. To his surprise, he won. Abijako and his design brand, Head of State, have won the $100,000 Visionary Small Business Grant.

It's like one of those long waits that you eventually forget about, said Abijako on Friday. I feel really good about it. We're definitely very privileged to be the recipient.

Head of State was one of five recipients of a #BlackDesignVisionaries grant. This is a grant offered by @design, Instagrams official account celebrating craft and creativity, in partnership with The Brooklyn Museum in New York City. The program is aimed at investing in up and coming Black designers and Black-led design businesses who according to the Brooklyn Museum, offer experimental expressions of Black culture and have a powerful vision for the future.

Abijako says he plans to use this grant to structure business side of his brand and to help it run more smoothly as an enterprise. He also hopes to use it to help further the initiatives that Head of State works with. These plans, however, are still rough and he is in the process of making detailed plans of action.

While based in New York City, Abijako still has an emotional connection to his home in Albany. A 2016 graduate of Albany High School, he started out painting pairs of Vans sneakers which he sold to his peers, eventually debuting his products in the New York Mens Fashion Week. His designs are inspired by the communities he has grown up in: Albany and Lagos, Nigeria.

I've spent half of my life in two different communities, he said. At least for me, its more of a personal understanding of who I am, my upbringing and also my assimilation to Western culture. And along with figuring out the balance between both sides, that's what feeds into the overall inspiration of the brand.

Abijako continues to be active in his community here in Albanys South End, and tries to make a difference in both his homes.

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In the past, I've worked with Youth FX," the arts creative founded and run in Albany by Bhawin Suchak, he said. And especially during COVID-19 (I worked with) the South End Night Market. This happened the last Thursday of every month, during the summer. And a lot of people within the community are part of it.

The South End Night Market helped businesses from Albanys South End come together and help make up business that they had lost over the pandemic. It meant a lot to Abijako, as the owner of a Black-owned business himself, to be able to support other business owners.

He also worked with Youth Political Alliance, an organization that helped Capital Region youth register as first-time voters last year. Abijako hopes to use his platform to give back.

The brand is really tied into my personal narrative, he said. Whatever it is, I'm pursuing, quote unquote, as an individual. It's all tied into the brand's aspiration when it comes to this.
The next 800-odd words are going to be a recommendation that you seek out a 1973 movie called "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," but this comes with a bit of a warning label: Watching this Boston-set crime drama in November could really turbocharge any seasonal affective disorder you might be battling. It is a symphony in browns and grays in which every character seems to be wearing a coat, inside or out.

I came to "Eddie Coyle" more than a decade ago through the recommendation of Jim McGrath, a masterful editorial writer and editor at this paper who died of a heart attack while on a Cape Cod vacation in 2013. Jim grew up in Boston and proselytized about the novels of George V. Higgins, the former state and federal prosecutor and journalist whose 1972 first novel served as the movie's source material.

Jim's widow, Darryl McGrath, was kind enough to give me his paperback copy of the book when she distributed parts of his library. In the author photo, Higgins looks a lot like my late friend with his gray beard and unruly hair. But Higgins is wearing a dark suit and tie that I doubt Jim, who usually dressed as if he were shipping out to hunt sharks, would have favored.

Higgins wrote more than two dozen books between "Eddie Coyle" and his death in 1999, and while I'd highly recommend several others  "Cogan's Trade," "The Digger's Game" and "The Rat on Fire"  his first novel is the keeper. When Elmore Leonard won a National Book Award for his own masterful crime fiction, his acceptance speech noted than an editor had put "Eddie Coyle" into Leonard's hands as a textbook on how to move plot with dialogue.

At the awards ceremony, he read the audience Higgins' opening line: "Jackie Brown at 26, with no expression on his face, said that he could get some guns." (I owe this tidbit to the journalist Jack Limpert, who on his blog compiled every opening line from the book's 30 chapters, and added Norman Mailer's pungent praise for Higgins: "What I can't get over is that so good a first novel was written by the fuzz.")

The plot weaves together the relationships among the aforementioned gun dealer, the brutally efficient bank robbery crew that uses his wares, a midlevel mob-connected hit man, a slick and very well-connected young cop, and Coyle, an aging thief desperate to dodge a prison sentence after getting caught with a truckload of swag in New Hampshire  and whenever Coyle mentions the Granite State, it's clear he views it as a territory as remote from Boston as the Balkans.

The movie version was directed by Peter Yates, who four years earlier had directed "Bullitt," a Steve McQueen thriller that is about as West Coast glamorous as "Eddie Coyle" is East Coast dour. (Yates went on to make the gonzo heist picture "The Hot Rock," based on a very funny novel by Albany native and former Times Union paperboy Donald Westlake.)

Robert Mitchum's performance as Coyle is amazing, a near-complete demolition of the flamboyant machismo of so many of his earlier roles. Whenever this hood tries to intimidate someone, you can tell it isn't quite working. He's a whipped dog looking for an escape while trying not to run afoul of his "friends"  who of course are nothing of the kind.

I was kind of stunned to find out that Mitchum was in his mid-50s when he played the part  younger than Brad Pitt today, and roughly the same age I am now and that Jim McGrath had reached when his heart gave out. If you watch a movie often enough through your life, these are the things that sneak up on you.

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Hollywood lore has it that Mitchum researched the part by hanging out with members of Boston's Winter Hill gang after being introduced by Alex Rocco, who plays the leader of the bank heisters and was in his younger days a sort of junior associate of the gang. The notorious Whitey Bulger, who worked as an informant for the FBI when he wasn't killing people for the mob, was a senior member of the same outfit. He disappeared in 1994 after being tipped off by one of his federal handlers that he was about to be indicted  a plot point that reality pretty much swiped from the novels of George V. Higgins. (Bulger was finally captured in 2011 and murdered in prison seven years later.)

I rewatched "Eddie Coyle" last week after it was included in a selection of Mitchum movies on the Criterion Channel, the streaming service of the venerable classic-film DVD company. I subscribed at the outset of the pandemic, recognizing that I wouldn't be going to any movie theaters for a while (I was correct). This time around, it was hard not to watch "Eddie Coyle" through a pandemic lens: It's a movie about people meeting in small groups, usually just pairs, in emptied-out spaces. Everything seems to be crumbling, and a lot of people are wearing masks.

When the movie was over, all I wanted to do was call up Jim McGrath and talk about it. It felt lousy to be reminded I couldn't do that  but it felt good to think about him.

That's something else that will sneak up on you, as the autumn days get darker.
Houston officials say they will ask tough questions in their investigation of a crowd surge at a music festival that killed eight people
Centenarians share stories of hardship, humor and humility

Marion Yates lived the first 10 years of her life without electricity
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Miami Herald.
Up a winding mountain road two hours from any major city, cars from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York wedge into parking spots to see Raymondskill Falls, Pennsylvanias tallest and one of the main attractions in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Two police officers serving in North Carolinas largest city have been placed on administrative leave while the circumstances of a fatal shooting of an armed man outside a Walmart are investigated
[November 05, 2021] YCIS students learnt about space exploration from the "Father of Chang'e" through cutting-edge holographic technology

HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to growing calls for the advancement of technology in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and in keeping with the school's appeal to align with science and technology, YCIS Hong Kong teamed up with the Hong Kong STEM Education Alliance for an exciting event. Star billing went to Professor Ouyang Ziyuan, the "Father of Chang'e" and a leading light at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who engaged students in a lively discussion on space exploration through a vivid and instructive holographic appearance. Held on 3 November, the signature event, titled "The Dream of Terraforming Mars into a Blue Planet", explored a novel science frontier  the reshaping of a distant planet into a life-sustaining Earth. The build-up to this started with the "Live Encounter with Taikonauts" in September. On that occasion, our students joined a select audience for an out-of-this-world experience, getting to chat with Shenzhou-12 taikonauts. We were also joined by Prof Xu Kai, Deputy Director-General; Mr Zhu Qi, Section Chief, Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR; Dr Wang Ying, Associate Researcher of Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Mr Kingsly Tam, Executive Officer of the Hong Kong STEM Education Alliance. Human curiosity has grown in pace with the rapid development of deep space exploration. During the lecture, the professor used graphics and everyday examples to offer scientific evidence gleaned from our quest to explore the evolution of the universe. Centred on man's effort to discover life beyond Earth and to sustain human habitation on the Red Planet, the presentation made reference to the Tianwen-1 orbiter and the Zhurong rover, both part of a Mars mission carried out by the China National Space Administration in May this year. Robotic survey devices transmitted data from the surface of Mars back to ground control. Part of the payload was a 'Mars Energetic Particle Analyzer' (studying he attributes of energy particles on that planet).





"China has the potential to expand its deep space capabilities, and exploration of the solar system is gathering speed," said Prof Ouyang. He went on, "The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of great interest in astrobiology due to that planet's proximity to Earth and several similarities. "Having said that, concrete evidence of life on the Red Planet has yet to be found. The idea of 'terraforming' Mars and serious discussions over the technicalities could potentially see the Red Planet become a sibling of Planet Earth." The professor concluded his presentation by encouraging students to consider a career in science to help realise the vision of today's scientists. The lecture was followed by a Q&A session and eager students fired off their questions. "How can Tianwen-2 overcome the 'seven minutes of terror' when landing the rover in the future, and how could it technically differ from Chang'e 5?" one excited participant asked. Fielding questions, Prof Ouyang was quick to reassure students that any impact on Martian life due to human intervention or 'terraforming' would be minimal due to the distances involved. Nor would any such endeavours impact on humans and our own planet. Yew Chung has a strong commitment to nurture and develop the next generation of scientists and offers relevant courses at all levels. Yvonne Wen, a student MC, was elated by the interaction and pointed out that astrophysics was available as an IB course and could allow her to learn more about the subject. Another student MC, Johanna Wrobel, was quite taken by the holographic presentation and confessed she aspired to migrate to the Red Planet if this became possible in future. The years spent at Yew Chung had vastly broadened her horizons, she said. Yew Chung students can avail of opportunities in any grade to learn more about science. Astrophysics studies in the IGCSE and IBDP line-up offer students a pathway to explore career prospects in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). "Students were excited upon their return from the live encounter with the taikonauts and this triggered interest in exploring outer space," said Ms Sam Sze, Chinese Co-Principal, YCIS Hong Kong  Secondary. She continued, "Planting space seeds (seeds that have spent several months in orbit) in the YCIS Hong Kong campus for students to learn the difference in germination was another initiative to foster students' interest in science. "The school places a strong emphasis on enabling students to explore possibilities and gain a better understanding of their future." Associate Vice Principal Mr Robert Kitley looks forward to more such events that will galvanise interest in science and space. About YCIS Hong Kong Founded in 1932 by Madame Tsang Chor-hang, Yew Chung has provided quality bilingual education to the learners of Hong Kong for 90 years. Originally specialising in Early Childhood Education, YCIS now provides education from early childhood through primary and secondary culminating in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Since the 1990s, YCIS has expanded beyond Hong Kong to reach Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and Qingdao in Mainland China, and Silicon Valley in the United States, serving more than 6,000 students. Offering the richness and diversity of both Eastern and Western cultures, YCIS equips children to be bilingual, global-minded and competitive leaders. Students are nurtured with a holistic and character education that transforms them into compassionate and world conscious individuals. For more information, please visit our website or our Facebook page. SOURCE Yew Chung International School

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[November 05, 2021] A Statement from Edward Rogers

TORONTO, Nov. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Today's decision resolves important governance issues at Rogers Communications Inc. I take no joy in the decision or the events of past weeks. The judgment confirms I acted appropriately, in accordance with RCI's Articles and applicable corporate law, with a clear preference for expediency to ensure that Rogers Communications is effectively governed. The company requires an effective board that shares a strategic vision for the business, is open, deliberate, consistent in its decision making, independent of management, and that always acts in the est interests of the corporation.



Much has been written about Rogers CEO Joe Natale and his future. Mr. Natale remains CEO and a director of Rogers Communications and has the Board's support. Our focus must be on the business, a return to stability, and closing our transformational merger with Shaw Communications. The steps I have taken in the face of constant attacks in the media were difficult for me and my family. As Chair of the Rogers Control Trust, my responsibility is to ensure that the company is properly governed and effectively managed. I take that responsibility very seriously.

Our family has disagreements like every other family. I am hopeful we will resolve those differences privately, as any family would. I know every member of our family wants the brightest future for Rogers Communications. Most importantly, recent events do not in any way change the tremendous confidence that I have in Rogers Communications, our bright future, our management team, and the 24,000 employees who make the company the overwhelming success that it is. I would like to thank each and every one of our employees for their continued dedication and support of Rogers. As we proceed towards closing our merger with Shaw Communications, continue making investments in our future and executing well for our customers, I am certain that for Rogers Communications the best days are still ahead of us. About Rogers

Rogers is a proud Canadian company dedicated to making more possible for Canadians each and every day. Our founder, Ted Rogers, purchased his first radio station, CHFI, in 1960. We have grown to become a leading technology and media company that strives to provide the very best in wireless, residential, sports, and media to Canadians and Canadian businesses. Our shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). If you want to find out more about us, visit about.rogers.com. SOURCE Rogers Communications Canada Inc.

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[November 06, 2021] ONTF EQUITY ALERT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Announces that a Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit was filed on Behalf of Investors of ON24, Inc.

The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed against ON24, Inc. ("ON24") (NYSE: ONTF). The action charges ON24 with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the company's February 2021 initial public offering ("IPO"). As a result of ON24's materially misleading statements made in connection with the company's registration statement and prospectus, investors have suffered significant losses. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ON24 LOSSES TO VIEW OUR VIDEO, PLEASE, CLICK HERE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: January 3, 2022 CLASS PERIOD: February 3, 2021 through November 3, 2021 CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:

James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Toll Free (844) 887-9500 or Email at [email protected] ON24'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCT

ON24 markets products and services based upon webcasting, virtual event and environment technology via an AI powered platform that enables businesses to scale enagement, conversions, and pipeline to drive revenue growth.



On February 3, 2021, ON24 conducted its IPO at $50 a share, selling 8.6 million shares of stock and generating nearly $430 million in new capital. On August 11, 2021, for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, ON24 reported a net loss of $2.5 million, compared to a net income of $5.3 million for the same period in the prior year. Following this news, ON24's stock price fell $10.00 per share, or 30.95%, and closed at $22.31 on August 11, 2021. Since then, ON24's stock has continued to plummet, and as of November 3, 2021, the company's stock has declined over 60% from the IPO price. WHAT CAN I DO?

ON24 investors may, no later than January 3, 2022, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages ON24 investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASE WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF?

A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. At the end of the day, we have succeeded if the bad guys pay up, and if you recover your assets. The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211106005122/en/

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For Friday night denizens of the local news scene we share a quick glimpse at reports from local streets with just a bit of good news toward the end of the collection.



Check-it . . .



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Jackson County man found guilty, sentenced after shooting ex girlfriend in the head twice KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) UPDATE (11/5/2021) A Jackson County judge sentenced Louis Watts to 30 years in prison after he was convicted of shooting his ex-girlfriend. ORIGINAL STORY (9/18/2021) A jury found a Jackson County man guilty on several felony charges after he shot his ex girlfriend twice in the head.

Kansas City man convicted in April 2020 shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City man was convicted by a Jackson County jury Friday in an April 2020 fatal shooting. Caylon D. Dudley, 26, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. Court records document that Kansas City police responded to the 9400 block of East 39th St.

Wrongly convicted inmates in Missouri usually earn nothing but freedom KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - Kevin Strickland has spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder in Kansas City that he says he didn't commit. Strickland goes back to court Monday in the latest chapter to win his freedom. But even if the court rules in his favor-freedom is all he'll likely get.

After officer attacked, former Lansing prison employee says staffing makes facility unsafe LANSING, Kan. - This week's attack on an officer at the Lansing Correctional Facility by an inmate has former employees talking about what they call an ongoing problem. One man desperate to prevent more violence said he witnessed staffing issues at the prison firsthand. "This place here is just not safe anymore," retired First Sgt.

Man who was focus of KCTV5 investigation convicted on criminal charges involving unauthorized autopsies WABAUNSEE COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -- Shawn Parcells has been convicted in Wabaunsee County, KS, of six criminal charges. A jury found him guilty of three counts of felony theft and three misdemeanor counts of criminal desecration. Parcells faced these charges for performing autopsies without the involvement of a pathologist.

KC Police Board submits budget that includes guaranteed raises for officers and employees by: Heidi Schmidt Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After months of arguments between Kansas City's police department, the mayor, and members of the city council, about how to fund the police, the department may receive millions more in funding than originally requested.

KC nonprofit aims to combat violent crime with new community resource KANSAS CITY, Mo. - People in need of help and groups offering to provide help are being brought together through a new initiative by nonprofit KC Common Good. KC Common Good created what's been described as a one stop shop for people dealing with issues that range from mental health and addiction to housing and other needs.

Developing . . .
Johnstown, PA (15901)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 47F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low around 35F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly in the morning. High 51F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 24F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Tullahoma, TN (37388)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 61F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain ending overnight. Thunder is possible early. Low 39F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Recently, Michael Gray was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Micro Craft. In this new position, Gray will focus on continuing to grow the companys revenue and will be responsible for all aspects of the operations of Micro Craft.
Russian-led forces continue to ignore the agreements reached as part of the Trilateral Contact Group, firing on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to a morning report issued by the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation on Facebook.

"Over the past 24 hours, on November 5, Russian occupation forces committed eight ceasefire violations, using weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements in six instances. [...] As a result of hostile actions, one Joint Forces serviceman was wounded. His condition is satisfactory," the report reads.

The Ukrainian military said that the enemy used 120mm mortars near Prychepylivka and Katerynivka and fired 82mm mortars in the direction of Bolotene and Luhanske.

Enemy troops also opened fire from 82mm and 120mm mortars near Krymske. Near Lebedynske, Ukrainian positions came under fire from grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns, and other small arms.

"Not far from Talakivka, Russian mercenaries fired grenade launchers of various systems and small arms. In the vicinity of Zolote-4, the invaders used 82mm mortars and automatic grenade launchers," the JFO HQ added.

Ukrainian defenders return fire without using weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements and forced the enemy to cease shelling. No ceasefire violations by Russian occupation forces were recorded as of 07.00 on November 6.

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U.S. congressmen Mike Rogers and Mike Turner have called on President Joe Biden to provide Ukraine with more weapons and to "deploy a U.S. military presence in the Black Sea" amid Russia's military aggression.

They wrote about this in a letter to Biden, which was obtained by Defense News on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

"With the recent massing of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, we urge your administration to take immediate and swift action to provide support to Ukraine in the form of intelligence and weapons," the U.S. lawmakers said.

They also urged the U.S. administration to deploy a U.S. military presence in the Black Sea "to deter a Russian invasion." At the same time, the congressmen stressed that Biden's administration "cannot ignore Russia's continued threat to international law and Ukraine's territorial sovereignty."

In addition, Rogers and Turner stressed the need "to immediately consider an appropriate U.S. military presence and posture in the region and to initiate appropriate intelligence sharing activities between the U.S. and Ukraine to prevent the situation from escalating further."

Rogers and Turner are the ranking members of, respectively, the House Armed Services Committee and Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

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Ukraine will not become a member of NATO in the near future, but Ukraine must prepare for this membership today, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, he said this on Savik Shuster's Freedom of Speech program.

"Today, the Ministry of Defense faces very important challenges, but the main goal is to implement the provisions of the Constitution on our relentless movement towards NATO, and as a result, joining the Alliance," Reznikov said.

He noted that Ukraine will join NATO sooner or later, but the country must be ready for this and meet all NATO standards as soon as possible. After all, NATO is not only a military alliance, but an alliance of countries with a high level of democratic institutions, he said.

Reznikov believes that the Ministry of Defense is a civilian entity that exercises democratic control over the Armed Forces, which in turn defend the state and repel the enemy. The ministry must ensure the implementation of the plans and tasks of the Armed Forces, from resolving the issues of procurement, financial support, armaments, to the issues of military diplomacy.

Reznikov also believes that Ukraine should not limit itself to issues of cooperation with NATO, but build various alliances. In particular, the danger posed by Russia in the Black Sea encourages Ukraine to work closely with Romania, Georgia, Moldova, and Bulgaria. It is also necessary to actively cooperate with Eastern European countries and to fill with content a framework agreement that President Volodymyr Zelensky signed in Washington, he said.

Earlier reports said that the Verkhovna Rada appointed Reznikov as Ukraine's defense minister on November 4. A total of 273 MPs voted for such a decision.

Since March 2020, Reznikov had served as Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric to discuss the protection of human rights in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, the President's Office has reported.

Zelensky noted the intensification of cooperation between Ukraine and the Council of Europe and added that this was Pejcinovic Buric's second visit to Ukraine this year, the report said.

"I want to thank you and your colleagues for your great attention to Ukraine, for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state," Zelensky said.

He also emphasized the importance of the Council of Europe's participation in the inaugural summit of the Crimea Platform on August 23.

"We were pleased to welcome you to Kyiv and look forward to the further active involvement of Council of Europe experts in the work of this international mechanism against the occupation of the Crimean peninsula," Zelensky said.

In this regard, both parties paid considerable attention to the role that the Council of Europe should play in the protection of human rights in temporarily occupied Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

They also discussed the practical modalities of involving the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in monitoring the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in accordance with the norms of international law and national legislation.

The president said that the Ukrainian side was waiting for the first report by Pejcinovic Buric on the human rights situation in temporarily occupied Crimea and was ready to cooperate in this important area.

"I am convinced that your visit to the administrative border with the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has provided a deeper understanding of the importance of this issue and will help prepare the report," Zelensky said.

Zelensky called on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to promote the involvement of all mechanisms of this international organization for the release of Ukrainians who are illegally detained by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in Russia.

Zelensky and Pejcinovic Buric considered the issue of practical support from the Secretariat of the Council of Europe to Ukraine's European integration, including in the areas of human rights protection, rule of law and development of democratic institutions, appreciating this cooperation.

Photo: President's Office
CIA Director Bill Burns was dispatched to Moscow earlier this week to warn the Kremlin that the U.S. is watching its buildup of troops near Ukraine's border closely, CNN has reported, referring to multiple U.S. and Ukrainian sources.

"President Joe Biden dispatched CIA Director Bill Burns to Moscow earlier this week to warn the Kremlin that the U.S. is watching its buildup of troops near Ukraine's border closely, and to attempt to determine what is motivating Russia's actions," the report reads.

Burns held talks in Moscow with senior Kremlin security officials directly involved in the military activity. At the same time, CNN called the CIA chief's trip to Moscow "rare" and stressed that it came as the U.S. has grown increasingly concerned by Russia's irregular movement of troops and equipment near Ukraine's northern border.

The Biden administration has ramped up its efforts in recent days to de-escalate growing tensions between Moscow and Kyiv. Following his meetings in Russia, Burns spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone in an attempt to diffuse those tensions, the sources told CNN. A senior State Department official was also dispatched to Kyiv on November 4 to support those efforts.

"The flurry of high-level diplomacy underscores how seriously the Biden administration is taking the latest Russian troop movements," the report said. It also says that tensions between Ukraine and Russia have also been exacerbated in recent weeks by a deepening Ukrainian energy crisis that Kyiv believes Moscow has purposefully provoked.

U.S. congressmen Mike Rogers and Mike Turner sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday, November 5, calling on him to provide Ukraine with more weapons and to "deploy a U.S. military presence in the Black Sea" amid Russia's military aggression.

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UNHCR staff accompany Amira Elfadil, the AU's Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian and Social Development (centre), as she and her delegation visit the Emergency Transit Mechanism centre in Rwanda.  UNHCR/Eugene Sibomana

The Government of Rwanda, the African Union and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency signed an Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) to continue evacuating refugees and asylum seekers from the State of Libya to the Republic of Rwanda.

The addendum, which extends the provision and legality of the ETM, will allow for vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom have been trafficked and experienced violence in Libya - including detention in dire conditions - to be assisted.

By extending the agreement with immediate effect, it ensures that the operation at the ETM Centre Gashora, Rwanda, will continue until 31 December 2023. The facility will also expand its capacity to evacuate and accommodate up to 700 people at any given time, an increase from the current maximum capacity of 500 persons.

Under this agreement, the Government of Rwanda will continue to receive and provide protection and assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers and other vulnerable people at risk in Libya. They will be evacuated to safety in Rwanda on a voluntary basis.

Upon arrival, UNHCR will pursue durable solutions for the evacuees. While some may benefit from resettlement to third countries, others will be facilitated to return to previous countries of asylum, or to return to their home countries if it is safe to do so. Some may be given permission to remain in Rwanda subject to agreement by the competent authorities.

Evacuation flights to Rwanda are expected to resume in the coming weeks and will be carried out in co-operation with Rwandan and Libyan authorities. The African Union will continue to support the evacuations, mobilise resources, and provide strategic political support with training and coordination. UNHCR will proceed with protection assistance and all relevant humanitarian support including food, water, accommodation, education, and healthcare.

Since September 2019, 648 people were evacuated arriving in six flights from Libya to Rwanda. UNHCR and the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) conduct individual registration of all the individuals and issue registration documents that allow them to move within Rwanda and access assistance provided at the Centre. Cases are then processed for individual solutions, including Best Interest Determinations (BIDs) for unaccompanied and separated children and resettlement interviews. Currently, the ETM in Rwanda hosts 214 refugees and asylum seekers from eight African countries, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.

Earlier this year, an African Union delegation headed by H.E. Amira Elfadil, the AUs Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian and Social Development, and accompanied by UNHCR officials visited the ETM centre and expressed solidarity with the people and government of Rwanda for their generosity in hosting vulnerable refugees evacuated from Libya.

The AU and UNHCR are grateful to the international community for the resources provided so far to implement the agreement and help these vulnerable people, including from the European Union Trust Fund and other EU member states contributions. AU Member States are urged to emulate Rwandas example.
June 11, 2020, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (orange/red), isolated from a patient sample. The image was captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF). (NIAID via ZUMA Wire/TNS)
Kashmiris on both sides of the line of control observed the Jammu Martyrs anniversary on Saturday to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of the lives given by over 2.5 lacs Muslim residents of Jammu city in 1947 while migrating to Pakistan

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2021 ) ; Nov 06 (APP):Kashmiris on both sides of the line of control observed the Jammu Martyrs anniversary on Saturday to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of the lives given by over 2.5 lacs Muslim residents of Jammu city in 1947 while migrating to Pakistan.

The day is observed every year by the Kashmiris to remember the supreme sacrifices of lives who were mercilessly slaughtered by the armed Hindu gangsters including the Indian occupying and the dogra military troops with the connivance of the dogra hindu fanatics, under a nefarious pre-planned conspiracy while they were proceeding for migrating to Pakistan near Jammu - Sialkot working boundary.

According to the independent historians and observers, least 6 lacs muslims in Jammu region were assassinated in first week of November 1947 by the armed extremist Hindus and Sikhs with the backing of the despotic dogra ruler under a pr-planned conspiracy to exercise the genocide of innocent Muslims population of Jammu.

The day was observed by every Kashmiri with the renewal pledge to continue the successfully-going struggle for freedom of occupied Jammu Kashmir from the Indian clutches.

In Azad Jammu Kashmir special ceremonies including seminars and symposiums were held in various parts of AJK including the capital city of Muzaffarabad to pay glorious tributes to the Jammu martyrs.

Jammu Martyrs Day was marked in Azad Jammu & Kashmir with a mammoth ceremony hosted at the town hall in Mirpur Azad Jammu & Kashmir under the auspices of Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Movement and Jammu & Kashmir Milli Forum with the AJK Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi as Chief guest.

Paying rich tributes to the martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir, speakers including the AJK Prime Minister Sardar Qayyum Niazi and others said that the best way to pay tributes to the martyrs of Jammu is to follow their foot steps with the renewal of the pledge to continue the struggle for freedom.

Lauding complete unity and solidarity among all the political parties of Azad Jammu & Kashmir on one point agenda of the freedom, speakers underlined that the Kashmiris can perform an affective and result-oriented role for the settlement of the much-delayed Kashmir issue and they should be granted an opportunity to perform the national responsibility to this direction.

Speakers called upon the international community to sincerely move for performing due global obligations to ensure the early peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue which involves the right to self determination of about 20 million people of Jammu & Kashmir.

Speakers urged upon the world community and the international organizations to take immediate notice of the continued Indian state terrorism unleashed against the innocent freedom-loving people in occupied Jammu & Kashmir for their "offense" of raising voice for liberation of the motherland from the Indian yoke and for the achievement of their birth right of self determination.

The participants offered fateha for raising the status of the departed souls of the martyrs and the early success of the freedom struggle of Jammu and Kashmir for the freedom of motherland from the Indian subjugation.

Earlier, the day dawned with special prayers, at Fajr, in all the prominent mosques for the early liberation of occupied Jammu Kashmir from Indian yoke through success of Kashmir freedom movement, progress, prosperity and stability of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Fateh Khawani was offered at various places for the rest of the departed souls of Jammu and Kashmir martyrs - under the auspices of various social, political and public representative organizations.
Los Angeles, Nov 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2021 ) :One of the first openly gay politicians in the United States, who was assassinated four decades ago, will have a ship named after him this weekend, as the US military looks to keep step with modern-day social attitudes.

The USNS Harvey Milk honours a former navy diver who served at a time there was a ban on homosexuality in the armed forces, and who was later shot dead in San Francisco, months after winning public office.

The naming ceremony for the 227-metre (744-foot) refuelling vessel in San Diego on Saturday will be attended by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

"Leaders like Harvey Milk taught us that diversity of backgrounds and experiences help contribute to the strength and resolve of our nation," Del Toro said, according to a Navy press release.

"There is no doubt that the future sailors aboard this ship will be inspired by Milk's life and legacy." Milk, who was frank about his sexuality after his time in the military, was elected to San Francisco's board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Just months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.

His killer, Dan White, pleaded diminished responsibility, saying he was suffering from depression and had eaten a lot of sugary foods, in what was dubbed the "Twinkie defense".

White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years in jail, a verdict that sparked outrage, particularly in San Francisco's gay community.

Milk's murder helped to fix his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Navy announced five years ago that it would name a ship after Milk, along with vessels for civil rights leaders including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and suffragist Lucy Stone.

This is not the first official tribute to Milk by the United States: in 2014, the US Post Office issued a stamp with his image, where he appeared smiling next to a rainbow flag.

Sean Penn won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of the activist in the 2008 film "Milk".
(@FahadShabbir)

Iran's supreme court has upheld death sentences for adultery against a 27-year-old and his 33-year-old lover after the man's father-in-law denied them clemency, a reformist newspaper reported Saturday

Tehran, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2021 ) :Iran's supreme court has upheld death sentences for adultery against a 27-year-old and his 33-year-old lover after the man's father-in-law denied them clemency, a reformist newspaper reported Saturday.

The man's wife, who presented police with video evidence of her husband's infidelity early this year, had asked the courts to spare the pair the death penalty, the Shargh daily said.

But her father demanded that the death sentence be imposed and the court found in his favour, the paper added.

Iranian law provides that if a victim's family forgives the accused in a capital crime, the convict can be either pardoned or given a jail sentence.

Under the interpretation of Islamic sharia law in force since Iran's 1979 revolution, adultery is punishable by stoning.

But Tehran changed the law in 2013 to allow judges to order an alternative method of execution, usually hanging.

It was unclear what form of execution the court ordered in the latest case.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, Iran carried out 246 executions last year, just one in public.

It gave no breakdown of the number carried out for adultery.
Belarus has registered a significant increase in the intensity of combat and reconnaissance aircraft activity near its borders, Belarusian air force commander Maj. Gen. Igor Golub said on Saturday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2021) Belarus has registered a significant increase in the intensity of combat and reconnaissance aircraft activity near its borders, Belarusian air force commander Maj. Gen. Igor Golub said on Saturday.

"We have strengthened the air defense units of our anti-aircraft missile forces and military bases. This is an adequate response to the situation that is developing near Belarusian air borders.

We have observed a significant increase in the intensity of flights of both combat and reconnaissance aircraft near our borders," Golub told reporters.

The military official noted that over 60 such flights have been reported over the past week. In response, Belarus has put an anti-aircraft missile battalion on active duty, inspected combat readiness of troops and equipment, and also intends to step up other activities to protect its air borders and the peaceful sky over Minsk, Golub added.
Several people were wounded on Saturday in a knife attack on a high-speed train in Germany's Bavaria, local police said, adding the alleged perpetrator had been arrested

Berlin, Nov 6 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2021 ) :Several people were wounded on Saturday in a knife attack on a high-speed train in Germany's Bavaria, local police said, adding the alleged perpetrator had been arrested.

"According to preliminary information, several people were injured," police in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz said in a statement, assuring that "there is now no more danger".
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2021) Three people were injured in a knife attack in a train in southern Germany on Saturday morning, the Bild newspaper reported.

The attacker was taken into custody, the newspaper reported.

The gravity of the injuries is not clear at the moment.

The attack happened near Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Morning clouds will give way to afternoon sunshine. High near 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.
Pope Francis received the President of the United States of America, Joseph Biden, in audience on Friday. The Holy Father and President Biden discussed, among other things, migration, the protection of human rights, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Vatican News staff writer

On Friday morning, Pope Francis met with the President of the United States of America, Mr. Joseph Biden, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The US leader later met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, accompanied by the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Richard Paul Gallagher.

A Holy See Press Office communique said that during the cordial talks, they dwelt on their common commitment to the protection and care of the planet, the health situation and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the issue of refugees, and how to provide assistance for migrants.

Both parties also spoke about the protection of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion and conscience.

Finally, the talks enabled an exchange of views on some matters regarding the current international situation, also in the context of the G20 summit in Rome, and on the promotion of peace in the world through political negotiation.

G20 meeting

President Biden arrived at Romes Fiumicino airport on Friday morning. Together with other Heads of States and representatives of important international organizations, Biden is scheduled to take part in the G20 Summit to be held on 3031 October.

During the day, Biden will meet with the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Later on Friday, Biden is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The US President will travel to Glasgow on Monday to attend COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference.
On Saturday morning, Pope Francis met with members of the Retrouvaille association, a worldwide group that helps married couples in crisis find ways to address the root problems in their relationships and move towards healing and renewal. The Pope expressed his gratitude for their commitment and encouraged them to persevere in this important outreach.

By Vatican News staff writer

A Christian program of Catholic origin, the Retrouvaille Experience started in 1977 in Quebec, Canada, as a way to address in a new way the increasing numbers of married couples in difficulty. It led to a new type of healing ministry that has spread around the world since then. The Retrouvaille vision states that every marriage "deserves the opportunity to survive, be healed, and thrive as a covenant of life and love". Couples share their own personal stories and how they worked to overcome challenges in their relationships. It is a practical approach to improving communication between wives and husbands and rediscovering their love for each other to strengthen their marriage.

Crisis and opportunity

In his address to the members present, Pope Francis began by focusing on the word "crisis", but also the word "opportunity", since every crisis offers an opportunity. He stressed that we should not be scared of a crisis, since we can learn and grow from it, especially to avoid ending up in conflicts that can lead to closing our hearts. A crisis in our life is not comfortable, he admitted, but it is possible to come out of it hopefully better, especially with the helping hand of others.

From 'wounds' to healing

He also mentioned the "wounds" produced by crisis situations, as Retrouvaille is familiar with since they help wounded marital relationships move towards healing. And this is their gift, the Pope noted: being able to share their own experiences as couples who were once hurting and have overcome their own crises in order to be of service to other couples that find themselves in difficulty today.

There is a great need today for couples who are able to give witness to the fact that a crisis is not a curse, but part of life's journey  and an opportunity, the Pope noted. However, in order to be "credible", you need to have experienced it. Theoretical talks or "pious exhortations" are not believable, he said, but the "life testimony" they bring is: "You were in crisis and hurting, but, thanks be to God, with the help of your brothers and sisters you were healed, and now you share this experience in the service of helping others".

Accompaniment

The Pope then focused on another word in particular, "accompaniment", saying this of course concerns priests and their pastoral ministry, but it also involves married couples as protagonists in being close to other couples in their community. He praised how their work started from the grassroots, as the Holy Spirit brings forth in the Church new outreach that responds to new needs. Accompaniment is the first response to helping so many couples in difficulty, he noted, and this requires time, patience, respect, and availability, as the Retrouvaille members know so well.

In conclusion, the Pope thanked his audience members for their commitment, and he encouraged them to continue in their efforts, entrusting them to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph.


Victoria, TX (77901)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 83F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Showers early with some clearing overnight. Thunder is possible early. Low 53F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Normal, IL (61790)

Today

Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 55F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 21F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Officials in Henan Province, central China, have published a schedule of fees and availability for different donated organs  and inadvertently spotlighting the large-scale transplant abuse that has been occurring with the support of the Communist Party for decades.

State-run media Xinhua reposted the notice published by daily newspaper Zhengzhou Evening News on Nov. 3. According to the report, six governmental departments had collaborated on the joint statement, however only three were mentioned: the Henan provincial Health Commission, Department of Finance, and Market Supervision and Administration Bureau.

The announcement stated that organs are priceless, then proceeded to detail the price breakdown as costs included for organ evaluation, function maintenance, acquisition, testing, preservation and transportation.

The fees are not the prices of organs since organ donation is voluntary and free, the notice read, emphasizing that listed fees were aimed at at further regulating collection of fees and to protect the rights of organ donors and its recipients.

The Henan Province announcement raises major concern in light of mounting evidence that rather than willing organ donors, the vast majority of organ transplants conducted in China come from murdered prisoners jailed for their religious faith or political activities.

Notably, the Chinese organ transplantation industry shot up in the years directly following the start of the Chinese Communist Partys persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, a meditation discipline practiced by an estimated 70 to 100 million Chinese at the time. Later investigation and testimonies have linked the Chinese transplant industry with the mass murder of Falun Gong practitioners.

Murder in disguise

Many in the public expressed shock and disgust that human organs were made so easily available for purchase, while others criticized the prices as being too steep.

In addition to the surgical expenses, patients need to pay an extra fee of 260,000 yuan [for a liver.] You guys really know how to make money! one user commented.

Another user questioned the nature of the breakdown: Why is a liver, capable of regenerating, more expensive than a heart or a kidney, which are unable to regenerate?

An anonymous individual who went only by the username of qzone1418566686344999UUI said, I would rather be buried in soil than hand my organs [to the government] as this is murder. Murder in disguise!



Some users ridiculed the Chinese government for listing organs on sale as though they were casual items one could shop for online.

Is there a 20 percent discount for purchasing two organs at the same time? Is the shipping free on Chinas National Day [a public holiday]? one user in Taiwan commented.

A black market for organ harvesting

This isnt the first time the Chinese government has made global headlines for the sinister practice of organ trafficking.

BBC reported in an article on Nov. 27, 2020 that six people including several doctors had been arrested and jailed in China for illegally harvesting organs from accident victims.

According to the report, the group had tricked families of the deceased into thinking they were making official organ donations.

Local media said they would target victims involved in car accidents or patients who suffered from brain bleeds at the Huaiyuan County Peoples Hospital in the countrys eastern province of Anhui.

There, the hospitals ICU director, identified as Yang Suxun, would approach patients family members and ask if they would like to donate their loved ones organs. The families would then sign what would later turn out to be bogus consent forms.

The victims would be wheeled out of the hospital in the middle of the night and placed into makeshift vans disguised to look like ambulances where doctors would harvest the organs. These would then be sold to sick individuals in the black market or to other hospital connections the trafficking ring maintained.

A report compiled by Washington-based human rights group Victims of Communism also noted the coincidental timing of then-Party leader Jiang Zemins anti-Falun Gong campaign in China, which began in July 1999  six months before the rapid growth of the transplant industry  and cited reports by those targeted of blood tests and physical examinations, noting consistent data with those used for organ procurement.

Experts weigh in

Ohno Akira, professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Shizuoka University in Japan said the problem is serious.

This would not happen in a democratic country, Akira said, organ removal and transplantation surgery are included in the entire cost, adding that the official publication of organ fees could increase crime as vulnerable groups could potentially be targeted and killed for their organs  undermining social stability.

Current affairs commentator Cai Shenkun told Radio Free Asia on Nov. 2 that the surge in organ transplantation was most likely attributed to the perception of low-priced Chinese goods and obtaining organs in China being viewed as easy and fast, with a relatively low surgical cost.

In comparison, in the U.S, the average wait time for a kidney is 5 years, 11 months for a liver and 6 months for a lung. According to organ donation statistics, a new patient is added to the transplant list every 9 minutes. There are currently over 120,000 people in need of an organ transplant, with 17 individuals dying everyday while awaiting a life-saving organ.

The Epoch Times also published a large-scale expose featuring Dr. Wang Zhiyuan, head of the World Organizations Investigation, into the persecution of Falun Gong.

Dr. Wang, a former military doctor specializing in aviation, has spent almost 15 years investigating state-sanctioned organ harvesting.

According to the analysis, there are two main reasons for the CCPs attempt to regulate organ sales: one being to legalize the practice of organ trade and the second as a comprehensive cover up of mass genocide that exists in China today.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia published on March 12, 2020, the international community has consistently questioned the source of Chinas transplanted organs. Uyghurs of Xinjiang imprisoned in mass concentration camps and persecuted Falun Gong practitioners are believed to be the main source of organs since the Sujiatun Incident in 2006.

Shopping list for organs

Below is an image of the detailed price chart, translated from Chinese. All prices are approximates:

The pricing chart published by the Henan provincial authorities. (Image: via WeChat)

Adult liver: 260,000 Chinese yuan (US$40,000)

* Childs liver: 100,000 yuan (US$15,000)

Left or right liver lobe: 100,000 yuan (US$15,000)

Heart: 100,000 yuan (US$15,000)

Single adult kidney: 160,000 yuan (US$25,000)

Both adult kidneys: 230,000 yuan (US$36,000)

Single child kidney: 100,000 yuan (US$15,000)

Both child kidneys: 150,000 yuan (US$23,000)

Single/double lung: 80,000 yuan (US$12,000)

Pancreas  50,000 yuan ($8,000)

Corneas were listed for 10,000 yuan ($1,500), with a single cornea selling for only about $1,500 and a pair for $3000.

* The term child was explained as any individual under the age of 18.
On Oct. 29, Joseph Bosco, former China Country Desk Officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, spoke at Washington Forum and Truth Warriors Alliance.

Speaking about the U.S. stance on mainland China vis-a-vis Taiwan, Bosco said, It goes back to the Mao-Nixon meetings where they developed the Shanghai Communique, which I have called the original sin of US-China relations, because in that document, China declared unequivocally that Taiwan is part of China.

The USs One China policy distorted by the CCP

Bosco said the U.S.s One China policy had been maliciously distorted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the years, misleading perceptions in the international arena and that it needs to be constantly corrected.

Bosco further elaborated that The United States, on the other hand, promulgated a One China policy, which is that, although both sides at that time Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong said, .its up to the people of Taiwan to decide that, and that is yet to be determined.

China likes to conflate its one-China principle with the U.S. one-China policy and say that the U.S. and the rest of the international community agree with Chinas view that Taiwan is part of China. That is a clear distortion of history, added Bosco.

Bosco said the One China policy doesnt preclude recognition of a sovereign Taiwan. So, of course, China would brittly bridle at the thought of one China, one Taiwan, but I think thats ultimately the way the United States policy will have to go.

Countries step up to meet the CCP threat

Bosco said that the Quad  an informal partnership between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India  or any kind of international organization or international cooperation, which acknowledges the threat from Beijing, is a good development.

The Quad is excellent, the newest development that the Biden administration has initiated as the caucus of Australia, Japan, and the UK and the U.S. This is great, Bosco said.

According to Bosco, the Biden administration has hinted that it was going to invite Taiwan to the conference for democracy in December.

On Sept. 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its annual defense policy bill, which recommends that Taiwan be included in next years Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and enhance cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. National Guard.

RIMPAC is the naval exercise that Communist China was invited to participate in a few years ago. Last year, however, Beijing was excluded, while Taiwan was welcomed to be part of the exercise instead.

The Taiwan government, for the first time, acknowledged that U.S. Marines were training parts of the Taiwan military. Bosco thinks the U.S. should be training not only the Taiwanese army but also the navy and airforce.

Bosco mentioned more important steps can be taken to enhance not only Taiwans security but U.S. national security. We should have joint exercises of Taiwanese and American and Japanese and other forces in a number of ways to demonstrate that the U.S. is really committed to the defense of Taiwan. 

U.S. Aircraft CarriersImage from US Navy)

Strong US commitment is both good for Taiwan and the Chinese people

If the CCP really believes that the Biden administration will intervene in a conflict between Beijing and Taiwan, then the CCP has to think twice before any move that might lead to an escalation.

Bosco said, I do not think Chinese Communists are suicidal. They do not want an all-out war with the United States. It would mean the destruction of their economy. And it would mean the destruction of the Chinese Communist Party. So thats the last thing they want.

Multiple administrations, including the Bush, Trump, and now the Biden administration, have made statements signifying a strong U.S. commitment to Taiwan.

Bosco also wished Chinese people could have freedom. If we were to appeal, we appealed as what Ronald Reagan went directly to the Russian people and said, Youre living under an evil empire. Were going to help you. Keep on struggling. Were not going to go to war of World War III, but were going to use all of our tools, all of our instruments to help you resist this tyranny that youre living under.
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
Cybersecurity experts say Microsofts recent disclosure that alleged Russian hackers successfully attacked several IT service providers this year is a sign that many U.S. IT companies have underinvested in security measures needed to protect themselves and their customers from intrusions.

But a U.S.-based association of IT professionals says the industrys efforts to combat foreign hacking attacks are hampered by their customers not practicing good cyber habits and by the federal government not doing enough to punish and deter the hackers.

In an October 24 blog post, Microsoft said a Russian nation-state hacking group that it calls Nobelium spent three months attacking companies that resell, customize and manage Microsoft cloud services and other digital technologies for public and private customers. Microsoft said it informed 609 of those companies, known as managed service providers, or MSPs, that they had been attacked 22,868 times by Nobelium from July 1 to October 19 this year.

'Well-known techniques'

As of its October 24 blog post, Microsoft said it determined that as many as 14 of the resellers and service providers had been compromised in the Nobelium attacks, which it said involved the use of well-known techniques, like password spray and phishing, to steal legitimate credentials and gain privileged access.

Nobelium is the same group that Microsoft said was responsible for last years cyberattack on U.S. software company SolarWinds. That attack involved inserting malicious code into SolarWinds IT performance monitoring system, Orion, and gave the hackers access to the networks of thousands of U.S. public and private organizations that use Orion to manage their IT resources.

The White House said in April that it believed the perpetrators of the SolarWinds hack were part of the Russian foreign intelligence service, or SVR.

In an October 29 statement published by Russian network RBC TV, Russias foreign ministry dismissed as groundless Microsofts accusation that SVR was behind the recent cyberattacks on IT companies. It also said Microsoft should have shared data on the attacks with the Russian government's National Coordination Center for Computer Incidents to aid a professional and effective dialogue to ... identify those involved.

VOA asked Microsoft whether the company had communicated with Moscow regarding the latest hacking incidents, but Microsoft declined to comment.

It also has not disclosed the names or locations of any of the targeted or compromised IT companies.

Charles Weaver, chief executive of the U.S.-based International Association of Cloud and Managed Service Providers, also known as MSPAlliance, told VOA that he had not heard of any of his organizations members being affected by the latest Nobelium attacks.

MSPAlliance describes itself as the worlds largest industry group for people who manage hardware, software and cloud computing services for customers. It says it has more than 30,000 members worldwide, about two-thirds of them based in North America.

Insufficient attention

The apparently successful cyberattacks on Microsoft-linked IT companies are a sign that U.S. MSPs are not putting enough priority on cybersecurity, said Jake Williams, a chief technology officer at U.S. cybersecurity company BreachQuest and a former U.S. National Security Agency elite hacking team member.

The profit margins for MSPs are often razor-thin, and in the majority of cases, they compete purely on cost, Williams told VOA in an interview. Any work they do that doesn't directly translate to additional revenue is generally not happening.

One cybersecurity practice that more MSPs should adopt is the sharing of information with U.S. authorities about hacking incidents, said James Curtis, a cybersecurity program director at Webster University in Missouri, in a conversation with VOAs Russian Service.

Curtis, a retired U.S. Air Force cyber officer and a former IT industry executive, said MSPs do not like to admit they have been hacked.

They don't want to share that their users information has been stolen, because it may hurt their bottom line and may hurt their stock prices, and so they try to handle that internally, he said.

The MSP community is not perfect, Weaver said. Our members face a lot of cyberattacks and their job is to protect their customers against these things. For 21 years, MSPAlliance has strived to promote best practices for our global community, and we will continue to incrementally improve as fast and as often as we can.

But Weaver said criticism of MSPs for not devoting enough attention to cybersecurity is misplaced.

Customer practices

MSPs have been urging their customers to make easy and inexpensive fixes such as adopting multifactor authentication to back up their data to the cloud, Weaver said. But I personally have witnessed a lot of nonconformity amongst the customers. They have to be the ones that ultimately pay for and allow MSPs to deploy those fixes.

The Biden administration also has used a variety of tools this year to try to protect U.S. targets from Russian and other foreign hackers. In May, President Joe Biden issued an executive order for U.S. authorities to tighten cybersecurity contractual requirements for IT companies that work with the federal government. The order said the companies should be required to share more information with federal agencies about cyber incidents impacting the IT services provided to those agencies.

In an earlier action in April, the Biden administration sanctioned six Russian technology companies for providing support to what it called malicious cyber activities of Russias intelligence services.

Senior U.S. officials also have used diplomacy to try to expand international participation in a Counter-Ransomware Initiative (CRI). A U.S. National Security Council statement issued Wednesday said deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger briefed representatives of 35 countries Tuesday on the outcome of last months first CRI meeting of experts from law enforcement, cybersecurity, financial regulators and foreign affairs ministries.

Chris Morgan, an intelligence analyst at Britain-based cybersecurity company Digital Shadows, told VOA the stronger cybersecurity practices mandated by the U.S. government for federal contractors will not necessarily be voluntarily adopted by IT companies working in the private sector. One such mandated practice is for federal contractors to adopt a zero-trust security model, in which users who log in to a network are not automatically trusted to do whatever they like within that network but must instead undergo continual authentication.

Larger government role

Implementing zero-trust is a real change in the way that your network is managed and comes with significant costs. I think that's the reason why a lot of companies are quite hesitant to do so, Morgan said. I think a lot of people would like the U.S. government to take a more active role in combating cybercrime [through promoting measures like zero-trust].

Weaver, of MSPAlliance, said applying federal cybersecurity regulations to the entire private sector is not a good idea because different industries, such as banking, health care and energy, have different IT needs.

He also said the U.S. government could effectively curb ransomware attacks by doing more to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Cyberattacks are a big business, yet the hackers are in countries beyond the reach of our law enforcement, Weaver said. So you have a business model that has no disincentive to stop. And all we have are the IT guardians against those attacks. I just don't think that putting regulations on the guardians is going to solve this.
The astronauts who will depart the International Space Station on Sunday will be stuck using diapers on the way home because of their capsules broken toilet.

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation Friday as suboptimal but manageable. She and her three crewmates will spend 20 hours in their SpaceX capsule, from the time the hatches are closed until Monday mornings planned splashdown.

Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges, she said during a news conference from orbit. This is just one more that well encounter and take care of in our mission. So were not too worried about it.

After a series of meetings Friday, mission managers decided to bring McArthur and the rest of her crew home before launching their replacements. That SpaceX launch already had been delayed more than a week by bad weather and an undisclosed medical issue involving one of the crew.

SpaceX is now targeting liftoff for Wednesday night at the earliest.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will return with McArthur, told reporters that the past six months have been intense up there. The astronauts conducted a series of spacewalks to upgrade the stations power grid, endured inadvertent thruster firings by docked Russian vehicles that sent the station into brief spins, and hosted a private Russian film crew  a space station first.

They also had to deal with the toilet leak, pulling up panels in their SpaceX capsule and discovering pools of urine. The problem was first noted during SpaceXs private flight in September, when a tube came unglued and spilled urine beneath the floorboards. SpaceX fixed the toilet on the capsule awaiting liftoff but deemed the one in orbit unusable.

Engineers determined that the capsule had not been structurally compromised by the urine and was safe for the ride back. The astronauts will have to rely on what NASA describes as absorbent undergarments.

On the culinary side, the astronauts grew the first chili peppers in space  a nice morale boost, according to McArthur. They got to sample their harvest in the past week, adding pieces of the green and red peppers to tacos.

They have a nice spiciness to them, a little bit of a lingering burn, she said. Some found that more troublesome than others.

Also returning with McArthur and Pesquet: NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. SpaceX launched them to the space station on April 23. Their capsule is certified for a maximum 210 days in space, and with Friday marking their 196th day aloft, NASA is eager to get them back as soon as possible.

One American and two Russians will remain on the space station following their departure. While it would be better if their replacements arrived first  in order to share tips on living in space  Kimbrough said the remaining NASA astronaut will fill in the newcomers.
Supporters of Africa's second-longest serving leader, Cameroons 88-year-old President Paul Biya, are celebrating his 39 years in office November 6. Biya, who has been Cameroons president since 1982, is rarely seen in public these days. Meanwhile Biyas opponents are saying renewed calls for the octogenarian to run for president in 2025 cannot be taken seriously.

Supporters of Cameroon's ruling party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, CPDM, sang that Biya can still rule the central African state for another seven-year term, starting in 2025.

Biya was declared the winner of the country's 2018 election garnering over 80% of the votes.

The song was sung in towns and villages across Cameroon during celebrations of Biyas 39 years in office.

One event was held in Monatele, capital of Lekie, a department near Cameroon's capital, Yaounde. Henri Eyebe Ayissi, Cameroons state property, survey and land tenure minister, and Biyas close ally led the CPDM party delegation to Lekie and delivered what he called a special message for Biya supporters.

Ayissi said the CPDM is appealing for a national consensus for Biya to seek a new term in 2025. He said the Lekie Division is making an appeal to Biya to accept the call to run for president in 2025 and continue the good works he is doing for Cameroon.

Ayissi said Biya has maintained unity despite Boko Haram terrorism on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria and the separatist crisis that has killed at least 3,000 people in the English-speaking western regions.

Ayissi said several million Cameroonian children have access to education because Biya has built schools and universities in many towns and villages of the central African state.

The call for Biya to run for president again when his current seven-year term ends in 2025 was echoed in several towns and villages, sparking criticism from Biyas opponents.

Christopher Ndong, secretary general of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement -- a party that claims its candidate, Maurice Kamto, won the 2018 election and that Biya stole his victory -- Ndong says an invitation for Biya to be a candidate in 2025 means the CPDM wants the octogenarian to die in office.

"It is a slap in the face of Cameroonians and democracy in this country. Given his age, what will he do with power? Right now, he is not active. Honestly, this is a provocation of the first order. Look at the chaos all over the place. The country is in debts. In fact, it shows you that there is nobody at the head. That 2025 call should not be taken seriously because we know the state and health of the head of state cannot permit him to rule this country in 2025," Ndong said.

Ngole Ngole Elvis, head of the CPDM party academy and Biyas close aide, says calls for Biya to run are democratic. He says instead of complaining that Biya has been in power for long, the opposition should prepare to democratically vote for who they think should be their president in 2025.

"Wait for the next election and make sure that you prepare for it in such a way that with your freedom, you should have put in place the right campaign strategies, the right campaign messages, the right manifestos, the right candidates," Elvis said.

Biya served as prime minister for seven years before becoming president. In 2008, he removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely.

He is now the second-longest serving leader in sub-Saharan Africa after his neighbor, Thedoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power since 1979.
The coup in Sudan puts into doubt the process that would have seen France cancel some $5 billion debt it was owed by the African country, France's foreign ministry said on Friday, the latest power to pressure military leaders who seized power.

France, Sudan's second-largest creditor, has been a main actor in backing the interim authorities after former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019, but the civilian transition was derailed in October when the military took control.

Speaking to reporters in a daily briefing on Friday, Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said Paris had been an "unwavering" partner for Sudan and that the general debt cancellation program as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative was agreed at a conference in Paris in May.

"A Paris Club agreement was reached on July 15, each creditor now having to sign a bilateral agreement with Sudan," Legendre told reporters, responding to a question on whether Paris was reviewing its debt cancellation promise.

"It is clear that the military coup of October 25 calls into question this process."

Sudan owes nearly $60 billion, 40% of which -- or $23.5 billion -- is held by the Paris Club.

Under the July agreement, the Paris Club decided to cancel $14.1 billion of that debt and reschedule the rest.

At that conference President Emmanuel Macron had vowed to cancel about $5 billion France is owed by Khartoum, provided a loan to clear Sudan's arrears to the International Monetary Fund and organized a side event promoting investment into the country.

In a sign the junta is tightening its control, the military dissolved the boards of all state companies and national agricultural projects, state TV said on Friday.
Bloodstains still mark the spot where assassins gunned down Mohib Ullah, an activist who was a leading voice for the 850,000 Rohingya living in fear in Bangladeshi refugee camps.

In the weeks since the murder, a senior member of the now-shell-shocked volunteer group that Ullah headed has received phone calls telling him he'll be next. And he's not alone.

"They can hunt you down the way they have brazenly shot dead our leader and so many people," Noor, too frightened to give his real name or be filmed, told AFP.

"They," he believes, are members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an insurgent group fighting the Myanmar military but also thought to be behind a wave of killings and criminal activity in the camps.

ARSA has denied it killed Ullah.

Most of the Rohingya have been in the camps since 2017 when they fled a brutal military offensive in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where the predominantly Muslim minority are reviled and seen as illegal immigrants.

Refusing to go back until they are assured of security and equal rights, the refugees remain stuck in bamboo-and-tarp shacks with no work, poor sanitation and little education for their children.

Overflowing latrines fill narrow mud lanes with excrement in monsoon season, and fires can rip through the flimsy homes in minutes during the hot summers.

By day the Bangladesh authorities provide some security. But at night the camps become the domain of gangs -- allegedly linked to ARSA -- that traffic millions of dollars' worth of methamphetamine from Myanmar.

"The scenario is different as soon as the sun sets," Israfil, a Rohingya refugee who goes by one name, told AFP.

"The dark time is the long hours when they do whatever they want to do," he added.

'Brutal carnage'

Working among the chaos and unease in the camps, Ullah and his colleagues quietly documented the crimes that his people suffered at the hands of the Myanmar military, while pressing for better conditions.

The former schoolteacher shot to prominence in 2019 when he organized a protest of around 100,000 people in the camps to mark two years since their exodus.

That year he met U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House and addressed a U.N. meeting in Geneva.

But his fame appears to have gone down badly with ARSA.

They saw Ullah as threatening their place as the sole voice representing the Rohingya -- one who was opposed to their violence, his colleagues and rights activists say.

"He became a thorn in ARSA's side," said Nur Khan Liton, a top rights activist in Bangladesh. "ARSA was also frightened by his enormous popularity."

Three weeks after Ullah's murder in late September, gunmen and machete-wielding attackers slaughtered seven people in an Islamic seminary that had allegedly refused to pay protection money to ARSA.

"The brutal carnage bore all the marks of ARSA. The group previously slaughtered at least two top Islamic clerics because they didn't back ARSA's violent struggle," said a top expatriate Rohingya activist.

"ARSA has carried out the murders to establish its full control in the camps. After the latest carnage, everyone seems to be silenced," he added, asking to remain anonymous.

'No presence'

After the attack on the seminary, the U.N. refugee agency urged the Bangladesh authorities "to take immediate measures to improve the security in the refugee camps."

A series of turf war killings in 2019 prompted the Bangladesh army to erect barbed-wire fences around the camps. The elite Armed Police Battalion was tasked with patrolling the area.

Police have also carried out a series of security operations that have killed dozens of alleged Rohingya drug traffickers.

But although they have arrested dozens of people over Ullah's killing, they are in denial about ARSA's activity, blaming instead "rivalries" in the camps.

"ARSA has no presence in the camps," Naimul Haque, the commanding officer of the Kutupalong camp, insisted to AFP.

'Extreme fear'

Members of Ullah's group are far from reassured, saying that their security concerns fall on deaf ears.

Some even mutter that ARSA and the Bangladesh security forces are in cahoots -- something Dhaka vehemently denies.

Kyaw Min, a top Rohingya leader, said police assist ARSA to "reign" at night by "conveniently" not being around when they operate.

A month before he died Ullah sent a letter, seen by AFP but which could not be independently verified, to the Bangladesh authorities.

He named 70 men in the camps he said were ARSA members and said he and his colleagues feared for their lives.

Bangladesh's refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat and camp-in-charge Atiqul Mamun denied receiving any such letter.

Family members of senior Rohingya leaders told AFP that Bangladesh security forces have since relocated at least six families including Ullah's, fearing they will be targeted.

"We thought we would be safe in Bangladesh. But now we don't know when the killers will knock on our doors," activist Sa Phyo Thida told AFP.

"Just like those genocide days in Myanmar in 2017 when we were living in fear of the military death squad, we now live in extreme fear."
When a rotten egg smell rises from the mangrove swamps of southeast Mexico, something is going well. It means that this key coastal habitat for blunting hurricane impacts has recovered and is capturing carbon dioxide  the main ingredient of global warming.

While world leaders seek ways to stop the climate crisis at a United Nations conference in Scotland this month, one front in the battle to save the planet's mangroves is thousands of kilometers away on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Decades ago, mangroves lined these shores, but today there are only thin green bands of trees beside the sea, interrupted by urbanized areas and reddish segments killed by too much salt and by dead branches poking from the water.

A few dozen fishermen and women villagers have made building on what's left of the mangroves part of their lives. Their work is supported by academics and donations to environmental groups, and government funds help train villagers to organize their efforts.

The first time they came to the swamp for seasonal restoration work was more than a decade ago with Jorge Alfredo Herrera, a researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the Mexican Polytechnic Institute in Yucatan. He told them the mangroves needed a network of interlaced canals where fresh and salt water would mingle.

To dig them was a hard work and paid only $4 a day. Men from Chelem, a fishing village of Progreso, turned down the job but a group of women took it on, believing they could accomplish a lot with little money.

Recently, after an intense rainy season, the women worked to finish the second part of the restoration process: planting young mangroves in a swamp near this port city. Under the sun, they chuckled, remembering the time they encountered a crocodile and barely managed to run away.

Then they placed 20-inch mangrove seedlings into mounds of mud held together by mesh, creating tiny islands about a yard (meter) square.

"The happiest day is when our plants take," said 41-year-old Keila Vazquez, leader of the women who now are paid $15 a day and take pride in putting their "grain of sand" into the planet's well-being. "They are like our children."

GLOBAL THREAT TO MANGROVES

This mangrove restoration effort is similar to others around the globe, as scientists and community groups increasingly recognize the need to protect and bring back the forests to store carbon and buffer coastlines from climate-driven extreme weather, including more intense hurricanes and storm surges. Other restorations are underway in Indonesia, which contains the world's largest tracts of mangrove habitat, Colombia and elsewhere.

"Mangroves represent a very important ecosystem to fight climate change," said Octavio Aburto, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.

While the tropical trees only grow on less than 1% of the Earth's land, he said, "on a per-hectare basis, mangroves are the ecosystem that sequesters the most carbon ... They can bury around five times more carbon in the sediment than a tropical rain forest."

Yet around the globe, mangroves are threatened.

From 1980 to 2005, 20% to 35% of the world's mangrove forests were lost, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

From 2000 to 2016, the rate of loss declined as governments and environmental groups spotlighted the problem, but destruction continued  and about 2% of the world's remaining mangrove forests disappeared, according to NASA satellite imagery.

In Mexico, as in much of the world, the largest threat to mangroves is development. The region near Cancun lost most of its historic mangroves to highways and hotels starting in the 1980s.

Tracts of mangroves on the country's southern Pacific coast also have been cleared to make room for shrimp farming, while oil exploration and drilling in shallow waters off the Gulf of Mexico threatens mangroves there, said Aburto.

Mexico began to protect some of its mangroves only after the excessive tourism development of the 1980s. And although Mexico took steps to establish a climate action plan in 1998 and was one of the first developing countries to make voluntary commitments under the Paris Climate Accord, its commitment to the environment began to backslide in 2015, said Julia Carabias, a professor on the science faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

In the past six years, Mexico has cut resources for environmental conservation by 60%, according to Carabias.

And that, combined with increasing government support of fossil fuel energy and ongoing infrastructure and tourist projects in the region, is sounding alarms.

Despite the country's monitoring system, local researchers say that for every hectare (2.5 acres) of mangrove restored in southeast Mexico, 10 hectares are degraded or lost.

EFFORTS TO SAVE SWAMPS

The halting efforts in Mexico to protect and restore mangroves, even as more are lost, mirror situations elsewhere. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency estimated in 2007 that 40% of Indonesia's mangroves had been cut down for aquaculture projects and coastal development in the previous three decades.

But there have been restoration efforts as well.

In 2020, the Indonesia government set an ambitious target of planting mangroves on 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of degrading coastline by 2024. Key ministries are involved in restoration efforts that include community outreach and education.

Yet there have been some setbacks. Precise mapping and data on mangroves is hard to come by, making it difficult for agencies to know where to concentrate. Newly planted mangroves have been swept out to sea by strong tides and waves. Community outreach and education have been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Mexico, successes exist, even if they are slow in coming.

Manuel Gonzalez, a 57-year-old fisherman known as Becha, proudly shows off recovering mangroves in the seaside community of Dzilam de Bravo, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Progreso. He walks through mud, avoiding the interlaced mangrove roots that burrow into it. Some trees are already 30 feet (9 meters) tall.

In 2002, Hurricane Isidoro devastated this area, but after a decade of work, 297 acres have been restored. The fisherman says that now storms don't hit the community as hard. And the fish, migratory birds, deer, crocodiles and even jaguars have returned.

But the mangroves face a new risk, as stumps scattered among the trees attest.

"In 10 years, you have a very nice mangrove for someone with a chainsaw to come and take it," Gonzalez said. "That's something that hurts me a lot."

Cutting mangroves has been a crime since 2005, but Gonzalez says authorities shut down and fine projects, only to have them later reopen.

The Yucatan state government said it is aware of complaints of illegal logging yet the harvest has only grown.

While more funds are needed for protection and restoration, some communities prefer to think about how to make conservation a profitable activity.

Jose Ines Loria, head of operations at San Crisanto, an old salt harvesting community of about 500 between Progreso and Dzilam, thinks the way to make the local mangrove part "of the community's business model" is using the new financial tools such as blue carbon credits.

Those instruments, already in use in Colombia and other countries, allow polluting businesses to compensate for emissions by paying others to store or sequester greenhouse gases.

Some in Mexico say credits are still not well regulated in the country and could invite fraud and scams. But Loria defends them. "If conservation doesn't mean improving the quality of life of a community, it doesn't work."
As much of the Western world focuses on the growing threat from the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, new intelligence suggests that there is reason again to worry about the terror group's core in Syria and Iraq.

Down to an estimated 10,000 fighters, a small fraction of what it boasted at its peak, and working in small, clandestine cells across the two countries, the terror group, also known as IS or ISIS, has been trying to maintain what intelligence and military officials describe as a low-level insurgency, with varying degrees of success.

But U.S. military and intelligence officials caution that the group's fortunes may be starting to change, which may allow it to retake territory in Syria and Iraq and its leaders to assert greater influence over affiliates and followers worldwide.

'Poised to increase activity'

In Syria, in particular, IS appears "poised to increase activity  after a period of recuperation and recovery," the Defense Intelligence Agency told the Defense Department's inspector general in its just-released quarterly report on U.S. operations in the region.

The DIA said IS activity began to pick up in September, with a growing number of attacks in Syria's central desert against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Other targets have included fuel infrastructure and supply routes, and even Iranian-backed militias, the DIA said.

U.S. military intelligence officials also said there was evidence IS relocated some fighters from the central desert to northeastern Syria, where local officials say the terror group is finding other ways to expand.

"ISIS is not limited to a military presence only," Elham Ahmad, the executive president of the Syrian Democratic Council, told reporters last month during a visit to Washington.

IS's sway over people

"What's most important is the intellectual and ideological influence that ISIS has over the people," Ahmad said, warning that the terror group has established cells in key cities such as Raqqa and Deir el-Zour.

"The reemergence of ISIS is pretty possible," warned Ghassan al-Youssef, co-president of the Deir el-Zour Civic Council. "They are able to reorganize to raise funds to get stronger."

IS has found a fertile recruiting ground in displaced-persons camps such as al-Hol, home to almost 60,000 women and children, many connected to dead or captured IS fighters.

Despite efforts by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, U.S. military intelligence officials warn, IS "retains the capability to radicalize, intimidate, recruit and conduct attacks."

U.S. Treasury Department officials further warn that the al-Hol camp remains a central hub for IS finances, receiving and distributing donations from the terror group's supporters around the world.

Money, supplies and fighters also move freely from Syria into Iraq, where, U.S. officials said, there are signs the group has expanded its network of havens while carrying out "better-planned high-profile attacks," both on Iraqi forces and infrastructure.

For their part, Iraqi security forces have managed some successes, most notably the arrest last month of Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, also known as Hajji Hamid, described by the Pentagon as "one of ISIS's most senior leaders."

One Western counterterrorism official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, called al-Jaburi's arrest "very significant."

Al-Jaburi, the official said, was seen as a candidate to potentially replace current IS leader Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla (also known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi), should al-Mawla be killed or captured.

But while al-Jaburi could potentially provide Iraq with a trove of critical intelligence, some U.S. officials warn Baghdad may be limited in its ability to leverage information from him or from other high-ranking IS officials now in its custody.

"The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) continued to demonstrate poor operational security, a lack of reliable information on operations against ISIS, complacency, and poor tactical control and coordination of strike assets," acting Defense Department Inspector General Sean O'Donnell wrote in his report, released Thursday.

'No significant achievement'

Additionally, the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve reported Iraqi forces made "no significant achievement" when carrying out anti-IS operations without coalition assistance.

Despite such criticism, Iraqi officials this week touted talks with the U.S. and the coalition, saying all parties were on track to end U.S. combat operations in Iraq by the end of the year.

Pentagon officials have sought to downplay the impact that will have, noting Iraqi forces have been in the lead for some time.

"We continue to coordinate (through ongoing military technical talks) with our Iraqi partners on the transition to a training, advising, assisting and intelligence-sharing role," Commander Jessica McNulty, a Pentagon spokesperson, told VOA via email. "The United States remains committed to maintaining the U.S. military presence in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government."
A jury on Friday convicted a Chinese national of trying to steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, including the theft of proprietary airplane engine fan technology.

The government alleged that beginning in December 2013, Yanjun Xu recruited experts who worked at aviation companies, including GE Aviation in Cincinnati.

Xu was a deputy division director at the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the country's intelligence and security agency, the government said. Federal prosecutors said Xu and others would pay stipends for the experts to travel to China under the guise of delivering a university presentation.

Specifically, Xu was accused of trying to steal technology related to GE Aviation's composite aircraft engine fan, unduplicated by other companies, to benefit the Chinese government, Vipal Patel, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, which includes Cincinnati, said Friday.

Xu and other operatives discussed how they would obtain "highly sensitive information" from the experts, court documents said.

Xu was arrested in Belgium in 2018 after traveling there to meet a GE employee in Europe on business, and was later extradited to the United States, Patel's office said.

Xu was charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. He had pleaded not guilty but was convicted Friday of all charges after a two-week trial.

Xu faces up to 25 years in prison and a $5 million fine. No sentencing date was set.

Messages were left for his attorneys, who have argued that Xu is not a spy and never asked for trade secrets, and that the case involved the legal exchange of trade information.
Eleven soldiers were killed and nine reported missing on Friday following a jihadi attack on an army position in Dagne in western Niger, days after 69 civilians died in an ambush, the government said.

The attack by "a column of heavily armed terrorists in several vehicles and dozens of motorcycles" killed 11 soldiers, and left one injured, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense read on public television.

"After fierce fighting, the enemy column was forced to retreat with its dead and wounded," added the statement, which said "air and ground reinforcements dispatched to the area continue to sweep" the locality.

The soldiers targeted had been deployed to ensure the safety of the thousands of villagers who had returned to their communities after the earlier killings.

At least 69 people, including a local mayor, died earlier this week in an attack in the country's volatile tri-border zone with Burkina Faso and Mali.

The assault took place on Tuesday at Adab-Dab, a village about 55 kilometers (32 miles) from Banibangou in the western region of Tillaberi, but was only confirmed by the government on Thursday.

The government declared two days of national morning starting Friday.

Local sources said a motorcycle-borne defense force was attacked by "heavily armed members of the ISGS (Islamic State in the Greater Sahara)," who were also on motorbikes.

Another source said the target of the attack on Tuesday was a local anti-jihadi defense force called the Vigilance Committees, which was headed by the mayor of Banibangou district.

The defense force had recently been set up by local people following a string of attacks on farm workers in remote fields by highly mobile jihadists, a former mayor said.

The world's poorest country by the benchmark of the U.N.'s Human Development Index (HDI), Niger is facing jihadist insurgencies on its western border with Mali and Burkina Faso and on its southeastern frontier with Nigeria.

The western insurgency began with incursions in 2015. The bloodshed escalated in 2017, with massacres carried out by groups affiliated to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

Human Rights Watch estimated in August that more than 420 civilians had been killed since the start of the year in western Niger.
Taliban authorities have confirmed the arrest of two men for their suspected role in the killings of four women, including a rights activist, whose bodies were found in a house last week in northern Afghanistan.

An interior ministry spokesman in Kabul Saturday said the detainees had confessed in preliminary interrogation to inviting the victims to the house in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Qari Sayed Khosti did not say whether the suspects also admitted to the killings nor did he identify the victims or a motive. Further investigations are underway and the case has been referred to court, Khosti said in a video statement released via Twitter.

The slain activist was identified as Frozan Safi, a 29-year-old university lecturer in Mazar-i-Sharif. She had been desperate to leave the country after the Islamist Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, said Sayed Azim Sadat, director of the Zainuddin Mohammad Babar Cultural Center, where Safi worked.

Sadat told the Associated Press that Safi left her home about three weeks ago to meet someone who claimed he could facilitate her evacuation from Afghanistan. The other three women reportedly also had received a similar offer and were invited to the same house, only to later be found dead.

The Talibans return to power in Afghanistan after waging a 20-year insurgency against the former Western-backed government in Kabul and U.S.-led international forces have raised fears of human rights abuses and reprisals.

A United States-led Western emergency chaotic airlift enabled tens of thousands of people, including civil society activists and foreign nationals, to leave Afghanistan before the departure of American and NATO troops from the country at the end of August.

Taliban leaders have not blocked Afghans with valid passports and visas from leaving the country and repeatedly have reassured the global community they would protect the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities, in line with Islamic laws.

But critics remain skeptical whether the Taliban will live up to their public pledges.

In a new report released this week, Human Rights Watch said Taliban-imposed limits on women working as aid workers are blocking the delivery of badly needed humanitarian assistance in much of Afghanistan.

In the majority of the countrys provinces, women aid workers are only able to work if they are accompanied by a male family member, the watchdog said. Only three of the countrys 34 provinces allow women aid workers to work unconditionally.

The Taliban should immediately permit all aid workers, women and men, to fully do their jobs, or they will be placing even more people at risk, said Heather Barr, associate womens rights director at Human Rights Watch.

When the Islamist movement last held power from 1996 to 2001, women could not leave their homes unaccompanied, and girls could not receive an education.

The Taliban have reopened secondary schools for boys since taking power in August, but they have prevented most girls in Afghanistan from rejoining school  just like they did under the previous Taliban rule.

Taliban officials dismiss concerns they would not let girls receive an education, insisting relevant departments are making arrangements to enable girls to resume educational activities in a safe and sound environment.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday called for an end to fighting in Ethiopia and expressed serious concern about the intensifying conflict in the countrys northern Tigray region.

In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council urged all parties in Ethiopia to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting cease-fire.

The council also "called for refraining from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness."

The statement comes a day after the first anniversary of the start of the conflict in Tigray. It is only the second time that the U.N. Security Council has issued a statement on Ethiopia since the fighting began.

"Today the Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia," Ireland's U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said in a statement. She said it was the first time that the council called for an end to hostilities in Ethiopia.

Council members said the language in the statement was amended to remove a call for an immediate end to hostilities without preconditions because of objections from Russia, according to The Associated Press.

The U.N. call comes as Tigray forces in Ethiopia announced Friday that they have formed an alliance with other armed and opposition groups around the country, including forces in the Oromo region, in order to end the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. They said they were willing to bring down the prime minister through negotiation or force.

Ethiopia's government called the creation of an alliance a publicity stunt.

According to Reuters, a group of anti-government forces is threatening to march into the capital, Addis Ababa.

The U.S. State Department on Friday urged all Americans to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible, according to a security alert posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

The alert called the security situation in the country very fluid.

The State Department also warned Americans on its travel advisory website, saying: Do not travel to Ethiopia due to armed conflict, civil unrest, communications disruptions, crime, and the potential for terrorism and kidnapping in border areas.

The Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency Wednesday and called on residents to defend their neighborhoods if rebels arrive in the capital.

Thursday marked the first anniversary of Prime Minister Abiys deployment of troops to Tigray in response to forces of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front seizing military bases a day earlier. The ensuing conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced several million from their homes and left 400,000 residents of Tigray facing famine, according to a July estimate by the United Nations.

A joint investigation by the United Nations and the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission published findings on Wednesday that all sides in the conflict have committed human rights violations, including torturing civilians, gang rapes and arresting people based on ethnicity.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said some of those abuses may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Some information in this report comes from Reuters and the Associated Press.
The U.N. Security Council has called for an end to escalating fighting in Ethiopias northern Tigray region as rebel Tigrayan forces announce the formation of an alliance to end the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In only the second statement on Ethiopia since the fighting began a year ago, the 15-member council Friday urged all parties in Ethiopia to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting cease-fire.

The council also "called for refraining from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness."

"Today the Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia," Ireland's U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said in a statement. She said it was the first time that the council called for an end to hostilities in Ethiopia.

Council members said the language in the statement was amended to remove a call for an immediate end to hostilities without preconditions because of objections from Russia, according to The Associated Press.

The U.N. call comes as Tigray forces announced Friday that they have formed an alliance with other armed and opposition groups around the country, including forces in the Oromo region, to end the government of Prime Minister Abiy. The Tigrayan forces said they were willing to bring down the prime minister through negotiation or force.

Ethiopia's government called the creation of an alliance a publicity stunt.

Also on Friday, all Americans were urged to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible, according to a security alert posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, which called the security situation in the country very fluid.

In a warning on its travel advisory website, the State Department warned Americans Friday not travel to Ethiopia due to armed conflict, civil unrest, communications disruptions, crime, and the potential for terrorism and kidnapping in border areas.

On Saturday, the State Department said it ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members to leave the country on November 5.

The Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency Wednesday and called on residents to defend their neighborhoods if rebels arrive in the capital.

Tigrayan forces said earlier this week they were advancing on the capital of Addis Ababa and that it could fall within months or even weeks.

Threats of physical harm on Twitter prompted the social company to temporarily deactivate its Trends section Friday in Ethiopia.

Given the imminent threat of physical harm, weve  temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia. Alongside continued efforts to disrupt platform manipulation, we hope this measure will reduce the risks of coordination that could incite violence or cause harm, Twitter said.

Thursday marked the first anniversary of Prime Minister Abiys deployment of troops to Tigray in response to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Fronts seizure of military bases. The ensuing conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced several million from their homes and left 400,000 residents of Tigray facing famine, according to a July estimate by the United Nations.

The escalating violence in Ethiopia could trigger a humanitarian crisis that could spread to neighboring countries and even Europe, according to Hassan Khannenje, director of the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Reuters, Khannenje said in an interview with China Global Television Network that Ethiopias uncertain status as an anchor state in Africa threatens to cause a potential humanitarian catastrophe that may affect not just countries neighboring Ethiopia but countries in much of the continent, pushing refugees probably all the way to Europe and elsewhere."

A joint investigation by the U.N. and the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission published a report Wednesday concluding that all sides in the conflict have committed human rights violations, including torturing civilians, gang rapes and arresting people based on ethnicity.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said some of those abuses may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.



Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters and the Associated Press.
The U.S. State Department announced Friday it would offer up to $5 million each for information that would help authorities capture and convict four Mexican drug cartel kingpins, including the brother of infamous trafficker "El Chapo."

Along with the brother of jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Aureliano Guzman-Loera, brothers Ruperto Salgueiro-Nevarez, Jose Salgueiro-Nevarez and Heriberto Salgueiro-Nevarez are also wanted by the United States.

The four have been "charged in U.S. indictments for violation of U.S. drug laws, to include international conspiracies to distribute marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

The highly dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl is "responsible for more than 63% of the 96,779 drug overdose deaths in the United States between March 2020 and 2021," Price added.

The four operate under the umbrella of the federation of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most notorious drug trafficking groups, which "El Chapo" led until his imprisonment.

He was extradited in 2017 to the United States, where he was sentenced to life in prison two years later in a trial held under high security.

The State Department statement comes the same day as a Justice Department announcement of indictments charging the four with violating international trafficking laws.

For over a decade, the United States and Mexico have worked together to fight drug trafficking under a program called the Merida Initiative, with the United States providing military firepower, technical support and security training.

In October, the neighboring states agreed to overhaul their approach to address the root causes and step up efforts to curb cross-border arms smuggling.

Mexico is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen more than 300,000 people murdered since the government deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.
The pandemic has not only been challenging for medical workers, it has also overwhelmed veterinarians who report a rising demand for pet care as many Americans acquired furry friends while cooped up at home.

For a growing number of pet owners, it has been frustrating trying to get into a veterinary clinic.

I used to have no trouble getting in to see my veterinarian before the pandemic, said Mila Helmsford, a dog owner in Alexandria Virginia, as she walked Bailey, her golden retriever. Now, when I call to make an appointment, Im told it could be several days or longer before the vet can see my dog. And that concerns me, especially when Bailey isnt feeling well.

Veterinarians say they havent been able to treat the same number of pets per day as they did prior to the pandemic due to social distancing and other pandemic restrictions, creating a backlog.

People have more pets than ever before, and many of them got their animals during the pandemic, said Jessica Vogelsang, chief medical officer for the American Animal Hospital Association, a nonprofit organization for companion animal veterinary hospitals. So, theres an increased demand for veterinary services.

As pet owners face long waits, many veterinarians deal with burnout from stress, long working hours and a lack of work-life balance, said David Lee, a director at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine.

Some of them are reducing their work hours or leaving the profession entirely because theyre so frustrated, he said.

I strongly believe there is a shortage of veterinarians in the U.S., Rustin Moore, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Ohio State University, told VOA. Ive heard many veterinarians say they are having a difficult time trying to hire the veterinarians they need for their practices.

The veterinarian shortage is acute and chronic, said Mark Cushing, founder and CEO of the Animal Policy Group, an organization that focuses on animal care.

Others believe there is no actual scarcity, only a perception of one.

I think there is this perception of a shortage because pet owners cant see their veterinarian as quickly as they would like to right now, said Jose Arce, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, an organization representing more than 90,000 veterinarians in the U.S. Arce said his organizations data doesnt reflect a shortage.

Despite challenges within the profession, interest in becoming a vet has not waned, according to Moore at Ohio State. If anything, he said there are not enough veterinary training colleges to meet demand, noting that applications have gone up significantly from people who are highly qualified.

One of the newest programs is the University of Arizonas College of Veterinary Medicine, which had its first class last year.

We have a three, instead of the usual four-year program, said Katie Bergingson, the director of admissions and student affairs. This means we can get our graduates into the workforce faster, especially into communities where veterinarians are really needed.

And many of the students say veterinary medicine is more than a vocation, its a passion.

I love animals. They bring me so much joy, said Deianira Smith, a 26-year-old veterinary student, who aims to teach people how to take better care of their animals.

Animal Policy Groups Cushing believes veterinary practices need to be more efficient and ready for a new normal of high demand and high expectation.

Millennials now own 60% of all pets and theyre demanding a higher level of services, including medical advice, he said. They can be more hands-on with their animals.

Arce, with the American Veterinary Medical Association, sees remote telehealth continuing to blossom at animal clinics, as well as better use of technicians to assist overworked vets.

Veterinary positions are anticipated to grow 16% by 2029, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For both veterinarians and their clients, it cant come soon enough.

I know the animal hospital where I take my dog is doing the best they can right now, said dog owner Kayla Lewis of San Francisco. But I hope I wont have to worry about getting in to see my vet too much longer. My dog, Shadow, is like a member of my family.
In response to human rights violations, the United States announced this week that it plans to suspend Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from duty-free access to American markets as of January 1.



U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement to Congress, released Tuesday, that these nations were no longer in compliance with the eligibility requirements for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He cited various examples of their failure to defend internationally recognized human rights.



What is the AGOA?



The AGOA was enacted by Congress in May 2000 with the intention of enhancing sub-Saharan African countries' access to the U.S. market.



Nations that qualify under the act are afforded several key benefits, most importantly preferential access to the U.S. market for more than 6,000 products. Through the removal of import duties on these products, beneficiaries obtain competitive advantages over other nations.



To qualify for the AGOA, nations must meet eligibility requirements, outlined in section 104 of the act, including working toward improving their rule of law, defending human rights and respecting international labor standards.



Each year, the U.S. determines which nations qualify for the AGOA benefits, and the president grants or withdraws beneficiary status at his or her discretion.



Why did the administration cut off access for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea?



The Biden administration said that unconstitutional developments in Mali and Guinea threatened their eligibility for the program.



According to the president's statement, Mali has not established or made "continual progress toward establishing the protection of the rule of law, political pluralism, and internationally recognized worker rights." It also has not addressed "gross violations" of "internationally recognized human rights," Biden said.



In Guinea, the government failed to establish protections for the rule of law and political pluralism, the statement said.



The Biden administration also withdrew Ethiopia's benefits under the AGOA for "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights," the president said.

Ethiopia's suspension was the result of the ongoing civil war in the northern Tigray region that has spurred a serious human rights crisis. Since the conflict started a year ago, international concern has grown over human rights abuses including mass killings of citizens and widespread sexual violence.



How are these countries reacting?



Following President Biden's announcement, Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said that the government had already commented on the issue, Reuters reported.



Legesse stated on Twitter on October 3 that suspension from AGOA would cost the country 1 million jobs.



The governments of Mali and Guinea have not released statements on Biden's decision.



How significant is the deal to each country's economy?



Given the benefits posed by the AGOA, suspension from the act may have important implications for each country's economy.



Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a low-income, highly undiversified economy, according to the World Bank.



In 2020, amid the pandemic, the country fell into a recession.



According to the World Bank, Guinea is another of the world's poorest countries. The pandemic significantly slowed economic growth in the country, causing it to contract by 1.4% in 2020.



Neither Mali nor Guinea have been major exporting nations under AGOA.



But Ethiopia was the fifth top exporting nation under the act, according to U.S. International Trade Commission data.



Under AGOA, the Horn of Africa nation exported $245 million worth of goods to the United States last year, representing half of its total shipments to the American market, Bloomberg reported.



While Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with a per capita income of $850, it has the fastest-growing economy in the region, according to the World Bank.



In a statement Tuesday, top U.S. trade negotiator Ambassador Katherine Tai said that the U.S. "urges these governments to take necessary actions to meet the statutory criteria so we can resume our valued trading partnerships."



Tai also stated that she will provide each country with benchmarks for a path toward the reinstatement of their AGOA benefits.
Lawyers representing President Emmerson Mnangagwa say a sitting president cannot be taken to court as he is protected by the country constitution.

Responding to a case in which Zanu PF member, Sybeth Musengezi, is seeking the removal of the president from the post of Zanu PF secretary, Mnangagwas lawyers argue that the president cannot be sued in his personal capacity, according to an online publication, NewsHawks.

The court papers, reports NewsHawks, read in part, I am advised that Section 98 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013 provides for presidential immunity. It reads as follows: While in office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his or her personal capacity; civil or criminal proceedings maybe installed against a former president for things done or omitted to be done or before he or she became president or while he or she was president

The lawyers claim that as a result, the High Court therefore has no jurisdiction to try the president for any cause against him in his personal capacity whilst he is still in office. The provision is part of our constitution which is the supreme (law) of the country and hence is authoritative on that point. The inescapable conclusion is that section (98) of the constitution creates presidential immunity.

Mnangagwas lawyers also argue that Musengezi does not have any legal standing to bring the matter to court. In the papers filed by Obert Mpofu, secretary for administration, acting on behalf of the president and all other respondents, the lawyers further argue that Musengezi took too long to bring the case beyond the prescription years.

The lawyers further claim that Musengezi is not a member of the ruling Zanu PF party.

Musengezi maintains that he is a member of the ruling party. He sent copies of his Zanu PF membership cards to VOA Zimbabwe Service.

Musengezi claims that Mnangagwa was not properly elected when the Zanu PF Central Committee convened a meeting in November, 2017, and elected him ruling party secretary.

He argues that the people who convened the meeting, including Mpofu, Patrick Chinamasa and others, did not follow the partys constitution.

Musengezi says his life is in danger as some suspected Zanu PF members are threatening to kill him for taking the matter to court.

He says as a ruling party member, he has a right to sue Mnangagwa as secretary of the ruling party.
One on One with Joe Korkowski, as heard Saturdays on KXRA-1490AM (@7:40am) and KXRA-92.3FM (@8:00am), as well as each Sunday morning on KXRZ Z99.3fm (@10:15am).

The interview is also re-broadcast on Monday mornings on KX92 at 10:00am and on Z99 at 9:10am.
Deborra-Lee Furness thinks every single person has "experienced childhood trauma" to some degree.

The 65-year-old star - who is married to 'The Greatest Showman' actor Hugh Jackman - is a big supporter of the Adopt Change charity, which explains its mission as making sure every child has "a safe, nurturing and stable family upbringing".

Reflecting on Yesvember - the organization's annual campaign to raise awareness in November - Deborra-Lee told 'JAM Nation with Jonesy & Amanda': "We wanna shift the needle and make sure that these kids are looked after.

"One of our biggest things - which I'm very passionate about at the moment - is the trauma, to have a trauma-based care so that our educators and carers understand.

"There is no child that is separated from their family that does not experience trauma. And frankly, all of us have experienced childhood trauma, it's just varying degrees.

"So, I want teachers to be aware so they can flag it when they see kids - so many times, these kids are just accused of bad behaviors. They're hurting! You only get bad behavior when you're hurting or you haven't got anywhere to go."

Australian charity Adopt Change - which advises federal and state government across the country on policy - uses Yesvember to encourage communities to get involved.

She addded: "Yesvember is about raising awareness, to have the community involved, to say, 'We still have 46,000 kids in out of home care that we need to find permanent, loving families for.' "

As well as children in adoption, the charity also supporters victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Deborra-Lee is leading the charge for Adopt Change's dance challenge this month, and she's been working hard to nail the routine to help others take part.

She said: "Well, I love it. They've made a little choreographed number we all had to learn, so I spent my Saturday afternoon practicing my moves, and there you have it!"
Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM

News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.



Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
The Israeli government acknowledged that a Sudanese military delegation had been sent by General Dagalo, known as Hemidti, to Tel Aviv at the end of September 2021. It also acknowledged that after the events of 26 October, characterized by Washington as a "military coup, Israel sent a high-level delegation to Khartoum including Ministry of Defense and Mossad officials.

In February 2020, then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already had a secret meeting with General al-Burhan in Entebbe, Uganda.

Officially, the West has severed ties with Generals Dagalo and al-Burhan. However, they are still being funded by Saudi Arabia and continue to be on speaking terms with Israel.

On 4 November, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned allegedly ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (who is nevertheless free) and General al-Burhan. Following these communications, four ministers who were under house arrest regained freedom of movement.
For two weeks, Turkey has been negotiating with Russia the conditions of her exit from Idleb, the area in northern Syria where all the remaining jihadists are amassed. Turkey insists that it will not be possible for her to withdraw as long as the Kurdish mercenaries continue to threaten her.

Discussions are focusing on a Russian-Turkish-Syrian operation to stamp out the Kurdish mercenaries of the PKK/YPG, who have already been abandoned by their former US employers. Russia would thus set up a military base in Ayn al-Arab (called Kobane by the Kurds in reference to the old German railway line Kompany Bahn) ensuring that it would no longer be claimed by the Kurds.
Stowe, VT (05672)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 46F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 39F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Alas, the final Stranger Things teaser is here, and it feels like the anticipation of Spring Break as we wait for its debut in Summer 2022. The teaser shows Elevens new life in California as she eagerly awaits seeing Mike during her Spring Break. Eleven writes a letter to Mike, letting him know shes slowly adapting to her life in California alongside Will, Jonathan, and Joyce Byers. The teaser premiered during the Stranger Things day online event hosted by Netflix. The event also revealed the episode titles for its nine-episode season:

The Hellfire Club Vecnas Curse The Monster and The Superhero Dear Billy The Nina Project The Dive The Massacre At Hawkins Lab Papa The Piggyback

003/004

The latest teaser trailer for the long-awaited fourth season of Stranger Things introduces audiences to a creepy old home called Creel House, which appears to have absolutely nothing to do with Gavin Creel. What it does have is a dark past. The trailer, which premiered during Netflixs Tudum fan event on Saturday, begins with a family in the 1950s moving in, only to notice some strange happenings. Cut to the 80s, when the Hawkins gang breaks in to search for clues. Unfortunately, they dont unearth a premiere date; we just know its sometime in 2022. Tick tock

002/004

Its the return of shaved-head Eleven, just in time to match Hopper. In the new teaser trailer for Stranger Things 4, we get a flashback to the laboratory in which Eleven was created, where a group of children are playing under the menacing eye of their papa, Dr. Martin Brenner. Brenner allegedly died by Demogorgon in season one, but in season two, a lab employee tells Eleven hes still out there. Eleven, are you listening? he calls out to her in the teaser. Looks like the new season will explore her supernatural origin story, or maybe even involve other psychokinetic kids.

Stranger Things 4 is now arriving in 2022, according to a Netflix sneak peek. You can watch the initial teaser from February 2020 below, where we catch up with surprisingly undead Russian prisoner Chief Jim Hopper. Based on the captions 001/004 and 002/004, we can expect at least two more teasers before Stranger Things finally returns. Work on the series resumed in September, after production was paused in January 2020. Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight: New Moon), Eduardo Franco (Booksmart), Joseph Quinn (Game of Thrones), and Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) all join the cast this season as Hawkins residents with varying levels of creepiness. No release date yet, just eerie, eerie vibes.

001/004, February 2020

Look down, look down, dont look em in the eye, Hopper and his fellow prisoners should be singing in the teaser for Stranger Things season four. Despite the setting and technological advances (railroad tracks over ships), the teaser plays out like the beginning of Les Miserables, and Hopper is our Jean Valjean. Miraculously alive after we collectively mourned him in last seasons finale, Hopper is living his days as a slave of the law in Russia, after, you know, mowing a bunch of people down with a machine gun. That means more David Harbour dadbod and more Miami Vice with El, but considerably less hair. Hopper is bald and thats just something were all going to have to come to terms with. Maybe thats why Netflix revealed Hoppers return in a teaser trailer  it knew wed need time to cope with the loss. And time is abundant. Stranger Things 4 is no longer expected until 2022.
Big mistake, Canadas Drag Race. Huge. When Oceane Aqua-Black was eliminated in week two, I chalked it up to a classic case of a loveable queen having a bad week and going home too soon. It happens. Last week, Stephanie Princes elimination felt untimely  she was one of the most entertaining queens in the room, a deadly mix of peppy and bitchy  though Synthia tore that lip sync fair and square. But (spoiler alert) Suki Dolls elimination at the end of this week is the sort of thing that Drag Race producers usually use rigga morris to prevent at all costs. Suki Doll is both a stunning drag artist and a great reality-TV character; every word out of her giant mouth has been iconic and quotable. In a season where the actual challenges and runways havent been thrilling (barring an exemplary Rusical), the main thing buoying this show week to week has been the contestants personalities. And now, some of the most interesting ones to watch are gone. *Sighs in French Canadian.*

This season, the eliminated queens must think theyre all Alice Munro, because theyve all been scribing entire short stories on that mirror. Theyre wasting valuable lipstick! Dont they know were in a supply-chain crisis? After wiping Stephanies words away, Synthia wonders if shell need a lawyer after throwing that mace across the stage and almost hitting poor Steph during their lip sync. Shes not apologetic, though. Im an Aries. I go ferociously after my goals, says our beautiful blonde-mulleted queen.

Heres a new maxi challenge idea for producers: Its called the prompt queens to come up with new segues that arent Its a new day in the werkroom challenge. It really is a new day in the werkroom, though, and the library is, in fact, open. While these queens have been exceeding maximum word counts with their elimination lipstick messages, Im not confident that any of them are literate in the reading-challenge sense. The edit only shows one joke for most queens, presumably the best they had to offer. The best of the bunch is probably Adriana saying, Gia, or should I say, Gigi Not As Goode. The specificity! Suki tells Kimora that she mistook her for a toilet seat because of all her bullshit, and Synthia roasted Brookes filler and proceeded to skip to her lou all around the room like the absolute British Columbia Temperate Rainforest Woodland Sprite she is. Icesis Couture wins, even though I cant recall what any of her jokes were, and Brooke informs the gals that theyll be competing in Squid Game  sorry, Snatch Game. I got the air of death and despair in those two confused.

As the queens prepare, Kendall tells a producer that this competition has been so flippy-floppy, and aint that the truth. She wisely notes that one of the reasons why Snatch Game matters so much is that when a performance is iconic, it does tend to get tied to a queens drag persona for years. The Vivienne is still dining off that Trump. Brooke Lynn does her walkthrough, and most queens are confident about what they want to do. Iceisis is doing La Veneno to pay tribute to her trans drag mother; Synthia is going to play up judge Brad Goreskis past career by playing Rachel Zoe. Eve 6000 doesnt know if she wants to do her tried-and-true Jennifer Coolidge impression or try Bernie Sanders, but her Bernie makes Brooke laugh, and she settles on it. Brooke tells the girls that their extra-special guest judge will be Connor Jessup. They all do terrible impressions  of knowing who that is.

Snatch Game begins, and theres a surprise special guest on the panel: Bomanizer! From TikTok! As a stunningly handsome queer Canadian who found his niche making fun of reality TV, he was a total natural on actual reality TV. At the rate this Drag Race iteration churns through regulars, we could be seeing him as a judge this time next year. In an earlier recap, I said that Pythia really reminds me of Crystal Methyd (this is a very, very good thing), and her choice to do a high-pitched, creepy-robotic Grimes felt like an improvement on Crystal doing a high-pitched, creepy-robotic Poppy. Pythia nailed Grimess lisp, came ready with jokes (I gave birth to an external disc drive. Im raising him as a nonbinary computer code,) and does Montreal proud. Icesis does a really solid job as a horned-up Veneno, but it is Synthia who dominates the entire affair with her Rachel Zoe. The queen has the sort of confidence that comes with being gorgeous with just enough comedy chops to back it up. Playing Goreskis former employer could go either way, but it turns into a game where Synthia has the judges wrapped around her finger. I see flashes of Lemon in this likable queen.

Gia Metric is deemed safe by the judges, so we dont get to hear their opinions on the truly wackadoo work she put in as a very draggy Jim Carrey. Gias Carrey runs around the stage, pulls rubbery faces, and straight-up is eating paper for a lot of the Snatch Game. High-octane impressions like this can too quickly veer into off the rails territory on Snatch Game, but Gia finds a really fun and surprising balance, and I want to give it its due here.

On the other end of the Snatch: Kendall Genders Kris Jenner is stale, Kimoras Leslie Jones gets eclipsed by quicker performers, Eve forgets to be funny, Adrianas Sofia Vergara has some evil contouring (and repetitive boob jokes), and Suki Dolls Yoko Ono is a bold choice with low payoff. Back in the werkroom, Eve is really disappointed in herself, while Suki takes more of a buck up, soldier attitude and stands by her decisions.

On the runway, the queens have to serve looks inspired by a Canadian icon of their choosing. There is a fun variety of looks here, with only two queens repeating one figure. Suki Doll goes arthouse, giving her artistic and dragged-up take on Sandra Oh in Double Happiness (that trenchcoat!), while Icesis stomps out in poodle hair and a mint-green World War II-era nurse costume. Imagine my shock when she says its an homage to Sandra Oh, my hometown girl, with her iconic role as Greys Anatomy. This is worse than RuPaul saying Ben Platt was phenomenal in Dear Evan Hansen in the role of Dear. Icesis then says she is a nurse, and corrects herself to doctor, and ends up just saying fashion. The disrespect to Cristina Yang. Rude. Other standouts include Kimora Amour as Deborah Cox as Josephine Baker, Pythia giving a bold bird look as Catherine OHara as Moira Rose in The Crows Have Eyes, and Gia Metric really committing to her theme and giving the comedy gays everything they want by going as a sexy femme Austin Powers. Also of note: the jewel work on Adrianas outfit. She says, Vanessa Morgan is the lesbian queen of the serpents. This makes her sound far more interesting than she actually is (shes on Riverdale).

The judges deem Icesis, Kendall, and Gia safe, and Gia gives a bit of a facecrack. Kimora is put in the top above her, even though the judges call her Leslie Jones one-note multiple times. Backstage, Eve is worried, Suki is resolute, and Icesis is annoyed: Eve thinks shes so amazing. Its another week of delusion. And if shes in the bottom, Im sorry sister, like, I dont care, she says in a confessional cutaway. Synthia wins the week, Adriana is spared from the bottom three, and Suki Doll must face off with Eve 6000 to Happiness by someone called KAPRI.

No one can find this song anywhere. The Redditors have deemed it a mystery. No wonder poor Suki doesnt seem to know the words. This LSFYL is, unfortunately, low tempo, with Suki appearing not even to put up a fight. Eve does the saddest, ugliest little tearaway of her otherwise gorgeous Matrix drag look, but Suki takes way too long to take off her own coat and get on the floor and give choreo. Its a disappointing ending to a promising run, but Eve sends Suki home. Her closing words are a cryptic poem: A wise Suki once said all drag is valid, and boys in skirt with a yes. So keep that in mind and never put your foot forward with prejudice. What is she trying to tell us? Its a mystery for another week.

Stand-Oots

 Pythias little dance when the queens were undressing before the theme song took me out. Goblin vibes.

 In Rus weekly contractual video message, she quotes Canadas unofficial poet laureate  Drake. Hate crime.

 Werk hunny the house down boots mama.  Eve 6000 doing a Bernie voice in the werkroom. If only she gave it this much flavor in the actual Snatch Game.

 Comedy  is  subjective?  A cutaway to Suki Doll while she bombs.

 In the Snatch Game, your Yoko Ono was a Yoko Oh No.  Brooke Lynn Hytes beating Ru at her own game.
One person has died following a crash in Colbert County.

According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the single-vehicle crash happened around 2:30 a.m.

Authorities said 58-year-old Kenneth Yates of Muscle Shoals was killed when the vehicle he was driving went off the road and struck a metal guardrail.

The crash happened on Alabama 184 near mile marker 6, approximately 5 miles east of Muscle Shoals.

ALEA says they're investigating this crash.
Albertville police are currently investigating a woman found dead in a ditch with a gunshot wound Friday morning as a homicide.

The Albertville Police Department got a call of a single-vehicle accident off of Dixie Dale Road around 6:30 a.m. When they arrived at the scene, they found a woman laying outside of a silver GMC with gunshot wounds and empty shell casings nearby.

Jana Miller Chatman Jana Miller Chatman

She has since been identified as 32-year-old Jana Miller Chatman from the nearby town of Douglas.

Local residents couldn't believe something like this could happen in their community.

"I've never heard of anything like this, so I'm just shocked," said Allen Champion. "Stuff like this, whatever happened, I mean, you just don't hear of stuff like that around here."

Champion grew up in the High Point community, which includes Dixie Dale Road. He said he never thought a tragedy like this would happen in his tightknit neighborhood.

The Albertville Police Department said they rarely have to deal with homicide investigations in such a close community.

"Everybody knows everybody here," said Chief Jamie Smith. "It's one of those fairly small  you know, we're growing, but still a fairly small community. It's taken personally. It's hard to deal with sometimes."

Since Albertville is such a tightknit community, Smith is hoping someone will come forward and know something about Chatman's situation.

"She's from this area," he said. "She's local. We're hoping somebody knows her, maybe knows the situation she's in, and can help us out."

He said there were no witnesses that they know of, as the crime happened in a rural area with few residents close by. The police are still waiting on an autopsy report, but the chief said Chatman's cause of death was most likely from the gunshot wounds.

Smith urged anyone with any information to come forward as they try to find a break in this investigation.
The Semper Fi Community Task Force of North Alabama hosted a hero's welcome for some veterans Friday in Huntsville.

It's their first year back after sitting out last year because of the pandemic.

This welcome was something to see, because the veterans on this flight were injured in some way and weren't afforded a proper thank-you and welcome home.

"When they're well enough to go home, they just go home," said David Bonwit of the Semper Fi Community Task Force. "There's no celebration, there's no welcome-home ceremony, so when they get out of the hospital, this is our chance to say, 'Thank you for what you've done.'"

One thing that makes this so special is it's a complete surprise to the veterans as they get off the plane. Even though Veterans Day is still about a week away, leaders say it's important to show these brave individuals support any way they can.

"A lot of communities have a veteran day where they honor veterans," said Col. Glenn Mellor. "Here in Huntsville, we have a Veteran's Week that absolutely honors veterans."

Mellor told WAAY 31 it was a beautiful moment when the vets walked through. Some cried, and others had big smiles and big waves.

"It's just so important to tell a story to make sure that people recognize the veterans and what they do for this country," said Mellor.

This was the first time Semper Fi was able get this event back up after not being able to do it last year, and it's part of "Heroes Week." They will be celebrating veterans all week to show them how much they're needed and wanted.

"We couldn't do it without the support of the community," Bonwit said. "It ranges from Guntersville up to Meridianville. We have people coming all the way down from Birmingham and Tuscaloosa to support the activities that we have here. So, it's all of North Alabama, southern Tennessee and the whole Tennessee Valley."

The nonprofit is made up of all service members and their friends and family, and they want to say a thank-you to anyone who has served or is serving. They said community support is what it's all about.
School board members in Madison have approved a new masking policy that will allow high schools to go mask optional starting Monday and for as long as the county's positive test rate remains within certain levels.

The Madison City Board of Education unanimously approved the policy at its Nov. 4 meeting. Under the new mask matrix, the Madison City Schools system would look to the Alabama Department of Public Healths dashboard of positive test rates per county to determine whether masks should be required in schools.

Masks will be optional at the high school level after Madison Countys test rate reaches the moderate, or yellow, level for two weeks. When the rate reaches low, or blue, level for two weeks, theyll be optional at the elementary and middle schools in the district.

If the level goes back to high, or red, and stays there for two consecutive weeks, then the boards policy will require all schools to return to masks mandatory until the level declines again.

This approach is set to stay in place until Jan. 1, after which point the policy states schools systemwide will go mask optional when the countys positivity test rate is moderate for two consecutive weeks.

Meanwhile, facial coverings on school buses will remain mandatory, according to the policy.

The policy is set to expire May 25, 2022, unless board members approve ending it early.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  The U.S. government is offering $5 million rewards for information leading to the capture of four Mexican drug lords.

Those subject to the $5-million bounty included Aureliano Guzman-Loera, the brother of imprisoned capo Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.

The State Department said Friday the four operate in the northern Mexico states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua.

Guzman-Loera and three brothers from the Salgueiro-Nevarez family were indicted in the United States of conspiring to traffick marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, was responsible for about 61,000 overdose deaths in the United States between March 2020 and 2021.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 55F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 23F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Wanted in Rome talks to Ignazio Marino, who was the centre-left mayor of Rome from 2013-2015 and is now professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

By Marco VenturiniI followed the electoral campaign from abroad, and criticised the general vagueness of the candidates. A few weeks before the vote, with the sole exception of Carlo Calenda [leader of the liberal centrist Azione party], they only had generic programmes lacking in detail.Another serious shortcoming was the public debate between the candidates. At the end of September, a Rome newspaper published a letter from me to the candidates in which I listed what, for me, remain the five priorities for building the Rome of the future. Six years after the end of my time as mayor, it was interesting to read how almost all of the aspiring mayors were in full agreement with my programme for the city.

Unfortunately, many in the election campaign make promises that they don't keep. In 2013, when I was elected mayor with a large majority, 64 per cent of the votes, I was committed to consistently implementing everything I had proposed, starting with the pedestrianisation of many central areas (Fori Imperiali and Piazza di Spagna), the closure of the landfill at Malagrotta, and doubling the amount of recycled waste collection in the city.

Transplant surgeon Ignazio Marino has returned to his academic work following his tenure as Rome mayor.

As for a judgment on the newly elected mayor , I think it is right and necessary to wait at least six months to evaluate his work. I hope that he thinks about the good of the citizens and the competance of the councillors.

Recently the outgoing mayor Virginia Raggi apologised for some comments she made about you when she was mayor. What do you think about this and what is your opinion on the outgoing administration?



I sincerely appreciate the public and repeated apologies of Virginia Raggi. This step of hers, by no means taken for granted, means that we can open a dialogue. She is a strong woman who has accumulated considerable experience after five years as mayor. I was the first to criticise many of her choices in the city government (for example the management of municipal pharmacies, her choice in terms of the Olympics, the wrong assignments for the heads of the administration), but I appreciate her gesture and I wish her well.

What does Rome need and what is the city's main problem?

In my opinion the mayor of Rome should concentrate on the main strategic points: transport, waste, security, urban design and archaeology. Unfortunately, in order for the mayor to be able to make autonomous decisions, changes are necessary in many areas, because at the moment some laws actually prevent the mayor from doing so, because they come under the authority of the region or the central government.

In addition, there has always been a lack of legislation to give Rome special status and funding to fulfill its role as the capital of Italy  as happens in Paris, London and many other European capitals.

Will the new city council meet the challenge?

At the moment, it seems that the first thing is to find an internal agreement among the various groups that contributed to the election of the mayor. This is understandable because these groups haven't had power in the last eight years and now wish to exercise it. I do not judge but I do hope that they try to exercise power as a verb (to be able to do, to be able to change, to be able to innovate), and not as a noun (to hold power).

What actions should be put in place immediately, in the first 100 days?

I think it is important to send at least one strong signal of discontinuity with respect to the previous city government. I closed Malagrotta and pedestrianised Via dei Fori Imperiali  actions that I knew were very controversial but were part of my electoral programme. Today, years later, the appropriateness of those decisions is widely recognised even by the detractors of that time.

Have you ever thought of going back to being mayor?

No, I am very happy with my new life and activities in Philadelphia. I am involved in international projects for Thomas Jefferson University and I have rediscovered the joy and enthusiasm of working with a team that not only doesn't work against you, but supports you to achieve positive results.

Are the everyday problems that Rome has to face only the result of bad administration or are they also the responsibility of the Romans?

The Romans are an extraordinary people, with good and bad chatacteristics. Their irreverent sympathy is often a double-edged sword: it helps them overcome every tragedy but sometimes prevents them from growing. I adore them, but I think that we must work, for example with children in schools, to nurture care for the environment and respect and knowledge of our own surroundings, which are unique and precious.

Marino's successor Virginia Raggi was recently replaced as mayor by Roberto Gualtieri.

I believe that the mayor must administer but also cultivate an idea of the city of the future, and to do this he must involve children. Let's think of a child who today is six or seven years old and has just begun their school career. If the mayor were actively to involve these children in choices within the schools themselves, in ten years' time we would have young people able to participate in the wider choices of society.

You moved to live in Philadelphia where you work with enormous success. Do you often return to Rome? What are your ties and projects with the city?

I return to Rome regularly, both for work and to see my mother Valeria, who is 99, my sisters and some of my best friends from my high school and college years. On a professional level, I am very happy with the close collaboration between Thomas Jefferson University and my alma mater, Universita Cattolica and Policlinico Gemelli, which remain international centres of excellence.

We have developed a programme together that allows the best students to train for three years in Rome and three years in Philadelphia, obtaining a double degree that allows them to specialise wherever they want, in Europe or in the USA. We are also conducting several clinical trials together. It's good for Rome and for Italy but also for Thomas Jefferson University.

We are a significant reality with 18 hospitals and one of the oldest medical faculties in the USA, but Policlinico Gemelli is not to be underestimated: recently Newsweek ranked it as the best hospital in Italy and number 45 in the world.
General Motors confirmed Friday it will again halt production at its Orion Assembly plant in Michigan, which makes the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle, for three more weeks. The largest U.S. automaker in August widened its recall of the Bolt to more than 140,000 vehicles to replace battery modules and to address fire risks after a number of fires. GM said the plant, which halted production in August after the battery recall, now has a targeted return to production date of Dec. 6. The new three-week production halt will start Nov. 15.
If Elon Musk doesnt want to plow $6 billion into emergency aid, perhaps hell cash out his Tesla stock to invest in climate-smart innovations that hold tremendous longer-term promise for food security  including AI and robotics technologies that can slash the use of agrochemicals, indoor cropping systems, advances in sustainable fish farming, cellular agriculture, plant-based meats, anerobic digesters, supplements that can ratchet down methane emissions from livestock, nanotech solutions that can boost crop yields and draw down carbon. Investors also need to back natural climate solutions, including silvopasture and regenerative farming practices that can improve farmlands capacity for storing carbon. They should also fund growing private-sector markets paying farmers to sequester carbon.
The good news is major consumer companies that depend upon global shipping are beginning to take notice. Last year, Unilever Plc, Proctor & Gamble Co. and other consumer brands pushed governments and shipping companies to do something about stranded ship crews. In the process, they adopted a toolkit to audit their carriers to ensure they were complying. That effort should be expanded, with financial incentives for carriers to encourage them to focus on the well-being of their seafarers. If carriers dont oblige, businesses should find another way to ship their goods. Such a policy will not only improve conditions on ships but will telegraph to seafarers that their well-being is paramount to the customers who depend upon them.
Take something as basic as state planning. Socialists love it, because they deem it necessary for redistribution and social justice. Eco-socialist Greens also like it, to correct market failures and save the climate. Liberals  in the proper sense of the word, not its American contortion into love of big government and what not  reject planning as inimical to individual freedom. But Burkean conservatives, while sympathetic to the liberal view, would also reject liberalisms categorical rejection. After all, if a plan is empirically shown to work, why not?
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He works where he was once confined, giving him a been-though-it perspective that has allowed him to gain the trust of many of the jails residents. They know that when they talk, hell listen, and lately, hes been listening to many ask him the same question: Does he know whos on the list?
They said that while residents may be used to dealing with flooded basements and repeated heat waves, relatively few connect those conditions to climate change. More needs to be done to link cause with effect and to do something about it, they said.
Those gathered in Annapolis Friday included four governors and seven senators, two of them Democrats, and 16 members of the House, half from each party. They said they reached an agreement that any infrastructure plan should focus first on physical assets and broadband, be passed on a bipartisan basis and include a concrete way to pay for it.
More recent estimates have placed the number of civilian deaths as high as 7,000. Thousands of others were wounded. The carnage was much greater than at My Lai, a village in which as many as 500 Vietnamese civilians were killed by U.S. troops in 1968. An Army lieutenant, William Calley, was the only military officer convicted of wrongdoing in the My Lai Massacre.
Instead, he seemed to identify more deeply with the Bay Area art scene as a whole, where he felt like he was just one of the guys, according to his daughter. He was one of the only major sculptors in the Bay Area Figurative Movement, a group that included painters such as Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, and became involved with San Franciscos flourishing literary scene as an organizer of the Six Gallery, an art gallery and co-op converted from an auto shop.
After saying his friend had fallen on something and might be dead, according to police allegations filed in court, Mohelski said his friend was not conscious and there was blood everywhere. While on the phone with 911, police say that he also said, Im never going to forgive myself.
There were immense challenges for the party to claw itself back from the wilderness, Anderson said. I had pledged that we would run candidates in every House of Delegates [race]. I told people who were running in tough, tough blue areas, We may be asking you to fly a kamikaze mission, but what I want you to know is two things: Number one, you give the voters a choice. Secondly, you develop a skill set for another race. And thats how we grow a bench of experienced people.
Yet in Jackson, expectations for what the bill can accomplish are tempered by an understanding of just how deep the problems run. The disinvestment in Jackson  which is 82 percent Black, the highest for any major city in America  has been ongoing for far more than a generation. And there are fears the neglect could continue even after Biden ends up signing the bill, as Republican state lawmakers will ultimately decide where Mississippis water funds go.
Over the years, Democrats have lamented this trend and have suggested that they should be doing better because their policies offer more economic support to rural voters than do those of the Republicans. Some have claimed that people in rural areas are voting against their own interests by supporting the trickle-down economic policies of the GOP. To that, Democrats from rural states have said its presumptuous for any politician to tell voters what their own interests are or should be.
What is very pressing is the protection of voting rights and combating against gerrymandering. And I believe that if the Senate does not move on that, theres no amount of material gains that we could deliver that will compensate for the structural denial of voting rights, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), the leader of an informal group of a half-dozen lawmakers on the left flank of the Democratic caucus.
When he was the general manager of the New York Knicks, Ernie Tapscott said he would get stopped driving home from Madison Square Garden a couple a times a year for no reason. (AP)

In his Raise a Fist, Take a Knee, John Feinstein talks to Black athletes and executives about how life outside the arena  or stadium  isnt always easy, either.
MARY RUTH WAGLER  The funeral for Mary Ruth Wagler was held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at First Mennonite Church, with Chris Raber, Gaylon Sommers and David Lee Stoll officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Jordan Nonte , LSW, is a Youth First Social Worker at Perry Central Jr./Sr. High School in Perry County. Youth First, Inc. is a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening youth and families. Youth First provides 78 Masters level social workers to 105 schools in 12 Indiana counties. Over 60,000 youth and families per year are served by Youth Firsts school social work and after school programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behaviors, and maximize student success. To learn more about Youth First, visit youthfirstinc.org or call 812-421-8336.
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The book is published through Brisbane-based Connor Court Publishing, owned by Anthony Cappello, a former theology student and member of conservative think tank Institute of Public Affairs, whose executive director John Roskam sits on Cappellos editorial board. Loading After Jones gave Thrupp a leg up in his career, it is now Thrupp who appears to be driving Jones launch into the social media arena. It cant be ignored that Jones broadcasting career had become increasingly problematic for major media operators. He became a target of activist groups such as Sleeping Giants and Mad F---ing Witches, who famously bombarded advertisers on his show demanding they withdraw following Jones remarks about shoving a sock down New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns throat in 2019. Even his old stablemate Ray Hadley has turned, delivering a scathing rebuke of Jones conspiratorial missives on the COVID-19 pandemic and for referring to NSW Health Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant as a village idiot.

Critics argue he further marginalised many of his listeners with his pro-Trump narratives and for publicly aligning himself with anti-vaxxers such as former television chef turned political analyst from his Byron Bay teepee Pete Evans. Jones is leaving it to Thrupp to run his social media on his behalf as he turns his back on mainstream media, throwing himself at the mercy of Google searches and social media likes. I have been fortunate in encountering some people who are remarkably au fait with this process because, understandably, I wanted to monitor my own reach and judge the relevance of what I was saying, Jones said on Thursday. The results are significant. Cooking up a storm For half a century Giovanna Toppi was celebrated for her home-style southern Italian cooking. But behind the scenes, the Naples-born matriarch endured enough dramas to rival The Godfathers beloved Vito Corleone.

Even in the months before she succumbed to a long, unspecified illness on Wednesday, Toppi and her daughter Paola Toppi were embroiled in a $1.5 million legal stoush with a company of which Roosters chairman Nick Politis is a director. Paola Toppis company Bar M Pty Ltd is being sued in the Supreme Court by WFR Motors, of which Politis is a director. WFR Motors is the landlord of the familys restaurant Bar M on Neild Avenue in Rushcutters Bay. Giovanna and Caterina Toppi hang Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moores portrait at Machiavelli in 2005. Credit:Robert Pearce In October 2018, WFR Motors loaned Bar M $1.1 million, so it could settle another court case involving $837,000 that was owed to fit out the building. Giovanna Toppi was also being sued because she guaranteed the loan but denied she was liable, claiming she trusted her daughter and did not read the documents Paola asked her to sign.

The case was due back in court next month with WFR claiming a total of $1.135 million, which includes interest, vacant possession of Bar M and also the proceeds of the sale of 95 Macleay Street, Potts Point, the site of Giovannas iconic La Strada restaurant where she hosted the likes of Mick Jagger, Kerry Packer, Elton John and Shirley Bassey during the 1980s. The property sold earlier this year to Sydney marketing identity Peter Metzner, but WFR Motors placed a caveat over the premises, claiming it was put up as security for the loan. Apprentice chef Marcela Aviles with Giovanna Toppi in the kitchen at Machiavelli. Credit:Domino Postiglione In 2015 the Toppi family sold its famous Machiavelli restaurant business to a former Romanian who represented Australia in judo at the 1984 Olympic Games, Italophile Nicolae Bicher. But Bichers company sued Bar Machiavelli Pty Ltd and Paola Toppi, claiming it was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then in June 2018 Paola put Bar M Pty Ltd into voluntary administration. ASIC documents stated the company owed more than $2.6 million to 66 unsecured creditors, though the case settled after reaching an agreement with the creditors ending administration in October 2018.

The legal headaches were a low point in an otherwise stellar culinary career for Giovanna, who was still active in her daughters Bar M kitchen until relatively recently. Loading Toppi arrived in Australia in the early 1950s unable to speak English. She married William, an SP bookmaker, and started working as a dishwasher before becoming head chef at Buona Sera and going on to run Sole Mio, Giovannas, La Strada and Machiavelli with daughters Paola and Caterina. She was also instrumental in the annual tradition of hanging portraits of VIPs around the various tables at Machiavelli, which over the years had become a barometer of Sydneys power ladder. On Thursday, Paola told PS her mother would be honoured at Bar M in Rushcutters Bay with her image projected on the walls, along with the likes of Fellini and Sophia Loren. A fitting salute.

Floating a sale Is Russell Crowe about to bid farewell to his ultimate bachelor pad in Woolloomooloo? Thats certainly the talk around the Finger Wharf where Crowe has been residing for nearly 20 years after setting a Sydney record in 2003 when he paid $14.35 million for it. Woolloomooloo boy Russell Crowe, but for how much longer? Credit:Getty Images The 11-bedroom home is an amalgamation of four lots with seven car spaces and a 35-metre marina berth. He reportedly knocked back an offer in 2017 for $25 million and withdrew it from the market. Crowe did not respond to PS this week, however if the rumours are true, the Oscar winner could soon pocket a hefty $40 million for the joint.

Crowe bought into the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf back in 2003. Credit: George and Julia head to Hammo George and Amal Clooney, along with their kids, are due to be waking up in paradise today after completing their  ahem  arduous two-week quarantine in the luxury, multimillion-dollar country estate hired in Robertson. The Hollywood A-listers departed their manor on Friday, bound for Hamilton Island and their next luxury digs ahead of Clooney filming the romantic comedy Ticket To Paradise. Julia Roberts and George Clooney, pictured here in Oceans Twelve, are shooting a romantic comedy in Queensland. Credit:Warner Bros.
The most noteworthy moment in The Many Saints of Newark, the new The Sopranos prequel movie, isnt the opening cameo from character Christopher Moltisanti from beyond the grave, or when the series familiar Woke up this morning musical refrain cuts in on a young Tony Soprano, but rather the films closing credits.

In an end-credits scene tangentially related to the story weve watched, the film explicitly points towards a follow-up, an instant sequel to the prequel. I never thought Id see The Sopranos, the revered TV series still widely considered the greatest of all time, taking its cues from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but here we are.

Michael Gandolfini (left) as a teenage Tony Soprano with Alessandro Nivola as his uncle Dickie Moltisanti. Credit: Warner Bros Entertainment

The scene puts a bow on the films - which was released simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max in the US and UK - reason for being. Its not so much a passion project or even a necessary exploration of the origin stories that led to the series proper; its just another move in streamings endless quest for more subscribers, and proof that nothing is untouchable in the streaming wars.

The Sopranos creator and the films screenwriter David Chase confirmed as much in an interview on Marc Marons WTF podcast in September when the comedian asked him if the film, which is set amid the racial tension between Italian-Americans and African-Americans in New Jersey between 1967 to 1971, first came about as an idea detached from The Sopranos.
JULIA 

M, 95 minutes

Julia Child is about as well known in Australia as she is in France  which is not that much. Her TV shows, teaching Americans how to cook French food, ran for decades but I dont remember seeing them here.

Julia Child on the set of her show The French Chef.

Meryl Streep gave a hilarious imitation in 2009s Julie & Julia. Turns out she added very little spice: the real Julia was just as funny and more earthy than her high-pitched patrician voice suggested.

This likeable new documentary on Childs life is authorised. Alex Prudhomme, her grand-nephew, is an executive producer, along with Ron Howard. Even so, the co-directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West manage to include a few blemishes with their admiration. Julia had a ruthless side, as when she sidelined her friend and collaborator Simone Beck.
Glasgow: On what was billed as youth day at COP26, some of the old men of the movement took to centre stage inside the United Nations blue zone to consider the week that had passed and call for more action and haste in the climate effort.

Most notable was the former US vice-president Al Gore, who quoted Winston Churchill, saying: The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close.

In its place, we are now entering a period of consequences.

Al Gore told the conference the world was entering a period of consequences. Credit:Getty Images

Mr Gore said a political tipping point had been reached, and that a green revolution larger than the industrial revolution and in pace with the digital revolution was under way.
While life in Victoria slowly returns to some semblance of normal, for Melbourne healthcare worker Gina and her family its anything but.

Gina, not her real name, is married to a 61-year-old transport worker who is one of the small minority Victorians who refuses to have a COVID-19 vaccine, despite his wife and adult children all having had the jab.

Ginas husband of 35 years refuses to be vaccinated. Credit:Eddie Jim

In fact, he recently paid cash to an unknown medical professional for two falsified MyGov vaccination records. It means he appears fully vaccinated to businesses through check-in apps.

Everyone was filthy on him when he came home and told us that, says Gina, who spoke to The Sunday Age and Sun-Herald anonymously about her sensitive situation. She reported her husband to the Premiers office, and is also toying with the idea of telling police about his falsified records.
The argument that Albanese and his senior colleagues are weighing at the moment is whether Morrison has inadvertently opened the door for Labor, or laid a booby trap. Has the PM made his and the governments position so complicated that it releases Labor to do much more than it dreamed on climate change? This is not a matter of pragmatism versus purity, but the more substantial issue of mandate. If the election is really Labors to lose, does it want government on Morrisons terms, with a bipartisanship of ambiguity on climate change? Loading Our allies in Washington and London would view a Labor victory as a sign that Australia is ready to step up. But Labor would be stuck with no feasible way forward if it minimised the differences with the Coalition beforehand. This, in fact, is the booby trap of pragmatism. The Coalition would have every incentive in opposition to revert to obstruction if Labor was too smart by half in the campaign. While Labor people are understandably spooked by the 2019 election, which the polls also showed was theirs to lose, it is the lesson of 2010 that is more relevant today. Remember Julia Gillard campaigned on the promise that there would be no carbon tax, and then promptly pivoted from poll-driven sceptic to believer after the election? Labor cant afford power on those terms again, where its agenda it set by the independents and Greens.

If Albanese thinks climate change will be a pressing reform for his first term of government, he needs to say so before the election. Loading So how would Labor frame a more ambitious climate change program without triggering a scare campaign that delivers another miracle victory to Morrison and his divided government? The clue is in Morrison Achilles heel: the states. Liberal and Labor premiers have already committed to more aggressive targets for the remainder of this decade. In the case of the Coalition government in NSW, a state where coal is the number on export earner, the target is a 50 per cent reduction by 2030, matching the position of Joe Bidens Democrat administration in the US. Albanese does not need to go that far. But he could codify the existing state and territory targets into a national target, and offer to work with the premiers and chief ministers to implement it. He could borrow from John Howards GST manual and promise that short-term targets would only be lifted in the future if the states and territories agreed. He can use Morrisons national cabinet as the forum for that negotiation. Many on the Labor side imagine there is a sweet spot between cynicism and crazy-brave reform. This is the Claytons option of falling broadly into line with the government, while seeking policy differences at the margin which highlight the rift within the Coalition.

Senior Liberals had hoped Morrison would take two commitments to Glasgow  net zero to 2050, and a higher interim target to 2030 than the one Tony Abbott adopted for the Paris conference in 2015. But the Nationals party room was not prepared to convert beyond the 2050 commitment. That left Morrison as the odd one out of the democratic leaders. He was stuck with the Abbott-era promise for a 26 to 28 per cent reduction in emissions even though he told the COP26 meeting that we would land at 35 per cent on current projections. Loading The temptation for Labor is to take that 35 per cent figure and formalise it as its own target. It might even add a percentage point or two. But the danger of playing it safe is it would release the PM from the burden of pretending to be for action in the cities, and against it in the regions. Morrison would tell Liberal voters in the cities that Labor isnt serious, while his message to the regions would be that Labor has a hidden agenda. It would be a stretch, but the debate would be back on Morrisons nuance-free terms. If Albanese takes the high road of co-operation with the states and territories he can adopt a target of at least 40 per cent based on their existing commitments. He can insure himself against a scare campaign by framing Morrison as the wrecker: the short-tempered politician who is more comfortable picking fights, and shifting blame, than solving problems.
The rancour resurfaced within hours of his arrival in Rome. While the Prime Minister prepared for meetings, Macron held talks with United States President Joe Biden at the French embassy to the Holy See. Diplomats told American journalists it was a deliberate move to meet on French territory in Rome. What we did was clumsy, Biden said. It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that certain things had happened that had not happened. He mentioned AUKUS but not Australia. It was not clear whether the we he mentioned included Australia or was limited to his own administration. Even so, the admission of clumsiness seemed to reflect on all the AUKUS leaders, including Morrison. In Rome, Prime Minister Scott Morrison sought French President Emmanuel Macron (foreground) out in a private space. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Morrison tried to find a safe way to meet Macron the next day. Rather than risk an awkward moment in front of hundreds of cameras, he approached the French President in the privacy of the leaders lounge. The only known photograph of that moment is one taken by Morrisons official photographer, Adam Taylor, but even that image shows no warmth. The political pain was not a series of stumbles by Morrison. It was inflicted on him by a force he could not control. What motivated Macron to do this is a mystery: revenge at losing a deal, hurt over a bruised ego or a calculation about the next presidential election? The week was shaped by Macrons decision to break through the usual diplomatic protocols. In short, he went hard.

Macron was taken by surprise when journalists approached him at the central venue for the G20 talks, the exhibition area known as La Nuvola in the south of the city. It was Sunday afternoon and leaders were holding press conferences  Britains Boris Johnson in one room, Italys Mario Draghi in another. Macron held court with French media but the questions were chosen by his communications adviser. A bid to put in a question from an Australian journalist went nowhere. Two journalists, Andrew Probyn from the ABC and Pablo Vinales from SBS, waited in a corridor on the chance the French leader would walk by when he left his press conference. They chose not to set up cameras because the G20 officialdom would be sure to send them away. The approach worked: Macron stopped, shook Probyns hand and took questions while Vinales filmed on a phone. French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to Europe correspondent Bevan Shields in Rome on Sunday. His answer to Shields final question would define Scott Morrisons European trip. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Bevan Shields from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age also began filming while the French President spoke at length, without pressure and with no sign he was unhappy to be asked. While his communications adviser raced over in alarm and his security detail panicked and held some journalists back, it was obvious Macron wanted to tell his side of the story. He felt no need to pretend much respect for the Prime Minister. That was clear when Shields asked the final questions about Macrons opinion of Morrison. Do you think he lied to you? Shields asked.

I dont think, I know, Macron replied. Loading It was the ultimate question. Macron answered with a mic drop. The press huddle ended and the President walked off. It was an hour before dawn in Canberra on Monday. The entire sequence was only possible because the Australian journalists were allowed into the inner sanctum of the G20 while they waited for Morrison to hold his press conference. They had one hour to wait. Sometimes there is nothing more dangerous than a journalist with spare time and an opportunity. Morrison had to front the cameras barely 20 minutes later. He began talking about Australia being open for business, but knew it would be all about Macron  his advisers had told him that much, although they did not know exactly what the President had said.

He says he doesnt think you lied to him, he knows you lied to him, one journalist asked. I dont agree with that, Morrison replied. Has he not told you that to your face? another asked. Its not true. Its not true: Morrison is grilled just 20 minutes after Macrons explosive remarks in Rome. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Morrison denied lying, and said he would always stand up for Australias interests and that he had been very clear to the French leader that conventional submarines would not suit Australias interests. He ended with a patriotic flourish: Im going to back Australias national interest and I know Australians are going to back Australians who back our national interest. It was a nightmare press conference. Morrison was totally exposed, forced to answer claims he had not been able to hear for himself at a press conference he had scheduled before those claims were even made. He thought he would be talking about his big theme at the G20: a crackdown on social media companies. He ended up having to defend his own integrity. Loading He was angry but kept it under control. There was no way out and fury would not help. But he seemed to know who was not backing the national interest: the media. Morrison claimed the Australian journalists asking him questions had been taking selfies with Macron just minutes earlier. It was a total falsehood, denied immediately. But it was true to the pattern of the Morrison office: when in doubt, blame the media. There was no time to reflect on every circle of this political hell. The Prime Minister and his entourage were off in a motorcade to Fiumicino airport and the RAAF flight to Glasgow. But there was time for some political spin.

The Prime Ministers office leaked some of Macrons personal conversation with Morrison in a bid to prove there was no lie. Over the next few hours, journalists from The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian Financial Review were told of a text exchange that took place about September 13, two days before the submarine contract was cancelled. Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions? Macron texted Morrison. This showed the French President knew a difficult decision was coming, but it also proved he was in the dark on the move to align with the US and Britain. He knew Australia was looking at alternatives, not that Australia had a done deal. There was a deception of some kind. The dispute turned on degrees of honesty: did Morrison state a falsehood, mislead by omission or simply fail to consult enough to prepare Macron for a hard decision? The leak did not include Morrisons reply. That meant the proof needed to refute Macrons accusation was missing. The headline in The Australian  Sacre bleu: PM sinks subs contract lie  was merely the wishful thinking of the Prime Ministers office. Arriving in the wind and rain of Glasgow in the middle of the night, the Prime Ministers team changed plans. An agenda meant to be about climate change was now about damage control. Rather than heading to the COP26 climate summit the next morning, Morrison went to a shipyard where defence giant BAE builds frigates for the Royal Navy.

Standing in front of a frigate under construction, Morrison gave his longest public explanation of the submarine decision. He said he had formalised most of it with Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in June and spoke to Macron days later over dinner to tell him Australia was looking at alternative options. He confirmed he did not tell Macron of the UK and US discussions. He did not deny leaking the text. As he had the day before with his claim about selfies, Morrison denied dishonesty while injecting a falsehood into his press conference about an attack on Australia as well as himself. Ive got broad shoulders. I can deal with that, he said. But those slurs, Im not going to cop sledging at Australia. But there was no sledging of Australia. Macron had taken aim with care. The President had praised Australia while going after its leader. Morrison recovered his balance from this point onwards. He found a consistent theme for every question: that he had made the right call in the national interest.

The agenda shifted to climate change and the Glasgow summit, where 40,000 registered attendees queued for hours and swarmed around a trade show in the hope of gaining access to events where Greta Thunberg or Leonardo di Caprio might speak. Morrison met Prince Charles, a stream of business executives  one of them, Andrew Forrest, sporting a Louis Vuitton scarf  and Pacific island leaders. There was some protection, also, from the tension with Macron. Morrison and other national leaders were isolated in the walled city of the central meeting rooms. Few had the status to get through the security cordon to the rooms where decisions were made. When Malcolm Turnbull appeared at the trade show to revive the Macron affair, Morrison shrugged it off. Prince Charles meeting Scott Morrison in Glasgow on Tuesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Much was made of the fact that few turned up for Morrisons national statement, but the complaints in Australia missed the point. Nobody could turn up. The inner sanctum was barred to most in the crowd outside, including Australian journalists and observers. The summit worked as a series of set speeches: leaders took turns at the podium to speak to the cameras and their home audiences. Listening to each other was optional. This meant Morrison could turn his attention to bilateral meetings at the summit. Only when he had left the summit behind, landing in Dubai on Wednesday on his way home, did he field questions from the media again. The French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, had just spoken in Canberra and rebuked the government for its stab in the back over the submarines.

Asked his thoughts, Morrison offered an answer that combined weariness with a rational calculation that further talk would only do him more damage. Im not going to go further into these issues, he said. Its important now that we all just move on. The trip began with a question. Did Morrison really need to go? He was reluctant from the start and only decided on the visit after NSW rules changed so he could return without having to do 14 days in home quarantine. But the answer now is clear. The cost of the trip was staggering, measured in the days of dispute over his integrity and the slur on his honesty. And it was far greater than any benefit from meeting other leaders or taking the stage at COP26. Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivers Australias statement to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Whether the damage changes the federal election is another matter. The French assault has given Labor enough material to swamp Australians with attacks on Morrisons integrity when the campaign begins, but Labor leader Anthony Albanese has to tread carefully. Siding with a foreign leader against an Australian prime minister would be a risky manoeuvre. And the election will not be fought over the submarines contract, Morrisons friendships with other world leaders, or Macrons frustration about what he was told or not told.
There is a cold wind blowing through China. The country is facing the most coronavirus cases since the first outbreak in Wuhan, soybean prices have jumped by 30 per cent and shoppers are stockpiling vegetables and toilet paper.

The signs are ominous ahead of temperatures forecast to fall by up to 16 degrees in some regions as a Siberian gale sweeps through the country.

A boy holds a Chinese flag as people gather next to Tiananmen Square on October 1. Credit:Getty

In most winters, when La Nina events reach their peak, cold air tends to hit China more frequently and heavily, said Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of the National Climate Centre.

China, for so long a beacon of strong pandemic management, is suddenly looking vulnerable.
It is nuclear technology, and the starting point needs to be that it is dangerous, said Andrei Zolotkov, a researcher with Bellona, a Norwegian environmental group. That is the only way to think about it. Rozhkovs wife, Natalia Rozhkova, was initially sceptical. They can see the new nuclear facility, which is about a kilometre away, from their kitchen window. She worried for the first two days after their apartment was connected to one of the cooling loops of the reactors. But the feeling passed, she said. The floating nuclear power plant docked in the Arctic port town of Pevek, Russia. Credit:Emile Ducke/The New York Times Whatever is new is scary, Rozhkova said. Still, somebody has to be first, she suggested, adding, We were the closest, so they hooked us up first. The experiment in Siberia, Buongiorno said, could play a vital role in convincing countries that using nuclear power to limit climate change will require using it for more than just generating electricity, the source of about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

Decarbonising the electrical grid will only get you one quarter of the way, he said. The rest comes from all these other things. Yes, but a nuclear shower? Buongiorno said he would take one  but conceded that obviously this is not going to work if people dont feel comfortable with the technology. The experiment with nuclear heating hardly makes Russia a crusader on climate change. One of the worlds heaviest polluters, it has adopted contradictory stances on global warming, of which Pevek itself is an example. At the same time it is switching its heating to nuclear power, rather than coal, it is benefiting from climate change in the Arctic, reviving itself as a port as shipping lanes become more navigable. Hot water pipes connect the floating nuclear power plant to homes in Pevek, Russia. Credit:Emile Ducke/The New York Times Russians also have a long and chequered history of employing nuclear technologies for civilian applications not generally accepted elsewhere. The Soviet Union considered detonating atomic bombs to produce open-pit mines and dig irrigation canals. With its icebreakers, Russia operates the only civilian nuclear-powered surface fleet.

At several sites during the Soviet era, engineers connected a type of reactor used to create plutonium for bombs to nearby homes for heating. The reactors continued operating that way for years, even when not needed to make weapons. The nuclear facility in Pevek is aboard the Akademik Lomonosov, a barge about the size of a city block. The idea of small reactors is not new. In the 1960s, before the anti-nuclear movement gained traction, they were seen as a promising technology. The United States operated a barge-based reactor to electrify the Panama Canal Zone from 1968 to 1976, and Sweden used nuclear heating in a suburb of Stockholm from 1963 to 1974. Two other sites in Russia besides Pevek use nuclear residential heating; however, there it is a byproduct of large electrical plants. A remote Siberian town now has its own miniature nuclear plant as a Russian state company tests a new model for residential heating. Credit:Emile Ducke/The New York Times Soon, in Pevek, the towns community steam bath, or banya, will also be nuclear-powered. The state nuclear company, Rosatom, connected the reactors to the heating pipes in one neighbourhood in June 2020. It is now expanding the hot water service to the whole town, which has a population of about 4500.

The plants two cores are cooled by a series of water loops. In each reactor, the first loop is contaminated with radioactive particles. But this water never leaves the plant. Through heat exchangers, it transfers heat  but not contaminated water  to other loops. In Pevek, one of these loops is the system of pipes that leave the plant, branch out and supply hot water to homes. Children play at their nuclear-powered heated home in the port town of Pevek in Russias Far North. Credit:Emile Ducke/The New York Times The company promotes a number of safety features. The plant can withstand a crash by a small aeroplane. The vessel that holds it doubles as a containment structure. And the water circulating through buildings is at a higher pressure than the cooling loop from which it derives heat within the plant, in theory preventing a radiation leak from spreading into town. Residents cannot opt out of getting nuclear-powered heat, but they have mostly welcomed the new plant. Deputy Mayor Maxim Zhurbin said nobody complained at public hearings before the barge arrived.

We explained to the population what would happen, and there were no objections, he said. We are using the peaceful atom. Peaceful atom: Peveks Deputy Mayor Maksim Zhurbin says residents have not complained the technology. Credit:Emile Ducke/The New York Times Irina Buriyeva, a librarian, said she appreciated the plentiful heat and electricity. Of the risks of a radiation leak or explosion, she said, We try not to think about it, honestly. Russia is first, but hardly an outlier, in developing small civilian reactors. This month, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed an expansion of his countrys extensive nuclear sector with small reactors as part of the solution to climate change. China is building small floating reactors modelled on the Russian design. Companies in the US, including General Electric and Westinghouse, have about a dozen designs ready for testing from 2023. In an extreme example of miniaturisation, the US military has ordered a reactor small enough to fit in a shipping container; two companies, BWXT and X-energy, are competing to deliver the air-cooled device.

Germany, however, has taken a different path: it decided to close all of its nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. Kirill Toropov, deputy director of the floating nuclear plant in Pevek, said its benefits were already visible locally, citing snow that is less sullied with coal soot. We need to note this positive ecological moment, he said. Rozhkov, 41, an accountant, who has been showering and bathing three children in nuclear-warmed water for a year now, said Russias use of small reactors in icebreakers gave him confidence in the technology. Loading
London: Prince Charles, the future King, will visit Barbados to watch it officially become a republic, after its people voted to remove his mother the Queen as head of state and fully leave our colonial past behind.

The Prince of Wales, invited in his role as future head of the Commonwealth, will be the guest of honour at the Republic Celebration events later this month: the first of their kind in a generation.

He will mark Barbadoss transition to a republic within the Commonwealth, Clarence House said, as he demonstrates the royal familys continued loyalty and appreciation of the country that will remain in the family of nations.

Prince Charles meets Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley during COP16 in Glasgow this week. Mottley has invited him to witness her countrys official transition to a republic. Credit:Getty Images

On November 30, Dame Sandra Mason, the islands governor-general, will be sworn in as the new head of the state some affectionately call Little England in the sun, replacing the Queen. She was elected almost unanimously by its Parliament, and will begin her new role as president on the 55th anniversary of the countrys independence from Britain in 1966.
Wilmington, DE (19810)

Today

Some early morning breaks in the overcast, otherwise cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 55F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain late. Low near 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Shively Police Department says officers were called to the 1700 block of Sonne Avenue at around 11 p.m. Friday Nov. 5 on reports of a shooting. A man died at the scene.
If you want to conduct an experiment in the sociology of pandemic behavior, try a quick jaunt to Las Vegas. Always a petri dish for freaks, Sin City has gotten stranger in these strange times since it continues to have a mask mandate for everyone, vaccinated or not, gathered indoors.
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The National Toy Hall of Fame has inducted American Girl dolls and the strategy board game Risk, recognizing each for their influence on the toy industry
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Willmar, MN (56201)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 31F. Winds NW at 25 to 35 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 17F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Winchester, VA (22601)

Today

Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable.
Meet Patient 3156, a porcupine who was caught this week after wandering into the Loudoun Street Autopark in downtown Winchester. Officials with the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center near Boyce are nursing the critter back to health and hope to release him back into the wild as early as this weekend.
Not every artist would leave San Francisco to find their creativity in Winnipeg.

Not every artist would leave San Francisco to find their creativity in Winnipeg.

Chris Dorosz is not every artist, however.

The 49-year-old, who grew up in Winnipeg and was an instructor at the University of Manitoba in the 1990s, returned to the city earlier in 2021 after spending 21 years in the Bay Area.

He has made a career with multimedia installations and photography, as well as teaching at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

He also has a husband and a four-year-old son, and when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, family came first.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chris Doroszs Exchange District studio is just blocks from the one he worked out of in the 90s.

"It was sort of a perfect storm," Dorosz says. "My father passed away in 2019 and my mother was still living alone in her house, but then the pandemic hit.

"In San Francisco, it was pretty dire. Everything was boarded up and all the parks were locked. There was literally a parking lot for my son, who was 2 1/2 at the time, to play in. No preschool, no daycare, nothing.

"The city looked like a war zone; it was just awful to be in. So we decided to leave Dodge, pick it all up and come back. Were making it work. Its a sort of a COVID, 21-century story."

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS In a work based on photographs of the Davos Forum, the colourful figures look different depending on the angle from which they viewed.

The three generations live together in Charleswood, and Dorosz continues his art practice in an Exchange District studio, just blocks from one he left in 1999 when he moved to California.

The address is different but Dorosz keeps creating and selling his works. Earlier this week, he was busy crating up fragile pieces to be shipped to his dealer for Miami Art Week, which takes place Dec. 1-5.

The art will be in Florida, but Dorosz will be in Winnipeg.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chris Dorosz uses photographs to construct maquettes out of foam core, then creates art pieces that use globs of paint.

"Its sort of the Olympics of art fairs," he says. "Its like when you hear actors saying they dont watch their own movies  I world prefer not to be there."

Zoom, the video-conferencing app thats become a necessity for schools and universities during the pandemic, allows him to continue teaching in San Francisco from his studio in the Exchange District.

He teaches colour theory; delving deeper into how each colour is made and how the human eye interprets colour plays a large role in his lessons and installations.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Doroszs portraits are based on photographs.

"I tell my students that (colour) is like ping-pong," he says. "Everyone thinks they can play until you see a pro at it, and then, Ahh, theres a lot more to it. Its the same with colour theory."

"I tell my students that (colour) is like pingpong. Everyone thinks they can play until you see a pro at it, and then, Ahh, theres a lot more to it." Chris Dorosz

Some of the works hes exhibiting in Miami are desk-sized stages of people created from miniature tubes of colour-infused Plexiglas.

Dorosz paints each tube, which are about 10 centimetes long, with different colours and and textures and hangs them from the top of the piece in a precise arrangement to create pictures of people.

Each work has five of these intricate portraits, but each person can look different, depending on which angle you look at the piece.

"Theres just an instinctive way of reading these. You come to them (and ask), How did he do that? Its interesting, then theres more of a darker sub-theme to them," Dorosz says.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A self-portrait of the artist, made using globs of paint.

The scenes depicted in the works are derived from magazine photographs taken of the rich and famous, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in Saint-Tropez, France; Queen Maxima of the Netherlands attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2019; and an art gallery opening attended by Theresa Sackler, whose family once owned Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, the addictive opioid pain-killing medication.

"All the subject matter is dealing with the forces that rule our lives, which we dont really know about, what the average person doesnt know," Dorosz says. "They could be anybody, but then you realize these forms have affected peoples lives and affected the way the world is developing."

In Dark Matter House, an exhibition that was on display at La Maison des Artistes gallery in St. Boniface earlier this year, Dorosz created art derived from other photographs in the media, specifically the Winnipeg Free Press. Paint and perforations were added to create otherworldly images when a viewer shone a flashlight through the paper and against a wall in a darkened room.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dorosz points out details of his work, some of which will be exhibited at Miami Art Week.

"The Free Press is one of the only papers Ive come across in my travels that prints larger photos and historic photos, and I was able to capture a snapshot in time, from the turn of the 20th century in Assiniboine Park that I loved, and from the pandemic in 1919," he says.

"I have to say I thought Id have a slower life moving back here and actually its more busy." Chris Dorosz

Dorosz will continue delving into the supernatural with an exhibition in 2023 to be curated by University of Winnipeg art history professor Serena Keshavjee. The show will explore the University of Manitobas Hamilton Paranormal Archive, which is related to research by Dr. T.G. Hamilton, a physician, and his wife Lillian, who did their investigations and photographs between 1918 and 1945 at Hamilton House on Henderson Highway.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chris Dorosz shows an example of a newspaper clipping which he has poked holes into on November 1, 2021 in his studio in downtown Winnipeg. The viewer is meant to manipulate the piece using a flashlight and make shadows on a wall.

"The Hamilton archive is one of the worlds largest paranormal photography archives," he says. "I will be creating the seance room. Ive done this before, re-creating my parents living room using paint blobs."

Dorosz says he took up art after watching his father, Michael, carve items and learning from him. He still carves small figurines made from sheets of foam board glued together, and they served as the models for his Plexiglas installations.

"He was an officer in the forces but he also made reproduction furniture," Dorosz says of his father. "I would watch him carve from a very young age.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dorosz with a book of his exhibition that used Winnipeg Free Press newspaper clippings.

"If he had had a different background and upbringing, he probably would have been (an artist) too; it just was never encouraged."

While the move back to Winnipeg has allowed Dorosz to relive past memories, he says life in the city is far different than the Winnipeg he left in 1999.

"I have to say I thought Id have a slower life moving back here and actually its more busy," he says with a laugh. "I have my mother living with me, my sons growing up, were travelling back and forth to work a lot and the shows are just bouncing back now.

"Its a wonderful city and there are so many interesting artistic things. I always got my art fix coming back to Winnipeg, believe it or not, from San Francisco."

Alan.Small@freepress.mb.ca

@AlanDSmall

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FREDERICTON - New Brunswick is reporting 50 new cases of COVID-19 and 51 recoveries.

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick is reporting 50 new cases of COVID-19 and 51 recoveries.

The active confirmed case count now sits at 476 across the province.

Health officials say 13 people are currently in hospital, with eight in intensive care.

Twenty-two of the new cases were identified in the Moncton region.

Sixty per cent of the new cases are in people who are unvaccinated against the disease.

Officials also say nearly 86 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 92.8 per cent have received their first dose of a vaccine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2021.

---

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Their mission is to put a face and a story to every Canadian soldier buried in the Netherlands  men who courageously liberated the country during the Second World War.

Their mission is to put a face and a story to every Canadian soldier buried in the Netherlands  men who courageously liberated the country during the Second World War.

Gathering information and obtaining an image for one Manitoba soldier, Edmond Coulombe, is proving to be particularly elusive.

Edmond Coulombe

Pieter Valkenburg, a retired Dutch diplomat who lives in Prince Edward Island, and his wife Daria, are helping to create a digital archive that includes a biography and photograph of every Canadian soldier interred in the Netherlands.

"Its a big project," said Valkenburg.

At first, he helped his local legion get more information about the soldiers whose names were engraved on a cenotaph there.

"The monument has 48 names, and I thought Id like to know more about them than just the names on a monument," he said. "Im from Holland and I was thinking, "What can I do to honour the Canadian youth who liberated my country?

"Thats how this all started, from me seeing all those names."

During a trip to the Netherlands a few years ago, the couple decided to join the Faces of Graves project at the Canadian War Cemeteries. Theyve been helping for nine years.

"They want to put a face to the grave and tell the life story of the soldier buried there," said Valkenburg.

Valkenburg said hes glad they can help because not every Canadian will be able to travel to Europe to visit the war cemeteries.

"This way, people will be able to go on their computers to take a look at it and get information," he said.

Daria Valkenburg said they have some information about Coulombe, which could be helpful in their quest to find someone with a photograph.

She said Coulombe was from Pine Falls when he enlisted and he was one of five soldiers with the Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal who were killed by a grenade in a Dutch village near the German border on March 30, 1945. He was 22 years old. All five soldiers are interred in the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek.

Coulombes parents were Ulric and Yvonne Coulombe and he was born in Fannystelle on Feb. 15, 1923. The family moved around a bit, but thats about all the Valkenburgs know about Coulombes life before he joined the service.

After enlisting in Winnipeg on Aug. 7, 1943, he went overseas on Jan. 3, 1945 and was first with the Oxford Rifles. Then he was shipped to northwest Europe on March 13, to the Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

"Thats basically all we have," said Daria. "Were hoping we find someone who knows more."

Anyone who can help can reach out to the couple at dariadv@yahoo.ca.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
There are two kinds of people these days.

There are two kinds of people these days.

Those who have seen Squid Game, and those who plan to see it.

OK, the ultra-violent South Korean Netflix drama may not be to everyones taste.

But the fictional series about a game in which deeply indebted individuals play to win US$47 million, or die trying, likely resonates with a lot of people.

Thats because most of us can at least imagine  if not personally relate to  the characters desperation.

Certainly, Squid Game has proven popular among South Koreans because it alludes to ongoing socioeconomic challenges in the highly industrialized nation, says Hae Yeon Choo, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

For one, many individuals there face high debt levels. Households collective debt is now about 105 per cent of the nations GDP, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

Additionally, Squid Game alludes to the countrys recent, often brutal socioeconomic history.

As Choo points out, the main protagonist Seong Gi-huns backstory is that he "accrued a significant debt, after being laid off from his stable factory job at Dragon Motors, which took him down to a downward spiral of irregular employment and failed venture at small business."

To South Korean viewers, his story "is a clear reference to SsangYong Motor, which is a significant event that prompted a militant strike and a violent police raid."

That strike, by the way, is the focus of Choos recent research, appearing in a soon-to-be-published book. She notes the strike was a pivotal historical event that illustrates globalisms negative effects on the middle class. Among globalisms more negative outcomes, she writes, has been the rise of "ghost capital" in which money and corporate ownership are no longer are bound by national borders, making it much easier to lay off workers while ignoring the financial hardship they cause.

In the case of SsangYong Motor, many workers committed suicide after the layoffs, Choo explains.

"To many South Koreans, the SsangYong case shows the precarity of the stable working class under global capitalism."

Squid Game may be an exaggeration of the impacts of globalism, automation and the decline of the middle class in Korea, but many Canadians are likely feeling stung too.

In fact, were collectively in worse shape, going by that aforementioned debt metric. In Canada, households debt now amount to 112 per cent of national GDP. (In the U.S, by the way, its even worse at nearly 126 per cent.)

"The overwhelming stress, anxiety, and relationship problems that come out in Squid Game are a common experience for a lot of Canadians, who also are deeply in debt," says Laurie Campbell, director of client wellness at Bromwich+Smith Inc., a licensed insolvency trustee firm in Toronto.

Only the experience doesnt come with risk of bullet holes.

Thats not to say financial troubles here cannot lead to real physical harm, including addiction, suicide and even violence against others in very rare instances. Most people, however, suffer in silence because struggling with debt is viewed as shameful, says Stacy Yanchuk-Oleksy, interim CEO of Credit Counselling Canada.

The organization represents non-profit agencies across Canada, including Credit Counselling Society and Community Financial Counselling Services (CFCS) in Winnipeg that assist indebted individuals struggling to pay bills because of indebtedness.

"Dealing with debt doesnt have to involve so much shame," she says.

Nor should people suffer in silence.

Still, a recent study by the organization found many Manitobans are likely doing just that.

"We found 42 per cent of respondents felt their mental health was (negatively) impacted by household expenses." Recently rising prices for food, gas and housing have only exacerbated situations, Yanchuk-Oleksy adds.

For many, the stress is likely to get worse now that the federal government recently eliminated most of the pandemic supports like the Canada Recovery Benefit, Campbell says.

"The big issue is asking for help," she adds. Yet people are often reticent to do so. And even if they are ready, they generally dont know where to turn.

Compounding matters, the internet is ripe with offers to provide assistance  quick fixes promising to significantly reduce or even eliminate debt entirely  by shady, likely criminal organizations that will only make individuals situations worse, she notes.

Seek out regulated debt relief providers like licensed insolvency trustees or non-profit agencies like Credit Counselling Society and CFCS, Campbell urges.

These organizations services are free. And while they do not offer quick, easy fixes, they can put deeply indebted individuals on a credible, long-term path to get back to financial well-being.

Besides teaching good, old-fashioned budgeting, these organizations also offer something very unlike Squid Game: kindness.

"What you get is empathy first," Yanchuk-Oleksy adds. "Even though you may feel embarrassed and ashamed, theres no reason to be."

Need help with managing your debt? Visits Credit Counselling Canadas website to find local assistance at creditcounsellingcanada.ca
As vehicles tumbled down Salter Street Monday morning, some were on their way to work, others to school. For the first time in nearly 600 days, Marvin Roos was on his way home.

As vehicles tumbled down Salter Street Monday morning, some were on their way to work, others to school. For the first time in nearly 600 days, Marvin Roos was on his way home.

He pulled off of Salter into a small, gravel parking lot, behind a tiny house with an exterior adorned with monarch butterflies, at half-past nine, stepping out of his pickup truck and back into his usual spot: a seat at the counter at Ludas Deli.

Roos started going to Ludas once or twice a week four years ago, when he moved to Winnipeg from Ste. Rose du Lac, but he stopped last March, when, thanks to the pandemic, everybody stopped coming to Ludas, from doting sons with their aging mothers, to people looking to get a taste of Ukraine in the form of the delis famous borscht, even to owners Tracy Konopada and Kristi Clarke, Konopadas daughter.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tracy Konopada (centre), her daughter Kristi Clarke and grandson Knowle Clarke (right) are happy to be turning out perogies and borscht and breakfasts once again.

For 84 weeks, the tables at Ludas were bare, the flat-top grill lacking butter and onions, the Bunn O Matic coffee maker waiting to be flipped on. While most restaurants in the city had either remained open or closed their doors for good, Ludas  a standalone link in a world full of chains  was somewhere in the middle, leaving longtime customers hoping, rather, praying, that they had not tasted their last kubasa and eggs.

Such was the case for Roos. "I drove by many times to see if the plywood was off the windows," he said. When he found out that day would come on Nov. 1, he circled the date in his brains calendar, texting Kristi Konopada to make sure it was actually happening  that Ludas would be back.

When he took his seat, he didnt even have to order. After nearly two years, Kristi still knew his usual: ham and eggs, over easy, rye toast, hash browns, raspberry jam. "Nothing changed," he said.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A plate of perogies and kubasa and a Monte Cristo sandwich is served up for some customers.

Since opening in 1987, thats been mostly true of the restaurant, whose name comes from the Ukrainian word for "people," lyudy. For 34 years, its been there, at 410 Aberdeen Ave., as the neighbourhood changed and as the lyudy changed. But for the last 18 months, it wasnt. Each day that passed, Tracy Konopada yearned to get back to her natural habitat, but resisted reopening as the world kept changing and as new rules, new restrictions, and new ways of doing things that just wouldnt have worked at Ludas were announced. The deli is small, not much bigger than Roos pickup truck, with conversations criss-crossing over each other like an auditory lattice. To put up plexiglass would have been in direct opposition to Ludas unofficial mission statement.

Plus, Konopada  a true baba  was concerned for safety. "Safety first," she said. When vaccines were required for dine-in service, she started to warm to the idea of reopening. Kristi put up a post on Facebook to announce the tentative date of Nov. 1 in October: it was shared hundreds of times.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tracy Konopada held off reopening Luda's Deli during 84 weeks of ever-shifting restrictions due to the pandemic. In October, she became comfortable with reopening, citing vaccination requirements for dine-in service.

As November neared, the Konopadas worked to make up for lost time: to order products, to adjust menu costs, to fill staff openings, to do what felt like 600 days of work in about 21.

On the first day back, Tracy, Kristi, and Kristis son Knowle arrived at 7 a.m., with the calendar beside the fridge still flipped to March 2020. None knew what to expect. They remembered the customers. Would the customers remember them?

Wayne and Lori Smith did. They sat in the back corner, underneath a portrait of Patsy Cline, ordering sausage and eggs and bologna and eggs, with rye toast. "They greet you by name here," said Lori. "Its like eating at moms," said Wayne, who picked up a container of borscht for his mother on Monday, the day before her 94th birthday.

Server Tina Baryluk danced coffee from table to table, singing out offers to freshen up the empty mugs. "Are you finished?" she asked a man biting into a slice of toast. "Im just savouring," he replied. "It has been two years."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tracy Konopada (right), her daughter Kristi Clarke (not pictured) and grandson Knowle Clarke (left), 19, reopened Luda's Deli, which the family has owned since 1987, and welcomed back regulars as if March 2020 was like yesterday.

The same scene kept repeating: people sitting down and not wanting to stand up, before finally rising to the register, where the Konopadas asked about their children, their grandchildren, their nieces and nephews, recalling details from their customers lives as if reading from cue cards.

Roos got up around 10:30 a.m., to pay and say goodbye, walking out to his truck with a smile revealed after he removed his mask.

"You know, other places, bigger places, opened back up, but when I go in there, its a mother and daughter trying to make a living," he said. "To me, thats home."

More customers finished up. "Well be seeing you ladies," a man in an MTS jacket said. "Stay safe."

"Well be here," replied Kristi Konopada.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (21,455.82, up 113.69 points.)

Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up $1.56, or 2.98 per cent, to $53.88 on 19.9 million shares.

Athabasca Oil Corp. (TSX:ATH). Energy. Up 15 cents, or 13.76 per cent, to $1.24 on 18.2 million shares.

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 69 cents, or 2.14 per cent, to $32.97 on 15 million shares.

Apollo Healthcare Corp. (TSX:AHC). Health care. Up $2.59, or 148 per cent, to $4.34 on 12.3 million shares

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up 33 cents, or 2.16 per cent, to $15.59 on 10.9 million shares.

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down six cents, or 1.39 per cent, to $4.27 on 9.9 million shares.

Companies in the news:

TC Energy Corp. (TSX:TRP). Down $2.61 or 3.9 per cent to $64.05. TC Energy Corp. has committed to providing up to $3.3 billion in additional temporary bridge financing to cover cost overruns related to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. The Calgary-based company said Friday it is still involved in a dispute with LNG Canada over projected cost increases and their potential effects on schedule. But TC Energy said construction on the project continues and is now more than 50 per cent complete. TC Energy was selected by LNG Canada in 2011 to design, build, own and operate Coastal Gaslink. The 670-kilometre pipeline is intended to move 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas to LNG Canada's terminal, where it will be converted into a liquefied state for export to global markets. TC Energy reported a third-quarter profit of $779 million, down from $904 million a year ago. Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.24 billion, up from $3.20 billion. Also on Friday, TC Energy reduced its annual dividend growth guidance. The company had previously said it was targeting dividend increases of five to seven per cent this year, but is now targeting dividend growth of three to five per cent per year.

Telus Corp. (TSX:T). Up 64 cents or 2.3 per cent to $28.95. Telus Corp. added a whopping 320,000 customers in its third quarter, an all-time quarterly record that helped drive higher revenue and profit and prompted the telecom giant to raise its dividend. The Vancouver-based company said it added 135,000 net new mobile phone connections; 110,000 device connections for items such as tablets, wearables and connected cars; and additional customers for services like television, internet and security during the three months ended Sept. 30. Telus also posted a low customer churn rate in its third quarter, which measures how many customers leave and is often referred to as "customer loyalty." The company said its churn rate for blended mobile phone, internet, TV and security services has fallen below one per cent so far this year. Telus raised its dividend as it reported a third-quarter profit of $358 million, up from $321 million in the same quarter last year. It will now pay a quarterly dividend of 32.74 cents per share, up from 31.12 cents per share, the company said.

Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED). Down $1.93 or 11.7 per cent to $14.60. Canopy Growth Corp. pushed back its profitability target as it reported a $16.3-million loss and said it would close one of its greenhouses. The Smiths Falls, Ont., cannabis company previously predicted it would be profitable in the second half of its 2022 financial year, but said Friday that reaching that goal will take longer than expected because of market share challenges and a slower-than-expected U.S. launch of its BioSteel products. On Friday, it said it will shutter a 92,903-square-foot Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., greenhouse its Tweed brand operates and immediately lay off 30 workers. The company's revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled $131.3 million, down from $135.2 million at the same period last year. Total net cannabis revenue reached $95 million in the quarter, a one per cent increase from a year earlier. Excluding the impact from acquired businesses, Canopy said net revenue fell 13 per cent and cannabis revenue dropped 14 per cent. Canopy executives believe revenue will pick up in the second half of its financial year, but warned that the magnitude and pace of improvement of its revenues is expected to be "more modest than previously anticipated."

Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (TSX:GOOS). Up $9.73 or 19.3 per cent to $60.14. Sales of Canada Goose Holdings Inc.'s luxury parkas are heating up as economies reopen around the world, with the planned launch of footwear next week expected to send revenues sizzling. In its latest quarterly earnings released Friday, the Toronto-based outerwear maker reported higher sales in retail stores and online, while early wholesale orders also pushed up revenue. Canada Goose's second-quarter revenue hit $232.9 million for the three months ended Sept. 26. That's nearly 20 per cent above $194.8 million for the same period last year, which had also included a $28.8-million bump in revenue from the temporary sale of personal protective equipment like masks. Canada Goose said it earned a net income of $9 million or eight cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 26 compared with a profit of $10.4 million or nine cents per diluted share a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned $13.2 million or 12 cents per diluted share, compared with an adjusted profit of $11.5 million or 10 cents per diluted share a year ago. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted loss of nine cents per share for the quarter, according to Refinitiv.

Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG). Down 96 cents to $103.56. Magna International Inc. reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago and cut its outlook for its full year as auto production around the world fell due the shortage of semiconductor chips. The auto parts maker said Friday that vehicle production was significantly lower than anticipated largely due to the chip shortages, which drove unpredictable customer production schedules, resulting in labour and other inefficiencies at its factories. It also said its results were hurt by higher production costs, including freight and commodity costs, as well as a provision on engineering service contracts with the automotive unit of Evergrande. Magna, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$11 million or four cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of US$405 million or US$1.35 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Sales fell to US$7.92 billion compared with US$9.13 billion a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Magna says it earned 56 cents per diluted share in its most recent quarter, down from US$1.95 per diluted share a year ago. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 60 cents per share and US$7.89 billion in revenue, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. Total sales are expected between US$35.4 billion and US$36.4 billion, down from earlier guidance for between US$38 billion and US$39.5 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2021.
OTTAWA - Newly named Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he wants to get to the bottom of why Ottawa abandoned its appeal of a ruling releasing the Catholic Church from its settlement obligations to residential school survivors.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller participates in a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Newly named Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he wants to get to bottom of why Ottawa abandoned its appeal of a ruling releasing the Catholic Church from its settlement obligations to residential school survivors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - Newly named Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he wants to get to the bottom of why Ottawa abandoned its appeal of a ruling releasing the Catholic Church from its settlement obligations to residential school survivors.

"I am as puzzled as everyone," he told The Canadian Press in a recent, wide-ranging interview."

"I don't know what there is to do yet."

The ruling, handed down by a Saskatchewan judge in July 2015, found a deal had been struck between the federal government and a corporation of Catholic entities. That deal released the church groups from their remaining obligations within the $79-million worth of payments and in-kind services owed to survivors under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, approved in 2006.

That included, for example, a "best efforts" fundraising campaign to generate $25 million, for which court only heard the groups raised around $3 million since the agreement took effect in 2007.

Today, the efforts made by Catholic bodies to relieve itself of responsibilities under the historic arrangement face renewed scrutiny as First Nations searching former residential school sites confirm the discovery of what are believed to be hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children forced to attend them.

Thousands told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada that they had been neglected, starved, and both physically and sexually abused at the church-run, government-funded institutions.

Several questions have been raised around why survivors didn't receive more compensation from the Catholic Church, including why the federal government discontinued its appeal filed not long after the 2015 decision came down.

"I question why that refusal to appeal occurred," Miller said.

"As everyone, I'm dumbfounded by it. End of the day the whole point was about compensation."

At the heart of the legal ruling was a dispute between a government lawyer and counsel for the Catholic entities about whether they had agreed to let the groups walk away from all obligations outlined in the settlement in exchange for $1.2 million, or only resolved a more specific part of those obligations.

The disagreement occurred as they went back-and-forth communicating details of the arrangement. It ultimately fell to the court to resolve the issue, with Catholic entities contending they had a deal covering the entire settlement and Ottawa asserting that wasn't true.

After the federal government lost its case, it filed a notice to appeal in August 2015. Overshadowing the matter at the time was a federal election campaign consuming the country, which ended that October with the former Conservative government falling to current Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

By November, a government lawyer submitted another document to Saskatchewan's Appeal Court. This time, it contained a single sentence saying it was abandoning the appeal.

Miller, who was then a rookie MP from Quebec not yet invited into cabinet, said he hasn't seen the final agreement releasing the Catholic bodies from their obligations, but wants to have a look.

"I absolutely do want to see it. I want to get to the bottom of it," he said.

Miller enters the Crowns-Indigenous Relations office after critics and First Nations leaders called for former minister Carolyn Bennett to be dumped.

She was criticized both for a text she sent to Indigenous, then Independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould which the former justice minister labelled as racist, as well as not doing enough to advance the department's mandate of building a new nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous communities.

Hours after being sworn into his new role, Miller said last week that land was at the centre of that relationship, and it was time to "give land back."

"It's sort of unfair to have piecemeal examples of which particular parcel could be returned," he said, outlining how his department must work alongside other federal ministries, like defence, to find ways for lands to be bought back.

"It needs to sit squarely in people's minds that the relationship that has become broken with Indigenous Peoples did start with land, and it will be solved by returning land."

The Liberals' commitment to reconciliation has been tested over the past six months, not only by the discovery of unmarked graves, but also its ongoing court battle around compensating First Nations children who lived on-reserve without adequately funded child and family services or were separated from their families through foster care.

More tension arose after Trudeau traveled to Tofino, B.C., to spend time with his family on Sept. 30, the country's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The stated purpose of the new statutory holiday is to honour residential school survivors through taking time to reflect and attending in-person commemorations.

Trudeau has said travelling that day was a mistake, and has since visited B.C.'s Tkemlups te Secwepemc nation after not responding to their initial invitation to do so on Sept. 30.

Asked what the Prime Minister's trip did to the government's process of trying to build trust with First Nations, Miller said it "doesn't help."

"I think the Prime Minister would be the first to recognize that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2021
International relief agencies based in Winnipeg are concerned about escalating humanitarian needs as the conflict in Ethiopia worsens.

International relief agencies based in Winnipeg are concerned about escalating humanitarian needs as the conflict in Ethiopia worsens.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Canadian Lutheran World Relief and Canadian Foodgrains Bank have paused their programs and are monitoring Ethiopia because of the unpredictable situation.

"Millions of people are at risk of hunger," said Tyler Braun, a program manager at Lutheran World Relief. "The food insecurity is huge."

The food crisis is the result of fighting in the past year between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, which rules that countrys northern region.

The conflict has affected the food situation in Tigray and the nearby Afar and Amhara regions.

Initially the conflict was confined to the north, but Trigrayan forces recently began to close in on the capital city of Addis Ababa, located in the central part of Ethiopia.

It is estimated more than 100,000 have died amid reports of massacres, sexual violence and other atrocities committed by all sides. The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency Nov. 2.

Lutheran food programs in the Amhara and Tigray regions have been put on hold due to the fighting, Braun said, adding there are no Canadian staff members in the country.

"We will go back when it is safe to do so," he said, adding local staff report there fear and uncertainty.

"The situation is highly unpredictable," he said, noting the rebel forces are moving so quickly plans change daily.

"It is difficult to know now what is safe and what isnt."

Laura Kalmar of MCC said instability, closed roads and blocked communications make operating in Ethiopia difficult.

"We have suspended activities in the affected areas," she said of emergency responses the organization had planned.

The situation underscores the negative effect the conflict has on food security, she said.

"It makes vulnerable people even more vulnerable," Kalmar said.

Although MCC has no Canadian staff in the country, the situation underscores the risks faced by humanitarian organizations when fighting erupts.

"We are constantly evaluating the security situation in places like Ethiopia," she said.

Grant Hillier of the foodgrains bank said two food projects the organization supported in the areas affected by fighting had recently been completed.

Until the situation calms down, no new projects are planned, said Hillier.

"We are taking a wait-and-see approach," he said, adding his organization has no staff in Ethiopia.

"The needs are massive," he said, adding it is hard to get good information since aid organizations cant access the areas of greatest need.

"We hope food aid wont end up being used as a tool in the crisis by any of the sides in the conflict."

All three organizations ask Canadians to pray for an end to the conflict and to donate money to help people affected by the crisis.

"Donations given now will help us when we can once again respond," said Braun.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles is creating a display to honour the Indigenous personnel in its ranks who served and fell during the regiments long storied history.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles is creating a display to honour the Indigenous personnel in its ranks who served and fell during the regiments long storied history.

They Answered the Call is featured inside the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum and Archives located inside Minto Armouries, detailing the names, stories and photos of some of battalions fallen Indigenous soldiers.

Curator Ian Stewart said the museum already has the names listed on its wall of The Fallen, but organizers wanted to provide more detail as part of its contribution towards truth and reconciliation.

"Modern historians say there were about 15,000 (Indigenous soldiers) who served with the Canadian Forces during the First and Second World Wars," said Stewart, author of Seeing It Through: Manitobas Soldiers 1914-1919 and Voices of War: Royal Winnipeg Rifles, 1944-45.

The battalion, known as the Little Black Devils, was created in 1883. It lost its first Indigenous member, Richard Hardisty, at the Battle of Batoche on May 12, 1885. Another 10 Indigenous members were killed during the First World War, followed by 30 who fought and died in the Second World War.

Stewart said Hardisty was Metis and had enlisted a few years earlier when the battalion was created and served in the Sudan.

He said during the Second World War six Indigenous members were killed on June 6, 1944  D-Day  and six more were captured and murdered by the 12th Panzer SS on June 8. In total, 56 Rifles were killed that day.

Stewart said another Indigenous member died June 7; nearly half of the battalions Indigenous soldiers killed during the war died in the first two days of the landing at Normandy, France.

After the war, unlike other Canadian veterans who received funding for education or housing, Stewart said the Indigenous veterans "came back and went back to their old way of life."

"The expectation had been there would be integration into the larger Canadian society, but that didnt happen," he said.

"One guy, his name was St. Germain, he said in the army they call me saint, but now they just call me Indian."

The museum is open by appointment only. More information is available at rwrmuseum.com.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
When Pte. Orville Marshall stepped onto a ship docked in Italy on July 6, 1945, there were no Canadian troops behind him.

When Pte. Orville Marshall stepped onto a ship docked in Italy on July 6, 1945, there were no Canadian troops behind him.

More than 93,000 Canadians fought in the Italian campaign during the Second World War, but it was Marshall who was the last to leave the war-ravaged country.

Orville Marshall (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Most Canadian troops had left by February 1945, shipped to northwest Europe to join the 1st Canadian Army for the final push through the Netherlands to Germany. Marshall, meanwhile, was one of just a select few who were kept behind in Avellino  weeks after the Allied victory in Europe was declared  to complete one final, nasty piece of business.

The execution of Pte. Harold Pringle.

Marshall, who lives in a Selkirk personal-care home and is just weeks away from his 100th birthday, still doesnt understand why it was done.

"The war was over," he says. "It was a horrible, horrible thing."

Harold Pringles window in Number 33 British Military Prison looked east, away from the Gulf of Naples. On June 5, 1945, Pringle sat on his cot, learning back against the wall. Before him lay an immaculately kept cell. Harold had folded the sheet on his bed back over his army blanket and creased it. On the table sat a pencil, cut short, and three books: the Bible, The Song of Bernadette and True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. There were also two tin boxes, each containing a rosary. The larger of the two held a pair of medals and one coin medallion.

Outside, diesel fuel choked the scent of palm trees and exotic Italian plants. Trucks rumbled by, their wheels crushing pavement and dirt beneath them. As he listened to them grind, Harold let his legs go limp off the bed and shrugged his head slightly to the left so that it rested on the walls cool concrete. In his left hand he held a deck of worn playing cards. It was 2 p.m. and already he had played over 20 hands of solitaire. He could not face another game...

Harold Pringle in Flinton before the war. (Supplied)

Its an ugly side of Canadian military history thats rarely talked about  26 Canadian soldiers were executed during the two world wars for cowardice, desertion and murder. Pringle has the distinction of being the lone Canadian executed in the Second World War.

The son of a First World War veteran was born Feb. 16, 1920 and grew up in Flinton, Ont.

When Pringle was 16 going on 17, he lied about his age and enlisted on Feb. 5, 1940. It wasnt as if his father, William, was upset at him. In fact, Pringles dad enlisted the same day, even travelling overseas to England with him.

William soon had a nervous breakdown and began suffering post-traumatic syndrome disorder, likely triggered by his First World War memories. He was sent back to Canada, leaving the underage Harold alone. And it showed: during the next two years in England, the younger Pringle frequently went AWOL and was disciplined before being thrust back into action. By December 1943 he was fighting in Italy.

It was there, where two-thirds of his company died, that Pringle began to unravel while fighting against German troops on the Hitler Line, says Andrew Clark, author of A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle.

Shell-shocked, Pringle went AWOL again, joining other deserters in Rome. During an argument, one of the deserters shot another. The remaining three decided each of them would shoot the victim and dump the body to make it look like a gang hit. He was pronounced dead while being ferried to an American army hospital and the conspirators were arrested and tried.

The British executed their two soldiers who had been convicted, leaving Pringles fate to Canadian authorities.

"Its for that crime he is found guilty of and executed," says Clark. "The prosecution said (the victim) was alive when he was (repeatedly) shot, but there was much evidence to show there was no bleeding because he was dead.

"Today (Pringle) wouldnt be executed. Then, it was shoot him, get rid of him, and forget him."

Across the yard at Number 33, a priest dressed in a British army uniform walked toward the jail. Chaplain Thomas Lenane  Father Tom, as he liked to be called  was on his way to meet a new prisoner. The commandant of Number 33 told Father Tom that Harold was a deserter and a black marketeer, and he had killed another Canadian the previous November. There had been two other deserters in on the murder, the commandant told him: both were British, and both were dead. The Canadian was being kept around until his papers came back from Canada, but either way, the officer assured Father Tom, it was up to the Canadians, not the British, to shoot him.

More than 93,000 Canadians fought in the Italian campaign during the Second World War. (The Battle of Ortona Museum in Ortona)

The task would fall to Capt. Ramsay Park, who was ordered to keep the war diary for the Canadian forces in Italy. On June 10, it was announced that remainder of the Canadian army in Italy would be shipped back to England. However, Park wrote, "A small rear party of seven officers and 24 other ranks remaining to deal with the case of C-5292 Pte. Pringle, H.J., sentenced to die by being shot, on a charge of murder."

Clark interviewed numerous people about Pringle before his book was published in 2002, but only one who witnessed the execution  former Lt. Hugh Ramsay Park, who led the firing squad.

Seventeen years later, he discovered another eyewitness was still alive. Marshall had emailed him saying he was also at the Pringle execution.

"I checked and his name was on the manifest," Clark says. "I flew there to Winnipeg and talked to him. He said he found my book by accident. He saw it on the floor and he picked it up, saw the photo on the cover, and said, Hey, I knew that guy."

Marshalls military career almost started like Pringles, but he was rejected after trying to enlist when he was 17. Two years later, on Oct. 9, 1940, Marshall was able to sign up, and trained in Canada before shipping out to England.

He later became part of the Italian campaign and was fighting on the front lines during the Battle of Ortona until being injured by an artillery shell on Jan. 31, 1944.

"I couldnt see anything," he recalls. "Blood was in my eyes. The medic finally got to me and cleaned me up. I then could see and I saw my rifle on the ground and the barrel was all bent. Something hit it while I was holding it.

"I dont know whether shrapnel or ground."

The injury ended his fighting career and led to his assignment as a supply-truck driver before being chosen to drive military brass around.

Thats why he was still in Italy even after the Allied forces declared victory in Europe on May 8, 1945.

Pte. Orville Marshall was injured in Italy. (Supplied)

Marshall was there when the Brigadier J.C. Stewart told Pringle he would be executed that day  July 5, 1945.

And he was there when the firing squad ended Pringles life.

"I was right there, it was so horrible," he says.

"It was officers. They had to. They were forced to do things. They were going to tie him to a post, but (Pringle) said you dont have to. Ill take my medicine. If I deserve it, Ill take it.

"He fell to the ground. Pringle stayed there for a while. The brigadier didnt want to stay, so he left it up to the deputy assistant provost marshall to make sure he was dead. The deputy assistant provost marshall  he had a pistol  rolled him over. He pulled out his trusty pistol and shot him through the head.

"It was just awful."

Many years later, Marshall told Clark that nobody in the firing squad said anything, that they all went and got drunk.

Dr. Alexandra Heber, chief of psychiatry with Veterans Affairs Canada, says as long as there are wars there will be PTSD.

Of the 629,000 veterans in Canada, about 125,000 are clients who have come forward with a claim for a condition related to service and are receiving help from the federal department, Heber says.

Of that number, about 25 per cent have a disability or a mental-health condition and, of those, 70 per cent  about 22,000  are diagnosed with PTSD. But there could be others who havent sought help.

Orville Marshall at Pringles grave. (Supplied)

"Its just because of the intensity and all the factors we know cause PTSD. Stress to your own life, or seeing death, destruction nearby or to people you care about as well as physical injury and from sexual assault. Those are the big criteria that tend to cause post-traumatic stress disorder," she says.

"Many, if not all of those, you find in a war."

But not all soldiers are affected by PTSD, says Heber, who spent three months in Afghanistan serving as chief psychiatric officer and saw how it affected soldiers, up close.

"A lot of people will get PTSD-like symptoms. They will have nightmares, they might be triggered by different things after a traumatic event, but for most people that will diminish over time," she says.

"But when those symptoms continue, usually two to three months following the event, and people are still having a great deal of nightmares or flashbacks or finding themselves emotionally triggered... people where it lasts for several weeks or months probably have PTSD.

"Having treatment and support as early as possible is best."

Heber says people with good social support also have a reduced risk of falling victim to PTSD.

In the past, the legions were the places veterans got together to drink and socialize with others who had similar experiences.

Today, Heber says, the military has learned that rather than sending soldiers directly from the battlefield into the arms of their families, its beneficial to have them spend a week or so at an interim camp, giving them a chance to be in a place away from conflict, absent the pressures of home life.

She says its similar to the experience soldiers used to have decades ago during the long trips home by ship.

She says it also helps that soldiers deployed now are rotated through and regularly brought home to be replaced by other troops, while also training and preparing for six months before being deployed for six months.

Orville Marshall has the distinction of being the last soldier to leave Italy. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We know from studying military history, especially from the mental-health viewpoint, we know often people who developed PTSD were treated very, very badly because no one understood what it was and, yes, sometimes they would be executed as deserters," she says.

"We look back now and look at that persons behaviour and it is clear they were having some kind of traumatic reaction."

Heber says the Canadian military also sends mental-health personnel right to the front lines so they can immediately help soldiers who have difficulties.

Pringle may have been the lone execution of a Canadian in the Second World War, but that wasnt the case in the Great War. Three of the 25 Canadian soldiers executed during the First World War were from Manitoba.

Pte. Stephen Fowles was 18 when he enlisted in 1916 and he later ended up in France as part of the reinforcements for the 44th Canadian Infantry Battalion. He deserted less than a year from the time he enlisted, was caught and ordered to be executed, but his sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison, then to a suspended sentence. Before long he was sent back into service.

Fowles deserted again, was again sentenced to a suspended sentence and sent back to the front lines. He deserted a third time and his luck ran out; he was executed in June 1918.

Pte. Dimitro Sinicky arrived in Canada from Ukraine and volunteered in 1915. Sinicky was one of the reinforcements for a battalion decimated by the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He later became part of a trench-raiding unit, but one night he refused to go on a raid, and sat down. He was charged with cowardice and executed in October 1917 at the age of 22.

Benjamin DeFehr, who was born in Winkler, enlisted as a driver in the Canadian Army Service Corps and was sent to England in 1916. He was serving in France and shot a sergeant-major in the back before being overpowered. During DeFehrs court martial, he said he was drunk, but others testified he was sober, and he was found guilty of murder and executed by firing squad in August 1916. He was 28.

Shawna Wood, a distant relative Pringle, says he should never have been executed.

"The war had been over for months and they left a group of guys there for just the execution," Wood says. "That was completely dealt with wrong.

"I strongly believe anyone who went AWOL was having their humanity popping through and they ran because of the intensity of war."

Wood says the stigma of what happened to Pringle was so strong that not only was the privates military file sealed for decades, the soldiers involved in the execution were ordered to never discuss it and her own family never talked about him until the publication of Clarks book.

"My take is, whether or not he was guilty of involvement in the murder, the fact they left him there until months after the war ended wasnt right," she says.

The day after Pringles execution, the remaining Canadian troops left in Italy boarded a ship to start the long journey back to Canada.

After dropping off the brigadier, Marshall had to deliver the vehicle to the British Army compound. When he returned, he was the last Canadian soldier on Italian soil.

Once home, he became a baker, then a psychiatric nurse in Selkirk. He got married and raised a daughter and son.

Marshall says the last he saw of Pringles body was when the troops "threw him" into the back of an army truck to take him to a military cemetery about 60 kilometres away.

About a decade ago, he returned to Italy and visited Pringles grave.

"He should not have been executed," Marshall says. "I dont think too often of Pringle, it doesnt get me upset. But I just wish it had gone different back then."

Harold was offered his last requests. He asked for tea and cigarettes and strawberry jam. He refused the offer of morphine. On a sheet of YMCA foolscap, he began to write his family for the last time: "Well Mother Darling this is going to be an awful surprise to you all and I sure hope and pray that you dont take it too hard. But the papers have just come back from Canada and I guess the good Lord wishes for me."

 Excerpts from A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
When the U.S. land border opens to non-essential travellers on Monday, its unlikely there will be long lineups of people waiting to cross into Canada. It will be too troublesome and too expensive to approach the border, given the extreme COVID-19 testing that is mandated.

When the U.S. land border opens to non-essential travellers on Monday, its unlikely there will be long lineups of people waiting to cross into Canada. It will be too troublesome and too expensive to approach the border, given the extreme COVID-19 testing that is mandated.

The problem is on Canadas side, not the U.S. side. Driving from Canada into the U.S. will be a simple matter requiring only proof of full vaccination, but the return trip from the U.S. into Canada will require a negative molecular test for everyone in the vehicle. The extra testing costs hundreds of dollars and is time-consuming to obtain.

Canada is setting the bar too high, according to business and tourism groups lobbying the federal government to consider alternative tests that are less expensive and more rapid. Ottawa should pay heed. There are alternative tests that would provide a more reasonable balance of opening the border while still blocking travellers who are COVID-19-positive.

A return trip from the U.S. into Canada requires a negative molecular test for everyone, which costs hundreds of dollars. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The costs of molecular tests, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are unregulated and set by private companies that charge anywhere from $150 to $450 per test, and even more if results are needed quickly.

The added cost can be enough to deter the American tourists who were a crucial source of income for Manitobas tourism industry before COVID-19 restrictions shut the border to recreational travel. It can be a deal-breaker for the Manitobans who are ready to resume traditional weekend jaunts to North Dakota or Minneapolis, but not if travel costs are multiplied by molecular testing. The tests can also be a financial burden for Manitoba snowbirds, many of them seniors on fixed incomes, who head south to U.S. hot spots at this time of year.

Groups that have encouraged the federal government to lower the hurdle to cross into Canada include the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Such organizations point out tourism to Canada was a $105-billion industry employing about two million people before the pandemic; only a fraction of the industry has recovered, leaving about 500,000 people still unemployed.

The federal government is reviewing the testing mandate, says Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

In response to calls to consider alternatives to mandatory molecular tests, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said recently the government is reviewing the mandate, but it remains.

"Canada is still in many areas battling the fourth wave," she said. "While vaccines reduce the risk, its not 100 per cent and that protection could wane or be reduced over time."

For the good of the Canadian tourism industry that needs American visitors, and for the good of Canadians who are anxious to reunite with family and friends in the U.S., its to be hoped the federal government finds a way to block COVID-19 carriers at the border with testing that is less expensive and easier to obtain.

One alternative is to require travellers entering Canada by land to meet a two-pronged requirement: provide proof of full COVID-19 immunization, and also provide results from rapid antigen tests. These tests are called rapid for good reason  results are available in as little as 15 to 20 minutes  and they are widely available at sites such as drug stores at a fraction of the cost of molecular tests.

The rapid antigen method is widely used as mandatory job-requirement testing for public-sector employees who are unvaccinated. Its considered a satisfactory screening method for the unvaxxed Manitobans caring for children and vulnerable people in hospitals and nursing homes. Its good enough for fully-vaxxed travellers who want to enter Canada.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center, flanked by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., left, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks after a day of delays in the vote to advance President Joe Biden's domestic policy package, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim.

The House passed the measure 228-206, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats' farthest left members  including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri  opposed it.

Approval of the legislation, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, whisked it to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have dropped and whose nervous party got a cold shoulder from voters in this weeks off-year elections.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates were defeated in Virginia and squeaked through in New Jersey, two blue-leaning states. Those setbacks made party leaders  and moderates and progressives alike  impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate they know how to govern. Democrats can also ill afford to seem in disarray a year before midterm elections that could result in Republicans regaining congressional control.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Yet despite the win, Democrats endured a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger measure until later this month.

That 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the sprawling measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a double-barreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa., left and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, walk together on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, the moderates later agreed to back that bill if CBO's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, stood as a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.

In exchange, progressives agreed to back the infrastructure measure, which they'd spent months holding hostage in an effort to pressure moderates to back the social and environment measure.

"As part of this agreement, at the request of the President, and to ensure we pass both bills through the House, progressives will advance" both bills Friday night, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, in a statement.

The White House issued a statement from Biden on Friday night aimed at reinforcing the accord. "I am urging all members to vote for both the rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act and final passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill tonight," he said, using the administrations name for the two measures. "I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act."

When party leaders announced earlier in the day that the social and environment measure would be delayed, the scrambled plans cast a fresh pall over the party.

Democrats have struggled for months to take advantage of their control of the White House and Congress by advancing their top priorities. Thats been hard, in part because of Democrats slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

"Welcome to my world," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters, adding, "We are not a lockstep party."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives to lead Democrats in advancing President Joe Biden's $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. The hard-fought social policy and climate-change legislation will still have to clear the 50-50-Senate, where revisions are likely and Biden has no votes to spare. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The president and first lady Jill Biden delayed plans to travel Friday evening to their house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity.

Among those Biden reached was Jayapal, whose caucus has been at the forefront of delaying the infrastructure measure for leverage. Biden asked her and her 95-member group to back the bill, said a person who recounted the conversation only on condition of anonymity.

Progressives have long demanded that the two massive bills be voted on together to pressure moderates to support the larger, more expansive social measure.

Democrats day fell apart when after hours of talks, a half-dozen moderates insisted they would vote against the sprawling package of health, education, family and climate change initiatives unless the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office first provided its cost estimate for the measure.

Democratic leaders have said that would take days or more. With Fridays delay and lawmakers plans to leave town for a weeks break, those budget estimates could well be ready by the time a vote is held.

When the infrastructure measure cleared the Senate, its GOP supporters even included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The package would provide huge sums for highway, mass transit, broadband, airport, drinking and waste water, power grids and other projects.

But it became a pawn in the long struggle for power between progressives and moderates. Earlier Friday, Jayapal said the White House and Congress nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation had provided all the fiscal information lawmakers needed for the broad bill.

"If our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time  after which point we can vote on both bills together," she wrote. That strongly suggested that some progressives were ready to vote against the infrastructure bill.

But that changed after the two Democratic factions reached their agreement.

House passage of the social and environment package would send it to the Senate, where it faces certain changes and more Democratic drama. Thats chiefly because of demands by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to contain the measures costs and curb or drop some of its initiatives.

Moderates have forced leaders to slash the roughly 2,100-page measure to around half its original $3.5 trillion size. Republicans oppose it as too expensive and damaging to the economy.

The package would provide large numbers of Americans with assistance to pay for health care, raising children and caring for elderly people at home. The package would provide $555 billion in tax breaks encouraging cleaner energy and electric vehicles. Democrats added provisions in recent days restoring a new paid family leave program and work permits for millions of immigrants.

Much of the packages cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.

Moderate opposition and strict Senate rules about what can be included in the massive bill suggest that the family leave program and the immigration provisions may be dropped in that chamber.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Alexandra Jaffe, Mary Clare Jalonick and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Some Minnesota employers are concerned about how a new federal vaccine requirement for workers will affect an already tight labor market.

New regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandate that companies with more than 100 employees require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. The requirement begins Jan. 4. Failure to comply could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

There are nearly 4,800 employers in Minnesota with 100 or more workers, according to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Star Tribune reported.

I think theres a number of companies that have concerns (and) believe that the emergency temporary standards will create additional economic uncertainty for their companies specifically, as well as the economy as a whole, said Vicki Stute, a vice president with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

While OSHAs standards allow medium and large employers to provide workers with a test-out option to avoid vaccination, thats not the case for facilities accepting payment from the governments Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, said Patti Cullen, the president and chief executive of Care Providers of Minnesota.

Lets be clear  this is a potential powder keg with a short fuse, Cullen said. We may face a scenario where we dont have enough workers to serve the seniors in our settings. And despite our pleas for help, there are no concrete solutions  either at the state or federal levels  to help us solve our unprecedented workforce crisis.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Star Tribune.
Private First Class Ivy Marciano, PFC Noor Jawadi and Specialist Lie Ye come from three different countries with three different cultures, but they now have one thing in common: They are American citizens.

The three took their oath of citizenship Thursday during a naturalization ceremony held at Fort McCoy. They became Americans while temporarily stationed at Fort McCoy as part of Operation Allies Welcome, which is assisting Afghan immigrants who journeyed to the United States after it ended its 20-year military operation in Afghanistan.

You are as American as someone whose family has been here for hundreds of years, said Mick Dedvukaj, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services district director. We dont care where youre from; we care who you are. Welcome to the American family.

Jawadi was born in Afghanistan. He left for Iran at a young age before being returned to Afghanistan. From there, he fled to Malaysia and Singapore, where he lived in orphanages before coming to the United States in 2015.

He joined the Army 15 months ago and is assigned to the 44th Chemical Company as a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist. He has also served as a translator.

The U.S. saved my life, Jawadi said. I feel appreciated.

As an immigrant, Jawadi takes a great deal of satisfaction in his assignment.

Im happy because I see a lot of children who remind me of myself, and now I know theyre going to have a brighter future, he said.

Marciano is from the Philippines. Shes part of the detail that handles the day-to-day needs of the newly arrived immigrants, including immigration processing and accompanying immigrants on hospital visits.

She came to America in 2014 and looks forward to her potential as an American citizen.

There are so much opportunities and freedom, and you meet awesome people, she said.

Ye is from China. He is a supply clerk who assists daily with ordering and picking up consumer products. He makes sure over 1,700 Afghan immigrants receive daily necessities such as shampoo, soap, razors, baby formula, diapers, feminine hygiene products and lotion.

Dedvukaj said it takes courage to get up and leave everything you have behind and come to a country you dont know much of in the hopes for a better life for you and your family.

He said joining the military takes that commitment one step further.

As members of the military, you go beyond that, Dedvukaj said. You are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of a nation that until this moment wasnt fully yours.

The ceremony was attended by roughly 300 soldiers. After the ceremony, every one left their seats to shake hands with their newly minted American comrades. Marciano was moved by the response of her fellow soldiers.

It was fantastic, she said. I didnt expect that. Having all those people come down was really awesome.

La Crosse Tribune reporter Steve Rundio can be reached at steve.rundio@lee.net.

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As the executive director for the organization, I have appreciated Wendis willingness to always volunteer for various projects to assist our members as well as speak on behalf of children with special needs, said Gary Myrah, executive director of WCASS.

The Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services is an organization established by administrators responsible for supervising the delivery of pupil services and/or special education. The organization was established in 1994 as a merger between the Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Education and the Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Pupil Services. The mission of the organization is to provide critical information needed to maintain compliance with state and federal regulations as well as innovative programming for students. It also advocates for improved programming to enhance every students academic success.
Democrats on Capitol Hill may not be directly taking their cues from the legendary Carthaginian military leader Hannibal, but as moderates and progressives fell on each other last week over President Joe Bidens watered-down domestic spending plan, it sure felt that way.

A bit of history: On a fine August day in 216 B.C., hours after hed completely obliterated the Roman legions sent against him at the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal made a fateful decision.

Rather than march on Rome and bring a still-emerging global power to its knees, Hannibal took a pass, deciding instead to wage a war of harassment that ended with his comprehensive defeat on his home turf at the Battle of Zama 14 years later.

When he learned about his leaders decision not to march on Rome, one of Hannibals closest aides, Maharbal, turned to his boss and said, So, the gods have not blessed one man with every gift. You know how to win a victory, Hannibal, but now how to use it.

Enter congressional Democrats, who appear to have forgotten that voters sent them to Washington last November with a mandate to get big things done.
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Llangollen Friends of the Earth say the effort must be felt by all of society, that is in the UK and Globally as part of day of action

Llangollen Friends of the Earth calls on UK government to end support for fossil fuels as part of global day of action for climate justice today.

Groups of walkers, cyclists and kayakers carried flaming Earth models into the centre of Llangollen. Participants took in the beautiful landscape of the Dee Valley as the flaming earth models made their way to the town centre.

The local event was part of a global day of action during the UN climate talks, to demand the UK government end its support for fossil fuels.

With the message Earths on fire the campaigners highlighted government hypocrisy in claiming to be a world leader on climate whilst continuing to support fossil fuels here and abroad.

Organisers explained, Currently the UK government is supporting a new oil field off Shetland, its supporting investment in new oil in Mozambique (fueling conflict in the region), and supporting a new coal mine in Cumbria. Friends of the Earth are calling on the Government to drop their support for these projects, and to concentrate on securing a future for our young people.

Warren Davies, group coordinator said, Were asking people to write to their MP to express their concerns about government support for fossil fuel projects, to share their concerns about climate change, and to call for action.

The group stated that fairness must be at the heart of action, and that the poorest people in our communities and around the world must not be disadvantaged.

Warren went on to say, We all want less waste, we all want a healthier society and we all want to protect future generations. By taking climate action we can achieve these things, but the effort must be felt by all of society, that is in the UK and Globally.

A YouGov survey found 67% of voters felt that the UK should strive to be a global leader on climate change.

People have done all they can individually, theyve reduced their energy use, they always recycle. But were at a brick wall. To get get further we need the government to lead and enable people to reduce their emissions

Climate change solutions can bring many positives, especially to rural areas. Local energy generation, insulation businesses and local food production can all potentially create decent, secure jobs. In recent years we have experienced unprecedented flooding and drought cycles. Weve had flooding on the lower Dee and upland fires on Llantysilio mountain. During these times, the local population has pulled together, supporting local firefighters. But as these weather patterns get worse and more frequent, we will be spending more and more of our efforts sorting them out. Of course climate change is a global issue, and so every community will face similar or worse challenges.

Unique features of the valley including the beautiful Llangollen whitebeam tree are also under threat. The Llangollen whitebeam is unique to the area and is struggling to survive as a species. Climate change will only make its fate more precarious.

Our Government, as hosts of the UN climate talks, must take this opportunity to take decisive action.
New audiology service will provide specialist care closer to home, says health board

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is set to introduce Advanced Audiology Practitioners into GP surgeries across the region following an investment in a new NHS service.

The service aims to make it easier for people with hearing difficulties across the region to access specialist support in GP surgeries.

Their introduction will ensure that more people with hearing, tinnitus and balance difficulties can receive specialist care sooner and closer to home, while releasing up to 22,000 GP appointments every year.

Hearing difficulties are thought to affect around 130,000 people in North Wales, including seven in ten people over the age of 70.

Advanced Practice Audiologists (APAs) are currently in place in 36 GP Practices across North Wales, supporting around 25 per cent of the regions population.

As part of a staged approach, APAs will be introduced to remaining practices over the next three years.

Once established, APAs will also oversee the delivery of an earwax removal service, supporting the four per cent of the population who suffer from problematic earwax.

Over the past three years, more than 35,000 people have benefitted from the APA service in GP practices in which it has been piloted.

The service model has received national recognition, winning an NHS Wales Developing a Sustainable Workforce Award and being shortlisted for a UK Advancing Healthcare Award under the Innovation in Healthcare category.

Clarence House Medical Centre in Rhyl is one of 36 GP Practices in North Wales that have already benefitted from the introduction of Advanced Practice Audiologists.

Dr Simon Dobson, a GP at Clarence House Medical Centre, said: The introduction of Advanced Practice Audiologists has made it easier for people with hearing difficulties to access the specialist support they need, while freeing up our GPs time to see other cases.

Im very pleased that this service, which is much valued by patients and staff, is set to be introduced across North Wales.

Jane Wild, Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of Adult Audiology at BCUHB, said: We know that left unmanaged, hearing, tinnitus and balance difficulties can have a significant impact on peoples quality of life.

By enabling people to be seen close to home by an Advanced Practice Audiologist in the first instance, we can ensure they receive the specialist care they need sooner, while freeing up GP appointments.

This service is being extended as part of a staged process, over the next three years. We ask people to be patient as it will take time to recruit, train and introduce the service to practices across the region.
New university course to take in depth look at the climate crisis

A new short course launched by Wrexham Glyndwr University will take an in depth look at the climate crisis and the solutions we have to solve it.

This module, titled Introduction to Climate Change, will be delivered by David Sprake, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Renewable and Sustainable Engineering.

He will look at the scientific reality of CO2 linked climate change, the outcomes current climate modules show, but also what solutions are available to solve the crisis.

It is a standalone module, worth 10 credits, and its open to every student in the university, staff and also the general public as well.

The launch of the module is timely, as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to host the COP26 Climate Change summit in Glasgow which starts at the end of this month.

David Sprake said: The module will cover how we became addicted to fossil fuels and the industry and politics behind that.

Then we will look at the scientific evidence regarding climate change, why climate scientists are sure that it is CO2 causing the current warming.

We will also look at the possible consequences and what the climate models predict if we carry on with business as usual and how that will affect the human race, our eco systems  but we will also have a look at a range of possible solutions to it because the technology is there today to fix this problem.

David added: Well also look at why we are not doing more given the severity of the situation and what are the drivers that are actually holding progress up, looking at why were not taking more urgent action, but still using fossil fuels even tough there are plans to cut their use.

There will be an in-class test for the assignment, an online quiz where well be asking multiple-choice questions on the content of the course.

The course will start November 11th and run for six weeks with one session a week 6- 8 PM. The course costs 95.

You can enrol on the course on the Wrexham Glyndwr University website.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - The Tennessee Attorney General joins with six states to file a petition to challenge the president's administration's decision to mandate vaccines for private-sector employees.

AG Herbert H. Slatery III and the other attorney generals are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to review president Joe Biden's administration's Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandate. The Biden administration announced Thursday that its vaccine rules applying to private businesses with 100 or more employees, certain health care workers and federal contractors will take effect January 4.

Pull Quote "As we anticipated, the mandate asserts an unprecedented expansion of emergency regulatory powers by a federal agency. Its scope and breadth is only exceeded by its length (about 500 pages). It also fails to consider the many steps already taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by individuals, employers and our state." Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III

Vaccine rule for larger employers, federal contractors and certain health care workers to take effect January 4 The Biden administration announced Thursday that its vaccine rules applying to private businesses with 100 or more employees, certain health care workers and federal contractors will take effect January 4.

Slatery said him and other attorney generals are questioning the legality of a vaccine mandate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said companies that fail to comply could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4 Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get te

According to the petition, attorney generals are challenging "the legality of the Biden Administration's emergency temporary standard and asks the Sixth Circuit to review the validity of the mandate, arguing that OSHA lacks statutory and constitutional authority to issue it."

The attorneys general from Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia have joined Slatery joined in the lawsuit. They are all asking that the court "halt President Biden's vaccine mandate until the court rules on the legitimacy of the rule."

To read the full petition, click here.
There have been 94 homicides in Nashville this year alone. One Nashville mom who is speaking out against gun violence two years after her son was shot and killed.
From September 20 and stretching into November, the Grenfell Inquiry has heard a barrage of criticism of the London Fire Brigades (LFB) role in fighting the Grenfell fire. The inferno on the night of June 14, 2017, killed 72 people in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea district of London.

The focus on the fire services is in the face of testimony implicating profiteers among building firms, suppliers and government officials in greed and wrongdoing related to the refurbishment of the tower just before the tragedy.

Phase 2 of the inquiry continues the disproportionate concentration already exhibited in Phase 1 on the efforts of a cash-strapped emergency organisation, LFB, to respond to a catastrophe created by rampant criminality in corporate and political circles.

The burnt out Grenfell Tower tower block building nine days after the June 14, 2017 fire. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

On October 13, Dr. Paul Grimwood, principal fire engineer of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS), claimed in his testimony that the LFB should not have been surprised by the blazes spread outside the compartment of origin on the fourth floor and up the flammable facades. At Kent, he claimed, we teach firefighters to expect failure. We expect a building to perform against the way its designed to perform.

How can any organisation, let along one of the critical emergency services relied on by the public, train for something it has no expectation of seeing?

Professor Chris Johnson, a communication expert, characterised the LFB as a culture of making do and failing to tackle the limitations of existing radio systems in concrete structures.

The strength of the communication sets built into the firefighters breathing apparatus was a low one-watt to protect it from igniting, but risk assessments might have been made to enable better communication in a situation that saw blind spots in the building and a surfeit of radio messages. He asked why procurement for new technical equipment had stalled--an odd question to ask about an organisation whose funding had been cut by 50 percent!

Steve McQuirk, who led the fire agencies in Greater Manchester, West Midlands and South Yorkshire, also argued that cladding behaviour should have come as no surprise at Grenfell. Inside Housing noted of his evidence that, On training more generally, Mr McGuirk said the LFB training did not equip officers to think on their feet during an incident. He said they were trained to apply policies and models and that is not the same as being able to develop a tactical planwith conformity to policy being the goal. McQuirk criticised the LFB for not putting an officer in charge of water supply and pressure, for not evacuating the building earlier, and for the lack of alarm systems.

Jose Torero, senior civil engineer professor at University College London and an expert who wrote reviews on the 9/11 fire, claimed the course of the fire was foreseeable: What was missed is the consideration that building fabric was changing Given the date of the refurbishment and everything that had happened in the past 10 years, I actually think that there is a measure of incompetence at all levels.

Again, the LFB is being criticised for not being aware of the criminal violations that had transformed a safe building into a death trap. He said the LFB had a total disregard for technical competency and the understanding of building performance, was not capable of delivering the role that society expects from it, and needed a drastic culture change.

Even if the response of the LFB could be characterised as inadequate, testimony on October 28 made abundantly clear how and why its performance on the tragic night had been seriously compromised. Danny Friedman QC, representing the bereaved, survivors and residents of the tower, surveyed a long history of abuse by Labour governments that was central to the catastrophe.

In 2001, a senior civil servant to Labour fire minister Nick Raynsford advised him that fire policy wont take up too much of your time. The policy is one of benign neglect.

Labour reforms in 2004 abolished the Central Fire Brigade Advisory Council, allowing local fire services to set their own targets. In 2010, the detailed inspection of fire authorities was replaced by a weaker peer review system.

Already seriously weakened by Labour, under a Conservative government in 2013 the training agency Fire Service College was outsourced to Capita, with responsibility for fire switching between administrative departments. After a 50 percent cut in staff, a senior civil servant reported in the same year that the governments fire safety team no longer have access to the necessary technical expertise to produce effective policy.

Friedman recognized that firefighters were badly undermanned. In improving the LFB response to the fire, he said, it is now obvious that better prevention, protection, policy and training would have done. Austerity prohibited these things

Referring to the Torys policy of Localism he said it amounted to an abdication of the states general human rights duties to establish an effective legal and regulatory framework to protect life.

Professor Leslie Thomas QC opened by reading extracts from 999 calls from the night. He stated that the woeful responses to them demonstrated an absolute lack of awareness of the needs of the vulnerable. He believed that cuts and deregulation led to the inexperience, lack of training and dearth of real-time knowledge in the control room, as well as highlighting the poor communications to and from the incident ground.

He noted a 2017 Fire Brigades Union (FBU) report saying control rooms were at breaking point because of a decade of failed government policy characterised by cuts, mergers and underinvestment We say this is relevant and pertinent in the light of the performance of the control room that night, working out of a smaller room in Stratford [East London], with no television, nothing to show them in real time what was happening

Speaking for the Fire Brigades Union, Martin Seaward reported that the control room dealing with Grenfell was not capable of receiving more than six calls at a time from trapped residents. Between 1.24 and 1.30 a.m. on the night of the fire, it received 20.

Friedman told the inquiry that the tragedy was a human rights disaster. He argued that violations included the rights to life of disabled and vulnerable residents which were breached by the failure of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) to develop individual evacuation plans. Also, in deliberately limiting tenant interaction during the refurbishment, consultation rights were stymied as the authorities discriminated against active residents.

The KCTMO, which managed Grenfell Tower on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) council, were joined in seeing this refurbishment as an act of municipal generosity, said Friedman, not critical and long overdue investment, but a gift. Such attitudes led to unacceptable secrecy, when with greater transparency a campaign for compliance could have been pursued by residents to protect themselves. Instead, they were largely regarded as an inconvenience to be managed, rather than human beings.

Stephanie Barwise QC claimed that despite having sufficient funding to carry out the safety work, a general insufficient funding of social housing had created a defeatist strategy of make do and mend even if that meant compromising safety.

Michael Mansfield QC, for a separate group of residents, described a mindset that failed to prioritise health and safety in the years preceding the fire. This he blamed on the 2010-2015 Conservative government of Prime Minister David Cameron. But the previous Labour government was equally culpable.

The inquiry has dragged on for nearly four and a half years (1,605 days) since first being announced and its end is nowhere in sight. Despite everyone knowing that it was rampant profiteering and criminality that led to the catastrophe predicted by Grenfell residents, no-one responsible has been prosecuted and put on trial.

Instead the inquiry is being used as the arena to firm up an agenda of pinning the blame almost exclusively on the London Fire Brigade. This charade needs to stop and the Grenfell families should end all co-operation with the inquiry. The culpable, who the inquiry has granted immunity to regarding anything they say, must be arrested and tried for their profit driven actions that saw the social murder of 72 people.
Year seven pupils are directed to socially distance as they arrive for their first day at Kingsdale Foundation School in London, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Robert Halfon MP, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Education Committee, has introduced a triple lock bill to prevent a future lockdown of schools.

The legislation would officially classify schools as essential infrastructure, keeping them open during any national emergency, including a public health crisis. Any lockdown of schools, especially relating to the pandemic, would require ministers to first consult the Childrens Commissioner, then debate and vote on the matter in parliament, then to renew the decision in parliament every three weeks.

The bill passed its first reading unopposed on November 3 and has received the open support of a dozen MPs, including senior Tory right-winger Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former childrens ministers Tim Loughton and Edward Timpson.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has not backed the legislation, promising to look at it, but insisted, Protecting face-to-face learning is my absolute priority. I have no plans whatsoever to close schools again.

Halfons Schools and Education Settings (Essential Infrastructure and Opening During Emergencies) Bill ought to be named the Herd Immunity Bill, or the Mass Infection of Children Bill. Its purpose is to aid Prime Minister Boris Johnsons and any future government in refusing to implement school closures, a vital public health measure for combatting a highly infectious and deadly disease.

Defending the proposal, Halfon claimed, Whilst national lockdowns were important to protect the health of the public, school closures have been nothing short of a disaster for our children. The disaster that really concerns him is the threat to the financial interests of the super-rich posed by any serious effort to combat the pandemic.

Robert Halfon (Credit: Creative Commons)

These interests have already repeatedly forced the full reopening of schools, leading to disastrous surges of disease. Last years reopening led to peak infections rates of one in 40 primary school pupils and one in 27 secondary school pupils. The spread of infection through schools fuelled the UKs deadliest wave of the pandemic last winter.

Case rates this autumn are even higher, with one in 25 primary pupils and one in 11 secondary pupils infected. So far, 108 children have been killed by the virus, over 7,000 hospitalised and nearly 70,000 left suffering with Long COVID, with 10,000 of those for more than a year.

Infections are again beginning to spread into older layers of the population. More than 12,000 children in the UK had already lost a parent or caregiver to the virus by April this year. Thousands more will have parents debilitated by Long COVID.

Halfons bill seeks to make this wilful infection of children and their families a permanent situation, and to allow the same to take place in any future epidemic or pandemic. The ruling class, dependent on the constant exploitation of the working class to sustain its profits, is determined to never again allow a shutdown of sections of the economy. To keep parents at work, children must be kept in schools and exposed to the virus.

The task of moving this legislation through parliament has been handed to the Tories point man for advancing reactionary measures under the cover of concern for young people and the working class. A leading member of the Blue Collar Conservatism caucus, Halfon has been a voice of opposition to the closure of schools, supposedly out of concern for disadvantaged children.

His article for the Daily Telegraph last June, By not reopening schools we risk damaging the life chances of thousands of children, gives a flavour. Schools needed to reopen sooner rather than later, he wrote, because children faced an epidemic of educational poverty, a growing digital divide and a safeguarding crisis.

Halfon is supported by the former and current Childrens Commissioners, whose job it will be under his proposed legislation to tell ministers whether school closures are appropriate.

Current Commissioner for England Dame Rachel De Souza commented, There is no doubt that children paid a high price for their time away from school, and now is the moment to put children at the heart of the recovery from the pandemic. That is why it is absolutely right for us to do all we can to keep schools open for children.

The right-wing motivations for Halfons bill are highlighted by his close connection with the campaigning organisation UsForThem, a lobbying group for school reopening and against masks and vaccines for children.

Tweeting about Presenting my new Bill to Parliament, Halfon noted it had been backed by the inspirational @UsforThemUK.

In an article written for Conservative Home this July, he gushed, If there were an Oscar for campaigning I would, without hesitation, give it to the pressure group Us for Them. Set up in the height of the pandemic, by a group of families worried about school closures and the damage to children, these parentswith minimal fundinghave fought night and day on behalf of pupils.

An Oscar would perhaps be appropriate. UsForThem is about as far from a grassroots pressure group speaking on behalf of parents and children as it is possible to be.

The organisation was set up in May 2020 to defend the interests of big business by calling for an end to all public health measures relating to schools and has been happy to work with anti-vax groups to achieve this end. Its connections have been revealed in a series of significant exposures by the Byline Times .

Byline note an article published by The Times newspaper this February which reads, MPs in the COVID Recovery Group [of anti-lockdown campaigners on the Tory right], organised by Steve Baker, a perennial backbench Machiavelli, have joined forces with the UsforThem campaign, which has been pressing for schools to re-open, to form an umbrella organisation called The Recovery Alliance. Ed Barker, a political consultant, is bringing them together with business figures who want the focus to shift from health to the economy.

Barker manages communications for both UsForThem and the COVID Recovery Group, as well as for Halfons Blue Collar Conservatism group.

In June last year, Byline reports, UsForThem sent a letter to the Department for Education warning of legal action against school closures and social distancing and other protection measures in schools. A legal pre-action was provided by the multi-billion-dollar law firm DLA Piper. According to the Telegraph, a similar letter was sent earlier this year demanding the end of face masks in schools.

UsForThems original letter cited the work of Ellen Townsend as evidence for the harm social distancing causes to children. She is a signatory to the Great Barrington Declaration and a spokesperson for the anti-lockdown, vaccine and mask Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART), also connected with the Tory party. Another leading member of USForThem, Rosamond Jones, works closely with HART.

Halfons bill translates this filthy right-wing campaign into parliamentary language and, he hopes, into law.

Designating schools as essential infrastructure would also prepare for the banning of strikes among school workers should the ruling class succeed with their long-wished-for plans to outlaw industrial action in essential sectors, as is already the case in several other European countries.

The bills second reading is scheduled for February 4, 2022. Labour have so far issued no response.

Association of School and College Leaders General Secretary Geoff Barton commented, We support the idea of defining schools and other education settings as essential infrastructure and doing everything possible to keep them open during times of national emergency, only adding the caveats that it would have to take into account public health advice and be backed up with material support.

Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said the bill misses the point. Rather than thinking about political mechanisms to prevent school closures, we need the government to do far more to help keep classes open.

As throughout the pandemic, the trade unions will work hand-in-glove with Johnson to carry out the preferred policy of the corporations. For all their lying claims, neither they nor the Tories care a jot about the fate of the vast majority of children. Fighting the pandemic and making up the damage done to young people in the last year, above all by the governments allowing the unrestrained spread of the virus, demands an independent political movement of the working class for socialism.
On Monday, the Zero Covid Coalition held an online meeting, The virus is not going away. So, neither can we.

The meeting demonstrated that the campaign exists solely to provide a cynical apologia for the refusal of the Labour Party and trade unions to do anything that genuinely opposes the Conservative governments policy of allowing the virus to rip through workplaces and schools, to deadly effect.

Led by the dwindling group of Corbynite MPs, any commitment to a supposed policy of eliminating COVID is purely for show.

The Zero Covid Coalition describes itself as a broad campaign jointly convened by Diane Abbott MP [formerly Jeremy Corbyns shadow home secretary] and the Morning Star [newspaper of the Stalinist Communist Party] to oppose this governments reckless policies and fight for a Zero Covid strategy.

However, in opening the meeting Abbott said, Some of our speakers tonight dont agree with the demand for Zero Covid, yet I am delighted that they have nevertheless agreed to speak.

Screenshot of Diane Abbott speaking at the Zero Covid Coalition online meeting

It's always been the case that some people that support our organisation don't necessarily believe in absolutely Zero Covid. But we have never put a barrier up to prevent people who perhaps only want to speak about improving the situation, or who want to speak about a specific section of society, or who represent a certain body of people. As far as were concerned. They are all very welcome.

What does this mean in practice? Abbott added, All around the world there are pressures against campaigners, but also against medical and scientific communities or even pressures on elected governments, to adopt the disastrous policies which are currently in place in the United States and in Britain and which have led to a public health catastrophe. These pressures must be resisted. We cannot and should not learn to live with the virus. This has only led to big death tolls.

But far from resisting these pressures to adapt to a herd immunity agenda, Abbott introduced speakers from the Labour Party and the trade unions dedicated to the proposition that we must indeed learn to live with the virus, while portraying them as allies of those genuinely wanting to fight.

Top billing on the platform was given to Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Waless devolved Labour government. He was accompanied by Abbott, Richard Burgon and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, all members of Labours Corbynite Socialist Campaign Group.

Screenshot of Mark Drakeford speaking at the Zero Covid Coalition online meeting

Alongside them were Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) and Vicky Blake, president of the University and College Union (UCU).

Drakeford was presented as the leader of a sane holdout throughout the pandemic against the maniacal policies of Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government. However, while the Welsh government, like the devolved Scottish National Party-led government at Holyrood, imposed a few more mitigation policies than Westminster, such as a two-week firebreak at one point as cases shot up, both fell in line behind Johnson on ending mitigation measures in July.

Drakeford and Welsh Labours limited measures have changed nothing fundamentally in terms of infections and lives lost. On October 1, over eight weeks after the July 19 Freedom Day in which the economy was reopened, Wales Online reported, Wales continues to have an infection rate far above any other part of the UK. It noted, Despite a slight dip early in September, cases in Wales have continued to rise as we head towards October with the rates of Covid in Wales now more than double that of England. In Scotland, cases were also substantially above Englands.

On October 5, Wales announced its first death due to COVID of a child under 14. Another childs death has since been recorded in the country. A Welsh teenager over the age of 14 died earlier in the pandemic.

Last week, speaking at a press conference, Drakeford reported on the consequences of his governments policies: One in 40 people in Wales could have coronavirus [up from one in 45 the previous week]. More than 820 hospital beds across Wales are occupied today by COVID patients.

With cases in Wales then at 656 per 100,000, Over the past three weeks, coronavirus cases have risen sharply to the highest rates we have seen since the pandemic began and more people are falling so seriously ill that they need hospital treatment. In addition, We have identified over 2,000 cases of a new and possibly more transmissible form of the Delta variant already here in Wales.

And his response?

Wales would remain at COVID alert level zero. Only isolation guidance would change, with fully vaccinated adults and children aged five to 17 now asked to isolate themselves until they get a negative PCR test if someone in their household has symptoms of the virus or tests positive.

The Welsh government also intends to extend the use of the COVID pass proving vaccination to theatres, cinemas and concert halls from November 15.

If rates continue to rise rather than fall the Cabinet will have to consider introducing further restrictions at the next review, Drakeford added, but None of us want to see that happen.

To underscore this message, Drakeford ended his press conference by telling everyone he would see them at the Wales-New Zealand rugby match, just two days later, that he would be attending with 70,000 other people.

On schools, Drakeford, like Johnson, insisted they could be opened safely last January. He declared, in opposition to teachers who demanded that face-to-face teaching be suspended, We reached an agreement with our local education colleagues that in Wales we will have a phased and flexible return to school.

Drakeford played down the severity of the disease and its impact on children at the time declaring, There is no evidence that young people get the illness more severely as a result of the [Delta] variant. It was only because many teachers refused to work that Wales, like England, was forced to announce that schools and colleges would remain closed to students until after the February half-term.

The other prominent allies of the Corbynite and Stalinist Zero Covid campaign came from education unions that have spent the entire course of the pandemic opposing action by their members and who now insist that schools, colleges and universities must be kept open.

Kevin Courtney of the NEU never bothered to utter the words Zero Covid in his remarks. He has rather assumed the position of High Priest of schools staying open at all costs on behalf of the Johnson government.

Screenshot of Kevin Courtney speaking at the Zero Covid Coalition online meeting

Courtney presented a revised version of history, claiming that it was his union which led the charge to ensure schools were not reopened at the height of the pandemic in January. We knew it wasn't safe and we had an online meeting of 40,000 of our members. We know that 400,000 people watched it over Facebook and we advised our members to send in Section 44 letters and as a result of that most schools didn't open the next day.

The action taken by rank-and-file teachers was what forced Johnson to cave in. It was only when it was clear that opposition was becoming overwhelming among educators and parents to the horrifying COVID-19 death rateswhich had taken the lives of at least 570 education workersthat the NEU asked its members to refuse to return to work in January by citing Section 44 of the workplace Health and Safety Act. Courtney et al were only attempting to corral popular anger behind a policy of individual protest, while stifling demands for strikes and other forms of collective action.

Within a few weeks, the NEU was insisting that members no longer use Section 44 letters without their strict approval, backing up government preparations for a full reopening in July.

Courtneys speech at the Zero Covid event could best be described as an extended rant against education disruption:

Cases were going up really fast in schools and that is actually really disrupting education as children stay off because theyre positive and were not doing enough to control the cases. Or their staff, their teachers, stay off because theyre positive. And some of them and have very little symptoms or no symptoms, but they still have to stay off because theyre positive and thats still disrupting education and its also disrupting the education of the children who have symptoms which go on longer. [emphasis added]

Courtney made no reference to the nearly 600 known deaths of UK educators from COVID, or the more than 100 children who have died through being knowingly exposed to a deadly disease.

In a particularly brutal comment, Courtney declared, Whatever the consequences of Long COVID that we dont know about one of the consequences is youre often off school and your education is being disrupted. And its not just those in-school disruptions. We can see from the data that if secondary schools are the group that are going up fastest, then the age group that are 30 years older than them, their parents, they are then starting to pick up as well.

Courtneys answer to all this was to assert that the virus could be largely checked if only the Westminster government followed the guidance in Scotland, where there is still a mask mandate in secondary schools.

He added, Theres another difference in Scotland. If your brother or sister test positive you have to stay at home for three days, then get a PCR test. You can only go back to school if youre negative.

That sounds in Scotland like theyre disrupting childrens education, that children who have close contacts have to stay off. But actually the net effect is less children off school in Scotland than in England, despite the fact that those very close contacts are being held off.

Courtney also called for investing in ventilation and filtration and the return of bubbles in schools, adding that this was not necessarily to send bubbles home, but to stop the virus spreading from one group to another.

He reassured all concerned that Most of those steps are no disruption whatsoever to peoples everyday lives or to their education. They reduce disruption to education as well as reducing the total amount of virus.

These limited mitigations did nothing to stop the spread of the virus in Scottish schools or anywhere else.

Scotlands reopening of schools from August 11 resulted in the virus ripping through classrooms. Figures revealed as a result of Freedom of Information requests to Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that more than half of schools (1,455 or 58 percent) had at least one coronavirus case in the first two weeks of term. The Scotsman reported, PHS data also shows nearly 15% of cases [8,113 positive cases] during the same time period could be linked to an educational setting, a nursery, school, college or university

Courtney concluded with the humble suggestion to the Tories: Vaccination is the way out, but vaccination needs a helping hand and the sorts of measures were talking about on this call are that helping hand and our government should be implementing them.

Behind the occasional rhetoric, the Labour and trade union bureaucracy has no fundamental differences with the Johnson government. They are allied with it in enforcing the insistence of the corporations that there must be no more lockdowns and that, as stated by their own partys leader Sir Keir Starmer, schools must remain open, no ifs, no buts.

Eliminating the virus and stopping the pandemic can only be achieved through the independent struggle of the working class, opposed to the pro-capitalist agenda outlined in the Zero Covid event.

Speaking at the global online webinar hosted by the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), WSWS International Editorial Board chairperson David North outlined the basis for a successful fight to end the pandemic:

The policies pursued by virtually all governments since the outbreak of the pandemic must be repudiated. The subordination of that which should be the unquestioned priority of social policythe protection of human lifeto the interests of corporate profit and private wealth accumulation cannot be allowed to continue.

The initiative to bring about a decisive turn to a strategy directed toward global elimination must come from a socially conscious movement of millions of people.
The actual toll of the COVID pandemic has been assessed in several recent studies and analyses, which have highlighted in detail both the deadliness of the virus and its extensive reach across the globe. Despite these repeated confirmations, high-income nations and the financial oligarchs continue to insist that the cure in the form of elimination of the disease globally remains far worse than the disease, which allows the virus a free rein to upend livelihoods and kill millions so that financial institutions are unfettered by the demands placed on their craving for ever more enrichment.

A nurse holds a phone while a patient affected with COVID-19 speaks with his family from the intensive care unit [Credit: AP/Daniel Cole]

On November 3, 2021, BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) published a probing investigation on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy and premature mortality in 2020 across 37 high-income and upper-middle-income nations. The study is a continuation of previous work done by the same group on estimating excess deaths during the pandemic in 2020. The findings corroborate previous reports and stand as testimony to the malign policies of the ruling elites which can only be construed as deliberate and intentional social murder.

By including in their analysis countries that employed more comprehensive pandemic-fighting measures, the BMJ study provides a stark contrast to the policies followed by the US and Europe. It provides irrefutable evidence against the ignorant mantra of Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, and other apologists for mass death, who put forward the slogan, The cure cant be worse than the disease. From the standpoint of science and public health, the cure has always been better than the devastation wrought by allowing the virus to rip through communities across the globe.

Rather than using excess deaths, the BMJ study employed data on all-cause mortality, which stands as a more reliable measure of the pandemics impact, allowing comparisons between countries. The authors explained, Although using excess deaths has been considered the ideal method for measuring the impact of the pandemic, this metric does not take into account age at death. When people die at an older age, they lose fewer years of remaining life. Analysis of life expectancy and years of life lost (YLL) provides a more nuanced estimation of premature mortality at a population level.

Figure 1: Changes in life expectancy at birth associated with COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Life expectancy is a measure of how long a population can expect to survive if the factors that contribute to deaths for various ages remain constant for the remainder of their lives. Years of life lost utilizes age distributions for these deaths, giving greater weight to deaths at younger ages. It is calculated using the number of deaths observed rather than hypothetical life tables. The study notes, Life expectancy depends solely on mortality, and YLL depends on both the mortality and the age structure of the population.

The study found that in the 15 years before 2020, all 37 countries studied showed a rising trend in life expectancy at birth for both men and women. However, for 2020, the first year of the pandemic, this trend dropped precipitously. The reduction in life expectancy was most significant in Russia, with 2.32 years, followed by the United States with almost two years. Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Poland were next in descending order.

However, the authors found that life expectancy was not impacted for South Korea, Norway, and Denmark, where strict mitigation measures remained the norm. In Taiwan and New Zealand, life expectancy actually climbed, highlighting the beneficial impact that measures eliminating the virus from their borders had on maintaining access to healthcare and population-based interventions that protected citizens from the hazards posed by day-to-day life.

Regarding Years of Life Lost (YLL) in 2020, only Taiwan and New Zealand had a decline (an improvement) in this category. Iceland, South Korea, Denmark, and Norway had no demonstrable change in the expected years of life lost, corroborating the life expectancy data.

However, in the remaining 31 countries, the 222 million years of life lost in 2020 (130 million in men and 92.6 million in women) were 28.1 million higher than expected, showing the impact of the pandemic. Men accounted for 17.3 million of these excess years of life lost, while women lost 10.8 million.

When age categories were evaluated in the 31 worst-hit countries, excess YLL increased with age in both genders, showing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on older populations. However, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan saw excess YLL for the elderly decline, meaning the intensive mitigation measures employed against the virus benefited the elderly the most.

The findings on life expectancy were especially remarkable for younger populations in the US, especially in men. When the US was compared to Lithuania, Poland and Spain, between the observed and expected age-specific death rates by age intervals, those under the age of 65 in the US and Lithuania were responsible for a high proportion of the total losses in life expectancy. By comparison, in Poland and Spain, older age groups drove the loss of life expectancy.

Figure 2: Age group components of difference between observed and expected life expectancy in 2020 among the US and three comparator countries

This is damning testimony demonstrating that the working class in the US, in particular male workers, have been impacted disproportionately. However, the impact of COVID on younger people has been much more severe in 2021, meaning the figures cited in the study will be far more horrific in the pandemics second year. In 2020, more than 70,000 people between 25 and 65 died due to COVID. In 2021, over 111,500 in this age bracket have been killed, despite access to COVID vaccines.

The authors found [that] with a similar burden of excess deaths per 100 000 in Spain and the US (161 and 160, respectively), excess YLL (per 100 000) was substantially higher in the US (3400) than in Spain (1900), indicating higher numbers of deaths at younger ages in the US compared with Spain. Indeed, the ratio of YLL rate in people aged under 65 and 65 years or older at death was 0.29 in the US, whereas it was only 0.07 in Spain. Despite a lower excess death rate than Lithuania, Poland and Spain, the reduction in life expectancy in the US was higher than in these three countries.

The death toll in the second year of the pandemic has outpaced the first year of the pandemic. Approximately 2.35 million died in the first 12 months since the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. With three months left to the second anniversary of this declaration, another 2.64 million have already died as the world enters the sixth wave of the pandemic.

Indeed, with the introduction of the COVID vaccines, there has been a push by governments of high-income countries to completely force open every economic avenue that remains closed regardless of its devastating impact on the working people of the planet upon whose back the financial oligarchs have enriched themselves.

This critical study published in theBMJ by these courageous researchers should be applauded and studied. It carefully demonstrates that the virus can be eliminated and lives can be protected. The policies that have promoted let the bodies pile high, let it rip, and learn to live with the virus, are fraudulent and criminal. In fact, their findings provide irrefutable evidence to indict these ruling criminals responsible for the massive loss of life and livelihood.

However, these same principled scientists who have been decrying the dangers posed by the ruling elites criminal policies must engage with the working class, the only progressive force for whom the issue of eliminating the pandemic is most urgent. It is the turn to the working class that will generate the necessary response to their analysis.
On Tuesday, November 2, the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Brazil (CBES-BR) held the online meeting The need for school closures and the means to end the pandemic. Participants included educators and parents from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the Federal District, as well as messages of support from members of rank-and-file committees of educators in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The event presented a comprehensive analysis of the situation of the pandemic and the class struggle in Brazil and around the world. The presentations and contributions consistently advocated a strategy of global eradication of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mobilization of an independent, internationally unified struggle of the working class.

Announcement of meeting of the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Brazil: "The need for school closures and the means to end the pandemic"

The meeting was led by Guilherme Ferreira, a teacher in the Sao Paulo state network and member of the Socialist Equality Group (GSI). In his introduction, he declared: This meeting takes place three months after the largest reopening of schools in Brazil since the beginning of the pandemic. As of November 3, the presence of students in unsafe schools will become mandatory in 19 Brazilian states, which are also eliminating social distancing in classrooms.

He then presented the real situation of the pandemic in Brazil and the world. Although the ruling elite and the media try to sell the idea that the pandemic is nearing its end, Brazil still has an average of almost 320 deaths per day, only 110 fewer than a year ago, he said. The latest estimate of underreporting is of almost 25 percent, which increases the daily deaths to 400. Regarding cases, experts point out that it could be up to 10 times more than officially reported.

Answering the question What prevents the elimination of the pandemic? Guilherme exposed the corrupt strategies adopted by the world capitalist class in response to COVID-19. In Brazil, while the fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro most clearly represents the cruel perspective of herd immunity ... the governors of the Workers Party (PT) in the northeast, as well as Joao Doria of the PSDB in Sao Paulo, have sought to negotiate with the virus, which breaks any deal as it evolves into more infectious variants. Today, however, all these forces are embracing herd immunity.

Guilherme concluded with an overview of the struggles of workers around the world, who have responded aggressively, with strikes and protests, to the health, economic and social impacts of the deadly pandemic. It is to this social force and to the scientific program of the global elimination of the coronavirus, he argued, that the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Brazil must orient itself.

The next presentation was given by Miguel Andrade, also a member of the GSI, who summarized the main presentations given by the scientists at the October 24 webinar  How to end the pandemic  held by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). As he presented this critical information for the first time in Portuguese, Miguel stated: One of the main questions for the working class is to really understand what COVID is, so that they can take actions consistent with the problem.

He then gave detailed explanations of the evolution of the coronavirus and the nature of the most infectious variants; how vaccines and public health measures interfere in the spread of the virus through society, and how the combination of these measures can lead to the elimination of COVID-19. He went on to elaborate how the virus is transmitted through aerosols; and the dire effects of long COVID on children and teenagers.

Miguel was succeeded by Tomas Castanheira, also a GSI member and a teacher in the Sao Paulo municipal public school system. Tomas reviewed the sordid record of the Brazilian trade unions and pseudo-left parties throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PT has made it clear that it will continue as an unwavering defender of the interests of the capitalist class, no matter how many deaths of workers, elderly, and children it costs, he stated. And just as this party has workers in its name only, the unions federations and local unionscontrolled by the PT and its allies, or parties even further to the rightare unions in name only.

The teachers unions have fulfilled a particularly nefarious role, he continued. The National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE) attacked measures to control the pandemic, including the closure of schools, and spread the lie that children are not significantly affected by COVID. The CNTE did everything to keep the teacher strikes that broke out all over Brazil isolated, while local unions sabotaged these struggles. The strikes of state and municipal teachers in Sao Paulo were both buried by anti-democratic coups by the unions, supported by the pseudo-left parties, such as PSOL.

Tomas then called on participants to draw the necessary conclusions from these political experiences and to take the struggle for building rank-and-file committees to their schools and other workplaces.

In the discussion, participants recounted their struggles in the face of the imminent mandatory return of in-person classes. Priscila, a mother from the city of Rio de Janeiro declared: Many parents are very worried. We are afraid to send our children on November 3, because there is no safety. My daughter is 10 years old. In her class alone there are 36 students, and the room has no window.

She continued: The Municipal Secretary of Education is threatening parents with losing their places in school, or their children failing the school year. We heard several reports saying that school principals are contacting parents and threatening them saying social service will come to your house, youll lose your Bolsa Familia [social benefit]. We are firm, even though we are afraid. We are trying to mobilize ourselves here in Rio de Janeiro. Were going to have a campaign on Twitter against this dangerous reopening of schools.

Karla, a mother from the Federal District, said: The situation here in Brasilia is practically the same as described by Priscila. Tomorrow they are going to open schools, and end masks mandates. It will be widespread tyranny. ... The Brazilian Constitution says that life comes first, and that is what I am basing myself on. So, we are not going to send the children and we are not going to accept the threats from the schools, the secretariat and the government. Are we going to suffer punishment? Yes, but we are going to stick to it.

Luiz Henrique, a public-school teacher from Resende, Rio de Janeiro, gave a detailed account of the criminal anti-scientific policies adopted by local governments in his state, and denounced the unions that assisted the school reopenings. He declared: The union bureaucracies, especially the bureaucracy of the SEPE-RJ, the largest union of educators in the state, consciously sought to sabotage the organization by teachers and students of a real strike, using various bureaucratic means.

Luiz concluded with a strong appeal: We need to fight in the workplace to build the organization of workers and students with the correct program to fight the pandemic, whose objective should be none other than the global eradication of the virus.

The international contributions that followed, from members of rank-and-file committee in the United Stated and the United Kingdom, profoundly addressed the challenges faced by Brazilian workers and the issues directly raised by participants in the meeting.

Evan Blake, who assists the work of educators rank-and-file committees throughout the United States, declared: The formation of the Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Brazil is a major advance for educators and all workers in Brazil and throughout the world.

Evan described the dire situation of the pandemic in the US. More than 2,000 educators and 584 children have died from COVID-19, the majority undoubtedly as a result of their return to schools. He added: As in Brazil and throughout the world, the teachers unions have been the most vocal advocates of school reopenings. They are totally integrated with the state and serve the corporations, which demand that children go back to school in order to send their parents back to work.

Tania Kent, a teacher and member of the Educators Rank-and-File Committee in the UK greeted the CBES-BR meeting as a critical initiative. She reported that, just as the Brazilian mothers reported, parents in the UK are facing threats of fines, loss of school places and even losing custody of their children if they do not send them to the unsafe schools. The fight to protect your child from a deadly infection is deemed to be child abuse and there is no opposition to this truly Orwellian set-up.

She then recounted the experience of parents in the UK who spearheaded the recent school strikes after unsuccessfully seeking to pressure the Labour and Tory parties and the trade unions. They have begun to recognize that if a fight to protect lives is to be organized it must come from the working class and independent initiatives that are in conflict with the existing political set-up, Tania declared.

The CBES-BR meeting constitutes a milestone in the development of the class struggle in Brazil. It presented an absolutely unique political perspectivebased on the determinations of science, internationalism and the political independence of the working classthat is clearly interacting with the developing situation and consciousness of millions of workers across Brazil.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, right, on his way to a news conference on the coronavirus, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 [Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski]

COVID-19 cases in Colorado are hitting their highest peak of the year, bringing hospitals to the breaking point. As of November 3, the state was officially reporting 607 active outbreaks, driven by the spread of the Delta variant.

The weekly average of daily new cases is rising steadily, from 2,254 per day in late October to 2,899 on November 1. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environments official tally for new cases on November 4 was 3,164, though the Worldometer website put the number at 4,149.

Once again belying the claim by both Democrats and Republicans that children are less susceptible to the pandemic, the largest share of outbreaks, 242, took place in schools, followed by nursing homes (79) and assisted living facilities (77).

Hospitalizations as of November 3 numbered around 1,300, a 15 percent increase over the previous two weeks and the third largest increase in the nation. With one in every 281 Coloradans diagnosed with COVID-19, Colorado ranks ninth in the rate of new cases.

Rising percentages of hospital beds, on average around 90 percent, are occupied, while the number of patients seeking treatment for severe non-COVID maladiesoverdoses, heart attacks, suicide attempts and strokes among themhas also increased.

The remaining 10 percent of available hospital beds amounts to about 900 in the entire state. Adding to the tightening squeeze on hospitals is the steady exit of staff who have either left the state or gone into other lines of work. Those who remain endure overwork, shortages, burnout and empathy fatigue.

In response, Democratic Governor Jared Polis has issued a number of executive orders, while refusing to institute general mask mandates, capacity limits for businesses and gatherings or other strict mitigation measures, let alone enact an elimination strategy. The raft of orders includes:

* Postponement for one month of most elective and cosmetic surgeries. These can include such procedures as cancer surgery or hip replacement.

* Prohibition on hospitals refusing to accept patients they have the capacity to treat or refusing send them to a different facility. At the same time, Polis signed an executive order allowing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to order hospitals and freestanding emergency departments to stop admitting patients or transfer them elsewhere as capacities are threatened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

* A requirement for counties to consult with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) about additional restrictions if at least 85 percent of their hospital beds become full in the next month.

* A requirement for those 12 and over to wear masks at long-term care homes, medical facilities and correctional buildings.

* A requirement for vaccine providers to give second shots to anyone who is eligible, whether or not he or she has gotten the first shot, and to give boosters to anyone who claims to qualify.

* The implementation of a protocol for prioritizing treatment in emergency cases.

Meanwhile, the Combined Hospital Transfer Center (CHTC), which helps hospitals that are full to transfer patients to other facilities in the state, was shifted into Tier 3, the highest tier, on November 3.

The CTHC was created by the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) in November 2020 to be activated should the number of patients needing transfer exceed the capacity of the hospitals. According to the CHA website, it will be a key component of Colorados surge plan moving into the winter. The organization established a three-tier system for dealing with transfers on the local, regional and state levels.

The CHTC was deactivated in February, but the CHA reactivated it on August 27 at Tier 1, under which smaller hospitals were paired with hospital networks with more resources to coordinate transfers. However, with the surge in hospitalizations, the CHA bypassed Tier 2 altogether and moved the CTHC to Tier 3, which coordinates transfers throughout the state.

Colorado health officials have used terms like crisis, in jeopardy of being overwhelmed, perfect storm and pushing the limits to describe the current state of affairs. Yet the ruling classs representatives in government, as well as many of those same health officials, will not advocate or implement the measures that are needed, but which infringe on the profit priorities of the ruling class.

Thus, Polis may say, The Delta variant is brutally effective at seeking out the unvaccinated, like a laser-guided missile, but he ignores the fact that a vaccinated person may carry a viral load similar to that of an unvaccinated person, and that breakthrough infections make up a significant minority of cases. Colorados mask mandate applies only to the unvaccinated, and restrictions on distancing, gatherings and other mitigation measures have been relaxed or scrapped.

Both ruling class parties, whatever label they may put on their policies, and whatever temporary or half-measures they enact, are willing to let COVID-19 continue to wreak havoc on the lives of workers and their families. They promote the new normal of living with the virus, as long as the ruling class can continue to extract profits from the workers labor.

Science and the experience of countries such as China show that COVID-19 can be eliminated, but the strategy to do so must be taken up by the working class in opposition to the capitalist class and its outmoded and destructive system.
Support is building among autoworkers across the US for the defiant stand taken by striking Deere workers, who rejected a second United Auto Workers-backed contract on Tuesday. The 10,000 strikers are in the fourth week of their walkout and are pursuing major wage increases and benefit improvements.

Striking John Deere workers in Waterloo, Iowa [Source: UAW Local 838 Facebook page]

The United Auto Workers union, meanwhile, continued its information blackout on its talks with Deere Friday. The union has remained silent while Deere has gone on a PR offensive, seeking to paint workers as greedy and unrealistic, while threatening to ramp up its strikebreaking efforts.

Marc Howze, Deeres chief administrative officer (with an estimated net worth over $20 million), has been the main face of the campaign, telling media outlets the agreement was the companys best and final offer and that there is just no more to give. Deere has stated it will not negotiate a third offer, is seeking to secure ratification of its second deal, and is in ongoing meetings with the UAW to discuss next steps.

On Friday afternoon, Deere sent out a mass text attempting again to sell the already rejected deal to workers, claiming, The second tentative agreement reached between John Deere and the UAW is more than simply the best in our industries  its groundbreaking.

Workers immediately derided the companys latest clumsy propaganda efforts in comments on social media, asking pointedly how a contract which still falls short of the wages and benefits of a quarter century ago can be considered groundbreaking.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg News report expressed the growing concerns within the corporate and financial establishment over the impact of the strike. Bloomberg reported that agricultural equipment customers are beginning to face weeks-long delays for parts. I would call it a double whammy, because we already had a supply-chain shortage and now we have a strike, Jon Fisher, a tractor buyer-seller in South Carolina, told the publication. They couldnt even fulfill the orders because of the supply-chain issues.

Now, he said, What used to be there in two to three days is three weeks.

Bloomberg also reported that US harvests have begun to fall behind, noting corn is only 74 percent harvested, compared to 81 percent at this time last year, and soybeans are only 79 percent completed, compared to 86 percent last year.

We face the same conditions in the Detroit plants, and we should fight together

Despite Deeres efforts to use its media leverage to disparage the strikersas well as the UAWs attempts to convince workers that they are isolated and losing community supportautoworkers are increasingly voicing their solidarity and calling for a joint struggle.

Travis, a worker at Volvo Trucks New River Valley Plant in Virginia, recorded a video urging Deere workers to press ahead in their fight.

I just want to encourage you guys to keep going, Travis said. That signing bonus is nothing. They are scattering grain and hoping the chickens will peck at it. You are better than that, I believe in you.

The UAW has been following the same playbook at Deere which it utilized to betray a strike by nearly 3,000 Volvo Trucks workers at the New River Valley plant earlier this year. After workers rejected three UAW-backed concessions contracts, the company declared the third deal its last and final offer. The UAW facilitated Volvos efforts to break the strike, forcing a re-vote on the rejected third deal, which it claimed passed by just 17 ballots.

A worker at Mack Trucks, which is owned by Volvo, told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, I fully support the John Deere workers who are on strike. We at Mack were on strike just two years ago, and I wish our brothers and sisters could have stuck it out like you guys!

I just hope that you can stand strong for both new hires, old timers and retirees alike! Everyone deserves the recognition from management!

Other workers issued warnings to the Deere strikers about the UAWs treachery. A former auto parts worker at Dana Incorporated in Paris, Tennessee, stated, If I could give the Deere workers a warning, I would say: I know the uncertainty is difficult, I know its hard not knowing. However, you cant let the company and the union win. The workers determine everything as long as theyre willing to fight for it. The UAW and United Steelworkers union are fresh off forcing through a sellout contract at Dana last month which maintains low wages and brutal levels of mandatory overtime.

We have to keep fighting the fight, the worker continued. It will be a long and uncomfortable fight, full of scary and uncertain circumstances, but the ones doing us wrong (the companies AND unions) arent going to wake up one day and decide to change things.

It is up to us to fix what is broken, even if that means completely breaking down the system, halting the entire industry, and rebuilding it around the values and basic rights that every human being deserves.

A Ford worker at the Chicago Assembly Plant told the WSWS: I was just reading on Google about how the UAW and Deere are playing games now on the words of the contract, last, final and best. I want them to fight Deere, for themselves and everyone. I wish them all the luck, and I do support them, the workers, on every level and everything they are asking for.

I am really impressed by what the workers at Deere are doing, a Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) worker at Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit said. It is setting a precedent for a lot of other plants. It is showing that if you stand up for what you believe, you can get results.

They did the right thing by rejecting the signing bonus. They love dangling that bonus in front of workers who are not used to that much money, but money is not everything.

I would tell the Deere workers dont give up, continue the fight, the worker continued. The UAW is fearful because other workers are seeing this and gaining hope, because they are seeing how strong our voices really are. Remember, the UAWs objective is to help the company. They are now having fits, because this is not what they expected.

Ron, a young worker at the Stellantis Warren Truck plant in suburban Detroit, said, The Deere workers should keep on fighting. I support their fight to get the best deal they can. We face the same conditions in the Detroit plants, and we should fight together to overthrow all these bad agreements. We only get the highlights from the UAW when they want us to vote on a deal, just like the Deere workers. They dont want us to see what they really agreed to.

We all have risked our lives working in the pandemic and making the companies profits. But were not getting our just due for taking these risks. At least 12 workers died from COVID in my plant, and no one should have lost their lives. The UAW is just an extension of management.

Ron urged support for the Deere Workers Rank-and-File Committee, which has called for an expansion of the strike and solidarity actions by autoworkers. The rank-and-file committees at Deere, Volvo, Dana, Faurecia and in the auto plants should all be talking to each other and organizing together. The corporations and political parties are organized against us, and now its time to organize against them. I never thought that we could communicate with workers in other countries, but now were doing it. No matter if we have different languages and customs, were all in the same fight.

Deere workers, take the next step by joining the John Deere Rank-and-File Committee by emailing deerewrfc@gmail.com or texting (484) 514-9797. Alternatively, you can fill out the form below.
Last Sunday the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) held on online public meeting entitled A socialist program to eliminate COVID-19. Become an electoral member of the SEP today as part of its fight against Australias anti-democratic electoral laws.

The laws, rushed through federal parliament in late August with Labor Party support, target the SEP and 35 other parties without a member of parliament. Under the new measures these parties must submit a list of 1,500 members, treble the previous number, by December 2 or face deregistration and their candidates stripped of the democratic right to have their party name on ballot papers.

The SEP electoral members featured below voice their opposition to these laws and comment on the October 24 WSWS webinar How to end the pandemic.

To join the SEPs campaign against the legislation sign up as an electoral member today.

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Shanta, 71, is a long-time SEP supporter and electoral member. Born in Sri Lanka, he was politicised in student struggles during the 1960s and later worked as a chemical engineer in several countries.

Shanta

I joined a footwear company but always had disputes with them. They had a provident fundlike superannuation funds in Australiamany of these sorts of companies failed to make payments. They cheated workers, he said.

Shanta migrated to Australia in 2000 and began working as a machine operator at Gale Pacific which manufactured shade cloth. The company then moved its production to China, sacking nearly 200 workers.

I attended a village fair in 2005 and the Labor Party were there. I asked them about [then Labor leader] Mark Latham saying he would withdraw troops from the Middle East but was kicked out soon after. I asked whose interests does the Labor Party serve? They said, Thats a very good question and I noted that when people respond that way in Australia, they dont have a reply.

Labor and the Liberals are the different sides of the same coin. They know they are losing support and are scared. Theyre especially targeting us because they sense the danger of the SEP, he said.

Commenting on October 24 WSWS sponsored webinar, Shanta said, Dr. Deepti Gurdasani explained beautifully about the situation facing children in the UK. Im personally concerned about my grandson. Hes 11 years old and hes not eligible to get the vaccine yet but they want him to go to school.

My wife is a health care worker, they have seminars and knowledge about the use of PPE, but children have none of that. They dont understand and theyre the innocent victims. People are getting killed and the government is indifferent.

You can keep the pandemic at bay with vaccinations and isolation. The mutations can be controlled that way but if different countries have different policies, it can never be controlled. Its a globalised world and there needs to be one policy for the entire world. Thats what I believe the SEP is advocating, he said.

Governments are isolating any media that wants to reveal the truth to the people, he added. Theyre particularly targeting Julian Assange because he did it in the most advanced manner. The media used the discredited sexual scandal to disgrace him. They want to keep people away from these type of whistleblowers. I fully support the SEPs campaign in defence of Julian Assange.

Berhe, originally from Eritrea, is a welfare worker in Melbourne. He made the following comments after Sundays meeting.

In relation to the coronavirus, protecting society, protecting the people, is more appropriate than thinking about the individual or approaching things on an individualist basis, he said.

The rights of those who dont want to be vaccinated cannot outweigh the rights of people who need to be protected from the virus. I agree with an elimination strategy and the need for the necessary investments for this, rather than politicising the pandemic.

Asked about the new anti-democratic electoral laws Berhe said, Its a systematic way of eliminating those who advocate on behalf of the majority, the working class. The basic message I took from the meeting is we must raise our voice high so we can remain registered federally.

Its critical for the Socialist Equality Party to be registered and able to discuss the political situation with the working class. Its not appropriate for the authorities to continually raise the minimum threshold for membership but now that theyve done so, we must try and meet it. The campaign is important being able to convey a socialist messagethe more members the party has, the more we can do that, Berhe said and explained that he would ask a work colleague to become an electoral member.

This is all about social justice. When I was at university in Africa, we were very radical and socialist and used to talk about the Vietnam struggle and other world developments, he said. Ive now heard about the AUKUS [Australia-UK and US military strategic] agreement and theres the danger of incitement for conflict. Who suffers when the elephants fight in the grass? It is ordinary people.

John Isherwood, 72, a retired tiler, said the new electoral laws were adopted by Australias establishment parliamentary parties because they dont like minor parties and dont want minority governments. I was a Labor supporter all my life but since retiring Ive had time to look into things. The Labor Party are neo-liberalsone foot out and one foot in.

John Isherwood

I think an elimination policy regarding the virus is very good, he continued. The Andrews [Victorian state] government has suddenly turned around and is now reopening. Its beyond me because we know whats happening in Englandand what will happen hereand its horrific.

I agree with what was said at the October 31 meeting. Governments are putting finance ahead of peoples lives. The virus has been used for the most enormous shift from the poor to the rich in the history of capitalism. All the quantitative-easing money has gone straight into the share market while wages havent gone up for nine years, he said.
People are ordered to wear mandatory face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic at a shopping street in Cologne, Germany, October 22, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Martin Meissner]

Daily COVID-19 infection numbers are rising explosively in Germany. On November 4, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 33,949 new cases, the highest daily increase since the pandemic began twenty months ago. Nearly a quarter of a million people (247,800) currently have coronavirus in Germany, and more than 96,000 have died since March 2020.

The seven-day incidence rate of 154.9 cases per 100,000 population has doubled in two and a half weeks, since October 19 (75.1). The seven-day incidence rate is steadily rising, particularly among children and adolescents sitting in crowded schools without vaccine protection. Among 59-year-old children, the national average is 194 and among 1014-year-olds it is 237. In nine districts, incidences in the 1019-year-old age group have even exceeded 500. These are all figures that do not reflect reality exactly, with a lack of testing meaning that a significant number of cases are unreported.

All graphs show the fourth wave as a steep exponential curve that already exceeds the zenith of the third wave. Despite vaccinations, levels are higher than this time last year. There can be no doubt: a massive spike in deaths looms in the winter. 'We are worse off compared to last year,' explained Frankfurt virologist Sandra Ciesek with great concern.

More than a thousand people (1,075) have died from COVID-19 in the last ten days, when an average of nearly 20,000 people have been newly infected each day.

The situation in hospitals and intensive care units is currently as bad or worse than a year ago. As of November 3, 2021, there were 2,226 COVID-19 cases in intensive care; 90 had been added since the previous day. A year ago, there were also about 2,000 ICU patients with coronavirus, that number tripled in a few weeks. Deaths then shot up in a short time, from 10,500 at the beginning of November 2020 to five times that number, 56,000 at the end of January 2021.

The ominous trend confirms the central finding of the October 24 webinar, 'How to End the Pandemic,' hosted by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees with leading scientists from multiple countries. As they demonstrated, 'living with the virus' cannot be an option. The coronavirus pandemic, which has brought death and suffering to hundreds of millions worldwide, must be eliminated through a globally-coordinated elimination strategy.

An important finding is that with the emergence of new strains of the virus, vaccination alone is not enough to push the curve back down. To end the pandemic, all non-essential workplaces must be closed and measures such as testing, tracing, and isolating all cases must be undertaken systematically. At the same time, it is necessary to compensate working people for lost wages and provide social support to families.

Clearly, this requires not only medical steps, but also political and social steps. For this, it is necessary to mobilize the working class globally. Capitalist politicians have long since proven they are neither willing nor able to implement such a programme.

The new traffic light federal coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Liberal Democrats (FDP) and Greens, for example, wants to tighten up the herd immunity policy even more. It has just announced that it will phase out the 'national epidemic emergency' on November 24. Already, free tests have been abolished, and even mandatory mask-wearing has been lifted in schools in several states. This is despite the fact that the highly contagious Delta variant now accounts for 99 percent of infections. Undoubtedly, this policy will lead to many more thousands of coronavirus deaths. With their eyes wide open, politicians are walking into a social catastrophe.

There are already mass coronavirus outbreaks and waves of deaths in more and more nursing homes. This week, at a nursing home in Norderstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, north of Hamburg, 68 elderly residents and 22 staff members fell ill with COVID-19. Six residents have died so far.

Similarly, a coronavirus outbreak at a retirement home in Schorfheide, Brandenburg, has led to the deaths of 14 residents; 44 residents and 15 staff members at the facility have contracted COVID-19. In Munich, Haus St. Josef has also just reported an outbreak: there, 39 residents and eleven staff members have tested positive for coronavirus.

However, the outbreak has long since spread beyond the older generation, and hospitals and intensive care units are increasingly seeing younger patients as well. Contrary to propaganda, children and adolescents are also acutely threatened.

A new document from the RKI points this out. Even asymptomatic children can contract the serious secondary disease MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children) in the course of a COVID-19 infection, which can lead to death, the document shows. The RKI warns, 'With increasing SARS-CoV-2 spreading among children, there could be a high number of infections in children and adolescents during the winter. The more children are infected, the higher the number of severe outcomes the disease would then have.'

The RKI also points to the consequences of Long COVID, which have not yet been fully explored. In its letter this week, the institute, supported by a 'large cohort study,' cautions 'that not only adults but also children and adolescents are affected by long-term consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection.'

The outgoing government politicians have deliberately brought about this atrocious situation, and the protagonists of a new 'traffic light' coalition are preparing to enforce the 'profits before lives' policy even more ruthlessly than before.

In mid-October, it became known through broadcaster ARDs political magazine, programme Kontraste, that millions of vaccine doses, which the German government promised to donate to poorer countries as part of its Covax initiative, were about to be destroyed. The reason: the private manufacturers of the vaccines, which can make the difference between the life and death of millions of people, pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Biontech/Pfizer, had demanded excessive compensation payments for doing so, because they would then be able to sell fewer vaccines to poor countries.

The compensation payments they are demanding are to be added to the contractually agreed purchase price, which will be paid from tax revenues. As a result, instead of 100 million doses of vaccine, as originally promised, the German government has so far actually delivered only 19 million doses.

Another truly macabre example, involving the Fresenius healthcare group, illustrates the prevailing capitalist logic particularly vividly. It concerns the business with dialysis patients who regularly have to use medical equipment in hospital for blood purification. A subsidiary of this corporation called Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) manufactures such dialysis machines. Because more and more dialysis patients are dying of coronavirus, FMC now plans to lay off 5,000 of its 125,000 employees worldwide.

FMC CEO Rice Powell, who made the announcement on November 2 when presenting the company's quarterly financial statements, calculated that about 11,500 more dialysis patients than expected had died worldwide in the 12 months to September 30, 2021. Cynically, he spoke of a 'much stronger COVID-19 effect on our business than we had forecast at the beginning of the year.'

To drive profits back up, Fresenius is now responding with mass layoffs. The plans were very well received on the stock market, and the DAX-listed shares of FMC and Fresenius posted high gains. While intensive care units are overflowing and the death toll is rising, the champagne corks are popping again on the stock markets.
The attempt by the Howard University administration to blame student protesters for the layoff of school cafeteria workers is a provocative attack on the rights of workers and students alike and must be actively opposed.

Students at the historically black university in Washington D.C. have been protesting at the Blackburn University Center for three weeks against deplorable housing conditions, inadequate COVID-19 safety precautions, and the privatization of the university through contracts with corporations like Corvias, which manages the dormitories, and Sodexo, which employs the cafeteria workers.

Although students have documented proof of black mold, asbestos and brown water, as well as infestations of fleas, mice and cockroaches in the dorms, administrators refuse to negotiate or cancel the contracts and instead demand that the peaceful protesters end their demonstration.

On Tuesday, Howard administration insinuated that student protesters were responsible for recent layoffs of low-paid cafeteria staff, tweeting, Were sad to report the occupation of Blackburn has led to an unintended consequence for the HU community. Due to the cafe being closed, some Sodexo workers have been laid off. We are committed to working with our students to avoid more repercussions like this one.

The members of Howards Board of Trusteesbankers, corporate executives and political consultantshope to pit students and workers against one another. They fear students can galvanize widespread support for their own demands by turning to campus workers and to the working class of all races. Coming in the midst of the largest strike wave in many decades, such an appeal would meet with a powerful response.

Howard University (Photo: Derek E. Morton)

Students and workers share similar grievances against the university and the corporations with which it contracts. While Corvias and Howard cut costs by forcing students to live in unsafe and unhealthy conditions, Howards contract with Sodexo grants them the right to heavily exploit cafeteria workers, paying them as little as $14.50 an hour in 2020.

Last year, high levels of exploitation prompted campus cafeteria workers to distribute a petition demanding substantial increases in wages and better health care. The petition noted that Sodexo workers at Howard are paid far less than cafeteria workers at other colleges in the Washington D.C. area. Thousands of Howard students and alumni signed the petition, voicing their overwhelming support for the workers demands.

The exploitation continued over the course of the pandemic, as students and workers alike were forced to return to campus without adequate protection from the spread of the deadly coronavirus. At the beginning of the pandemic, roughly 100 campus workers were furloughed and left without pay or benefits, according to an April 24, 2020 article in the Washington Post.

When last years layoffs took place, campus Sodexo workers asked Howard University to provide additional support, but at the time the Post article was published, Howard had not agreed. The Post article explained, Howard officials said they will continue to work with their vendors to manage the crisis but did not share plans to provide benefits or pay. The WSWS contacted UNITE HERE Local 23 to confirm the rate of current wages and whether Howard helped workers with COVID-related pay and benefit requests, but did not receive a reply by press time.

Howard Universitys mistreatment of students and its reliance on cost-cutting contracts with exploitative corporations like Corvias and Sodexo exposes the right-wing, anti-working class character of identity politics.

The African-American members of Howards Board of Trustees have no shared interests with Howard students, who are predominantly black and come largely from working-class and middle-class families. Their shared skin color does not in any way negate their mutually antagonistic class interests. For decades, racial politics has been used as a mechanism to divide the working class and enrich a tiny section of the affluent African-American elite. Identity politics, based on assertions of personal privilege, contradicts the purpose of the civil rights movement and the founding charter of Howard University, which were based on the struggle for social equality .

The university leaderships arrogant and dismissive attitude toward Howard students reflects the extremely unequal social relations that define capitalist society as a whole. This inequality has grown exponentially within the African-American population in recent decades.

The richest 10 percent of African Americans now own 75.3 percent of all wealth held by African Americans, and the poorest 60 percent of African Americans have zero wealth or negative wealth. Inequality within the African American population grew rapidly in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2007-2008, with the top 1 percent of African Americans increasing its share from 19.4 percent in 2007 to 44.7 percent in 2016. President Barack Obama, whose election was secured through the promotion of the lie that his race would make him more receptive to the needs of the oppressed, oversaw the bailouts of the banks and auto companies and greatly exacerbated this process.

The universitys leadership consists of members of this parasitic financial oligarchy who have nothing in common with the founding principles of the university or its namesake, Union General Oliver Otis Howard, who fought to free the slaves during the Civil War and then fought to educate them through the Freedmens Bureau.

Howard President Wayne A. I. Fredericks salary is $1,066,099 per year, according to Nonprofitlight.com. Frederick is a member of the board of directors of both the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and the Chamber of Commerce. After the student protests began, Frederick said dormitory mold was inevitable and chided students for an inappropriate tone in their criticisms.

Other members of the Board of Trustees include Laurence Morse, founder and managing partner of the private equity firm Fairview Capital Partners; Leslie Hale, a former acquisitions advisor for Goldman Sachs and now president of the hotel real estate investment firm RLJ Lodging Trust; Mark A. L. Mason, chief financial officer of Citigroup; Chris Carr, former executive vice president of Starbucks and 20-year executive at ExxonMobil; Godfrey Gill, another former Goldman Sachs banker and vice president of Vista Equity Partners; Richard Goodman, former executive at PepsiCo, where he managed global operations, procurement and manufacturing; and Hillary Rosen, former Chief of Staff to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and a CNN media personality.

This layer has greatly enriched itself through the exploitation of the working class of all races. Corporations like Goldman Sachs and Citibank are responsible for the financial crash of 2007-2008, which threw millions of working people, including black working-class families, into deep economic hardship. ExxonMobil has been sued for polluting impoverished communities in Texas and Louisiana with chemicals and cancer-causing soot. PepsiCo has been accused of using child labor and running sweatshops in Africa, Asia and South America.

To Howards trustees, contracts with Corvias and Sodexo are sound business decisions. It is not important that Corvias is being sued for providing shoddy, unsafe and unhealthy housing at army bases, where economic conscripts and their families are forced to live. A complaint filed by four soldiers alleges that Corvias conspired to conceal harmful environmental and structural housing defects from unsuspecting service members and their families and failed to comply with applicable building and housing codes, knowingly leased substandard homes and charged grossly excessive rents swallowing up the whole of service members basic allowance for housing.

Nor do the trustees mind that Sodexo contracts at 84 prisons in South America and Europe and fully manages five prisons in the UK, where the company has been accused of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that appears to amount to torture, according to an official 2013 report by the British government. Sodexo also manages prison workshops and profits from prison labor.

As for the Howard leaderships connections with the Democratic Party, this 200-year-old capitalist party, alongside the Republicans, has overseen decades of attacks on living standards. It has cut social programs, reduced taxes for the corporations and the rich, deported millions of immigrants, and waged permanent imperialist war abroad. Under the Obama and Biden administrations, it has carried out untold crimes against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Honduras, Haiti, Somalia and elsewhere, using racial politics as a means of falsely presenting itself as progressive. Its inability to advance any social program has paved the way for the fascist bigot Donald Trump.

The university has plenty of money to improve conditions for students and workers. Earlier this year, it received $20 million from the Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and an anonymous donor to establish the Center for Journalism and Democracy. Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates, two of the most prominent proponents of racial politics, who were selected to lead the center, have been far more vocal about promoting their own careers than about the protests at Howard, which they have barely mentioned.

Meanwhile, reporters at Howards student-led newspaper, The Hilltop, issued a statement on November 2 asserting that the administration has censored student reporting on the protests. The Student Press Law Center issued a statement summarizing the students claims:

The Student Press Law Center stands in support of the student journalists with The Hilltop at Howard University. We are deeply concerned about the unusual and harmful comments and steps taken by The Hilltops staff adviser to restrict student journalists covering campus protests. Student journalists are being forced to send all breaking news stories to their adviser, Keith L. Alexander, for editing before publication. On several occasions, The Hilltop staff say their adviser has forced the editing or removal of stories related to the ongoing #BlackburnTakeover protests about the condition of Howard Universitys student housing. The Hilltop editors say they received an email from their adviser on Oct. 8 stating that Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick was irate about a column published October 4.

The Center for Journalism and Democracy has not issued any statement in support of student journalists, nor have Hannah-Jones or Coates spoken out publicly on this matter.

It is revealing that the modern-day aristocrats who run Howard University dote on Hannah-Jones and Coates, providing them with lavish salaries and tenure, while students are forced to camp in tents in the middle of a pandemic, like French peasants at Versailles, begging for pennies to remove cockroaches and asbestos from their dorm rooms so they can properly exercise their right to an education. Thats because the student demands cut across the Board of Trustees financial interests, while Hannah-Jones and Coates racial narrative of contemporary society and American history advances those interests.

Across the US and across the world, workers of all races are joining forces in a multi-national, multi-ethnic strike movement, demanding massive wage increases and improvements to working conditions. To improve their conditions, students must turn to this powerful social forcethe international working classuniting across racial lines in a common struggle for social equality.
An anonymous open letter, published online by a year 12 high school student in the state of New South Wales (NSW), has outlined the difficulties imposed on senior pupils by governments and education authorities, as schools are fully-reopened and the exam timetable proceeds, despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic and the ongoing spread of the virus.

HSC students sitting exams before the pandemic [Credit: NSW Education Department]

The letter, posted last week in a Facebook group that has more than 40,000 student members, is noteworthy, because it gives voice to widespread oppositional sentiments among young people. These are being suppressed in the media and by the authorities as they rush ahead with the pro-business program of lifting all COVID safety restrictions, so that full corporate profit-making activities can resume, whatever the consequences for students health and lives.

In a sign that it struck a chord with many others, the letter received hundreds of likes and many appreciative comments, with students stating that the author had summed up their thoughts and experiences.

The letter was written in the lead-up to Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams, which begin in NSW on November 9. The final year tests were only postponed by several weeks, despite the state still being in the grips of a COVID outbreak that continues to result in hundreds of infections a week. In the neighbouring state of Victoria, year 12 students have already been sitting exams, and are preparing for their final tests this month, even as 1,500 or more cases are announced everyday.

The exams, and official claims that they cannot be postponed further, have been used as a battering ram to force hundreds of thousands of students and teachers back into NSW and Victorian classrooms over recent weeks, as in-person teaching is fully resumed. The reopening of the schools is the spearhead of a push to lift all safety measures, and is aimed at creating the conditions for parents to return in full to their workplaces.

This program is being implemented as hundreds of schools have been hit with COVID outbreaks, and up to a third of all infections this year have been among children and teenagers.

The student said the letter was directed to the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA), the state government body responsible for overseeing examinations and marking. They had decided to post the document publicly, because complaints to NESA were met only with an automated email reply. Indicating a growing politicisation of young people, the student said their comments were also aimed at the NSW Liberal-National government and its Education Minister Sarah Mitchell.

Not only did the letter point to the political forces involved, it highlighted their underlying motive for compelling year 12 students to take exams, with virtually no additional assistance, despite the pandemic.

The student wrote: We have seen time and time again the warped priority of money over mental health, marks over adversity, tradition over disadvantage. It is clear that NESA and the health minister view the HSC as a money-making machine and year 12 students as mindless robots, who are able to easily sit through 57 3 hour exams and receive a 90+ ATAR with no struggle after a 4-month pandemic.

This had found very concrete expression in the contemptuous attitude of the authorities to the unprecedented situation facing students. After it had been eliminated in most Australian states and territories, COVID returned, with a major outbreak that began in NSW in June, and rapidly spread to Victoria. The explosion of cases was the result of the NSW Liberal-National government refusing to implement adequate lockdown measures, as the Delta variant circulated widely, due to business demands for the economy to remain open.

The NSW and Victorian Labor governments belatedly introduced lockdowns, but they stopped short of the workplace closures required to end the outbreak, and were only aimed at buying time to boost vaccination rates, so these could be invoked to end safety measures for good, and force the population to live with the virus.

The student explained the impact of the limited lockdown measures, when most learning was online, except for the children of essential workers:

The lack of support from NESA, and those in charge of our education, such as the minister for health and the whole NESA board, has frankly been unacceptable and outright impermissible. Nearly 4 months in lockdown and an extended HSC date and we have received little to no support from those that were elected in such positions for the sole purpose of OUR education. The country kids in a lockdown, with little to no technology to continue sufficient learning, have suffered. The Sydney kids stuck inside and in LGAs [local government areas under heightened lockdown measures] for 4 months have suffered. The Melbourne students in a 234-day lockdown have suffered. The constant changing of when we were supposed to go back to school. No graduation. Severely shortened holidays. Hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars lost in cancelled schoolies and holiday bookings. No opportunity for Christmas casual employment that is usually so crucial for HSC students in getting their first job. Less opportunity to get into our dream uni course because university institutions are now offering fewer rounds of course places, due to the late release of the ATAR. Severe implications on mental and physical health. No formal. No goodbyes. No closure.

Further, the student pointed to the relationship between social inequality and the impact of the pandemic: If there is one thing we have learned from this pandemic, it's that COVID is inequitable. The degree to which each student has suffered has been greatly different, yet why are we all sitting the same standardised test that will inherently discriminate against those who suffered the most?

Mental health had suffered, as a result of the uncertainty. All that had been provided by NESA over recent weeks was a two-minute motivational video.

Giving vent to widespread anger, the student stated: If those who are in charge of our education are reading this - .. you should be ashamed. The lack of support for this disadvantaged cohort has been woeful, and it makes me sick to think about how the adversity of the class of 2021 has been ignored, and how those making the decisions have not consulted this cohort whatsoever, making decisions that have inevitably detrimentally impacted on our health holistically.

The comments refute all of the rubbish in the media, proclaiming the reopening of the schools and the lifting of restrictions as a return to normal and the dawning of a new age of freedom. Having been through immense and unprecedented experiences over recent months, young people and students are being subjected to massive stress and the danger of COVID infection. This is not to normalise their lives, but to normalise the subordination of health, safety, education and everything else to the interests of big business.

The letter, and the response to it, demonstrates that young people want to fight against the conditions they confront. In addition to the rushed school reopening, and the enforcement of the absurd exam timetable, young people who have work are overwhelmingly in low-paid, casual jobs.

They have either lost hours, or their job altogether, during the outbreaks, or been forced to risk their safety for shifts. And now they are on the frontlines of workplaces, aimed at destroying the limited conditions that exist and imposing the gig-economy model of job insecurity and poverty-level pay on an entire generation.

In fighting for their rights and interests, young people must know who are their friends and who are their enemies. Any idea that Labor is a lesser evil to the Liberal-Nationals would be grossly mistaken. In Victoria, it is a Labor government that is reopening the schools and the economy in the interests of corporate profit. In NSW and federally, the Labor Party oppositions have marched in lockstep with Liberal-National governments. There is no real opposition to the school re-openings or anything else from the Greens, or any other parliamentary party, all of which defend the capitalist system.

The trade unions are no longer workers' organisations, but an industrial and political police force for governments and the corporations, which act in concert with them. They are the ones overseeing students and teachers being herded into unsafe classrooms on behalf of governments.

The perspective of pressuring, or appealing to governments, has also failed. Earlier this year, thousands of students signed petitions demanding that the HSC be postponed or cancelled. These were courageous and powerful initiatives that won widespread support, but the governments did not listen and the final exams are nevertheless proceeding.

What is required is an independent political movement, directed against all of the capitalist parties, the official media, the unions and the school authorities. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) fights for a socialist and internationalist perspective.

During the pandemic, the lives of virtually everyone on earth have been transformed and upended. For students and young people especially, the future is one of uncertainty and insecurity. The younger generation has been brought face to face with the bankruptcy of the capitalist system. More than five million lives have been lost, as governments have responded to the pandemic by prioritising corporate profit-interests over lives.

It is not the inherent characteristics of the virus which have caused mass death and illness, but the decisions of governments to adopt herd immunity and live with the virus policies. The reopening of the schools has been central to this program, not in the interests of the education of young people, but so their parents can be forced back into workplaces and factories.

The climate crisis, the growing threat of war, mounting poverty and joblessness, all point to what this system has in store for young people.

The alternative is to turn to the working class, including teachers and educators, to take up a unified fight to place social interests, including health, education and decent employment, above the profit drive of the banks and the corporations. This requires a political struggle for the socialist transformation of society all over the world.

Contact the IYSSE to discuss this perspective, to take up the fight for socialism, and to share your experiences.

The Committee for Public Education, a group of rank-and-file teachers and school staff, is holding an online meeting for educators, parents, students and workers on Saturday, November 13 at 4pm (AEDT). The IYSSE encourages students and young people to participate in the event, entitled Oppose the dangerous opening of schools in Australia! Form rank-and-file action safety committees! Register here.
A Ford Lima Engine Plant worker in Ohio was fatally injured Wednesday in an accident involving mechanical equipment. Patrick Archer, age 50, was a mechanical repairman and reportedly left behind wife Mary Gilroy Archer and five children. The cause of death is being investigated, according to a statement by Major Andre McConnahea of the Allen County Sheriff's Office.

Lima Engine Plant [Source: Ford Media]

UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, Director of the UAW Ford Department, issued a short statement saying he was heartbroken and devastated, but provided no further details of the workers death. He went on to call for workers to rededicate themselves to safety and well-being of one another, implicitly putting the onus for the tragic death on workers.

Kelli Felker, head of Ford global manufacturing and labor communications, issued a perfunctory statement Thursday offering condolences to family and coworkers, while claiming, The safety and security of everyone in our facility is our highest priority.

The Ford Lima Engine plant employs approximately 1,530 workers and currently produces the Ti-VCT Duratec V6 and the EcoBoost V6 engines. In 2019, workers at the Lima Engine Plant voted to reject the national contract brought back by the United Auto Workers. The deal pitted them against workers at the Romeo Engine Plant in Michigan, which ended up closing, with the loss of 600 jobs.

One Lima Engine Plant worker, who indicated she was not comfortable speaking about the specifics of the death until the investigation is completed, told the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter, Our entire plant is devastated by the tragedy.

Many tributes to Patrick Archer were posted on Facebook. One coworker wrote, Pat worked at ATI for many years before he went to Ford and he was quite the character, always the jokester. His sister works at ATI in one of my departments and she and her family are completely devastated with this loss.

Kevin, a former automotive worker in Ohio, told the WSWS that the death of Archer resonated with his experiences. Pointing to the pervasive speedup and relentless overtime workers face, he said, The auto industry is dangerous, the line speed and the massive overtime; add those together and danger is there.

You cant say no to it [overtime] or they will fire you. When I worked at Bridgestone in Upper Sandusky, we had to work four hours extra a day before the shift, and they rotated two hours overtime every day at the end of the shift, and weekends. Now add in travel time and were talking 1718-hour days. That leaves only six to seven hours to unwind, eat and try to catch some Zs, just to get up and do it all again.

Not only dangerous at work, but peoples attitudes change and fights do happen as well. Dozing off at the wheel on the way home is also not fun.

Whats really sad is they will be talking about how much production suffered and money lost. I would say to them No you lost a life for greed. Its tragic. I understand production and all, but the auto industry is really bad.

Workplaces fatalities like this are all too frequent occurrences. Just six months ago, crane operator Terry Garr lost his life in an industrial accident at the Stellantis Sterling Heights Stamping plant in Michigan. Sources from inside the plant reported to the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter that a heavy die fell on Garr towards the end of his shift. One week following Garrs death a millwright at the same plant died from COVID-19.

Like other cases before, workers will be kept in the dark about the circumstances of the death of Archer as they are kept on the line during COVID and forced to continue production by the corporation and the UAW.

No confidence can be placed in the joint UAW-Ford health and safety committee to carry out a thorough and honest investigation. In other similar tragedies, such as the death of Terry Garr, the results have obscured the facts in order to exonerate management for any responsibility. Coworkers and family members deserve a full and honest accounting of the facts so that future such tragedies can be prevented.

An independent investigation is needed to expose the unsafe conditions workers face. Contact the WSWS if you have any further information on the case or would like to help build an independent rank-and-file committee at the Ford Lima Engine Plant.
On November 10, New Zealands Labour Party-led government will remove more lockdown restrictions in Auckland. Retail businesses, as well as libraries, museums and other public facilities will reopen, and people will be allowed to gather in groups of up to 25 outdoors. Then, on November 15, the government intends to fully reopen schools in the city, which have already partially reopened for senior students.

The government is removing restrictions even as the COVID-19 outbreak centred in Auckland continues to expand. On September 22, it lowered the Auckland lockdown from level 4, the strictest, to level 3, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to return to work. Once retail reopens, the new setting will be defined as level 3, step 2.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on October 4 that the government would transition away from its previous elimination strategy, indicating that the population must now tolerate the persistent presence of COVID-19 in the community, with an inevitable increase in deaths. Internationally, the decision to allow the virus to spread, driven by the demands of big business, has resulted in a death toll of more than 10.5 million, according to the Economists estimate.

Today there were a record 206 new infections announced, bringing the total active cases to 2,479. Of these, 73 people, three percent of the total, are in hospital.

A man in his 50s, who was self-isolating at home with the virus, was found dead yesterday, bringing the countrys total official number of fatalities from the pandemic to 29. A friend told Stuff that the man, who was sick from COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, should not have been allowed to discharge himself from hospital on November 3.

The outbreak is spreading well beyond Auckland. Parts of Waikato and Northland are already in lockdown and cases have been identified in Christchurch. Wastewater sampling has recently detected COVID-19 in Napier, Gisborne and Stratford, indicating that there may be unidentified cases in these towns.

Public health expert Collin Tukuitonga, an associate professor at the University of Auckland, told the World Socialist Web Site that the decision to move to alert level 3, step 2, while case numbers are rising, is reckless.

Collin Tukuitonga [Source: Twitter]

Tukuitonga is one of several experts, including epidemiologist Michael Baker, modeller Shaun Hendy, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, and doctor Rawiri Jansen, who have publicly expressed concerns about the reopening of retail. Wiles told Stuff earlier this week: We are going to have many people, many young people, get COVID and get long COVID as a result.

Tukuitonga said that early in the outbreak, the government had a strong science-based response, which prioritised public health over business and other economic considerations. The decision to drop from level 4 to level 3 in Auckland, however, was premature and was not a public health based decision; that was [based on] business and politics. Tukuitonga believed that the government was concerned about the economic consequences, and Aucklanders getting restless at having been locked down for so long.

The COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group (TAG), which includes Tukuitonga and other leading health experts, has been sidelined. TVNZ reported on October 13 that the TAG had helped inform just about every element of our pandemic response, but was not consulted on the governments recent decisions to abandon an elimination strategy and ease restrictions in Auckland.

Staying in level 4 a bit longer would likely have restricted the spread of infection, even if it did not completely eliminate the outbreak, Tukuitonga said. The outbreak shrank to just over 200 active cases in late September. Since then, the number has increased more than eleven-fold.

For a time, myself and some colleagues continued to push for level 4, he said, but we were told that the majority of cases in Auckland were within households and that locking the city down, inconveniencing the majority, was not going to have an impact on the outbreak itself. Obviously, the continued increase in the number of cases tells me that [the virus is spreading] not just within households.

Tukuitonga said we should have maintained the elimination strategy, maintained our restrictions, until vaccination rates improved, especially among Maori and Pacific Islanders. While rates for Maori are improving, theyre still way behind the rest of the country in terms of uptake. According to the Ministry of Health, 78 percent of the eligible population (those aged over 12) is fully vaccinated. For Maori, the figure is 56 percent, and for Pacific peoples 71 percent.

Maori account for nearly half the active cases in the current outbreak. This reflects the fact that Maori and Pacific people are among the most impoverished sections of the working class, with a greater prevalence of poverty-related illnesses, often linked to poor housing, and less access to healthcare services.

The government has decided that once 90 percent of over-12-year-olds are vaccinated, it will cease to rely on lockdowns to combat the virus. The country will move to a traffic light warning system, under which businesses and schools will remain open with COVID-19 circulating in the community.

Tukuitonga and other experts are concerned that even if a District Health Board reports an overall vaccination rate of 90 percent, Maori could be significantly behind, leaving them more vulnerable to the virus. He called for the target to be met for every group in society before moving to the traffic light system.

He also believed it was irresponsible to say were never going to go into lockdowns, even when there is high vaccine coverage. If there was a new mutation of Delta, things could get really out of hand and a lockdown would be needed. Viruses are spread by people, he said. One of the most effective public health measures that we can adopt is to restrict movement.

The concerns of public health experts are shared by healthcare workers, teachers and the working class more broadly. Surveys in August and September showed broad support for the elimination approach and the level 4 lockdown. A recent poll of 10,000 people by Stuff found that 43 percent believed authorities had done a terrible or bad job at managing the outbreak.

A retail worker at Sylvia Park shopping centre told Newshub yesterday that she was scared of spreading COVID-19 to vulnerable members of her family. I just dont understand fully why high volume places are opening while Aucklands in this state, she said.

Despite the widespread anxiety among workers, the trade union bureaucracy is enforcing the reopening. As in other countries, these organisations are working hand-in-hand with the Labour government and businesses to impose policies which will inevitably lead to many more infections and deaths.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the World Health Network (WHN) hosted its second online Global Summit to End Pandemics, which featured over 20 distinguished scientists who have advocated for the global elimination of COVID-19. The summit provided further substantiation of the case for global elimination presented at the October 24 webinar, How to End the Pandemic, which was hosted by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).

The WHN summit featured 22 different sessions spanning roughly 25 hours and covering the most essential scientific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Michael Baker of the University of Otago in New Zealand and Dr. Malgorzata Gasperowicz of the University of Calgary in Canada each gave similar presentations to those delivered at the WSWS webinar, outlining the measures necessary to stop the pandemic.

Dr. Baker, who successfully advised the New Zealand government on how to eliminate COVID-19 early in the pandemic, made clear that the governments recent shift in policy had come over the objection of scientists, including himself. He stated, At a certain point the [New Zealand] government decided that we needed to basically rejoin the rest of the world, and so switched to what we call a tight suppression approach. Many scientists in New Zealand objected to this change, but the government felt for various reasons that it had no choice.

Other scientists provided comprehensive reports on airborne transmission, the importance of using high quality face masks, inequities in global vaccine distribution, the effects of Long COVID, the development of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and other topics. There were also reports on the experience of the pandemic in specific countries and regions of the world, including Norway, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Taiwan, Qatar, Australia and other countries.

The summit was held at a critical point. Global daily new COVID-19 cases are once again surging, with nearly one million people officially infected over the two days of the summit.

Izhaar Hussain Shaikh, left, an ambulance driver who works for HelpNow, and others pick up a COVID-19 patient from his home in Mumbai, India May 28, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool]

Last week, the official death toll from COVID-19 surpassed five million, while estimates of excess deaths place the real figure at roughly 17 million. On Friday, a study was published in the BMJ which found that life expectancy has declined drastically in countries that have rejected the elimination strategy, with American men losing 2.27 years of life on average in 2020, while more than 28 million excess years of life were lost in 2020 in 31 countries. Despite the catastrophic situation globally, governments throughout the world are lifting mask mandates and all mitigation measures.

Dr. Anthony Leonardi, a T-cell immunologist who studied at Johns Hopkins University in the US, spoke on the latest research into Long COVID, a condition where symptoms persist for weeks or months after initial infection. He cited multiple studies on Long COVID and stressed the uniquely harmful character of the virus, noting that Long COVID includes over 50 reported symptoms that can span physiological systems, with the most alarming research showing that COVID-19 can cause encephalitis, long-term neurological damage and the development of autoimmune disorders.

Dr. Leonardi has opposed unsafe school reopenings and authored a widely circulated letter outlining the neurological dangers posed to children by COVID-19. Asked about the potential long-term implications of unsafe schools reopenings, Dr. Leonardi responded, Theres a publication that lists a lowered productive lifespan in kids, and its more of an attenuation in kids than adults. So its a bad idea, were setting kids up to have chronic illness.

Asked to comment on the need to fight for a global elimination strategy, Dr. Leonardi cited a study conducted on rhesus monkeys which showed that every test subject infected with COVID-19 formed Lewy bodies in its brain. Lewy bodies are associated with Parkinsons disease and dementia.

Drawing out the implications of this finding, Dr. Leonardi presented a horrific scenario, asking: If that happens in humans, if we start getting neurodegeneration down the line, who is going to take care of all those people that are afflicted by it? Do we really want to risk almost everybody in the populace and have a very small amount of people able to take care of these other people?

I think theres a risk we might see institutionalized end-of-life, where people arent taken care of, theyre just given a drug and pass away. He added, I think we run a big risk of something like that, just a massive amount of people with neurodegeneration and problems. So, it would be very wise to have a strategy of elimination.

Multiple sessions at the summit highlighted the science of the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, with speakers emphasizing the need to educate the population on this science, require the universal use of high-quality masks, improve ventilation in all schools and workplaces, and implement other measures.

At one session on aerosols, Dr. Chia Wang of the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan commented, It is really time for us to upgrade the current paradigm of disease control by including aerosol precautions, and we must pay more attention to the air we breathe.

At another session, Julia Raifman, ScD, SM of the Boston University School of Public Health, spoke on the impact of the May 13, 2021 change in masking guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She referred to the CDC decision as an historic policy error that will likely have ramifications potentially for decades.

She noted that in 2020 there were 43 states with masking policies but that only Hawaii kept theirs in place after May 2021, while only seven states and the District of Columbia have since reinstated masking policies during the ongoing Delta surge.

In the same session, scientist Nicolas Smit noted that the CDCs change in masking recommendations came six days after the CDC finally admitted that airborne transmission was happening.

In a session titled Big Pharma and Vaccine Apartheid, Dr. Anthony Staines of Dublin City University in Ireland denounced the for-profit pharmaceutical monopolies for creating global vaccine inequities. He commented, Weve ended up with a monstrously inefficient, very expensive and very unfair way of distributing resources around the world, and a way which puts us at unquantifiable risk. No one knows whether there will be another new variant, and no one knows if that new variant could be worse than the ones we have at the moment.

The reports at the summit collectively provide a clear understanding of COVID-19, the dire character of the present situation, and what measures must be taken to eliminate the virus worldwide. The event should have been widely attended and viewed by millions. However, it has been blacked out and ignored by the mainstream media, with no reports in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or any other corporate news outlet, underscoring once again their role in allowing the pandemic to continue.

Outside of this WSWS article, there has been no reporting whatsoever on the event.

Listening to the summit, one could not help but be struck by the disturbing chasm between the enormous significance of the content presented and the total absence of publicity in the media, which caused a low attendance at each session. At its highest point, only 80 people attended the opening session, and each breakout session only had roughly 1030 attendees.

From a purely scientific standpoint, the participants are to be congratulated, and their work deserves widespread appreciation. Clearly, they were motivated by a desire for action to be taken and dedicated a great deal of time to preparing their reports.

However, there was a clear contrast between the science and the political perspective advanced at the summit. Deprived of a mass audience by the media, which feeds the public pablum and lies on the pandemic, the scientists themselves framed much of their conclusions as appeals to the powers that be to listen and change government policy.

The argument was advanced that one can convince governments to eliminate COVID-19 because it would save them money. From a humanitarian standpoint, this should be irrelevant, and there is something profoundly wrong with a society where the saving of human lives has to be shown to be cost-effective.

But this argument is itself meaningless to the ruthless financial elites that have amassed trillions of dollars during the pandemic through the funneling of state funds into the stock market. In the US alone, the billionaires increased their wealth by $1.8 trillion, or 62 percent, in just the first 18 months of the pandemic. While the international working class has suffered unfathomable losses, the stock markets continue to reach record highs globally.

The scientists are not political strategists. Not knowing how to reach broad masses of people and cut off by the media, they remain something of a shut-in community. In this context, the WSWSs October 24 webinar acquires all the more significance. That event, which has been viewed by over 10,000 people from over 100 countries, established a living link between science and the working class. It presented three-and-a-half hours worth of scientific reports, as well as a clear political perspective, stressing that the working class is the only social force capable of ending the pandemic.

One of the central lessons of the October 24 webinar was that the fight to end the pandemic requires close collaboration between the international working class and the scientific community. Many workers who attended the webinar have told the WSWS how profoundly educated they were by the scientists, saying they now have a clear sense of what measures must be taken to save lives.

Taken as a whole, the reports at the World Health Network summit provide overwhelming proof that the only correct pandemic policy is one aimed at the global elimination of SARS-CoV-2. For this to be implemented requires the development of a mass movement of the international working class armed with a scientific understanding of the pandemic. As Karl Marx said so well, Theory becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses.

The WSWS will continue the struggle to forge a fighting alliance between scientists and the working class and help coordinate the global struggle necessary to put an end to the pandemic and save millions of lives worldwide.
Peruvian soldiers on the streets of Lima (Credit: Andina)

President Pedro Castillos government survived a confidence vote in the Peruvian Congress Thursday after carrying out wholesale changes to his cabinet and making ever-more direct appeals to Perus ruling elite and its right-wing representatives.

The ascension of Castillo, a former rural teachers union leader, to the presidency in July was hailed by the pseudo-left as a major victory for the Peruvian masses and even a revival of the so-called Pink Tidethe coming to power of left-nationalist and populist bourgeois governments in a number of South American countries during the commodities boom of the early 2000s.

Since taking office amid a torrent of populist demagogy, Castillos government has lurched convulsively to the right.

Just two days before the Congressional vote of confidence, Castillo issued an executive order deploying Peruvian Army troops on the streets of the capital, Lima, and in the neighboring port city of Callao, which together have 11 million inhabitants, a third of Perus population.

While carried out under the pretext of assisting the Peruvian police in combatting rising crime, the military deployment came in the context of a rising tide of social protest and class struggle, which has been driven by deepening poverty and social inequality under conditions of the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. With over 200,000 recorded COVID deaths, Peru has the highest per capita fatality rate in the world.

There have also been a number of strikes by impoverished peasant communities against the seizure of land and destruction of the environment by major transnational mining companies. After a road blockade forced the closure of the countrys largest copper mine Antaminaco-owned by Glencore and BHP Billitonand rattled financial markets, the government sent a group of ministers to negotiate a truce based on promises of dialogue.

At another mining protest in Ayacucho, the Peruvian National Police was dispatched, using rubber bullets, tear gas and clubs to disperse community members. Meanwhile bus, truck and other transport drivers have threatened a strike on November 8 against rising fuel prices.

In another bow to the Peruvian right, Castillo sacked yet another of his cabinet members on the very eve of the confidence vote. Interior Minister Luis Barranzuela, whose removal was demanded by a number of right-wing legislators as a condition for a vote in the governments favor, was relieved of his post on the grounds of charges that he hosted a Halloween party on October 31, after the government issued a directive telling the population not to hold such gatherings. Barranzuela claimed, implausibly, that he had convened an official meeting.

Barranzuela was identified with Peru Libre, which nominated Castillo for president, even though he had joined it only in 2020. He had served as the attorney for Vladimir Cerron, the leader of Peru Libre and a former regional governor of Junin, who was sentenced to prison on corruption charges.

Cerron and Peru Libre combine populist demagogy and pseudo-Marxist rhetoric with regionalist politics and appeals to resentments toward the domination of Lima. Its corruption is of a piece with all of the bourgeois parties in Peru, which has seen four of its living ex-presidents sentenced to prison and a fifth commit suicide rather than surrender to the police.

On the morning of the congressional vote, Castillo swore in Barranzuelas replacement, Avelino Guillen, a senior prosecutor with a 40-year career in the Peruvian government. He carried out the investigation and indictment of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori for his role in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres carried out by the Colina military death squad in 1991 and 1992. Fujimori is now serving a 25-year sentence in connection with these crimes.

While Guillens appointment was positively received by the bulk of the Congress, it won no support from the extreme right-wing Fuerza Popular, which is led by Fujimoris daughter Keiko Fujimori, who narrowly lost the presidential election to Castillo.

This was only the latest in a long series of cabinet changes. They began less than a month into Castillos presidency when his foreign minister, Hector Bejar, 85, was hounded from office by the right-wing media, which dredged up an incontrovertible statement he had made earlier that the military had carried out acts of terror against the civilian population under Fujimori. The Peruvian Navy denounced the statement as an affront, and Castillos then-prime minister Guido Bellido, issued a statement praising the armed forces for the efforts they made in the fight against terrorism and for national pacification.

Bellido was himself relieved of his position after making demagogic threats to nationalize the Camisea gas company, which is jointly owned by Hunt Oil in the US and Argentinas Pluspetrol. Castillo himself indulged in similar rhetoric.

However, his finance minister, Pedro Francke quickly clarified these statements, declaring that they meant ensuring that the company operated in the service of Peruvians and, in no way does it mean taking state control over a private activity.

This echoed pledges made by Castillo and Francke during their trip to the United States in September, when they assured private investors, the US government, the IMF and the World Bank of their commitment to defending the profit interests of transnational investors and Peruvian capital.

Taking Bellidos place was Mirtha Vasquez, a so-called moderate leftist and attorney who had proved herself as a safe pair of hands, taking the position of interim president of Congress in the 2020 crisis sparked by the parliamentary coup that toppled President Martin Vizcarra.

Other ministers sacked to appease the Peruvian right included Labor Minister Iber Maravi, who was charged by the right-wing press with association with the Maoist guerrilla movement Sendero Luminoso, a charge he denied and for which there exists no evidence.

Among others removed was the minister of mining Ivan Merino, who despite working to assure the mining corporations that they were in no danger of nationalizations was replaced by Eduardo Gonzalez, a former general manager of a technology company.

One position where there was no change is that of chairman of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru. Castillo has kept in place the right-wing economist Julio Velarde, who has held the position since 2006. A champion of transnational and Peruvian capitalist interests, upon being sworn in for a new term on Tuesday, Velarde warned that Perus mining protests were affecting the perception of the country in terms of future investments, and echoed calls by the mining companies for the government to re-establish order.

The right-wing trajectory of the Castillo government has split Peru Libre. In the confidence vote, the government won 68 votes, four more than the necessary majority of 64, against 56 against. The congressional delegation of Peru Libre split down the middle, with 19 voting in favor of the government and 16 voting against.

Among those voting against was ex-chief minister Guido Bellido, who stated that Castillo was not a socialist or on the left, but just a basic trade unionist.

The pseudo-left, including Jacobin magazine, which is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), have assiduously promoted illusions in Castillo and the prospect of a bourgeois government headed by a union leader carrying out a socialist transformation of Peru. This reactionary perspective serves to subordinate the Peruvian working class to the capitalist state and pave the way to bloody defeats.

Castillos calling the army into the streets of Lima follows only by weeks the invocation of a state of exception and the deployment of the military across Ecuador, also in the name of fighting crime. That the supposedly left union leader and the right-wing banker and ex-Coca Cola executive, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, arrive at the same decision to call out the troops is a measure of the disintegration of any basis for democratic forms of rule in a Latin America riven by intense class divisions and social inequality that have been sharply intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Peru, as throughout Latin America, the burning question is the independent political mobilization of the working class in opposition to every section of the bourgeoisie and all its political parties and the corporatist trade unions. This can be achieved only on the basis of a socialist and internationalist program directed at the overthrow of the dictatorship of corporate and finance capital and the reorganization of socioeconomic life on socialist foundations. This requires, above all, the building of a revolutionary party of the working classa Peruvian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International.
In the first week of the jury trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at the county courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the prosecution focused on the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, the first of the three victims of the fascist teenage shooter. Numerous videos were shown, including FBI aerial surveillance footage, and nine witnesses were called to testify.

Rittenhouse displays a white supremacist hand gesture while meeting with members of the Proud Boys

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of his shooting rampage, has been charged with first degree reckless homicide in the shooting of Rosenbaum. The video evidence shows that Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum five times, including a kill shot to his back, in the parking lot of a Car Source dealership during the third night of protests against police violence in Kenosha on August 25, 2020.

Unsurprisingly, the prosecution has steadfastly refused to mention or make reference to the politics behind Rittenhouses murder of Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the serious wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, that evening. The shooter was a supporter of then-President Donald Trump, a police cadet, had an affinity for guns and has subsequently been embraced as a hero by far right and fascist political organizations.

Prior to the events in Kenosha, Trump had called protesters vicious dogs and threatened to shoot looters during demonstrations across the country in response to the police murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Trump deployed military police on June 1 to clear away protesters outside the White House by force and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military against protests nationwide.

Meanwhile, the proceedings included an outburst by Judge Bruce Schroeder, who denounced media criticism of his handling of the trial and rules he set that prevent prosecutors from referring to those shot by Rittenhouse as victims while allowing the defense to refer to the victims as rioters and looters.

On Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger called Kenosha Police Detective Martin Howard to the stand and questioned him about the fact that Rosenbaum, who Rittenhouse shot five times at close range with his AR-15-style assault rifle, was unarmed. When Binger asked Detective Howard if he had seen Rosenbaum with a weapon of any kind, Howard said, I can only see a plastic bag hes carrying.

Detective Howard obtained and reviewed numerous videos from social media and news outlets from that night when Rittenhouse went on his shooting rampage and killed Rosenbaum and Huber and seriously injured Grosskreutz.

Defense attorney Mark Richards, who is arguing that the shootings by his client are justified as self-defense, questioned Detective Howard about the fact that Rosenbaum confronted Rittenhouse in the parking lot of a used car dealership. When Richards said that Rosenbaum ambushed Rittenhouse, ADA Binger objected.

However, when Richards asked Detective Howard, Mr. Rosenbaum is in hiding as my client arrives, correct? the detective answered, It appears so, yes.

Binger then played a live video stream recorded by the YouTube channel The Rundown Live that showed the participation of Rittenhouse with an armed militia, some of whom were positioned on top of a building and aiming lasers from their firearms at protesters who were marching in the street.

At this point, the defense objected and claimed that the video was hearsay because it included a running commentary by the videographer who repeatedly referred to the armed men as a militia. Judge Schroeder then excused the jury and went into a lengthy rant about how he had been criticized by the news media for establishing trial rules that favor the defense.

The judge said, This was on CNN, Jeffrey Toobin and another attorney there, and a comment was made that the ruling was incomprehensible, and I think they obviously are not familiar with this rule. Judge Schroeder continued that he was very concerned about anything that would undermine public confidence in the outcome of the trial.

After the jury returned and the trial resumed, Judge Schroeder sided with the defense that the audio content of the video was descriptive material and constituted hearsay. The judge then went into a convoluted explanation of the hearsay rule, which included a bizarre and potted review of the trial of St. Paul from the Bible.

On Thursday, Judge Schroeder resumed the trial by announcing that the prosecution was requesting that a juror be dismissed for joking with a courtroom deputy about the brutal shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer, the incident on August 23, 2020 that sparked the protests leading up to the Rittenhouse shootings.

When ADA Binger attempted to elaborate on the political implications of such an event in the Rittenhouse trial, Judge Schroeder interrupted him and said he could not continue until the juror had the opportunity to explain himself.

Later in the day, the prosecution called to the stand Richie McGinniss, a video reporter for the conservative website the Daily Caller who was an eyewitness to the shooting of Rosenbaum by Rittenhouse. McGinniss, who sprang into action to save Rosenbaums life, including riding with him in the back of a van to the hospital and speaking to him before he died, testified that it appeared that Rittenhouse shot the victim after he grabbed for the front portion of the shooters assault rifle.

On Friday, the prosecution called Susan Hughes, a close relative of Huber, and Kariann Swart, the fiancee of Rosenbaum, who gave accounts of the lives of these victims of Rittenhouse, but no effort was made to explain why they were involved in the protests in Kenosha. When prosecutors began asking Hughes about why Huber might want to go to the protests and place himself in danger, the defense objected to the question and Judge Schroeder sustained the motion.

The final witnesses called by the prosecution were the owners of the Car Source dealership, Sahil and Anmol Khindri, who both said they did not request armed protection on the night of August 25, 2020 from either Rittenhouse or anyone else.

In all of the coverage and commentary of the trial in the corporate media, very little has been said about the use of FBI aerial surveillance video as evidence by the prosecution in the case against Rittenhouse. At one point during questioning about the infrared video, in which individuals are labeled and followed on screen with squares and circles identified, Kenosha police detective Martin Howard referred accidentally to the FBI surveillance vehicle as a drone. He then quickly modified his testimony and says that the video was show by a fixed wing aircraft.
People walk along a boulevard in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this year. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Last week, Spains Constitutional Court (CC) ruled that the second state of alarm imposed in Spain from October 2020 to May this year was unconstitutional. The challenge to the state of alarm was brought by the far-right Vox party.

The CC judges ruled by six votes to four that the second state of alarm, which extended a measure first implemented in March last year, represented an unjustifiable undermining of the functions of parliament, and handed undue powers to autonomous regional governments.

Voxs legal case is intended as a signal that the Spanish ruling elite will tolerate no further necessary health restrictions, no matter how serious the evolution of the pandemic may be. It is a juridical expression of the homicidal policies of mass infection pursued by capitalist governments across Europe and the world, whatever their nominal political coloration.

The ruling, drafted by right-wing judge Antonio Narvaez, declared that the state of alarm deprived the Spanish Congress of its decision-making powers and oversight by allowing regional authorities to adopt pre-approved coronavirus measures in their own territories, without the direct say-so of the national parliament and government.

The extension [of the state of alarm] was authorised when the measures restricting rights included in the [Governments] request were not going to be applied directly by the Government, but would be subject to decisions made by the presidents of the Autonomous Communities, the ruling states. Therefore, authorisation was given without [the Government] knowing what measures were going to be implemented to combat the pandemic.

This is the Constitutional Courts third ruling in favour of Vox. It issued a July judgement that the first state of alarm in Spain (imposed from March to June 2020) was unconstitutional, as the restrictions implemented under this measure allegedly exceeded its legal remit. In October, it also ruled that a temporary suspension of Spains Congress in the early days of the pandemic in spring 2020 violated the rights of congresspeople.

The ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and the left-populist Podemos parties have bowed to the Courts reactionary decision, making a few merely rhetorical statements of opposition. The Government respects, the Government complies with, but the government does not share the decision of the Constitutional Court, PSOE Justice Minister Pilar Llop declared. The Executive respectfully disagrees with the ruling, she continued.

This is only the latest in a series of craven capitulations by the PSOE-Podemos government to Vox, which increasingly calls the shots within the ruling elite. The supposedly left government has adopted Voxs policies on issues ranging from its demands to end all coronavirus restrictions to its brutal agitation against impoverished migrants fleeing to Spain. Its response to the Constitutional Court judgement illustrates its indifference to the dangers posed by COVID-19 and the far right.

The Court ruling comes as the PSOE-Podemos government continues to play down the impact of the pandemic, instead trying to force the Spanish population to live with the virus. Last week, Fernando Simon, director of the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), and one of the governments key advisors during the pandemic, continued dismissing the small increase in COVID-19 cases across the country as unimportant.

Attempting to conceal his demands for the abandonment of mitigation measures behind calls for caution, Simon told a press conference in Santander, we must be prudent, we must take it step by step. We can continue relaxing measures, probably much quicker than what we had thought a few months ago, but we must evaluate the impact of each relaxation we make [emphasis added].

Simon predicted that it would soon be possible to impose far less restrictive measures. The infection rates make us think that it is the appropriate time to establish possible new measures which will allow us to return to a much more normal life compared to what we had previously.

Now that most older people in Spain are vaccinated, Simon continued, we can accept a certain number of cases in younger people, where there is a much smaller health impact.

Last Tuesday, at a conference organized by the UGT trade union, Simon again insisted, without any opposition from the union bureaucrats in front of him, that young people are not seriously affected by the virus. Justifying why under-12-year-olds dont need to be vaccinated, he said that serious doubts exists if they need to be vaccinated because children are affected very little by the virus, saying that secondary effects may be worse.

This criminal statement goes beyond mere complacency but speaks to the active policy pursued by the ruling class of trying to reach immunity by mass infection of children and youth.

Simons statements epitomize the drive of the entire Spanish ruling establishment to normalise COVID-19 and relax health restrictions that are critical to limiting the spread of the virus. He has attacked lockdowns imposed at the beginning of the pandemic as an overreaction, comparing them to shooting a fly with a bazooka.

Almost a year ago, last November, as infections reached their highest numbers since the spring, Simon appeared in a press conference for the Ministry of Health to insist that no lockdown would be implemented, even though it could save tens of thousands of lives.

What we have right now in Spain is not a [stay-at-home] lock-down, and this will probably not be necessary, he stated. If we carry out a real and full confinement and nobody leaves their house for any reason, within around 15 days we would have this under control, perhaps within a month. But this is impossible. There are people who need to work, to buy things, who need to leave Total confinement is impossible.

Since then, at least 52,000 more people have died of COVID-19, bringing Spains total fatalities to nearly 88,000 by official counts, and over 100,000 according to excess death calculations. This massive death toll is the responsibility of the PSOE-Podemos governments criminal refusal to pursue a scientific strategy of eliminating the coronavirus.

Daily COVID-19 infections in Spain currently number around 2,000, while approximately 30 people die of the virus each day. Infections are rising again, however, as incidence rates and hospital and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions slowly begin to climb, as well.

The incidence rate has grown from its low point of 40 per 100,000 people in mid-October to just under 50 this week. A rate of 50 per 100,000 is the threshold after which the government considers Spain to be at medium risk from the virus. The number of new weekly hospitalisations due to the virus is slowly growing again, reaching 703 last week.

Meanwhile, the so-called Delta Plus sublineage of the Delta variant of the virus, AY.4.2 first detected in the UK several months agohas also begun to spread in Spain. Four confirmed cases of Delta Plus have been detected in the Madrid region, with a further 35 possible cases under observation across the country, as of last week. The AY.4.2 sublineage is estimated to be 10 to 15 percent more transmissible than the original Delta strain.
Terry McAuliffe

The New York Times post-mortem on the Democratic Partys election debacle on November 2 reached an entirely predictable conclusion: The Democrats must shift even further to the right.

In its editorial published on Friday, Democrats Deny Political Reality at Their own Peril, the Times editorial board calls the elections, particularly the defeat of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, a political nightmare for the Democratic Party, which requires an honest conversation about how to return to the moderate policies and values that fueled the blue-wave victories in 2018 and won Joe Biden the presidency in 2020.

The Democrats, the Times writes, have been looking left on so many priorities and so much messaging and have lost sight of what can unite the largest number of Americans.

It adds, A national Democratic Party that talks up progressive policies at the expense of bipartisan ideas, and that dwells on Donald Trump at the expense of forward-looking ideas, is at risk of becoming a marginal Democratic Party only appealing to the left.

The newspaper writes further on that Biden did not win the Democratic primary because he promised a progressive revolution, citing approvingly the statement of Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger: Nobody elected him to be FDR. They elected him to be normal and stop the chaos.

The claim that the Democratic Party since the election of Biden has been talking up progressive policies is absurd. The complaint of the Times centers on the administrations so-called Build Back Better social spending and climate legislation. The concerns, the Times writes, of more centrist Americans about a rush to spend taxpayer money, a rush to grow the government, should not be dismissed.

In fact, the Build Back Better legislation has been progressively whittled away to virtually nothing, with all elements not directly related to the interests of the corporations, including the expansion of the pool of cheap labor, systematically removed. In particular, in the course of orchestrated negotiations with right-wing congressional Democrats, any measures to tax the rich, which polls show are overwhelmingly popular, have been eliminated.

The Times seizes on the Virginia elections to demand that the legislation be further gutted. In response, the Democrats delayed voting on the bill on Friday, instead moving to pass a separate bipartisan infrastructure bill, endorsed by big business, on its own, as had been demanded by right-wing Democrats such as senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

Under conditions of a massive social crisis, a pandemic that has killed more than one million people in the US, growing concern among workers over the soaring cost of consumer goods, anger over decades of escalating social inequality, and widespread disillusionment with both political parties, the Times concludes the Democrats are too eager to grow the government.

As for the assertion that the Democrats have been dwelling on Donald Trump since the inauguration of Biden in January, the opposite is the case. The Democrats have worked to cover up the significance of Trumps fascistic coup attempt of January 6, and Biden has made a hallmark of his administration the maintenance of a strong Republican Party, as he proclaimed immediately after his inauguration.

The implication of the Times editorial is that any remaining investigations into the role of Trump and his co-conspirators in the Republican Party in the effort to overturn the elections and the Constitution should be scrappedin the name of looking forward.

The fundamental deceit of the Times editorial, however, is what it leaves out entirely. The right-wing politics of the Democratic Party are connected to its relentless promotion of racial and identity politics, targeted to privileged sections of the upper middle class. It is this political strategy, bound up with the class character of the Democratic Party, that suffered a shipwreck on November 2.

The Times itself has played the leading role in promoting the politics of racial conflict, particularly through its 1619 Project. In a meeting with the newspapers staff on August 12, 2019, Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet explicitly stated that race and understanding of race should be a part of how we cover the American story [R]ace in the next year is going to be a huge part of the American story.

That is, the Times, speaking for the Democratic Party, would work to place race at the center of American politics. The 1619 Project, unveiled two days later, is dedicated to the falsification of American history, presenting it as a history of unending racial conflict, in which black Americans have waged a solitary fight for democracy against white racism.

What are the issues that preoccupied the Democratic Party prior to Tuesdays elections?

Last month, the Democrats in New York City removed a statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall, on the grounds that it symbolizes the disgusting and racist basis on which America was founded. The Times, in its own account of the decision, declared the statues removal part of a broad, nationwide reckoning over racial inequality.

As the World Socialist Web Site anticipated, the racialist attack on the American Revolution and the Civil War has been a gift to the Republicans and the far right. One year ago, commenting on the factional warfare within the Times over the 1619 Project, we wrote :

Working class Americans, black as well as white, draw inspiration from the great and ineradicable achievements of the two American revolutions. They believe human equality is a principle to be fought for and made real, not a founding myth, as the Times sneered. The lynch-mob style attacks on statues of Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln and Grant, encouraged on Twitter by Hannah-Jones, anger and disgust them. Worse, the clear connection of these attacks to the 1619 Project has allowed Trump and his fascist supporters to posture as custodians of the democratic heritage of the American Revolution and the Civil War.

McAuliffe, a stalwart of the Democratic Party establishment, deployed this strategy in Virginia, focusing the final days of his campaign on demands for fewer white teachers in classrooms, as if this has anything to do with the crisis of public education in Virginia and throughout the country.

Another major campaign prior to the November elections was the Democrats successful effort to remove its own governor in New York, Andrew Cuomo, on the basis a fraudulent sex scandal. The Times, again, played the essential role in soliciting and promoting a campaign that utilized a manufactured scandal to settle scores within the Democratic Party, while elevating issues of sex and gender, another cornerstone of the politics of the upper middle class.

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with the interests of broad sections of workers, of any race or gender. The election in Virginia and defeats suffered by the Democratic Party throughout the country are the product.

As predictable as the utilization of the debacle in Virginia to justify the repudiation of even a pretense of social reform is the campaign to blame the Democrats defeat on the supposed inherent racism of white workers.

Times columnist Charles Blow, in his own comment on the Virginia election (White Racial Anxiety Strikes Again) concludes that Youngkin [the Republican winner] successfully activated and unleashed white racial anxiety. The blame for the Democrats debacle lies not with the right-wing policies of the Democrats themselves, he argues, but with white workers: You could argue that the Democrats made missteps in Virginia. Absolutely. But, to win, Democrats also needed to tamp down white peoples fears, which is like playing Whac-a-Mole.

Comments from Democratic Party-aligned figures on social media were even more explicit. This country simply loves white supremacy, declared Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic. White women voters are the footsoldiers of white supremacist patriarchy, proclaimed Mona Eltahawy, founder of the newsletter Feminist Giant, in response to polls showing that a majority of white women voted for Youngkin.

Such people are a million miles from the working class. Never mind that polls show the dominant issue motivating voters in Virginia was the economic situation, with voters who said the economy was not good or poor voting largely for Youngkin.

No, the failure to elect Democrats is, according to the apologists for the Democratic Party, a product of white racial anxiety.

The working class is not moving to the right, nor is it motivated by racial animus. The defeat of the Democrats coincides with a growing strike movement throughout the United States, including the ongoing strike of more than 10,000 workers at John Deere in Iowa, Illinois and other US states. Deere workers, many of whom are white, voted the same day as McAuliffes defeat to reject a UAW-backed contract, the latest in a series of defeats of union-supported agreements, including the rejection of three contracts by Volvo Trucks workers in the state of Virginia earlier this year.

The elections also coincide with the ongoing catastrophe produced by the ruling class response to the pandemic, which has killed more than one million people in the US alone. The Democrats, no less than the Republicans, are determined to end all restrictions on the spread of the virus, which continues to kill more than 1,100 people in the US every day.

McAuliffe expressed the indifference of the entire political establishment to mass death when he misstated the level of death in his state from COVID-19 by 10,000, asserting that 4,000 Virginians had died, when the real toll, according to official figures, is more than 14,000.

The interests of workers find no expression in any faction of the political establishment, whether the increasingly fascistic politics of the Republicans or the race-obsessed politics of the Democrats. As the Democratic Party contemplates its political nightmare and shifts further to the right, a wave of class struggle is coming crashing down on its head.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum this week, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley targeted China as the No 1. security threat to the United States and narrowed the time frame for a potential war over Taiwan to two years.

US warships [Credit: Flickr.com/U.S. Navy]

Milleys remarks clearly reflect the discussion taking place in the top military, intelligence and political echelons in Washington. Over the past decade, Obama, Trump and now Biden have successively raised the stakes in an increasingly reckless confrontation with China, aimed at preventing it from threatening American global hegemony.

Speaking of China, Milley complained: They want to challenge the so-called liberal, rules-based order that went into effect in 1945 at the end of World War II. They want to revise it. But the catchphrasethe international rules-based orderrefers to the post-war international framework established by the US, in which it set the rules to suit its economic and strategic interests.

What concerns Milley is that China, by virtue of the sheer size of its economy and need for energy, raw material and parts, is coming into conflict with the world dominated by the US and its allies. Moreover, in order to compete economically, China is compelled to seek to advance hi-tech industries that both Trump and Biden have sought to block.

Milley focused attention on US tensions with China over Taiwan, which were intensified by Trump and have rapidly come to the fore under Biden. In March, the outgoing head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, warned of the potential for war with China within six years.

Milley said he did not expect Chinese military action over Taiwan in the next two years, which only suggests that the US military is preparing for war within a short time frame. He added: Having said that, though, the Chinese are clearly and unambiguously building the capability to provide those options to the national leadership if they so choose at some point in the future.

We are witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power that the world has witnessed, Milley said. In a statement that foreshadows a vast acceleration of the US arms race with China, he declared: If we, the United States military, dont do a fundamental change ourselves in the coming 10 to 20 years, were going to be on the wrong side of a conflict.

While Milley highlighted Chinas test of a new nuclear-capable hypersonic missile, the latest annual Pentagon report on China suggested that it would have 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of the decade and more advanced delivery systems. All this feeds the Pentagons argument for large increases to a defence budget that is already of record size, even though the US nuclear arsenal of 5,550 warheads dwarfs that of Chinaboth now and in its projected future size.

The rapidity with which Taiwan has emerged as the most dangerous flashpoint for a US war with China underscores its strategic and economic importance. Militarily, it is a vital part of the first island chain, stretching through Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines, that US strategists regard as the means to hem in the Chinese navy, mount an economic blockade and serve as the frontline of any war. Economically, Taiwan is home to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company that produces virtually all the worlds most advanced computer chips, which have both economic and military applications.

While the US media and political establishment repeatedly speak of Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, Washington is undermining the precarious status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The Biden administration nominally adheres to the One China policy that is the basis of US-China diplomatic relations, established in 1979 when the US broke diplomatic ties with Taipei. Washington in effect recognised Beijing as the legitimate government of China, including Taiwan.

At the same time, the US Congress passed the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act that committed the United States to sell defensive arms to Taiwan and maintain limited informal relations with Taipei. Since then, US actions have been governed by what is known as strategic ambiguitythat is, Washington would not give an unambiguous commitment to Taiwan to support it in a military conflict with China. The aim was to deter Taipei from declaring formal independence from China, to which Beijing has repeatedly warned it would respond with force.

Also speaking at the Aspen event, leading Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, joined the growing clamour in ruling circles for strategic ambiguity to be dropped. The US and its allies needed to make it abundantly clear to China what a significant cost it would pay were it to use force to try to invade and take over Taiwan, he said.

In a thinly-disguised evasion, Schiff declared: I think probably less ambiguity is better than more ambiguity. But, he added, there was a fine line, as we dont want to make any pronouncement that will accelerate Chinese thinking or timetable in terms of using military force against Taiwan.

In reality, less ambiguity upsets the delicate diplomatic balancing act that has underpinned US-China relations for four decades. It means no ambiguity, or strategic clarity, to use a current catchphrase. That is, an unconditional commitment to back Taiwan in a war against China. The US has already begun to transform Taiwan into a military platform by dispatching US Special Forces to the island to train Taiwanese troops for the first time since American forces were withdrawn in 1979.

The Biden administration has already taken a large step toward ditching the policy of strategic ambiguity in favour of providing rock solid backing for Taiwan. During a town hall meeting last month, asked if the US would come to Taiwans defence if China attacked, Biden declared: Yes we have a commitment to do that. While the White House sought to clarify that there had been no change in policy, the charade of strategic ambiguity is increasingly being dropped.

The US is also marshalling its military allies and strategic partners to support Taiwan. A delegation of European Union parliamentarians arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday for top-level discussions. Delegation leader Raphael Glucksmann told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen that they came with a simple message: You are not alone. Europe is standing with you, by you, in the defence of freedom, rule of law.

None of this is going unnoticed in Beijing. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has no progressive response to the rising danger of war. On the one hand, it seeks to end the confrontation by cutting a new deal with US imperialism, while, on the other, engaging in a futile arms race that can only end in disaster.

In an editorial last week, the hawkish Global Times absurdly suggested that Beijing was in the box seat because it was not in the interests of Taiwan and the US to trigger a war across the Taiwan straits. The editorial boasted: The ultimate decision of whether to wage a cross-straits war, what the scale of the war will be, and how and when to fight is in our hands.

On the contrary, by deliberately undermining the diplomatic protocols that have kept an uneasy peace in the Taiwan Strait, the Biden administration is goading China to make the first move. US imperialism is determined to subordinate China to its interests using all available means, including war.

The only means for halting the drive to war between the two nuclear-armed powers is the intervention of the international working class through the building of a unified anti-war movement directed at abolishing the capitalist systemthe root cause of geo-strategic conflict.
Rodolfo Martin Villa [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Argentine judge Maria Servini de Cubria has indicted Rodolfo Martin Villa, 87, a former minister in Spains 1939-1978 fascist Francoite regime, on four counts of homicide. The judge ordered Villa, who lives in Madrid, to be detained. So far, the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government has refused to honor the warrant.

Servini, sitting in Buenos Aires, based her probe on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows an investigator to prosecute individuals who are not its citizens or on its territory, but have committed serious crimes, including crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and torture.

This is the second attempt to prosecute Franco-era criminals since Baltasar Garzon opened an investigation in 2008 of Francisco Francos military coup of July 17, 1936, and the disappearances of 114,266 people. Garzon ultimately indicted Franco, 44 former generals and ministers, and 10 members of the Falange party. Over this investigation, Garzon was debarred from the Spanish courts in 2012.

Garzon was accused of perverting justice and breaking the 1977 Amnesty Law passed during the Transition from fascism to parliamentary democracy after Francos death in 1975 and supported by the Stalinist Spanish Communist Party (PCE). It aimed to prevent any reckoning with fascist crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Francos rule (1939-1975) and the post-Franco interim regime that lasted until 1978. Since then, not a single Francoite has been brought to justice for crimes that include an estimated 300,000 political opponents murdered, 500,000 imprisoned and 500,000 forced into exile.

Hundreds of Spaniards have tried to get around the Amnesty Law by turning to Argentine courts.

The case began in April 2010 after Argentine resident Dario Rivas, son of an elected mayor of a Galician town in northwest Spain who was kidnapped and executed under Franco, turned to international law under which crimes against humanity have no jurisdictional boundaries. The trial now includes 120 individual plaintiffs and 62 human rights organisations.

Servini indicted Villa with a lengthy 968-page detention order, as part of her investigation over crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime.

Three of the homicides occurred in 1976 during the so-called Vitoria Massacre, when Spanish police fired live ammunition and tear gas at an assembly of 4,000 striking workers taking place in the church in the Basque city of Vitoria. Five workers died, and hundreds were injured.

The other homicide took place in Pamplona during the San Fermin festivities in 1978, when the police fired on a protest by youth demanding freedom for political prisoners. In the protests after the police intervention, 150 were injured, including 11 by gunshot, and 23-year-old German Rodriguez, a member of the Revolutionary Communist League, was killed when he was shot in the forehead.

Since 1962, Martin Villa had held different positions in the fascist institutions that operated during the Franco regime. In 1975, he was appointed Minister of Trade Union Relations in the first government after Francos death, a role he held at the time of the Vitoria massacre. In June 1976, he was appointed Interior Minister. He was thus in control of police in 1978 during the Pamplona events.

Villa became known as the baton of the Transition, due to his repeated resort to violent police crackdowns on protests. In 1977 alone, the police violently dispersed 788 demonstrations in Spain, that is, 76 percent of all protests. To block future investigations, under his tenure Villa also oversaw the destruction of tens of thousands of documents and files on police repression under Franco.

Afterwards, Villa enjoyed a lucrative career. In 1997, he was appointed president of ENDESA, Spains main electricity company, which he helped privatise. In 2013, he became a member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. In 2006, he was appointed chairman of Sogecable, a Spanish pay-TV provider. Villa is a also member of the advisory committee of FRIDE, a Madrid-based pro-EU think tank.

The case of Martin Villa is not an exception. The vast majority of Francos political, police and military commanders continued to hold top positions in the post-Franco order, both in the public and private sector, abetted and aided by successive Socialist Party (PSOE) governments after the Transition.

Servinis indictment of Martin Villa is a political exposure of the Transition. The man promoted by the Spanish ruling class as helping effect the reconciliation between Spaniards after the Civil War and open a new era of peace and capitalist democracy under the aegis of the European Union (EU) and NATO, is exposed as a ruthless, unrepentant henchman of the Francoite regime.

In the indictment, the judge writes: The entire repressive structure set up by the Franco regime continued to function under the direction now of the new political leadership in charge of the Transition process, adding that this structures members were assured impunity. This allowed security forces to repress demonstrations, meetings, etc., in the way they did, with the systematic use of firearms and without caring about killing or continuing to kill.

Similarly, it adds that Rodolfo Martin Villa knew and promoted the public order policy of that government that he was part of, and that it was the same one implemented during the Franco government.

Martin Villa has reacted to his indictment by telling conservative Spanish newspaper ABC, I am calm. I will appeal.

Villas reaction is unsurprising. He enjoys near-unanimous support in Spains post-Franco political establishment. All living former prime ministers since the Franco eraFelipe Gonzalez (PSOE), Jose Maria Aznar (PP), Mariano Rajoy (PP) and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (PSOE)wrote letters to Servini last September defending Villas track record. Joining them were former leaders of the union bureaucracy, Candido Mendez and Nicolas Redondo for the UGT and Antonio Gutierrez and Jose Maria Fidalgo for CCOO, as well as the current EU High Representative for foreign policy and former PSOE minister Josep Borrell, among others.

Speaking to Servini in September 2020, Martin Villa cited Spanish Stalinist leader Santiago Carrillo, the general secretary of the PCE during the 1970s, who died in 2012, to exonerate him in the Pamplona events. Soon after the Pamplona events, Carrillo cynically declared that in all his life he had not seen an action so transparent, so clean, and with so much immediate decision-making capacity.

The fact that the PSOE and the union bureaucracy are coming to the defence of a Francoite criminal like Villa shows that only a political movement within the working class can bring the torturers to justice and to unveil the full extent of Francos crimes. This will not come from appeals to the Argentine judiciary, nor from parties like Podemos and the trade unions. They are direct heirs of those who defended the reactionary 1977 Law of Amnesty and are oriented to the PSOE, the main party of bourgeois rule since Francos death.

Over the past two years, the PSOE-Podemos government has not lifted a finger to facilitate these trials or investigations of fascist crimes. This makes a mockery of Podemos cynical tweet stating: Martin Villas indictment for the crimes of the Franco regime is a great step against impunity, but it is a shame that Argentine justice is doing what should have been done long ago in Spain.

The fact is, the Stalinists and Podemos are bitterly hostile to any reckoning against the Franco regime: such a movement would turn against their pro-austerity, pro-herd immunity government. As far-right coup threats are escalating in Spain and internationally, the trade unions and pseudo-left parties like Podemos fear above all the emergence of a revolutionary movement in the working class, opposing the fascists based on a revolutionary and internationalist perspective. This requires building a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International in Spain.
A police chase takes a dramatic turn, a four-year-old girl is reunited with her family, and a deli is targeted with a Molotov cocktail. These are the must-watch videos of the week.

Don't try this at home

A police chopper captured Hollywood-worthy footage of an alleged car thief attempting to evade police.

Biden appears to doze off at climate summit

An aide seemingly woke up President Biden after he appeared to doze off at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

A heartwarming reunion

Four-year-old Cleo Smith has been found alive 18 days after she went missing from a campsite in northwest Australia.

Bad airline behavior

A "customer disturbance" aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles resulted in the flight being diverted to Dallas, according to Delta.

Deli hit with Molotov cocktail

Fire marshals in New York have arrested a man who allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at a Brooklyn deli.

The-CNN-Wire

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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)- Hunting season is officially here and it is crucial that hunters realize the importance of hunting safety before partaking in the activity. More than 300-thousand hoosiers are expected to hunt across Indiana this season. All hunters are required to complete hunting safety training lessons. These lessons offer valuable tips on how to keep hunters safe and protected. A local hunting safety instructor, Robert Phillips shares helpful tips.

"It's very important to wear a safety vest full harness and do everything research and study it practice in the backyard" says Phillips.

To ensure security when in a tree Phillips says you need to use a lifeline. A lifeline attaches to the hunter and tree allowing easier access up and down. Conservation officer for the DNR, Dave Moss, says investing in a good harness is also key.

"Your life is worth it so whatever you have to spend on a safety harness is well worth it" says Moss.

Gun hunting season begins on November 13th and goes until the 28th. Phillips offers tips on how to safely operate a firearm.

"Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. You'll never have a mishap with a firearm" says Phillips.

Being cautious of your aim, checking your surroundings, and knowing what's beyond your target are all important. Wearing blaze orange is aslo rewuired when hunting. It allows hunters to be more visible.

Phillips says although accidents are rare he encoruages hunters to practice these safety measures to prevent accidents.

If you would like to receive your hunting license click here for safety training lessons.
PARKE COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Last week Mike Roe, the owner of the Bridgeton Mill, bought the historic Dr. Crooks building in Bridgeton. The Dr. Crooks building was originally built in 1869 and has been across the street from the Mill ever since.

Roe says he views the building as a piece of American history, and he hopes to be able to share it with the community.

"Eventually, we're thinking an Airbnb upstairs, maybe a full-time antique shop or something inside the building," says Roe.

Being able to use the building to make money will help offset the cost of owning a piece of history.

"Keep the history but make the money. It's kind of the American way," said Roe.

For more immediate plans, Roe hopes to be able to showcase the building at the Bridgeton Country Christmas. That is November 26th to the 28th and December 3rd to the 5th. For more information on the Bridgeton Country Christmas, click here.
NEW ORLEANS (WTVA)  The federal appeals court in New Orleans temporarily blocked the Biden administration's vaccination mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees.

A three-judge panel with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay Saturday on behalf of the state of Mississippi, the Tupelo-based American Family Association and many other petitioners seeking a delay in the mandate's enforcement.

READ THE ORDER ISSUED SATURDAY ON THE VACCINE MANDATE

The order only cited that "the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate."

The federal government has until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the request for a permanent injunction, and those wanting the injunction get until 5 p.m. Tuesday to give a response.

Under the federal mandate, workers at those companies must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4 or undergo weekly testing for the virus.

The regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also require those unvaccinated employees to wear a mask at work.

Governor Tate Reeves responded to the court's order on Twitter by saying "the fight continues, but this is a big first step."
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Wisconsin State Journal.
Here is the latest Minnesota news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT
Here is the latest Wisconsin news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Chase Wrights Debut Album Intertwined

jason myers Chase Wright

Long before vaccines and pandemics and a world filled with a 'new normal,' Chase Wright spent 2018 writing songs for his 2021 album Intertwined.

"It's been a journey, that's for sure," Wright, 25, tells PEOPLE. "But it's been worth it. The passage of time can make for some good songs."

Indeed, a good number of the songs now found on Intertwined actually come from times far back, when Wright was just a kid growing up in Lebanon, Indiana.

Chase Wrights Debut Album Intertwined

Chase Wright

RELATED: King Calaway Is All Grown Up and Breaking Hearts in Mature New Music Video: 'Hits You Right in the Gut'

"There wasn't anything to do back then," recalls Wright, whose teenage playlists included the likes of artists such as Keith Urban, 3 Doors Down, The Fray, Matchbox Twenty and Goo Goo Dolls. "There was the Walmart and there was the McDonald's and there was driving around the back roads." He laughs. "It's crazy how you don't really think that those things could be formative at the time. But then, you know, as I've grown up, I actually miss that sort of stuff."

Ultimately graduating from college with an economics degree, Wright ran competitive track for a total of 10 years. During his time as a freshman track star at DePauw University, he first picked up a guitar  and it was that guitar that led him to make the move to Nashville two years ago, when he made the decision to make Music City his new home. It was there that he began his trek to country music stardom.

But it was a trek interrupted by the pandemic.

"There was so much uncertainty around releasing my debut single ('My Kinda Morning') in the heart of a pandemic," says Wright, who nevertheless, has worked to snag 55 million career streams and counting to date. "Nobody had really done that, and we didn't really know what to expect, but looking back, I think it was actually a blessing that we did it that way because people had nothing else to do other than consume social media and music and watch TikTok and YouTube."

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And despite the virtual nature of it all, Wright found himself, during that uneasy time, to not only establish a relationship with his fans, but almost effortlessly convey an honesty that can be heard loud and clear on the title track of Intertwined.

"I thought of the idea last Thanksgiving," Wright says of the song he co-wrote alongside Alyssa Bonagura and Jared Keim. "I had been talking to two separate friends who were both going through breakups, and they were both experiencing the same sort of issues  they had dated the person for so long that their lives were just so interconnected. And though they broke up and tried to stay separate from one another, there were still so many pieces of their lives that they couldn't separate from."

Chase Wrights Debut Album Intertwined

josh holt Chase Wright and Delaney Jane

Joining him on the piano-heavy powerhouse of a ballad is Canadian pop singer/songwriter Delaney Jane.

"It was not only so beneficial to have a female writer on the song who could give us that women's perspective, but then to add a female voice on the song just made it that much more special," he says.

RELATED: Blake Shelton Releases the Wedding Vow Song He Wrote for Gwen Stefani 'We Can Reach the Stars'

And then there is "Wish You'd Miss Me," whose lyrical roots pull from Wright's own experience in "a fairly toxic relationship back in college." And then there is "My Kinda Morning," Wright's favorite song on the record "just because it was from such a difficult time for me." But perhaps the one that seems most custom-made to blow things up for Wright is "Why Can't It Be Over."

"That was actually the last song that I wrote for the project," says Wright, who wrote it alongside Keim and Jerry Flowers. "And thankfully, my producer (Jared Keim) pushed me to get a little bit riskier on the production side of things and go a little bit more EDM pop, because that is a style of music that I really do listen to a lot. I feel like that's what has benefited me to this point so far. I just tend to pull in so many different types of music because I like to listen to so much."

He pauses.

"I have this vision, you know?" says Wright, who is currently out as a headliner on Tin Roof's "Nashville Hits the Roof" series, which will hit seven cities before concluding Dec. 3 in Birmingham, Alabama. "And I am committed to making this vision come to life."
REMY GABALDA/AFP via Getty Images

A Chinese spy was convicted on US soil of crimes involving attempted trade secret theft, the DoJ said Friday.

Yanjun Xu tried to steal trade secrets from GE Aviation and other leading aviation groups, prosecutors said.

Xu faces up to 60 years in prison and fines of more than $10 million, per the DoJ.

A Chinese spy was convicted on US soil of crimes involving the attempted theft of trade secrets from American aviation companies, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Friday.

The spy, Yanjun Xu, is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the US to stand trial, the DoJ said. He was convicted by a jury of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and steal trade secrets.

Xu used "classic spy techniques" as he tried to "steal the valuable innovation and trade secrets of industry-leading American aviation technology companies," acting US attorney Vipal Patel said Friday.

FBI assistant director Alan Kohler said Xu's conviction should be "a wakeup call" that China was "stealing American technology to benefit their economy and military."

Prosecutors said that from at least December 2013, Xu paid US industry experts to travel to China under the guise of giving university presentations, covering their travel expenses and a stipend.

Xu tried to steal technology related to GE Aviation's composite aircraft engine fan, which no other company in the world has been able to duplicate, the DoJ said.

Xu targeted a GE Aviation employee based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the DoJ said. The employee, working with the FBI, later travelled to Belgium to meet Xu. Xu was arrested in Belgium on April 1, 2018, and was later extradited to the US.

Xu was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage, two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets, and one count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft. He faces up to 60 years in jail and fines that could together be as high as $10.75 million.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A federal appeals court in Louisiana put a temporary hold on Joe Bidens safety requirements that companies with more than 100 employees must get vaccinated for COVID-19 by early January, according to the New York Times.

The mandate wont take effect until January, but several Republican-led states have already challenged the rules.

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a temporary stay to a joint petition that several businesses, religious and advocacy groups had filed in court, and the court argued that the Biden administration overstepped its authority.

The mandate was first announced in early September, but  not kidding  for some reason the Biden administration didnt get around to explaining how it worked and when it would take effect until this week. It is intended to take effect in January, which for those keeping score is more than a year after vaccines became available.

If it survives this court challenge, a big if considering the makeup of the current Supreme Court, the mandate will apply to approximately 84 million workers.
picture alliance

KABULI was once the commander of guards at a NATO base, Mohammed Salem tells The Daily Beast as he prepares a lukewarm cup of chai. He is sitting on a dirty and tattered rug on the streets in a rundown bazaar in central Kabul. Now, we are here.

Theres no anger in his voice, only a hint of sadness and regret.

When he stands to introduce himself, his back is straight, and he speaks as if he was still barking orders to his troops. His immaculately clean white robes and confidence are a stark contrast to the poverty of the scene around him. Behind him is a scrap metal junkyard and on the other side of the road are stalls where people in Kabul are selling their family furniture and clothing to make ends meet.

Like many Afghans, the crumbling economy has reduced Salem to destitution. He is just one of the estimated tens of thousands of Afghans who risked his life to help the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan, but remains trapped in the country. He wanted his story to be told so that the world would not forget who was left behind.

No Idea Where He Is: Rescued From the Taliban but Plunged Into Immigration Hell

Salem worked helping the U.S. and its allies provide security for a variety of NATO bases throughout Kabul, including the headquarters of Operation Resolute Support in Kabul, one of many command centers for a military occupation spanning nearly twenty years. It hosted dignitaries like John Kerry and James Mattis, who would take photo ops with U.S. forces. At one of these visits in 2017, Mattis told reporters he condemned the Taliban for the bombing of an Afghan army base saying: We stand with the people of this country against such heinous acts perpetrated by this barbaric enemy.

Now the headquarters, like other foreign bases in the country, lies empty after being abandoned overnight. The Taliban flags flying over its ramparts are the surest of signs to people like Salem they have been left to fend for themselves.

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Tom Mutch

I worked with countries from around the world like the United States and Germany. I have a letter from my American commander thanking me for my service. He was my colleague and my friend. Now they have fled and abandoned us here, says Salem. He explained that he tried to track down his former American colleagues but was unable to make any contact with them. I tried emailing but the address that they gave me didnt work.

Salem corroborated his four-year service history by providing The Daily Beast with a dozen documents, including his photo identity badge and a letter of recommendation from his former supervisor. When contacted by The Daily Beast, his supervisor asked not to be named but said that there were no official plans for evacuating local national staff that I was aware of.

NATOs press office did not reply to The Daily Beasts requests for comment. Like many Afghans who worked in these positions, Salem was hired by a contractor who in turn was funded by USAID. When contacted about Salems story, USAID referred The Daily Beast to the State Department. When reached, a State Department spokesperson did not not comment directly on Salems situation, instead writing that it is accelerating processing for qualified Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants with instructions on how to apply.

But Salems story illustrates a significant flaw in the Special Immigrant Visa system and plans to evacuate U.S. allies. The process was byzantine even for Afghans fluent in English, who could navigate the digital application process. For someone like Salem, who struggles with the language and has few digital skills, it is almost impossible.

Taliban leaders across the country insist that they are offering general amnesty to anyone who worked with U.S. forces, but the extent to which this amnesty is real is still debated. Foreign Policy reported that the Taliban had carried out raids in Kabul searching for people who had been working with foreign governments.

Tom Mutch

Still, many Afghans told The Daily Beast they were less concerned about this than they were about the collapsing economy. They believe that even if they are not hunted down, their service with the previous regime will be a black mark that prevents them from ever finding employment.

The economic situation here is horrible. All of us are now jobless, Mohammads former colleague Sadique, who also sells tea on the streets of Mahmoud Khan, told The Daily Beast. We are starving and there are people starting to die from hunger. Sadique said he used to be in the military but did not want to give further details or his last name.

The past few months have been a perfect storm. After the militant group took over Afghanistan, the foreign staff of most international aid organizations left the country along with many of their most skilled Afghan employees. Those NGO staff who want to come back have limited options, because there are still few flights in or out of the country. The former government of Afghanistan was heavily reliant on foreign assistance, and that has almost completely dried up. The banking system is frozen because of international sanctions on the Taliban, and getting money into Afghanistan remains extremely difficult.

A Journalists Tortuous Escape From the Taliban Kill List

The United Nations has warned of an impending catastrophe as the country heads into winter. A recent report said that as many as 97 percent of the countrys population could fall below the poverty line. It would then replace Yemen as the worlds worst humanitarian disaster. In one camp for internally displaced people, Abdul Jalil, a representative of displaced people from Parwan province, told The Daily Beast they had not seen any assistance from international organizations or the new government in the three months they had been there. The only people to deliver them supplies had been a local Afghan food and beverages company. He said the international community had no choice but to engage with Afghanistans new rulers. For them, it was a matter of life or death.

Tom Mutch

A common refrain from Afghans bewildered by the abrupt U.S. departure is: We dont know why they came here, and we dont know why they left.

One former translator for American forces who preferred to stay anonymous told The Daily Beast: [The U.S.] was here for so long, they spent so much money and so much time and so many people died. Why did they want to leave before the job was done? Im not even angry anymore, but I just want to understand why our country turned out like this.

Surprisingly, Salem says he feels nostalgic for his time working with the West. I liked the Americans being here and I wished they had stayed. Things were better than they will be in the future. I think it was the first time they got to learn about Islam and build connections between Muslims and your countries. Them leaving like they did was a terrible thing for Afghanistan.

Sadiq breaks in to disagree. No, I think the Americans were nothing but cruel to the people here. Hes even more pessimistic about the future of Afghanistan, pointing to recent explosions attributed to Islamic States Khorasan province in Kabul Kandahar and Kunduz that killed scores of civilians. Just this week, another suspected ISIS attack on a hospital in Kabul killed at least 25 people and left dozens injured.

It seems many citizens voice similar sentiments now. You shouldnt come here with your cameras anymore, said Masoud, an Afghan at a small furniture stall down the street from where Salem was working. The reason we Afghans live like this is because you foreigners came here. Its because of you that we have nothing left.

Yet Salem is sanguine about his own fate. I still have my religion and my health for now, he told The Daily Beast. So I have reasons to be happy.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Virginia gubernatorial election won by Republican Glenn Youngkin, the former CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, confirms that Donald Trumps presidency inaugurated a new era of high-turnout elections.

He did so with a kind of racially coded appeal that Republicans have used to forge their winning coalition over the past 50 years but have updated for the Trump era. The issue of the teaching of critical race theory  a post-civil rights era legal theory that racism is systemic in American law and institutions  in public schools provided an ambiguous enough target to mobilize the rural Trump base to go to the polls while overlapping the issue with other education-related anxieties for persuadable suburban voters.

In Virginia, the critical race theory issue did not focus on the teaching of actual critical race theory, which is almost exclusively taught in universities and law schools. Nor did it solely focus on clumsy anti-racist teachings or the ideas that some anti-racist consultants promote that stem from critical race theory concepts.

But the issue still helped Youngkin turn out the base without scaring off swing voters in the way needed to win amid high turnout.

Finding an issue to do both was needed to win amid high turnout. Every election since Trump took office has seen increased turnout from a more motivated electorate. The 2017, the Virginia gubernatorial race saw turnout hit a record that was broken again this year. The 2018 midterms also saw record-high turnout, as did the 2020 presidential race. Each election appears to be building on the one that preceded it  and any lingering doubts that Trumps effective absence from the political scene would dampen turnout have been quieted.

Though high turnout was once thought to confer an advantage to Democrats, with their base of support among lower-propensity voters, Trumps mobilization of the electorate, on both sides, means that Republicans remain as competitive in a world of high turnout as they were when voter numbers dropped precipitously, as they has in elections prior to Trumps election.

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Youngkins win and the unexpectedly close New Jersey gubernatorial election, which had much lower turnout, also show that the GOP can do it without Trump on the ballot.

The main effect of Trumps two presidential election campaigns has been radical polarization along lines of educational attainment. Not only did he reveal and turn out a whole new batch of non-college-educated white voters who lean to the right, but he also converted some non-college-educated Latino voters (and non-college-educated Black voters, to a much lesser extent) to vote Republican. At the same time, college-educated voters of all races went Democratic at the presidential level at higher rates than ever before.

Youngkins win is a warning to Democrats that Republicans have a strategy for maintaining sky-high support from non-college-educated white voters, especially in rural areas, that doesnt deter them from persuading some suburban voters who had swung hard to Democrats. This augurs very poorly for Democrats in next years midterm elections unless the party finds a way to turn President Joe Bidens low poll numbers around and mobilize their base.

Sky-High GOP Turnout

Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin gives a speech on his opposition to the teaching of critical race theory in Ashburn, Virginia, on June 30. (Photo: Michael Blackshire/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Virginias turnout on Tuesday hit nearly 74% of the record 2020 turnout, which was the highest proportion of a previous presidential votes turnout seen in an off-year election in the state. It was nearly 10 percentage points higher than the 2017 gubernatorial turnout relative to the 2016 presidential election vote.

Youngkin won an unprecedented portion of his partys presidential vote by netting 85% of Trumps total in 2020. Democrat Terry McAuliffe won just 66% of Bidens 2020 total votes. Youngkins gains came across the board in nearly every county.

Though much focus is on the swing to the GOP in the suburbs that Democrats have come to count on for their wins, Youngkin also hit higher margins than Trump did in heavily GOP rural areas.

The question this raises is whether Youngkins incredible vote total can be attributed to getting Republicans out to vote or to persuasion of swing voters. And there are points for both. Youngkin beat Trumps vote totals in the hardcore Trump-voting rural counties, a huge accomplishment. He also flipped swing counties and cut into margins in the suburbs of Washington, Richmond and Virginia Beach.

Critical Race Theory Or COVID?

Youngkin fought the election largely on the issue of public education. He targeted the suburbs and swing counties by stating his opposition to COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates, a huge point of contention in a state that saw one of the most extended pandemic school closures in the country, and he called for increasing teacher pay. For the rural base, Youngkin, with the aid of the conservative media ecosystem, provided opposition to the teaching of critical race theory that has become a stand-in for all issues related to race, diversity and inclusion in Virginia public schools.

There is an ongoing disagreement over whether Youngkings win was tied to his campaign against critical race theory or the COVID school closures, or that it was merely the traditional political swing after a presidential election  the so-called thermostatic public opinion in which the opposition party beats the presidents party in off-year and midterm votes, especially when the incumbent is as unpopular as Biden is today. But they can also all be true at the same time.

Just look at the most defining moment of the race, which took place at the Sept. 29 televised debate, when Youngkin attacked McAuliffe for vetoing a bill in his first stint as governor that would have required schools to inform parents about sexually explicit books in their libraries.

What weve seen over the course of this last 20 months is our school systems refusing to engage with parents, Youngkin said. In fact, in Fairfax County this past week, we watched parents so upset because there was such sexually explicit material in the library they had never seen, it was shocking.

You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids education, Youngkin added.

Yeah, I stopped the bill, that I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach, McAuliffe replied. The latter part of that quote was a staple of Youngkin attack ads for weeks.

Youngkins attack on McAuliffe conflated the 20 months of coronavirus school closures with the manufactured controversy over diversity and inclusion  a school library contained books with passages depicting gay sex. In doing so, he turned McAuliffes defense of public school teachers and the LGBTQ community into a dismissive remark about parents being angry that Virginia kept schools closed longer than almost every other state in the country.

In this way, Youngkins turning of critical race theory into a framework for a broad-based critique served the purpose it was meant for when it was constructed in a conservative think-tank lab.

People talk before the start of a June 12 rally in Leesburg, Virginia, against

Chris Rufo, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, began the campaign to attack critical race theory by highlighting materials used in corporate and government-issued diversity, equity and inclusion manuals and trainings. Its not as though there was no controversy over these issues (or others, like transgender inclusion) prior to Rufos intervention, but he explicitly concatenated them into a political strategy. He created a political category label that could become a master-signifier, as the writer John Ganz called it, to encompass all anxiety about social efforts, no matter the content, directed toward diversity and inclusion, particularly around race but also around gender and sexuality.

We have successfully frozen their brand  critical race theory  into the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions, Rufo wrote in March. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category. The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think critical race theory.

Critical race theory acted as Rufo wanted it to, and it became a master-signifier for all gripes about social change at schools.

Critical race theory came to encompass school libraries with LGBTQ books on the shelf, a phony transgender panic related to a sexual assault in a girls bathroom at a school, a mother wanting to ban Toni Morrisons Beloved, lessons that said Andrew Jackson and the U.S. government committed ethnic cleansing and genocide and the elimination of some advanced placement math classes.

Opposition to critical race theory became a mainstay on Fox News. Republicans in the Senate used their time in committees to persistently hammer on the fake transgender sexual assault story, which got picked up on Fox and throughout the conservative media ecosystem. Youngkin closed his campaign with rallies where he promised to ban critical race theory on Day One, and an ad featuring the mother who wanted to ban Beloved, a book about slavery in America and an escaped mothers decision to kill her daughter rather than allow her to becoming enslaved.

Mobilization And Persuasion

The critical race theory issue was red meat for Trumps Republican base while serving as seasoning for suburban swing voters that they could adjust to their own taste.

Even though political swings against the current presidents party are normal in off-year and midterm elections, opposition party voters still need to be motivated and mobilized to turn out, even when the presidents approval rating is as low as Bidens current 43%, the lowest of any president at this point in their term, aside from Trump. The critical race theory issue nationalized the election for base voters and kept them engaged and angry, whether they lived in the Loudoun County suburb where critical race theory activism was at its highest or in the rural areas where Republicans needed to stay highly motivated to compete.

And, just as crucially, it didnt scare off swing voters the way Trumps more vulgar racist appeals did. They could construct their own version of critical race theory to combine with preexisting anxieties about pandemic school closures. It enabled critiques of whether schools were prioritizing education or a confusing social theory, as can be seen around the elimination of some advanced placement classes. There are also critiques of some of the concepts that have become emblematic of what Rufo describes as critical race theory from liberal writers.

Protesters and activists gather outside a Loudoun County Public Schools board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia, to protest both critical race theory and transgender issues on Oct. 12. (Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images)

The critical race theory issue can then be seen as a Trump-era update to the coded racial appeals that powered the conservative movement to political dominance over the last 40-plus years.

In 1992, Tom and Mary Edsall wrote in their book Chain Reaction that GOP dominance emerged from the interplay of the race and taxation issues. Working-class white voters, once the bedrock of the Democratic Party, began to defect to the Republicans in this period as the GOP successfully linked anti-tax sentiment to opposition to government programs promoting racial diversity and inclusion, along with the bureaucrats and academics promoting such programs.

At the core of Republican-populist strategy was a commitment to resist the forcing of racial, cultural and social liberalism on recalcitrant white, working and middle-class constituencies, the Edsalls wrote.

This strategy started to change under Trump as his personal vulgarity and uncoded racism quickened a political realignment toward Democrats in the suburbs that was already under way. But Trumps rhetoric also mobilized other segments of the electorate  rural, non-college-educated whites and some non-college-educated Latinos  to remain highly competitive. Keeping them motivated without turning off persuadable swing voters is essential to compete in this new day of high-turnout elections.

At least for the moment, critical race theory seems to have served its purpose in Virginia as an issue with a racial appeal just open enough to mobilize the base that Trump built since he entered politics and just coded enough for the suburban middle class that it could blend with complaints about how schools and state government handled COVID-19.

By threading the needle in this manner, the issue also forces Democrats to respond in the worst possible political ways: Claiming the issue doesnt exist because actual critical race theory isnt being taught in schools. Blaming whole racial and gender groups for their loss. And, as McAuliffe did in the debate, simply defending unelected state employees and government bureaucrats from voter outrage.

Democrats will need to find their own narrative to mobilize their base at increasingly high levels to remain competitive amid high turnouts. The invocation of Trump and the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol will only work in so many races. Perhaps enacting the policies they ran on will help, too. But what voters really need is a story that mobilizes them. Trump provided that to both sides. And critical race theory may continue to work for the GOP in other races.

Democrats will need to develop a different response and narrative rather than accept off-year and midterm election losses as simply a matter of scientific fact while ceding the field to the Republican Party.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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The post Travis Scott Has Long History of Encouraging Reckless Behavior at His Concerts appeared first on Consequence.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the stampede at Astroworld Festival that left eight people dead and hundreds of others injured. However, even before Friday nights tragedy, Travis Scott had a long history of reckless behavior when it came to crowd control and safety.

In August 2015, Scott was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he urged fans to climb over barricades at Chicagos Lollapalooza and led a chant of We want rage. The scene became so chaotic that officers attempted to detain Scott during his performance and he briefly fled the scene. Scott pleaded guilty to reckless conduct charges and was ordered under court supervision.

Scott faced similar charges in May 2017 after encouraging fans to join him on stage during a concert in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Several people, including a police officer and a security guard, were injured in the rush to the stage, and Scott later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Also in 2017, a 23-year-old man named Kyle Green was seriously injured during Scotts concert at Terminal 5 in New York City. Green said the was pushed off a balcony after the rapper encouraged his fans to jump. He suffered a fractured vertebrae that left him partially paralyzed, but before being treated for his injuries, he was taken to the front of the stage where Scott marveled at his fearlessness. Months after the incident, Green filed a lawsuit against Scott.

Over the years, Scott has also glorified images and videos of his fans crashing security gates in order to gain access into his concerts. At least one of those posts  a Tweet from May 2021 in which he wrote, We still sneaking the wild ones in. !!!!  was deleted sometime in the last few hours.

Another Instagram post from November 2019 features video of fans jumping over barricades. DA YOUTH DEM CONTROL THE FREQUENCY, Scott wrote in an accompanying caption. EVERYONE HAVE FUN. RAGERS SET TONE WHEN I COME OUT TONIGHT. BE SAFE RAGE HARD. AHHHHHHHHHHH

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Similar scenes of fans unlawfully rushing through security gates occurred at Astroworld earlier on Friday. Hundreds of people appeared to gain access into the festival before police and security personnel were able to gain control of the situation.

Some individuals who were present for Scotts Astroworld performance recounted a dangerous scene in the crowd hours before he even took the stage. We stood there for two hours, as did every other person. Every gap was filled, where your feet were place was where they stayed, wrote one attendee on Instagram. Once the concert began, We began to scream to help. We could see security, just a few people away, in the walkway in the middle. It got tighter. Impossible to breath, as our lungs were compressed between the bodies of those surrounding us. More people began screaming for help, but we were not heard. There was nowhere to go.

Its unclear how aware Scott was of the situation during his performance. In one video, he appears to notice an unconscious fan being carried out by pandemics, but continues to sing. However, at another point, Scott briefly stopped the show so that another unconscious fan could receive medical attention.

In another video, Scott notes the presence of an ambulance in the crowd. But rather than ask the crowd to clear out of the way, Scott said, I want to see some ragers. Some fans were later seen jumping on top of the ambulance.

In a statement released Saturday, Scott said he was absolutely devastated by what took pace last night. My prayers go out to the families and all of those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. He added, Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.

Consequence has reached out to Scotts representatives, as well as the organizers of Astroworld for additional comment.

Travis Scott Has Long History of Encouraging Reckless Behavior at His Concerts

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Required Reading is a series in which we invite people we love to recommend five of the books that have defined their journey as a reader. Consider it your new favorite book club.

When it comes to travel advice, you wouldnt go wrong by taking a leaf out of Liya Kebedes book. Quite literally, it turns out. Every city I arrive at, the first thing I do is look up all the bookshops and go exploring, says Kebede. Theres something about it thats so soothing. After all, since stepping onto a Tom Ford-era Gucci runway in 2000 for her explosive debut, the Addis Ababa-born model has barely spent a season off an international runwayor indeed a newsstand, appearing on American Vogues cover for the first time in May 2005 with the coverline model with a cause, in reference to her advocacy around maternal health in Ethiopia.

But while becoming one of fashions most ubiquitous and beloved faces may have involved criss-crossing the world, throughout it all, Kebedes greatest pleasure has been sitting down with a good read between fashion shoot set-ups or while in the make-up chair backstage. Ive always had a book with me to keep me company, she says, noting the sense of community it fosters on set. Over the years, Ive realized how many of the other girls also love it. You might see a couple of them walking around with a book backstage, but all it takes is one Instagram post to say youre reading something and suddenly you realize so many other people you know loved that book too.

Kebede traces her love of reading back to her childhood, where a rainy Ethiopian summer saw her bored at home with only a bookshelf full of sci-fi and spy novels her father had gathered over the years for company. They werent really my choices at all, but I was like, okay, I guess Ill dive in, she says, laughing. I started reading one, and then the other, and then the other, and I think I read every book in that bookcase over that summer. I was hooked. Since then, visiting bookshops has become less of a hobby, and more like spending an hour in therapy. Settling down with a book and a coffee in her favorite magical places, which include Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Daunt Books in London, and McNally Jackson in New York, has become both a ritual and a respite from her still hectic schedule.

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And now, after two decades in the industry, Kebede is now ready to channel her love of reading into a fully-fledged project: the aptly titled Liyabrairie. (If youre curious, you can find it on Instagram at @liya_brairie.) She describes it as less a book club, and more a community for like-minded book obsessives to gather and discuss their favorite reads, prompted by posts on books Kebede and her friends have fallen in love with. I thought that this was a nice way to start creating a community where people can come and talk about book recommendations and bookshop recommendations and great cappuccino recommendations, says Kebede. Its somewhere for people to discuss the kind of books that have changed their livesa food for the soul kind of place.

Here, Kebede offers five of the books that have defined her journey as a reader, from the blockbuster thriller novels that have captivated her on far-flung fashion shoots, to the philosophy deep dives that have shaped the person she is today.

Demian by Hermann Hesse

Demian by Hermann Hesse

$4.00, AMAZON

Theres something about reading Hermann Hesse that feels like youre traveling through your own lifethats the only way I can explain it. Damien is so visceral and so powerful, and as I was reading the book, it actually helped me solve problems in my personal life. Its a coming-of-age story, but its also very existential. Hes always addressing the big picture and considering these problems of good and evil. You might learn a lot about yourself and find answers, but you might also find more questions after reading it. Its a wonderful, wonderful book.

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

$10.00, AMAZON

I went nuts with these books; I was so obsessed. I think I first found it in an airport, as I used to do a lot of buying books in the airport while waiting for the plane back in the day. Airport bookshops can have really good book selections! I remember picking up the first Millennium book and I just could not put it down. I gave it to my brother and we got obsessed together. I thought Lisbeth [Salander] was the most incredible character and human, I was so drawn to her, and I thought, Wow, if they ever make a movie, I want to play her! [laughs] Hes such a great writer, but I also loved learning more about Scandinavian culture, even just through the names of the characters and the towns and the roads. I felt so transported to the middle of nowhere and into that deep, deep cold. Its an incredible thriller, and still one of my favorite books to this day.

At The Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell

$14.00, AMAZON

I bought this book at Shakespeare and Company, actually, which feels like the right place to read it. Theyve now opened a cafe next doorits not exactly integrated in the bookshop, but they have it on the other side. Thats close enough for me! I loved this book, because so many of us have this dream about Paris in the 1960s, and hanging out with Sartre and de Beauvoir, and the writer makes you feel like a little fly on the wall in those cafes as all those discussions were going on. I love philosophy and the dream is always to be sitting among a group of people like that, asking the weighty questions about love and life and death, good and bad, all the big themes. It made me want to write myself, and to explore that movement even deeper. It felt like finding allies across time and in other countries. Every time you read a good book, youre almost finding a friend, really.

IQ84 by Haruki Murakami

IQ84 by Haruki Murakami

$11.00, AMAZON

I dont even know how to explain this book, to be honest. But what I loved was to be transported to another time and another culture, and Murakami is the master of that. He creates these characters that are so fascinating and so special, and you have no idea where they are going to take you. It starts somewhere and you think you know where its going, but then it heads off into these crazy, surrealist tangents. This was the first book of Murakamis I read, and it blew me away. I love how real his characters are, theyre not heroes in the traditional sense, theyre just normal people who have something strange happen to them. He has a way of making the ordinary extraordinary, and I think thats all I can really say.

The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry

The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry

$16.00, AMAZON

I love Charles McCarry because hes such an incredible espionage writer. Ive only read a few of his books, but he knows how to write a really, really good spy novel. I also love John Le Carre also, but theyre a bit slower and more cerebral. This one has a lot more pace. But even though things happen quicker, its still really intelligent, with these wonderful characters. Ive always been interested in the fantasy of being a spy. Ive always loved James Bond. Theres something so mysterious and exciting about spies, I guess in that sense of discoverythe discovery of truth.

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Originally Appeared on Vogue
A caravan of migrants, mostly from Central America, heading north along coastal highway just outside of Huehuetan at Chiapas State, Mexico, on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Lee en espanol

MEXICO CITY  A migrant caravan, composed of thousands of immigrants from Central and South America, continues its journey on foot through Mexico in the hopes of reaching the U.S., despite the clashes that have arisen with the Mexican National Guard  which resulted in the death of one migrant  and the various injuries and illnesses that some have suffered along the way.

The caravan, named Caravan for Justice, Dignity and Freedom of the Migrant People, finds itself as of Friday still traveling along the roads of Chiapas, Mexico. The group of immigrants started their trek on Oct. 23 in Tapachula, Chiapas. Its purpose is to first reach Mexico City and then travel throughout the Mexican territory until reaching the United States border where they will formally apply for refugee and asylum status.

The group is made up of at least 1,200 people of mainly Central American origin, according to data provided by the Mexican government. But there are also Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans in the group. However, according to data from the Centro de Dignificacion Humana A.C. (CDH), one of the organizations leading the caravan, about 4,000 migrants comprise the group  most of them women and children.

Migrants leave Ulapa, Chiapas state, late Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The migrant caravan heading north in southern Mexico has so far been allowed to walk unimpeded, a change from the Mexican government's reaction to other attempted mass migrations. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

On Thursday, several members of the caravan clashed with soldiers of the Mexican National Guard. The incident took place on the Pijijiapan-Tonala highway in Chiapas. At least four guards were injured and 30 migrants were arrested.

According to the version held by the activist Luis Rey Garcia Villagran, CDH coordinator, the confrontation occurred after several migrants that wandered off by themselves were detained by soldiers.

According to Garcia Villagran, the migrants were stopped because soldiers did not want them to travel on their own. The Guard, he countered, should only watch over the migrants' journey, not limit it.

Just last weekend, a Cuban migrant that was traveling with the caravan died after being shot. The details of the event have yet to be disclosed by Mexican authorities.

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The State Attorney General's Office (FGE) ... opened an investigation into the crime of qualified homicide, against those responsible for the death of a male originally from the Republic of Cuba, who was found dead in the municipality of Pijijiapan, the FGE said in a statement.

Ireneo Mujica Arzate, one of the caravan leaders and director of the organization Pueblos Sin Fronteras and Pueblo Unidos Migrantes, accused the Mexican government of mistreating and provoking migrants in order to bring about these violent acts and disband the caravan.

Mujica Arzate said that their only wish is to trek in peace and safely arrive at their destination.

"They have tried by all means to stop the caravan. Through their strategy what they really wanted was a provocation to silence their own conscience and be able to say 'it was good that they killed the migrants' ... 'It was good that the migrants were terrorized, because they are bad," Mujica Arzate said in an interview with La Voz/The Arizona Republic. "But no, it was not us migrants who brought weapons. We are peaceful people," he said.

Migrants leave Ulapa, Chiapas state, late Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The migrant caravan heading north in southern Mexico has so far been allowed to walk unimpeded, a change from the Mexican government's reaction to other attempted mass migrations. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

Faced with what he considers an attack on the human rights of migrants, Mujica Arzate said that the migrants who advance through Mexico are not criminals and will not respond to violence.

"I tell you, we come in peace and we will continue to advance in peace. Criminalizing women and children will be difficult for (the Mexico government). What little morality of a government that does not respect the weakest," he said.

No agreement between authorities and caravan leaders

Migrants who are part of caravan cross a railroad track in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, on a day of rest before continuing their trek across southern Mexico to the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Despite the confrontations, the INM reaffirmed its commitment to a safe and orderly migration, respecting the rights of these migrants as they make their way through Mexican territory.

The INM has offered migrants of this caravan Visiting Cards for Humanitarian Reasons, mainly to pregnant women and minors, which would be given to them under the supervision of the National Human Rights Commission. This document would provide them with support for accommodation in shelters.

Members have not accepted these, however. According to caravan leaders, most of the migrants do not want to be registered and don't wish to give their personal information to Mexican authorities.

Among members of the caravan, there are also representatives from the Chiapas State Human Rights Commission, doctors with Doctors Without Borders, Fray Matias de Cordova A.C. Human Rights Center, Doctors of the World France as well as members of Save the Children.

The Mexican government has provided medical attention to migrants with health problems and physical injuries. And although dozens of people have already been treated  with lacerations on their feet, dengue fever and dehydration due to high temperatures  in most cases, hospitalization for better care has been rejected.

Additionally, at least 60 pregnant women are traveling in the caravan. One gave birth on Nov. 3 to a boy.

The authorities' meetings have been with the leaders of the caravan Mujica Arzate and Garcia Villagran, but a definitive agreement has not been reached, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.

It is irresponsible that due to the decisions of two people, self-proclaimed leaders of the caravan, an agreement is not reached for the authority to provide foreigners with regular immigration status, food and accommodation. Which has as a consequence the detriment of physical integrity due to being exposed to various risks, the Ministry said in a statement.

Migrant caravans

Migrants leave Ulapa, Chiapas state, late Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The migrant caravan heading north in southern Mexico has so far been allowed to walk unimpeded, a change from the Mexican government's reaction to other attempted mass migrations. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

On Oct. 12, 2018, around 1,000 people, driven by poverty and violence in Honduras, began a caravan trip in order to reach the United States through Mexico.

During their journey, migrants from El Salvador and Guatemala joined. Different organizations that support and defend human rights accompanied them.

Since that year, there have been various caravans that depart from different cities in Central America and then from the southern border of Mexico. They are carried out in such a way because as a group the migrants seek to be protected by institutions and different non-governmental organizations against organized crime that assaults them or recruits them along the way.

Several Republican leaders have started calling on the Biden administration, specifically Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security, to make a plan for dealing with the migrants once they reach the border.

The Biden Administration is INCENTIVIZING mass caravans mass to head to our southern border.@SenTedCruz and I are demanding @DHSgov make a plan for dealing with the 3,000 migrants headed to our Southern Border.https://t.co/jYzpnh2HVz  Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) November 4, 2021

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is leading that charge, saying that the Biden administration is INCENTIVIZING mass caravans mass to head to our southern border, she wrote on Twitter.

Weeks before this latest mass flow of migrants to the southern U.S. border, thousands of immigrants, mainly Haitians, were rounded up in Texas by border agents on horseback.

Diana Garcia is the Mexico City correspondent for La Voz. Follow her on Twitter @DianaGaav.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Migrant caravan advances through Mexico despite injuries, illnesses
Senate Bill No. 420 would amend Pennsylvania's county codes concerning qualifications for the office of district attorney.

It is expected to be on Gov. Tom Wolf's desk as early as Monday. And it could immediately affect the pay of Somerset District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas.

The bill requires a district attorney to hold an active law license while in office. Wolf has the option of signing the bill into law, vetoing the bill or letting it ride for 10 days at which point it will automatically become Pennsylvania law.

This bill would clarify the statutory requirements for district attorneys in Pennsylvania.

Since the lawmakers present in both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly voted unanimously for the bill, it is unlikely that the governor would veto the bill, since the lawmakers easily could override his veto.

What: State Supreme Court suspends Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas' law license

Latest: The latest on Somerset County DA: prohibited from any legal action in courthouse, protection order withdrawn

Facing: Attorney general's office amends charges against Somerset County district attorney

State Sen. Pat Stefano (R-Fayette/Somerset/Westmoreland), who voted for the bill, said basically the law is in a place of "all procedural."

Even though the word in the state capital is that Wolf will sign the bill, he added: "Nothing is real until it is real."

There are two procedures the bill explores. One is if the district attorney's law license is is suspended. The other is if the district attorney's law license is disbarred.

The first procedure could impact Somerset County's beleaguered highest law enforcement officer. Thomas's law license was temporarily suspended by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, on Oct. 27.

Though the disciplinary board does not issue information about the specifics of why his license was suspended, Thomas has been on a leave of absence since state police brought sexual assault-related charges against him in September.

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A day after the disciplinary counsel's ruling, Somerset County President Judge D. Gregory Geary issued an administrative order that galvanized the temporary suspension of the law license of Thomas. The order prohibits Thomas performing any legal actions in the courthouse and basically reduced his presence to that of an observer.

Thomas has been charged with sexual assault in a case that is now in the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas since Thomas's attorney waived his client's appearance in an arraignment hearing at the trial court level. By doing so Thomas has said he is not guilty of the crime.

First Assistant District Attorney Molly Metzgar has taken over the duties of district attorney since Thomas took a leave of absence to work on the matter of criminal charges.

Carl Walker Metzgar (R-Somerset/Bedford), who abstained from voting for the bill, explained his position in the following statement.

"Due to the current circumstances surrounding the Somerset County district attorney, my wife is now serving as the acting DA," Metzgar wrote. "Because of this, the Speaker of the (House) and I agreed that I was unable to vote on the matter pursuant to our House rules. I do thank my colleagues for their support and would have voted for the measure if I was able to."

Sen. Bill No. 420, sponsored by Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23rd District), vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee, focuses on a district attorney holding a valid license to practice law in the state from the time of election throughout the term of office.

Currently, there is no requirement that a person elected to the office of district attorney possess an active license to practice law at the time of entering office, which SB 420 will require, Sen. Yaw said in a statement on his website. My bill would also establish safeguards so that the office of district attorney would continue to operate uninterrupted in the event of a suspension of the law license or disbarment from the practice of law of a sitting district attorney."

The bill came to fruition at the beginning of the year as part of criminal justice administrative reform, according to Matt Osenbach, legislative director for Yaw's office.

The bill addresses what happens to district attorneys who have their law license suspended or become disbarred.

The bill specifically pinpoints district attorneys, Osenbach said, partly because a "district attorney is held to a higher standard."

"The bill provides needed uniformity and efficiency to current law and for those who discharge the duties of the office. It will assure the citizens that the integrity expected in the office of District Attorney is maintained," Yaw said.

According to Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus spokesperson Jason Gottesman, "the district attorney (without an active law license) will be suspended from his office, which means he can no longer be paid as district attorney."

In Somerset County, the district attorney is paid by the county with 65% of the salary being reimbursed by the state.

Somerset County Solicitor Michael Barbera referred to Sen. Bill No. 420 when asked if the county was going to address the pay for Thomas since he has been shut out of any legal work in the courthouse and his office until the criminal case against him is resolved.

The bill clarifies what happens in a case of suspension. The first assistant district attorney would become the acting district attorney pending reinstatement of the elected district attorney, or until the end of the elected district attorneys current term.

In the case of disbarment, a vacancy will be created that would be filled under current state law.

Follow Judy D.J. Ellich on Twitter at @dajudye

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Is Somerset DA Jeff Thomas still paid even with suspended law license
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Saturday distanced the government from the NSO Group, a firm blacklisted this week by the United States over alleged misuse of its phone hacking spyware.

An investigation by 17 media organisations published in July said NSO's Pegasus software had targeted smartphones of journalists, rights activists and government officials in several countries.

The company sends its products abroad under licences from Israel's Defence Ministry, which has launched its own probe of the company's practices after the alleged software misuse emerged.

No results have been announced and Israel has given no indication so far that it was considering limiting the scope of NSO's exports.

"NSO is a private company, it is not a governmental project and therefore even if it is designated, it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government," Lapid told a news conference in Jerusalem. "I don't think there is another country in the world which has such strict rules according to cyber warfare and that is imposing those rules more than Israel and we will continue to do so."

His comments are the first made publicly by a senior Israeli minister since the U.S. Commerce Department announced the blacklisting on Wednesday.

In the past, NSO Group has been accused of selling hacking tools to authoritarian regimes. NSO says it only sells its products to law enforcement and intelligence agencies and takes steps to curb abuse.

Its inclusion on the U.S. list, for engaging in activities contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests, means that exports to them from U.S counterparts are restricted.

NSO has said it was "dismayed" by the U.S. decision and that it has ended contracts with government agencies that misused products it promotes as legitimate tools to help crime-fighting authorities battle terrorism.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Mike Harrison)
Col. Charles Young was one of the first Black graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. He commanded the 9th Cavalry, one of the first regiments of Buffalo Soldiers, and continued to blaze trails his entire life.

Not many people can say they spent their formative years in a national monument.

Growing up, Renotta Young was often at the family home of Col. Charles Young, which is now the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Wilberforce, Ohio.

"It's my happy place," said Young, now president of the Colonel Charles Young Foundation.

The late colonel was her grandfather's cousin and one of the first Black graduates of the U.S. Military Academy West Point; a Buffalo soldier; the first acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park; a military attache to Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Liberia; a professor at Wilberforce University; an engineer; a published author; a member the Black intelligentsia; a close friend of W.E.B. DuBois; and a mentor to Gen. Benjamin Davis.

"I once had an audience with Gen. (Colin) Powell, and he commented that he wouldn't have gotten to where he was if it hadn't been for trailblazers like Col. Young," said Renotta Young.

While she learned about the colonel's legacy from his children, who were more like her close aunt and uncle than distant cousins, she said she never learned about him at school.

This Veterans Day, he and other Buffalo Soldiers can be remembered at the parks they helped shape  for free.

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The 9th Cavalry, commanded by Charles Young, is seen at the Presidio around 1900.

Who are the Buffalo Soldiers?

"According to folklore, the name was given to them by Native Americans, and the term means 'man with hair like buffalo,' " said Robert Stewart, superintendent of the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. "At first, it was only given to the Cavalry, then it was given to everybody and the name basically stuck."

The all-Black U.S. regiments were established in 1866 to fight on the frontiers out West.

Yosemite National Park ranger Shelton Young leads living history programs about Buffalo Soldiers at the park. His father was a Buffalo Soldier.

Despite orders to integrate in decades to come, the units remained segregated into the early 1950s, according to Shelton Johnson, a longtime interpretive ranger and community engagement specialist at Yosemite National Park who specializes in Buffalo Soldier history and wrote about it in his book "Gloryland."

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"A Buffalo Soldier is a warrior who's always fighting on two fronts," Johnson said. "He's fighting the enemy that the government is saying he should fight, but he's also fighting with his own superiors in the military chain of command, who think less of him because of the color of his skin."

With few exceptions like Charles Young, the units were commanded by white officers.

Johnson's father was a Buffalo Soldier in the 1940s.

"He dealt with the same issues, that was a common thread that was woven all the way from 1866, when these regiments were created, all the way to the Korean War, and that that thread is race," he said. Still, he said it was "safer" for his dad to serve than stay in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the Jim Crow era. "It was safer for my father to be in combat, to be in war than to be an African American just asking to be treated like a human being."

Amid incredible challenges, and what Johnson called the daily "waking reality" of racism, Buffalo Soldiers like Col. Charles Young saw the opportunity to enact change.

"Despite the injustices that he endured, he loved his country, " said Renotta Young, who noted that in her family, doing one's best despite challenges was known as the "Young Doctrine."

Members of the 24th Infantry are seen at Yosemite National Park in 1899.

"That's what really shines through when it comes to the legacy of Buffalo Soldiers, working in places where they weren't necessarily looked upon a positive light, but still doing the job to the best of their abilities, to protect and serve those around," added Stewart of the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

How Buffalo Soldiers shaped national parks

Before the National Park Service was established in 1916, Buffalo Soldiers were among the U.S. Cavalry who served as the first rangers of America's earliest national parks.

Robert Stewart is superintendent of Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

"You have Buffalo Soldiers that served at over 20 national parks ... from Yellowstone through Acadia to the Everglades," Stewart said. "These men and women should be remembered for the work."

At least one Buffalo Soldier was a woman, Cathay Williams, who disguised herself as a man to serve in the military in 1866 when women were not allowed.

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In addition to protecting lands from poachers and fires, Buffalo Soldiers shaped the way some parks look today. Their contributions include building an arboretum at Yosemite, building the precursor to the modern Mauna Loa Trail at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and under the direction of Young, completing the first accessible road into Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest.

"Why was the Army brought in to build roads?" Johnson asked. "West Point was the greatest school of engineering in the United States in the middle of the 19th century, so they knew everything about building roads."

While most Buffalo Soldiers didn't have that classical West Point training themselves, Johnson said their commanders, including Young, did.

Charles Young wrote in 1903:

"Indeed, a journey through this park and the Sierra Forest Reserve to the Mount Whitney country will convince even the least thoughtful man of the needfulness of preserving these mountains just as they are, with their clothing of trees, shrubs, rocks, and vines, and of their importance to the valleys below as reservoirs for storage of water for agricultural and domestic purposes. In this, lies the necessity of forest preservation."

Young was not only the first superintendent of Sequoia National Park, but he was the first Black superintendent of any national park.

A living legacy

Harold J. Warren points to a display honoring his WWII service at the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio.

While the Buffalo Soldiers who worked on national parks in those early days have since died, they're still remembered across the National Park Service today.

And later generations of Buffalo Soldiers, like 97-year-old WWII veteran Harold J. Warren, Jr., keep their legacy alive.

"I would hope that Americans, and actually, people globally, would take time to appreciate and study the important contributions of the U.S. Army Buffalo Soldiers from the days of their formation in 1866 through the days of their bravery and courage in World War II," Warren said. "The documented stories of these African American troops, often under less than desirable racial conditions and extreme hostility, helped add to the freedoms and liberties all Americans enjoy today."

Warren's story and many others have been documented by the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, which is closed for renovations through early 2023. However, a temporary visitor center is open at the Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom Memorial Library at Payne Theological Seminary. There are also educational resources on the monument's website.

Col. Charles Young's family home is now the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

Like Johnson at Yosemite, Reggie Murray helps bring the Buffalo Soldiers' experiences to life through living history programs. The acting operations manager at William Howard Taft National Historic Site portrays Buffalo Soldiers like Charles Young at parks across the Midwest and brings added insight as a veteran himself.

"I may not have served back then, but (I know) how they felt being a soldier, what they had to endure," the 15-year Army vet said.

Veterans make up more than 20% of National Park Service staff.

Reggie Murray portrays Buffalo Soldiers like Col. Charles Young at National Park Service sites across the Midwest.

Murray says he loves interpreting the lives of Buffalo Soldiers and teaching kids who may have never heard of them before.

"Black soldiers have been serving in the military since the Continental Army, you just don't have any idea, " he said. "Those are the things that are left out of history books."

He wants people to remember the sacrifices of Buffalo Soldiers.

"They paved the way to show that the color of the skin doesn't matter," Murray said. "It's what you have in your heart. And anybody can be a hero."

"The Buffalo Soldiers must be celebrated and their history told," Renotta Young testified before the Ohio House Armed Services Committee in support of declaring a statewide Buffalo Soldiers Day. "They had a central role in helping to protect, build, and preserve Americas national parks."

Renotta Young, third from left, joins Charles Young Foundation board members and others in celebrating the naming of a portion of California State Route 198 as Colonel Charles Young Memorial Highway.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National parks wouldn't be what they are without Buffalo Soldiers
Dontrell Grier, a stepbrother of Cedric Mifflin, an unarmed Black man killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in 2017, at his auto shop in Columbus, Ga., Oct. 8, 2021. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

PHENIX CITY, Ala.  On a Sunday in May 2017, a patrol car sat outside the citys oldest public housing project, waiting for anyone acting suspiciously. The two police officers heard Cedric Mifflin before they saw him, blasting music from a silver Mercury Grand Marquis. Then they tried to pull him over: He wasnt wearing a seat belt.

Mifflin, a 27-year-old Black man, kept driving. What happened next is disputed, but how it ended is certain. Officer Michael Seavers leapt out of the patrol car, drew his gun and fired 16 times at the moving car. He thought Mifflin intended to run him over, he said later.

I had never felt the fear that I had at that moment, Seavers, who is white, told investigators in a statement. He said he thought of what a vehicle can do to a human body and how I would die if I didnt react.

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The officers defense of killing Mifflin, who wielded neither a gun nor a knife, is one repeated over and over across the country: The vehicle was a weapon. In a New York Times investigation of car stops that left more than 400 similarly unarmed people dead over the past five years, those words were routinely used to explain why police officers had fired at drivers.

When asked in a deposition whether a man he had fatally shot in 2017 had used a weapon, an officer in Forest Park, Illinois, answered, Other than a moving vehicle, no.

Minutes after sheriffs deputies near San Leandro, California, killed a shoplifting suspect and injured a passenger in an SUV in early 2019, an officer asked what weapons they had been armed with. A vehicle, one deputy replied.

And a lawyer for a sheriffs deputy who shot a driver in Wichita, Kansas, in late 2019 said the motorist had used a 4,500-pound vehicle as a weapon.

In about 250 of the cases, the Times found that police officers had fired into vehicles that they later claimed posed such a threat. Relative to the population, Black motorists were overrepresented among those killed.

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Like Mifflin, the other drivers had been pursued for nonviolent offenses, many of them minor. A seat belt ticket in Phenix City that would have cost $41. A cracked taillight in Georgia, a broken headlight in Colorado, an expired registration tag in Texas. Most motorists were killed while attempting to flee.

The countrys largest cities, from New York to Los Angeles, have barred officers from shooting at moving vehicles. The U.S. Department of Justice has warned against the practice for decades, pressuring police departments to forbid it. Police academies dont even train recruits how to fire at a car. The risk of injuring innocent people is considered too great; the idea of stopping a car with a bullet is viewed as wishful thinking.

Bad idea. Bad to do, said Carmen Best, the former Seattle police chief. If you think the vehicle is coming toward you, get yourself out of the way.

Moving vehicles can be deadly. Nine officers have been fatally run over, pinned or dragged by drivers in vehicles approached for minor or nonviolent offenses in the past five years.

But in many instances, local police officers, state troopers and sheriffs deputies put themselves at risk by jumping in front of moving cars, then aiming their guns at the drivers as if in a Hollywood movie, according to body-camera footage. Or they reached into cars and became entangled with motorists, then opened fire.

Often, the drivers were trying to get away from officers, edging around them, not toward them, the footage shows, and the officers werent in the path of the vehicle when they fired.

You see many where bullets are in the back of the car, in the side of the car, said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who has researched high-risk police activities for more than 30 years. In the high 90 percentile of cases Ive seen, the persons just trying to get away.

Some officers who fatally shot motorists didnt appear to be in any jeopardy at all, the Times review showed. In some cases the vehicle was stationary, even incapable of moving. Yet prosecutors found that the claim that officers feared for their lives or the lives of others was enough to justify all but the rarest of shootings.

Seavers faced no charges in the Mifflin case. Phenix City and state officials have declined to release police body- and dashboard-camera videos of the fatal encounter. All itll do is inflame people, and people dont understand the fine points of the law, said the citys lawyer, James McKoon. And this guy was scared to death when he shot.

Jeremy Bauer, a forensics expert in Seattle who has testified for police departments nationwide and for families of people killed, reviewed the state investigative report, witness testimony, photographs and other materials and concluded that the officer had not been in peril. It would have been impossible, he said, for Mifflin to have been headed for Seavers when the shots were fired.

The officer just wouldnt have been in the path of the vehicle, Bauer said.

Enacting a Ban

Once, Phenix City was known as the Sin City of the South, and its major industry was vice: gambling, brothels and bootleg booze. In 1940, the U.S. secretary of war called it the wickedest city in America. Politicians and the police were on the take. After a top candidate in the Alabama attorney generals race in 1954 pledged to clean up the city, he was gunned down.

Now, the town has a new slogan: Positively Phenix City. Local officials still boast of its 2007 Businessweek designation as one of the countrys most affordable suburbs  just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia  for raising a family.

The city is typical of many communities where fatal police encounters with motorists have occurred over the past five years. Its in the South. It has fewer than 50 patrol officers. With fewer than 39,000 residents, its relatively small. The police department has lower training and qualification requirements than those of big cities. A GED certificate is enough.

Theyre not Navy SEALs, said Kenneth Davis, the district attorney in Russell County, home to Phenix City. These guys are average guys.

The chief, Ray Smith, joined the department 32 years ago and has led it for the past 12. His two predecessors each spent decades with the department. Its use-of-force policy  governing how officers are permitted to subdue people  has not been revised to include reforms that many other departments have adopted. Smith didnt respond to multiple requests for an interview. Neither the police department nor McKoon responded to detailed questions about the Times findings.

Law enforcement killed two unarmed Black men here in 2013: One was shot after he drove through a stop sign, led officers on a chase, fled his car and allegedly refused to come out from under a vehicle; another, naked and mentally ill, died after being stunned with a Taser 19 times and then restrained.

But there was no citywide protest, no Ferguson fallout, no George Floyd moment.

Phenix Citys use-of-force policy mentions that police officers can fire their weapons to destroy a threatening animal. It allows for shooting during range practice or competitive sporting events. While it prohibits firing from inside a moving vehicle, it doesnt say anything about shooting at moving vehicles.

That is unusual: Out of nearly 200 departments that had such shootings and provided their policies to the Times, just 13 did not address the issue.

Its something that has never come up, said Chief Darryl Laxton, in Oneida, Tennessee. He added: This is not a very active place. A lot doesnt go on.

Most other departments surveyed had policies prohibiting officers from shooting at moving vehicles  but they were ambiguously worded and allowed officers to do so if they felt the need.

Critics of the practice argue that shooting at a driver is ineffective or even disastrous. Its like youve created an unguided missile, said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement policy nonprofit. Youve basically lost control.

To identify cases where police fired into vehicles, the Times reviewed data collected by The Washington Post and the research groups Mapping Police Violence and Fatal Encounters. Reporters then filed hundreds of public-records requests, analyzed more than 115 video and audio recordings, examined investigative records and interviewed dozens of experts and motorists families. In addition to the 250 otherwise unarmed drivers, scores of such shootings involved motorists who held weapons or were being pursued for violent crimes.

The movement to stop shooting into moving vehicles began in New York City in 1972. The police department banned the practice as part of a package of reforms after an officer shot and killed an 11-year-old boy, who had been joy riding with two friends, and wounded the driver and two passersby.

In 1972, the citys police officers were involved in 994 shooting incidents of any kind; the next year, 665. By 2019, officers fired their guns only 52 times. And since the ban, not one on-duty officer has been killed by a vehicle fleeing a traffic stop.

The nations 25 largest cities have since adopted similar bans. (Some carve out exceptions for terrorists aiming vehicles into crowds.)

No one disputes that cars can be deadly: Scores of officers have been killed working accident scenes or writing tickets. But no officer in any big city that has banned the practice has been fatally run over by a vehicle he or she stopped.

The bans havent entirely stopped the police from fatally shooting unarmed motorists in moving vehicles not suspected in violent crimes. Still, only 11 such deaths have occurred in those departments collectively in the last five years.

Compare that with Honolulu, a city of nearly 350,000. Between 2016-20, officers there shot four unarmed motorists.

On April 1, the department tightened its rules, but with a big exception: Officers could shoot if the vehicles movement poses a threat that justifies the use of deadly force.

Four days later, officers pursued a stolen car suspected in an armed robbery and two purse snatchings. After it stopped, officers fired 15 shots, hitting the 16-year-old driver, Iremamber Sykap, in the back of the head, records show. Two officers said they shot to protect themselves and members of the public. One said the teenager had rammed his patrol car and reversed directly at him.

But bodycam videos show that the patrol car wasnt rammed, the car didnt reverse directly at the officer and officers fired when it was moving away.

The three officers were criminally charged, but a judge dismissed the charges. The officers are back on patrol.

A Stop, a Chase and 16 Bullets

Mifflins friends thought he would become a comedian. They called him Kevin Hart because he looked and behaved like the comic-actor. Mifflin pretended to find the nickname tiresome  Lol here u go, hed write on Facebook  but he embraced it.

He sported a tattoo of praying hands on his left forearm; his right was inked with the name of his daughter, Shay, whom he fathered in high school. If friends got annoyed at him, hed badger them into forgiveness. Only 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, Mifflin acted street-wise, posing like a tough guy in photos. But that was a front; he never got into fights, and friends often mocked him for how he spent his Sunday mornings.

He was the one who stayed in church with his grandma, said Dontrell Grier, Mifflins stepbrother.

Mifflin lived in Columbus with his grandparents, a social worker and a retired small-town Georgia police chief who instructed him to always follow police orders. When Mifflin was 22, he agreed to testify in court after witnessing a mother leave a toddler alone in a car for at least 20 minutes.

He worked stocking shelves at Walmart and Piggly Wiggly. He loved cars, but he allowed more than eight years of traffic tickets for infractions like driving without a seat belt to spiral into a crisis, including a suspended drivers license, a misdemeanor for not showing up in court, thousands of dollars in fines and potential jail time, according to court records.

Mifflin stole $265 from the Piggly Wiggly when he was 26, about the same time he lost his job there, records show. And Walmart later terminated him.

On that fateful Sunday in May 2017, he drove from Columbus to Phenix City to pick up a friend at the Frederick Douglass Homes, a public-housing complex with mostly Black residents.

The officers decision to pull him over appeared to be a pretextual stop, when the police stop drivers  often people of color  for an infraction and then look for a more serious offense, two policing experts said.

The officers seemed to be looking for a reason to stop him because they felt that he was up to no good  he plays loud music, he doesnt have a seat belt, said Michael Gennaco, a former federal prosecutor who works with police departments to improve accountability and reviewed the case for the Times.

Why did Mifflin drive off? Maybe because of the suspended license. Maybe because of a story his stepbrother liked to tell: Grier had been a passenger in a car pulled over after the driver initially didnt obey commands to stop. The Phenix City officers had aimed their weapons at him and dragged him out of the vehicle and across a parking lot.

Whatever the reason, instead of complying, Mifflin sped across a busy road. The police chased him. At that point, he was just four minutes from the Georgia line. He only needed to make it to the corner near Eds barbecue restaurant, take a couple of turns and cross a bridge.

But an SUV blocked his path: Djaron Green, a manager for a financial company, was about to turn into the restaurant for lunch.

So Mifflin whipped his car into Eds parking lot, stalling out, Green recalled. Sirens blaring, the cruiser came to a stop, pointing toward Mifflins rear passenger door, according to the report by the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, which examines any officer-involved death.

Seavers jumped out of the passenger side of the patrol car. Gun drawn, he confronted Mifflin.

The driver backed his car away from the restaurant  the officer later described the vehicles spinning tires to investigators, according to the state report, obtained by the Times from Mifflins family. The document included some details from the unreleased body- and dashcam videos, mentioning that Mifflins front right tire was turned to the right towards the area of Officer Seavers.

The patrol car driver, Cpl. Jason Searcy, told investigators that he had begun to reverse the cruiser and didnt see anything, but heard several gunshots.

Seavers did not reply to requests for comment; most of the other officers mentioned in this article declined to comment or could not be reached. Seavers told state investigators that the Mercury had come straight at him. So did an Eds employee who was inside the restaurant during the encounter; she did not respond to messages from the Times.

But Green, the closest witness, said the car never came near Seavers. Instead, he said, it appeared to move around him. And Bauer, the forensic expert, concluded that Seavers was never in harms way.

Bauer created a video reconstruction for the Times, drawing on the state report and other records. (The Times offered to let state and city officials review the video; they declined.) The officer initially fired twice; both shots entered the passenger side of the front window at a sharp angle, indicating that the car was moving past the officers, Bauer said. Both hit Mifflin. Either would have been fatal.

The vehicle kept traveling forward; Seavers turned his body and his gun to follow. Four bullets entered the passengers side of the car. As it passed, the patrol officer emptied his magazine, striking the back of the car multiple times, the state investigation shows.

His life was not in danger if the vehicle was leaving, said Isaac Lawrence, Mifflins grandfather, who added that he had been trained never to fire at moving vehicles. He wanted to ask the officer, So why did you shoot him?

Mifflins sedan drifted across a road and finally stopped at a used-car lot. At first, the two officers thought Mifflin had fled on foot. Instead, he was slumped over, dying from seven bullet wounds.

Creating Their Own Jeopardy

In November 2020, Deputy Jafet Santiago-Miranda of the Brevard County Sheriffs Office searched for a stolen car in Cocoa, Florida. He spotted a similar vehicle, which pulled into a driveway, then backed out. The deputy left his cruiser and stepped in front of the car, then fired 10 times as it moved slowly forward, the dashcam video shows.

The driver, A.J. Crooms, 16, and a passenger, Sincere Pierce, 18, who had been planning to hang out with a friend, were dead. Officials later said that the vehicle was not the stolen car. (As in several other cases, guns were later found in or near the car, but they played no role in the confrontation.)

This April, Deputy Nolan Davis of the Delta County Sheriffs Office in Colorado tried to pull over a white Honda with no license plates. The driver fled, eventually running over stop sticks placed by another deputy, which flattened the Hondas tires. As the car attempted to maneuver between Davis patrol truck and a white truck, he stepped out of his car into the path of the Honda, bodycam footage shows. Davis moved backward as he fired eight times, even after the Honda passed him. Paige Pierce, 26, was dead.

The driver was about to hit me, Davis told his superior. I had no choice, Sarge.

Davis later said that when he stepped from his patrol truck he thought that the driver may have exited the Honda and been possibly stopping to flee on foot, according to a review by the district attorney.

Neither deputy lost their job or faced criminal charges.

In dozens of fatal cases over the past five years, officers reacted similarly, jumping in front of vehicles or failing to move out of the way.

Such decisions are dangerous for both motorists and officers. Over the past five years, three officers who leaned inside vehicles during stops were killed when the drivers took off. Six others were run over by vehicles they were facing down, like Amy Caprio, a Baltimore County, Maryland, police officer killed in May 2018 after responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle connected to a burglary.

I just wanted to get away, wrote 17-year-old Dawnta Harris to a judge after running over the officer. From the bottom of my heart, I thought she was going to move.

Many big cities that ban shooting into moving vehicles also say officers should not step in front of cars. But of the departments that responded to the Times, more than two-thirds  mostly outside big cities  had no such policy.

If we have to write a policy to tell someone to not step in front of a moving vehicle, then we wouldnt be hiring very smart people, would we? said Capt. Mike McCoy of the Fulshear Police Department in Texas, which has no such ban. Sometimes, common sense must take over.

Shootings sometimes had unintended consequences. In the cases reviewed by the Times, law enforcement officers did not just hit drivers: They killed eight passengers and injured at least 17 more.

In December 2017, for instance, a part-time deputy in Grundy County, Tennessee, named Mike Holmes, kept firing after a Mustang he had pursued for reckless driving fled  hitting the side and rear of the car multiple times. One bullet hit the passenger, Shelby Comer, 20, killing her. (In an interview, Holmes, who is no longer in law enforcement, said the driver had pointed a gun at him; no gun was ever recovered.)

Holmes was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide, one of three law enforcement officers convicted after vehicle-as-weapon shootings in the past five years. If Ive ever had a regret in my life, its making that decision to pursue that Mustang that night, he said at his sentencing hearing. I should have discontinued the pursuit. I should have stopped.

He was given three years probation.

A Pair of Settlements

The day after Cedric Mifflin was killed, Phenix Citys police chief said the encounter was traumatic not only for the mans family but for the entire police department. He described the death not as a killing but as a situation.

Were going to try to find out everything that we can about how to avoid it in the future, Smith pledged at a news conference.

But as of August, Phenix City had not changed its use-of-force policy to even mention shooting at moving vehicles. Seavers was still a patrol officer. The police department did not respond to questions about whether he had faced any discipline.

In his written statement, the officer said he fired at the rear of the vehicle because if Mifflin had just tried to kill a police officer, he wouldnt hesitate to kill a citizen.

State investigators waited two days to question Seavers and did not record their interview with him, records show. Gennaco, one of the nations top police oversight consultants, described the states inquiry as inconsistent with basic investigative protocols.

Davis, the countys district attorney, brought the case before a grand jury, typical in police shootings. He called a handful of witnesses and played the body- and dashcam videos. Police found no weapons or drugs in the car. The grand jury opted not to charge him.

I honestly thought it could go either way, Davis recalled.

After the grand jury decision, Davis suggested to Mifflins mother, Pochya Sanders, that she get a lawyer  advice he says he always gives in cases like this. She hunted for someone willing to sue Phenix City, she said, but most lawyers told her that Alabama juries side with the police.

Two months after the lawyer she eventually found filed a wrongful-death suit, the city offered Sanders $100,000 to settle. Her lawyer, Kenneth Shinbaum, advised her to take it, even though neither of them had seen the video footage. So she agreed. (The law firm got 50% of the settlement, a high rate for such contingency fee arrangements.)

The city then offered to show her the videos, but she decided that she couldnt watch her son die. Now, Sanders said, she wants them to be made public. I just need the truth, she said.

Seavers also sued the city  a workers compensation claim over an accident occurring on the job the day of Mifflins death. The officer said he suffered hearing loss that day, in all likelihood because of gunfire. The city settled for $5,500.

No police or city official reached out to Mifflins family after he was killed, his mother said. She was the one to identify her sons bullet-ridden body. I carried him for nine months. Im the first person he ever talked to, the first person he ever smelled, she said.

She chose a baby blue coffin. At the Looking Good clothing store in downtown Columbus, she picked out a $50 blue suit for him. Blue was his color.

 2021 The New York Times Company
"Help us take back our schools."

It was a rallying call for more "parental control" and it worked in Franklin Lakes, Wayne, Frankford, Randolph and other local school boards throughout New Jersey on Election Day.

A rushed and frantic movement to stock boards of education with representatives who support "parental choice" platforms, drew results.

The call brought victory to a team of three challengers who won seats on the nine-seat Franklin Lakes Board of Education, unseating an incumbent  despite jumping into the race just two months before Tuesday's election.

NJ election results 2021: Governor, Senate, Assembly race results

What do they want to take back?

The newly elected three said they want control over medical freedom, transparency, and changes to the curriculum they implied are insidious and detract from academic rigor. Some of these changes reflect diversity initiatives state law now requires schools to provide.

Poll workers wait for voters at the Hackensack Civic Center on State St in Hackensack, N.J. on Tuesday Nov. 2, 2021.

Voters who turned out in support of ''parental choice" or "control," found a supporter in Jack Ciattarelli, who lost narrowly to Gov. Phil Murphy. While campaigning, Ciattarelli said he supported "going back to basics" in curricula. He did not support mask or vaccine mandates.

Glenn Youngkin, Virginia's new governor-elect, won another tight race against his Democratic challenger in the nation's only two gubernatorial races on Tuesday. In post-election interviews, Youngkin said when the government tried to get between parents and their children in decisions about curriculum, this ceased to be a campaign and became a movement about parents.

That might indeed have been the case for some school districts in New Jersey and across the nation.

The New Jersey School Boards Association did not respond to a request for comment on Youngkin's observation and said it could not confirm whether or not challengers unseated incumbents in greater numbers in districts where parents clamored  sometimes threatening and booing anyone who disagreed  to remove mask mandates and not make certain changes to the curriculum under diversity and equity initiatives.

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The state board said that it does not track trends in the number of incumbents displaced by challengers, but that 47% of candidates this year were incumbents, higher than 2020's 44%.

But the winners of these elections, say some critics, won by lighting a match to their communities' fears and insecurities at a time when the nation ekes out its identity while engulfed in the racial reckoning that followed a spate of deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police, and a devastating pandemic that killed more than 700,000 people.

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Contract writer Jacob Van Lunen said he voted at Packannack School on Tuesday morning in Wayne Township where another team of three challengers won on a "parental choice" platform, He said he became interested in the election after a disturbing board of education meeting in June.

"There were people jeering. It was very fringe and it really scared me. There were people saying diversity is code for anti-white, that kids were being indoctrinated by Black Marxists," he said. Lunen said those same people went to being anti-mask and showed up at other board meetings. "It's not like they're mobilized by a single issue," he said. Its scary to me that there are people who are so passionate about disenfranchising those who are not who they are, that they are willing to go to these lengths to fight against this stuff.

Sweeping victories were also won by challengers in other school districts in New Jersey where parents mobilized to wrest control from the state over many issues. On their campaign website, the three Franklin Lakes winners  Ari Donio, Scott Loia and Kathryn D'Agostino  emphasize parent involvement in public meetings and in the school's implementation of Health/Physical Education and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These two goals topped their list of objectives.

Franklin Lakes "For Our Children" grade school board candidates ARi Donio, Scott Loia, and Kathryn D'Agostino made the broadest "parents rights" impact, sweeping all three full-term seats and ousting incumbent Jackie Veliky. Two other incumbents -- Vicki Holst and Amanda Krakowiak -- did not seek reelection.

Focusing on academic excellence  in core math, science, English, civics etc.  came fourth on the list.

Some of these issues are within a board of education's purview to approve, such as school library books. In Wayne Township, parents protested a book called 'Gender Queer', a graphic memoir of a teenager exploring their sexual identity, with some explicit drawings. Some of the issues these parents want to influence are beyond their control, such as Murphy's indoor mask mandate for public schools.

The trio that mounted a backlash to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals unveiled in the summer by the board of education In Wayne Township in Passaic County ran on a 1-2-3 ticket and won  unseating three incumbents by margins of over 2% for each winner.

Story continues after gallery.

And in Randolph Township in Morris County, where the board of education made headlines for removing and then reinstating Columbus Day as a school-observed holiday last year, challenger Tom Duffy was voted in.

At a pre-election debate sponsored by The League of Women Voters, Duffy said he would not have removed the holiday in the first place. That is not a controversial stance to take, but Duffy went on to say that he felt the move to remove Columbus Day grew from a false idea being pushed in New Jersey and elsewhere that "America is an aggressive and racist culture."

Advocates of renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day say the movement has to do with addressing Columbus' legacy as a colonizer who destroyed indigenous cultures, and not to portray the United States in a negative way.

Candidates like Duffy and the winners in Franklin Lakes have said that certain initiatives, like the recently instituted law in New Jersey to incorporate the impact of unconscious bias in K-12 curricula, will result in children being 'indoctrinated,'  a word used in every one of these campaigns and side-by-side with the hot-button term "critical race theory."

Still, the verdict from these groups is out. School board members are volunteers elected for two or three-year terms, and their unpaid standing points to how committed challengers like Duffy are to their platforms.

Many of the North Jersey towns where these heated election campaigns have played out are racially more homogeneous than the state's urban school districts, with middle-to-high income levels.

In the state's low-income districts with highly diverse student populations, the campaigns to take back schools appear to be mostly non-existent as school administrators take on challenges to learning and emotional well-being caused by the learning losses and the toll of the pandemic on students.

"Were not hearing complaints from parents about curriculum, reading assignments or school safety mandates," said David Sciarra, executive director of The Education Law Center, an organization that works on advocacy for fair school funding and opportunities for students in New Jersey. The organization serves high concentrations of at-risk students and students with disabilities and other special needs.

"What does concern parents is their childs right to the resources needed to get them back on track academically and, for parents of students with disabilities and other special needs, to required support services," he said.

"We believe in personal freedoms, and parents making decisions for their children," said Kaitlin Frato and Mandy Jaust, who ran as a team and won seats on Frankford Township Board of Education in Sussex County. They also said they want to bring "transparency" to their community  suggesting that all-volunteer school boards and superintendents might be withholding information about curricula. The winners ran under the "Conservative Frankford Parents" banner.

But the process of developing curricula is "very intensive," said Karen Bingert, executive director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association. It includes approval levels in the board of education in a way that matches the values of each community but aligns with the law.

In the end, the movement to take back schools is about values, and those in a community that were willing to fight hardest for them  whether those people are mainstream or fringe, Democrat or Republican.

Harry Prassakos, Iveta Wentink and Michael Fattal, running under the slogan of 'Education First!', won the Wayne Board of Education election on Nov. 2.

Van Lunen of Wayne said he remains hopeful about the board of education election in his hometown, where he grew up and returned with his wife a few years ago to raise their two children. He said he was hopeful the winners will not only act at the whim of the crowds that got them into office. He said it would be so "wonderful if we could mobilize these people to improve the HVAC system or get IEP programs to work properly in our schools, but instead they're protesting a single book on a shelf in the library that 99.9% of kids going to school would never even know existed and the one in a 1,000 who goes looking for it  that book might save their life."

Mary Ann Koruth covers education for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news about New Jersey's schools and how it affects your children, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: koruthm@northjersey.com

Twitter: @MaryAnnKoruth

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ election results: Voters support school 'parental control'
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  South Africa's ruling African National Congress party has received less than 50% of votes in nationwide elections for the first time, emphatically confirming the declining popularity of the once-revered organization that was led by Nelson Mandela and freed the country from apartheid.

The final results of Monday's local government elections were announced Thursday night and saw the ANC win 46% of votes. It remained the largest party, with its closest opposition getting 21.83%.

It's a humbling new reality for the ANC, which has governed South Africa and dominated its politics ever since the end of the racist apartheid regime in 1994. Although the ANC's support has slipped in recent years, this time more South Africans voted for other parties in an unprecedented shift.

The people have spoken, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, current leader of the ANC. In an attempt to soften the stinging rebuke for his party, Ramaphosa hailed the elections as a sign that multiparty politics is flourishing in South Africa  a country where Blacks weren't allowed to vote until 1994.

Ramaphosa also recognized the frustrations of millions in Africa's most developed economy who previously put their faith in the ANC but still have poor housing and sanitation, are hit with regular electricity blackouts, are threatened by high levels of violent crime, face record unemployment of over 30%, and see the governing party repeatedly embroiled in corruption scandals while the economy has sunk into recession.

Over the past few weeks, we have all spent time with South Africans from all walks of life, meeting them in the streets and being invited into their homes, Ramaphosa said. They told us about leaking houses, of frustration at electricity cuts, of feeling unsafe because of crime, and of being despondent after years of not working.

The local elections decided the makeup of municipal councils that will elect mayors and run towns and cities and be responsible for delivering the basic services that many desperately need.

The ANC now only holds a governing majority in two of South Africa's eight major metropolitan areas and must form coalitions if it is to govern in five other major cities, including the economic hub Johannesburg, the capital Pretoria, and the previous ANC stronghold of Durban on the east coast. The opposition Democratic Alliance retained control of the city of Cape Town with an outright majority.

More than that, the results provided an indication of the sentiment of South Africans ahead of national elections in 2024, when the ANC's position in national government will be at stake after 30 years in power, political analyst Angelo Fick said.

The signal from the South African population is that they can imagine a situation beyond the ANC, said Fick. The results of these local elections should tell the ANC they are a party like everyone else, he said.

That is something the ANC has previously appeared unable to accept, opening itself to accusations of arrogance and living off its reputation as the party that delivered freedom. Former president and party leader Jacob Zuma once said the ANC "will rule until Jesus comes back" and government minister Gwede Mantashe said this week  even as election results showed a sharp drop in support  that the ANC will be here forever.

How the ANC deals now with its reality-check is crucial, Fick said, because it tests whether the party, which also faces stark internal divisions, can retain its civic responsibility even when not in power in more towns and cities. If it doesn't, South Africa, seen by many as a leader of democracy for the rest of Africa, risks political instability, Fick warned.

South Africans remain uneasy after the country was rocked by its worst violence since the end of apartheid in July, when the jailing of former leader Zuma for contempt of court exacerbated the internal divisions in the ANC. The internal divisions, combined with lingering anger at widespread poverty, sparked a week of deadly unrest. There were riots, looting and the burning of shopping malls and factories in two provinces and more than 300 people died.

This week's local elections signaled the beginning of the end of the ANCs political dominance, said the Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party, but the results laid out a more complex political landscape where the DA also lost support, and almost by as much as the ANC.

Many South Africans turned away from the established political players in favor of a range of smaller parties, which may, as a side-effect, make coalitions and the running of some towns and cities more complicated. Ramaphosa called on parties to put aside our differences and work together in a spirit of partnership and common purpose.

More worrying, said analysts, was that millions of South Africans abandoned the democratic process altogether, with only around 12 million people representing less than half of registered voters casting ballots in the local elections, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. It was a record-low election turnout for South Africa.

This has been a steady trend in our democracy where we are seeing fewer and fewer people voting, social and political analyst Tessa Dooms said on the Cape Talk radio station.

Dooms said it "speaks to the idea that people are really questioning not only a political party, or the big political parties, but theyre questioning our democratic system. Theyre questioning whether or not their vote actually changes things.
Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 83F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph.

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 64F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.

Tomorrow

A mix of clouds and sun early, then becoming cloudy later in the day. High 83F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.
People in the Houston crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scotts set.

Then when Scott took the stage, the crowd seemed to rush to the front, trying to get closer to the stage, said Nick Johnson, a high school senior from the Houston suburb of Friendswood who was at the concert.

Everyone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldnt move. You couldnt do anything. You cant even pick your arms up, Johnson said. It just got worse and worse."

Johnson said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd.

Scott seemed to be aware that something was going on in the crowd, but he might not have understood the severity of the situation, Johnson said.

On video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert at one point and asking for aid for someone in the audience: Security, somebody help real quick.

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was absolutely devastated by what took place last night." He pledged to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.
New Delhi: With eleven more deaths, the toll in Bihar due to the consumption of spurious alcohol rose to 32, officials said. A total of 15 people died in Bettiah, 13 in Gopalganj and 4 in Samastipur due to consumption of spurious alcohol, said the officials.

The Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad condoled the deaths terming the incident as 'sad. He said the state has suffered a financial loss to prohibition but does not want to bear the social loss. "The government is taking strict steps, those who are responsible will be punished... If any officer is involved, he will not be spared," he said.

Bettiah: As many as 15 people died in Bettiah and two officers of from Nautan police station have been suspended. The main suspect, Munna Ram's house was inspected by Zee Media correspondent, which is currently is locked and the whole family is absconding. Villagers told that the spirit was brought from outside, which Munna Ram and his neighbor Ram Prakash Ram used to make and sell liquor. Villagers said th elocal police never probed the matter and if the villagers protested, both the owners used to intimidate them.

Begusarai: Despite a ban the sale of liquor is indiscriminate in Begusarai, people reacted sharply to the latest incident of hooch related deaths. The people called the prohibition law a complete failure.

Gopalganj: 13 people have been officially confirmed dead in the poisonous liquor scandal in Gopalganj. After the hooch tragedy, a team of the Excise Department is conducting raids on illegal liquor.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday held a review meeting regarding the prohibition of liquor in the state. Sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.

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New Delhi: Katrina Kaif, who is known for her sizzling moves has once again stunned her fans by stepping into the shoes of Raveena Tandon for the recreated version of Tip Tip Barsa Pani song in Sooryavanshi. Kat can be seen grooving to the song along with Akshay Kumar.

For the song, Katrina can be seen wearing a silver shimmery saree while dancing in the rain. Throughout the song, Kat can be seen following a few steps of Raveena from the original song of the same name. The song was from the film 'Mohra' which was released in 1994.

Raveena has set a benchmark for everyone and the recently released song has raised the temperature. Sooryavanshi released this Friday on November 5 and has been garnering a lot of praises from the critics and audience alike. The actioner is helmed by Rohit Shetty.

Watch the official video here:

The makers have released the song today and have left everyone stunned with her terrific performance. From her fans to her colleagues from Industry has been going gaga over her sizzling performance.

The music video has been choreographed by Farah Khan and has been recreated by Tanishk Bagchi.
New Delhi: IndiGos parent firm Interglobe Aviation Ltd is inviting applications from fresh engineering graduates that can join the company for the post of the trainee in Indias biggest airline firm.

The hirees will work in aircraft routing, fleet management, and maintenance planning departments. The company is also hiring engineers for several other departments such as warehouse and inventory management, front line support and repair management of aircraft components.

As far as the eligibility criteria are concerned, candidates must have completed their B.Tech degree in any of the following branches - Electrical/Electronics/Mechanical/ Aeronautical. Applicants must have to score more than 60% in their graduation to be eligible to apply for the job.

Other job roles for which IndiGo is hiring include planning and provisioning of materials, spares, tools and equipment, insurance, warranty, budgeting and cost control, and contracts management, among others.

IndiGo has posted the jobs after releasing the earnings for the September quarter on Thursday (November 4). The company posted a net loss of Rs 1,435 crore for the quarter ending on September 30, 2021.

Currently, the airline operates a fleet of 279 lanes. "We are encouraged by the pace of revenue recovery. We continue to work towards return to profitability in order to strengthen our balance sheet," said IndiGos CEO Ronojoy Dutta. Also Read: 7th Pay Commission: Central government employees salaries could increase by Rs 8,100, heres why

"During the quarter, (the carrier) provided scheduled services to 69 domestic destinations and various international locations through passenger charters and air bubble flights," he added. Also Read: Photo app sues Facebooks Meta for copying its main feature for Instagram
NEW DELHI: BJP is creating hurdles in celebrating Chhath Mahaparv in Delhi and playing with the feelings of Purvanchalis. AAP Purvanchal in-charge and MLA Sanjeev Jha said that at the behest of BJP, Lieutenant Governor has issued an order that Chhath Puja should not be held on the banks of Yamuna.

He added that the BJP first issued an order through the L-G to prevent Chhath Puja in Delhi so that Chhath Puja is not celebrated in Delhi. BJP is now trying to prevent worship wherever the land is under control of DDA-MCD across Delhi. AAP Senior Leader and MLA Somnath Bharti said that the Lieutenant Governor had decided that he would not allow Chhath, but CM Kejriwal fought for it strongly, then agreed to give permission.

He added that senior leaders of BJP have started saying that Ghats will not be allowed to be built, has such a despicable situation come in Delhi? The Kejriwal government has built more than 1200 Chhath Ghats; there were only 72 Chhath Ghats in Delhi before AAP came. He said that Aam Aadmi Party workers, CM Arvind Kejriwal along with the people of Delhi are trying their best to celebrate Chhath Mahaparv with great pomp in Delhi.

MLA Sanjay Jha said, As you must know, on the 10th and 11th of November, the entire country will celebrate Chhath Puja. People worship Chhathi Maiya. Since the very beginning, BJP has been doing filthy politics regarding the worshipping of Chhathi Maiya in Delhi. They took help from the Lieutenant Governor to ensure that Chhath Puja is not celebrated in Delhi. The BJP got an order issued that Chhath Puja prohibiting the celebration of Chhath Puja in Delhi because of the COVID-19 situation. Then, Delhi's Chief Minister stated that since Ann Puja is already being celebrated and even the COVID-19 cases in Delhi are decreasing, the people of Purvanchal should be able to perform Chhath Puja and an order must be issued in this regard. Then, in a DDA meeting, it was decided that Chhath Puja will happen in Delhi. But even here, the BJP used filthy tactics. Through the Lieutenant Governor, they have said that Chhath Puja celebrations will not be allowed on the banks of Yamuna. Now, lakhs of people perform Chhath Puja on the banks of Yamuna. On one hand, the BJP says that everyone must keep the COVID protocol in mind. So if the protocol of COVID-19 is to be followed, Yamuna would've been the perfect place for it since it's so spacious. But now that there will be no rituals and worship on the banks of Yamuna, people will start crowding the smaller riverbanks. We had also written a letter to the Lieutenant Governor. We told him that when Chhath Puja is done on the banks of Yamuna; the banks are cleaned and it's actually beneficial for the conservation of the riverbanks. But at the behest of BJP, the Lieutenant Governor has issued an order that Chhath Puja should not be performed on the banks of Yamuna, he added. Further, he said, Wherever the concerned land belongs to the DDA or the MCD, the BJP is trying to ensure that there is no celebration of the Puja there. Just now we got a call from Rohini, where DDA has some land. The MLAs are going there themselves and reporting that when the preparations for Chhath were done, the residents here complained about encroachment. Because of these complaints, no celebrations will be held there. Similarly, a call came about a DDA land in the Bawana Legislative Assembly. The organisers have informed us that while they were digging up the land; the police came and confiscated their JCB. In Dwarka, a land belonging to the MCB was supposed to host Chhath Puja celebrations. However, their mayor has stated that no celebrations will be held there. This place has hosted the celebrations for the past 30 years.

You must remember that in 2019, the BJP Councillors did not let Chhath Puja happen at GK. It is certain that the BJP holds the people of Purvanchal in disdain. You can witness this all over the country, in Maharashtra, in Gujarat, in Delhi. Even their party workers inflict physical harm on the party workers belonging to the Purvanchal. However, political games must not be played in the name of Chhathi Maiya. If they play such games, the people of Purvanchal will never forgive them, he said. Lastly, with an appeal to all BJP leaders, especially Manoj Tiwari, he said, Even if your party hates the people of Purvanchal, you know the importance of the worship of Chhathi Maiya since you're from Purvanchal yourself. At this time, if anything is causing difficulties to the people of Purvanchal in worshipping Chhathi Maiya, you being from the Purvanchal yourself, shouId have at least made a sincere attempt. But I'm astonished by your silence. I give you a word of caution, if you try to stop the Puja this way, the people of Purvanchal will never forgive you. MLA Somnath Bharti said, BJPs anti-Purvanchal mentality and anti-Chhath mentality are being seen everywhere. Under the DDMA Act during the Corona period, the Lieutenant Governor allowed it and then cancelled it. The Lieutenant Governor had decided on the behest of the BJP that he would not allow Chhath. CM Kejriwal wrote a letter on 14 October 2021. The Deputy Chief Minister put it strongly that Chhath Puja will have to be allowed in Delhi. The Delhi government handled Corona in Delhi very well. After increasing the pressure, the Lieutenant Governor agreed to give permission. But the BJP's stomach is hurting seeing people be happy. There was a time when people used to make makeshift Chhath Ghat here in their own way. The Kejriwal government has built more than 1200 Chhath Ghats in Delhi. It is unique in itself. The people of Purvanchal used to feel very sorry that they could not perform Chhath Puja properly. But the Delhi government, on its own strength, along with the people of Purvanchal, prepares for the worship of Chhathi Maiya. In this, arrangements are made for tents, music, ghats, water, prasad, etc. In Delhi, now, along with Purvanchal, all Delhiites have started worshiping Chhath Maiya.

He said, on the orders of the Delhi government, the JE of Irrigation and Flood Department reached the park of my assembly constituency yesterday with JCB. The soil of the Ghat already built in Delhi, had to be taken out. When I reached there to mark the place, I saw that there was a ruckus going on with people saying that we will not allow the ghat to be built. What is your objection to making Chhath Ghat? The Purvanchalis have been betrayed by the BJP all over India. There is a BJP government in Gujarat, where the Purvanchalis were not even protected. A person from Purvanchal lost his life inside Surat. When Lok Sabha elections were being held in Banaras in 2014. Then Narendra Modi was questioned that on one hand they are not able to protect the people of Purvanchal inside Maharashtra. While seeking votes in Banaras I had to face violence on this matter and an FIR was registered. BJP hates Purvanchal's people, this is proving to be true. Big leaders of BJP came yesterday and started saying that Ghats will not be allowed to be built. There is a land mafia in my assembly who takes over the land and builds hotels and buildings and says that I am a don. How has such a situation happened in Delhi? With the blessings of Chhathi Maiya and Lord Surya, yesterday the Ghat was ready despite their efforts. BJP people first drove JCB away. The workers of Aam Aadmi Party along with the residents of the area continued the work with a spade. Work continued till JCB returned. After the arrival of JCB, Chhath Ghat was prepared till 2 o'clock. MLA Vinay Mishra and Aam Aadmi Party workers are sitting on dharna in Dwarka. Last time in GK also we sat on dharna. In Delhi the people of Purvanchal are being insulted by the BJP in this way.

He said, the person who creates obstacles in the work of religion is a person of demonic nature. Such people get destroyed. BJP is trying to create disturbances even though they say they are a Hindu party. In reality, it pretends to be a Hindu party. They create obstacles in worshiping the Chhati Maiya. In this case, destruction is certain. The political debacle that has happened in Delhi with the BJP, will happen in the whole country. When the curse of Chhathi Maiya is imposed, no one can do anything.

The MLA said, the Purvanchali leaders like Manoj Tiwari who are in BJP should stand up. Purvanchalis have been humiliated even in the BJP. That's why I appeal to the Purvanchali colleagues of BJP that this disgrace rises beyond the party lines. Chhati Maya does not belong to any party. Kejriwal has built 1200 Ghats all over Delhi without any interests of any party in mind. Everyone will come to the ghat of Chhathi Maiya. All those who have faith in the festival will come. So don't do politics in this. Respect all the people of Purvanchal whose vote has made Modi the Prime Minister and MP in Banaras.

He said, I want to appeal to the leaders of Purvanchal of the BJP to ensure that there is no disturbance in celebrating this great festival. The workers of the Aam Aadmi Party, the people of Delhi and the Chief Minister are all ensuring that the festival of Chhath be celebrated with great pomp in Delhi. It will be celebrated following the rules of Corona. We all have to work together. I myself celebrated the festival of Chhath for many years. One has to remain pure in body and mind. Therefore, everyone should cooperate in celebrating this great festival. BJP's anti-Purvanchal mentality and anti-Chhath mentality can not be tolerated.

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Sultanpur: Former Union minister and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi on Saturday (November 6) welcomed the cut in petrol and diesel prices and also called for lowering the LPG cylinders rates.

Maneka Gandhi made the request to the Union government while touring her parliamentary constituency on a four-day visit.

The petrol and diesel prices have come down. The Union government should consider lowering the prices of other things, like gas (LPG cylinder), too to provide relief to the people, she said during a programme in her constituency.

The BJP MP made the request days after the Centre slashed the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively followed by various BJP-ruled states too lowering the VAT on the two fuels in significant relief to the common man.

While participating in her party's membership drive program in the Dehli Bazar township of Isauli assembly segment, Gandhi said, "Our efforts will be to win Isauli. Wherever I will go, I will keep making members. There will be 100 programs in 100 days but it does not matter much until we don't make up our minds."

"We have to win the election. We had lakhs of members earlier also, but not a single seat came in the Zila Parishad. If only our BJP office-bearers had voted, we would have won. If the booth president, his family, his relatives had voted, we would have won," she said referring to the Panchayat elections.

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NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party has continuously been talking about how the BJP is rubbing salt on the wounds of MCD workers by partying around despite not having paid their employees salaries. on Friday, Aam Aadmi Party's MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak said that the BJP-ruled MCD has not paid the salaries of the employees on Diwali even after it received the funds to do so. Stoves stayed unlit in the homes of MCD employees, even on Diwali. These employees have not received a salary for 3 months. He asked, without their salary, how will employees celebrate Bhaiya Dooj and Chhath, how will they give gifts to their sisters?

Aam Aadmi Party's MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak condemned the BJP for not paying salaries even on Diwali. He said, the MCD has not paid the salaries of the employees on Diwali even after the funds to do so have arrived. Due to this, stoves have stayed unlit in the homes of MCD employees on Diwali. MCD employees have not received their salary for three months. Even on the day before Diwali, employees and teachers had demonstrated at the civic centre. The MCD employees expected that the BJP leaders would have a change of heart and their salary would come before the festival. But, until now, not a single employee has received their salary in their account.



Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Durgesh Pathak said, the Aam Aadmi Party had also gheraoed the BJP at the civic centre against non-payment of salaries to MCD employees and pension to retired employees for the last three months. Without salary, how will the employees celebrate Bhaiya Dooj and Chhath? On the day of Diwali and Govardhan Puja, the stoves stayed unlit. Now how will they give gifts to sisters on Bhaiya Dooj?



The BJP ruled MCD is filling the pockets of private contractors with the hard-earned money of the employees. The workers who are engaged in keeping Delhi clean day and night are concerned about the health of the people of Delhi. But today it has become difficult for them to even light the stove in their own home. At a time when everyone's celebrating festivals in their homes, the MCD employees don't even have any ration left in theirs, he added.



He said, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has ruled the corporation for the last 15 years, has only exploited the MCD employees. Every time the BJP contests elections, it promises in the manifesto that it would ensure that the employees are given their bonuses and salaries on time. Diwali is considered to be the biggest festival of Hindus. During this, forget bonuses and sweets, they are not even ready to pay their salary. The employees have not received their salary for three months. All the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party are holding Diwali Milan ceremonies, but refuse to pay these employees.



Durgesh Pathak said, the BJP-ruled MCD is not paying salaries to the sanitation staff, DBC employees, teachers, doctors and nurses even during the festive season. They are filling the pockets of private contractors with the hard-earned money of these people. The workers who are engaged in keeping Delhi clean day and night are concerned about the health of the people of Delhi. But today it has become difficult for them to even light the stove in their own home. These employees have not received a salary for three months, for which BJP ruled in MCD is responsible."

(Disclaimer: Brand desk content)
Chandigarh: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had yesterday (November 5) withdrawn his resignation from the post of Punjab Congress chief, but Sidhu has demanded Punjab Advocate General APS Deol resign from his appointed post for representing two accused cops in the 2015 sacrilege and police firing case. Now, Deol has hit back at Sidhu and said that the latter is "obstructing the functioning of the government and Office of the Advocate General."

Slamming Sidhu for his "repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the State Government to ensure justice in the 'Drugs matter' and the 'Sacrilege cases'", Deol said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu is spreading misinformation to gain political advantage over his political colleagues."

He also added that there is "a concerted attempt by vested interests to malign the functioning of the Congress Party in view of coming elections on Punjab for their selfish plitical gain by politicising the constitutional office of the Advocate General of Punjab."

Meanwhile on Saturday (November 6), Sidhu visited a gurdwara in Faridkot and prayed that those involved in the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 be given exemplary punishment that will be "a deterrent for generations to come". Sidhu offered prayers at the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara in Faridkot from where a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen in 2015.

During a press conference on Friday, Sidhu had questioned the Charanjit Singh Channi-led state government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in sacrilege cases and making public a special task force report in drug cases in the past 50 days. Sidhu also said that he would assume charge as Punjab Congress chief the day the new advocate general and a panel for the appointment of the new director general of police is appointed.

The Amritsar East legislator has opposed the appointment of state Advocate General APS Deol and Director General of Police Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, considered as Channi's choices.

While Sahota was the head of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the previous SAD-BJP government to probe the sacrilege incidents, Deol had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police six years ago, in cases related to sacrilege incidents and police firing on protesters.

The previous SAD-BJP government had handed over the three cases -- theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book being found at Bargari -- to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Congress government, however, had handed over the probe to an SIT of the Punjab Police in September 2018 after the state assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases.

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NEW DELHI: The Kejriwal Government is leaving no stone unturned in its battle against COVID-19. The Delhi Cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved a budget of Rs 1,544 crore to bolster health systems. In this direction, Delhis fight against COVID-19 will get stronger after Delhi Cabinets nod to the states own Emergency COVID Response Package.

This budget will be spent on further enhancing testing and labs, procuring supplies, mobilizing additional human resources, increasing health facilities in the hospitals and managing Covid Care Centres among others. The CM said that as a responsible government, we are taking all measures and steps necessary in this fight against COVID. He added that in view of the advent of a possible wave of COVID, the Delhi Government is trying its best to strengthen its health systems and preparedness at every level. Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that this move will further enhance the management of resources in Delhi and prove to be crucial in the advent of any future wave of COVID.

A cabinet meeting was held today at the Delhi Secretariat under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. In this meeting all the ministers of the Kejriwal Government including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain along with the Chief Secretary were present. The cabinet was of the consensus that the corona is not over yet and a third wave can be expected. Thus, in this fight against COVID-19, there should not be any hesitations with respect to the control and prevention of the spread of COVID-19. In this direction, the Delhi Cabinet unanimously approved a budget of Rs 1544.24 crore for the State ECRP 2021-22 to further strengthen the fight against Corona.

Trying our best to strengthen health systems of Delhi in view of the possible waves in the future: Kejriwal

Talking about the criticality of the move, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, as a responsible government, we are taking all measures and steps necessary in this fight against COVID. In view of the advent of a possible wave of COVID, the Delhi Government is trying its best to strengthen its health systems and preparedness at every level.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain stressed upon the need for the states own package to combat COVID and said, As a caring and sensitive administration, the Kejriwal Government is going head to head against COVID in order to protect the people of Delhi. We are now further bolstering our battle against the Coronavirus through the State Emergency COVID Response Package. This package will further enhance the management of resources in Delhi and prove to be crucial in the advent of any future wave of COVID.

The Kejriwal Government has now taken necessary steps to prepare a State ECRP which will allow expenditure on all the long term & short term activities to manage COVID-19 in Delhi as per the plans and policies of the Delhi Government. For the fiscal year 2021-22, a total budget of Rs 1,544 crore has been allocated for the State ECRP.

Testing, Labs, Covid Care Centres, Hospitals to be enhanced monumentally under the State ECRP

Of the total budget Rs 415 Crores will be used for the strengthening of COVID-19 Testing and Labs. Rs 445 Crores will be allotted for Procurement of Supplies. A budget of Rs 280 Crore will help bolster Health Facilities and Hospitals along with an amount of Rs 125 Crores that will aid the Management of Covid Care Centres.

Kejriwal Governments State Level Task Force to making preparations to battle the next possible wave of COVID-19

It is noteworthy that Delhi has experienced four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, which include two minor peaks, but as per the national perception, there were only two major COVID-19 case surges in India. The last surge of COVID-19 cases during April 2021-June 2021 was the biggest. The experts are anticipating a third wave of COVID-19 cases in India, including Delhi, bigger than the earlier surges of COVID-19 cases. The Delhi Government in that view had constituted a State Level Task Force under State Nodal Officer and several task based sub committees to prepare for management of probable third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi.

Over 6800 beds being added to government hospitals

The Kejriwal Government is committed to enhancing the infrastructure of Delhi Governments hospitals. The health infrastructure of the city is being strengthened on a rapid scale, and the focus is on high-quality treatment that is easily accessible to all the people of Delhi. 6836 ICU beds will be added in 7 hospitals in Delhi. After which the capacity of ICU beds in Delhi will increase to seventeen thousand. The Cabinet had given its approval to this project under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The new beds will be set up at Sarita Vihar, Shalimar Bagh, Sultanpuri, Kirari, Raghubir Nagar, GTB Hospital and Chacha Nehru Children's Hospital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that there are about 10,000 ICU beds in government hospitals in Delhi. With the addition of new 6800 beds, the capacity of ICU beds will increase by almost 70 percent. In the same prospect, the addition of these beds will not only ramp up the ICU bed facilities by 70% but also be monumental in achieving the target of 37,000 beds in the state.

Kejriwal government making Delhi self-sufficient in terms of oxygen

Despite a sharp drop in the rate of COVID in Delhi, the Kejriwal government is working on a war footing to strengthen the health infrastructure in view of its potential threat. In view of the previous oxygen crisis in Delhi, the Kejriwal government is making its government hospitals self-sufficient in the matter of oxygen. The Kejriwal government has taken a pledge that there will be no shortage of oxygen in any hospital in Delhi. The Delhi government is setting up PSA oxygen plants in Delhi hospitals to reduce the dependence of hospitals on taking oxygen from outside and other hospitals can also refill oxygen cylinders from these plants during emergencies. During the last wave of Corona, the demand for oxygen in Delhi had increased and many hospitals had to deal with the shortage of oxygen. In order that such a situation does not arise during any crisis in future, the Kejriwal government is making Delhi self-sufficient in the matter of oxygen. 73 PSA plants with a capacity of 77.80 MT are being installed in Delhi Government hospitals. All the plants will be commissioned by the end of November 2021.

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New Delhi: Two days after Diwali, the Air Quality Index of the national capital continues to remain in the severe category. As a thick blanket of smog shrouded the skies of Delhi on Saturday (November 6, 2021) as well, the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research informed that Delhi`s overall air quality was found to be in the severe category with the overall AQI standing at 533.

Air Quality Index (AQI) from Delhi - PM10 in Connaught Place at 654, PM 2.5 at 628; PM10 is at 382 and PM2.5 at 341 near Janta Mantar and PM2.5 is at 374 near ITO pic.twitter.com/yeyajUMXeA  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2021

Normally, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Earlier on Friday, the Capitals overall air quality had plunged into the upper end of the very poor category, SAFAR informed.

"Relief is expected only from the evening of November 7 but AQI will fluctuate within the Very Poor range," it said.

Amid the poor visibility and bad AQI levels, several residents of Delhi complained of itchy throats and watery eyes. Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, while speaking to ANI revealed that the pollution levels are dangerous for the elderly people as well as COVID recovered patients.

Dr Seth said, "These are really dangerous levels. AQI (Air Quality Index) levels are especially dangerous for the elderly and those with lung problems and heart disease. Pollution itself leads to chest congestion and bronchospasm. Those with Asthma, bronchitis will start getting worse. It itself predisposes to further chest infections, viral infections and cases of pneumonia. We see a lot of these happening when pollution rises."

(With Agency inputs)

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New Delhi: India has sent 100,000 kg of Nano Nitrogen fertilizer to Sri Lanka in the backdrop of the latter barring the use of contaminated Chinese fertilizers. Sri Lanka had barred Chinese organic fertilizer from unloading after it was found to be contaminated with bacteria, a development that has miffed Beijing which was quick to blacklist People's Bank of Sri Lanka in a quid pro quo move. The People's Bank is the second largest commercial bank in Sri Lanka.

The Indian supplies reached on two Indian Air force Globemaster aircrafts on Thursday morning. The supplies were requested by the Sri Lankan Government. A release by the Indian high commission in Colombo said, "The deployment was essentially to support the Government of Sri Lanka's initiative towards Organic farming and to expedite availability of Nano Nitrogen Fertilizer to the Sri Lankan farmers".

The C17 Aircraft operations were coordinated in close liaison with Sri Lanka Air Force, The Indian mission pointed that the close coordination between the two services led to the "quick deployment....and expeditious disembarkation" of IAF aircrafts. The Indian crew was received by Chief of Staff (CO) Sri Lanka Air Force AVM Prasanna Payoe.

Not for the first time, New Delhi has reached out to Colombo as part of its "Neighbourhood First' policy" and 'First Responder'' in the region. Indian Navy and Coast Guard have promptly responded to several crises in Sri Lanka such as containing the fire onboard MT New Diamond and MV XPress Pearl. India also sent 100 T Liquid Medical Oxygen during the fourth wave of Covid pandemic via INS Shakti. Supplies of vaccines and medicines from India to Sri Lanka have been key element of ties amid the COVID-19 crisis. New Delhi has provided 1 million doses of Covishield vaccine to Sri Lanka with 50% of it being gifted by India.

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New Delhi: India's National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval held talks with Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron as part of annual India-France Strategic Dialogue. The Indian and French sides during the meet discussed number of issues including long term challenges in the Indo Pacific region, the situation in Afghanistan, Africa, Southeast Asia and West Asia and issues like terror and threats in maritime, cyber and space domains.

The 35th session of the Indo-French strategic dialogue come in the backdrop of the bilateral meet between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President on the sidelines of G20 summit in Rome. The two sides reaffirmed the vision of expressed by the two countries that their strategic partnership has a vital role to play in advancing peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, based on democratic values and a common belief in strategic autonomy, rule of law, multipolarity and multilateralism.

During the talks, France stressed its continuing commitment to the Indo Pacific region, as a resident power, and partnership with India as a major pillar of its Indo Pacific strategy, according to release by Indian embassy in Paris.

The Indian NSA reiterated that France is one of Indias premier global and Indo Pacific partners. India welcomed EUs Indo Pacific strategy and looked forward to French presidency of the EU in the first half of 2022 which will be an opportunity to give further shape to EUs engagement in the Indo Pacific region, including security, connectivity, sustainability and economic development.

The development comes days after the AUKUS pact signed between US, UK and Australia, which will help Canberra acquire a nuclear submarine. The development miffed France as Paris called the development as "stab in the back".

France's engagement in the Indo Pacific region has esclated tensions, as India hoped for an early patch up between two of its key partners - France and Australia. All the three countries are also part of a trilateral engagement, that since the Aukus development hasn't seen much of action.

Doval also met French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly. "The meeting underscored the importance of the mutual trust between France and India, as well as that of the Indo-French partnership in working to strengthen multilateralism and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law," a release by French foreign ministry read.

Climate crisis was also discussed during the various meetings. The international solar alliance is India-France initiative that harnesses the energy of the sun was proposed by Indian PM Modi at the Paris climate summit in 2015.
New Delhi: Responding to the World Health Organization`s (WHO) warning of a new COVID-19 wave, AIIMS Doctor and Epidemiologist Dr Sanjay K Rai on Friday (November 5, 2021) said that it is unlikely if a large population has already been already infected by the virus.

The WHO had earlier warned of a massive COVID-19 wave in Europe and Central Asia. It also said that over 5,00,000 deaths (combined) are likely in this region by February 2022.

"When large populations get infected, massive waves of the virus are unlikely. Natural infections lead to natural immunity which leads to a decline in the number of cases. Vaccinations also reduce disease severity and deaths. It will happen in Russia and Central Asia. A wave of infections is going on there, but this will reduce by February. This happened everywhere, including in India. A large amount of the population was infected, then cases started to decline rapidly. Whenever the cases rise rapidly, they decline quickly too," he said.

He, however, said it was likely that the regions could touch the mark of 5,00,000 deaths by February and even vaccinations would not bring the rising deaths to a sudden halt. He added that WHO was losing its credibility on the global stage.

"It has been giving controversial statements. It has not been able to figure out the origins of COVID-19. It took them over 1.5 years to understand that natural infections are giving protection to the people but they are still not giving much weightage to it," he said.

Amid increasing COVID-19 cases in Europe and Central Asia, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday warned of rising cases and deaths.

According to the WHO, every single country in Europe and Central Asia is facing a real threat of COVID-19 resurgence or is already fighting it.

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New Delhi: At least 10 people lost their lives and several were injured in a massive fire that broke out at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Ahmednagar Civil Hospital in Maharashtra on Saturday (November 6).

District Collector Rajendra Bhosale, as per ANI, said, A total of 10 people died in a fire incident at Ahmednagar District Hospital.

Maharashtra | A total of 10 people died in a fire incident at Ahmednagar District Hospital, said District Collector Rajendra Bhosale pic.twitter.com/zrUnAMKNMj  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2021

As soon as the fire ripped through the hospital, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot to control the blaze which was spreading to other adjoining wards, IANS reported. "Hospital authorities, aided by locals and rescue teams, managed to shift many patients from the neighbouring wards as a precaution," an official of the Ahmednagar Police Control said.

Senior police, district and fire brigade officials are present at the spot where the rescue and relief operations are underway.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik has assured strict action against those responsible for the mishap. "Action will be taken against those who are guilty. There were clear instructions for fire audit of all district hospitals, in such a situation, if the fire audit of this hospital was not done, then who was responsible and if the fire audit was completed, then whose fault is it? These things will also be investigated."

#Maharashtra minister #NawabMalik assures strict action against those responsible for fire breakout at a hospital in the state pic.twitter.com/7ppfCPuw75  Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) November 6, 2021

At least 20 patients were undergoing treatment in the civil hospitals ICU, while scores of relatives rushed to the hospital for information on their kin, eyewitnesses told IANS. The fire was brought under control around 1 p.m. leaving the ICU ward charred.

(With agency inputs)

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Mumbai: Mumbai's Esplanade Court on Saturday sent dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze to police custody till November 13 in connection with an extortion case.The crime branch has filed an application for recording of the statement of a witness in the extortion case under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 164. The court has allowed the application and statement to be recorded on November 8.

Earlier on November 1, Esplanade Court had sent Sachin Waze to Crime Branch's custody till November 6 in connection with an extortion case. However, the Crime Branch had sought 10-day custody of Waze in the matter. A case of extortion was registered on July 23 against Sachin Waze, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and others at Goregaon Police Station and the investigation was handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch.

The Chandiwal Judicial Commission had issued a bailable warrant against Param Bir Singh, in connection with an alleged corruption case of Rs 100 crore.Singh had alleged that former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crores every month.

NIA arrested Waze in March in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai. Waze is the prime accused of placing an explosives-laden vehicle near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's house Antilia in Mumbai on February 25.

Waze was also accused of the murder of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the vehicle that was found containing explosives materials outside Antilia. Hiren was found dead on March 5 in Thane.Waze, former Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), was later transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in Mansukh Hiren's death case.Waze was dismissed from service in May 2021.

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New Delhi: As Uttar Pradesh gears up for Assembly elections next year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday (November 5) said he will contest the polls if BJP decides.

The UP CM told reporters, "I have always contested elections and I will contest from wherever the party will say.

He added, "The party has a parliamentary board and it decides who will contest from where. Adityanath is currently a member of the UP Legislative Council.

Further, he claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government has fulfilled all its promises made in the run-up to the last assembly polls in 2017.

Adityanath said that during his tenure the law and order situation has improved in UP, adding that all festivals, including Diwali, were celebrated peacefully. "Diwali used to be celebrated earlier too and Kumbh Mela was not organised for the first time in the state. But Uttar Pradesh was struggling with an image crisis and after 2017, the state got over the image crisis. The benefits of different schemes have reached the last man in society," PTI quoted him as saying.

The UP CM listing the achievement of his government said, "About 4.5 lakh people got jobs in a transparent manner during this period and no one could raise a finger on the recruitment process."

Meanwhile, after the Central government slashed the excise duty on petrol and diesel, the Uttar Pradesh government lowered the VAT on the two fuels making them cheaper by Rs 12 per litre in the state. Chief Minister`s Office on Wednesday announced, "Prices of diesel and petrol in UP will be reduced by Rs 12 per litre each."

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: The National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) released notification for the application for recruitment on 183 Non Executive posts. Interested and eligible candidates can through the official website: nationalfertilizers.com.

Candidates can apply till November 10, 2021. Candidates can apply for only one particular post.

NFL Recruitment 2021: Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria for various posts is different, candidates can check the educational qualification and age limit through in the Detailed Notification here.

NFL Recruitment 2021: Selection Procedure

The candidates for appointment shall be made purely on the basis of marks obtained in online test and subject to verification of certificates/testimonials etc. There will be no interview for the Non - Executive (Worker) level post.

NFL Recruitment 2021: Application Fees

The application charges for the registration are Rs 200/- along with applicable bank charges. SC/ST/PwBD/ExSM/Departmental category candidates exempted from application fee.

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New Delhi: Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik on Friday (November 5, 2021) continued his attack against Sameer Wankhede and said that 'this is just the beginning' after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official was dropped from the drugs case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan.

Taking to Twitter, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said, "Sameer Wankhede removed from 5 cases including the Aryan Khan case. There are 26 cases in all that need to be probed. This is just the beginning... a lot more has to be done to clean this system and we will do it."

Sameer Wankhede removed from 5 cases including the Aryan Khan case.

There are 26 cases in all that need to be probed.

This is just the beginning... a lot more has to be done to clean this system and we will do it.  Nawab Malik     (@nawabmalikncp) November 5, 2021

The anti-drugs agency has now transferred the investigation in the controversial cruise drugs matter and five other cases from the Sameer Wankhede-headed Mumbai unit headed to an SIT. Officials have cited 'administrative grounds' for the decision to transfer the cases, which also include the one involving the son-in-law of Nawab Malik.

Wankhede, who is facing several personal and service-related allegations, will continue to be the Mumbai zone director of the agency.

The NCB issued a statement on Friday and said, "No officer or officers have been removed from their present roles and they will continue to assist the operations branch investigation as required until any specific orders are issued to the contrary."

The agency reiterated that it functions across India as a single integrated agency.

This is to be noted that NCB had arrested Aryan Khan and at least 19 others in the drugs on cruise case on the intervening night of October 2-3.

Wankhede is facing a departmental vigilance probe after an independent witness in the case alleged an extortion bid by those involved in the investigation. Wankhede, however, had denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier on Tuesday, he had said, "The drug mafia is trying to frame him and his family in false cases."

Malik, on the other hand, has launched a tirade against Wankhede and has levelled several allegations against him. He has alleged that Wankhede was born a Muslim but he forged documents, including a caste certificate, to pass off as a Scheduled Caste (SC) person to get recruitment under quota after clearing the UPSC exams.

Meanwhile, Malik has said that he had demanded an SIT probe to investigate Wankhede for 'kidnapping of' and 'ransom demand' from Aryan Khan.

"Now 2 SITs are constituted (state & centre), let us see who brings out the skeletons from the closet of Wankhede and exposes him and his nefarious private army," he has tweeted.

I had demanded an S.I.T probe to investigate Sameer Dawood Wankhede for kidnapping of & ransom demand from Aryan Khan.

Now 2 S.I.Ts are constituted (state & centre), let us see who brings out the skeletons from the closet of Wankhede and exposes him and his nefarious private army  Nawab Malik     (@nawabmalikncp) November 6, 2021

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Bollywood actress Ananya Panday's cousin Alanna Panday is finally engaged to her longtime boyfriend Ivor and the pictures from their proposal is straight out of a dreamy rom-com.

The social media star had taken to Instagram, on Friday (November 5), to share scenic pictures of Ivor getting down on one knee and proposing to her.

In one of the videos, Alanna had shared, we get an aerial view of the proposal with 'Marry me' written in huge, bold letters on the sand and a big heart-shaped boundary surrounding the couple as they embraced each other.

While Alanna is seen wearing an off-shoulder bikini top with a frilly long skirt, Ivor looks dapper in a striped shirt.

Take a look at the beach proposal:

Alanna Panday is Ananya Pandays uncle Chikki Panays daughter. Chikki is Chunkey Panday's brother. Alanna's mother is fitness expert Deanne Panday. Alannas younger brother Ahaan Panday also has a huge fan following on the internet.

Alanna often posts her hot photos from dreamy photoshoots on her social media accounts.

Earlier, in one of her YouTube videos, Alanna opened up about living in with her boyfriend Ivor and revealed that her family is very open-minded and accepting and did not have any problem with her decision. She even said that Ivor is very close to her mother Deanne.
New Delhi: Social media queen Mira Rajput Kapoor recently took to Instagram stories to express her shock at the amount of smog that choked Delhi's skies after Diwali.

The celebrity wrote that this city (Delhi) can't be her home and that people need to be more mindful of air pollution, especially during Diwali. Mira also encouraged support groups to create more awareness around the practice of stubble burning.

She wrote, "This can't be my home... Please let's do our bit. Don't burn crackers, segregate your waste (whatever isn't gets burnt) and support groups that are creating awareness about the stubble burning."

Take a look at her story:

Two days after Diwali, the Air Quality Index of the national capital continues to remain in the severe category.

As a thick blanket of smog shrouded the skies of Delhi on Saturday (November 6, 2021) as well, the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research-informed that Delhi`s overall air quality was found to be in the severe category with the overall AQI standing at 533.

Recently, Mira Rajput returned from her Maldives trip along with her husband Shahid Kapoor and their kids. Their vacay photos and videos had created quite a strong buzz online.

Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput got married 5 years back on July 7 at a Gurudwara in Gurgaon. Theirs was a family affair with only close friends in attendance. They are one of the power couples in the Hindi movie business and also a regular at various fashion dos.

The duo got blessed with a baby girl named Misha on August 26, 2016, and welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Zain in September 2018.
New Delhi: In what could be a post-Diwali delight, lakhs of central government employees are expected to receive a major hike in their salaries starting from January 2022. Under the 7th Pay Commission, the salary of the employees will increase due to a hike in the house rent allowance (HRA), a major part of the salary, especially of government employees.

The Finance Ministry has already begun its planning on increasing the HRA of central government employees, according to a report by Jagran.com. The move is reportedly expected to benefit more than 11.56 lakh employees working with Indian Railways.

If the Central government approves the proposal, then the government will start crediting the increased HRA starting from January 2022. The Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) and the National Federation of Railwaymen (NFIR) have been demanding the implementation of increased HRA.

Harishankar Tiwari, former president of AG Office Brotherhood and general secretary of the All India Accounts and Audit Committee, told Jagran News that the increase in dearness allowance will increase HRA and Transport Allowance (TA).

In the 7th Pay Commission, salaries of employees increase when the Centre rolls out DA or HRA hike. Tiwari pointed out that according to the 7th Pay Commission, HRA is due to increase when the DA reaches above 25% of the basic salary. The HRA will increase in the rate from 8, 16, 24 per cent to 9, 18, and 27 per cent.

He also highlighted that if an employees basic pay is Rs 30,000, then the benefit will now stand in a range of about Rs Rs 5400 to Rs 8100 per month. Moreover, the latest updates have been fixed at a minimum of Rs 5400 per month. Also Read: Fixed Deposits: Now you can get up to 7% interest on 3-year FDs; heres how

HRA is a crucial salary component paid to employees by an employer towards the accommodation cost of living in that city. Also Read: Photo app sues Facebooks Meta for copying its main feature for Instagram

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New Delhi: To escape the Covid-19 pandemic, most individuals are shifting away from cash and toward digital payment - online banking. As a result of this, the majority of money transactions have moved to net banking, which has attracted cybercriminals and resulted in a surge in cyber fraud!

In light of this, HDFC Bank has issued a warning to its account holders about the increased possibility of cyber fraud. Not only that, but HDFC Bank has also provided recommendations on how to keep safe while banking online. When cybercrime occurs, most of the time it is account holders who mistakenly reveal sensitive information about their bank accounts to strangers.

Account holders should be aware that fraudsters have gotten more sophisticated and have learned a variety of methods for stealing money online. The number of cybercrime cases increased by 11.8 percent in 2020 over the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Cyber frauds

As online shopping, e-transactions, and internet usage rise throughout the holiday season, the risk of cyber fraud grows. Cyber criminals attempt to steal money in a variety of ways:

1. Pretending to be bankers,

2. insurance agents

3. healthcare workers

4. telecom workers

5. Government officials

Goals:

1. Get your KYC information,

2. Re-do your KYC,

3. Offering new jobs

4. Threaten to block your account

5. Claiming fake emergency.

Here's how to stop cyber fraud:

As a result, HDFC Bank used Twitter to warn consumers about cyber crime. According to the HDFC Bank statement, While shopping online, stay alert & practice #MoohBandhRakho when asked for banking information from unknown sources. Avoid giving out sensitive information on unverified payment pages.

1. Never give your PIN or OTP to anyone

Remember that receiving money in their bank account does not require you to validate your account with a PIN or an OTP. Any request for an OTP/PIN should immediately raise an alarm. Remember that your bank or any other institution would never ask for personal information.

2. Do not click on unknown links

Not everything that glitters is gold. If the offers appear to be too good to be true, they most likely are; shun them. You may be sent to phishing websites if you click on questionable links, placing you at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.

3. Use only official bank websites

Customers are frequently given incorrect customer service numbers, leading them to feel they are speaking with a bank or insurance company staff. Before contacting them, double-check their phone numbers.

4. Never make payments on unknown portals

Fraudsters frequently try to clone official websites, which require customers to submit their bank account information, debit cards, credit cards, and other personal information upon registration, resulting in more scams. Be wary of such websites; double-check the logos, user interface, and other characteristics to see if the site is genuine or a clone. If you suspect phishing, never give out any personal information.

If you stay alert and follow these simple steps, your money will be safe with you, Ravi Santhanam, Chief Marketing Officer of HDFC bank said in a statement.




New Delhi: The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) pension programme, which replaced the earlier Swavalamban scheme in 2015, guarantees a particular payment to the beneficiary after they reach the age of 60, based on their monthly contributions. It is a positive social security law that focuses particularly on workers in the unorganised sector. Furthermore, all you need to do is download the APY app from the Google Play Store to get started.

The new app allows customers to view their APY account information online. The subscriber can get the most up-to-date account information by going online and using a user-friendly interface. Subscribers can access all of their account information from the convenience of their own homes. Subscribers can also check their account balances, download transaction statements, and see recent contributions made to their account.

Eligibility

The government of India has made the Atal Pension Yojana's qualifying requirements as simple as possible so that as many individuals as possible can participate in the scheme and benefit from it. Three basic eligibility criteria for the APY pension system are as follows:

It is necessary for you to be an Indian citizen.

When applying for the plan, you must be between the ages of 18 and 40.

Any bank must need you to have a KYC compliant bank account.

To apply for APY, you only need to meet these basic requirements. However, having a legitimate and operating bank account with the minimum required balance is one of the scheme's basic conditions. It is the individual's responsibility to maintain a minimum balance in their bank account.

APY Features:

Contributions can be paid monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly, and the amount is determined by the age, frequency of the scheme's instalments, and the desired amount after 60 years. The contribution, on the other hand, rises with the contributor's age.

The APY pension system offers five alternative monthly pension options, based on their instalments: Rs. 1,000, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 4,000, and Rs. 5,000.

One of the most important elements to remember is that the contributor cannot withdraw funds prior to the scheme's conclusion, with the exception of contributions and interest gained on them, which may be taken in exceptional situations, such as terminal illness.

APY applications can be submitted both online and offline. Applicants for the offline applications must go to their local bank branch and fill out a form.

The subscriber is responsible for paying account maintenance fees. These, as well as the interest earned on the investments, will be removed from the account.

In the event of non-compliance, a penalty of Rs 1 per Rs 100 of monthly contribution would be imposed.

APY pension scheme benefits

Death benefits

Because the spouse is the default nominee, if the contributor or subscriber to the scheme dies, the spouse will be eligible to receive benefits under the APY. In the event of the contributor's and his or her spouse's death, the predetermined corpus amount will be distributed to the named nominee.

Retirement benefits

As the name implies, the monthly pension will be paid out automatically to the subscriber's account after they reach the age of 60, based on the payments made by the subscriber.

Tax benefits

To encourage people to engage in the plan, the Indian government offers tax incentives on APY contributions. In addition to the deduction under Section 80C, investments or gifts to the Atal Pension Yojana are eligible for a deduction of Rs. 50,000 under Section 80CCD (1B). The subscriber will be able to reduce their taxable income as a result of this.

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New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) customers can enjoy a free Rs 2 lakh insurance for free of cost. Customers who had opened bank accounts with the state-owned lender before August 28, 2018, can avail of the insurance without any additional cost.

Moreover, customers who had opened their Jan Dhan accounts after August 28, 2018, can avail themselves of the insurance benefits. However, one of the most important conditions for receiving the benefits is that the insurer should have applied for an SBI RuPay Jan Dhan Card.

New customers cannot claim the insurance for free by simply opening the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account. The insurance is given to the nominee on the death of the account holder outside of India.

Started by the Central Government, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is aimed at improving financial inclusion in the country. The scheme aims to provide several banking facilities such as availability of basic savings bank account, access to need-based credit, remittances facility, insurance and pension to the excluded sections or people with lower incomes.

Customers who had opened their bank accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana dont need to deposit any funds to avail of the insurance. All they need to do is to have a Rupay Debit cards, which offers several other benefits.

For availing of the sum assured under the free policy, the nominee will have to fill the claim form along with attaching a copy of the death certificate of the SBI customer who had the Rupay Jan Dhan card. Also Read: Modified iPhone X With USB-C port selling on eBay, bids cross Rs 70 lakh

Other documents that are required while availing of the sum insured include a copy of the FIR regarding the accident, postmortem report, FSL report, and a copy of the deceased persons Aadhar card. The nominee will have to submit the documents within 90 days of the accident to claim the insurance money. Also Read: Google Maps reaches 10 billion Play Store downloads

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New Delhi: NASA will launch a mission to attempt a unique feat that is to slam into a tiny asteroid and slightly speed up its orbit. The mission is part its active planetary defense known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and it will be launched in late November. The DART mission is planned to hit a non-threatening asteroid named Dimorphos, a moonlet asteroid.

As part of planetary defense it seeks to detect large asteroids that could potentially collide with Earth, evaluate the risk these rocks pose and attempt to avert calamity, if required. DART will test one technique for that last step by slamming into the smaller moon of an asteroid while humans watch closely to see how much the moon's orbital period shortens.

"If there was an asteroid that was a threat to the Earth, you'd want to do this technique many years in advance, decades in advance. You would just give this asteroid a small nudge, which would add up to a big change in its future position, and then the asteroid and the Earth wouldn't be on the collision course," Nancy Chabot, scientist and DART coordination lead at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, said at a prelaunch news conference on Thursday.

The planned planetary defense comes in two phases. The first requires searching the skies for as many space rocks as possible, then tracking asteroids closely enough that scientists can model trajectories and compare them to Earth's orbit long into the future. As per NASA estimate, scientists have identified more than 27,000 near-Earth asteroids, of which nearly 10,000 are larger than 460 feet (140 meters) across, which experts worry may cause major regional damage.

While the second phase is to attempt to deflect the asteroid's path to prevent humans from going extinct like the dinosaurs.

Historically, a similar astriod impact had wiped out most dinosaurs such creatures about 66 million years ago that specialists in planetary defense are trying to avoid.

The team hopes that mission will give scientists real data about how a kinetic impactor approach to planetary defense might work in the real world.
New Delhi: Scammers have discovered a new technique to steal your wallet credentials, as if the volatile nature of cryptocurrency wasn't awful enough.

Scammers copied prominent crypto wallets and platforms, such as Phantom and MetaMask, according to Check Point Research (CPR). When the victim clicked on the advertisement, they were redirected to a website that mimicked the prominent wallet brand's interface and proceeded to steal their wallet login information.

According to CPR, this resulted in the theft of more than $500,000 in cryptocurrency over the weekend. CPR detected 11 hacked wallets containing amounts ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, but the scammers were able to extract some of the cash before they were discovered.

In a matter of days, we witnessed the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crypto," said Oded Vanunu, Head of Products Vulnerabilities Research at CPR.

"We estimate that over $500k worth of cyrpto was stolen this past weekend alone. I believe were at the advent of a new cyber crime trend, where scammers will use Google Search as a primary attack vector to reach crypto wallets, instead of traditionally phishing through email," Vanunu added.

Each fraudulent website included "careful messaging and keyword selection," according to Vanunu, which allowed scammers to trick Google Search and appear at the top of the results. The websites to which the victims were directed were meticulously duplicated, even to the messaging of the brand.

"Unfortunately, I expect this to become a fast-growing trend in cyber crime. I strongly urge the crypto community to double check the URLs they click on and avoid clicking on Google Ads related to crypto wallets at this time," said Vanunu.

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New Delhi: In what could be an interesting development related to Karnatakas Bitcoin scandal, the main accused has been arrested by the Karnataka Police on Saturday (November 6) in Bengaluru.

The accused was arrested by the police from a five-star hotel. J.B. Nagar police highlighted that it got information about Sriki staying at the hotel by a staffer. The hotel staff had informed the police that Sriki was involved in a brawl.

Upon reaching the hotel, the Police picked Sriki up for questioning. He was released two months ago on bail but his whereabouts werent informed to the police. According to an IANS report, he is said to be the kingpin behind the Bitcoin scandal that rattled the political circles of Karnataka. Also Read: Delhi government extends free ration scheme for next six months

At the five star hotel, accused Sriki was found quarrelling with one Vishnu Bhat and also got into a brawl with the security officer, according to police, which picked both Sriki and Vishnu Bhat from the premises. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Heres how to retrieve lost or forgotten Aadhaar number online
New Delhi: Bigg Boss 15 is all set to become spicier with OTT stars Raqesh Bapat and Neha Bhasin entering the house. The captaincy task brought in fireworks on Diwali as contestants fought to get a chance to see the wonderful gifts their families have sent them.

While in the task, Shamita gets turned down by Umar in the captaincy task and finally, she threw her gift away. Likewise, after the task got over, Umar wins it and is declared the next captain of the house.

In tonight's episode, we will see Neha Bhasin and Raqesh Bapat entering the house while everyone cheers for them. Raqesh can be seen in Big G's costume and surprises his special one, Shamita. This time, tears of happiness start flowing down her face as she hugs him! The new contestants greet everyone before getting down straight to business.

In the sneak-peek, we saw how Neha informed Shamita about Karan not being pleased with their arrival in the house and that he and Tejasswi are loyal to no one. Pratik has had a great rapport with Neha, but when he tries to come and talk to her, she behaves coldly with him. I dont want to be in that space again," she declares.

Has Pratiks friendship with Neha come to an end?

To find out, keep watching 'BIGG BOSS', Monday to Friday at 10.30 pm and Saturday-Sunday at 9.30 pm only on COLORS!
Agartala: Tripura police on Saturday booked 102 social media account holders under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), criminal conspiracy and forgery charges and served notices to the authorities of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to freeze their accounts and inform all particulars of those persons to it, a senior police official said.

This comes on the heels of Tripura Police registering a case against four Supreme Court lawyers under the stringent act and various sections of the IPC for allegedly promoting communal disharmony with their social media posts on the recent violence targeting Muslims, a senior official said on Friday.

Tripura police on Saturday served notices to the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, USA, by the officer-in-charge of West Agartala police station asking its authority to freeze the accounts of the accused immediately for spreading objectionable news.

"Some persons/organization are publishing/posting distorted and objectionable news items/statements in Twitter regarding the recent clash and alleged attack upon mosques of Muslilm communities in the state. In publishing these news items/posts, the persons/organizations have been found using photographs/videos of some other incidents, fabricated statements/commentary for promoting enmity between religious groups/ communities in presence of a criminal conspiracy. The posts have potential to flare up communal tension in Tripura state between people of different religious communities, which may result into communal riots", the notice served to the authorities of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube said.

The cases against the social media account holders were registered at the same West Agartala police station under IPC sections 153A (promoting disharmony or feelings of enemity), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 469 (forgery), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine a forged document), 503 (threatening), 504 (intentional insult) and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), he said.

Similar notices were sent to Facebook and YouTube authorities as well, police said.

"All the 102 persons, against whom the notices were served were asked to appear before the police and clarify their position", the official said. The names of the persons who have been charged were not disclosed by police.

The superintendent of police of West Tripura district Manik Das had said that a group of Supreme Court lawyers visited Tripura on Tuesday last and after their visit it was noticed that several posts were made in social media expressing their discontent regarding recent communal incidents. "Police has registered a case and wants to know if the posts were made by them or those were fake posts," he said.

The lawyers were alleged to have claimed that the Muslim community was targeted, including women, and a mosque was vandalised.

The team had demanded appropriate police action against the attackers, those who spread rumours and officials who remained inactive during attacks that occurred in the aftermath of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh during Durga Puja this year.

The case against the four SC lawyers was registered at West Agartala police station on November 3 under various sections of IPC including 153 (a) and (b) related to promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred between different groups on the grounds of religion, race etc, 469, 504, 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), besides section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

If convicted under the tough UAPA, an offender may face imprisonment up to seven years.

The lawyers belong to different organisations including Lawyers for Democracy, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO) and the PUCL.

Notices were served to Estesham Hashmi, Supreme Court lawyer, advocate Amit Srivastav, coodinator of Lawyers for Democracy, NCHRO national secretary Ansar Indori and PUCL member Mukesh Kumar.

In the notice to the lawyers, the police had asked them to delete the social media posts and appear before the investigators by November 10.

A mosque was vandalised and two shops were set ablaze at Chamtilla during the October 26 Vishva Hindu Parishad rally, which was called to protest against the communal violence in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Three houses and a few shops, reportedly owned by Muslims, were also ransacked in nearby Rowa Bazar, the police said.

The state government had on October 29 alleged that a group from outside with vested interests had hatched a conspiracy against the administration to create unrest in Tripura and malign its image by uploading fake photographs of a burning mosque on social media after the October 26 incident.
Lucknow/Ballia: The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sought to defend his widely criticised statement equating Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and saying they helped India get freedom even as an UP minister suggested a narco test for him for "glorifying" the Pakistani leader.

As the row over the Samajwadi Party(SP) leader's comments raged, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming Yadav, described the remarks as "shameful and condemnable" and warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. His ministerial colleague Anand Swaroop Shukla also said those heaping praises on Jinnah should go to Pakistan.

Yadav on his part hit out at his detractors, asking them to read history books again.

Asked by reporters in Lucknow about his response to the row over his remarks that had kicked up a controversy ahead of the Assembly elections in UP, the former chief minister shot back, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."

Yadav's counter-attack drew a sharp response from UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who in a Hindi tweet said, "The love for Jinnah still remains intact. Akhilesh Yadav ji please tell which history books have to be read -- the Indian or the Pakistani."

On October 31, Yadav had said, "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle."

Minister Shukla told reporters in Ballia that Jinnah is responsible for the division of the country.

"Jinnah is a villain, who no Indian would like to see or listen to. Akhilesh Yadav must clarify as to under which pressure, greed, is he glorifying Jinnah?"

"I want Akhilesh Yadav to himself come forward, and get his narco test done," he said. A narco test involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in which the subject's imagination is neutralised, and they are expected to divulge true information.

Shukla further said that those raising 'zindabad' slogans in praise of Jinnah, having thoughts and feelings of Jinnah in their mind, have no place in India. "They themselves should go to Pakistan," the BJP leader added.

Speaking at a public event in Auraiya, Adityanath, without naming Yadav, said a leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country. The chief minister said the entire state should reject such "shameful and condemnable" remarks.

"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh').

"Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' (national hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to be alert of people who are trying to equate them," Adityanath said.

The SP also demanded the sacking of Shukla for accusing Yadav of getting economic support from Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

Shukla on Tuesday had said that Chief Minister Adityanath has become a challenge for the Islamic world. "Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is getting all support from them. Akhilesh is getting 'sanrakshan aur sujhav' (patronage and advice) from the ISI. It is possible that he might also be getting economic support from it."

On Friday, SP workers staged a protest at the District Collectorate building to demand the registration of a case against the minister. The opposition party has demanded that a case be registered against Shukla for making insulting remarks against the party chief, and spreading animosity in the society.

SP's Ballia district unit chief Raj Mangal Yadav, meanwhile, said there will be intense protests against the minister and that he will not be allowed to enter the district if the administration doesn't take action against him.

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FREETOWN: At least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the capital of Sierra Leone late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, local authorities said. Emergency crews worked to clear the scene on Saturday in the eastern Freetown suburb of Wellington where a burnt human body and the blackened shells of cars and motorbikes blocked the road following the crash, a Reuters reporter said.

The wounded were being treated in hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters.

Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said in a post on Facebook, although that post was later edited to remove the reference.

"We`ve got so many casualties, burnt corpses," said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. "It`s a terrible, terrible accident."

Videos shared online shortly after the explosion showed people running through clouds of thick smoke as large fires lit up the night sky. Reuters was not able immediately to verify the images.

The crash provided a major challenge for Freetown`s health service already creaking from years of underfunding. The 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic gutted its ranks of medical staff, 250 of whom died, and the system has not recovered.

Connaught Hospital was overwhelmed with the influx of patients, so some of the injured were moved to other locations, including a military hospital, said Swaray Lengor, a program manager at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"The situation at the hospital, especially Connaught hospital ... is overwhelming. Inadequate medical consumables and bed capacity," Lengor told Reuters via text. "NGO partners were requested to support with equipment, medical commodities and food."

The death toll would likely rise, he said.

Accidents with tanker trucks in Sub-Saharan Africa have previously killed scores of people who gathered at the site to collect spilled fuel and were hit by secondary blasts.

In 2019, a tanker explosion in Tanzania killed 85 people, while around 50 people were killed in a similar disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.

"My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result," President Julius Maada Bio tweeted. "My Government will do everything to support affected families."
BEIJING: Visibility in parts of Beijing was less than 200 metres (219 yards) on Friday as heavy pollution shrouded the Chinese capital, forcing the closure of some highways. Beijing issued its first heavy pollution alert for the fall and winter on Thursday, requiring the suspension of some outdoor construction, factory operations and outdoor school activities.

Visibility has been severely limited with the top of the city`s tallest buildings vanishing in the haze.

The heavily industrialised Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region often suffers from heavy smog in the fall and winter, especially on days without wind.

A cold wave arriving from Siberia over the weekend is expected to disperse the pollution.

China aims to cut concentrations of hazardous, small airborne particles known as PM2.5 by an average of 4% year on year in main cities this winter, the environment ministry said last month.

The PM2.5 level in urban areas reached as high as 234 micrograms per cubic metre on Friday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, indicating very unhealthy air.

China`s overall 2021-22 winter campaign against pollution will be waged in as many as 64 cities throughout the industrialised, smog-prone north, the ministry said in September.

China is due to host the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the nearby city of Zhangjiakou from February 4-20.

ALSO READ | DNA Exclusive: 'Swadeshi' plank hits China this Diwali, Beijing incurs losses up to Rs 50,000 crore

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Bangalore: A spy for the Chinese Ministry of State Security has been convicted by a federal jury of plotting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Yanjun Xu, the first Chinese operative extradited to the United States for trial, was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage, in addition to a count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets.

The ruling means Yanjun could face up to 60 years in prison total for all violations and fines totaling more than $5 million, according to a press release. He will be sentenced by a federal district court judge.

In a statement, FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler Jr. said the bureau was working with dozens of U.S. agencies to share information and resources to combat operations by the People`s Republic of China.

"For those who doubt the real goals of the PRC, this should be a wakeup call; they are stealing American technology to benefit their economy and military," he said.

Going back as far as 2013, Yanjun was accused of using multiple aliases to carry out economic espionage and steal trade secrets on behalf of China. Multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, including GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co, were his targets, the release said.

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New Delhi: Ocugen, Bharat Biotech's US partner, has announced that it had asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of Covaxin for children below 18. "We are pleased to announce our EUA filing to the US-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through our partners - Ocugen," tweeted Dr Raches Ella, Bharat Biotech's clinical lead for Covid-19 vaccines.

There was a tweet posted from Ocugen's social media handle as well.

Weve filed an EUA application with the @US_FDA to seek emergency use authorization of our investigational #COVID-19 vaccine candidate for children ages 2-18 in the US. It is being administered under emergency use authorization in 17 countries. Learn more: https://t.co/DjM7ORsppc pic.twitter.com/DOMKQ2P2YH  Ocugen (@Ocugen) November 5, 2021

Diwali came early to India as on Wednesday (November 3), the World Health Organisation (WHO) granted approval for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin.The approval was done on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for Emergency Use Listing (TAG-EUL), an independent advisory panel that provides recommendations to WHO on whether a COVID-19 vaccine can be listed for emergency use under the EUL procedure.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Serum Institute's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya expressed his joy as Covaxin got the WHO nod. He had said then, "WHO today granted for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Made-in-India Covaxin. On this occasion, I congratulate scientists of ICMR and Bharat Biotech (the manufacturer of Covaxin)."

Meanwhile, in the United States, Pfizer's shot is the only one approved for children under the age of 18. "Filing for Emergency Use Authorization in the US for paediatric use is a significant step toward our hope to make our vaccine candidate available here and help combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Shankar Musunuri, chairman of the board, CEO and co-founder of Ocugen was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. But whether this will get the FDA nod, only time will tell.

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New Delhi: In a bizarre incident, a 39-year-old man was rescued from inside a wall of a theatre in Syracuse, New York on Friday where he had been trapped for nearly two days. In a statement on Facebook, the Syracuse fire department said that firefighters "drilled a hole in the wall and utilised a fibre-optic camera" to determine the exact location of the trapped person.

The firefighters were called at around 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT) after a person was heard banging on the wall and pleading for help. According to local media, rescuers cut through the theatre's walls and found him trapped there naked.

John Kane, deputy chief of Syracuse fire department, told local US media that the man hid in a crawlspace for two days and was left trapped after he fell inside the wall of the theatre's male bathroom. "They then cut through drywall and tile to free the man, who was believed to have entered the theatre two or three days prior," officials told Syracuse.com.

Speaking to the local news outlet, Landmark Theatre director Mike Intaglietta said that the man was seen wandering around the Landmark Theatre but they assumed he had left, Intaglietta said. "I don't know if he was entering to keep warm or to use the bathroom. I don't know," he said.

The man appeared to be suffering from a mental illness and is receiving treatment at a local hospital. Meanwhile, no charges were filed against the man as of Friday afternoon.
New Delhi: Palestine's Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh has sought India's support for the Palestinian cause at international forums like the United Nations during his meeting with Prime minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the climate summit or COP 26. India is currently a non-permanent member of the United Nations security council that has seen a number of discussions on the Palestine, Israel situation.

Stressing on the "great importance" Palestine attaches to "India who has a growing weight in international politics", PM Shtayyeh said, We are ready for all forms of cooperation with India, which serves as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022, and was re-elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2022-2024 term.

Remember Palestine was miffed with India's abstention at the United Nations human rights council or UNHRC resolution that called for a probe into violence in Gaza earlier this year. The resolution saw India among the 14 countries abstaining on the issue of the probe. The Palestinian foreign minister Dr. Riad Malki had then written to India's external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar expressing concern over the position taken by India.

According to the information released by the Palestine Prime Minister's office, during the meeting, Shtayyeh briefed the Indian PM about the "latest political developments in Palestine" and "discussed possible ways to enhance and strengthen joint relations between Palestine and India." This was the first such meeting between leaders of India and Palestine since PM Modi's visit to the de jure sovereign state in 2018.

ALSO READ | India extends support to Sri Lanka amid contaminated fertilizer row with China

During that visit, PM Modi and Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas had a meeting. That was the first-ever visit by an Indian PM to Palestine and came after the 2015 visit of the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee's visit was also the first-ever visit by an Indian President to Palestine.

PM Shtayyeh also highlighted to Indian PM that they "look forward to a well-established and distinguished Indian role in the Middle East based on the historical perspective of Indias foreign policy, foremost of which is supporting the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.

India backs the establishment of a "sovereign, viable and independent State of Palestine" within recognized and mutually agreed borders "living side by side with Israel" in peace and security taking into consideration the legitimate security concerns of Israel. It has been calling on the international community, especially the Middle East quartet comprising of UN, US, EU and Russia to facilitate peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian PM also lauded India's "generous financial and technical support" to the Palestinian people and pointed that the "support must be parallel and complementary with the political support of the Palestinian cause and in a manner that guarantees the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions."

India has been extending various forms of economic assistance, including the construction of Jawaharlal Nehru Library at the Al Azhar University in Gaza city and the Mahatma Gandhi Library-cum-Student Activity Centre at the Palestine Technical College at Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip. Two schools were built in Palestine in 2015 through aid provided by India.

New Delhi also enhanced its annual contribution towards the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) from USD 1.25 Million to USD 5 Million in the backdrop of the financial crisis being faced by UNRWA.

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Kabul: In yet another move, the Taliban seem to be proving that they have no intention of allowing women their rights in society. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Taliban has prohibited Afghan women from "operating as aid workers," which is preventing the desperately needed lifesaving aid from reaching Afghans, reported a local media.

"The Taliban's severe restrictions on women aid workers are preventing desperately needed lifesaving aid from reaching Afghans, especially women, girls, and women-headed households. Permitting women aid workers to do their jobs unfettered is not a matter of agencies or donors placing conditions on humanitarian assistance, but an operational necessity for delivering that assistance," TOLO news quoted associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch, Heather Barr as saying.

Only three out of 34 provinces officially allowed the female workers to operate, reported the news channel citing HRW. "The document, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, indicates that, as of October 28, 2021, Taliban officials in only three provinces had provided a written agreement unconditionally permitting women aid workers to do their jobs. In over half the country, women aid workers face severe restrictions, such as requirements for a male family member to escort them while they do their jobs, making it difficult or impossible for them to do their job effectively," TOLOnews quoted the report as saying. "This deprives the women and children who are in dire need in the far provinces, and this also intensifies the crisis," the news channel quoted women's rights defender, Zarqqa Yaftali as saying.

Also read: Baby handed to US soldiers during chaos of Afghanistan airlift still missing

"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) should cooperate with the United Nations in Afghanistan to get recognition and the (UN) will continue its assistance to the people," TOLOnews quoted civil rights activist Soman as saying.

(With ANI inputs)

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